For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Happy Saturday everyone! There are heavy, dark clouds here today with freezing rain and freezing drizzle all through the day so far. It is kind of a dull, dreary type of day really. However, on the plus side, it is much milder than it has been with a temperature right now of 32F (0C). So that should help to melt some of that ice build up out there. It was bad outside of our apartment building earlier today.
Very thick ice was built up on the walkway and they had signs up warning residents to be careful if leaving or entering the building. Apparently, according to some who ventured out, it was treacherous out there and great care was needed for walking around, or driving. That makes it a good day to stay indoors and drink coffee this morning, and this afternoon it is perfect for a cup of mint tea. So, that is another plus for a day like today. And perhaps I can finish my Christmas decorating later too.

Bald Eagle on the apartment building roof next to this one.
I’m a little late on that, usually I like to get it done on December 1, but I have been going at it a bit slower this year. It has been a bit hard to stay focused on things lately. Well, we have entered the fourth week of our postal strike. So there will be no parcels or Christmas cards arriving in time for Christmas this year. Oh well, Muffin and I will still have a good time anyway. She loves to play with the decorations.

Another look at it.
Personally that doesn’t give me a lot of joy, however, we each have our own way of having fun. At least she’s not biting my legs, so that’s a plus too. My Christmas cactus has begun to bloom which is really nice to see. I always have such a hard time getting them to rebloom after purchasing one. So, I usually end up throwing it out after the first year.
But I decided to give this one a chance and it has a lot of buds, plus two open flowers right now. The flowers are so beautiful. Yesterday one of the workers in the building knocked on my door and told me there was an eagle on the building next to this one. I went out to the hall with my camera and looked out the window.

