Walking Route 66

I'm walking Route 66 - VIRTUALLY... my walking app tracing the path (based on my daily steps) AS IF I were actually there.

This is my 7th virtual hiking challenge - and my longest one yet. (In total I've completed 3,333 km in a year and a half. My virtual walking really does motivate me to walk more!)

It's fun - seeing the scenery along the way on Google maps street view - also on aerial photos of the path. 

Virtual walking has some benefits: No rain! No snow! No dust! No bugs!

I'm hoping to finish in a year and a half. I'm already 20% done... I'm looking forward to walking in New Mexico, as I've never been there. Hope I can finish ahead of time!

In the meantime, my daughter noticed a Route 66 sign in an ice cream shop in Toronto - and offered to take my picture. It does make me feel like a REAL tourist on the REAL Route 66!

Entertained By ... Clouds!

Our two-hour drive home from Montreal - late last Saturday afternoon was ... "entertaining "!

The sun lay low in the sky as we set off. Heading straight into the glare was going to make the drive difficult for Terry. We pulled out our sunglasses.

To the east, a bank of clouds on the horizon reminded me driving west from Calgary to Banff, approaching the mountains.

But we were heading north-west - straight into the sun's rays.

A few minutes later, a large cloud blew in, just covering the glare!

The rest of the drive to Ottawa, we were entertained by those clouds! Look! A flaming fire!

Look! A mushroom cloud!

Cloud displays entertained us until we reached the lights of Ottawa. 

In the end, we experienced no glare at all!

Sutton Farmers Market

Last Saturday we passed through Sutton, Quebec - en route home from nearby Cowansville.

We decided to stop at their Saturday Farmers Market, which runs from July through October.

The day was chillier than I expected. I wished I had a hat to wear! There were lots of farm fresh fruits and vegetables - as well as jams and baked goods to buy.

No surprise that we bought some pastry and jam!

Also this lovely bag, sewn in Africa, sold as a fundraiser for children in African schools.

Glad we discovered this corner of the community! Markets are always fun places to check out!

Dividing an Overgrown Aloe Vera

For years I tried - unsuccessfully- to grow aloe vera. Then, (lo and behold!) one I bought at a church bazaar actually grew... and grew!

Eventually it was so big that I divided it. Several years later, its offspring (the plant on the left below) is doing well... 

But it was time to divide the original plant again! I cut off a few "branches" and just put them in cactus soil. They had no roots attached. One "pup" had already broken off - it's the small one in the pink pot above. Its colour is a bit off, so it may be drying up. I hope it survives.

Here are the other aloe vera "babies"... I hope they make it! I really have no idea what the "secret of success" is! Maybe starting with a healthy plant, putting it in bright sunlight - then neglecting it! (In other words, no overwatering!)

Happy Halloween!

I rarely buy chocolate - except for Halloween, when it's a "must-have" in the house...

Last year, we had to renew our "stash" TWICE ...  BEFORE Halloween even arrived!! 

Yup! I'll have to do the same thing this year!

(I should have hidden it all when I bought it!)

I never learn!

My Mother's Healthy Habits

Looking back eight years today, to October 30, 2016, the day my mother left us, after a very brief illness (one weekend) ... at the ripe age of 97. 

Thinking about my mother's long life, I have been reflecting on some of her habits - her "rules of life" - though she didn't call them that. Perhaps I should put more effort into emulating some of them. They led to her good health - and happiness - to the end. 

Here are some that stand out in my mind:

1. "Drink 8 glasses of water a day" was part of her regular routine. According to doctors in the nursing home, this habit definitely enhanced her health. 
2. "An apple a day keeps the doctor away," was another of her rules for healthy living. When she could no longer bite down on a crunchy apple, she switched to apple sauce! I recently read that apples are one of the best fruits to lower high blood sugar.
3. She tried to walk 10,000 steps a day - in a nearby mall - or back and forth in the hall of her apartment building, during inclement weather.

She also cultivated attitudes that gave her a sense of peace:

1. "Life is a constant change," she'd often say. Did reminding herself of this make changes easier to accept?
2. She rarely talked about the past. I can't remember her ever saying how much better life USED TO be. Instead, she faced each day with enthusiasm about what the day had in store.
3. She enjoyed learning new things and was up for challenges - gathering friends together for in her apartment for games of scrabble; later, in the nursing home never missing a game of BINGO.
4. "One day at a time" was a mantra she'd often repeat - when tempted to worry.
5. Going to church was always an important part of her life. Her strong Christian faith and prayers became part of the fabric of her everyday. Her father (who died when she was 2) had been the church choir master. Although she had no memories of him, she inherited his love of music. Even in her latter years in the nursing home, she looked forward to music programs and worship services.  Singing hymns and participating in sing-alongs filled her with optimism and joy.

Decked out for Halloween 🎃

Last Saturday, Terry and I were in Montreal, visiting a friend in TMR (the Town of Mount Royal).

