Author: Widow Badass

Packing in the Time of COVID-19

On By Widow BadassIn Artistic Endeavours, COVID-19, Hmmm?, Move to Vancouver Island54 Comments

(Apologies to the late Gabriel Garcia Marquez for riffing on his book title…)

My goodness, what a year this week has been, eh? Kudos to whoever came up with this witticism first; it wasn’t me. When I haven’t been glued to my tablet, obsessed with watching responses to the pandemic unfold, I have been keeping myself busy (and away from others – way to social distance, right?) by making more progress towards my relocation later this year, to Vancouver Island.

This past week I have bundled up my art supplies, an action that practically guarantees I will be imbued with the urge to create from here on out. I did this for a couple of reasons. First, no sorting required. It’s all coming with me. Second, I haven’t been doing much “arting” lately, and probably shouldn’t, as I have a household+ to sort through and dispose of/pack.

I already know I will be fishing a sketchbook out of one of these boxes soon. As predicted, I am now flooded with ideas of things I wish to draw and paint.

To elaborate on “household+”, last week I also went through the last remaining boxes of my mom’s stuff – mostly paperwork. In one of the boxes I found a manila envelope containing handmade cards my sisters and I had created and given to our parents over the years. Oh my, what a find and what a trip down memory lane! At least it would be, if I could even remember creating these childhood “masterpieces”. Many are unsigned, and all are undated unfortunately. So it’s hard in some cases to tell which sister did a particular card. And for privacy reasons, I won’t blog about any that aren’t mine. But let me tell you that some of these cards that my sisters made are quite funny. Here are some photos of one that is definitely my creation:

Front of card. So far, so good.
Apparently I was a pioneer in the adult colouring book craze! Who knew!?! Based on the clothing I drew I would say early ’70s. I would have been 11-12 years old.
I was also clearly a fan of how Archie Comics were drawn at that time, as you can see by the girls’ faces. Well, in the words of Picasso: Good artists borrow; great artists steal. HAH!

Also in terms of “household+”, I have to sort through the items of my late husband that survived The Great Purge Part 1. (I am now fully into Part 2). These things are all deep in the bowels of my building, in the room off of the furnace room affectionately referred to as the “Freddy Krueger Room”. Because it used to be so scary, being dark and dingy and filled to the ceiling with tottering piles of mouldering crap. Come to think of it, just about the whole building was like that a few short years ago. We’ve come a long way, baby! And I am making good progress there too, with weekly trips to Value Village as well as salvaging some old items in good shape to sell at a local antiques market.

Last week I reserved my container – to hold all my wordly goods that need to be sent to my new home. Which I don’t have yet. I also don’t have a firm moving date yet. (I can’t believe that I – the planning machine – am so fine with all this, but I am.) The company I am using – Cubeit – has been wonderful to deal with so far. We have a tentative date for drop-off of the container at my building, which I can move up or down as needed. And I can keep the container at their yard in Nanaimo, for as long as required. Nathan from Cubeit told me they understand how stressful moving can be, and are committed to make their part of the process as easy as possible on their clients. Perfect!

This is how I am keeping out of trouble while I am social distancing these days, doing my part to try to flatten the curve and protect the vulnerable. Truth be told, it is not all that different from my normal day-to-day. I tend to avoid large gatherings of people (live performances of my favourite bands excepted) at any given time. I shop when I know think the stores are least busy. I don’t go out to bars or nightclubs. I exercise at home or out in nature. As a card-carrying introvert, the bulk of my social interaction needs can be happily fulfilled without having to be in the physical presence of another human being. 😉

Thank you, Interwebs!

One thing that kinda worries me in this pandemic time is my cough. Thanks to a medication I take, I have a bit of a dry cough even on my best days. I don’t even notice it anymore, usually. On Friday morning (Early! And it was crowded already!) I was in the grocery store and I must have coughed because all of a sudden it seemed like everybody stopped to look at me. I need to wear a sign, maybe?

As much as I like being home, I do need to get out once in a wee while for some perishables.

So, that’s it for me for this week. How are you managing these interesting times we are living in?

Rock on,

The WB

Basic Hygiene? Apparently Not.

On By Widow BadassIn COVID-19, Hmmm?66 Comments

All this talk about the coronavirus COVID-19 has led to a lot of talk and memes and blogging…and a lot of us are just now figuring out that many people need to reminded of basic daily hygiene habits like washing your hands. With soap. And suddenly I am faced with a memory from way back in the early days of work life when I was astounded by a home I visited.

