D is for Dairy Queen #AtoZChallenge

On April 4, 2018 By Widow BadassIn A2Z Challenge Post, Adventures in Food23 Comments

This post not sponsored by Dairy Queen, unfortunately.

I love Dairy Queen.

I come by my love of DQ soft-serve honestly. When my mother was pregnant with me, she craved Dairy Queen like nothing else on earth.

My dad tried hard to honour her cravings. She wanted DQ All. The. Time. Finally my exasperated father took a large cooking pot to the local Dairy Queen and asked the counterman to “fill ‘er up”. Can’t understand why I was only 6 lbs. when I was born near the end of July.

When I was a teenager, most warm summer nights would find me and my friends at some point sitting on the cement wall next to that same local DQ, sucking back shakes (always me, always vanilla) or Mr. Misty Slushes.

My son was born in August of the same year that the DQ Blizzard was ~~born~~ launched. (If that wasn’t a sign from the universe, I don’t know what is.) My lovely baby sister would bring me a Skor Blizzard every day that I was in the maternity ward. That was back in the days when you were expected to stay in hospital for a number of days after giving birth. I was there for 5 days. Do the math.

When I gave birth to my daughter my sister wasn’t around to bring me Blizzards. But a family friend worked in the hospital kitchen, and she added an ice cream sandwich to my tray for every meal. Which was super nice of her, but it was no Dairy Queen.

When they were much younger, I loved the infrequent opportunities to take my kids to DQ. On a scorching summer evening (when their ~~buzzkill~~ dad was not around to suck the joy outta life disapprove) I would drive us to DQ, where we would have Peanut Buster Parfaits instead of dinner, as a special treat. Because the peanuts make it worthy of meal status. Somehow. Work with me, people.

Nowadays I no longer prefer my DQ with a lot of add-ins and sugared-up, syrupy fanciness. My current favourite of All Things Dairy Queen is the humble chocolate dipped cone, size small. And DQ “season” (for me, anyways) is coming up soon.

Yeah, I know there is one in the mall, and it’s open year-round. But that’s not where I’ll go for my soft-serve when the temperatures rise.

This summer I’ll be heading back to that local, seasonally-run DQ that has been an ongoing part of my life, starting in-utero. It just reopened, for 2018. Exciting!!!

Do you DQ? What is your favourite DQ treat?

Rock on,

The WB

Can you guess my theme for this year’s A-Z Challenge? All of my A-Z posts this month will be tied into my theme, which is represented by the title of a song that was popular when I was a child. Can you figure it out as the days (and posts) go by? Leave your guesses (one per day only, please) in the comments. At the end of the challenge, I will reveal the theme. Have fun!

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C is for Corn on the Cob #AtoZChallenge

On April 3, 2018 By Widow BadassIn A2Z Challenge Post, Adventures in Food21 Comments

I grew up in a Dutch Canadian household, with my grandparents living in the other half of the big rambling farmhouse on the edge of town. My family brought with them a lot of Dutch traditions and ideas about food and cooking, one of which was that corn is for farm animals, ONLY.

Thankfully my parents were not so set in their ways as my grandparents, and opened their minds – and the cooking pot – to delicious Ontario sweet corn on the cob, dripping with butter and salt.

My mom and dad even became a bit of “corn gourmets” in their later years…only deigning to eat corn that was freshly picked. We’re talking less than an hour from the stalk…when they moved out to the countryside proper (and down the road from what became a favourite corn stand). In fact, the farmer they bought the corn from wouldn’t sell them corn that was more than 15 minutes off the stalk.

That corn never made it to the fridge. It was shucked and cooked immediately. In and out of the pot of boiling water in 3 minutes.

Is it any wonder then, that I’ve absorbed my late parents’ sweet corn snobbery?

The best fresh sweet corn is the stuff I can buy from the farmer on the way home from work – starting in late July – and have on the table within a half hour.

When I go to other peoples’ homes and they tell me they’re boiling the corn we’re having with our meal for 20+ minutes I want to weep. When I see that the corn they are serving came from the grocery store in a little styrofoam tray, and originated in the US, I want to scream. (But, being a good guest I do neither.)

I’ve met the couple in this video and they ARE sweet corn fanatics. They know to the hour when their corn is ready to be picked. In fact, their favourite variety has only an 18 hour picking window, according to Channing Strom.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VM38sojpG-E

Ignore the bit about 4 minutes. That is one minute too long, in my humble, corn-snobbish opinion.

