Stars and Sea Stars – A West Coast Experience Part One: How Did I End Up Here?

On October 29, 2024October 27, 2024 By Widow BadassIn Adventures in Retirement, Bamfield, Goals & Dreams, Good Times, Roadtripping, Sea Kayaking, See the Beauty, The Great Outdoors, Travel Badassery30 Comments

How indeed? Literally and figuratively. After all, I have never gone away on a experiential vacation like this alone before – I’ve always had a friend (or two) to join me. See here and here for my last one, with my friends Joanne and Judith.

It started with this book….no wait…it actually started waaaaay back in my ocean-deprived childhood in southern Ontario. When I would read picture books about exploring the tidal pools of the sea shore, and the gorgeous, strange (to me) sea life to be found in and around those waters. That led to me trying to replicate the experience in the many lakes and rivers in my home province. It wasn’t summer unless I was in the water somewhere, exploring the shoreline with my kiddie-version mask, snorkel and fins. Mom had presciently signed me (and later my sisters) into swim lessons as early as humanly possible, so she could rest easy while I disappeared into the water for hours on end, only to come back ashore when my stomach begged for food.

Now that I’ve gotten settled on Vancouver Island I’ve been thinking about how to explore the rich (and cold) ocean waters of my new home, safely and year-round. Snorkelling in Barbados is great fun, but what about the other 50-ish weeks of the year, hmmm?

As I was saying, earlier this year I came across this book one day at my local grocery store:

Can you hear the choir of angels singing? I can.

If you are at all interested in exploring the rich waters surrounding Vancouver Island without having to invest in uber-spendy scuba lessons and gear, this is THE BOOK you need. Sara covers gear, safety and destinations around the island in a way that is easy for even a relative beginner to this type of snorkelling like me to understand.

In the summer (I think), I came across a Facebook page in my online travels, called Snorkellers of BC and immediately signed up. I’d been ~~living vicariously through~~ enjoying seeing what people were posting about locations and their underwater finds. I’d done a few snorkels with the grandkids at local beaches and a river by this point, but none of the locations from the book as my garden chores (amongst other things) were keeping me ashore. Note to self: design Garden 2025 to be better able to withstand my absences!

Then I saw a fabulous post – loaded with stunning underwater pictures of marine life – from someone who was staying at a place called Outer Shores Lodge, in Bamfield. I googled Outer Shores Lodge so fast I didn’t even register that the poster was THE Sara Ellison until much, much later. And that is when I came across the description of the upcoming Stars and Sea Stars featured lodge stay, and I was hooked! Snorkelling AND learning about the night sky?!? Yes, please!

After a few email conversations with the lodge’s very personable owner and host, Scott Wallace, I was booked. And counting the days until my departure in early October. I had decided that this trip was going to be my 65th birthday gift to myself – after all, it is kind of a momentous birthday, isn’t it? 😉

The drive from Port Alberni to Bamfield was pretty spectacular, and I only came across a couple of other vehicles on my journey along this newly-paved logging access road. I felt like I had it almost entirely to myself. No cell service, and my GPS had no idea this road existed… but it was well-marked and the day was fine so I wasn’t worried. Only a short couple of weeks later during an atmospheric river event, 2 people lost their lives on this road when they were swept (in their vehicles) into the then-raging Sarita River – a sombre reminder to respect the weather because Mother Nature ultimately rules, especially on the remote areas of this land.

View of the Alberni Inlet from the Bamfield Road.

After a relaxing 90 minute drive (3 hrs in total from my house), I arrived in East Bamfield and brought my luggage and gear to the dock, as instructed. Here I met most of the other guests (aka my new best friends!) for this stay, as we awaited Scott’s arrival with the Zodiac, to take us to the lodge. You might notice in these posts that I tried to take pictures that didn’t include my fellow guests whenever possible as I didn’t want to encroach on anyone’s right to privacy or make people feel otherwise uncomfortable and I wanted to use the photos for my blog later, natch!

