Canada Day means Summer!

Happy Canada Day!  

Our wonderful holiday for Canada's birthday.  The first long weekend of the hopefully long, endlessly sunny summer.

This is Moe's last summer as a teacher so it's our last true summer holiday.  From now on summer will just be summer, a change of season but not a holiday from work.  So we get to practice being retired together for the summer.

It's time to change up our daily routines, no alarm clock for weeks, no reason to go to bed early.   We'll be getting out the beach reading including some new books, some already read books and piles of magazines.

Moe will be firing up the barbecue and meal prep will be easy. A lot less housework and lots more days at the cottage, and plenty of time in the sunshine.  Canadian summers are wonderful!

But best of all we will be traveling to gorgeous BC.

I bet your mind immediately went to visions of Vancouver or Victoria maybe Tofino and the Rockies.  That's not where we are going.  Remember the Friendly Giant?  How he always said look up, look way up as he arranged that fabulous tiny furniture?  Well, look way up on a map of British Columbia and eventually you can locate the Chetwynd near Dawson Creek, north of Prince George.

Why would we go to Northeastern BC, not even to the mountains but to the foothills of Peace River area?  What is there that would encourage us to take a flight across three provinces to Calgary and then transfer to a small plane to Fort St. John?

Family of course.

Our daughter and her husband will pick us up at the airport and I will get to do the annoying mom thing of wanting to see every mundane thing.  Like the grocery store where they buy groceries, the post office and the highlights like the schools where they work, the Powder King ski resort...everything in town.  They tell me it will take fifteen minutes.

I have nothing against Chetwynd. My daughter and her husband both have jobs there.  She has her own classroom, something that might not be possible in Ontario.   But it's just so far away.  Bring on Moe's retirement so we can visit more often!

Enjoy your Canada Day.  I will be happily packing!

  

The Story of My Piano

On my to-do list (could be called my bucket list or my retirement dream list) has always been learn to play the piano.  As I mentioned in my last post, I am more than a little musically impaired.  Can't even hum a tune much less sing in any key other than off or out of. At hockey games, I needed to watch other moms so I could clap in sync when we were doing some crazy clap and stamp your feet nonsense.  Thankfully when the boys get older they really want you to stop cheering like that.

But I still want to learn to play the piano.  In order to do that, you need a piano.  So for some years I've been sort of, kind of secretly hoping to get one.  None of the kids were interested in learning, so it didn't happen when they were at home.  In the last year, I started looking on various second hand sites but with no real luck.  So I retired with the plan to learn written down but no piano and no real leads to getting one.  Learning to play was taking on the shape of one of those "yeah, yeah, I'm going to do that someday" plans that never happen.

Then serendipity... my neighbour, Carole, (who was part of my nebulous plan as a person to teach me since she has taught piano,) decided to relocate to Jasper. This meant selling her house and much of its contents.  She invited me over for early dibs on some of her larger items before her yard sale.

There was already items missing in the house, things in boxes to be shipped to her new home and my eyes went right away to her piano.

"What are you doing with your piano? I asked, expecting the answer to be that she was shipping it or storing it or it was sold.  Instead the answer was,

"I'm trying to sell it but can't find anyone to buy it."

A deal was made, and I was on her deck calling over to ours to tell my husband I was buying a piano.  Just like that, the biggest part of the learn to play puzzle was solved.

Her deck to ours!

Moe was skeptical, where would we put it--I had an 25 year old answer for that.  When we chose plans for the house I always knew a piano would fit exactly in one spot in our living room.  It was empty enough, still waiting for the piano. Then he needed to know where his favourite chair would go. I had an answer for that.  How and when would we get it moved to our house since it required at least four people.  I had answers for that.  Have you ever noticed that if you really want something you can make it happen..eventually?

A couple of nights later, at my mother-in-law's 87th birthday celebration, I asked my two brothers-in-law, John and Robert if they were around the next morning to help move a piano along with my two boys and hubby, that way they would be five people.  They agreed and then, John suggested doing it that night instead of waiting to do it during the garage sale even though they'd be one less guy.

I hurried home with my sister-in-law, Denise to check whether that was convenient with my neighbour.  No problem, she wanted it moved. The birthday celebration was interrupted.

So in came the men, John appointed me as foreman which is really a joke because he sold and moved furniture for years and Cameron had worked a summer as a mover. The neighbour was sidetracked by my sister-in-law to sell her a bed perfect for her visiting grandchildren--so really no supervision at all.

The piano made it down the stairs, out the front door and across the driveway. The men needed to put it down to re-position.  A request for Carole to play was made.  So there on a beautiful early summer evening, half way on her lawn, halfway on ours she played a few bars of a remembered Beatles song. Ah, one of life's beautiful, unexpected moments.

Perfect for a concert

With a little more huffing and exertion and moving of items, the piano made it up the front steps and into the house to be maneuvered into the very spot I had picked out on the floor plans years before.

John asked me if I knew anything at all about playing a piano.  So I showed them everything that I knew...how to play the scale of C with my right hand. (Thanks Beth.)

I bought a book recommended by the instructor on You Tube that Cameron found for me. And now everyone in the house has soldiered through my hours of practicing so that I could "master" the scales almost and have  When The Saints Go Marching In be recognizable. I have hours and hours of practice ahead of me.

Carole came over before she left and played a piece. The house filled with beautiful music. How bittersweet for both of us.  The piano may never be played as beautifully again but the house can be filled with music anyway.

My new baby!

 


Thanks to Moe, Cameron, John, Robert and Carole for helping my plan become a reality.

If you're not doing it now...

If you are not doing it before you are retired you won't do it after you are retired.  I heard this caveat a long time ago and stuck with me.

It could be a play on the adage: Don't put something off until tomorrow because tomorrow may never come or it might be a different way of saying, work to live; don't live to work. Whichever, it's worth considering before retirement.

According to Zilinski's  How to Retire Happy, Wild and Free :

"Leisure consultants and pre-retirement planners state that if you are not spending any time pursuing these activities before retirement, it is unlikely that you will spend much time on these activities after you quit work."  P. 17    
( I reviewed this book in an earlier blog.   If you copy and paste this link you could check out that blog entry:
https://debslifeinretirement.blogspot.ca/2016/02/reading-to-prep-for-retirement.html

Zilinski recommends making a list of 10 favourite interests and activities that you would like to pursue in retirement and write how much time you are presently spending on these activities. His reasoning is that unless you have a variety of activities to engage in when you retire, you may become bored and even depressed so you should start cultivating and pursuing interests while still working. He contends that even the most enjoyable activity loses its charm if it becomes routine.

