5th May

[Mick]

Hiya all how are we doing today then? Hope all is good just got to the next site. Stopped off at aldi to restock on essentials..ie sweets bread etc.it was interesting parking up.probably one of the smaller car parks ive been in.just started raining..its a cracking site I will put pics up later

[Slo]

Good morning!

I hope we didn’t chase PQ away in disgust when she posted back-to-back!

TG, that’s great that your elderly cousin likes her new place, she has a view, and most of her treasures will fit. And the ones that don’t fit? Well, it’s time to downsize anyways, truth be told.
This morning I was able to do more activity in a row than I usually can, so, feeling good that my body is healing some. It’s time for pain cream and maybe an ice pack on the knee, but the foot isn’t too terribly painful despite adjusting to the revised orthotic.

We had a ton of rain too, Mick; yesterday. But my sister & I got our cemetery visit in before it started. It just made the long drive harder. Such a beautiful drive through countryside though, since we took the backroads. I am finally healing, and didn’t burst into tears this time at the site of my brother’s grave there in the cemetery, gone too soon and nestled into the cemetery with all the older generations. My brother is gone four years now; dead by suicide thanks to suffering severe narcissistic abuse from his mother. My dad is there next to him, also gone too soon, thanks to suffering severe narcissistic abuse from his wife (the same person -Mommy Dearest). He is gone 13 years now, and I am accepting finally by now.

My young sister-in-law died 8 years ago today, and I am finally not being triggered about that by the signs of Spring and the blossoming crab apple trees. I even forgot her birthday this year on April 18th! (She was diagnosed with breast cancer right after her 33rd birthday, and had her first treatments that May. Then she was severely failing on her 39th birthday, and died & had her funeral that May -so this whole time period has been a trigger.) So I am finally moving on from grief and leaving my dead people in the past, with acceptance and fondness for their memories.

Lav, you sure loved your other Swiss Mountain dog, so hopefully Doc is just what you & YB need.

I hope you all have a relaxing AF (alcohol-free, not accountant-free!) Sunday!

[Lavande]

Sunday evening greetings to everyone,

Lots of clouds & rain until 3pm or so. Still pretty ugly looking out there though. Actually rain is predicted straight through until Monday a week from now, ugh.
Made a quick run out for a few essentials then spent the afternoon in the kitchen muffin & chicken nugget making haha!

Mick, glad you’re enjoying your trip regardless of the weather.

Slo, it does take time to come into acceptance when a loved one passes. I’ve noticed I don’t really have any sorrow visiting the cemeteries anymore. I am still pissed my atheistic SIL decided to donate my brother’s body to science instead of allowing us to bury him where he wanted to go with my parents. I told her quite frankly there is no science done on dead bodies only A&P lab practice for med students. The thought of that just sickened me. Yeah, I’m still pissed about that. He’s gone 11 years, I miss him. Our new pup is happy & growing & has gained 2 lbs this week, he enjoys his meals. Glad to hear you’re feeling less discomfort now, has to be a good sign. I was going to ask you do you do any kind of craft work? Knitting, crocheting, sewing? When I have free time & when I want to get my mind off of my own sh*t I sew for various organizations like Relief Crafters of America & I Found a Quilted Heart. It makes me feel better to donate needed item & takes my mind off myself. You can find both of those groups on FB.

Hello to PQ, hope you’re in relax mode.
Cyn, resting between work shifts hopefully.
Hello to Pie & anyone dropping by later.

Have a nice night all.
Lav

[Mick]

Hiya all..how are we today then?hope all is good. Went out for a walk this morning only 5 miles and managed to get back before the rains came and boy did they come down. A massive thunderstorm..its great to be cooried up listening to it. Took a couple of pictures nothing great but i will puthem on fb.
tomorrow we are going to Corfe Castle.

Hiya lav how are you doing? Making muffins and chicken nuggets? Go for it the storm has passed on now thankfully..so the pup enjoys his meals?he will be eating you out of house and home soon

Hiya ppqp how are things with you? Hope all is good I see they are knocking down the Sin bin and making it into housing. Another place of fame gone

Hiya slo how are things with you today? Hope all is well. It takes a long time to heal. I still shed a tear when i visit Julie's mum and brothers grave .yes you need to move on .the saying too busy grieving to enjoy life holds true. As lav says have you any interests?I have loads ...probably too many.take care.