A colleague and I had been invited to a bridal shower for another worker and we were happy to attend. Well, OK happy might be too strong a word but we wanted to go and support this other woman at this special time in her life so off we went, together.

The house was in a nice neighbourhood and well kept, inside and out. Clean and tidy looking. Once we were settled in the charming sunroom where the shower was being held, I asked to use the washroom and was directed to it. Hey, it was a bit of a drive to get there, OK? When I finished peeing, I approached the sink and was confused by the lack of a bar or container of hand soap. Then I checked the cabinet under the sink. Nada. I even pulled back the shower curtain to see if there was a bar of soap, shampoo…ANYTHING…to use to wash my hands with. Nope.

This was pre-purse-sized hand sanitizer, too. We’re talking the 1980s.

OK, I said to myself after rinsing the best I could with plain water, they forgot to put back the hand soap after cleaning up. I’ll head to the kitchen – they have to have hand soap there, right? Says she who has hand soap AND hand lotion at every damn sink. Gentle Badassians, I think you know already that there was no hand soap there either. I ran into the hostess in the kitchen and, still naively believing at this point that it was all some crazy oversight, told her I couldn’t find any soap to wash my hands with and where could I find some?

I got a blank look and was then told there is no soap. Not even dish soap, apparently (I asked). Who lives like this?!?!?!?! No apology. No embarrassment at being caught with no soap. Nothing. There was an awkward silence. I kept waiting for her to go “Psych!!! Oh my gawd! You should have seen your face when I told you there was no soap! Here you go – all the soap you need!” I ended the silence finally, by muttering “Oh, OK.” And got the hell out of that kitchen.

I returned to the sun room feeling most uncomfortable (in no small part because I hadn’t washed my hands with soap) and sat again beside my friend, who was also a microbiologist – I knew she would grasp the gravity of the situation immediately. I leaned in to her and sotto voce, explained that there was no soap in this house, meaning at the very least no one washed their hands properly therefore don’t ingest anything and let’s find a way to get out of here ASAP.

I forget how we got out of there or even if we did get out of there early. This was also pre-cell phones so we couldn’t suddenly get a call or text that meant we just HAD TO LEAVE. But I do remember not eating or drinking a damn thing and feeling oh-so-dirty the whole time. It was an experience I will never forget.

I do believe that people should not live sterile, spotless lives, and they should let their kids run barefoot and play in the dirt and snuggle puppies and cute baby farm animals, and so on. Our immune systems need to be challenged and exposed to natural flora and fauna. But I am also a firm believer in proper hygiene and immunization. You may be tough as nails because you aren’t very clean, and expose yourself to human pathogens on the regular. But what about the rest of us, and those of us whose immune systems are not up to snuff, for whatever reason? Just wash your damn hands. With soap. Especially if you are preparing food for a crowd attending an event such as a bridal shower. Really, people!

Have you ever gone to someone’s home and not been able to wash your hands properly? Please reaffirm to me that this was a very isolated experience. I once went to a house where there was no toilet paper to be had (oh, brother – another story!) but at least there was soap in the bathroom.

Rock on,

The WB

March Update on WOTY – Alignment

On By Widow BadassIn Goals & Dreams, Hmmm?, Home Improvement, Retirement, WOTY50 Comments

Ugh. I continue to crawl back towards good health. I actually got outside yesterday (only 3rd time since I got home 11 days ago from Barbados) and was able to reach (and exceed) 10,000 steps for the first time since…uh, let’s see (checks journal)…FEBRUARY 22?! You know, getting ill every once in a while does have its advantage…you realize how amazing good health and full energy really is, and it reinforces how important it is to do the daily “maintenance” on your corporeal being to ensure more healthy days than not, going forward. Not that good health is ever guaranteed mind you (shit happens despite what WE want), but there is still plenty we CAN do to give us a fighting chance by making sure our bodies are fueled properly, rested adequately, and moved daily – all in the name of health. Good health is like a good relationship – it takes constant work and should not be taken for granted, especially as we age. Just some of the thoughts I’ve been having while being prostrated by this cold/flu thingy. Anywho…

I started drafting this post with the aim of publishing late January, but here we are. And not much has changed.

I’ve always leaned towards minimizing my environmental footprint. It’s just something that is important to me. Like working at keeping my personal good health, I want (in my own tiny way) to work towards the health of the planet. At the least: not damaging it by daily living anymore than I have to.

