A Magic Trail Walk

 

Because Newfoundland (NL) winters are so long and harsh, and because CB was so 'hilly' and icy, winter usually meant I was stuck indoors most of the time. Each spring when I could safely get outside to walk, I'd notice that my strength and endurance had lessened. 

My new community is flat which means I can walk year round. It's off the highway, tucked in the Humber Valley and surrounded by alpine forest on 3 sides and the Humber River on the other. There are so many trails to discover, some of which will have to wait until spring (so I don't get lost). But seeing as my word for 2023 is Explore,  I'm anxious to do just that. 

The view outside my kitchen window is a peaceful one, overlooking the trees (and the storage garage). Western NL has had a very mild winter to date. There's just enough snow on the ground to sparkle and just enough cold to make the snow crunch. The end of my street is a dead end which leads to a small copse of fir trees; you can hear a brook below but you can't see it and it's too steep to reach. However, there at the end of a chain link fence is a path leading downhill; this path is often covered with the footprints of small children and dogs, so today I decided to follow those footsteps.

At the bottom of the hill and around a bend, I came upon the brook. The path widened at this point and followed the water. Other than the sound of the water gurgling around rocks and icy patches, it was so quiet and peaceful. 

There were places where trees had fallen and you either had to go under or take the path around. In two places you could see the back side of other senior's cottages. But mostly, it was just me and the forest. Walking through this particular 'promenade' was magical: the sound of the brook combined with the snow laden fir boughs overhead was so enchanting!

The path eventually led to a bridge and onto the main road. And lo and behold! There ahead of me were the creators of the footsteps I'd been following - a mom, 2 children and 2 dogs. I followed them up the street, we took a right through another little senior's cottage community, and then following the sidewalks, they led me straight to my street. Thank you!

My leisurely stroll took me about an hour. After peeling off my many layers of clothing, and stretching my muscles for a cool down, I made myself a homemade chai latte in my beautiful last-Xmas mug. Ahhhh! This is a good start to a new year in a new community. 

Do you enjoy winter? What do you do to get through?

Namaste my friends!

... and a very achey New Year

 A very belated Happy New Year to you all. I've not been busy just hesitant to come out from underneath the fleece blanket!

Yes, I not only survived the Christmas holidays, but finally, after 3 years, I've had my first good Xmas here in Newfoundland. I prepared Xmas dinner for my dad and siblings; and although both my brother and I had to work fairly hard at the beginning of our time together to fend off the negative comments, pretty soon everyone else joined in the fun and laughter  and we all had a good time together. At 89 years of age, my dad won't be around for many more of these.

The remainder of my Xmas break was a rotation of favorite movies while eating melted brie and/or chocolate with regular walks outside in the cold air to "blow the stink off me" as an old friend's father used to say to us. And there may have been a day or two spent at the Mall checking out the Xmas sales. 

New Year's Eve was a quiet one. I actually enjoy a quiet evening at home; and this year featured one of my favorite wines, Sandara. And what's more festive than Shaun of the Dead, huh! It worked for Toroto and I.

Now that Xmas is over, the near future looks cold and bleak. It's been in the  -12 to -20 C range (10 to -4 F) lately with plenty of the white stuff outside. But we did not get hit with last week's storm like the provincial capital did: St. John's had a day and a half snow storm where 76.2 cm of snow fell: that's 30" of snow! And with the 150 km/hr winds, the snow drifts covered cars and highways 15' in places. Wow! They declared a state of emergency, and even today -- 3 days later -- schools, business' and shops are not open.

Before me are 2-3 months of cold and snow and isolation. So, to help combat cabin fever and total shut-down of my joints and muscles, I've begun to swim a couple of mornings a week. (When I say swim, I mean crawl a couple of laps.) So, while I may not seize up this winter, I do have to get past muscles screaming because they haven't been used like this for a while! Ahhhhh, the joys of aging!

Hope you're warm where you are, my blogging friends.  I may be here at work, but the fleece is always handy!

Houseplant Appreciation Day

My favorite new calendar is one which tells me how to celebrate each and every day of 2018. Today it's Houseplant Appreciation Day. 

When I first moved home to Newfoundland into an apartment, I knew I would miss my flower garden and I wanted a little greenery. So I purchased a few plants at yard sales that I thought would be hearty enough to survive living in a basement apartment as well as the long NL winters. They have given me much joy (and hope for the return of spring). Sometimes I like to gather them together on the deep window sill in front of the biggest, brightest window and tell them how great they are. Here are my green children. 

