March was typical in many ways. Ontarians spent the days waiting for the weather to change, and the ice and snow to melt. And it did! We had a glorious day on Friday:
No wind and plenty of sun. Temperatures reached double digits. A great day to get out for a walk. Sunlight sparkling on the water flowing over the Village dam.Sun highlighting the pampas grass.
Then Saturday came and brought steady, heavy rain. Joanne of My Life Lived Full came to visit for the weekend and join me for a couple of events. We didn’t let the rain stop us from heading out to Crawford Lake Conservation Area’s Sweetwater Festival, and A Taste of Maple, presented by Chef Johl Whiteduck Ringuette of NishDish Marketeria, a Toronto restaurant and catering business serving Indigenous cuisine.
Rainboots, umbrellas and smiles – all a must in this weather!
We started our culinary adventure with maple taffy, made on a bed of ice in lieu of snow, which had finally melted away (or so we thought! Uh oh.).A documentary was being filmed on the traditional Indigenous view of food as medicine (Chef Johl’s talk).
Joanne and I were so engrossed in Chef Johl’s talk we (almost) forgot we came also for a food tasting. He spoke so eloquently and passionately about his culture and experiences growing up, lacing them with traditional stories about Nanabozho and the origins of maple syrup making. His honest, heartfelt stories of working with Aboriginal Legal and the treatment of the native people in Toronto made me tear up.
Chef Johl started us off with a smudging ceremony, to cleanse us and bring us together for good intentions. Look for a documentary in about a year we were told before the talk, on Traditional Food as Medicine. Chef Johl’s recommended reading for those who were interested (yes, please!).The order of lining up for food: elder women, then other women, then everyone else. On the tasting menu: bannock with maple butter and jam, salmon, and blueberry wild rice pudding. Closeup of blueberry, maple and wild rice pudding in a corn husk bowl.
Once back at Chez Badass, Joanne and I spent a delightful evening and the next morning trading information. I showed her how to make art with spray inks and shaving cream, and she taught me all about Airbnb (teaser: more about why in an upcoming post…hehehe). This was awaiting us outside in the morning:
March 31, 2019. No one is up for a winter wonderland come spring. Even though we woke up to this on Sunday morning, we weren’t going to be stopped from enjoying the day.
Late morning it was off to our second event of the weekend – exploring St. Jacobs and taking in a show at the Country Playhouse.
FABULOUS. The best Drayton production I have seen yet.
Before the show started, we had time to do some shopping and eat lunch at the Stone Crock.
When bloggers are let loose in St. Jacobs, the streets are no longer safe.
I was so excited when I found something I had been searching for since I saw one at Karen Hume’s (of Profound Journey) last summer. (Bloggers: always learning from each other!) It is going to solve one of life’s big (hah!) problems for this badass widow.
Yeah. I made this meme. Hard for me to eat the butter (no matter how minuscule an amount) before it goes bad as I like to keep it on the counter. Because: spreadability!
I was really happy to have finally found one of these butter keepers. I first learned of these at Karen Hume’s house last summer. She had one. I thought it was genius.
The water in the base (must be changed every few days) keeps the butter fresh AND spreadable, on the counter!
And so ended my March, absolutely delightfully despite ALL. THE. WEATHER!
The Changing Seasons is hosted by Su Leslie of Zimmerbitch. Please be sure to check out her blog!
It’s Spring!!!! Let me just speak for all (OK, maybe not you guys on Vancouver Island…grrrr! 😉 ) Canadians and say how relieved we are that IT IS OFFICIALLY SPRING ON THE CALENDAR and Winter 2019 is now behind us.
As is my habit, I use these times of the year to check in on my progress towards my intentions. This provides me with a quarterly reminder and opportunity for course-correction, if needed. It’s like using the Daylight Savings Time changes to remind you to check the batteries in a smoke detector, except more in keeping with the natural world!
So…so far, so good. I am keeping up with making good on my word for 2019: Record, entering a few bon mots (or not so bon mots) every day in my journal.
Wish I’d said that. I tend to be more of a wise-cracker, but hey! Calisthenics! That’s like exercise, right? Exercise is good. Even if it’s only brain exercise.
