Yesterday morning I went out early to discover for myself a hike I had heard/read good things about from others, like my friend and fellow blogger: Donna. This hike is also listed in a recent book purchase – Seaside Walks on Vancouver Island by Theo Dombrowski. I’ll let the pictures and the captions do the talking, from here:
And how was your (Canadian) long weekend? Do tell!
Rock on,
The WB
Hoo boy! It’s hard to sit down to ye olde blogge when there is so much to do and see but here I am, finally. I could write at least 5 separate posts on what’s been going on but dammit, the weather is too beautiful! I am understanding how a lot of bloggers take July and August “off” from their regular posting and resume blogging once again in September. If I was back in Ontario I’d be hunkered down in my air-conditioned place and only venturing out in the wee hours of the morning or after dark due to the extreme heat, giving me plenty of time to blog. But here on Vancouver Island, the more temperate climate begs one to spend as much time outdoors as possible!
Anyhoo, here’s an update on what’s been going on:
It took me a few weeks, but I was able to unpack all my stuff and make some sense of my new space. I am LOVING it here. Sure there are minor inconveniences to apartment living, like the heavy-footed upstairs neighbours, but overall I am very happy with, and comfortable in, my new home.
As of now, my hands are almost completely healed (from the bashing they took in assembling all the furniture I purchased to replace the stuff I left behind in Ontario), I have recovered somewhat from the exhaustion induced by the whole moving ordeal, and I am starting to really settle into AND enjoy my new life and all its perks.
Some of which, can be seen below!
I got to meet Ann, a fellow blogger, in real life (finally) at her beloved island of Hornby. Which is amazingly beautiful, by the way (as is Ann!).
And I was able to have another IRL meeting (again, finally) with yet another beautiful Vancouver Island blogger just yesterday – Jude – (Dr. Sock Writes Here) for a delightful walk around the lake at Westwood Lake Park.
Meeting people during these pandemic times can be a little unsettling, but we are all respectful of the need to maintain social distancing. Which means hugs are off the table, for now! Feels weird not to hug these ladies who I’ve known (virtually) for a few years now, but we do as we must.
Of course, I am able to hang out (and hug) with members of my little “bubble”, my daughter and her family.
Life is definitely good. And I get to wake up every morning to this:
Yes, life is definitely good. And summer life on Vancouver Island is absolutely the best.
Rock on,
The WB
I am fed up to the gills with all things moving. Packing for a move, unpacking from a move, organizing new space, buying things for the new place, building furniture and storage solutions for the new place etc., etc. I still have a lot to do, but they are mostly little jobs (curtains, art etc.). All the big stuff is done and I am down to the little tweaks that will make my place more liveable. Hoorah!
And coincidental to my fed-up mood, the weather is fabulous. So you know what that means, right?
Time to explore my new neighbourhood!!! Specifically, the out of doors.
Yesterday I took the afternoon off to stroll down to the Departure Bay Beach area (check out my Instagram for those photos), and today was spent in search of a trail I could walk to.
One of the residents in my apartment complex tantalized me last week with a tale of going for a walk through the neighbourhood and ending up on a trail which included a waterfall! And today, I made it my mission to find out what she was talking about.
I had looked up local trails on my AllTrails app, and the Beach Estates Trail seemed to fit the description she had given me. It said I could access it from Departure Bay Road but I wanted to walk through my neighbourhood, like my neighbour did.
A short walk later, passing by many lovely homes, and I was on a public access trail that took me down to the shore of Departure Bay.
I walked along the rocky shore for a bit, looking for access to the trail. Which was easily found. Or so I thought. Immediately I entered a lush paradise.
It was a beautiful walk, but where was the waterfall? I decided to check AllTrails to see where I was on the trail.
I persevered. Onwards!
And then suddenly….
I had to be on the trail now, right?
I continued on the trail and within moments I was out on the street, and at the beginning of it all.
And an hour and twenty minutes later, I was back home. I’m so thrilled to have such easy access to all this gorgeous nature, without even having to get in my car. Walking to a local trail on the regular was a big part of my former life in Ontario and I am so happy and grateful to have a similar experience here, at my new Vancouver Island home.
Do you have a local trail you can access easily for a quick dose of Vitamin Nature?
Rock on,
The WB
Something happened to me this past week. An inner mental shift happened. I think it had to do with our Prime Minister mentioning that THIS (pandemic situation and all its necessary restrictions) could go on until November or beyond. There was a “click’ (and it wasn’t my still-swollen wonky ankle, either), and just like that, I stopped spending hours agonizing over Twitter et al, and started doing THINGS. Positive things, besides spritzing myself with my favourite scents after every shower… no need to worry about running into the scent-sensitive or -averse, after all!
