The Joy of Books

 I've spent most of this week reading. OK, I had errands to run, shopping to do, and orders to fill at work. Yes, there were also the people who came to power wash the stonework, paint the front door and the inside banister. Plus, there was the complication of taking off all the old (antique) hardware from the door so it could be painted and then not being able to put it back on again - sigh.

Fortunately, I found a locksmith who was very familiar with these ancient locks. He came by the same day; gave us a temporary fix so we could lock the door and then came back the next day to install new hardware. His price was 75% less than the price of $1,500.00 (plus tax) quoted by the architectural locksmith on Mt. Pleasant. Gotta love people who have been plying their trade for years. They have skill, integrity and stories to tell.

When I wasn't working, however, I was reading. I finished "Tom Lake" by Ann Patchett - loved it. I skimmed through "The Camino" by Shirley Maclaine - hated it and am now engrossed in a Rosamunde Pilcher, "Winter Solstice". I love her books.

I also managed my 10km walk to the Brickworks and back. Even with an extra sweater in it, my backpack still weighed just 6lbs. Pushing it to 10lbs may be a challenge.

 

Finally, the last challenge this week was finding a replacement cover for the mail slot in the newly painted front door. Home Hardware seemed to be the only chain that had a 9" cover. However, their warehouse was out of them, in fact, they were being discontinued and most franchised outlets don't ship!! We did find a store in St Catherine's that had 15, but it took 2 days to contact someone who had authority to authorize an online sale and ship. Really!!

Unfortunately, we had in the meantime bought one at Rona, which we thought was only 2" bigger. No, it was 4" bigger. They posted the inside measurements not the outside measurements. We can return it, but we are out the money for shipping. My son had also ordered one on Amazon, which we will have to return and probably eat the shipping too. This will be the most expensive 9" mail slot cover ever!!

But I was talking about books. I do tend to buy new books. They are an indulgence. I have a library card, but I never seem to fit into the library's schedule of when books have to be read by. I hate the pressure, so I buy books. It's the joy of setting my own time to read and not having to remember that a book has to be returned by a certain date. Silly, I know, but it is my entertainment.

My Joy for the Joy Jar this week has to be my books. I have not watched TV, Netflix, or anything else on a screen in a year.

The picture? Mud Creek in the morning. When I'm not reading or cleaning, I'm walking.

Have a joyous week!!

The Joy of A/C

 Most of this week the weather has been hot and humid, a little unusual for September, but it does happen. I haven't had to put on the Air Conditioning (A/C) for most of the Summer. What a Joy and a saving of energy, money and the environment!! However, this week was too hot and too humid to do anything, not even sleep, so the A/C went on.

The hot weather also meant I drove to work - too hot to walk and did very little of anything that required exercise. It did, however, cool off enough on Friday to go to Costco where I found by chance a book I have been meaning to buy - "Tom Lake" by Ann Patchett. It's a new release, but it was half price at Costco - what a Joy!!

I have just finished reading "The Push" by Ashley Audrain. I read it because I knew that as a new author, she received a contract of $1,000,000 (based also on a second book). I had to find out what the excitement was all about. It is pretty amazing. There is a real Joy in escaping into some really "cool" books.

Saturday it had cooled off even more and I was able to walk my 10kms to the Brickworks and back. This time I took water and a thermos of tea. I'm sure my backpack weighted at least 6lbs. I often meet people there - strangers, who are very chatty. Today I met a lovely woman, whom I presumed was at best in her early 70's. I found out at the end of our conversation that she was 84. I decided to try for 15kms on Sunday.

The pictures? I also made apple tarts with apples from our tree in the garden. They were delicious.

Have a week of Joy!

Camino #2

 I'm still training for my Camino. Today I walked 10.1kms. I set out at 8:00am to walk to the Brickworks at the bottom of the Mud Creek ravine. I decided that I could treat myself to breakfast once I got there. I was so pumped at 5kms that I splurged on a Belgian waffle with fruit and cream for $10.00. Coffee was and extra $3.00. I'll never have enough money to do a Camino at the rate I'm treating myself!!