I have solar panels on my roof. I drive a plug-in hybrid car (my 3rd hybrid!) as minimally as possible. I support local business whenever I can and I walk to do errands most days. Recycling has been a passion project with me, from the beginning of it being offered in my community. I want to be buried au naturel in a biodegradable shroud in the ground, to nourish the vegetation growing above me. Etc.

Not exactly an eco-warrior but trying to do my bit…by bit.

My recycling centre. Organized according to my region’s specifics for recycling. Bins from IKEA.
Drone photo taken by the talented Mario Dabek, including a view of the snow-covered solar panels on the roof of my building (the corner one, with the clock).

Now that I’m retired though, I have the time and energy (OK – not right now for the energy, but soon!) to kick it up a notch. To come more into ALIGNMENT – my Word of the Year (WOTY) – with my values.

As I need to replace cleaning and personal care products, I am experimenting with more “natural”, less harmful and wasteful products. Actually, I have been using these types of options for years already: Before my 2003 hysterectomy I used a Diva cup. I use olive oil to cleanse my face at night (been doing this for 10+ years). I’ve been making my own body wash for the shower for at least 5 years. [Recipe: 1 part castile soap; 1 part liquid honey; 1 part olive oil. Mix together. That’s it!]

I’ve used Dr. Bronner’s castile soap for years but Sal Suds is new to me. So far, I love it!

Last month I made my own bathroom (with tea tree essential oil) and kitchen (with orange essential oil) cleaning sprays with Sal Suds and I am so impressed. I just now realized that my commercial bathroom cleaner was leaving a film that attracted dirt to my sink. I would clean my sink and by next use it was dull and spotted again. Not so with my Sal Suds mixture. Shiny, shiny! Even days later. And my black glass stove top? Gleaming! At pennies per liter spray bottle, I’m saving money too. WIN! I plan on using Sal Suds for more things as I run out of my current products. Supposed to be good for laundry too. Speaking of…

As I ran out of fabric softener, I replaced it with wool dryer balls instead (thank you Jeanette and Red Maple Homestead!). And they are working just fine! I don’t put a lot of wash in the dryer – I prefer to hang up to dry, whenever possible – but for what I do, it comes out nice and soft.

I’m out of plastic and foil wrap, and I have a replacement (along with the beeswax wraps I got from Red Maple). Behold:

Trying out these silicone lids, from Indigo.
Silicone lid in action. So far, so good!

I also found this cute little cup for car travel, while browsing at Indigo. I have numerous metal containers but I find them a bit awkward while driving. This one has a straw, making it easier for me to sip water from it while on the move.

Silicone cup for car and travel

And if you read my last post, you know by now that I have a mania for packing minimally and light. So the collapsible aspect of this cup delighted me thoroughly.

Collapsed silicone cup

And, to wrap up this post, I am rethinking how I purchase clothing. Being retired now, my wardrobe needs are changing along with everything else. “Business casual” is now my “dressy”…hah! During a walk to do errands, I made a stop at Sail, an outdoor gear store near me. Just to browse, ya know? Well…

Last year I had picked up this t-shirt that I had just fallen in love with, at Sail.

The shirt that started it all. Change IS good, yeah! And purple, with a dragonfly image to boot. How could it not come home with me? 😉

It was $35, which is pretty pricey for a t-shirt, IMHO. I am used to picking up plain t-shirts for $10 at Joe Fresh. But then I got to thinking. Does my Joe Fresh t-shirt really cost only $10? I doubt I could sew one for $10. Hmmmm. And I don’t take as good care of my $10 t-shirts as I do my Life Is Good one, let me tell you that! At $10, if one gets stained, out it goes (or gets relegated to the chore/paint drawer) and I buy a replacement. My $35 shirt though? I willingly invest hours applying Oxi-clean (made into a paste) to get that damn stain out.

Anywho, I found 2 more Life Is Good shirts while browsing on this trip, and it got me to thinking about my clothing choices, the real cost of things, and so on and so on, down the rabbit hole of consumerism. After some mulling, I did end up buying them. My thinking is that I would rather have less clothes that I value more, and to take care of them better. And Life Is Good seems like a good company to support.

New Life Is Good t-shirts. Yes, I hang my t-shirts in the closet. Less wrinkly that way.

Going forward in 2020 and my new, retired life, these are some of the ways I am coming more into alignment with, and expressing my values. I’m going to explore this further. I would like to break my paper towel addiction for one, and start using cloth alternatives instead.

After my recent illness though, I don’t see me eliminating tissues and replacing them with hankies. There are not enough hankies in the world to keep up with the snot factory I have been of late. 😉

Baby steps.

How about you? Are you making changes in your life in alignment with your values? Do tell.