Hiya teegee how are you?

[porqoui]

MAE ALL....sorry for MIA, I did post on Friday but I see it didn't post. Friday was a crazy day, one thing after another. Took the weekend off, wasn't feeling too great on Sunday but all ok today. I will catch up with you all and get back into posting regularly. Have a good night....PPQP

[Lavande]

Good evening Mick & everyone,

We had another cloudy, foggy & damp day here, oh well. Looks like it’s going to stay that way for another week or so. After that we will move into the real mud season Haha.
made an appt to take my car into the dealer next Monday to have the software updated. Apparently there’s an issue with the instrument panel going dark when you’re driving, that’s not cool. I’m meeting a friend on Wednesday for lunch, that will be nice.

Mick, glad you got your walk in before the sky opened up on you. Enjoyed the pics, thanks .
This pup os just like our former Swissy, a big & fast eater. I’m trying to prepare myself mentally for how big he’s actually going to be. Like I said before, these dogs are like another adult in the room.

Hello to PQ, hope everything is OK.
Hello to Cyn, Slo & Pie. Stop in when you can y’all.

Have a nice night everyone,
Lav

[Mick]

Crazy weather here..hope all is well. It is roasting today. T shirt and shorts weather.. We nt to Corfe Castle this morning. Although now a ruin it is a fascinating place. And the weather held too then went for a walk in a nature reserve and saw zilch!!!!tea outside tonight. Will put pics up on fb..it is easier!!!

[Determinator]

ABeroooos!
sorry I suck so much at staying in touch, it's just a bad habit and related to isolation, which is also bad for recovery. I've been in Central Europe (Montenegro) for
1 1/2 months now and boy has it been a wild ride with crazy ups and downs. I'm super grateful I managed to get sober again so at least I have my wits about me
which is mighty helpful with so many new and challenging obstacles to face. And I miss my sweetheart back home so much and don't know when she may be able
to visit. It's easy to get very scared and lonely with language barriers etc but I have managed to find a local AA meeting that's in English so that helps in a couple of
important ways. Very nice bunch from all over the world. The locals can be a bit stand-offish but to make a long story short I'm going south one border to Albania
as it has a much larger population and I'm thinking work connections will be possible. Slo, sorry things have been rough. Mick, dear Lav, PPQ, great to see you are still
regulars. Connection is meaning more to me than I realized when I took it for granted. And infrastructure.... egad! crazy driving so I'm not sure how I'll get used to it, but
we'll see if it's any different in T. Great cheap food here, much lower rent and home prices, but tech/gadgets and anything with a western name brand is crazy expensive.
kind of weird. I make Turkish coffee and do some basic cooking here in my flat, which is only about a 5 min walk from the beach. And I'm not even a 'beach person' ha!
but it's a neat and very different environment from norther Utah. it's pretty much different in every way. I think the heat of summer may try to kill me but we'll see if I can
even score some work and stay long enough to find out. Every day is an adventure for sure. Tomorrow I'll take the bus in to get a haircut and a couple supplies in the nearest
big-ish town of Budva. I need to scope out another spot of fun photos before I go and stop hiding so much. It's tough but I'm plugging forward in bewilderment mostly.
much love to one and all and be well

[Lavande]

Good evening all,

We had a break in the rain today but I’m sure it will be back.
just for shits & giggles Doc went outside & got his head stuck in the dryer vent & ended up pulling the whole thing out of the wall, haha. We thought he’d enjoy spending time on the deck but apparently that was a bad decision on our part. He’s fine, no damage to him & we’ll get to the hardware store tomorrow for a new vent. Meeting friends for lunch tomorrow, yay!

Det, so happy you dropped in to say hello. You know I’ve been loving your pics on FB, such an interesting place. I’m glad you found an AA meeting that works for you, no one should have to do this on their own.
yo really are on quite an adventure & I hope you find peace & happiness.

Mick, our other adventure seeker - glad you are enjoying your trip as well. Great pics today, loved seeing the ruins.

Hello to PQ, Cyn, Slo & Pie.
I may check in later to see if anyone else has checked in.

