Rock on,
The WB
Category: Good Times
Wordless Wednesday in Barbados
Rock on,
The WB
A Visit to Red Maple Homestead
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 Place I Call Home
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
Wednesday Night’s Alright for Fighting
Anyone who knew me as a young teenager knew that one of the artists whose music I was obsessed with was Elton John (not yet a Sir). (Aerosmith and Queen were among the others, in case anyone was interested.)
I first saw Elton John live in Orchard Park (just outside of Buffalo) in 1976 (or maybe it was 1975? Doesn’t matter. I think EJ likely didn’t know what year it was either 😉 ). I took a bus down to the US, with a high school friend. Elton was headlining, and Boz Scaggs and J.J. Cale opened for him. I don’t remember much more from that show except I got rained on, and Elton John DID NOT play Crocodile Rock, much to my absolute fury crushing disappointment dismay. Even though the whole stadium was screaming for it. Instead he told us he was gonna play “Your Song” – apparently a real fucking treat for us poor slobs as he hadn’t played it live in a long time. I was not impressed. I LOVED Crocodile Rock and had no idea at the time that he did not actually like this song, thinking of it as “disposable pop”. Really, Queen Elton? I still shudder at some of the crap you put out when you were a drug-addled mess, in years to come. Makes Crocodile Rock sound kinda alright now, don’t it? But you know me – I do don’t hold a grudge.
Anywho! Ahem. Back to the NOW, sorta.
Two years ago I heard Sir Elton was doing a farewell tour. So I joined his RocketClub fan club in order to have a better chance at decent tickets. Well, my name wasn’t drawn for the those shows so I thought it wasn’t to be. BUT then he announced he was coming back to Toronto the following year and whaddayaknow this time I got an email saying I was being offered the chance to purchase tickets more than a year in advance. Yup – October 9, 2018 I purchased 4 tickets (maximum allowed) to the October 23rd, 2019 show. My sister was staying with me at the time and immediately she snatched up one of the extra tickets (and my good friends Kenn and Jonathan seized the other two). In order to get these decent seats, I had to buy something called a VIP package, which came with a bunch of stuff that I promptly forgot about until I came home from Vancouver Island to find a big box of goodies delivered in my absence.
Finally the long-awaited day arrived and we made it to Toronto, to the ScotiaBank Arena, for THE SHOW!
The show was incredible, and Elton’s voice was still strong. I had low expectations because I knew he had had throat surgery and couldn’t reach the high notes anymore. I was blown away by how good his voice still was. He really belted out those lyrics.
And…HE PLAYED CROCODILE ROCK! I also had no very low expectations of that happening and just about passed out with joy when the song started. No matter that he could no longer sing the falsetto “lah lalalalalahs” – WE sang them for him. “For the fans” flashed across the screen during the number – his not-so-subtle way of letting everyone know he still hates this song, I guess.
It only took 43 years, but I finally got my wish and heard Elton John play Crocodile Rock live. So,
Sir Elton Hercules John, if you’re reading:
All is forgiven.
Love,
The Widow Badass
As if all the wonderful music wasn’t enough (none of the his “coked-out MOR crap” dreck made it to the set list, thankfully), it was also heart-warming to hear him speak of his life and his struggles, and to see his emotional response to us – wiping away tears caused by the love the crowd was showing him.
I probably won’t ever see Sir Elton John in concert again, if he makes good on his promise of no more world tours. But I saw him on Wednesday October 23rd, and once before when I was very young (probably not a Wednesday though), and that will have to do.
Rock on,
The WB
P.S.
Vancouver Island October 2019
After a spring and summer filled with shenanigans (hehehe!), I had 4 vacation days left to use before my end of year retirement and it only seemed right to use them for a quick trip back to Vancouver Island to see my daughter and her boyfriend, in their new abode in Ladysmith.
I’ve been back home for over a week already, and only getting around to this post now – apologies, especially to Donna and Erica (two lovely bloggers I went hiking with during my recent visit) who were able to post already on the fun time we shared here and here.
Sleep deprivation, staff vacations, Elton John (more about this later!), and my sister coming for a visit all contributed to lack of blogging, and after catching up on rest this past weekend I feel mostly human again, and capable of stringing a few words together.
However, I think I’ll let my photos (and captions) do most of the talking. Behold:
The week just flew by and was over far too soon. The beauty and charm of Vancouver Island continues to astound me. I wonder if I will ever get used to it. I hope not!
