Good morning, friends. Another busy week comes to a close. I’m ready for a nice hot cup of tea!  Won’t you join me, sit a while and chat?  🙂

If we were sipping tea and talking I would tell you: as I told you last week, Alyssa and I are now Independent Fashion Retailers with LuLaRoe.  We got our first order yesterday, and Oh My!  It was like a big Christmas surprise!  And we have another order coming this Friday, with even more goodies!  I can’t wait to get started.  ❤

If we were sipping tea and talking I would tell you: I had no puppy duty this week.  😦 I’m really enjoying the time I get to spend with these fluffies.  We get to walk Shadow on Tuesday night, so I’m looking forward to that.  Hopefully, the weather will behave.  It’s cold and rainy, and I want warmth and sunshine!

If we were sipping tea and talking I would tell you: Saturday was my mom’s birthday.  She’s 86!!  We brought her her favorite McDonald’s lunch, Artisan Chicken, and don’t forget the french fries and apple pies! We surprised her.  She thought it was only my hubby and me, until she turned the corner and Alyssa and Jonathan were there.  She was so excited! We stayed for a bit, then had some errands to run. We headed back to her and she treated us to dinner, so we celebrated all day!  They brought her a nice cake and sang Happy Birthday.  Fun! Here’s a pic of her with Alyssa.

If we were sipping tea and talking I would tell you: I had a little set back with my health, but I’m learning to overcome the obstacles in front of me, and leave them behind.  My body pretty much tells me when it’s time to shut down, and rest.  Of course, I have a million things to do and a million thoughts going through my head, so I never listen….until I have to.  Why is it we push and push until we can’t?  I’m stubborn.  How about you?

If we were sipping tea and talking I would tell you: this week coming up is Thanksgiving in the USA, where humans stuff their faces with turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry everything and pumpkin pie.  After the food coma is over, Thanksgiving is followed by Black Friday (which actually begins on Turkey Day), when human beings become bulldozers, to get to what they don’t really need. I stopped shopping in the stores a long time ago.  I prefer online.  Less hassle, less crowded and best of all, it comes right to my door.  How do you shop for the holidays?

As for the week ahead:

If we were sipping tea, basking in the sun and talking I would tell you: I’ll be diligently painting my living room and dining room.   I am notorious for redecorating the house days before a holiday!  My husband cringes when I say I think the walls need a new color! LOL  One year found me stripping wallpaper and painting, a mere two days before Christmas.  What can I say?  I love a challenge!!

If we were sipping tea, basking in the sun and talking I would tell you: it’s hard to believe this week is the end of November. The year has flown by so swiftly.  I’m hoping December is a smooth one (aka no snow) and 2020 is the beginning of better tomorrows.

If we were sipping tea, basking in the sun and talking I would tell you: it’s off to church I go! Once again, Alyssa will be selling her Avon, and giving a portion of the proceeds to the church!  I’m so proud of her!  Until next time, be well, and have a blessed week, my friends!  ❤

Good morning, friends. What a whirlwind week!  The weather has been a bit crazy, and now it’s just down-right cold!  I’m not ready for this, and my body says “go some place warmer!”  How’s the weather by you? I’m ready for a nice hot cup of tea!  Let’s chat.  🙂

If we were sipping tea and talking I would tell you: there’s so much going on in my little corner of the world.  If you’re on Facebook, you may have seen the announcement my daughter, Alyssa and I made on Thursday.  If not, here it is!!

We’ll be sure to let you know when everything is up and ready to roll!  If you’ve never heard of LuLaRoe, you’re missing out!  The clothing is so comfortable!! Our dear friend, Gerry, who is no longer with us, always told Alyssa she should be in the fashion industry.  We do this in honor of her.

If we were sipping tea and talking I would tell you: hubby and I spent Monday afternoon at a park in Garfield, NJ, called Dahnerts Lake Park.  Our friend John Kooch was doing his park ministry there, and the day was beautiful! I was able to talk to Kooch about things going on in my life and he gave me wise advice on how to handle some stressful situations.  The Lord has been very good to me, and I hope I have served him well in this long and difficult journey.

If we were sipping tea and talking I would tell you: our walking duties with Shadow and Darty have ended for now, BUT… we had this little cutie for an overnight stay!  Meet Ellie!  She is an Aussiedoodle.  She is the cutest little pup ever! I was very sad to see her go home on Friday.  😦

If we were sipping tea and talking I would tell you: you may have noticed (or not lol) that I changed the header on my blog.  The composite was put together by my dear friend, and fellow blogger, John Freda (The Magic Shop) John writes delightful stories and poetry.  Do check his blog!  🙂

If we were sipping tea and talking I would tell you: we didn’t take our usual ride to Sunnybank on Saturday. It was Pokemon Go’s Community Day, yes I’m a nerd, so we did that instead.  Had lunch at my favorite pizza place, too!  It was a fun day.  🙂

As for the week ahead:

If we were sipping tea, basking in the sun and talking I would tell you: I will be crazy busy with the new business, and writing, and, and, and…you get the idea.