After lunch, we visited a nearby park.

... where they had a large pumpkin display...

... and interesting garden art.

Also discovered that there used to be a popular locally-grown fruit called the Montreal Muskmelon. 

I wonder if it's still available today - or maybe it has a different name now.

It's always fun to learn something new... Glad the weather permitted us to be outdoors and walk around.

Until next time! Au Revoir!

New Season of Learning

Cooler weather is arriving... A "new season" of interests is upon us... 

Is it time to learn something new?

My granddaughter is taking curling lessons - a new winter sport for her. A new generation of curlers is in the making... I wonder if she'll like the sport.

My parents both curled when we lived in the village of Hay Lakes, Alberta. It was a social activity that both women and men could participate in together.

I must have been 5 or 6 but I still remember hanging out at the curling rink when they were curling. Was there a concession stand? Or did I just run around and play outside the boards?

I do remember that their curling rock must have moved to Red Deer - then to Kelowna - with us, though I don't remember my parents curling then.

The last time I saw their heavy marble curling rock was at my grandparents' house in Kelowna. My mother was offering it to my grandfather as a heavy object to put on top of a large crock of fermenting homemade sauerkraut. Did he need something heavy to squeeze out the juices?!

That's the impression I had. But I'm not sure. I never learned to curl - and I never learned the art of making homemade sauerkraut either!

Our Colourful World

Everything is so beautiful outdoors these days! I'm trying to capture the colours before a strong wind suddenly sweeps the leaves off the trees. It can happen SO quickly!

This month - October - is the most beautiful time of the year in our part of Canada...

The leaves - yellow, orange and red - are so beautiful next to each other.

Then slowly - or sometimes quickly - the wind blows, and we are crunching them under our feet.

Living with Squirrels!

I never gave much thought to squirrels till I moved to our Ottawa neighborhood. But now we live among them!

From these pictures posted online on Ottawa "Reddit" - I see that I'm not the only one - at times amused - at times annoyed! - by their antics.

Squirrels don't miss much - and they're always ready to make our stuff their own... as this Reddit contributor shows! (Maybe that's the law of nature!)

I've had tomatoes picked from vines, bitten into, then left to lie on the ground. I've had tulip flowets bitten into. I assume it was a squirrel.

One summer, in my early years in the neighborhood, I (foolishly) left a steaming hot cake on an outdoor table to cool - because I didn't want to heat up the house.

I returned a minute or two later to find a squirrel sitting IN THE CAKE - undeterred by the steam rising all around him as he gobbled the cake up as fast as he could!

I learned my lesson that day: Leave NO food unattended outdoors!

Painting Update

I go to Almonte once a week to paint in a "painting circle" - one of several of  "creative circles" they have there... Photography, fabric art and writing are three others.

If I lived closer, I'd attend their fabric art session, as well - for inspiration. For me, practicing fabric art - knitting and quilting - on my own is much easier than painting for fun by myself.

Last week,  I worked on these three paintings in watercolour.

Am I improving?! I really don't know - or care, really! But I am having fun!

And right now, this is the only time in my week that I take the time to pull out my paints and just let go!

Leaves Slow Changing

The leaves are changing colour around us.

We had a lot of rain this summer. It was also very warm.

Does the temperature affect the timing of the leaves turning red, orange or yellow?

Or is the shortening hours of sunlight?

These are questions we talk about every year - as we survey the magesty of the colors.

End of "Food Truck Season"

A few days ago, we joined our son's family as they went to their favorite local food truck for supper.

With a chill in the air, "Food Truck Season" would soon be ending and they wanted to eat there one last time. 

I'd never been there before.

I loved my "smash" burger - a cheeseburger with mushrooms.

Then we went to "Hummingbird" to top our supper off with yummy gelato.

New Knitting Project

Terry and I recently visited a yarn store in Kingston - in our way home from Toronto.

Looking around the shop, I noticed a shawl with an interesting design and texture... 

So I bought the pattern!

Made with 6 different colors of yarn, it looks like a perfect project to use up skeins I have left over from other projects!

I can't wait to start! ... But I think I should finish my current project first!

Knitting Adventure

When I flew to Kelowna last May, I started to talk to a woman sitting near me who was knitting on the flight.

I mentioned that wrist pain was limiting my knitting.

She told me about the Kollage Square "square" knitting needles, which some people found ergonomically easier on the wrists.

(I later bought several sizes at the factory store in nearby Brockville. I've been using them ever since.)

Now I wanted some smaller ones for knitting socks.

On our way home from Toronto, I  suggested stopping in at the knitting store where my new knitting friend told me she worked part-time... Maybe they would have some. They did!

Glad we had time to visit this beautiful store with lots of hand-dyed yarn: Purlin'J's Yarn Emporium.

Now housed in a building, the store started out as this cheerfully-painted travelling bus!