When you are really busy with your career and family there may be plenty of activities that had to be put on hold. Even if you haven't done something in years, you might be able to have time for it again once you retire.  The real issue is whether you start those activities again and if you will become involved in new activities when you have the time.

So I did a review of the activities that are taking up my time to see if I am the exception to the rule-- They fall into a few categories and I left off quite a few things that fall into I was doing them before--like exercise, reading, traveling, cottage, shopping.

Old but different; the unavoidable things that still need to be done because retirement doesn't make them magically disappear.

1. Housework including decorating and organizing--certainly did housework before retirement, definitely still doing it now.  The difference is I can actually enjoy it now.  I'm not saying I love cleaning but there is more enjoyment in having the time do a decent job and to enjoy the results.  A great thing about retirement is not needing to cram all that work into the few hours available at night and on weekends.

2. Cooking-  Thanks to the difference in our schedules I wasn't really doing this much before retirement, Moe was doing most of the daily cooking so I just did the same old stuff when I cooked. That's why I said I wanted to learn how to cook again in retirement.  I've certainly enjoyed trying new recipes especially when they turn out well.  Not a new activity but actually enjoying doing it is new.

Not new but with a twist

3. Baking--this is something I have loved to do since I was a kid.  However, before retirement I baked on demand (read only when I had to or if I had tons of time).  Now I bake more often and try new recipes and even ones that are a challenge.

4. Yoga--I was doing yoga before I retired.  At home, often from videos and apps and books but sporadically.  The twist here is now I go to yoga classes-regularly.  Classes are so much better.  Didn't have time for classes before.  Love yoga!!

5. Knitting--wasn't doing this before retirement because it is addictive and will keep you from going to bed when you should.  But not new since I have been able to knit since high school.  Now I am knitting again.  And it's still addictive and still keeps me up at night.  The twist is that I joined a knitting circle--we knit for charities and it is a once a week social outing.

Below are Actually New Activities.  Hah!!

6. Duolingo--it's an app that helps you learn another language.  I am improving my French, everyday.  Yes, I live in a French home and took French to grade 12 but I still have learned a lot from my iPad--I once said to kiss my neck when I really wanted to say kiss my butt--my pronunciation needs work!  C'est la vie!

7. Blogging.  Writing and publishing my personal writing--definitely new.  Still scary.

Below is Proof that I'm an Exception to the Rule of "if you didn't do it before you won't do it after you retire":

8.  I have no rhythm, I can't sing to save my life but I have always wanted to play so I bought a piano and am learning with lots of practice....

Thanks to my friend, Beth I was able to play the Scale of C with my right hand when we moved the piano into our house. It seems like thousands of years ago she tried to teach me on her grandmother's piano. That's as far as we got.  I now know all the scales with both hands and in unison, and a couple of songs.  I still can't sing or carry a tune, so my piano playing career will remain in the house.

So that may make me an exception to the idea that if you weren't doing it before you won't do it after however, as I said I am also not the exception. I was sure I was going to be doing these things but...

9. I still haven't made it to spin class or the pool, my garden doesn't exist and I've only painted one picture.

But then again, there is always September.

Layered Lemon

Welcome back to my blog.  Since it is the end of the school year and many people are probably looking for a recipe for the end-of-year staff party, or the volunteer luncheon or what-ever pot luck meal you are invited to, I decided to give up one of my favourite recipes for such events.

This is my go-to recipe for most pot luck lunches.  I prefer making dessert anytime instead of cooking for a large group.  This recipe is great because it makes a large pan and it is too decadent to make just for yourself even if you cut the recipe in half.  It travels well and looks pretty when displayed.

It is always a hit. People have dropped hints for me to make it again--sometimes someone will remind me that I haven't made it in a while.

The original recipe calls for a short bread base, but I switched it to a graham cracker crust instead. ( I found it in Desserts by Company's Coming, 1986)  Sometimes, I fancy up the top with decorative sprinkles or chocolate shavings.

My best tip:  always use Philadelphia cream cheese.  It's just richer, sweeter and better.

First layer: Crust

1/3 c. Butter (you can use margarine, not as good)
1 1/2 c.    Graham cracker crumbs
2 tbsp brown sugar

Crust: Melt butter in saucepan.  Stir in crumbs and sugar.  Pat into the bottom of a 9 by 13 inch pan (22x33cm)  It won't be too thick.  I usually bake 10 minutes in 350 degree oven.  Let cool.

Second layer:

2  8oz packages cream chees
1 c icing sugar
1 envelope of Dream Whip
1/2 c milk

Beat cheese and icing sugar together well.  Prepare Dream Whip topping with milk as directed on package.  Fold into cream cheese mixture.  Spread over cooled crust.

Third layer:

2 packages of lemon pudding and pie filling (each makes one pie)

Prepare lemon pie filling as directed on package.  Cool, stirring often.  Pour over cheese layer and spread to even.

Fourth layer:

2 envelopes of Dream Whip
or
2 c. whipping cream
2 tbsp of granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Beat cream, sugar and vanilla until stiff or prepare Dream Whip as directed.  Spread over lemon layer when cooled.

Garnish with nuts, sprinkles, chocolate shavings or almonds.

Refrigerate before serving.  Makes 15 generous servings or 24 normal servings.

Shown below with the shortbread crust and nuts on top.  I have never decorated with nuts because of the potential food sensitivities or allergies.

The Other Side of the Bridge

I would not usually recommend a book that made me cry.  Life gives us enough opportunity and reason to cry, we don't need to go looking for sadness in books.  However, even as as the tears were pouring down my face I was thinking how much I was enjoying this book.  And that I would read it again someday.

Mary Lawson became my new favourite writer when I read Road Ends.  I also read Crow Lake, her first novel.  Although I liked it, Crow Lake did not enthral me the way that Road Ends and The Other Side of the Bridge did.

I like Lawson's writing because of her compelling characters but also because she so vividly paints time and place in her novels. The novel stretches through a lifetime from the Great Depression, through the war and onward. She catches the life in rural farming communities so realistically during those times that Struan could be anywhere in Northern Ontario.