Rock your crunchy-granola self on,

The WB

Two Weeks in Barbados With Only an Underseat Carry-On Bag

On By Widow BadassIn Badassery, Travel Badassery55 Comments

Well, I’m still feeling tough with this cold. A full week after coming back to Canada and about 10 days in since I started feeling symptoms. Enough already! I am becoming so weak from inactivity that I am forcing myself now to log more steps and do more things, no matter how tired I get. Yesterday I pushed myself hit to 5,000 steps (usual for me is 10-15K per day), and I finally started doing my vacation laundry. Those 2 things exhausted me. I have decided that tomorrow I resume my normal life no matter what. This is my last “sick day”. Wish me luck. Anyway…

People are mostly surprised when I tell them I only take carry-on luggage for my annual 2 week vacation in the tropics. I don’t get it because really, how many clothes do you need when it’s 28 degrees Celsius and you’re on the beach for 6-8 hrs/day?

When I worked, I only took a carry-on bag when I had to fly anywhere for business. Work travel was stressful enough without having to wait at the luggage carousel, hoping that your bag shows up.

But I am also a go-with-the-flow kinda person, so if my travel buddy is checking luggage, I’ll probably do the same.

My first trip with CJ to Barbados, I assumed she would be checking a bag as most people do. I will never underestimate her again! Imagine my shock when she showed me the tiny pink bag that she shoved under the seat ahead of her, that contained all her worldly goods for our vacay. Mind blown! She was definitely the Badass Boss of that trip. Meanwhile, I had actually checked my bag for a change, figuring “might as well – no doubt she will.” WRONG. I did not like keeping her waiting as I was impatiently scanning the carousel for my bag to show up. And wouldn’t you know, my bag was the absolute last to be off-loaded after we arrived on the island! I confess I had visions of having to buy myself everything due to my luggage being lost. Never again.

I have been using the typical carry-on size luggage for this vacation ever since – the type that gets stowed in the overhead bin. However, these winter get-away flights are typically very full and sometimes it’s hard to find room above your seat due to inconsiderate souls putting more stuff than their regulation-size carry-on in those compartments. Like their winter gear. So I started looking for something even smaller. And because I love the challenge of seeing how little I can actually pack and still have a great vacation. Enter the underseat carry-on bag.

Left: my regulation-size carry-on bag. Which looks ginormous compared to… Right: my new underseat carry-on bag. CJ was so tickled by it that she bought the same one as me, but in a different colour.
This Travelon bag comes with a matching small duffel bag. Did not use the duffel on this trip to Barbados but did use it on my last trip to Vancouver Island. Because I needed to pack more and bulkier clothes, natch.
Arriving in our room at the hotel with all of my luggage 🙂 Including the travel mascot (Spot!) and new luggage tag (with attitude!) as part of the retirement gift package from my work buddies.
What was inside my little purple bag, clockwise left to right: hat, bag containing cotton swabs, clothes pins and towel clips, snorkel and mask, bar of laundry soap, water socks, pink bag containing cables and chargers for electronics, liquids, non-liquid toiletries, beach bag, iPad Pro, sunglasses, spare plastic storage bags, GoPro camera, cell phone, assorted toiletries and meds, compression sacks full of clothes, sandals. Still in bag: wipes for electronics and cameras, some tea bags. Ignore the cell phone – was not in the carry-on.

What did I pack for clothes, you may be wondering? Here’s a list:

  • 1 quick dry underwear (I was wearing the only other pair)
  • 2 two-piece bathing suits
  • 1 Eddie Bauer travel skort
  • 1 tank top
  • 1 beach cover-up (Land’s End) that can also double as a housecoat or even a dress
  • 1 bikini top that also did double duty as a bra
  • 1 pair summer-weight pajamas

For the flight down (and back) I wore a pair of light-weight travel pants from Eddie Bauer that could be rolled up and fixed to become capri-length (thanks again to my Badass Boss travel buddy for twigging me onto this and the Eddie Bauer travel skort!), my only other tank top over a stick-on bra, a rash guard that doubles as a full-zip hoodie/jacket, a scarf, my Sash bag (containing all my $$, cell phone, air pods, Canon G7X camera and ID), and a light puffy jacket. With a pair of Vans on my feet. That outfit kept me comfortable enough in either of the climates I was travelling in.

While I was in Barbados I fell in love with a simple dress I saw in the hotel gift shop. I tried it on and couldn’t resist it.

My $16USD wonder of a dress. So floaty and comfortable!