How do you like your sweet corn?

Rock on,

The WB

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B is for Beach Days #AtoZChallenge

On April 2, 2018 By Widow BadassIn A2Z Challenge Post, Good Times13 Comments

It should be no surprise to anyone that reads this blog or knows me IRL, that I love being by the water. So much so, that I have assembled what I call my Beach Day Kit. Here it is, set up on the sand at Bayfield:

Sun shelter, chair, towel, book, Contigo mug filled with tea, mallet for pounding in stakes to secure shelter, cooler bag with snacks

Most of my Beach Day Kit lives in the back of my car from June to September, so I am always to ready for action should I wake up on a weekend morning and find that the beach is calling my name. I can be on the road in 15 minutes and at the beach before most people wake up. Even though my favourite “local” beach is a 1.5 hour drive from my house.

I can’t resist the call of the sand or the shore, no matter where I am in the world.

Wiggling my toes in the sand while waiting for the beachside Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros concert to begin. At Bloemendaal, in the Netherlands, in 2016.

I have to make at least one visit to the beach at Zandvoort every time I go to the Netherlands.

A reproduction of an old tourism poster adorns my bathroom door at home. Yes, I always heed the call of the mermaid beckoning me to the beach!

And should I even mention my now-annual winter vacation, which is nothing BUT beach days, Barbados style?

Barbados is behind me for this year (*sniffle*). Time to look forward to another summer of beach days, right here at home.

Will you heed the call of the beach this summer?

Rock on,

The WB

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A is for Art in the Outdoors

On April 1, 2018 By Widow BadassIn A2Z Challenge Post, Artistic Endeavours16 Comments

One of the things I am looking forward to when the weather gets better is doing AND seeing art outside. Also, taking photographs that I can later translate into a sketch or painting back in my laundry room/studio.

Last September (when summer weather actually, finally arrived here in Ontario), I came across this neat piece behind the Alton Mill Art Centre:

And I came across these wonderful pieces on a walk around Crawford Lake:

Temporary installation of art by an Indigenous artist. I thought I had taken a snap of the information regarding this artist but couldn’t find it on my phone.

Last summer I took many photos that I hoped to someday turn into paintings. Here is one I took last August, when I was visiting my sister in Kelowna:

Smoky sunset over Lake Okanagan, due to ongoing forest fires close by

This photo was the basis for a painting that I discussed in this post.

I am looking forward to more outdoor art adventures in the warm days to come!

Rock on,

The WB

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Changing Seasons for March 2018 #TheChangingSeasons

On March 30, 2018March 30, 2018 By Widow BadassIn Bruce Trail Adventure, See the Beauty, The Great Outdoors11 Comments

Spring is slow to come to my part of the world this year. But I’m not complaining as the winter was not as dire as predicted, and there is almost no snow left.

Most of March has been grey and cloudy, with either snow flurries (that disappeared almost as soon as they hit the ground) or cold rain coming down from the skies.

But last Sunday was a gloriously sunny, cloudless – albeit at times bitterly windy – day. Blaze and I had planned to hike Mount Nemo that day so we were happy with the forecast. Mizz J had to write a paper for school so she couldn’t join us, but her boyfriend Kevin asked to come along and we were happy to have his company.

Kevin enjoyed exploring the crevasses along the trail and finding caves.

I nervously stepped out on a ledge to take this shot of the jutting cliff edge.

Try to imagine how far I am leaning back to try and feel safer taking this shot! I mean, I was watching turkey vultures gliding the air currents BELOW me.

Just one of many stunning vistas from Mount Nemo

Joanne (Blaze) and I, as captured by Kevin. Nope, not a fright wig. Just my hair.

Close Up: Did I mention the fierce and bitter wind?

This bench on the trail (a big log, actually) provided by the club I belong to.

The Changing Seasons is a monthly challenge hosted by Su Leslie at Zimmerbitch.

Rock on,

The WB

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Theme Reveal With a Twist #AtoZChallenge

On March 24, 2018 By Widow BadassIn A2Z Challenge Post, Blogging12 Comments

I’ve been thinking a lot about my plan to have no plan and to be freewheelin’ the A-Z Challenge once again, for this year.

And about ultimately how this is going to be adding more stress to this challenge than necessary. And how I don’t need any MORE stress in my life than I currently have going on (*cough*still working for a living*cough*bad week*cough*).