The central character of the novel, Arthur is anything but a typical hero in a book.  Certainly not a romantic hero.  He's not good looking.  He is not smart or quick witted.  But his younger brother is.  In fact, Arthur doesn't have much going for him.  He certainly not mysterious, or athletic or particularly clever.  He struggles in school in a time when students repeated entire grades in high school so that his brother catches up to him.  He is shy and words do not come easily to him so he unable to be charming or humorous.  But in the end, he is endearing to the reader without being pitiable.  He is just a guy who puts one foot in front of the other to do what needs to be done.  He doesn't complain.  He's faithful, loyal and dependable.  He is everything his brother is not and his brother, Jake, is everything Arthur would like to be.

Arthur gets the girl, the one that he is in competition with his brother.  But there is a lot more to the story than that.  There is a good plot to this novel and several other storylines as well so that you do care about what is going to happen.  However, Mary Lawson creates such powerful characterization that the plot is almost secondary.  You are really reading to know what will happen to Arthur.  How will everything turn out for him and for the other characters who interact with him.

We all know Arthurs, perhaps even are Arthurs or at least some of Arthur.  The dependable, reliable person who is usually overshadowed by more outgoing, bigger personalities.  Lawson manages however, to make him not too moral and too good to be likeable.  He does make some questionable choices, he is capable of selfishness, and has enough back bone and stubbornness to to remain strong when pushed.  However always without fuss.

Speaking of being overshadowed.  There is another entire story within the novel about the farmhand Ian that is overshadowed by the story of sibling rivalry between Arthur and Jake.  Unlike Arthur, Ian is has so many choices available to him that he is struggling to decide what and who he will become.

Lawson swings chapters between Ian and Arthur, yet Ian's story always leads back to Arthur.  Which in the end is why this reader was crying.

Mary Lawson remains my new favourite author. And The Other Side of the Bridge is a book I will read again even if it made me cry.

About My Retirement Gift to Me

I had wanted a stand mixer like this for such a very long time but there was always a reason why that desire was unfulfilled.  The fact that I seldom found time to bake and had a perfectly good hand mixer did not justify the expense.  And then I was going to retire and I knew that I wanted to use some of my time to bake.

Stand mixers were on sale before Christmas along with a mail-in-rebate from Kitchen Aid. The time had come to fulfill that want.

The most difficult part was committing to which one to purchase.  Lift bowl or tilt-head, professional grade or home use, which colour, (probably the biggest and most important decision) how big a bowl or motor?  So many decisions!  I polled the bakers and cooks at school, sent e-mails to friends for their input that I took into full consideration. But in the end, I purchased the very one that I had been admiring for years; a beautiful fire engine red Kitchen Aid Artisan stand mixer with a tilt head.  It has a stainless steel bowl and comes with three beaters and a port for the attachments that I am sure to investigating soon.  

I brought it home the night before my last day at school. A perfect retirement gift for me. I've had it for six months now and every time I use it I think how I wish I had invested in this years ago! It works beautifully. It is easy to use, easy to clean and looks fabulous on my counter. 

It is a bit heavy to move so I had to find a spot that works to store it yet is also where it can be used. The heaviness is actually a bonus as it is solid while in use, so I can do other tasks. I'm looking forward to adding the glass bowl and after I tried making my own pasta dough, I know I want the pasta attachments.  I've used it so often already and I love it.  I highly recommend! 

It does make me wonder though... why do we so often put off what we really want until we can get a reason to give it to ourselves as a gift? 

My Mistake..sort of, kind of..

Our garage right now is beautiful--not quite a work of art but really rather nice for a garage that actually is a garage with a car in it and loads of stuff that needs to be kept in a garage.  That same garage was a disaster from January until just last week.  Which was really disappointing because in the last few years we have put a lot of work into organizing it and in the fall we were confident that this winter would be different and it would stay neat enough until spring.  Hah!  A few things foiled that plan.

First, in January, I went on my annual January craze of organizing and reorganizing. I love to start the year off right as so many other people do--that's why the Canadian Tire flyer is full of organizing materials in January.   This year with all those extra hours to tear apart closets and sort through drawers the pile of items to give away, take to the cottage or donate grew and grew.  And it grew in the garage, neatly against the wall at the bottom of the stairs.  Neatly but still in a guilt inducing don't look at me way.  A pile that was annoying and irritating every time you passed by it.

The second thing that destroyed the plan is that grown children sometimes need space to store their things while they go away or they because they don't have a place for their summer tires.  That kind of storage makes things really tight so there is no room to put anything else.

Well the grown children responsible for the storing of things were here last week collecting those things.  And as the wonderful adults that they are they cleaned and organized the garage after they reclaimed their things.  It was a way of saying thank you for the storage.  I painted a bench and spray painted planters while they worked in the garage.  A truly wonderful way to spend the afternoon.

That beautifully clean, organized garage inspired me to do some further upgrading of the space.  I had found a can of white paint to use on the bench, and there was enough left to use in the garage to repaint the door into the house and the door out into the yard.  That cleaned up some rather messy doors nicely.  Then I decided to paint the garage stair railings that managed to survive for twenty-five years without paint.  That turned out well and really brightened things up.

I was satisfied for a day or two but I still had some paint remaining.  Hmmm...maybe the actual stair threads could use a coat of paint.   Then they would match the railing and over time they would lose the paint but would take on that nice worn look.  That's what I was thinking.  So I did it.  I painted the stair threads with a nice thick coat of paint and planned to do a second coat the next day.

That was a mistake.  And it took only a little bit of time to figure this out.

I had left the garage door open so that the warm air could dry the paint before people needed to use the stairs.  However the cat from next door also came to visit.  He left his very dirty paw prints on my lovely dry white paint. Every footstep showed.  Every footstep is going to show.  My lovely white paint is already filthy.  Not in a timeworn shabby chic kind of way but in a nasty, non-glamorous, need to be cleaned kind of way.

I am not going to do another coat, I am not going to wash those stairs so I will need to live with the glaring dirt until the paint wears off.  Hopefully soon.   I will find a way to use the remainder of that paint.  And it won't be a mistake.

My Baking Challenge!

Cinnamon Twist Wreath

When I saw this picture in April's Chatelaine, I knew I had to try it. It meant I needed to clear an afternoon or a whole morning but I was so excited to give this a try!

I have made it twice now and will make it again with some embellishment to the recipe--mainly I will make the filling more sugary and more buttery, like really yummy cinnamon buns. The recipe is good as is but it is not decadent, yet.

 The first time, I organized it very well--to come out of the oven just before hubby came home from work so that the kitchen, actually the whole house would smell amazing!