Now I not only had to fit everything I brought to Barbados back into my bag but also this dress. What was I thinking?

How am I going to manage to get all of this stuff back into the bag?
Done! Thank you compression sacks!

Things to note: I did hand-wash some items every day during the trip (hence the laundry soap and the clothes pins). If that takes away from your vacation experience, this type of travel is not for you. It doesn’t bother us. We buy a tube of body lotion to share once we are at our destination (along with some grocery items for our room). I tried solid shampoo and conditioner bars this trip. They were OK, but I think going forward I am fine with whatever toiletries the room provides.

Other things I learned this trip: I much preferred one bathing outfit to the other and wore it almost exclusively. It was one I put together from a swim top I picked up at WalMart, paired with a “swimshort” from Land’s End. I bought a pair of these to test drive on the vacation and I am a convert! I put them on first thing in the morning with a tank top (and bikini top as bra) for my morning walks, and then swapped the tank/bikini top out for the swim top after breakfast, and I was set for the day – until it was time to shower and dress for evening. Easy peasy. Clothes that do double duty make this kind of ultra-light packing work! Another eye-opener: I could blog easily from my new iPad Pro, meaning I could leave the bigger laptop at home. This is old news to some of you, I know – but it was my first-time using an iPad this way, and I was chuffed.

I hope this post was entertaining at least, if not helpful. For me the best vacation is the one with less hassle. And less stuff to lug around = less hassle in my books.

Rock on,

The WB

P.S. I did find room in the overheard compartment for my bag, during this trip. But I knew I could stuff it under the seat ahead of me if I had to – and that, my friends, is EVERYTHING.

Barbados 2020 Recap

On By Widow BadassIn Good Times, See the Beauty, The Great Outdoors63 Comments
The snorkelling Widow Badass. Taken with my GoPro Hero 5 camera.

I’ve been back home now for 3 days and am totally undone by a horrific cold I picked up in Barbados, thanks to my room-mate, who got it thanks to her grand-niece (who is awfully cute but still deserves the nick-name of Plague Child, IMHO). Feel free to indulge any feelings of schadenfreude here, if you so desire. I’ll wait. 😉

Since I am too ill to mix and mingle with anyone now that I am back home, I am putting together this contagion-free blog post instead.

Seriously, this is one hell of a virus. I was kinda worried they were going to quarantine me at the airport, with suspected coronavirus!

This trip marks 4 years now, of coming to Barbados with my friend CJ, and staying at the same hotel (Coconut Court Beach Hotel), and we are still discovering new things to see and do every trip. One of our discoveries this trip included a wonderful dinner at the hospitality and culinary school in the Pommarine Hotel just 15 minutes walk from our place. We would definitely go back, having enjoyed a delightful 3 course meal for only 38 Barbadian dollars (~19 USD).

Another discovery was the half-day Garrison tour we took with this guy:

Peter, tour guide extraordinaire! He makes history not only come alive, but hella fun too.

We visited two forts, an armoury, re-visited George Washington House (and still learned stuff), and saw the changing of the guard in front of the Barbados Legion.

Changing of the Guard
Cannon overlooking beautiful Carlisle Bay
New this year: We had a lovely friend join us every time we partook of the poolside BBQ dinner (yum!) at the hotel.

But for me, the absolute highlight was coming across some newly-hatched sea turtles making their way to the ocean, on one of my morning walks.

Squee!!! I’ve walked the beach every morning of my annual vacation for 4 years, hoping to see just this very thing.
I stayed to watch every last one of these babies get swept away in the surf.

Most days were spent doing a whole lot of glorious nothing. If you call walking the board walk and the beach, relaxing in the shade, swimming and snorkelling in the warm sea, and reading e-books doing nothing. Ahhh…the life.

Does this woman look stressed to you?
Short video of the amazing fish I see everyday. Taken with my GoPro Hero 5.
Loving my water socks (new to this trip). No more rock-shredded feet! Photo taken with GoPro hero 5 set to wide -angle.

Of course it was of the utmost importance to catch as many sunrises and sunsets as possible.

Sunrise
Sunset
Sunset and sangria (a perfect combo, no?) at Champers Restaurant
Colourful sea and sunset, taken at Champers
Dramatic Sunrise
Picture perfect sunset. Low tide.
And let’s not forget switching out sunrise boardwalk forays with observing the race horses getting their morning sea bath. At Pebble Beach.