Bamfield Map, at the dock. The lodge is located at the the tip and left side of Aguilar Point.

Captain Scott pointing out West Bamfield as we head to the West Bamfield dock and then the short walk to Outer Shores Lodge.

My first view of my home for the next 4 nights.

I was paired with a very lovely lady from Chemainus as my roomie for our stay. Our room was large and consisted of 2 parts. Upon entering the room, there were twin beds in a little nook directly across from our bathroom.

Dark and cozy sleeping nook. The beds and bedding were top quality.

Well-appointed with heavenly-smelling soap, shampoo and conditioner from Saltspring Island Soap Company. Plenty of hot water too!

A step up from the sleeping nook led to this amazing area of our room!

My roomie decided she wanted to sleep in one of the bunks (Can you blame her? They are magical!), and I decided to take over the twin bed area.

I’ll end this post here. Stay tuned for the next one(s)! I promise they will be much less wordy and much more visual as I show you some of the wonders of the lodge and area.

Rock on,

The WB

The Bathroom Renovation

On July 24, 2024July 20, 2024 By Widow BadassIn Goals & Dreams, Move to Dragonfly Cottage, Renovation, See the Beauty22 Comments

A blogger friend of mine (and yours too, probably) – Kate – is undergoing the ~~hell~~ ~~excruciating pain~~ ~~distress~~ pleasure of a bathroom renovation at the moment. This is reminding me that I have promised and so far failed to deliver on my own recent renovation experience, also a bathroom.

This was a whirlwind of a renovation, with most of the work being completed by contractors within the space of ONE WEEK in May.

Don’t hate me. This has never happened to me before and will likely never happen again.

It helped that two contractors (drywall, tiling) live a few houses away from me and could pop over in the evenings or on the weekend for an hour here and there, while still pursuing more lucrative and involved day jobs than my wee bath. And that my favourite plumber had openings on his schedule.

Here is the BEFORE: the old bathroom in all its beige 1990 glory:

The toilet is only a year old. It’s the freshest thing in here 😉. It’s surviving the renovation but will be removed temporarily for installation of the new tile floor. I’m also keeping the medicine cabinet over the bathroom vanity as it remains useful and inoffensive.

This wall (and the unit) are going *buh-bye*.

This corner used to house a stacking washer/dryer unit. I have a second-hand corner cabinet for this space, to hide the plumbing hookups as well as provide storage. It got a refresh (from me) while the bathroom was undergoing renovations.

And here is a video of the glorious AFTER:

I am so happy with my refreshed bathroom space. It puts a big smile on my face when I pass by and catch a glimpse of the shower curtain and the plants and coloured glass hanging in front of the window. And an even bigger smile on my face when I am relaxing in my new, much deeper soaker tub. It’s the hippy-dippy bathroom of my dreams!

This is officially the last large renovation I am doing in my little cottage (she says, hopefully). And also hopefully: LAST RENOVATION EVER.

I don’t want to temp the renovation gods after this incredibly smooth, incredibly fast one!

Rock on,

The WB

A Glutton For Punishment – Kayak Skills Course Level 1

On June 29, 2024June 29, 2024 By Widow BadassIn Adventures in Retirement, Badassery, Goals & Dreams, Sea Kayaking38 Comments

Longtime readers may remember that I took a Basic Kayak Skills course almost a year ago. You can read about that, here. Even though I gained much in knowledge and confidence from that course I knew there was still much more I needed to learn, and further training was definitely going to be on the agenda.

After all, my aim as I am aging and adventuring is to “Be an inspiration, not a cautionary tale!” 😉 🤣

To that end it was a no-brainer to go back to Caroline Ross and her company CrossCurrents Kayak to grow my sea kayaking knowledge and skills.

Caroline Ross, owner of CrossCurrents Kayak – ready to school us in trip planning via a marine chart. Photo taken at Brickyard Beach Community Park in Nanoose.