My health journey – also so far, so good! I’m killing my 10K step goal. And, as of today, I have lost just over 13 pounds since I joined WW last October. I feel great, with lots of energy and enthusiasm to get me through my days. My jeans fits nicely – even a bit loose – for the first time in a long time. I love everything about WW – I love the app; the flexibility; the variety; the focus on healthy, whole foods and daily activity; the support and sharing at the workshop; and of course (so important for me) – the accountability. I even lost 1/2 pound after coming back from my winter travels – and believe me, I did not track my food/liquor intake or even try to restrict myself while vacationing!
One of the best things about this weight loss is that already my blood pressure has come down significantly. I may soon have to adjust how I take my BP medication, and hopefully can get off it completely at some point.
Treated myself to a new water container at work when I noticed I was not drinking enough during the day. I saw this at the store and was drawn to it, like a magnet. I likes the SHINY. 🙂
The A-Z Blog Challenge is coming up at the beginning of April, and for the first time in 4 years, I won’t be participating. Because I’ll be travelling again (AGAIN!!!) in the middle of the month. This is turning out to be quite the year for me. So here’s what’s happening: my SIL and BIL have put their names in every year for the past 10 years, for the opportunity to buy passes to the Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta, Georgia. And you guessed it – this year they got notified their names were drawn. So guess who got invited to join them down there? That’s right. THIS GAL!
We’ll be staying in an “executive home” and meals and transportation to and from the course are included. I don’t have much more details than that, at this point. Except for knowing the dress code and rules for being a spectator (no cameras, cell phone, no electronics PERIOD). This last part has me a bit stressed. What is a blogger without her camera??? Speaking of …
I decided, after months of thinking about it, to treat myself to a new camera.
My new baby. With the video screen flipped up. Yet something else to learn how to work. Check out the size of this “getting-started” manual. I downloaded the “real” manual from ye olde Canon website. Oh yes, brain calisthenics for the win!
My previous camera is 5 years old. Which is like using a 5 year old phone or computer. Ancient technology. I’m looking forward to using the video function more and more. I may eventually post the odd video diary to YouTube if I feel confident enough to try out this vlogging thing. Speaking of YouTube…
Caitlin is an author and YouTuber, and the founder/leader (or at least one of them) of The Order of the Good Death – a death-positivity movement. I hope I haven’t lost you yet! She is a mortician and an advocate of helping families take back control of their loved one’s death and funeral rites, helping them to choose greener burials (usually much lower in cost than the traditional way too) and to say goodbye in a healthier, more personal and meaningful way. She is trying to change the dialogue around death and empower families to stand up to pushy funeral homes, and does it with short, fun videos that I find very entertaining and educational. Her channel has hours of content about death-related topics and rituals from around the world (Ask a Mortician! Iconic Corpses! Morbid Minutes!) that are addictive to watch!
Here’s a really good one about grief, to give you a sample. One that’s not quite so macabre – not that there is anything wrong with that! A-hem!!!
What she says really resonates with me because I consider myself a pretty death-positive person. I don’t shy away from the topic or people who are dying. (Let’s face it: we are all dying. Just some of us sooner than others).
In fact, with all the deaths I’ve had to experience in my family lately, I’ve found that I have kind of an aptitude for it, if that’s the right term. Someday I may volunteer in some capacity to help people with death. Like at a hospice.
And I feel really strongly about having a green burial. I sent Mizz J a random text this week telling her (again) of my wishes to be sewn into a biodegradable shroud and dumped, un-embalmed, into a hole in the ground, to nourish the soil and plant life. I even sent her a link to a green burial cemetery – you know – just in case something happens before I can arrange it for myself. As one does…
Thinking of and planning my death is not at all morbid, to me. My mom planned and paid for her funeral years in advance and it brought her great peace of mind. And made our job of caring for her in her illness and death so much easier at a difficult time. Because we knew exactly what she wanted done, at the end.
That’s it for me. Happily thinking about death at the start of this season of new life. 🙂 How are you all doing at this point in 2019? Please feel free to share in the comments.
