Exploring "Old" St. Jean

After touring the language school at the St. Jean base where I once taught - described in yesterday's blog post - Terry and I drove to the oldest part of St. Jean, near the Richelieu River. I think this bridge (below) rises to let tall boats through.

We wandered around...

In our wanderings, we came across a movie set - a winter wonderland covered with fake white snowy tarps.

We then stopped for a snack at a sidewalk cafe.

Later, walking towards a tour boat, we smelled smoke and saw it rising in the distance - in the direction where we had parked. The fire was in a vacant building next to a garage.

Fortunately, it was actually several blocks away from our car.

Fire crews did manage to extinguish it quickly.

(More adventure than we were expecting as we wandered around "old" St. Jean!)

Teachers' Reunion

When I was in my 20s, I moved to Montreal, hoping to improve my French. I eventually found a job in a military language school - teaching English to young French-speaking recruits.

The school was at a base in St. Jean, Quebec - a 45-minute drive from Montreal. I taught there for almost four years, eventually leaving when we moved to Ottawa for Terry to study counselling. And - to our amazement - we've lived here in Ottawa ever since.  But it was definitely not part of our original plan!

A few weeks ago, we drove back to St. Jean for a reunion with others who had taught at the language school over the years. About 40 of us gathered to tour the large "Mega" - the building that now houses the language school. 

I don't think I ever taught in this building. My teaching was all done in old WWII  barracks.

As with all things military, it was hard to know what we were and weren't permitted to photograph!

So most of my pictures are of hallways and other open spaces - including the chapel and the base store. (Maybe I should have tried to buy a T-shirt!)

It was a beautiful day, weather-wise and a really fun reunion. I'm so glad we were able to go.

After our tour, Terry and I explored "old St Jean" - a picturesque area of town near the Richelieu River - before rejoining the group for dinner.

Two Plant Stories

Plant Story #1: Earlier this summer, this pepper tree in the purple pot - that had been growing indoors - had no leaves on it. Was it merely losing seasonal leaves? Or was it dying?! I didn't want to take a chance on losing it, so I brought it outdoors - where it has thrived and even budded.

But a few days ago, I noticed that a branch had been broken off. Two green peppers were lying next to it, partially chewed - then abandoned. 

Squirrels?! 

Should I bring the tree indoors again - as I inevitably will have to over the winter - to protect it from squirrels or chipmunks?! Or is this removal of branches simply nature's "pruning"?

I have no idea what to do!

Plant Story #2: My daughter has a way with succulents. They really do well in her sunny home-office window. (My succulents, on the other hand, barely survive!)

Look at this plant, she said, the last time I was at her apartment. 

I broke off the spindly top of a plant that was leaning over and I just placed it in a pot of soil. But look at it now! The leaves are so much larger than the parent plant.

She moved the parent plant next to it... Strange.., the difference in leaf size!

Did the new pot have some super soil in it - the soil that promises plants 10 times larger... I may have bought some - though I didn't believe their claim...

Now I'm also wondering if I should try breaking off the tops of a few of my spindly succulents and laying them on fresh soil. Given my luck with succulents, they'd probably all die!

What to do?!

Helping Grandma

Our grandson recently joined me in the garden, helping me water plants. 

There were numerous trips to the rain barrel...

My helper learned about turning the spout off and on.

Water was heavy, we both discovered. And it's easy to get wet!

"Grandma, this is hard work!" 

I agreed - thinking of the many places in the world where people still have to lug buckets of water into their homes (as my own parents did in the village of Hay Lakes, when I was a child).

But hopefully, this "hard work" was also fun!

Equinox!

Today - here in Ottawa - the sun rises and sets exactly 12 hours apart... at 6:56 AM and 6:56 PM - Equinox!

In the past few weeks, the weather has been perfect, in my opinion. It's my favourite time of the year!

Mary's Summer 2023 Quilt

My neighbor Mary has been busy quilting. 

This is her latest quilt that she finished in August.

It doesn't have a name like some of her other quilts as it was not part of an official pattern.  So she just winged it.  It is approximately 72" square (183cm x 183cm)

She purchased some plastic 'Scrap Crazy Templates' and wanted to try them out.  Each template makes a finished 6" block (15 cm).  In the quilt there are nine squares.  Each square contains  four 6" blocks from the templates.  

Everything after the nine squares were made was where she really winged it - with no planned idea of how she wanted to complete the quilt.  She thought navy was a good contrast with the oranges and yellows so she used four inch (10cm) borders around the squares.  But after doing that, the quilt was still too small so she then came up with two, one inch (5cm) yellow and orange borders to help expand the quilt size.

Traveling Again

Terry and I hadn't been to Montreal since before the pandemic - even though it's only a two-hour drive away. 

(From 2020 till 2022, our road trips were in the opposite direction - to south-western Ontario, to visit children and grandchildren.)

Even those trips were filled with apprehension... Would we get COVID en route?!

So our recent visit to Montreal, last weekend, was a real treat. So much had changed. 

Look! A new elevated light-rail track! Terry was thrilled... Look! The  new Champlain Bridge!