Because of their beauty (and fearing for their lives), I brought these 2 to my office which gets much more light. 

 And in spite of my encouragement, love and best efforts, this is how Ivy repaid me during Xmas. Her leaves dried, fell off, and she all but dried up. Oh dear! 

I have been careful not to speak disparaging words to her; but I feel she may already feel it in my body language ... and the fact that I've segregated her to the bright kitchen window location. 

Prayer is requested!

Today as it seems most days now, Corner Brook is experiencing "snow squalls". (A snowsquall (or snow squall) is a sudden moderately heavy snow fall with blowing snow and strong, gusty surface winds.^[1] It is often referred to as a whiteout and is similar to a blizzard but is localized in time or in location and snow accumulations may or may not be significant.)

This is the view from my office window. We are on a hill, and normally, we can see other houses and the bay! I felt so bad for that fat little black bird which huddled all by herself on the wire for upwards of 30 min. She's gone now, so I can only hope she found her flock and a warmer place to dwell. 

And as soon as they free me from my workplace, I too shall flock home to the warmth of my wire. And I think I'll gather my green children round me .... even those that disappoint me .... and tell them how much I appreciate their life, their color and their tenacity.

Happy Hump Day, y'all!

More Non-Scents Please!

When I began blogging, I vowed to try to always be positive. No one wants to hear you griping and complaining, right? 

So, I won't talk about what a terrible Christmas I had because I was sick from the 20th of December on and am only today feeling like I'm on the road to recovery. I had asthmatic bronchitis which was brought on by an asthma attack I experienced while at a lovely Bethlehem Night at a local church. People and their perfume, aftershave and hair spray! I think most people think that if you're asking them not to wear scent that it's a personal preference. But no, for some of us, it's actually life threatening. My immune system is already compromised, and an asthma attack weakens it further.



I won't talk about the terrible/wonderful drugs they give you to heal and all the side effects.

No, instead I shall wax poetic about the joys of recovery; you know, when you can begin to enjoy being sick. Like the lovely feeling of being able to breathe again. Or the deliciousness of being able to savor a piece of hot buttered toast with crunchy peanut butter. And how nice it is to enjoy lying on your couch wrapped in a faux fur blanket, hot water bottle at your lower back and wearing the prettiest pair of fairy-shoe-like crocheted slippers from your eldest daughter (who never gives gifts).

I shall say how fortunate I was to be able to catch up on almost every movie from the 90's -- Beverly Hills Cop, 16 Candles, Breakfast Club to name just a few. (I was raising children in the 90'd so I missed most of them.) 

I shall speak of the comfort of soup: turkey noodle, bacon and red lentil, Mulligatawny, French onion; these are the food of the Gods when you're sick. And it's totally okay to eat 6 or 7 bowls a day -- totally guilt free food!


I shall sing the praises of TV's Gusto and the Food channels ..... and for the lovely Jamie Oliver for keeping me sane when I'd had it up to here with 90's movies! 

And I shall state that endless days all alone feeling like crap meant I could indulge in hours and hours of videos from when the children were young. After all, no one else wants to watch 10-12 hours of someone else's kids, right! And oh! Sigh! How uplifting it was to see young, wrinkle-free, slim Sandy who had curves instead of happy lumps 'n' bumps. What a dish I was/am!

I am so happy to see the back end of last year! But in spite of the scale for 2017 being heavy on the negative side (it was a very rough year for me), it wasn't all bad. And this FB meme summed it up perfectly. 

For anyone else who didn't get to experience the joys of the season, I hope this will lighten your heart as it did mine.

Happy New Year, everyone! 

I've had a grand Christmas break. 

• There was lots of laughter and family and good food and drink. 
• There was lots of sleeping late (and 8:30 or 9:30 am counts as late in my books).
• There was so much watching of Dr Who and a bunch of great movies on TV
• There was a little shopping at the after-Xmas sales.
• There was quiet and peace and contemplation.

Now I've just today and tomorrow to get back to a normal routine. Out with the sweets (okay, that task is done), fruit and veg now take dominance in the refrigerator (check!), down with the decorations (on my today-list), and go to bed before midnight and wake at 7 am (fingers crossed on that one).

Happy New Year friends.

May happiness and prosperity and peace reign in your home and heart this year.

One Little Word - PEACE

Reflection ....

Resolutions ....

Positive attitudes ....

Changes .....  


