It’s been a weird, busy, blessed and wild couple weeks… or is that rather, a description of my life????
First- we had our chicken killing day. Never a “fun” day but our gang of gung-ho ladies was exceptional and “fun” none the less! How blessed am I when your friends come from 3 hours away and an hour away, stand in drizzle all morning and continue to stand til 5 plucking and gutting chickens! I cried when they arrived and when they left, good tears, I am so blessed and they are the bestest friends. Brian and I are very grateful for them. (We are sold out of chickens)
Second- Glen and I (oldest son) were off to Edmonton for his eye appointment. I had my friend Faith (over 30 years friends) drive up from Salmon Arm to spend a night and day with me. Who does that? Then we gave her an interesting time while were homeless in a parking lot for a while. We had to visit car to car until we sorted it out.
You see, for the 1st time I tried a VRBO (vacation rental by owner), instead of a hotel. I wanted a place to “visit “ with Faith and so that Glen could rest.
We found it and it seemed perfect. A little basement suite, 2 bedrooms, living room. Quaint. I did wonder what the stains on the couch cover were and then found 2 hair curlers in the living room, interest piqued, we started inspecting. The place hadn’t been cleaned. Wet laundry in the washing machine, a razor in the shower plus a couple other icky looking things, one bed looking slept in. Weird items on the counter and fridge. Then we opened the dishwasher to find the last folks must have had spaghetti or some tomato dish, because the dishes were still dirty.
I was disappointed and disgusted. The only cleaner in the place was windex and I sprayed a few things down with that. I messaged the VRBO owner and really did not think I would get a reply. I did. But his reply wasn’t what I wanted. I had asked for my $ back so we could go find a hotel. He said that the cleaner was on their way back to clean.
Glen was not feeling great and who wanted to sit there and watch someone who should have cleaned, clean? The owner was gracious and did refund me even when there was a no refund policy.
We left and found ourselves homeless in a parking lot. I started calling and got a hotel with “Andrew”. He was an excellent example of customer service at the St. Albert Inn.
Third- We were given inside info from a friend of Glens to check out a gluten free butcher and deli shop on our way out of Edmonton. Oh My Stars! It was worth the trip!
Ben’s Meats and Deli on Stoney Plain road is a must for your next visit to Edmonton. A family run place since 1953. Glen and I got a tour from Ben himself. His staff was so very helpful and knowledgeable. I have never seen a selection of gluten free foods like Ben’s. Yes they specialize in European sausage and cheese which anyone can eat, but anyone can eat ALL of it! But for us, the gluten free part was wonderful. It is a dedicated gluten free place, they do have some gluten items but it’s very well marked. We found GF spring rolls, pies, lasagna, bread, sausage, jerky. There was not much of anything we didn’t find. I even found gluten free licorice! (It was big for me)
Ben informed us that they are moving a little ways away in about 6 months and will have a gluten free cafe and bakery. Yum!
Link to website where they give you a tour video of the store: https://www.bensmeats.com
Fourth- I went to Pet Smart to get dog food. We have had to get certain food for Mocha and Mila since Mocha got diagnosed with Cushings after the puppies. I went to pay and I was astonished when the dog food was no charge! A $90, free bag. Honestly I did not know they did that. What a joyful surprise to my day.
Fifth - one night I was witness to the most spectacular Northern Lights show that I’ve ever seen. It was breathtaking and spectacular where God was plain showing off. I sat outside and watched as He painted the sky over and over in the most glorious colors. Pictures do not even capture the beauty. It was my first time seeing coloured Northern Lights.
Sixth - we had visitors… three coyotes stood their ground on our driveway against our dogs hoping to get to the chickens. Well Mila the 1 year old started strong and hightailed it to the house when the unwanted visitors would not leave. But Mocha stayed there til a gun was brought out to scare them away.
Well there you have it, my random events blog. But are they really random?
I was having a conversation with someone and we talked about our lives. As you get older you start to connect the dots of your life. I used the analogy of the stars. You look up and see clusters of white dots. But then you start connecting lines and you get the Big Dipper, the Little Dipper, Gemini- the Twins, random things that are connected even if you cannot see the actual lines. I do not believe anything we experience is ever “random”, there will be connections made or have been made that I’m not aware of. The really cool thing is that I’m not in charge, I don’t have to figure out the connections. The One who paints the sky with His paint brush is the One who holds the all the answers.
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