Who would have thought in March of 2020 that we’d still be in the middle of a pandemic in late 2021. Boy has COVID taught us a lot about expectations, realities and life in general.

Since my last post my entire household has been fully vaccinated. The majority of people in both our families are also done now and as of next week some them be eligible for boosters. Reaching this point in the pandemic brings on an overwhelming sense of relief. Knowing my mother and husband’s father are as safe as they can be is something to be truly thankful for and as of tomorrow, it appears that 3 of our 4 grandchildren will also be eligible for vaccine. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.

The single biggest pandemic takeaway for me so far has been seeing people evolve from a ‘me’ attitude to a ‘we’ attitude. Of course there have been those who went the other way, but that’s beyond our control. Those of us choosing to work together are making this world a better place for all.

This Spring saw lots of birds visiting. We had our first ever Cardinal sighting. It was so exciting! We also stumbled across a craftsman who made birdhouses while out on a drive along the Western Shore. I ended up buying three of them they were so well done. Turned out finding roadside sales were something that happened a lot for us this year.

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We finally got to have the grand-babies visit. It was outdoors and distanced but it was so nice to see them not on a balcony for the first time in 14 months. I actually got to hold my youngest grand-baby for the very first time in July. It was post fully vaccinated, I was masked and we stayed outside but you do what you need to sometimes. I just wanted hold my grand-baby.

We also marked two very important milestones. We got rid of our mortgage and for the first time in his life my husband bought a brand spanking new vehicle, Caper the Ford Ranger.

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Caper took us to Halls Harbour to test out road trip comfort. He passed with flying colours.

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Spring also marked the beginning of spending time outdoors enjoying where we live. Horseshoe season is something we always look forward to.

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Sometimes it’s the simplest things that give us the most joy.

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Because not all destinations have the same case levels and vaccination rates as us we stayed within the Maritimes for 2021. Lucky for us the Maritimes are amazing, but more on that in my next post.