I also realized that not only do I have to be fit, I also have to be nimble. I have to be able to manipulate backpack - open to retrieve wallet. Right hand with waffle, left hand with walking pole, where does one hold coffee. In fact I looked like a house of cards ready to collapse, when a kind stranger offered to reset the lid on my coffee before everything fell apart. There are angels everywhere!!

 
The waffle was filling. The coffee was great. It was early so the crowds were manageable. I bought $5.00 worth of green beans and passed on the Ginger Gala apples for $7.00. There were maybe 7 in the entire basket. Maybe next time when I bring my own breakfast.

The entire walk took me 2.75hrs. The walk down hill was about an hour. OK, I used to be able to do 5kms in 45mins. That was about 10 years ago. I spent half an hour at the market and then walked back uphill, a little slower, but not exhausted.

And as a footnote - pun intended. I had no blisters!!

Buen Camino!!

The picture? The peace at the end of the struggle.

Have a wonderful day!!

The Joy of Connections

 Another glorious week of Summer....gorgeous weather.....lots of activity...and...lots of connections.

1. Sunday I was invited to a friend's house for lunch. It's always a delightful visit. Her home is in Pickering, a stone's throw from the lake. While we chat and prepare lunch, her husband plays classical music on his amazing grand piano. I also get to spend quality time with their standard bred poodle - so much fun!

2. Tuesday I met with 10 friends; all of them I have known since grade school. We grew up together in Weston, ON. Even though three of us went to the local Catholic school, while the others went to the public school, we all went to "the dances." When you add in the "boys" who also came out to the dances, we were quite a large group, an instant party. In fact one of those "boys" dropped by on his way to see another chap from the group, who was in rehab for a fracture. We go back a long way!!

 
3. Saturday, I walked again to The Brickworks. It's a wonderful 10kms walk through a forested ravine. This is where I connect with nature, my music, my mind and all the morning people out for runs, walks and cycling. Sometimes I'm so lost in thought that I forget what I'm listening to on my phone. "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" sounds just as nice on a warm summer's day, as it does in December.

4. I usually don't post for Sundays (saving those events for the following week), but I wanted to add a long walk on consecutive days in preparation for my Camino, so I'll mention that I walked again to The Brickworks for their Vintage and Artisan market. The connection here was a knitting booth called InfiKnitLove.com. I introduced myself because I am Infiknit.com (also .ca). We chatted about knitting, yarn and the craft business in general. It was a lovely conversation.

 
My Joy for the Joy Jar this week has to be my meeting with friends from elementay school. Several are in their 80's. We all live in our own homes, drive and are very active physically and socially. In fact, one woman is 83 and still working, as am I. They are marvelous examples of longevity. Though many have lost spouses, there was still a lot of Joy, laughter and fond memories among us.

Have a wonderful day!

The Joy of Peaches

Saturday morning I managed another walk to the Brickworks Market - round trip 10kms. I took a 6lb backpack and wore my new walking (running) shoes. These were the Under Armour ones I got from Sporting Life for $40.00 - on sale. They were perfect - no blisters.

I upped the anti for the walk back, because I bought a basket of peaches that weighed 4 lbs. This meant that I was carrying about 10lbs of dead weight on my back. It slowed me a little and by the end I could feel my hips, but I still made it home in 1.25 hours.

 
Other joys this week were:

1. My son finished sanding and painting the wrought iron railing around the front porch. It looks amazing.

2. I got a good quote for power washing the stone work at the front of the house. Plus they will sand and paint the front door, the moulding, re-caulking as needed, however, the kicker might have been the fact that they would paint a wrought iron, indoor staircase railing to the second floor for FREE!!