There’s always something to learn while in Barbados. Here are some tidbits:

Island wisdom
More island wisdom
The last of my footsteps in Barbadian sand for this year.
Cheers to another successful visit to Barbados! Photo taken by CJ

Rock on,

The WB

A Visit to Red Maple Homestead

On By Widow BadassIn Adventures in Retirement, Badassery, Good Times37 Comments
barn cat
Barn cat taking shelter under the sheep milking stand

One of the nice things about working in a leadership position is you sometimes get to choose and build your team. And every once in a while you get someone applying for a position that you know immediately not only has the potential to be a great fit, but also a great friend. And so you hire her!

Jeanette and I met back in the early 00’s (I think?) when I was working at a large lab in Kitchener. She was instrumental in helping me implement the quality management system at that place. This transplant from South Africa with the no-nonsense attitude and the easy laugh made this tough job much more bearable. Even after we both went our separate ways to other careers, we still managed to keep in touch – mostly through social media but occasionally with an IRL meetup.

When last I saw Jeanette, she and her family were living in a beautiful backsplit in Kitchener, and she was working as a Six-Sigma Black Belt for a very large corporation, and baking and decorating gorgeous cakes in her “spare” time. Impressive!

Then, a few years back I noticed a change in her Facebook posts…it looked like she had moved and become a…farmer? I knew her corporation has closed the large local plant where Jeanette was based out of, but she was sent all over the country to work and seldom there, so I didn’t think much of it. Little did I know that Jeanette has used that closure as a decision point to springboard into a new life that was better in tune with her and her husband’s values. Thus, Red Maple Homestead was born. I was and am impressed – she is actually living my hippy-dippy dream, in harmony and alignment (my WOTY!) with nature and the land, and in the process of creating a bio-diverse, sustainable homestead.

In addition to keeping various farm animals and also bees, Jeanette grows and cans a lot of her family’s food. She estimates she has enough food stored in her pantry to keep them going for at least 2 years. If the apocalypse happens, I know whose doorstep I will be landing on. 😉

We had been making plans for a couple of years now, to have me come up to the farm but they had never worked out. Now here I was freshly retired, with much more time to coordinate a visit. So this past Monday (a gorgeous sunny day for a change), I hopped in the car and headed north to Jeanette’s – about an hour and half drive from my door.

We had a great catch-up, and fell back into our friendship at her bright and sunny kitchen table like the years apart never happened. After lunch it was time to tour the farm.

First up, one of 2 flocks of chickens at the homestead. These lovely birds are out and about, enjoying the nice weather along with Jeanette and me and the wool sheep and the dogs.
The beautiful Phoebe, who provides some of the wool for Jeanette’s spinning and weaving. I think she is an Icelandic sheep but don’t quote me on this. 🙂
Jeanette, giving some sheep the LOVE. Two of these ladies are quite pregnant but decided to hang on to their babies instead of giving me some lambs to photograph, much to our consternation. Next visit!
Fuzzy, a newly “de-fuzzed” Angora rabbit whose additional job is to be a baby daddy to more of the same. A real sweetheart and oh-so soft.
Cute little quail. I could watch and listen to these guys all day.
Some of the other flock, enticed outside of the coop by some grains.

After meeting all of Jeanette’s “employees” and a walk around the property where we discussed future plans for the homestead, it was back inside for a slice of pie and a tour of her passion project – spinning and weaving!

A single raw fleece, from one of the “employees”. 🙂 Not from a wool sheep, but from a meat sheep – also can be spun into yarn.
Close up of the springy fleece. Wool is such an amazing natural fibre.
Jeanette handwashed a little piece of the raw wool, to show me its potential. Beautiful and so soft!
Bats of washed and carded wool, reading for spinning. Is that some of Phoebe’s wool I see?
One of several spinning wheels in Jeanette’s large, warm and welcoming family/craft room.
Full bobbins of newly spun yarn.
Skein of merino yarn spun by Jeanette. Not from her sheep though – apparently merino sheep don’t do well in our cold winters.
Two of Jeanette’s 4 looms. She also has 2 knitting machines. Truly a passion!
The other 2 looms. Besides wool rugs, there are also cotton tea towels and other textile projects on the looms for Jeanette and now her daughter to work on. (Clearly the weaving bug is contagious – hehehe!)
A sampler Jeanette made in a weaving course she took. Look at the variety of patterns that can be created. I don’t think one could ever get bored.

By the end of this lovely tour and primer on spinning and weaving of yarn, I was itching to pick up my needles and get to work on some of my own wool stash, back at home. Of course, I think we could all predict this was gonna happen:

My haul from Red Maple Homestead, including a skein of Jeanette’s beautiful hand-dyed wool yarn for a future project!

