The Journey Continues ... New Life from Old

So, YES.  About a week ago I said I would not post again until I had ventured out to check out some local gyms and began the long journey to getting in shape.  I am really happy to say I accomplished the venturing out part.  I checked out two gyms very close to my home, and I agreed to a one-week free trial membership at one of them.  I want to go tomorrow, my last free day, to spend some time on the treadmill and stationary bicycles.  The young manager was very friendly, assuring me that questions were always welcome, and that there were lots of women my age that work out at this gym. I went one evening to a yoga-stretch class that was more stretching than actual yoga.  There were only four others in the class, and 3 of them were my age and roughly in the same shape as me.  it was the first class for one of the other women too. It was not intimidating at all, the instructor was welcoming and friendly, encouraging but not pushy.  In short, yes!  I will keep on going to this class. 

Blog link party Here's to all of us, wishing us all happiness, health, and all good things in this new year. We celebrated the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019 much like we do every new year with family.  Supper at my grandchildren's home, then back to our house where we watched the new year ushered in around the continent, until finally it arrived in our city.  January 1st was spent, as is our longstanding tradition, gathering with many relatives for dinner and an evening of visiting and games.  Impossible to start a diet on January 1 in our family, as it is the first feast of the year. I did not make resolutions, unless you count the "I should's" dancing in my head.  If I wrote them all down, it would be overwhelming. Health is high on my priority list as I get older.  I am feeling my bones and muscles age, and worry about falling.  I even worry about getting up again, when I am kneeling on the floor, digging for a misplaced pot or pan in the cu

Cleaning was number one on my to-do list today.  I promised myself I would tackle a long list of things I had procrastinated to do during May.  I was going to have the house to myself for several hours and that is perfect for me when I want to get things done! The first thing I tackled was cleaning the fridge.  It doesn't instantly brighten up the kitchen because, let's face it, you don't notice anything unless you (a) actually open the fridge, and (b) you knew what it looked like previously. Nonetheless, emptying out all the refrigerator shelves and bins meant filling the kitchen counters with oddments of spices, leftovers, relishes, and so on; also, the kitchen sink had to host each of the shelves I took out and washed.  Yes!  This was a total full-on cleanup; I stripped out the entire contents and shelves, and cleaned everything! I quickly realized there was an abundance of almost empty containers which would make an excellent smoothie.  I had cashew milk,

I am the first to admit that I have some form of attention deficit.  I am easily distracted.  I know I will finish this post today, but right now I need to throw in a load of laundry and my dog wants to be let outside ....  And then I saw someone had left dishes on the counter so I loaded the dishwasher .... And finally, I am back at my computer.  That is how I function.  And in a world that praises multi-tasking while also saying to focus and complete your task, I struggle with my preferred working style.   The fact is that my "preferred working style" is to have the house to myself, preferably for a weekend.  If my husband decides to go out to the cabin and fish for a couple of days, I am actually excited about having the house to myself and getting some projects started .... and a few finished.  My work-style of working on several tasks simultaneously resonates with my cousins and sister, so it is at the very least a family trait I guess.  When my sons and husband

With this post, I have officially re-named my blog, after much thinking and indecision. I thought I should make some comments about this "re-branding" and the direction I want to take. Coincidentally, I celebrated my birthday recently. I am retired and have the freedom to do what I want on my birthday.  The best way to celebrate that I could think of was to invite my two grandchildren over for the afternoon and evening.  One of them even decided to sleep over with us.  Their parents were able to have the evening to themselves and go out for supper.  Not that I didn't want to see the parents, but this worked out well for everyone, and we enjoyed focussing on the children. Birthdays are the sign-posts on our life's journey.  As they add up, we are thankful to still be here and more aware of the blessings in our lives.  But while we can look ahead to the next one, the choice of which roads to take in the coming year are our decision. I am trying to be more

A couple years ago I purchased an entire box of patterns at our annual church "garage sale".  It's actually held in the church basement, not a garage!)  I knew the lady who donated them had been a hat maker and excellent seamstress in her day, but now she was clearing out a lifetime of possessions and downsizing. I never really took the time to go through the box until recently.  It has been fun to check out the vintage styles.  It just seems like it was such a glamorous time, and I love the look, but I don't think I"ll be creating any of these for myself any time soon. So so Fifties!  The tiny wasp waist and the huge full skirt are amazing.  The halter dress is demurely covered up with the cute short sleeve jacket. This is labelled a half size Slenderette pattern.  I love the square neckline on the dress.  Unfortunately the hat is not part of this pattern.  This has never been cut out. Another full skirted dress, belted at the waist.  This dress ha

The Apple Butter Project I have been meaning to write about some of my fall canning projects.  I haven't finished ... more about that later ...  When I was out walking in the early autumn, I was dismayed at the number of people who were wasting the apples growing in their yard.  I saw countless apples rotting on the back alleys.  Such a waste.  I considered asking if I could pick some of the apples, but before I got up my nerve, my aunt asked if I'd like some apples from their tree. There was no saying "no" after I had been visualising getting some apples for some home preserving projects.  My only momentary hesitation was when I saw how small the apples were -- more like crap apples really.  Not that there's anything wrong with crap apples; I got some of them to work with later.  The thing was, I intended to peel the apples to make apple butter, which as far as I could tell is more or less "apple jam".  And peeling those apples was going to be a