This weekend of all weekends so far, I have every right to be depressed and feeling sorry for myself. My BC daughter was supposed to be here, spending a week with her ol’ Mom. And one of my sisters was supposed to come down for a weekend visit as well. And I was supposed to have a house full of family and friends over for supper today. Instead, I am at home alone. Of course. However, I am not depressed OR feeling sorry for myself. I am surprisingly light-hearted and full of creative energy, instead. Whodathunkit?
I am following Joanne’s lead – and heading back into art. So much for all my neatly boxed up stuff. See here for the Before Picture.
I’m inspired to make “happy” paintings, bursting with flowers. This is my first attempt – inspired by British artist, Yvonne Coomber:
I’ve been gesso-ing up old canvases and already have another painting in progress.
I’m also excited to report that I tested my ankle out with a yoga session this past week, and it passed the test! Somewhat crankily, and demanding wrapping and other types of baby-ing…but that’s OK. That led me to exploring other types of workouts and I found a new love: Body Groove. I always loved dance-type workouts – a class called DanceFit and belly dancing were some of my favourites, in days past. You’d think then, that Zumba would be right up my alley too, but I never really cottoned to that one.
I’d been seeing the Body Groove “commercials” on Facebook for some time now but just scrolled on by. This week I decided to check it out. And then I signed up for the 30 day trial. I already know I will be getting a year’s subscription.
I wish I knew the secret to my change in attitude/behaviour/outlook. My brain probably just got tired of wandering around my place in a lethargic daze, just going through the motions of life. And realizing finally that this is going to be going on for a loooooong time – much longer than any of us want it to – so my brain might as well come up with a more positive, more productive fun, new normal.
Don’t get me wrong. Like everyone else, I still have an undercurrent of stress and worry as my constant companion. But I am now also making it a habit to do stuff that puts a big smile on my face and in my heart every day. Like connecting with friends and family (Virtual happy hour, anyone? I have my favourite cocktail ingredients and wine in good supply, still!). Like daily yoga and dance. Like playing with paint. I even started knitting again.
How about you? Are you managing OK? Have you turned the corner? If so, how and why? Tell all!
Rock on,
The WB
Greetings, fellow Social Distancers! I hope everyone is doing well in this new world of ours – staying safe, hydrated, and healthy – with enough toilet paper or alternatives on hand? I’ve had a week of mostly ups, with one big down since I last posted. Sunday was a bad day for me, when I became overwhelmed by all the goings on, and the potential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Luckily, I had some dear friends and family to speak with (safely, from a large distance) and that helped immensely.
I am not usually down in the dumps and I am afraid I don’t handle it very well due to lack of practice with this state, at least lately. But when Sunday happened, and after I was brought back to the present (where me and my loved ones are safe, warm, fed, and so far healthy), I remembered a “trick” I used in a very dark period of my life. Behold the Happiness Box:
I decided that now more than ever is the time to continue with this Happiness Box tradition of mine. Only I don’t want to collect any more physical representations (since I will be moving AT SOME POINT WHO KNOWS WHEN ANYMORE) so here are some things going into my digital Happiness Box for this week:
Other “Happiness” moments from this week (no less important, just no photos to share):
And, finally:
How about you? How are you doing? How are you managing to keep spirits up in these uncertain times?
Or are you?
It’s OK to be down. These are scary, uncertain times.
Let’s help each other.
Rock on,
The WB
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:
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.
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.
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.
Of course it was of the utmost importance to catch as many sunrises and sunsets as possible.
There’s always something to learn while in Barbados. Here are some tidbits:
Rock on,
The WB
Rock on,
The WB
Rock on,
The WB
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.
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!
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:
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
The 2nd of the journal prompts I am trying to follow this year is to “write about the place you call home”. Rather than write about a particular city or area or even a dwelling, I am choosing to write about the place I always feel at home…out in nature. Since I have retired at the beginning of this year, I have been making it a priority to get out in nature just about every day because my body and soul needs it – to feel complete, to connect and to recharge.
Today I met with my partner-in-crime for a lot of adventures, Joanne of My Life Lived Full and Following a Bold Plan. I think it’s safe to say that we both feel the same way about feeling at home in nature and today we made Hilton Falls Conservation Area our home.
I hope you enjoyed the place I call home. I know I did.
Rock on,
The WB