Today I got onto my favourite local trail for the first time since coming back from my winter travels to Vancouver Island and Barbados. This is what I saw as I approached the entrance to the trail.
Hmmm. Wonder why this barrier was put up by the City?
Well, it didn’t take me long to figure out why the City was trying to discourage people from using the trail.
Ice, ice everywhere. Except on the boardwalks.Thick and bumpy. But still slippery!Slide marks from previous walkers…er…sliders. It quickly became apparent that sliding was the safest way to go, in most places.
Just how thick is this ice? Glad you asked. I found a place where there was a crack in the ice, just so I could show you.
Crack in the ice shows its depth.Close up of 2 inch thick ice coating the trail.
Ice was also found on the river, of course. Nice to observe, from a less slippery vantage point on the shore.
Weirdly beautiful ice formation on the river. Ice shelf near the bank of Chilligo Creek.
I didn’t fall. Didn’t break or strain anything. But also didn’t walk (er…slide) as far as I intended when I set out this morning. But it was worth it as I got quite close (for a change) to a couple of these guys:
Rock on,
The WB
p.s. this is my first post using the new block editor in WordPress. So far I really like it. Reminds me a bit of using MS Word, so somewhat familiar to me. However, I don’t like how my images are being compressed, but I’ll sort that out later…right now I have to figure out whether to start watching Drag Race Season 10 or American Gods Season 2 or (insert some other show that got released recently and I’ve already forgotten what it is). You know: Sunday evening priorities.
p.p.s. oh, and fingers crossed the email announcing this post gets sent out this time. Last post it didn’t work (2nd time this has happened to me) and I haven’t a clue as to why. #bloggerwoes
This post could also have been called: Beware of Falling Into Ruts.
Last weekend my pal Mizz K took me out for lunch and to play with makeup at Sephora and MAC – a highly enjoyable pastime, that we have enjoyed before.
I picked up some eyeshadow and lipstick that I didn’t need, but that made me happy. As I was checking out at Sephora, the girl behind the counter dropped a couple of lipstick samples into my bag.
Usually I get “anti-aging” product samples (unasked for) dropped in my bag, by the ever-so helpful beauticians (really? why can’t I get some fun stuff instead?) so this was very welcome.
When I got home I pulled the samples out and immediately judged that one had potential but the other had absolutely none.
Sorry about the mess. If I’d known I was going to write a blog post about this, I would’ve snapped a picture before I dug into the samples.
I don’t do orange. I feel at this age, I know my colours. I know what looks good on my body and my face, and browns and oranges are colours I avoid. I am a pink/plum/burgundy lipstick kind of gal. So immediately, I gravitated toward the colour on the right and dismissed the colour on the left.
Yep, that’s pretty damn orange.
However, some spirit of adventure momentarily took control of my senses and I opened the orang-y Dior Charm sample and applied it to my lips.
Mind. Blown.
Whaaaaa? I not only like this colour on me. I LOVE IT.
I don’t know if it’s because I am rocking the Barbados tan still or what. But this coral-y, orang-y, avoid-at-all-costs colour not only looks pinky-natural on me, I love what it does for my whole face.
I was so surprised by this, I didn’t trust my own eyes.
Wait, this can’t be right. I’m just imagining it. This isn’t my colour. It’s gotta be a trick of the light. HOW. CAN. THIS. BE. A. THING. Did I mention THIS IS NOT MY COLOUR? WHO AM I ANYMORE?!?!?!
I had to ask my friend – fashion historian and overall arbiter of good taste – Jonathan Walford, if the colour actually looked as good on me as I thought it did.
He said it did – looked very natural, he said. Well, OK then. Confirmed!
Coral lipstick – where have you been all my life?
So this begs the question: what else I am missing out on because I’ve become stuck in a rut or think I KNOW what to use and what to avoid?
I tell you, this experience has made me question a lot more stuff that I thought I knew for sure. Who knows what other surprises are in store for me!
Ooooh, the power of makeup to transform not only your outsides, but your insides!
I should write an advertisement. Dior makeup people – you know where to find me, right?
How about you? Ever had a moment where everything you thought you knew went straight out the window? Do tell.