I was quite proud of it and was allowing it to cool before plating it and taking a picture so that I could show the difference between the magazine pic and the actual first time attempt.  It was not a pintrest fail but the centre of my wreath was very tight.  Where I failed though was that I forgot to tell Moe not to touch.

When I returned from getting the serving plate I wanted to use there was a large chunk missing from the wreath and of course plenty of crumbs! It was still warm, and a bit gooey like warm bread...so delish!  We skipped the picture and enjoyed the wreath.

On this second attempt, I timed everything so that it would be out of the oven, cooled, on a plate and photographed before anyone else was in the house. This second attempt resulted in a better baked wreath and more even braiding but I still didn`t manage to affix the ends smoothly and my centre was less than perfect but it still tasted great.

Despite the need to practice my braiding and work on how I affix the ends together, the effect is good. This is one of my pictures.

Instructions

• COMBINE yeast with warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Let stand until frothy, 10 min. Beat in warm milk, 1/4 cup melted butter and yolks until combined. Add flour, granulated sugar and salt (2). Beat on medium, until dough is smooth and pulls cleanly away from the bottom and sides of bowl, 4 to 6 min. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl and cover loosely with a damp kitchen towel. Let rest until dough is doubled in size, about 1 hour.
• PREHEAT oven to 325F. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Stir 1/2 cup butter with brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Beat egg with 1 tbsp water in a small bowl until combined.
• ROLL dough on a lightly floured surface into a 22 × 12 in. rectangle, trimming edges if needed. Spread butter mixture evenly over dough to the edges. With the long edge facing you, tightly roll up dough in jelly roll fashion (3). End roll with seam-side up. Use a sharp knife to cut the log lengthwise in half along the seam (4). Tightly weave the two pieces together, leaving the cut sides exposed. Gently transfer to prepared sheet. Brush a 2-in. portion of one woven end with egg wash (5). Form into a wreath, firmly pinching the egg-washed end underneath the other to seal (6). Cover with same damp kitchen towel and let rise until doubled, 1 more hour.
• BAKE in centre of oven until bread is deep golden, 35 to 40 min. Cool slightly. Dust with icing sugar before serving.
  

Buttery Pound Cake

I have been really enjoying and using my subscriptions to Chatelaine and Canadian Living.  Every month, I seem to grab a couple of recipes from each to try.  Usually baking from Chatelaine and cooking from Canadian Living.  However, this perfect Pound Cake recipe was at the back of February's Canadian Living.

It is yummy alone but even better served with jam, caramel sauce, chocolate sauce or berries.  I am planning on making it to serve with berries, instead of making a shortcake.

It does require lots of beating, but a wonderful recipe if you have a stand mixer to do the work.

• Prep time25 minutes
• Total time2 hours and 45 minutes
• Portion size16 servings

Ingredients

Preparation

In large bowl, beat butter with sugar until light, fluffy and pale yellow, about 5 minutes. Add 1 egg; beat for 2 minutes, scraping down side. Repeat with remaining eggs, adding 1 at a time. Beat in milk, vanilla and salt until combined (mixture may appear curdled).

Add half of the flour; stir gently just until combined. Repeat with remaining flour. Scrape into parchment paper–line 8- x 4-inch (1.5 L) loaf pan, smoothing top.

Bake in 325°F (160°C) oven until top is golden and cake tester inserted in centre comes out clean, about 1 1/4 hours. Let cool in pan for 20 minutes. Turn out onto rack; let cool completely. Peel off parchment paper. (Make-ahead: Wrap in plastic wrap; store for up to 2 days.)

Great recipe for a weekend.  And my mom approved it enthusiastically at Easter.  

Reading Corners

One of the great things about retirement is the gift of time to read! Enough time to read with out interruption, time enough to really immerse yourself in the story without distraction.  And enough mind to be able to concentrate.  Enough mind to be able to think about what you read.   I love to read but during the school year it can be difficult to read for enjoyment even for an avid reader. Reading of worthwhile books meant waiting until summer and sometimes the Christmas holidays if we weren't too busy.

Prepping to make the most of my time to enjoy reading again, I dusted off my library card and the pile of books in my bed table that are waiting for sufficient time to be enjoyed.  We have a perfect reading corner in our living room. It's not the only area in the house where we might read but it is a delightful spot to curl up with a good book or a copy of Maclean's any time during the winter.

I think everyone has a favourite spot in their house where they like curl up and read.  Often that spot is in bed. However, that often means you only read in the morning or at night before sleeping, if your light doesn't disturb anyone else.  If you want to read during the day or while sitting up, that's better in a reading corner.  

If your setting up a reading corner you might consider ensuring that you have the a few of these elements for cozy reading.

A comfortable chair--preferably one that can be reclined if you suddenly feel like a snooze.  The chair in our corner is considered my husband's chair but it's the perfect size for me to pull my legs up to curl into the corner.

Adequate lighting at the right height as well as a source of natural lighting.  I am quite short so the table lamp is high enough to cast light onto whatever I'm reading.  Many people prefer a standing lamp so that the light is behind and above them.  We moved our floor lamp from behind the chair because it was needed else where.

A surface close by for your beverage, book mark, snack, reading glasses and any other items you might need. Sometimes I like to have flags, sticky notes or a couple of other books on hand depending on what or why I am reading.

A throw or blanket to cuddle up in and keep you warm is a necessity in the winter but can be welcome on cooler days in the summer.  I often like to creep downstairs early in the morning to read while still in my pajamas so a warm wrap is essential.

Not essential but nice accompaniments are a reading shawl to protect your shoulders and chest from being chilled, and big fluffy socks to keep your feet toasty.  Chapters often have cozy choices of these in the fall but a big sweater or a trendy poncho can be re-purposed to add coziness to your winter reading.

Add in your choice of beverage, wine, cocoa, tea or coffee and snack you can eat while you read and enjoy your book.

I love all the free time I have to read now.  I love to read first thing in the morning in bed with coffee, quietly some afternoons with tea and late into the night with hot chocolate.  It means I can read those books that I put aside when I was working because they deserved to be read without distraction and interruption.

Snowshoeing in April

I certainly don't like that the copious amount of snow that descended upon us last week has stayed on the ground.  However, it did provide me with an opportunity to make up for a missed chance in March.  