After Basic, the next rung on the Paddle Canada ladder for skills certification is Sea Kayak Skills – Level 1. In this weekend-long course I practiced all the rescue skills and strokes learned in the first course plus I learned the basics on how to read a marine chart and navigation, where to find weather and tide information and what it means to paddlers, and even more rescue techniques and strokes (including the all-important self-rescue).

All photos from this point forward were taken by Caroline and generously shared to our group.

First day of practice and I am heading to my boat – At Westwood Lake in Nanaimo.

Our group rafting up, including someone you may know on the far left – Jude of the North aka Dr. Sock Writes Here. As you can see, the weather was not ideal (or was it, since we were going to be wet anyways? 🤔). Rain, rain and more rain. *Look at how comfortable Greg and Kirsten look in their matching drysuits…hmmmm*.

First of many planned capsizes of the day, while Jude looks on.

Practicing a self-rescue using a paddle float.

Beginning a heel hook re-entry. Thankfully Caroline stopped snapping at this point, leaving the graceless heaving of my carcass back onto my boat to your imagination 😉.

By close to the end of that day, I was a shivering, teeth-chattering mess. And I was starting to think that a dry-suit might not be that ~~fucking~~ ~~damn~~ ~~prohibitively~~ expensive after all.

Second day – Brickyard Beach, Nanoose Bay

Marine chart on deck for navigation, I am heading to Southey Island with our group, for a lunch stop. If I remind you of the Michelin Man, it is because I am wearing a merino t-shirt under a Farmer Jane wetsuit, topped with long-sleeve merino base layer and followed by a full wetsuit topped with a paddling jacket. I did not want a repeat of the previous day’s shivering!

Practicing a contact tow rescue maneuver with Jude.

Securing mine and Greg’s paddle before he practices using a “stirrup” to get back in his boat.

Securing Greg’s boat with my body while he works with stirrup (the yellow band) set up.

As you might have noticed, the weather was much more favourable on Day 2. Even though we were in the colder ocean, I stayed warmer due to all my layers and the rise in ambient temperature.

Once again, I gained a tremendous amount of knowledge and confidence in such a short period of time. I also learned that I’m going to stop at Level 1 Certification. Level 2 involves building skills for activities that I don’t anticipate ever doing – such as choosing to kayak in rougher waters than I’d ever be comfortable in. Level 1 was plenty hard enough on my body and I have the bruises to prove it!

Thanks to this course, on my shopping list ~~as if I didn’t already own enough gear~~ is:

a C-Tug kayak cart
a paddling stirrup
a few more dry bags
and, of course – a drysuit!

I can’t recommend Caroline and CrossCurrents Kayak enough. You can find her not only on her website, but also on Facebook and Instagram.

Rock on,

The WB

Word of the Year Update for April 2022

On April 28, 2022 By Widow BadassIn Goals & Dreams, Health Transformation, Move to Dragonfly Cottage, WOTY59 Comments

Ye Olde Sigil carved into a candle to remind me of my WOTY: *Limber*

Waaaaay back in January (late December, actually) I made Limber my word of the year, for 2022. My focus is on being limber not only in body, but in mind. I think most would agree that if we are not actively and continually working on our flexibility and strength (mental or physical), we will surely start losing it. And that has certainly been true for me, mostly in the physical sense…(but I do also worry about getting stuck in a mental rut).

So far this year, I have been sticking with my daily Qigong, and also am still working on my deep squat. In working on the latter I realized how weak and out of shape I was overall, despite being someone who gets “out there” regularly, and walks and hikes whenever possible. Walking is great exercise of course…but does very little for flexibility and strength overall. I was also dabbling with occasional and brief videos involving free weights, but without any real plan. Naturally, I wasn’t seeing much in terms of results or change.

Then I received an email in March from a fitness YouTuber I follow that changed up my Limber plans for this year. Jessica Smith was offering a digital download of a 3 month program called Lift & Shift she designed specifically to help women of any age improve strength, stamina, and functionality in all aspects of their lives. I checked it out, saw that it would help me reach my goals in a way I could never do on my own, and out came the credit card!