And so I say unto ye: this bullet shall be dodged.

Oh yes! Brothers and sisters, I have seen the light – the theme-revealing, plan ahead-ing, less stress-inducing, editorial calendar-ing light!

Hallelujah!

And I also say unto ye: I am NOT going to reveal my theme NOW, OR at the beginning OR at any point throughout the challenge.

Because I want YOU to reveal my theme!

That’s right. I’m making a game of it.

As A-Z progresses in April, let me know in the comments what you think my theme is, as you read through my daily, alphabetically-inspired posts.

Here again, is the calendar for the challenge:

Rules: You are allowed one guess per day. And the guesses have to be posted on Ye Olde Blogge, as a comment. I’m not accepting any guesses made on Ye Olde Blogge’s Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram pages.

Make it easy on yourself – subscribe to Ye Olde Blogge (subscription box on right sidebar) and let the posts come to you every day via your Inbox. It’s super easy and efficient and I won’t spam you or use your information for nefarious purposes, ever! That’s a Badass™ promise.

I won’t be commenting one way or the other on the daily guesses, other than maybe to say thanks for the guess – so I don’t spoil things for anyone commenting later in the game.

After the challenge I will reveal my theme and sum up how people did. Who guessed it first, who next, ~~craziest~~ most interesting guesses etc., etc.

Here is a hint:

My theme is a song title and this song was popular when I was a kid.

I feel like I’ve already said too much. I’m excited to see how many of you can figure it out, and how soon!

Rock (and guess) on,

The WB

2018 Intentions – Spring Equinox Update

On March 21, 2018March 22, 2018 By Widow BadassIn Artistic Endeavours, Blogging, Goals & Dreams, Health Transformation, Mindfulness18 Comments

Yesterday being the first day of Spring, I took stock of where I was at with respect to the intentions I set at the Winter Solstice. Seemed like an appropriate date, after all.

This is where I initially put them, on Ye Olde Blogge: here

So here is where I am at, as of this week:

Blogging – 100% at posting at least once per week (Yay!). I am having slow but steady success at connecting with other like-minded bloggers/readers, which suits an introvert like me just fine. Quality over quantity, I say.

Reading – Thanks in no small part to 2 glorious weeks reading on the beach in Barbados (A book a day, people. A. Book. A. Day.), I am already at 30 books. My goal for this year is 50 books. Should be a slam-dunk. (I’m WidowBadass on GoodReads, in case you want to connect there.)

reading on the beach — Looking up from my day’s book. This year I burned through Canadian mystery author Louise Penny’s series on Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. Recommended.

Mindfulness – I’m not meditating as much as I think I should be/could be doing. Since my winter holiday, I have fallen off the daily meditation wagon. This will be corrected!

Financial Security – I have a goal for this year to pay down an additional 10% of my humongous demand loan, on top of my regularly scheduled payments towards it. As of this week, I am 27% of the way towards that 10% number! Which is right on track for this quarter – even a tick ahead! How am I achieving this money mastery, you may be asking? Well, let me tell ya! By logging all of my discretionary spending (to gain awareness and accountability), and by the old cowboy trick of doubling my money by folding it in half and sticking it back into my pocket instead of spending it. Oh ho ho. Also I gave up cable (I don’t watch enough TV to make it worthwhile) and I no longer go to the salon twice a month to get my (once acrylic) nails done. Yep. I am au naturel – a veritable woodland goddess. And I’m back to scrutinizing grocery store purchases instead of throwing whatever takes my fancy (looking at you, cherries in winter at $9.99 per pound!) into my cart. And I’m brown-bagging it almost daily. Like in the bad old days. Little savings that really add up. Every payday I go to the bank and make a lump sum payment on the demand loan – and that, my friends, is satisfying beyond belief because it goes directly against the principal.

Intuitive Processes – become proficient at Tarot. Like Mindfulness, I’ve let this go a bit since coming back from Barbados. I was working with the cards daily but then I stopped and can’t figure out why. Something else to improve upon.

Health – Oh boy, I have been doing a lot of thinking about this one. Also plenty of moving around (Yay!). I exceeded 10K steps most days despite all that ~~laying around like a beer drinking slug~~ reading I did in Barbados. My blogger friend Karen, of Profound Journey, made an excellent post about Intuitive Eating a few weeks back. I remembered that I used to own a copy of that book when it first came out. Since dieting has not worked for me (*cough*anybody*cough*), and I’ve been exemplifying the definition of insanity for many years, by doing the same thing – dieting – over and over again, and expecting a different result, I was moved to repurchase this book AND the workbook. I’m working through the exercises in the book and allowing my body to tell me what to eat and when to eat it. I can’t fail at this any worse than I have failed at dieting, I figure.