What a wonderful day spent in the company of my friend! I’m looking so forward to coming back post-Barbados, and before I leave for the west coast. Jeanette and I have already made plans for my return visit, including a trip to some local businesses such as the Mennonite bakery down the road. Yes!

This trip checked so many boxes for me: meeting up with and supporting a friend, crafting, cute animals, beautiful countryside, and sustainability. And the chance to support an artisan and small business whose values align (that word, again!) with mine. Why did it take me so long to get up to Red Maple Homestead?!?!

Learn from my poor example and be sure to make the time to support your friends and small businesses and….

Rock on,

The WB

All Day I Dream About Shavasana

On By Widow BadassIn Adventures in Retirement, Retirement, Yoga51 Comments

When I was a young teenager, yoga was nothing like it is now. I mean, the poses were the same but that’s about it. Yoga was this freaky foreign exotic “thing” that hippies did and no one else really knew anything about it. Yogurt (yoga/yogurt – work with me, people) was like that too. Unless you had immigrant parents like I did, and then it was something that was always in your fridge much to your friends’ disgust. Don’t even get me started on kale – another staple at my house and none of my friends’ during the 1970s. I was eating kale and yogurt decades before they were cool. If I don’t live to be 100, I’ll be pissed. But I digress…

When I was a young teenager, I saw a hand-lettered sign outside a church that offered free yoga in the basement. I don’t know how I knew what yoga even was as there was no internet in those days and I lived in a small, conservative southern Ontario town. How did people learn anything back then? I was THERE, back then, and even I can’t figure it out now! I probably read about it or saw it on the news as I was very into counter-culture from a young age and trying desperately to catch onto the tail-end of hippie-dom – I felt cheated by being born just a tad too late to partake in the full glory of it all. Anywho…there I go again, digressing...me and a couple of friends did end up going to the church basement to check out the yoga class being offered.

So, let me set the scene. There is a group of us in this dingy church basement – people are in a variety of outfits. Some of us are in exercise “leotards” – plain black with tights. Some of us are in t-shirts and shorts or sweatpants. We are all shoeless. I forget what the teacher was wearing or anything else about them – I think the teacher was female and youngish but don’t quote me.

Exercise wear – pre-Aerobics trend

There are no yoga mats. We are on the bare floor. There are no yoga blocks, yoga towels, yoga bands, yoga water bottles. No yoga clothes or gear…you get the picture. The instructor leads us through an hour of poses (asanas). There is a shavasana meditation at the end. Mind-blowing! Then we go home. There is no expectation of money changing hands for either party. As I recall, back then it was JUST. NOT. DONE. Yoga instruction was supposed to be freely given. No one taught yoga for the dollahz. There was no yoga “industry” as yet. It was just this weird kind of spiritual-y exercise that almost no one knew about (in my little corner of the world, that is) and I loved it.

A few months later my mom gifted me a little paperback yoga instruction book, written by an Indian lady and on every page was a picture of her (in her leotard) in a new pose with accompanying text on what it did for your body and your health. I used to have the book next to me on the floor of our family room as I tried to enact the asanas on my own, after the church basement yoga sessions had ended. I think by this time there was also a yoga show on American public television, but our house got 2 channels pre-cable so I only found out about it years later.

Then “Aerobics” hit, and I found a new love. I even participated in aerobi-thons, jumping around for hours to raise money for some cause or another. Ahh, the 80s! Scrunchies and leg warmers and neon and slouch-socks. Good times, good times. And leotards that were high-cut and anything but plain black.

I had a standing date with this lady almost every day when my kids were wee and still napping. One of Kathy Smith’s many videos was always cued up in my VCR. I credit aerobics with keeping me some semblance of sane during the demanding early years of motherhood.

I think yoga started being an “industry” around the 90s…I was busy with 2 little kids then on top of working, so most of the late 80s to mid 90s is a bit of a blur to me. But when I could raise my head up again, I noticed there were yoga classes being offered at the community centre and after-hours in school gyms and I started going to these. Still no yoga mats; we used exercise mats instead. No yoga clothes, but our aerobics gear worked well for this. And, it was no longer free. But pretty reasonable, as yet.

I think around 2010-ish our little village got an actual yoga studio – I had been taking classes at the rec centre with this instructor and he had become so popular that it was the next logical step for him to have his own place. Now the classes were getting crowded and pricey – not that I begrudge Mike the money – the studio was/is beautiful and the instruction was/is first-rate. But I couldn’t afford the time or $$ to go more than once per week, and his class schedule and mine didn’t always work out.