I have so loved snowshoeing this winter, something that I haven't been able to enjoy in many years.  Since January, whenever it was warm enough (which wasn't often) I managed to get in a good hike while soaking up all the benefits of outdoor exercise.  Warm sunshine and vitamin D, fresh air and a chance to marvel at the beauty of snow and trees and open space.

In March, when weather forecasts indicated the season was just about over, I wanted to do one last hike and get some pictures of a gorgeous spot on my trail, as well.  Please note: I am not the photographer in the family.  However, it was a perfect day.  I put the iPad in a plastic bag and set off into the glorious sunshine. And I took fabulous pictures!  How could I miss?  The sun was so bright and clear that all I could see on the screen was black but the scenes of glittering snow and tall pines thick with snow were perfect.  The sunlight was so brilliant, it completely overpowered the capabilities of my camera.  I was excited about the blog I would craft highlighting my wonderful pictures.

Once home, I discovered... no such luck.  The screen had not been black because of the glare from the glorious sun, it was black because I had not removed the protector from the camera lens at the back of the iPad. All of my hard work was wasted, my good intentions for naught. As I said, I am not the family photographer.

But last week's snowfall gave me a second chance.

So off I went but without snowshoes.  I had put them away and didn't want to go get them.  Besides, I thought how hard could it be? The snow is not that deep.  Wow, did I find out differently.

Exercise is good for a person, but not all exercise is created equal. On the treadmill, I can walk at a good clip and on an incline for a good length of time working up maybe a mild sheen but no real discomfort.  Five minutes (probably less) of walking through the snow had me stopping to catch my breath.  At the end of a thirty minute hike with stopping to take pictures and to catch my breath multiple times, I was so warm that once inside I was tossing my outdoor clothing off at a rapid rate to cool myself down.  And all the muscles accustomed to the treadmill were talking to me, and not kindly!

The pictures I took are okay. But the sun was not as brilliant as last time and the snow neither as deep or as heavy on the trees but I still want to share a spot that makes the trek worth the effort.

I seem to like tree stumps.

Looking back at where you have been is so rewarding.

My path back home.  Thankfully, I only needed to follow the path I had already created. The first step off of the road had me sinking up past my knees but the field and in the bush was only ankle deep.   It does seem I was having trouble keeping a straight line on the way in. Still wish the sun had been shining but there is always next winter.

Leaving Tomorrow

 Leaving Tomorrow

I seem to be on a reading binge of Canadian authors.  This and the next two books I read were  by Canadian authors.  David Bergen is a new author to me.  I found the book in our local library and although he has several other books, this was the one that caught my attention.  You must admit, the title is rather intriguing in its ambiguity.


Bergen is an interesting writer.  The writing is crisp, clean, and straightforward, yet unexpectedly he will use a word in such a way that you are searching for it in dictionary.com.  I like that.  Usually, if a word used by an author causes you pause in its newness, you can use clues, context or otherwise to determine the meaning or the near meaning. Bergen doesn't do that. He throws the word out there, singular, isolated--staring at you in your ignorance.
It suits the story however, as the main character, Arthur has read expansively acquiring a huge vocabulary and aspires to be a writer.

The book is a family story set in the tiny town of Tomorrow, Alberta.  Arthur, the avid reader, has outgrown the small town and yearns to live in Paris.    Part of Arthur's problem, besides being unlikable, is that his extensive reading and expansive vocabulary has set him apart and isolates him in his town.  Or so he thinks, since he feels intellectually superior to others and has learned nothing of human nature from his reading.  Arthur does make it to Paris, only to discover that he is isolated and incompatible there as well, partly because of language (again) but also because he is so self absorbed (again).  There are other more enjoyable characters in the story who have interesting interactions with Arthur.  Bergen draws the story to its conclusion nicely with Arthur remaining incredibly intelligent, yet unable to understand the simplest of things without those to whom he feels superior explaining them.

I will read other books by Bergen because I like his style, but I hope that their protagonists are more likable and less self absorbed than Arthur.  

10 Things I learned from making pasta from scratch.

Today it snowed, not just a little but a significant amount.  Enough to make it seem like winter was well on its way and you just wanted to stay warm indoors.  So I decided it was a perfect day to make pasta from scratch.  I had never done this before but ever since I found a how-to article in Canadian Living in January I have been meaning to do it. Note; this was my very first time and I have never watched anyone else do it either.  So I really didn't know what I was doing. This is what I learned.

1. Good intentions can wait a long time.  Since I've already mentioned that I have been intending to do this since January, it is safe to say that you can put off or at least I can put off a good intention for considerable time.

2. Motivation can come in strange shapes.  In this case, Moe (my husband) put aside a small amount of hamburger in the fridge asking me what I could do with it.  He was making hamburger patties--something that I can't do because the meat is too cold!  I told him I would use it in spaghetti sauce. A great reason to try to make my own spaghetti.  And then it snowed today and I was staying in anyways.

3. You can find a video demonstrating almost anything, especially for cooking. The videos are great and they are not only on youtube. In this case I used the Canadian Living video that matched the recipe to demonstrate how to make the pasta dough. http://www.canadianliving.com/food/fresh_pasta_dough.php

4. The video works much faster than you do!!  I needed to replay the video so often I lost count.  In fact, I replayed it for every tiny step of the process, which was still easier than reading and rereading the recipe to work it out.

5.  Watch the video first and follow it.  The well in my flour did not hold.  I had bits of egg white escaping and sliding down the sides of my well making a dash for freedom at all points.  I had to scoop that up repeatedly and that prevented me from breaking the yolks until I had the whites under control.  Next time, I follow the video exactly and start with my flour in a bowl so that I can form a perfect egg trapping well.

6.  Canadian Living thinks you know stuff you don't know. (To be fair other recipes act like this too)   The video was just about making the dough.  It wasn't all that clear about telling when you had kneaded the dough sufficiently.  ( I got that from another video) and it didn't tell me anything about how to roll and cut the dough.  Again other videos for that.

7.  The cutter for spaghetti I bought at HomeSense doesn't work even if it is made in Italy.  I wanted to try making pasta before I invested in an expensive roller or attachment for my Kitchenaid mixer so I thought I had things well under control by investing in a $5 rolling pin that promised to cut the dough.  Haha, maybe it would work for someone who knew what they were doing but not for me.

8. Cutting spaghetti by hand is time consuming but also rather fun.  I rolled out my dough until it was almost transparent and then used the supposed cutter--all it did was score the dough rather well.  I then used those score lines to cut the dough.  Once I tried a tri-fold (most videos demonstrate this method) and then scored and then cut but I still needed to unfold the cut spaghetti and as I worked toward the center, the pieces became less willing to separate. So the next piece I cut it strips of individual spaghetti--I'm glad I had lots of time and patience.