The program started March 28th so I had time to purchase the extra equipment needed to begin, in advance. I already had some weights, but I added a heavier set because ~~I am delusional~~ GOALS!

I also got a bigger mat (yoga mat on steroids, basically), a step, a squishy ball, sliders, and a resistance band. The mat also came with a bonus pair of gloves, for lifting weights with.

At first I was skeptical of the gloves, but they are surprisingly comfortable for gripping weights, and are now a welcome addition to my routine.

So my living room looks like this now, most of the time:

*Badass Anytime Fitness*^TM Home Gym set up. 😉

Before I started the program I gave myself a stern talking to. Self, I said, you are going to do this right this time. You are going to listen to your body and stop before you injure yourself. You are going to take your time – it’s a marathon not a sprint – and slowly but surely you will make progress.

I knew it was going to be a very rough start, so I thought I should document how each workout went and how I felt during and afterwards, so I could have a record of the progress I was making.

Made a gym journal with some cute stick-on letters from the Dollar Tree.

OMG, the first few sessions were SO. DAMN. HUMBLING. Even though I thought I was mentally prepared, I was not prepared to feel physically ill partway through each workout video. Not only humbling, but discouraging! Starting this routine was way worse than I had imagined. Yet I persevered with the daily workouts even though I couldn’t come close to completing them, and the sick feeling went away as my stamina improved.

An early entry. First time I noted that I didn’t want to hurl partway through or after a session. 🙂

Eventually I got strong enough to complete one of the longer workouts.

What I enjoy about this program is the variety of the workout videos and the calendar that tells you what video to perform, and in what order. There are lighter days (yoga-like stretching workouts), medium days (fine toning routines) and heavier days (lower/upper/core days, compound superset days and HIIRT). There are “rest” days each week where there are no scheduled workouts but you are encouraged to remain active and/or do a cardio session of your own choosing. So far the cardio session I choose is NO DAMN WAY as I need those days for my body to recover from ~~all the abuse~~ the challenges I am throwing at it. 😉 But I am getting stronger and my stamina is increasing, so that could change.

It is a 3 month calendar of exercises, and of course you can repeat it as often as you would like. As someone who wants to remain strong, flexible, and independent for as long as my body will allow it, I can see me incorporating this into my daily routine for life.

At the beginning of month 2 as of writing this post, I am starting to see some real results in my day to day activities and Lift & Shift is even helping me get closer to my deep squat goal:

Making progress on my deep squat goal. Could not have done this back in January. Photo taken pre-new haircut. Speaking of my hair cut…

I LOVE MY NEW HAIR CUT. Wash and wear hair. Just let it air dry after my shower and then ran a brush through it. Did I mention how much I LOVE it?!? Of course, it wouldn’t be long before THIS happened:

Used up the last bit of my Vibrant Magenta Overtone hair colour on my new, shorter hair. 🙂

As for working on being mentally Limber, I have my upcoming move to help me with that. How to make do with a smaller indoor space? How can I make the smaller space I will be inhabiting do everything I need it to do, and still look inviting and uncluttered? Planning, scheming and dreaming about all of this has indeed made me look at EVERYTHING I currently own with a very critical eye. I am suddenly aware of and questioning any assumptions I hold about what I really need, in order to be happy in my new space.

I am loving my new hair, my new workout routine, my upcoming move (challenges and all), and most of all my WOTY. I love how it serves as a touchstone of sorts for me as I journey through 2022. As change happens and opportunities and challenges come up in my life, I can judge them against my WOTY and that helps me to decide if/how it contributes to my big picture for this year, my Limber goal.

How about you? Got a Word of the Year? Doing good things with it? Do tell!