3. Orders continue at work - this is always good.

4. Had coffee with a friend at Aroma. Always wonderful conversations about books, life and more...

5. The weather has been perfect!! I could get drunk on Summer!!

My Joy for the Joy Jar this week has to be my 10km, 10lb walk to and from the Brickworks. Yes, I like peaches, but I love the ravines even more and the fact that there is a busy market destination at the end of mud creek ravine, makes me want to walk forever!! 

Have an awesome week!!

Camino #1

This is my first post on my plans to walk a Camino next Spring. I made the decision to at least think about walking a Camino last month. Since then I have:

1. Joined several FB groups to gather information.

2. Ordered and received four books - one for each of the four most popular caminos.

3. Bought a merino wool singlet. I needed to replace one that never returned from the wash - I live in a crazy house!

4. Received and started reading a book my sister-in-law gave me, "The Gathering Place." It's about one woman's journey on the Camino France´s. It's a wonderful book. 

5. Started training.

 
Today I walked 9.1 kms. I did stop for coffee and a danish - there go any pounds I might have lost from walking!! I also developed a blister. Did I mention that I was carrying a 6lb backpack. Now I need to increase my distances and the weight of my pack.

I am also madly trying to find information about elevations. I would like to know what 250m of elevation looks like in real life. I think I found that 115m of elevation is the rise out of Mud Creek and maybe 160m of elevation is the rise out of the Sherwood Park ravine. I'm not sure about these, though.

I would like to get an idea of the difficulty of various climbs on any of the caminos. I guess, I'll just have to wing it (If only I could :) )

10.1 kms of Joy!!

 This week was a lovely week of summer weather. Most days were around 25ºC with sunshine. I harvested tomatoes from the garden and cooked some interesting meals using up tomatoes that were ripening too quickly. This is my idea of summer - lots of warm weather, lots of sunshine, lots of colour in the flower garden and lots of fresh meals from the kitchen garden. 

This week also had lots of mail!! Two packages arrived on Wednesday - a book on the Camino France´s from my sister-in-law in Edinburgh. "The Gathering Place" is written by a Scottish woman who walked The Way in 2020. It's a well written, fascinating read. In fact I finished it in three days. The second package was my fourth book by John Brierley. This one was also on the Camino France´s. I have decided to walk a section of this Camino from Sarria to Santiago - just over 100kms - hopefully next Spring.

 
In preparation for the journey, I managed two pre-camino walks this week. One on Tuesday for 9.1kms and one very early Saturday morning for 10.1kms. I actually walked from my house to the Brickworks market along the path known as Mud Creek. I had breakfast at the market and walked back!! It was amazing!!

In fact, my Joy for the Joy Jar this week has to be the length and enjoyment of my walks - Buen Camino. 

The pictures? Garden Joy.

Have an amazing week!!

P.S. I will be writing more posts with more detail about my Camino preparations. However, they may all just merge with my Joy posts. It's difficult to have a compartmentalized life.

 

The Joy of walking

 Today, I walked 7.2kms in an hour and a half!! It's my best yet. And....and...I'm not tired!! I also had a 6lb pack on my back. OK, I was walking on pavement and the terrain was mostly flat. However, I had walked this same path three weeks ago and I had to take a break at 6kms. I was also walking with a lighter pack and was really very tired. "Say not the struggle naught availeth." In fact, I could feel my hip bones before I left and didn't think I would get very far. I also developed a foot ailment at 2kms, but pressed on. Everything worked out. I do love mornings like this.

Next time I am going to push it to 8kms.

For the most part it has been a joyous week. 

 
1. They found a vein for a routine blood test on the second stab - always a relief.

2. I met with a friend for lunch and finally gave her her Christmas present. She in turn gave me an awesome handbag with sooo many pockets that I have still some empty.

3. Orders continue at work. This is good.

4. I finally took some ugly weeds from the garden.

 
5. I have tons of ripe tomatoes, which have been harvested today.

6. We had a great Civic holiday dinner with family and a family friend last Monday. My son smoked chicken legs and pork side ribs. They were delicious.