If we were sipping tea, basking in the sun and talking I would tell you: Saturday is my mom’s birthday, so I will be visiting with her, to celebrate.  Maybe we’ll surprise her with her favorite McDonald’s lunch.  😉

If we were sipping tea, basking in the sun and talking I would tell you: it’s off to church I go! Alyssa will be selling her Avon, giving a portion of the proceeds to the church!  I’m so proud of her!  Until next time, be well, and have a blessed week, my friends!  ❤

Good morning, friends. My goodness, how the time has flown by.  So happy to have you join me for a cup of tea!  Let’s chat.  🙂

If we were sipping tea and talking I would tell you: or rather, ask you, is time moving more quickly these days?  Or is it just me?  I could swear it was just Monday, but here we are again, six days later.  Whoosh!  I wish I could get some of that time back.

If we were sipping tea and talking I would tell you: birthday’s have ended here until January.  Now we look forward to Thanksgiving.  This will be the first year in ages that I will not be cooking.  It’s too much for me to do, my condition has made itself heard.  No more big dinners!  We are deciding what to do.  Options include: Turkey sandwiches, with cranberry sauce & mashed potatoes – Hot open-faced turkey sandwiches with mashies & gravy – or – going to a restaurant for a buffet.  I am leaning toward the restaurant.  I won’t have left overs, but I also won’t have to clean up when it’s over!!  What would you do?

If we were sipping tea and talking I would tell you: we had a blast with Shadow this week, and we get to play and walk him tomorrow night, too! He is such a sweetheart and LOVES my husband!  We also got to walk Darty on Thursday & Friday.  He is such a love.  I found him curled up on his sofa (Yes he has his own sofa!), patiently waiting for me to give him tummy rubs. I wish someone would do that for me. lol

Photo ©2019 Alyssa Duclos Used with Permission

If we were sipping tea and talking I would tell you: it’s been a strange week without Alyssa around.  She’s been in Pennsylvania since last Saturday.  I really miss her.  She’ll be home Tuesday morning.  I can’t wait!  Speaking of Alyssa…

If you’re into TV shows, like Nancy Drew, Riverdale, Arrow or The Flash, etc, Alyssa has a review blog that needs a little bit of loving from the WP community.  If you’d like to follow, here’s the link: Comic Reviews and More by Alyssa 

If we were sipping tea and talking I would tell you: aaaaannnnd, more about Alyssa!  She’s roped me into a business venture.  So we are now partners in…well…I can’t tell you yet!  I know, I’m horrible to tease this way.  I promise, I will be making an announcement soon.  I’m both extremely excited and extremely terrified.  When you have anxiety (and truly, unless you have it, you have no idea how it feels), even the smallest things can be overwhelming.  And this is no small thing.  So look for an announcement from us, probably some time after Thanksgiving.

If we were sipping tea and talking I would tell you: tomorrow, we celebrate Veteran’s Day, here in the states.  It’s a day we honor the men and women of the military, who have fought or are fighting, to protect our freedoms.  I can’t thank them, and their families, enough, for making the sacrifices which keep us safe! So next time you see someone in uniform, consider stopping and saying thank you.   ❤

If we were sipping tea and talking I would tell you: on our Saturday trip to Sunnybank Park, we found a bird we have never seen before.  He was hunkered down by a small tree stump.  Had he not moved, we never would have noticed him.  He’s a Long-billed Curlew.  This is a new one for me, and hubby took this picture with my camera.  How cool is this bird!

©Neil Duclos All Rights Reserved – Used with permission

As for the week ahead:

If we were sipping tea, basking in the sun and talking I would tell you: I am looking forward to having Lys back home, and all the fun things that lie ahead for all of us here.  I am slowly getting back to my old self (not rushing it), and once I am, there’ll be no stopping me.

If we were sipping tea, basking in the sun and talking I would tell you: it’s off to church I go!  It’s Fellowship Day and we have bagel detail! Until next time, be well, and have a blessed week, my friends!  ❤

Good morning, friends. Happy Sunday!  A day to relax and find that inner peace.  So happy to have you join me for a cup of tea!  Let’s chat.  🙂

If we were sipping tea and talking I would tell you: this past Monday was my birthday.  It was quiet, and it was lovely.  I’m not big on birthdays unless they belong to someone else.  I celebrate life every day, when I wake up, and open my eyes.  I thank the good Lord above for giving me yet another chance, to get it right!

As gifts, I received two books, one on poetry and one a mystery.  I’m looking forward to reading (and reviewing) both very soon.