I think it saw me with my camera. Those white spots are snowflakes.
Sure enough, there was a beautiful Bald Eagle sitting there and I was able to get some nice pictures of it. It was a heavy overcast day, like today, with some snow flurries, not the best kind of day for photos, but they turned out not too bad anyway. I hope you enjoy the photos. Well, that’s all for today, time for another cup of tea. Have a great weekend everyone and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2024 Steve McLeod.
It was a good thing that Kat and her Wildcats were close to the airport since the other girls got slowed down in traffic due to the accident. That amount of time could have been enough for Elodie to get away with Chloe and go back to Canada. That would have made it harder to get Chloe back again. Now, while waiting for Elodie to regain her senses, one of her women said that Elodie had her ownership papers for Chloe, and she showed them to Kat.
“These papers mean nothing here,” said Kat, “people do not own other people. Now, all of these girls are friends of our ours and you don’t want to fight with me and my Wildcats, we will tear you apart.” “That girl owes me a lot of money!” yelled Elodie, “And she is going to work for me until it is paid in full!” I decided to enter the conversation at this point. “Miss Arsenault, my name is Steve and all these women, excluding Kat and her Wildcats, work for me,” I said, “and that includes Chloe. Now, how much does Chloe owe you and why?”
“She should have been working for me for the last 5 years,” said Elodie, “and she would have made for me a minimum of $500,000.” “That’s a lot of money,” I said, “but there is a little problem, she did not need to work for you. So, she decided to go elsewhere, where she was given a better deal. Therefore, she owes you nothing. So, I would suggest you go back home before you make me angry. I want you to remember something, you are like an ant, and my organization is like a giant.
I can step on you and squash you any time I wish. I am going to let you go this time, but if you show up again, I will make sure you regret that decision.” “What importance is she to you anyway?” Elodie asked angrily, “By the looks of things you will not miss one woman, you have many others!” “She is my sister,” I told her, “so that makes her very important to me.” “She has no family!” she shouted, “I checked, so you are just lying to me!”
“Chloe and I have been out of touch with each other for a few years,” I said, “due to circumstances beyond my control. But I can prove that she is my sister, so there is nothing more to say about that. You need to stop shouting and talk like an adult.” I guess she didn’t like that last comment to much. “If you were here, I would spit in your face!” she shouted again, “Chloe is mine! I bought her so she belongs to me!” “If I was there, I would slap you good and hard,” I told her.
“Oh, let me do that for you Steve,” said Jennifer, and she slapped Elodie. “That was my wife, Miss Arsenault,” I said, “now, I would suggest that you forget all about Chloe and all of those women. Just go back home while you have the chance and do not return. If we see you again, we will destroy you.” I then told the girls to let Elodie and her friends go free, even though I didn’t really want to. The girls kept the guns those women had and they searched the SUV to see if there were any other weapons.
Elodie said nothing more, she and her friends just left quietly. The Wildcats made sure they got on their flight, which they almost missed, and once the jet was in the air, the Wildcats left. We are going to have a leaders meeting to make some changes to our rules. There are times when exceptions need to be made for accessing different files. Plus, Penny and Brook need to have the ability to access these files too, not just Annelie, otherwise we could end up having problems at some point.
There always seems to be something pop up that we haven’t thought about. Sigh. Later that day Oskar came to me with a possible case for us. A friend of his just inherited a house after his parents died in an accident. However, the house is only part of the inheritance, the rest, which is money, is hidden somewhere in the house but they have been unable to find it. The man’s parents preferred to keep their money hidden at home rather than put it in a bank. I thought people stopped doing that a long time ago.
Oskar’s friend is not wealthy and would only be able to pay us if we found the inheritance. It actually sounded like a fun case, so I told Oskar we would take the case, even if we didn’t get paid. Oskar was very happy and couldn’t wait to tell his friend the good news. Beryan came in as Oskar left, to give me my massage, which I was ready for. Muffin and Storm had been here when Oskar told about the case and they were looking at each other with half closed eyes.
Meow, meow?= You want right or left this time? Meowr.= Me bite left leg last time, so bite right leg this time. Chomp! Chomp! I yelled and jumped, which scared Beryan! She thought perhaps she had hurt me. “Why did you cats bite my legs?” I asked. Meow,meow.= You supposed to vote on case before say yes. “But it’s just a simple case,” I told them. “We have had simple cases before,” said Beryan, “and they became not so simple, remember?”
“But this is Oskar’s friend,” I reminded her. Jennifer came in at that moment, thankfully. “Where is Sky?” she asked, “I can’t find her anywhere.” “Sky, would you please come here?” I asked in my normal voice. She appeared sitting on the bed beside me, smiling. “I know you are not in trouble, so maybe it is something else important?” she asked. “Um, yes, I hope so,” I said, “Jennifer has been looking for you.” Amerie was here now too, she came along with Jennifer.
“I just wanted you to see the rooms I have picked out for you to choose from,” said Jennifer, “one is very nice, looking east and I know you like sunrises. That one is private, just for you. The other room also faces east, it is much larger, but you would have to share it with Amerie.” “I would be so happy if you would share the room with me Sky,” she said, “it is lonely being by myself. I am sure we would get along just fine.” She was smiling so nicely. Sky looked at Jennifer.
“You are sure it is okay for me to be visible all the time?” Sky asked. “Absolutely, you are one of the family you know,” said Jennifer, “and we have a big surprise for you too, in the library on the top floor.” Sky went over to Amerie. “I would be very happy to share a room with you Amerie. I agree, we will get along just fine.” Amerie gave Sky a big hug and off they went.
“Um, was Sky in here all the time?” asked Beryan. “I have no idea,” I replied. “Well, if she was somewhere else, how could she hear you when you were just speaking normally?” she asked again. “I wish I could answer that,” I said, “but Sky can hear me, no matter where she is, whenever I say her name. And she just suddenly appears.” “Oh,” was all that Beryan said.
After a while as she was massaging my back she decided to speak up again. “That is cool,” she said. “But I’m only supposed to do that if I’m in trouble,” I said, “or if there is something else very important that comes up.” “I wonder how she gets there so fast?” she asked. “Something else I can’t answer,” I said.
To Be Continued.
©2024 Steve McLeod.