9. It really does taste great!

10.  I am going to invest in the attachment for my Kitchenaid since it will roll and cut!  I want to make pasta from scratch but I don't want to cut it by hand.  The rolling part was actually fun because the dough keeps springing back after you roll it.

Although my adventures in pasta making took up a lot of time, and I did manage to get flour in places it didn't need to be, I still want to do it again.  Next time will be so much easier.  If anyone wants to try my spaghetti rolling pin let me know.

Granola Bowls

Like many people I made some plans about improving my eating habits and getting healthier once I retired.  For me, one of those ways to get healthier was to have breakfast everyday, instead of rushing out the door with coffee in hand and maybe something to eat.  Toast with peanut butter and banana with maybe a sprinkle of cinnamon or a drizzle of honey was about the height of my workday breakfasts. However, it was often less than that and worst case, it was something at my desk when I got to work.  Yuck!

So I have been breakfasting much better--I run through a routine of French toast (my all time favourite breakfast food), steel cut oats (yum!) and omelettes (tomato, cheese, mushrooms, onions, peppers, celery) and maybe a boiled egg or toast with peanut butter and banana for old time sake.

Then I saw this cute recipe for granola bowls in this month's Canadian Living. (I have two other recipes tagged as well)  Hmmm.  One of my favourite summer breakfasts is to have yogurt with fresh fruit.  These edible granola bowls would be perfect to upgrade that choice.  Plus they really can act as the bowl!

Super easy to make; however, next time I will make a greater effort to make them look like they do in the magazine.  I made the bottoms too thick thinking the yogurt would go right through--it doesn't.  I also like more fruit added than what I can put in with short sides and a thick bottom.  But I will do this recipe again, because I tried one for breakfast (yogurt, fresh strawberry and banana) and I just finished one for lunch, (yogurt, fresh strawberries and frozen berries with cinnamon sugar).  Come on summer, so I can take one of these out onto the deck full of yogurt and fresh fruit!!

Granola Bowls

3 tbsp packed sugar
3 tbsp vegetable oil
3 tbsp liquid honey
2 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cups large-flake rolled oats
3/4 cup sliced natural (skin-on) almonds (I just used what I had)
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt

In small saucepan, combine brown sugar, oil, and honey and cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until sugar dissolves, about 2 minutes. Stir in vanilla. (I found the oil stayed somewhat separate from the sugars.)

In food processor, pulse together oats, almonds, cinnamon, salt and brown sugar mixture until combined but still chunky, about 5 - 6 times.

Press scant 1/2 cup into bottom and up sides of each well of a greased (I didn't do this and it still worked very well) 6 count jumbo muffin pan.  (Tip from test kitchen: moisten hands if the granola mixture starts to stick to your fingers as you're pressing into the muffin pan--I should have done this.  Also I will try putting in less and then add more so that it would be easier to press around the sides of the muffin wells.)

Bake in 300 F oven until golden, 25-30 minutes.  Let cool in pan for 20 minutes.  Gently twist granola bowls to loosen from pan; transfer to rack to cool completely.  Can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

The bowls are sturdy enough according to Canadian Living to handle scoops of ice cream.  



 

RBC Retirement Designers

RBC Retirement Designers

I happened to see an interview on Marilyn Dennis, with Hilary Farr, who used to be on Love It or List.  She now has a gig with the RBC as part of their website called Retirement Designers. At the end of the blog you can find it a link to the website. I checked out the website although I didn't find Hilary on it.

All of the big banks have information on websites about retirement planning that focuses on the financial planning aspects. This website is less about finances and more about how you want to live in retirement and what you want out of retirement.  

RBC wants you to use the website to help "design a retirement" that will work for you (and your spouse, if applicable) on various levels and at different stages.  If you think that you should pick up and follow your dreams after retiring or that retirement will be one long vacation, then the website could be a buzz kill for that. It is more about clarifying what is a doable dream and what might be a nice dream but not a great reality.  

It seems some retirees have made decisions to move from their home or invest in a long held dream and then discovered that the reality is not what they had envisioned. Unfortunately for them, their dream retirement turned into an expensive mistake. Also, some retiring couples appear to be at odds or at least on different pages regarding their dream retirement.  The website is set up to help them reach an agreeable compromise by finding common ground through determining their priorities.  

There are some good points to the website and it poses many excellent questions for people who are considering retiring or changing up their lives;  such as defining what you will do with the 2000 hours that you used to work in a year and now have free. What makes you get up in the morning and how best to make sure you want to get up in the morning. What you will do when you are not traveling or doing that one thing that you really want to do when you retire?   

The website is worth checking out if for no other reason than to realize whether you have answers for the questions they pose or perhaps you need to do more thinking or investigating.  There is a good priority setting activity to work through on an interactive tool, some videos and there are checklists and valuable information.  Here is the link.   

http://www.rbcroyalbank.com/mfd-campaign/fall-b.html

I think I might try to see if other financial institutions have similar types of websites that focus less on the financial.

The Taming of the Queen by Philippa Gregory

After finishing The Orenda, by Boyden, I wanted to read something a little less intense and chose to read about a wife of King Henry VIII.  What was I thinking?  Being Henry's wife is decidedly more elegant but only slightly safer than living in a 17th century Huron village.   

Philippa Gregory has a Ph.d in history from the University of Edinburgh. She is a prolific writer and her novel, The Other Boleyn Girl, has been made into a movie.

She writes about the women in history instead of the men. These women may have had influence and power in their time but their accomplishments are often dominated or claimed by the men of the era.  Enough has been said about Henry VIII, so it is interesting to learn about his wives. However, the most famous of his wives, Anne Boleyn, (perhaps because she was young and beautiful but quickly fell out of favour and met a sudden and horrific end) overshadows his other wives, even Katherine Parr, one of his most intelligent and accomplished wives.

It is strange that not more is known about Katherine Parr since she did out live him, and that wasn't just luck.  She had to outmaneuver the King and the royal characters plotting against her. As Henry's sixth wife she followed two who were beheaded, two who were exiled and one dead through childbirth. She had reason to live in fear. Much of her time had to center around not ticking him off which was quite a chore since he was already quick to anger, egotistical and easily insulted.  He was at this time in constant pain from a well described ulcerous leg and he also had great discomfort from his over indulgence in food and wine, making him even grumpier.