This month I am joining the 2022 WOTY Link Party, from my buddy Donna’s site…maybe I’ll see you there. 🙂

Rock on,

The WB

2022 Word of the Year

On January 27, 2022 By Widow BadassIn Goals & Dreams, Health Transformation, Mindfulness, WOTY77 Comments

Having a word to guide me and align my thoughts, goals, and dreams for an entire year has been good for me, for a few years already now. (In fact, my 2020 WOTY was Alignment and it really helped me to remember to make decisions both big and small that aligned with my values in that critical first year of retirement). I find having a single word to focus on works better for me than a list of goals or dare-I-say-it: resolutions. So I was excited to learn of Donna and her circle of Australian bloggie friends coming up with a WOTY Link Party. I’m in! I may not post on this topic every month but for sure I am joining the party this month.

My 2022 Word of the Year is Limber.

Inside cover of my 2022 journal with WOTY and sigil. Doesn’t it look like a figure flexing and balancing? Creating a sigil or symbol for your word or goal is another mental trick to help embed it and keep it in the forefront of your noggin.

I created a sigil from the phrase “I am lean, limber and strong”. Spoiler alert: I am none of those things…currently. Our brains can’t tell reality from fantasy, apparently…so if you say it is so, your trusting little brain believes you! This explains a lot, really. OK, OK, I am not going there even though I feel a huge rant about anti-vaxxers, climate change deniers et al coming on.

A-hem. Anyways, if you want to make something a reality you are supposed to speak and think of it as already being a fact. Hence the phrase. Which I have distilled down to one word: LIMBER. And for me, it is just as important to be limber in mind as it is in body. Especially in these trying times of lockdowns, shutdowns, and cancelled plans in general.

One of the things I do to help me with my LIMBER attitude is a daily practice of Qigong. My massage therapist introduced me to this practice, and I fell in love with what is does for my body and mind. I follow a practitioner on YouTube and am now at the point that my body craves a session every morning.

I track my progress in my journal.

From my January habit tracking spread in my 2022 journal.

I am also incorporating strength workouts in my routine, as evidenced in the above photo. My living room has become my Badass Anytime Fitness franchise, and I am loving it. I’ve also decided that this year I want to be able to do a primal or resting squat at some point….you know the one where you squat as far down as you can, and yet your feet are planted entirely on the ground.

At this point I can’t do it without my heels coming up but I have hopes that I can work on my…uh…limberosity (is that a word? lol) enough to achieve this in due time.

Got my February habit tracker spread already set up and ready to go!

And I am already busy working on increasing my hip mobility (one of the many mobilities I need to work on if I want to achieve this squat…sigh):

Look at me being all mentally limber and learning how to insert a photo gallery into Ye Olde Blogge!

Happy 2022 and end of January, fellow Badassians! Stay strong. Stay flexible. Be LIMBER. Off to join the Link Party!

Rock on,

The WB

Tofino Camping Adventure

On June 4, 2021June 3, 2021 By Widow BadassIn Adventures in Retirement, Camping Adventures, Goals & Dreams, See the Beauty, The Great Outdoors103 Comments

Last weekend I headed out to Tofino, to stay at Green Point Campground at Pacific Rim National Park. My friend and blogging buddy, Donna, had booked a site and let me know there was at least one other site available, and would I be interested in joining them? WOULD I???? In a hot minute, I had my site booked too. Then, in the most incredible coincidence imaginable, another friend and blogging buddy Erica/Erika let us know that she and her husband were staying there too. And their site turned out to be the one RIGHT BESIDE MINE. If we had tried to scheme and plan and pull this off, it would be next to impossible as this campsite is harder to get into than it was to score tickets to The Tragically Hip’s final show.

Hammock set up, with Erica and Chuck’s campsite in the background. Note kindly left on the picnic table by Erica, letting me know they were down on the beach.

Tent interior. Due to the campsite’s BARE policy, all food had to be locked up in your vehicle or a food locker (provided every few campsites). I decided not to hook my car up to the tent, and instead use it as my food locker. So my memory foam bed ended up in the tent instead of the back of my car, due to space considerations.

After meeting Donna and Richard at Tacofino for lunch, and setting up and settling in at camp, it was time to hit the beach!

The sky, sand, and water combo was stunning.