Rock on,
The WB
The Devil’s Lettuce, A Psychedelic Train Tunnel, and Slap-Happy Sexcapades: Another Blaze n’ Badass Weekend
How’s that for an click-baity enticing title, eh? Last weekend was planned several months ago, after coordination with another blogging buddy and IRL friend, Karen Hume. Joanne (aka trail name: Blaze) and I visited Karen last in the summer of 2018 and another visit was definitely overdue!
Joanne asked me if there was anything in particular I wanted to see on our little road trip (besides Karen, of course) and without much hesitation I said “Tweed, in Smiths Falls!” This was more than cool with our intrepid Joanne as well, so off we went on Friday morning to see what this facility that grows cannabis was all about. Joanne wrote about her observations on our tour here and she has some great pictures of pot production at “Ganga University” as I call it, because our tour guide kept referring to the facility as a “campus”.
So, without replicating Joanne’s photos…we were both snapping away so a lot are the same…here are some of mine, from our tour:
After a couple of hours spent gaining an education about ye olde electric lettuce, bhang, mary jane, dank, green goddess etc., we were off to meet up with Karen for some pub grub and plans for our Saturday together. Which included visiting:
And the Brockville Railway Tunnel, Canada’s first:
While visiting with Karen, we stayed at a lovely little complex on the banks of the St. Lawrence River:
And it really was lovely, except for the paper thin walls between the rooms. On Saturday night Joanne and I turned in early, in our respective but far apart rooms – we’d had a full day of catching up and touring the area with Karen, and had filled up on some delicious Chinese food for supper as well. We were both looking forward to relaxing with a good book and catching up on our (a-hem) beauty sleep.
Joanne was treated to a loudly battling father and son in the room next to hers while I was treated to something else entirely.
There I was, safely tucked into bed and enjoying a good book, when I heard the unmistakeable sounds of…er…knockin’ boots, from the other side of the wall behind my headboard. Which was not at all unusual I suppose, except that I was also treated to some loud and (I sincerely hope) playful slapping going on, besides! Talk about your “slap and tickle” – it was a veritable slap and tickle festival happening next door to me. Hah! Thankfully it was at a decent hour in the evening and the festivities um climaxed died down before they cut into my ability to sleep.
The next morning we shared our experiences at breakfast while I scanned the couples in the complex’s dining room to try and figure out who was the slapper and who was the slappee of the previous evening. I think I figured it out. Not only that, we ran into those same people at a highway rest stop on the way back to our respective homes later that morning! The woman seemed in quite a jolly mood so I inferred from this that apparently all that slapping was done in a loving and consensual manner.
Joanne asked me how long I had to listen to this symphony of slap-happy sex. I said long enough that I didn’t have to feel sorry for the female partner. 😉
Have you ever had your rest interrupted by a loud couple next door? Do tell, and…
Rock on,
The WB
A Week of Firsts and Lasts
Last week I travelled to Dallas, Texas for my last-ever North American Lab Managers meeting. Over the past 14 years I have been able to travel to places like California, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Quebec, Minnesota, New York and Maine to meet up with my fellow lab managers to discuss various topics related to our jobs testing milk for the purpose of dairy herd improvement.
The usual suspects appear at these meetings year-after-year and you get to know and respect them soon enough and look forward to catching up with them at this annual conference. So this last meeting was bittersweet, for me.
I was pleased to hear from so many of my colleagues that I will be missed. A couple of my partners-in-crime at this meeting have promised to drop in on me at my new home on Vancouver Island. I may wake up one day to find an RV full of these rascals parked in my driveway. Which would be way cool, as they are a fun bunch, and we had a lotta laughs after the first day’s very full agenda of speakers and discussions, when we headed to the hotel bar to kick back and shoot the you-know-what. 😉
The second day of this 2-day conference is always a tour day. I didn’t know where we were going until the day before, so had low to no expectations as to what we were going to be treated to. The agenda said we would first tour a Federal Milk Marketing Order lab (always cool to see someone else’s facility), then after lunch we would visit the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, and then the Fort Worth Stockyards before having dinner in Fort Worth. (George W. Bush was not exactly my favourite American president and I had no idea what we would see at the stockyards so my expectations remained low.)
I was very pleasantly surprised and impressed at the quality of exhibits at this museum, and I would encourage anyone visiting the Dallas area to take the time to visit. (I didn’t have time to check out the library portion so can’t comment on that.)
There was of course a large part of the museum dedicated to 9/11 artifacts, as this occurred during Dubya’s presidency. It was very moving to see this, especially as we visited on September 10 – one day before the 18th anniversary of this horrific day.