Have a nice night all!
Lav

[porqoui]

MAE ALL...I do believe I am officially burnt out! I don't have a handle on everything that's going on and that's not like me. I think it's just been too much all at once. I am going to look at the work schedule and book some time off, just making sure I'm not away for certain deadlines as I don't want to come back to infinite chaos. Thanks for the rain Lav & Mick...it started last night and continued all day. We were under wind warning all day, gusts up to 90KM/hr. Power outages all over the city. When the power went out in the community centre all the fire doors closed. Boss said who closed the doors and I said they're on magnets and do it automatically. He just said who knew? LOL

Lav...we X-posted yesterday. At least my weather is moving on tomorrow, no rain and the high of 8C/46F today is going to climb to 14C/57F up to 24C/75F by Saturday, the day we do our Spring Cleanup & Prep work for the community garden. Glad you got a break from the rain today. Yup, that is shits & giggles about Doc, glad he's ok. Always good to divert to lunch with friends while shopping to repair the dryer vent.

Mick...glad that you had good weather for your trip to Corfe Castle. Finally found where you were posting your pics on fb, duh! They are fabulous, and I'll spend more time going through them. Thanks. Hope you were still able to have tea outside, for a change.

Det...there you are. So glad you posted. Lav has kept us up to date with your pics on fb. Sounds like you're dealing with a lot and glad you found an appropriate AA meeting. Even in the big cities they can be difficult to find one that works. Good luck with finding work and take care of yourself.

Brought home the fixings for beef dips so must get cooking. Have a good night all....PPQP

[treegirl]

Mae all,

Quick hello to all - very long day today that started early trying to get a tire fixed form an imbedded nail... then I went to a part of the city where I've never been to pick up... uuugh, not even sure how many dozen rolls and buns, etc for the homeless meal tomorrow... my car smells like a bakery. I ran and put together gift packs of Trader Joe delights and brought them to my "couselors" for the Post-Covid Clinic... today was my last set of therapies... I'm going to miss those folks so much... they gave me my life back. Now i must continue the work. Big storms keep rolling through here - at one point this afternoon the sky was black as night. I rushed home to my underground parking, but by the time I'd hauled everything up to my apartment, it was sunny again ?!? Looked at FB and then apparently fell asleep...woke up to see a blank computer screen.

Det, how great to hear from you - so glad you found some "like" souls to be with. Your work is so beautiful. You are right, it's good to be with people...
Lav, what a cute story about the vent and the puppy! I forget how inquisitive they are. I've been given all sorts of info today on supplements and their roll in getting better from Covid, so I'll have to have a Lav consult!
PPQ - I don't blame you for feeling overwhelmed by that job!!! I always wonder how you handle it. I hope you get some time to decompress soon.
Mick - I think I missed some of your photos, sounds like they were wonderful. Hope you are still having a good time!
SLO, how is the new shoe working? So hopeful that things will turn around...

That's me done. Off to bed - hopefully more tomorrow.

[Slo]

I think I’ll just post on messenger if I have anything to say. Bye for now.

[Lavande]

Greetings friends,

Partly sunny here today, not bad though we did hit the high 80’s with slightly lower humidity. Spent a nice lunch hour with friends & stopped at Walmart on the way home. Now that’s exciting LOL
The zoo residents here are keeping me busy!

Slo, is something wrong? We’re always glad to listen regardless of where you choose to post.

Cyn, I’ve had my car smell like lots of things but never a bakery. I don’t think I would mind that too much Haha. Nice of you to take gifts to the staff of the Post Covid clinic. You get to keep practicing what they preach now to keep yourself well & moving forward. I’ll be interested in seeing what supplements they recommend. Glad you escaped the approaching storm. I am fearful these days of driving into unknown areas, must be my advancing age or something. Be careful out there!

PQ, burnout is real so take whatever precautions you can to protect yourself. Schedule some time off days & maybe some work from home days if you can. We just had a discussion at lunch today how none of us miss the job/hospital, can’t believe we actually made it out alive. There IS life after work, so save as much of yourself as you can. Apparently our rain returns tomorrow & drops the temp 20 or more degrees, crazy.
YB picked up the new dryer vent today & will install it tomorrow. I hope Doc keeps his big fat head out of this one, Lol

Pie, hello to you & anyone else checking in tonight. I know Mick is having a grand old time, rain or not.