The next day was a bit drizzly and Donna and I went into Ucluelet to check out the downtown and the Ucluelet Aquarium. Amazing place!

Mr. Giant Pacific Octopus put on quite the show for us.

We also stopped at a delicious local bakery (Zoe’s, to fuel up for our next adventure), that had this sign posted outside. Cute Schitt’s Creek reference!

And here’s why. Within seconds of us vacating this area, they descended upon it. Looking for crumbs.

Speaking of birds stealing your food: Donna, Richard and I had to defend ourselves from some very aggressive sparrows outside of Rhino Coffee, in Tofino. I had my doughnut in my hand ($4 for a doughnut??? But man, it was good!), turned my head for one second and felt something pulling at my treat. It was a~~n asshole~~ sparrow, grabbing a chunk of doughnut in midflight, and then retreating a few feet away to ~~gobble it down~~ enjoy it.

You can bet I kept my eye on these cheeky ~~assholes~~ Steller’s Jays, once back at the campsite.

The evening ended over at Chuck and Erica’s for one of our delicious, communal camp meals.

The next day was spent beach walking and exploring.

Donna, the intrepid beach walking buddy.

There are always surfers to be found on Tofino beaches. Year round.

Donna and I played around with taking simultaneous selfies. Like a simultaneous orgasm, but waaay less work. 😉

We eventually met up with everybody else and went off to explore the rocks exposed by low tide.

Ever since I was a little girl reading picture books, I have been captivated by the idea of walking the shore and exploring tidal pools in search of marine life. But in my land-locked former home, there was no opportunity…until this trip! At almost 62 years of age, I finally got to live my childhood dream.

Red sea stars and goose barnacles and clams and mussels (and probably a whole buncha other things too).

After returning to camp for another delicious communal meal (Chuck’s homecooked BBQ ribs were amazing!), it was back down to the beach for another sunset.

Filled with peace, gratitude and wonder in heart and soul…

Sadly the next day it was time to go home. It was another gorgeous day, and the drive home was filled with spectacular views, like this one.

Kennedy Lake reflection. What a beautiful island I live on!

Colour me windblown, wind burnt, and completely happy with this adventure!

Rock on,

The WB

(Almost) Wordless But Not Whale-less Wednesday

On October 14, 2020October 13, 2020 By Widow BadassIn Goals & Dreams, Move to Vancouver Island, See the Beauty, The Great Outdoors59 Comments

If you’ve been reading Ye Olde Blogge for a while, you may remember that I have been on a fruitless search for whale-sightings ever since Newfoundland. Either I was on the ocean and not seeing them, or I had tours booked that were cancelled at the last minute. It was kinda frustrating then, when the Thanksgiving Monday tour that had been booked with a company out of Duncan, B.C. was also cancelled at the last moment, due to not enough customers to warrant the excursion. Thanks to some quick-thinking by Donna of Retirement Reflections within moments she had us booked with Aboriginal Journeys, out of Campbell River. And thus the day was saved, in the most spectacular way, and the whale-sighting drought was over!

Let the pictures (and the videos) do the talkin’!

Captain Gary, of Aboriginal Journeys – our most affable and knowledgeable guide.

The hopeful whale watchers – Donna, her husband Richard, and I

It was a beautiful afternoon to be out on the water

Captain Gary took us to a sea lion colony

Yukon and his master helping Captain Gary scout us some whales!

Two Humpback whales sighted! I was thrilled to hear “Thar she blows!” come over the marine radio. Yukon’s master had sighted some whales and we headed to where they were.

Pardon the unsteady camera but we WERE on a boat…the whales and sea lions were playing and feeding on herring together, Gary told us.

We were lucky enough to witness a breaching whale

Humpback Whale waving goodbye, until next time!

And you KNOW there is going to be a next time!

Rock on,

The Whale-Watchin’ WB

March Update on WOTY – Alignment

On March 2, 2020March 2, 2020 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.

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.