There were many exhibits (including short videos) on the Bush presidency – all aspects of their lives and the initiatives undertaken by the Bushes – as well as a recreation of the Oval Office, as it existed during that time.
Like I said earlier, I was not a fan of Dubya. Although after seeing the projects he and Mrs. Bush championed during his terms, and contrasting and comparing that to who is in charge now, I’ve decided he wasn’t really all that bad. In fact, he seems like a bit of a moral and mental giant to me now, considering…a-hem! 😉
An American I was with at the time said much the same to me as we walked through the halls of the museum. Said he’d like to shake Bush’s hand NOW as he didn’t realize at the time how much worse things could get. See, all you need to be remembered kindly is to have someone come later who’s a complete villain/moron.
Gosh, part of me very selfishly hopes the next lab manager makes people remember me fondly too! 😉
After seeing these artifacts, and an exhibit across the hall on presidential retreats (also hella interesting – so interesting I forgot to take pics, sorry!), it was “Back on the bus, people!” to get to the Fort Worth stockyards just in time for a CATTLE DRIVE!
I flew home on September 11. Didn’t notice any heightened security or anything like that, and at the airports it was just another day. As it should be.
Then on September 12 – the day I had been eagerly anticipating for weeks – I went to Thrive Studios to meet with Angela McDonald to get a major piece inked onto my forearm. My first large black and grey tattoo!
This piece has multiple meanings for me. One is that is symbolizes my future, surrounded by the ocean on Vancouver Island.
The other, larger meaning is that it is in honour of my mother (mostly) and representative of my family. My mother (the mermaid) loved the water, loved to swim, was a lifeguard, taught water aerobics and supervised a therapy pool at a retirement home before she retired. My dad (the damaged anchor) was also in love with the sea and worked for a bit for the Dutch Merchant Marine as a young man. He would have kept with it, but the papers came through for immigration to Canada soon after joining, so that ended that dream for him. The cracks in the anchor speak to the demons that plagued him (and that the family bore the brunt of), especially as he got older. The three little fish are me and my two sisters. When I mentioned to my daughter the tattoo she reminded me that this was initially her idea for a tattoo many years ago, minus the cracks in the anchor and the little sister fishies. I had forgotten about this and obviously had stolen (unknowingly) her idea. Sorry, kiddo!
Speaking of stealing others’ good ideas – just before I left for Dallas, I received an order from Vistaprint of “business” cards, for handing out to friends and such once I am retired. (Really, what do you call these damn things when you aren’t working anymore??? They need a better name than business cards!)
I know of several retired people who have gotten cards done for this purpose, and I was especially inspired by Janis of Retirementally Challenged, who designed a beautiful card with a quote on it! So once again I stole (knowingly, this time). Behold:
I’m back to “normal life” for the next couple of weeks until Joanne and I hit the road for a weekend adventure. Sixteen weeks left at my work. Time is flying now.
And how are you all making out as we head into Autumn? Do tell!
Rock on,
The WB
Kitchener Blues Festival 2019
This post was supposed to be created last night (Monday) but unfortunately the author crashed hard after work because she can’t party-hardy for an entire weekend anymore like she used to. C’est dommage! Yes, it was that great of a Blues Festival and I am going to sorely miss attending it when I move to Vancouver Island.
This entire festival (after the fund-raising opener on Thursday night) is FREE. And there is even an app you can download to see the schedule and stages, and highlight the performers you want to see (which then automatically inputs into your Google calendar, with alerts on your phone an hour before the performance. HOW COOL IS THAT?!?)
Volunteer-run and sponsor-supported, it is truly a great one and next year it will be its 20th year of existence! That is quite an accomplishment. I did what I could to pour money into this event to support it and the artists, coming home with a bunch of purchases and then buying music when I got home. If I wasn’t moving, I’d be volunteering next year when I’m retired.
Of course, I made sure to attend the Thursday evening fund-raising show – Misty Blues Band and Tom Cochrane & Red Rider. My pal Kath gifted me with a ticket because she felt bad I was cheated out of Roxodus. So sweet!
Friday afternoon selected performances started with watching the Grand River Blues Society Youth Camp performers put on a show. These kids really rocked!
At the conclusion of their show, all the performers marched through the audience playing their instruments. I thought that was so cool. But apparently not everyone (cough*Jimmy*cough) shared that sentiment. More on that later…
After these 2 artists came a tribute to the 50th anniversary of Woodstock, with various performers including Wild T doing – of course – Jimi Hendrix. I was too busy singing and rockin’ out to take pictures by this point.
