On My Bedside Table

    It was milder today - just around 0C - so I walked up to the library to collect books I had requested. If you don't pick them up after a week you are charged for them. Unfortunately three came all at once so I will have to get cracking!

   Amor Towles: I read his last two and enjoyed them immensely so I am looking forward to this one.

   Louise Penny:  Another Inspector Gamache crime tale. Always a good read.

   Richard Osman:  Another Thursday Murder Club adventure - very light reading.

  Val McDermid: I have been binge reading her this winter but this one has a plot line which she explored in another book - a climbing accident in which one climber dies after the connecting rope is cut. C'mon, Val!

   Lisa Jewell: Great story, highly recommend all her books. Very tense! 

   Patricia Cornwell: Started this one, a Scarpetti crime mystery. I  couldn't get into it but will try again when I have read everything else!

   Anne Perry: May send this one back until I have nothing to read. Didn't have to order it as it's from my home library.

  I'm always on the lookout for new authors so welcome any suggestions. Hope you find something worth trying in this list.

Still Going Strong

...my Poinsettia, that is. I must admit I was late buying it, just the week before Christmas, but it is still looking healthy and should hang around for a few more weeks yet.

    There was one year when I managed to  keep a plant going until it was warm enough to transfer outside. It grew to be a bushy plant but never did produce the red blooms again. I may try that this year.

   Last Christmas I wasn't able to have one in the house because of son's cats - they are pretty toxic for animals, so this is a colourful treat!

A Correction

    Before anyone checks, I realize I left off a zero when announcing the Covid numbers yesterday. Today's newspaper reported the 7-day average of new cases in Ontario as 14,435. Hospitalizations were 1290 and the ICU number was 266. Seemingly we are all going to be infected with Omicron eventually, whether vaccinated or not,  as it's so infectious. The only difference will be the severity of the infection. So, get your shots, folks!

Cancelled!

     Omicron numbers are skyrocketing here (1600 new cases in Ontario yesterday) so a new Lockdown has been declared to try to get the numbers and hospitalizations stabilized if not actually brought down.    

   Just as I suspected, the fitness programs at the Seniors' Centre have been "cancelled until further notice". Very disappointing but not unexpected. All gyms are closed so it's not just the Seniors. I had signed up for Stretch and Strength, Gentle Fit and Osteofit. I also got into the Gentle Yoga class which is very popular so I was really looking forward to that.

   I have been working out at home using an old VCR tape I have, since just before Christmas when the Fall session at the Seniors' Centre ended and I will continue with that. I do an hour's program on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays before I have breakfast so get it over with early. The program consists of about 25 to 30 minutes of aerobic stepping (I have my own step but have it at the lowest level). Then there's abdominal work, upper body sculpting with weights and, finally, cool down and stretching. Sometimes I don't do the whole thing, just what I feel up to. Only drawback, I find it hard to be motivated when working on my own and doing the same routine again and again is really boring!

My basement "Gym". It has been a godsend during the pandemic.