7. I am making progress on the revision of my book. Now to find a believable curse to drive the conflict of the plot.

My Joy for the Joy Jar this week has to be my 7.2 kms walk. It's been a fruitful week - all puns intended.

Have a wonderful week!!

The Joy of Birthdays....

 Yes this week, I had another birthday!! It was an odd-numbered one, so not pivotal. However, it ended up being a marathon day of "birthday greetings." My sister called at 10:00am, my friend for almost 70 years called at 11:00am. By then it was time for lunch. I haven't eaten lunch in my pajamas in years.

At 1:00pm, I started thinking that I should do a walk. I'm still focused on the Camino. After doing various household tasks, I left for what I was hoping was an 8km walk. I have walked this trail many times before. I guess I thought it was more of a challenge then what it was. It was a mere 4.2km - nothing. I consoled myself with the fact that it was over varied terrain and there was a significant climb at the end.

I arrived back from my walk to a birthday call from my sister-in-law in Edinburgh. I love the connection!! It was cut short (just slightly) by a call from a dear friend and fellow writer. I am indeed blessed.

My "kids," the two who are still at home, surprised me with a lovely dinner and gift of a new night dress. I guess they were tired of the "rags." I do tend to wear things out...I mean really out! It was a lovely birthday. I consider myself privileged to be able to still celebrate them!!....and to have a wonderful family to celebrate them with (with which to celebrate them)...ever the grammar nerd!!  

My eldest texted from Calgary and will call as usual on Sunday.

The cat who was on his ninth life last week (he is 18 and was ailing) has somehow rolled back the calendar with designer foods, which my son and daughter bought for him. He is now his old self again.... screaming for food and fattening up. He'll be with us for a few more years, I think.

The Joy for the Joy Jar this week has to be my 79th birthday.

The Joy of Rain

 July has been wet. I don't mind. It means I don't have to water the garden and I can save some money and some energy. With all the rain, of course, the garden is lush. It's hard to imagine the barrenness of Winter with the sunny Rudbeckia in bloom.

The rain has also kept me indoors and given me time to work on my daughter's quilt. The more you add, the more you have to add to keep the balance and the symmetry. I have also forced myself to do a little cleaning and a little thinking.

 

I always feel that the cosmos, given time, will show us the way. With all this rain, I have had plenty of time to contemplate. So much so, that I think that I have found my "way" and it is ironically called, "The Way." I'm not sure how it came about, but I know I was looking for "something." I need to have a focus for the next ten years or however long I am spared. I think it must have been a post on FB (Facebook) that sparked my interest. Yes, FB may be the new oracle. Whatever the source, I was reminded of the Camino de Santiago in Spain and how much I wanted to walk it. I saw the film "The Way" a number of years ago and was captivated. I had actually read about the pilgrimage several years before that and wanted to go. I couldn't convince my husband, though.

 
This last week, however, I decided, one rainy day, to start training for the walk. I realized that I could walk 10kms a day and if I started in Sarria and walked the 100kms to Compostela, I could do the walk in 10 days. Of course, I would have to train and walk with a 10lb pack on my back, but I think I could manage that or have a service take my luggage for me. I won't be packing much. At 79, it will not be a fashion show; it will be an endurance test.

Of course, I have a lot to put in order before I leave. I will have to prepare the garden in the Fall for Spring. I will have to organized the dis-organized areas of the house. I will have to put money aside, read books, reconnect with a wonderful travel agent we use to use and of course walk, walk, walk.

My Joy for the joy jar this week has to be the rain. It nourished the garden and fed my soul. I now need to begin my journey.

Have a joyous week!

The joy of doing nothing....

We're back from a few days vacation. My daughter had a week off, so I booked and AirBnB in Collingwood. It was a nice spot with a shared pool, near biking trails and a pleasant walk to the village.