Saturday’s picks started out at noon for me – with Bill Durst – thanks to a recommendation from Kath and George’s friend, Jimmy. How had I never heard of this man before??? I became an instant fan of his music. Plus, you gotta love any man who can rock a beard/pony/braid thing.
I guess I should talk about Jimmy now. I don’t like saying negative things about people on ye olde blogge, especially if I like them. But since I told the same stuff to Jimmy’s face I will say them again here. And it’s kinda funny. At least, he made me smile. 🙂
Jimmy is a blues aficionado – he really knows his stuff (and disclaimer: I do like him!). Jimmy also has strong opinions on just about everything and is happy to share whether you want to hear them or not. When I told Jimmy (and everyone else) how wonderful I thought it was that the Blues Camp kids marched through the crowd playing their instruments, he scoffed at me and said “everyone does that”. I told him to quit raining on my parade.
Spoiler: He didn’t quit.
Don’t be a Jimmy.
Jimmy to me: See, I told you they all do that.
Me to him: Jimmy, does the term “buzzkill” mean anything to you?!?
We saw one more act on that amazing, music-filled Saturday – Cedric Burnside, who played authentic, hypnotic “hill country” blues, according to Jimmy. He was great, but the music reminded me of how damn tired I was by this point, so I couldn’t stay for his whole set.
Sunday morning brought the last act I had any stamina left for – A Beautiful Noise – the annual gospel breakfast by various artists.
After the gospel breakfast it was time to pack up, thank my wonderful hosts, and head back home (and collapse on the couch, truth be told). I barely had the strength to go onto iTunes and purchase the music from the artists I saw…sigh!
Here’s something that bothers me – people were saying that artists aren’t paid by iTunes and you should buy the CDs at the show if you want to support them. But I don’t want to buy a bunch of physical copies of the music (especially since I am moving AND my only CD player JUST died) – I’d prefer to have all my music in my iTunes library at this point. Is this true, that artists don’t make anything from iTunes? And how can that be? Why would anyone agree to have their music on iTunes if they weren’t being paid, or paid properly for it?
I bet Jimmy has an opinion on this. Too bad he left before I could ask him. 😉
Rock on,
The WB
A Celebration of Many Things
Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Orange.
Orange who?
Orange you glad I’m not going to talk about Roxodus anymore?
Well, actually I am going to talk about Roxodus for one hot second and then shut up about it (hopefully forever). The latest: the organizers have now filed for bankruptcy. No surprises here, folks!
So here’s what I REALLY want to talk about: tomorrow is the 3rd anniversary of my second (and hopefully LAST) mini-stroke aka TIA. All has been good on the cerebrovascular front ever since July 26, 2016 and I sure as hell hope it stays that way.
And here’s WHAT ELSE I really want to talk about: I turn 60 YEARS OLD On Saturday! Yep, about to fully enter the 3rd phase of my life (and my wish is that I do get another 30 or so happy, healthy years in this phase).
AND I am RETIRING FROM WORK at the end of this year. YES! I am so excited to enter this next phase of my life as a retired person and see where it takes me. I’ve been carefully taking mental notes of all the retired bloggers I follow (Y’all didn’t know you were role-modelling, did ya?) so if I screw it up, it’s all YOUR fault. Nah, just kidding…I don’t need any help to screw things up. 😉
AND I am MOVING TO VANCOUVER ISLAND in 2020! Expect many more posts on this topic as I plan and scheme and dream and realize this next big adventure of mine.
If you’ve been reading ye olde blogge for a while, you know that I was heart-broken when my daughter moved to Vancouver Island last August. Well, I got over it…sorta. But things have never been the same around Chez Badass since that time. And although I love my place (NOW, that I’ve spent the past 3-4 years renovating and decorating it), it has lost some of its appeal for me since my daughter became more than just a few minutes away from me. (Like a 6 hour flight away!)
And when I visited her last winter (here and here), that really sealed the deal for me. I can’t think of a better place for me to spend my free time (and by golly, that would be ALL OF MY TIME soon now, wouldn’t it?) and still be able to say I’m living in Canada.
To commemorate my actual anniversary of the day of my birth, I am spending Saturday at a rock music festival that IS actually going to happen – WTFest in Brantford, with my concert buddy, Dave. I can’t think of a better way to enter my 7th decade than rocking it out to some great live music. And to celebrate all the good things in my life, now and in the future.
Whew, that was a lot of announcements for one blog post. I think I’ve worked up an appetite for a big ol’ salad. Luckily, I have one waiting right beside my laptop.
Rock on,
The WB