Elevenses — My body has been telling me I want this. I’ve rekindled a long-lost love for “elevenses” – specifically, hot milky tea (or coffee) with a couple of these (OK, OK…sometimes four) biscuits. Damn fine, I say. Which carbs-watching, grains-scoffing, dieting me would never have allowed myself to have. At least not without a shit-ton of guilt.

I’m also still doing the mindful yoga and the Jessica Smith YouTube videos. I’ve recently added her workouts with free weights and also some balance work. This may sound a bit strange, but I’ve always loved working out with weights. And like most things I enjoy, I rarely make time for them. WTF? Why??? See also meditation, and tarot, and…

Art – I have to mark myself as “needs improvement” for this intention, too. I even brought a small sketchbook and pencil with me to Barbados but never so much as doodled the whole 2 weeks I was on vacation. See “A. Book. A. Day.”, above.

So there it is. I’ve taken my inventory and given myself good marks for blogging, reading, financial security and physical activity. I need to step it up with respect to mindfulness, tarot and art. Health is a mixed bag. Good marks for exercising. Still weigh the same as I did at the Winter Solstice.

Next check-in: Summer Solstice.

Rock on,

The WB

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The Freewheelin’ Widow Badass

On March 15, 2018 By Widow BadassIn A2Z Challenge Post, Blogging22 Comments

Eek! It’s mid-March already. The A-Z Blogging Challenge for 2018 starts in a couple of weeks and I:

Haven’t signed up yet.
Haven’t come up with a theme.

I like this challenge because it:

Is a definite challenge to blog on the regular like this.
Makes the challenge even more of one by having to tie each post to a specific letter of the alphabet.
Invariably leads me to other A-Z participants who are an inspiration and joy to read and discover.
Makes me fall in love with ye olde blogge again, every damn time.

Here is what we are looking at, for this year:

Last year, I did well (in my inflated opinion) with a theme, for the first time. 2017 was my 3rd year participating, and the first with a definite theme in mind. Having a theme (Preparing for a Badass Retirement) was actually helpful as I could plan ahead a bit as to what I was going to blog about, for each letter of the alphabet as it came up during the challenge.

Because I had to figure out if it would even work, to make each letter be the start of a word related to my theme.

In advance.

So I could think about it, and jot down ideas and stuff.

As I am typing these very words I am pondering why I just can’t come up with 26 unrelated yet alphabetically driven post subjects ahead of time. You know, like REAL bloggers do? I believe it’s called an editorial calendar. Or so I’ve heard. Ahem!

I ~~am pretty sure I~~ AM going to sign up again. I’d hate to break the streak I’ve got going. Although I am theme-less, so far. And will probably stay that way.

Prior to 2017, I’ve freewheeled it. Yep. Just used the letter of the day and blasted out whatever was rolling around my monkey mind at the time, that tied into the letter. Twenty six days of a stream-of-alphabetized-consciousness. Hoo doggie. Doesn’t that sound a treat?

This year it looks like the Freewheelin’ Widow Badass will ride again! Oh goody, you are saying to yourself, remembering the drivel of previous offerings. Not that you actually remember because none of them were memorable, so there’s that tender mercy at least.

Come back in April and come back often! Around Chez Badass at A-Z Challenge Time, you never know what you are gonna get.

(Or, you could sign up for email notification of new posts! Check out the subscription box on the right sidebar of ye olde blogge. That way I show up at your house instead. Not at all as creepy as I just made it sound!)

Rock on,

The WB

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The Trip after THE TRIP: To the Hyde Collection

On March 11, 2018March 11, 2018 By Widow BadassIn Artistic Endeavours, Good Times, Roadtripping, See the Beauty9 Comments

Just before leaving for Barbados, I learned that a museum in upstate New York was hosting an exhibition of Alphonse Mucha’s works, until March 18. So I knew I had to work in a trip shortly after returning home. I asked my intrepid beach travel buddy, Mizz CJ, if she was interested in accompanying me, and got an affirmative once I mentioned the art museum was in the Hyde family home. I didn’t even have to mention the world class collection of art – I had her at “historic home”, apparently.