I have found that with aging, I do a lot more reflection. Not because I have the time for it (at least, not yet while I'm still working). But I think that because my abilities are lessened physically, I spend more time exercising my mental abilities. 

And although this can happen --- and indeed should happen --- all throughout the year, the new year the perfect time for people to reflect and make positive changes. Maybe it's because Christmas has been such a time of decadence and over-indulgence? Maybe it's because winter usually means more time spent indoors and that gives us cause to think about how to better fill (or not fill) those hours? Maybe it's because the change to a new date and year just naturally brings thoughts of change in ourselves? Who knows: it just seems to happen on January 1st or thereabouts.

If you know me, you know that I don't do resolutions. I'm constantly fighting battles:  my eating habits; my weight; my health; relationships. I don't need to set myself goals that may never be reached. But when I read the post by blogger Sidewalk Shoes called One Little Word , it struck a chord in me. And while reading, I wondered what MY one little word might be for 2015. And the word that came to me was PEACE.

Over the past 6-8 years, I've experienced moments of great peace in times of great difficulty. God has brought me through a lot. And once I tasted peace in the midst of turmoil, I wanted more.  Peace is a word/ a feeling that encompasses so much else: happiness, contentment, satisfaction to name just a few. And through aging & with my Faith, I'm learning that the way to peace most often is an outcome of my own behavior. For example, when I let go of my expectations of others, I find peace. When I forgive (even if I'm not at fault), I find peace. When I accept others for who they are and not what I think they should or could be, I find peace. And when I accept myself for the same or even (dare I say it) do things just for myself and not others, I find peace.


And peace is such a wonderful place to be.

It's a learning process -- always! But yup:  that's my word for 2015. That's what I'm going to try to cultivate more of:

PEACE!

Penultimate Normalacy

It's the day before my Xmas vacation has to end. The tree came down yesterday, so today is a "normal" day. It snowed in the wee hours; then at about 10 am, the freezing rain started. 


It's a good day to stay put, read a good book and have muffins and tea: Oatmeal Banana-berry (with a sprinkling of chocolate flakes for good measure).




A good day to make Thai peanut soup and serve it up on trays with toasted ciabatta buns as we watch "Jack, the Giant Slayer" on the movie channel.

It's a good day to be tucked inside resting .........

cause it's back to work and school tomorrow. 

Goodbye to the old year and in with the new. After a green Christmas in Nova Scotia, there are now fat white flakes falling from the sky, blanketing everything with clean white snow.

And so my wish for you this day is that 2015 is filled with what clean and white represents: the putting aside of old fears, worries, prejudice, hurts and stepping forward into the light of the positive.

I don't make resolutions because #1 there is a large possibility of disappointment in the very near future when they don't work out and #2 my 60 years on this earth have led me to believe that the inside of a person is reflected on the outside.  

So the only new year's resolution I will ever adopt is the following:  

Blessings to you and yours on this bright shiny day!

Happy Healthy New Year

Life is slowly returning to it's normal flow.  My 21 yr old daughter is busy with college projects; both my international students are back; there's a backlog of laundry downstairs and long hair is once again clogging up the sink and bath strainers.  Ahhhh!  Home!

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One of the advantages of students arriving or coming back from vacation is that they do sometimes bring you back a gift from their foreign country.  I love receiving things from other countries!    And so far, I've found that when it comes to presentation and packaging, the Koreans are tops.  

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Look at this beautiful box:  green and gold; paisley and embossing. I thought Wow!  This must contain some precious object.

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And it does.  But not the type of precious object I expected.
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Lying there resplendent in their gold lining are 3 bottles of Super Omega3 capsules.  (When Elly first arrived, her Mom sent me a jar of very expensive night cream.)  And from what I've heard, the Koreans produce some of the best pills, herbal remedies, vitamins and beauty products that can be found on the globe.

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As you may already know, Super Omega3 contains essential fatty acids and have a plethora (isn't that a great word!) of health benefits, among them - lowering the risk of colon cancer, reducing the risk of psychotic disorders (That's a relief  'cause I sometimes wonder about myself!) and improving heart health (another concern of mine).  
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To buy a quality product like this in Nova Scotia would be fairly expensive, and I think there's probably a 3-4 month supply here!  But what impresses and delights me most is that my student's Mom thinks about my overall health and skin care.  What thoughtful gifts indeed!
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This is a great addition to getting back on track with my health and exercise regime; next purchase for me will be some super green supplements for my morning smoothie.
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Do you take supplements?  What do you take and how often?  Any recommendations?
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