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

I Passed The Test; Also, I Can Be Bribed

On November 11, 2019November 11, 2019 By Widow BadassIn Goals & Dreams, Health Transformation, Retirement50 Comments

Captured from the countdown app on my phone this morning.

My last day of work fast approacheth…and I have been busy both at work and outside of it, getting ready for this change. My successor has been chosen by my work and it’s the person I’ve been mentoring and grooming for this role for a few years now (Yay!). She officially takes over my position on December 16th, and I overlap with her for 2 weeks to make sure she settles in nicely (of which I have no doubt!). So that’s finalized and I feel great about it, and am already busy showing her what life as a lab manager is all about.

Also on the work front, I have been approached to consider working part-time – next door to my old lab – to assist for a few months in a project evaluating and validating a new technology. Like the proverbial old-timey fire horse that leaps from the stall when the fire bell rings, my mind immediately jumped to the positive possibilities (close to my successor should she have any questions; start-ups are fun; building labs are fun, etc.) and for 5 hot minutes I could see me doing this thing. Then I calmed down and realized that this will negatively impact the plans and goals for 2020 that I am looking so forward to diving into. Ye olde fire horse trotted calmly and thankfully back into the barn as I decided not to consider this offer any further.

Thus I passed this test! The test that says for me: do you really want to be retired? Answer: Hell, yes! Still yes!

On other retirement planning news, I settled on an extended health and benefit insurance plan to carry on into 2020 with me. An explanation for American friends that may not know our system: Canadians get free healthcare but still have to pay for drugs, dental care, and certain therapies (e.g. physiotherapy) out of pocket. Unless one’s employer offers a benefits package that takes care of this, as a job perk. Well, I have such a package that even includes travel insurance, accidental death etc., but obviously that is terminating along with my employment. So now, if I want to continue with these benefits, I have to seek out and pay for a plan on my own.

After several months of researching private plans and determining if it even makes sense for me to have such a plan (and in my opinion it does), I decided to purchase the plan offered by my company’s current provider of extended health and dental benefits. Manulife’s FollowMe plan ticked the most boxes for me.

But wait, it got better! When I called Manulife to set up my new plan effective January 1, I was informed of an additional health and wellness program called Vitality and did I wish to join? It would cost $5/month but save me 5% on my monthly premium and I would get an activity tracker – Garmin or Apple Watch. Since I am of a mind to get and stay healthy especially in retirement (and can do math, and am a lover of all things Apple) the only acceptable response from me was “shut up and take my money!”

Yes, yes, I know. “Big Brother” Manulife is wanting my data. And I am OK with that. Because Big Brother needs to know if anything happens to my health, or else Big Brother will have a reason to cancel my policy. Besides, people with nothing to hide hide nothing. Plus anybody living in today’s society who thinks they have any kind of privacy anymore is kidding themselves, anyway.

Then I had to wait to get my welcome package (snail mail…ugh) and sign on to the website once I got my new ID number (enclosed within paper package).

So, here is the deal with the activity tracker(s): I could (and did) get the Garmin Vivofit tracker sent to me for free. I could also decide to get either an Apple Watch Series 3 or 5, and pay a portion plus the tax towards the watch. Here’s the bribe part: if you earn points per month on the Vitality website by living a healthy life, your monthly payment towards the remainder of the watch cost is either discounted or brought entirely down to zero dollars, depending on your total points. Points are earned for daily physical activities (and a half-price membership to GoodLife Fitness is another perk offered by Vitality) and other healthy habits such as getting a flu shot, mammogram, colon cancer check, and going for a dental checkup. STUFF I DO ALREADY WITHOUT NEEDING TO BE BRIBED.

What do you think I did, gentle reader? Hint below:

Photo taken while waiting at Shoppers Drug Mart for my flu shot…I plan to pay not a penny more towards this beauty by doing all the healthy things I should be doing regardless.

I think this plan is just fantastic. After all, everyone (including Manulife, obvs!) knows an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, especially when it comes to health.