Have a good night all!
Lav

[porqoui]

MAE ALL...a much quieter day today. Had my one-on-one with the boss and we talked about my workload. He acknowledges the amount of work I've been dealing with and has actually already spoken to Childcare about some things. He told them they had to get their sh*t together and come up with timelines for stuff (registrations/program implementation) they need my support with. He's all for me taking some time off, starting Friday. YAY Tomorrow I will book various days off from now till the end of August. September starts our new fiscal year.

TG...the dreaded imbedded nail, what a pain. I hate having to go to places I haven't been to before, like Lav says I think its my advancing age too. You must feel overwhelmed some times with all the things you do too. Congrats on your last day of therapies, I think it's helped and what a great resource to have. I hope the storms settle down soon, I know I'm glad were done here.

Slo...aw, was it something I said or didn't say? I look forward to your posts and everything that's happening in your life. I don't follow on messenger, had it on my phone for awhile but it was continually notifying me and had to turn it off. I do log in now and again to see Mick's pictures but don't read back, too overwhelming. Whatever works for you. Hope everything is ok.

Lav...no rain today but the wind had an icy bite to it. Wind shifted in the afternoon and it actually felt warm. My weather forecast is opposite yours, warm to hot and sunny skies on the way. Not having a handle on everything at work was strange to me, didn't even care if I sorted it all out and then thought this might be burnout. Reminded me of dehydration being real when I actually experienced it. You may have to put a grate covering over the new vent until Doc gets a little bigger. LOL

I was pleasantly surprised to hear that there was an overwhelming response to my community garden task email. There's a whole gang showing up on Saturday. YAY

Shout out to the rest of the gang. Have a good night all...PPQP

[Determinator]

Happy Thursday ABskers of the many lands,

Lav, I can relate. I'll be turning 54 this month and have always had anxiety with navigating new areas and it's not getting easier, though just being brave here and learning the city bus for example has allowed me to get a much better handle on the lay of the land and the crazy manner in which they drive in the Balkans. eeeeek! my cousin did rent a care and drove all 'round Albania last year so I know it's doable. Though I'll be pressed to afford even a scooter which has pros and cons. I think I'll put a rotating beacon on my helmet for visibility LOL. Speaking of heat and humidity, I'm just NOT up for this and I'm meeeeelting! I hope I get acclimated soon as it's pretty rough having come from the cold in north Utah.

PPQ, planning time off! yay indeed. Glad you can communicate effectively with your boss and get what you need. We all need that. I've been dealing with the opposite in that I'm not working and I'm also trying desperately to save all the money I can. The thought of running out of money and becoming an economic refugee in a far-away land is terrifying. I do have a lot of stressors with what I've decided to do in this adventure but reminding myself to stop and smell the flowers. Incidentally this time of year the flowers are blooming like mad and the aroma of them is marvelous. So many new kinds of flora here to enjoy. I see a lot of citrus, figs, pomegranate, even kiwi trees. It's the Mediterranean after all.

I had the most incredible haircut experience of my life yesterday. This guy absolutely obsessed over my hair like a true maestro. And took off my annoying ear hairs (did I mention I'm getting old) with a live flame torch without causing any pain. Never experienced anything like it. And neck/head massage with special oils. I felt ready to don a robe and address a kingdom after all that. only 15 bucks total. way cheaper than my crappy buzz-cuts back home. I made sure to personally give my barber a fiver and he was overjoyed. Cost of living is very low here but wages are dreadfully low, so I really feel for the locals.
I'm 8hrs ahead of MST in the US so that isn't super handy when talking back home, but I'm making it work out.

if anyone is interested, on IG and FB I'm @LondonLewisPhotography my personal on FB is @LondonLewis

Today I have to bus into Budva to see if the post office has my package my girlfriend in UT sent to me (replacement propellers for drone) the postal service here is ..... clunky let's say.
I sure miss that woman. sigh. I just need to find my 'home' so to speak. A subject I've always had trouble with conceptually, being that I've travelled so much of my life.

be well loves,