The "drill," when we go away is: 

1. I buy a jig saw puzzle and spend three days doing it. It creates a space for the other three - daughter, son & son's girlfriend to chat, but to not be constrained by my constant presence. I am a only few feet away putting in a puzzle piece, but I can still comment from a distance. You have to know your place in this world - puzzle pieces not with standing.

2. We bring food from home. Yes, a lot of packing, but it does save money on restaurants.

3. The kids do their thing. This year they biked several trails in the area. My late husband and I had biked them a few years before. I miss the biking. I will do it again.

4. I go to bed early and the rest party until 3:00am or so. They make snacks, drink, play Scrabble and watch random "stuff" on TV.

 
5. On the last night I am invited to play Scrabble with them just after dinner. I don't think that I have ever played Scrabble after midnight - Bridge yes, Scrabble no. I usually win so they count the other days, they have played, as warming up for the challenge.

Unfortunately this year, my daughter was called back to work early. There were problems and she had to sort them out. She took the bus back and the rest of us decided to leave late afternoon to avoid an early morning pack up. We had to be out by 10:00am, so we took a leisurely drive back in a rain storm to be home by 7:00pm, the evening before we were to have left.

Yes, we left early, but it was still an adventure, time away, freedom from household chores (OK I still cook and clean a little) and an opportunity to escape into a puzzle and finish a novel I had started a while ago.

My Joy for the Joy Jar this week has to be the fact that I could spend three days with family and not think about housework, business work, projects etc.

The pictures? Rose of Sharon and my favourite red roses. I can also holiday in my garden.

Have a joyful week.

The Joy of Disentanglement

 Most of my Joy this week came from a very unjoyous event - my wallet was stolen. On Wednesday June 12, I was having coffee with a friend at Aroma. I hooked my handbag over the arm of my chair and let it rest on the ground at my feet. I then put a shopping bag with a few purchases in it beside the bag. The table I chose was against a small divider and separated from other tables. Still the thief was able to crawl on the ground, squeeze between my table and the divider, move my shopping bag, open my purse and take out my wallet.

They unfortunately used my access card and various other cards to make purchases in the 24-hours before I discovered that my wallet was gone. I immediately set about to cancel my cards. However, it was not a quick process. I was on hold for almost an hour to cancel my Mastercard and negate a fraudulent purchase. I then went to my bank in person to cancel my other cards, all four of them, three of which had been used.

 
The next day I spent almost two hours at Service Ontario to replace my driver's license and health card. I will now have to replace various loyalty cards and have points transferred.

It's an eerie sense of violation, when this happens. Some stranger has pried into your personal possessions, exposing your identity to the world. It is also a wake-up call to be ever vigilant. The world has changed. Toronto has changed. It's a meaner place now.

I will keep my handbag on my lap in future or start wearing a purse strapped to my body. The last time I had my wallet stolen was 45 years ago at the Eaton Centre. I hope it never happens again.

My Joy for the Joy Jar this week? Things could have been a lot worse. I'm so glad they weren't.

The picture? Art imitating nature or nature imitating art. 

Have an uncomplicated day!!

The Joy of Ups & Downs...

..... This week has been HOT - 30ºC during the day, with the house never really cooling off at night. I finally had to turn on the AC. There will be the "see-sawing" on and off of the AC now for the rest of the summer.

Here are a number of other "see-sawing" events this week.

1. UP - I found someone to repair the front porch for less than my original quote of $6,000.00. The price to do it was $3,500.00 + tax (which I could have avoided, if I had paid cash.)

    Down - They did an OK job. Yes, you get what you pay for. Still I can live with the job and tidy it up, as needed, for less than $2,500.00

2. UP - My daughter has decided to bike to work. She will ride her father's bike. I'm so glad it will be put to use.

    Down - It needs a new tire - still not insurmountable!!

 
3. Up - I'm making a huge amount of progress with my daughter's quilt.

    Down - I need to re-think the next step. Always, the angst of "Will this work?"

4. Up - I joined a FB group of "slow walkers" on the Camino.

    Down - Now, I have to do it or face the fact that I am too old. I will be 80 when I set out for something that has been on my bucket list for years!!