I still signed up for yoga sessions from time to time with some very good instructors at my local rec centre, but once a week just wasn’t enough for me and I dreamed of being able to develop a regular and more frequent practice. I bought many yoga DVDs to do at home but they didn’t quite satisfy – either the instruction was lacking or the poses felt rushed or it was beyond my current level. And the background music usually sucked. “When I retire”, I would say, “then I will be able to do more yoga, somehow and somewhere.”

So here I am retired for almost a full month and I am happy to report that I have been successful in starting a regular yoga practice – at home! And boy, do I need it! I have a long way to go to regaining my former state of flexibility, if that is even possible.

Maybe by the time I am 101 years old like yoga master Tao Porchon-Lynch I will be able to perform at least some of her moves. I can dream, can’t I? Is that a bath mat???

I’m so happy that I’ve found my dream instructor, on YouTube – believe it or not! Adriene Mishler as a yoga instructor is absolutely top notch, in my opinion. Yoga with Adriene is a popular website and channel (6 million subscribers, including moi!) with loads of free yoga videos of varying lengths and levels. For me, Yoga with Adriene is like stepping back in time to the early 70s, when yoga was free and yoga teachers seemed to be on a holy mission just to get yoga “out there” to the North American masses.

I’ve started with her beginner videos – going back to the basics with a beginner’s (yet again!) mind – as I begin treating my formerly desk-bound self to some full body stretching and mindful posing.

I’ve made it a lovely ritual – this daily yoga practice of mine – I light candles, put a heavenly scent in my diffuser, and (thanks to my daughter’s recommendation) I cue up DJ Taz Rashid on Ye Olde Spotify, to be the background accompaniment to Adriene’s calming and knowledgeable instruction as I prepare to meet myself on the mat.

And always, afterwards: a lovely bit of shavasana at the end of it all.

ADIDAS – All Day I Dream About Shavasana 😉

Do you yoga?

Namaste and rock on,

The WB

The View From My Window…

On By Widow BadassIn Bruce Trail Adventure, Home Improvement, Retirement, See the Beauty, The Great Outdoors35 Comments

…is pretty bleak, or should I say pretty YET bleak today.

Pardon the weirdness caused by my window screen but the journal prompt did say view from the window, which I didn’t feel like opening and removing said screen. Anywho, you get the general idea…

If I was still working, I’d be very unhappy with January in Southern Ontario, thus far in 2020. For the past 3 weekends, every Saturday has been some kind of weather event – ice storm, snow storm, rain/freezing rain, more snow – it’s like someone has a hate on for Saturdays!

However, I am not working (and still giddy about this!) – which means every day is Saturday and I can get out for a walk or hike just about any time I want. Except for actual Saturday, according to the January weather gods.

My blogging and IRL friend Joanne and I have come up with a schedule of Wednesday hikes and so far the weather has cooperated. Two hump day hikes under our belts so far, and hopefully 2 more before we fly off to our separate adventures in February. Here’s some views I wish I had from my window, taken from this past Hump Day Hike:

Winter sun peeking through the bare trees at Limehouse Conservation Area.
Stream at Limehouse Conservation Area

See more pretty views at Joanne’s blog – Following a Bold Plan.

When not gazing out my window or getting outside for a walk or hike, I find myself doing a lot of puttering around the house. Which is lovely. I am a huge fan of puttering. However it can seem like I am not getting much done because I flit from task to task, leaving most things in a state of progress rather than working any particular task to completion (like I was more inclined to do when I was still working). I think this is because I am revelling in all of my newfound time. And truth be told, it’s kinda bugging me. So I came up with a game plan for today, to see if I can account for my time a bit better. Behold the task list:

To Do list in my journal for today: to keep me on track: focused on certain tasks, and with less flitting about. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing but you know…in moderation!

So far I have shredded some papers in what used to be my office, worked on ye olde blogge, yoga-ed, and did 3 loads of laundry. My slow-cooked chicken carcass broth will be done soon and it will become the base for both a soup and a curry later on today. I also flitted departed from my task list to make my own less toxic household cleaner and used it to clean up my toilet and sink (more about this on another post!).

What’s left? I plan on playing with my GoPro, to relearn how to use it before I leave for Barbados in a couple of weeks. And since the January weather gods have relented and it seems not too terrible today, I am going to venture out for a walk to stretch my legs.

Bleak or not, the view from my window is calling to me.

Hope your Saturday is going well! How productive are you inclined to be today?

Rock on,

The WB