Katherine was well read, a great thinker and well written.   She was the first woman in England to publish a book that she had written and not just translated.  As part of the court she was very involved in religious and theological discussion. Part of Henry's legacy is how he shaped religion in England during his time, and Katherine seems to have influence on Henry's thinking on religion and his place as head of the Church of England, as well. That is, she had influence when he was favouring the reformists; when he switched to the papists; she was in danger of losing her head.

Katherine had a considerable life outside of her royal life. She was a twice widowed but without children before she married the King. She also had a secret that would have ended her life and the life of a few others had he discovered it.

The Taming of the Queen, like Gregory's other novels is rich in detail. However, the intricacies of the court can be confusing, especially with Henry who liked to keep factions fighting between themselves and would favour one side and then the other to keep everyone on their toes.

I would recommend it to read if you are interested in a story about a strong, intelligent woman who is able to keep a secret. The rich detail of the Tudor court creates an atmosphere of intrigue and danger.  There are points when the discussion of religion seems tedious but it always turns out to be necessary to the story.  It is a good biography about a clever and innovative woman.

Reading Challenge:  

I chose to use this novel for the READ HARDER challenge to fulfill the Read a Biography entry.  I could also use it as a book set in Europe for the 2016 Reading Challenge from Popsugar, but I am sure that I will read another book set in Europe before the year is over.  

2000 Hours

All that free time???

It is estimated that when you retire you suddenly have about 2000 hours a year free.  Those are the hours that you used to spend working full time.  This of course is a rough estimate for many people may have spent fewer or more hours depending on where they were working.  No wonder, people worry about getting bored--that's a lot of time to fill.

I have to admit, I still don't seem to have enough hours in the day. Yet in the next breath I would  say that my time is much less rushed and pressured than when I was working.  I feel short of time only because I am busy and I like it that way.

This morning at yoga class, the instructor was posing questions during our cool down or reflective time, asking us to consider what makes us get up in the morning.  What made us get up that morning?  For me it is because I have things I want to do or someplace to go. It's also because I need to be ready to do whatever comes up.

This morning, I wanted to get a few things accomplished before I left for yoga.  I needed to make a marinade for the chicken I was cooking for supper, I wanted the house neat and chores finished.  I wanted coffee while I did my French lesson on Duolingo and caught up on email before I left the house. After my yoga class, I wanted to be able to spend the afternoon on something I like to do.  I was thinking of finishing a knitting pattern and spray painting a couple of items for a DYI project or maybe blogging for the afternoon.

As it turned out, the wind, or rather the first day of winter melting, took me for a long snow shoe trek through fields and forest and then a long walk down the road in my heavy winter boots. It was glorious to be outside in the sunshine, my coat unzipped and carrying my mitts in my hand soaking up vitamin D.  Snow shoeing is a great way to get really warm! This trek was totally unplanned. It was a spontaneous response to the warmth of the day and the realization that there may be a limited number of days remaining to snow shoe.  Ahh, the promise of spring.

The best days are when I have one or two things that are calling to me to get done and then a plan for one or two that will be just for fun.  And the very best days are like today when I have plans for things to do but the chance to drop it all to do something spontaneous.

Since I've retired, I have been very diligent about getting out of bed whenever I wake up. I am waking up naturally because my body has had enough sleep not because of an alarm clock, so there is no point in lying around. Sometimes I might make coffee and then read for a bit in bed because that is something I love to do but I always make sure I am up and doing something else within the hour.  I have found that staying in bed with nothing to do just puts me in a bad mood or dampens my day. Likewise, I have been careful about the time sucks; social media, watching t.v. during the day, and email.

After all I only have 2000 hours to fill, I better get busy enjoying them. 

Banana Cupcakes

Sunday Baking

I love to bake and I find baking on a Sunday, especially relaxing.  Maybe it's because usually there are fewer chores and errands to delay and interrupt your sifting and stirring.

If you are like me, you also often have over ripe bananas that you want to use instead of throwing out.  I have a great family recipe for banana bread but I've made that so often that I really needed to branch out and try something new.
I discovered these cupcakes in Best Recipes Ever while I was searching for recipes to use up a quart of buttermilk.

If you don't have buttermilk, that's okay.  I have made this recipe without buttermilk by substituting sour cream thinned with a little water and once with Greek yogurt.  Both times the recipe turned out as well as if I had used the buttermilk.

They are moist, light and fluffy and the family loved them but now they want we to make my regular banana bread again.  

Banana Buttermilk Cupcakes

1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup mashed ripe banana
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup buttermilk

In large bowl, beat butter with sugar until fluffy; beat in egg.
Beat in banana and vanilla.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; stir into butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, making 3 additions of dry ingredients and 2 of buttermilk.  Spoon into paper-lined or greased muffin cups.

Bake in 350 degree oven until cake tester inserted in centre comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.  Let cool.

Are good either plain or with icing.

The Orenda by Joseph Boyden

Not for the faint hearted

The Orenda is intense from its opening pages to the very end making it a page turner.  However, it is not for the faint of heart. It is the type of story to give you bad dreams if not nightmares.

It is a story told in alternating chapters from the viewpoint of three main characters, a Huron warrior, an Iroquois girl captured and adopted by the warrior and a Jesuit priest.  It is historical fiction set in the early 17^th century just before the destruction of the Huron nation and at the beginning of Jesuits coming to Canada to convert the First Nations to Catholicism. 

Boyden is a good writer, perhaps one of Canada's best.  He is definitely very descriptive and creates excellent characters while maintaining historical accuracy.  This book has intensity from its first page to its last. 

You feel the tension, the fear, the unrelenting struggle to survive.   This intensity had me fearing an arrow piercing into my back as I read accompanied characters on canoe treks through Iroquois land and fearing starvation through long, cold winters and summers of drought.  

I have read a great deal of historical fiction--medieval, Vikings, Romans--I love stories about Genghis Khan, so I have read a lot of battles, and violence, but Boyden's descriptions of torture in this story are very graphic and relentless.  You can't just breeze over a paragraph or two and then perhaps get onto something else, he goes on for pages. The Iroquois are recognized as fearsome warriors and history has recorded them as brutal and Boyden does not shy away from that.  The only balance to his graphic descriptions is to remind readers at one point that such torture has been used throughout the world throughout history.   Father Christopher reminds two other priests of how the people they refer to as “sauvages” are not alone in torturing their captives and draws their attention to the atrocities of the Spanish Inquisition

It reads like a movie, you can imagine the panning camera shots and recognize some standard movie devices. There is one part where a secondary character stands up in the midst of a battle, stating something self-congratulatory in and then just like in any war movie when something like this happens you find yourself thinking "sit down stupid, before you get shot"...whoops too late, the arrow passes right through his neck and he dies while being comforted by the older, wiser primary character.  Other than that one part that is so cliché, the remainder of the book is worth reading and the movie would be worth watching—even though I would be watching the battle scenes from under a blanket. 