5. UP - I have had the Joy of all my roses in bloom - it's amazing what a bit of manure and a mild Winter will do.

    Down - I have to dead-head daily. Still it gives me time to live among the flowers. I know this is a privilege denied many. I am ever grateful.

 
6. Up - I found a rug I could live with on Rugs.ca (or it found me - it's a long story). It was on sale for $150.00 with FREE shipping. It's smaller than the one I had and makes the room look larger. What's not too love?

    Down - The cat has decided it is his. His toys are all over it!

7. UP - I finally found Muriatic acid. No one at Home depot even recognized the name. Fortunately Canadian Tire had it - go figure - we may seem, as Canadians, a little backward, but we still understand the fundamentals.

    Down - I now have to use it to clean 80 years of "crud" off my stonework.

8. UP - It's been a peaceful week of summer routines - Saturday morning market at the brick works, selective watering of the garden, counting the tomatoes turning red, celebrating the yellow finches on the Coreopsis turned to seed.

    Down - The days are getting shorter. I have trouble with this.

Pictures  - flowers inside and out.

My Joy for the Joy Jar this week has to be that my daughter has claimed her father's bike as hers. His spirit lives!!

The pictures? Indoor and outdoor flowers.

Have a Joyful day!

The Joy of being Canadian

 This last week ended with Canada Day, July 1. We celebrated as a family, which included a friend who has been part of our family for almost 50 years. It's comforting to know that we live in a country that is not at war, has (until Ford destroys it) decent medical care, respects democracy, is a diverse nation of multinationals and occasionally has a mild winter in southern Ontario :)

When I was growing up, my parents always wanted to move to the US. For some reason they felt that things were better there. I'm so glad they never applied for visas. I can't imagine how much medical care would be for our family, if we lived in the US. Socialism is not a "dirty" word up here in Canada, but it seems to be south of the border.

Even now, I have huge reservations about travelling to the US. I think that the "Trump" fiasco has made a number of us think twice about even flying to NYC for a long weekend. I'd rather go to Europe.

Apart from Canada Day, it was a quiet week. I had lunch at a friend's house - always a delight. I got a massive amount of work done on my daughter's quilt. I've made lists for our week up in Collingwood and I tidied up my needlework area in the living room. Yes, it finally got done!

My niece graduated from university in Glasgow, so there were lots of texts back and forth. My gift of a crocheted shawl arrived in time. 

My sister is out of hospital and on the mend. She kindly offered her sons to help, when my eldest and his partner take possession of their 80 acres to live off the grid in northern Ontario. One of her sons can skin a caribou and the other is a crack shot with a bow and arrow. Skills I'm sure they will need at one point, as they work things out "up there."

Other than, cooking, cleaning, gardening, needlework and office work, it's been pretty much a Canadian week. Nothing particularly spectacular, just peace, order and a new mayor - Olivia Chow - who will hopefully stop the destruction of our city by a ruthless premier.

My Joy for the Joy Jar this week has to be the election of Olivia Chow. She is the quintessential Canadian - an immigrant who struggled to build a life here and rose to become a political leader. We need so much change to happen in Toronto and I'm sure she can do it!!

Picture - so sorry just one. I have organized my embroidery threads for my work in progress, in a more tasteful manner :)

Have an awesome week!!

The Joy of words

On Wednesday I bought the book "The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows." It has added a good deal of Joy to my week. I wrote about the book in an earlier post so I won't bore you with repetition. Writing lots of words strung together and contemplating individual words give me a lot of Joy.

Fortunately we were spared the snow in Northern Ontario in late June. My heart grieves for all the flowers in bloom that were lost. I have taken more time to enjoy mine this week, as a result.

I handed my 65,500 word novel over to a book evaluator. I will go with her opinion. The price isn't cheap, but it seems fair and she comes recommended from a friend. There is Joy in moving forward.