What I can’t understand is why I only learned of it after I contacted Manulife to purchase my post-work life benefits package. Why was it not mentioned in any of the FollowMe health plan information I was sent by email initially? It would have made my decision to go with FollowMe even easier. Perhaps it is very new?

So now I am even more pleased with my selection of this provider. And I am loving my new Apple watch and busy learning all that it can do. Including unlocking my laptop for me! And guessing that I am working out and what type of workout it is. Crazy, I know…I love living in today’s world (most of the time)!

Rock on,

The WB

Moving Thoughts #1: Rent or Own

On August 2, 2019August 2, 2019 By Widow BadassIn Goals & Dreams, Move to Vancouver Island, Retirement53 Comments

Even though my impending move is still many months away, I am already consumed with THOUGHTS and FEELINGS about it. So I created a special place to put them in – this 18 month Moleskin journal:

I found a package of stickers at Michaels that seemed appropriate. And went appropriately to town on the cover.

The fact that the fountain pen ink is reddish and looks kinda like I am writing in blood may or may not hold appeal for me. Just sayin’.

So, as can be seen from this journal entry (made in early July), my plan is was to rent for a bit (up to a year) while I search for a new property to buy on the Island. I say “was”, because I had a bit of revelation this week.

I realized I was quietly stressing about the whole “renting for a bit” idea and decided to dig deeper on those feelings this week when I was at home recuperating from heat exhaustion – earned on my birthday, at WTFest.

(I still got to enjoy most of the festival but had to lie down in the shade during The Beaches’ set so I wouldn’t pass out, from overheating. 1 alcoholic drink and no food all afternoon/evening. What a rock n’ roller, eh? 😉 From badass to candyass in one afternoon – that’s me alright!)

I recovered enough to see these guys (Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker aka USS) put on a lengthy, satisfying set of all their great songs – they were the main attraction for me, at WTFest.

During a conversation with my daughter she brought up a concern that she may have to move around the island for work as she is at the start of her career, and didn’t want us to end up too far apart. I said: no worries, gonna rent at first anyways but that got me thinking. And with thinking came a bunch of fears and assumptions that needed deeper exploration.

I was raised by homeowners – people who believed 100% in the wisdom of investing in property vs. renting space. My goal as an adult was to rent the cheapest place possible until I had saved enough for a downpayment and could afford to take the plunge into home ownership myself. Why pay my landlord’s mortgage when I could be paying my own – was my rationale. Renting was a stop gap; something you did until you could do “better”.

I soon realized I was actually kinda scared of going back to renting again. It brought up all kinds of fears about: “wasting” money on rent; living in “suboptimal” conditions (when did I get so fucking bougie???); hating (already!) not being able to improve/decorate the living quarters I was paying for, to my satisfaction. And it brought back all my feelings about some of the yucky places I lived in over the years, with no money to fix them up. And how much I love the space I am living in currently, that I designed and decorated to my satisfaction (finally!!!)…A whole lot of feelings going on, yessirree.

Friends of mine recently went from homeowners to renters and spoke positively of freedom that comes from renting but I wasn’t convinced…I needed more information. Hard numbers, facts, figures!

As one does, I hit the interwebs looking for articles on renting in retirement. One especially spoke to (the MBA in) me – this enlightening article and embedded video, is worth a read/watch. Take your time. I’ll be here when you get back.

Long story short, I have a whole ‘nother attitude about renting. In fact, it is not out of the realm of possibility that I may never own a home again. Instead of tying up (and tying myself down with) funds in another property, I will invest what I clear from the sale of my current abode. What I earn from this could be applied to rent – against those pesky unrecoverable costs – leaving more of my capital intact, for a future home/hippy van/trip around the world/whatever else might strike my fancy purchase.

My friends were right. Renting can be freeing.

You know, I figured these anticipated life changes (retirement, moving) were going to spark some revelations for me. But I didn’t think it was going to happen quite this quickly. Or be quite so HUGE.

What about you? Thoughts on renting vs. owning, especially in retirement?

Rock on,

The WB