If we were sipping tea and talking I would tell you: Halloween was fun!  We broke our record of 12 trick-or-treaters!  Yep, we had 13 this year!  Now you’re wondering why I’m excited about that?  My house sits on a hill and the driveway is steep.  Most kids won’t walk up.  But this year, not only were the kids coming up, so were the moms and dads, who were also dressed up!  Made answering the doorbell a little sweeter (pun intended).  Times have changed, most have house parties, or trunk-or-treat at school.  I’ll take what we get.

If we were sipping tea and talking I would tell you: Last week, I told you about Vanilla, the corgi we got to take care of.  This weekend, we have a different pup.  This is Shadow, America’s Pup!  He belongs to an awesome man named Frank, who works very hard for our Veterans.  Shadow is a therapy pup in training, and goes to many of the veteran events Frank is involved in.

Photo ©2019Alyssa Duclos Used with Permission

If we were sipping tea and talking I would tell you: I have decided that I will not be posting on Saturdays.  I need one day during the week to just veg.  Although, I admit, there are still thousands of words swirling around in my head.  Hard to shut them off sometimes, but I am making an effort to just spend time with my family.

If we were sipping tea and talking I would tell you: I mentioned last week, my hubby’s favorite line, “what til you get to be my age.”  Right now, we are the same age.  His line is now, “This is what it’s like to be my age.”  I can’t win! LOL  Since Lys is away, we celebrated Neil’s birthday the other night.  Lys treated us to a wonderful dinner at Charlie Brown’s.

If we were sipping tea and talking I would tell you: Saturday’s are meant for doing nothing.  And that’s pretty much what we did.  We went to my favorite park, played with a beautiful Labradoodle, and just watched the stillness of the lake.  The reflections and shadows were amazing.  The temp could have been a bit warmer, but we stayed and enjoyed.

As for the week ahead:

If we were sipping tea, basking in the sun and talking I would tell you: tomorrow hubby turns the big 6-0!  But it’s also a very somber day for us, as Neil’s dad passed away on Neil’s birthday.  It’s been 31 years and we miss him more each day.  ❤

If we were sipping tea, basking in the sun and talking I would tell you: it’s off to church I go!  Our friend John will be leading worship today.  So inspirational!  Be well, and have a blessed week, my friends!  ❤

Good morning, friends. It’s hard to believe it’s Sunday again!  This week went by quickly.  So happy to have you join me for a cup of tea!  Let’s chat.  🙂

If we were sipping tea and talking I would tell you: on the spur of the moment, I decided to share my book, “Short & not always Sweet“, on Instagram and Facebook.  Now, this book came out in March of this year, but it’s taken on a whole new life!  That feels pretty darn good.  🙂

If we were sipping tea and talking I would tell you: we got to take care of another sweet pup.  This time, we got to walk Vanilla. She’s a corgi and such a love.  Just look at that face!!

When Lys has overlaps with pups, we try to help her out so she’s not running in all directions.  What fun Vanilla was!  We even visited her last night, and she wrapped hubby around her paw in no time!

If we were sipping tea and talking I would tell you: I am slowly returning to a somewhat normal writing schedule.  Some days, I’m just not feeling it, other days it just flows.  I guess that’s how it is for most of us.  How about you?  Do you find you start and stop?  Is it weather change, or something else that gets in the way?

If we were sipping tea and talking I would tell you: tomorrow, the 28th, is my birthday.  I’ll be 59.  Another year around the sun.  I am so blessed, in so many ways.  Hubby will have to wait a week to use his favorite line on me. “Wait til you get to be my age.”  bah!  He turns 60 on November 4th.  So technically, we are the same age for a week.  lol  After that, I’m sure I’ll be hearing it often.  🙂

If we were sipping tea and talking I would tell you: I spent part of Saturday at my favorite park, Sunnybank, just watching the lake ripple in the breeze, and a lonely piece of driftwood caught my eye.  Do you ever wonder what inanimate objects think?  Was it saying, “ah, this is the life” or “Holy cow, this water is cold!” or perhaps it is sad that it is no longer.   Think about it.

As for the week ahead:

If we were sipping tea, basking in the sun and talking I would tell you: it’s birthday week! Fun times ahead. The only thing I asked for was a cupcake from my favorite bakery.  I’m easy to please.  No gifts, just something sweet.  🙂

If we were sipping tea, basking in the sun and talking I would tell you: Thursday is Halloween, when all the kiddies get to dress up as their favorite characters!  Trick?  or Treat? Hmmm, I’ll have to think about that.

If we were sipping tea, basking in the sun and talking I would tell you: it’s off to church I go!  Staying after to checkout our basket supplies for the upcoming WOW Christmas Fellowship Brunch.  Always such a wonderful time! Be well, and have a blessed week, my friends!  ❤