It was different! But I felt nostalgic for the OLD Champlain Bridge - the one I had crossed daily to go to work - for almost four years - when we were living in Montreal and I worked in St. Jean.

It's apparently being demolished.

Hmmm. Yet the much older Victoria Bridge, another bridge that crosses the St. Lawrence River - not that far away - is still in use. 

The first Champlain Bridge opened in 1962 and was taken out of service 57 years later in 2019. The Victoria Bridge opened 100 years EARLIER, in 1860 - and it's STILL in use.

(What does that say about our progress in bridge building?!)

Virtual Challenges = More Walking

I've been mall walking for a while now - ever since since shopping centres reopened after being closed for a while at the beginning of the pandemic. My goal has been to take 10,000 steps a day. My phone has an app that counts my steps. Using the app has resulted in my taking my phone with me wherever I go - even in the house.

To make it more interesting, last spring I began following hiking paths in different parts of the world on Google maps as I walked (virtually) by charting my course, step by step, on the map... Basically pretending I'm there!

I thought it might make me feel as if I were travelling again - seeing new scenery.

What I wasn't expecting was that it would actually INCREASE THE AMOUNT I walk daily... But it apparently has, without my realizing it.

This summary popped up on my walking app a few days ago - the app that counts my steps when I have the phone in my pocket. I'm very surprised that almost immediately there was a significant increase in the amount I walk - hopefully not just because I'm carrying the phone in my pocket more - although that is also a possibility!

Healthy Aging: 8 Habits

I recently came across this CNBC article on healthy aging...

I was curious to see if I practiced any of this elderly physician's 8 "non-negotiables."

1. He takes an early morning walk at 5 am, aiming for 7,000 steps. 

I walk in the mall in the morning, but not that early. I'm happy if I exceed 5,000 steps by the time I'm done. I'll do more later in the course of the day.

2. He does intentional exercises and stretches, different ones every day, depending on what he feels he needs.

I do hand stretches to avoid pain from crochet and knitting but I could and should do more exercises to improve my balance.

3. The 95-year-old retired cardiologist then takes out his laptop to connect with family members via social media. 

I do some of that, but less that I used to, probably because my children and grandchildren now live nearby.

4. He writes his thoughts, feelings and experiences in his daily blog.

Yup! I do that, too!

5. He takes time for art, drawing a self portrait every day.

Hmmm! I never thought of doing that...

6. He is open to learning new hobbies - like music and gardening.

I recently started doing word puzzles like Quordle.

7. He takes multiple naps.

I often take one, mid-afternoon.

8. He eats indulgent meals - meat, cheese, wine , as well as vegetables.

I try to limit indulgent meals to special occasions. 

Knitting 🧶 Dilemma

I'm knitting a sweater in one piece. As I reach the halfway point, I'm facing a dilemma...

I notice that a small patch, several inches back,  looks flawed. The yarn seems to be thinner there. Will it be strong enough? Not sure how that happened...

Do I unravel several inches and redo it, cutting out yarn that is thin?

Or do I try to mend it (hopefully invisibly) once the sweater's done?

(It's was a difficult choice - but in the end I unraveled it....) Unraveling is a painful but necessary part of many of my knitting projects!

Another Benefit...

Most mornings I walk for an hour in a large, bright shopping centre. 

The ambiance is lovely!

I was recently reminded of another benefit of walking in this beautiful temperature-controlled environment ...

Mall security is vigilant. In case of a medical emergency, they're there to call an ambulance if needed. I write this after watching a young person, with braces on his legs, leave on a stretcher. He probably had s pre-existing medical condition. But the event reminded me that health issues plague all age groups - not just seniors.

Good to have medical help around.

Virtual Adventures

I'm currently walking the 700-plus kilometre Camino de Santiago - a path I've wanted to hike for years.

I'm getting close to the end - as I transfer my daily walking to a map of the Camino path.

I may be missing out on some aspects of the REAL  experience - carrying a knapsack, the sweaty heat, the pebbles on the path... But I do still see much of the scenery.

I don't t expect to ever have the opportunity to do the real walk at this point in my life...

Much like this mother - another virtual walker - who missed out on a vacation trip with her son to Yellowstone Park because of Covid. So she walked the park virtually (with a cardboard cutout of her son's face)!

Whatever our reason for doing it, it's fun!

Sleepover Adventures

When grandkids come for a sleepover, you never know what will happen!

This was Jericho's first time accompanying his sister.

He and I went for a walk before bedtime and came across a surprise "treasure"... a table of free things, left over from a neighbourhood garage sale. 

We each picked a free "gift."

The next morning, we made paper boats (that soon absorbed water and sank). 

The adventure of trying to keep the boats afloat made the game exciting! 

Ivy decorated our house - and her hair - with flower petals...

Terry's memorable weekend moment came at 4 AM, while the kids and I were sound asleep upstairs. He awoke because the smoke alarm was ringing. He started waving a towel vigorously under the smoke detector when it dawned on him that the noise was, in fact, NOT coming from the smoke alarm. Following the sound, he discovered that someone had inadvertently set the alarm clock!

So back to bed he went.

An adventure for us all!