So, off I hop onto the interwebs, to find us accommodations:

Package offered at the Queensbury Hotel, in Glen Falls. Also: historic AF. Win-win.

After a scant week of work, I was off again for another 2 days – this time driving to Glens Falls, NY.

The weather gods were with us on this trip – no snow, sunny, clear dry streets and highways, and above freezing. We got to the hotel in time for happy hour.

House red in Fenimore’s Pub at the Queensbury – delicious. The hanger steak with parmesan frites I ordered from the pub wasn’t too shabby either!

Our room was newly renovated and overlooked the park. We really enjoyed our stay at the Queensbury and would come back.

Night view from our room. Pardon the reflection.

After a scrumptious breakfast the next morning (the pork sausage with sage – to die for), we made it to the Hyde Collection, nearby.

Entrance via the Education Wing and Exhibition space, attached to the former Hyde home.

I loved seeing the full sized Mucha posters, as they would have hung on the exterior walls in Paris, advertising Sarah Bernhardt’s latest plays. There were also some creatively framed pieces, and actual paintings and sketches, showing the range of Mucha’s talent.

The house itself was lovely and the art collection of the previous owners was displayed with their furnishings. And what a collection: Rubens, Rembrandt, Picasso, Degas, Renoir, Botticelli, El Greco, Seurat, Whistler, Homer…and they are still adding to it, with modern and contemporary artists.

The house is on an estate, along with 2 other homes that belonged to Mrs. Hyde’s sisters’ families. The plan is to eventually open all 3 homes up to the public and restore the gardens.

Behind the house still exists the original source of the family’s wealth – the pulp and paper mill.

Unfortunately I couldn’t take any pictures inside, but I did pick up a book on Mucha before we left to head home through the Adirondacks.

Lovely museum. I would definitely go back to it, and Glens Falls and surrounding area.

Now I am home to stay for a while, and settling back into domesticity. I used the self-clean feature on my oven for the first time ever today.

That white stuff is the ash left over after the oven cleaned itself.

I’ve never had a self-cleaning oven before. I am used to cleaning my oven the old-fashioned way – by moving to a new house and leaving the dirty one behind. 😉

I like this new way.

Rock on,

The WB

Year of the Dog?

On March 2, 2018 By Widow BadassIn Adventures with dogs, Goals & Dreams8 Comments

One of the thrills for me on my recent trip to Barbados was meeting and being greeted by a dog during my morning beach/boardwalk strolls.

I didn’t meet a lot of dogs on the island but there were 2 (accompanied by their owners) that I saw a few times in the early hours of the day. One was quite elderly and it was sad and painful to watch it hobble along the beach beside its ever watchful mistress.

I was thrilled beyond measure when this dog went out of its way to greet me one morning. It even pressed itself against my leg while I was petting it. Swoon!

This encounter flared up the pilot light of my dog-love furnace. So much so that I have started stalking area humane society adopt-a-dog pages, my thinking being that I could adopt an older dog NOW, that wouldn’t need so much care and training as a new puppy (my original “someday when I am retired” plan).

Unfortunately any suitable dogs I found (in terms of small size and being less allergenic i.e. non-shedding) were loaded with lots of baggage. There were 2 rescues from a puppy mill – neither were house-trained, or knew how to walk on a leash, and one was blind. The recommendations from the humane society were that these dogs needed to be brought into homes that already had a dog, to show them how to be a pet.

Then there was another little fellow, who was used to living in an apartment, whose owner passed away. He needed expensive daily medication to be administered and was prone to seizures. I thought yeah, there’s potential there…and then I saw that his adoption was pending. OK, moving on…

Moving on, there was nothing else that would have been suitable for my home and current lifestyle. Which I guess is for the best. I don’t have a fenced yard and I live downtown, in a second floor apartment.

I also have a jam-packed year in terms of work projects on my plate. Which means there will even more days when I have to leave early/work late, and come in on weekends to get caught up on regular work. Activities not conducive to pet ownership. Especially not pets that need extra care. Like rescues or a new puppy.

Yet, for a few brief moments, I thought this could be my Year of the Dog.

Oh, I’ll probably keep stalking those Humane Society web pages, but I doubt I’ll find that perfect low-maintenance, non-shedding little dog of my dreams. She already exists, but only in my dreams.

Yesterday was Lucy’s birthday. She would have been 18.