I enjoy a book that intrigues me enough to do check its historical accuracy and do some additional research.  I also checked out various reviews of The Orenda to see how it was received by First Nations readers. 

I recommend the book and hope someone makes a movie that does it justice.

Reading Challenge:  I used The Orenda to complete the challenge of a book recommended by someone I had just met.  Although I met the person a while ago, it was only one meeting.
Moe, out younger son and I were on a tour on the French River offered by the Lodge at Pine Cove, near Noelville.  Our tour guide, Alex, is the owner of the Lodge and is well read on the region and Canadian history.  On a beautiful, sunny day in June, we were on a pontoon boat in the middle of the French River listening to Alex talk about Canadian politics, geography, history and First Nation topics when he recommended the reading of The Orenda and two other books as good reading for understanding the early history of the area.  

I highly recommend visiting The Lodge at Pine Cove. Check it out on Facebook or at their website.

Designing Your Retirement

Retirement is going to change your life.  And it is going to change your life in more ways than just not going to work every day. It gives you freedom; it gives you choice and it gives you time. It also gives you the responsibility of keeping yourself happy, healthy, wealthy and wise.

 For some people retirement will be just an increase of what they already do when they are not at work. They will spend time on the hobbies they have always done, visit with the people they already socialize with, and perhaps take a vacation or two. No real change, just more time and more freedom.  In many ways they are very lucky people since the transition to retirement should be an easy slide into more of what they already have.  However, if they don’t have enough hobbies or variety of activities they may become bored of the routine.

I had a great fear of being bored in my retirement so I did some serious searching on the internet for advice on planning for this big change. Like many people I list travel as one of the things I will do for my retirement but my choice to retire before my husband means that travel isn’t the biggest part of my plan right now.  Also, I knew that hobbies alone would not be enough.

One of the most useful articles I read about planning for retirement is at the link below this page. 

I actually completed the “wheel of life” and found that it really did help me build a vision of how I would create a full and balanced life with all my new freedom, choice and time.  I really love activities like that and creating a pie with slices of life, all neat and pretty was fun. It is quicker and neater than a vision board.  It has also given me something to consider if I need to.  I updated it and made some tweaks after a rather unsettling conversation with someone who is finding he has too many hours to fill with his retirement--he's been retired for more than a year.  I found it useful to consider how I build up a "slice" and to consider how these slices would shift in importance over the next few months.  

 Here are the instructions and below that is a link to the full article.  

 Envision your new world. One tool I find helpful in transitions is “the wheel of life.” This wheel looks like a pie with eight slices representing different elements of life: Fun, Health, Money, Friends, Career, Spouse, Physical Environment (home), and Personal Growth. A useful exercise is to go through each category and write out your vision for each. Where are you now in this area, and where might you like to take these in your transition? If you have a spouse or partner, involve them in the process. Reinventions are a team sport, after all.

How To Design A Retirement That Excites You
https://hbr.org/2015/11/design-a-retirement-that-excites-you

Birthday in Retirement

Welcome back to my blog.


I didn't publish much last week as it was rather a topsy-turvy week.  It seems odd to say that I didn't really have time.  But that is somewhat true; I was busy doing other things.  And if I am being honest, I also took a vacation day (or two).

I started my week on Monday by missing my usual yoga class and I also skipped out on Tai Chi as well.  I spent the day, instead, taking my older son and his fiancee to the closest airport for the first leg of their trip to Thailand.  They will be doing some backpacking and viewing of temples and beaches in Thailand, then visiting Bali to meet up with daughter and her husband (on their honeymoon) to play ultimate Frisbee for Easter weekend and then perhaps onto Cambodia.  We are following their exploits through Instagram, Facebook and soon when they start publishing on their blog;

 travelmanuel@blogspot.com.

In the last month, we have been busy helping them store their things...which means my basement has been topsy- turvy as well.  However, they were quite good about things and I actually got my crafts room organized and put together because they needed the space in our storage room.

Also, in the last few weeks they helped me set up my blog and got me publishing maybe a little bit before I had worked out the logistics of how I was going to do this.  And maybe before I had worked out exactly what I want to do on my blog; but I think that will be all good.  Sometimes you just have to grab the opportunity when it presents itself.
You can't just put off beginning something until someday when all the stars are aligned and everything is right.  All of those are just delaying tactics because the "right time or the perfect time" may never come, or even if the perfect time does come you may still miss it because you won't be ready since all you've prepared are the excuses that are stopping you from doing it now.

It is somewhat similar with my son's trip.  A logical part of me would like to encourage them to stay here, focus on their careers, put that money toward a house, or RRSPs or something tangible, but then another part reminds me that you are only young once and right now they don't have the responsibilities and obligations that would tie them down and block such an adventure.  Sometimes you just need to do what feels right to you.

I had a birthday in the middle of the week.  My first birthday in retirement; it seemed like some sort of milestone.  The beginning of how all future birthdays will be.

While I was working in the last few years, I was able to book a vacation day on my birthday and then I would make an appointment for a manicure/pedicure or shopping and sleeping in so that I could cram in as much fun as possible on that day.  This year I still wanted a vacation day--even though I am on what still feels like a vacation from work. So I decided, I didn't want any appointments or plans to interrupt my day, and I didn't want to cram too much into it.  So I stayed in bed and read a bit, and did only enough housework to keep the house from being a mess the next day. And then I did pretty much nothing. No writing or knitting or cooking or baking or anything else. The only thing I did was go to my favourite coffee shop, Twiggs for a Chai latte to drink while I watched Netfix and waited for my younger son to arrive from Ottawa.

My younger son can be very sweet.  Months ago he scheduled his last orthodontic appointment for this week so that he could be home for my birthday. He stayed through to the weekend, happy to be home and enjoying our cooking and free laundry by mom.  We even took a road trip together to his appointment on Friday.  

So that's why I've been to busy to blog last week.