Winter Boot Update

I own several pairs of winter boots and wear different ones, depending on where and how long I plan to be walking on ice and snow.

My most comfortable pair of boots is this suede which I wear when I expect to be walking outdoors for a while - then heading indoors to shop. They're not too hot or constricting for indoor wear. But they're not good when I have to step in puddles.

I bought this second pair of suede boots after doing online research on slip-resistant soles. Tests showed them to be the best. There was a negative comment about them - that they weren't all that comfortable to wear all day long.

After having walked for several hours in them, I'd have to agree - though adding cushy insoles might make them more comfortable for prolonged walks.

After I posted my blog on my hunt for good non-slip boots, one reader wrote to tell me about the  ice cleats she was now using for winter walking.

When one of my sons asked me what I'd like for Christmas - I suggested the cleats.

They are called Stabil Icers.

I didn't wear them a lot this winter, mainly because Terry didn't want me out walking - in case I'd fall. But this spring he has needed me to help him with drainage issues caused by snow melting - then re-freezing.

They were amazing! Walking around on glare ice without the slightest slippage, I felt as confident as superwoman! (Normally that's not me in winter!)

They attach and detach very easily from boots as well, unlike other cleats I've owned.

Everyone in Ontario should have a pair!

If It Sparks Joy...

These days, I often ask myself if this or that item in our house "sparks joy"...

If it doesn't, maybe I should get rid of it...

But if it does, maybe I should be using it more...

So I've pulled out this lovely plate to use on a daily basis...

This cup and saucer as well. (It was a gift from my son...)

Slowly, I'm making a point of using "special" dishes.

It's a small change, but it brightens my day...

New "Traditions"...

It's interesting how family traditions change over time...

On a recent birthday, our family meal was breakfast at a diner...

Supper was "raclette" - a Swiss meal of mostly veggies and melted cheese served on boiled potatoes...

(There was a bit of meat - a few strips of bacon.)

Not something Terry was used to eating!

And, instead of birthday cake, we shared half a dozen doughnuts...

A new tradition?!

Winter Walking - Indoors!

When my mother first moved to Ottawa, she lived across the street from a shopping center - where she would "mall walk" for at least an hour every day.

She loved her convenient apartment!

If bad weather prevented her from going out, she'd clip on her pedometer (to count her steps) and walk up and down the corridors - until she had completed 10,000 steps!

Walking 10,000 steps became her daily goal.

Occasionally in summer she'd try walking outdoors, around the pool, but the sidewalks were sometimes uneven.

It's easy to trip and fall.

This year, for the first time, I've started to "mall walk," too. The roads and sidewalks have simply been too icy for me to venture outdoors.

I go mall walking several times a week, I recently told a friend.

I can't walk outdoors either, but don't need a mall, she replied. All I need is a supermarket. I walk up and down the aisles, back and forth, back and forth... There are a lot of aisles.

I'll have to try that, I thought...

So now, even a trip to Costco - where I invariably lose Terry - is an opportunity to take a long walk.

Even a dollar store has lots of long aisles for walking!

Preparing for Spring

The weather is warming up. Temperatures are expected to be above freezing for the next few days...

Anticipating snow melting off the roof, Terry has been busy clearing drains with buckets of hot water... drains both under the roof and on the ground.

It's one of those things he does every spring.

You don't appreciate everything I do around here, he tells me...

Oh yes, I do!

Spring Snow

Yesterday morning we awoke to discover that it had snowed heavily overnight...

Our almost-clear street was again covered with 4 to 5 inches of fluffy fresh snow.

It would be discouraging - except that temperatures are supposed to remain above freezing for the next few days...

So hopefully it will all melt.

The city is so sure that this will happen that they haven't even bothered to plow our street...

(Or, at least, that's what I assume...)

Hopefully - hopefully - this was our last snowfall of the season!

I'm SO ready for spring!

How Far Can I Walk?!

Early this winter we had freezing rain - which left a slippery base on roads and sidewalks.

From time to time, together with snow, more freezing rain would fall - leaving people like me (who don't want to risk falling) with limited walking options...

It has been so bad that one local resident, a man about my age who lives alone, hadn't been out of the house all winter. A concerned neighbor recently called the police, who came and cleared his driveway and walkway. The man was fine - living off food he happened to have in the house...


(I wonder how many more such stories will emerge once the ice melts!)

Fortunately Terry has managed to keep our driveway clear - or at least passable for me to get to the car. Then, to get exercise and walk, I drive to a shopping center...

But finally the ice is beginning to disappear... and yesterday I walked down the street, avoiding icy patches.

How far could I get before being blocked by ice? About half a block...

At that point, I headed back home.