 
I had the opportunity to give away one of my shawls again this week. My niece in Scotland is graduating from university July 1. Help, I needed a gift. I know she crochets and I had one crocheted shawl in my collection. I had designed it in a blue laceweight merino and silk yarn using a diamond motif. I'll have to post the picture later, when I've downloaded it from another computer. I somehow remember it in pink - maybe it was a test sample. Anyway, I had told her mother it was in pink, so I included the written pattern and two balls of apricot yarn for her to crochet another, if she likes. I was able to put it altogether and get it mailed off to Scotland on Monday. 

My Joy was in actually finding this shawl in tact; finding the original pattern, being able to squeeze more yarn into the box and getting it all shipped out at least ten days before the event. So glad the stars aligned!!

I booked a week's vacation with family in Collingwood for a few days. I'm hoping that the weather is better than the last time - March 2022. Well, it should at least be warmer. I'll take a jigsaw puzzle just in case and maybe some needlework, if I can fit it all in. John Koenig's word Idlewild "feeling grateful to be stranded in a place where you can't do much of anything" is a perfect description for my time away. OK, our unit comes with a shared swimming pool and there is the resort village and some walks along the Bruce Trail. I'll think about these while I relax with my projects.

Between orders at work, housework, garden work, coffee with friends and a myriad of small chores, life has been joyous!!

Now to select just one for the Joy Jar. I think that it has to be getting my gift off to my niece. There are times when life hands you lemons and there are times when you can just pick apples from a tree (in season). I think that the gift was a realization of the fruits of my labour coming to fruition :)

Have a fruitful day.

Copiadymis or...

 Dynamopia as substitutes for Koenig's word "The Til" meaning "that reservoir of opportunities still available to you at this point in your life."

Yes, we do need a word for what energy remains in our bodies to explore, pursue, develop, create. It must, though, be a dynamic word, something with enough force to stir our limbs crippled with age, our wills beset with inertia, and our minds confused with distractions.

 

I'm not sure copiadymus is right. It's from the Latin - copia - storehouse and dynamus - dynamic. I like the idea of having a storehouse of energy to draw on, but copiadymus is too long and dynamopia is too negative.

I'm sure I'll think of something to stir my mind to plan a trip to walk The Camino de Santiago or do some house sitting somewhere far away or simply go away for the Winter.

 
Koenig's "The Til" unfortunately won't get me off the sofa. Now, I love the the concept of the cache or cash. I have worked in retail too long not to love the "money drawer." OK sometimes you need a little cached cash to get you started exploring or pursuing. I follow a FB group of woman travellers over 50 who travel solo. Too many in their 70s are "doing the Camino de Santiago." It has been on my bucket list for a while. I think I have to start pacing it out, as it were. I know I can walk 10ks a day. Is that realistic? Can I push it to 15? How long would it take me? 

What about "thrusteverest"? The push to realize your most challenging dreams. OK, it's not fancy from Latin, Greek or some other exotic academia (contradiction in terms :) ) - but neither is "Til."

"My thrusteverest has brought me to these heights. I hope there's enough left to get me back to base camp!"

The pictures? Hikes I have taken. Trails I have followed. T(h)rust ever in the belief that you can do it and the superlative "est" will fall into place.

Have a challenging day!

Sermanimus

 ...or the soul talking. I'm still completely overwhelmed by "The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows." I can spend half an hour or more contemplating one word. This morning I browsed through a few in the first ten pages and came upon "jouska" from the French "jusqu'a" - until. It's a comment on the interior monologues most of us have from time to time - OK I have them daily.

Here you create the perfect conversation, retort, repartee in your mind. You are always eloquent full of bon mots and perfect quotes. The author compares this verbal jousting to baseball's batting cage. It's the practice run, where you hit the homers, before the big game. Once out on the field of life, though, you often advance through a few bunts, a stolen base, or a ho-hum walk. Those batting cage home runs are rare.

 
I love Koenig's comparison of our inner thoughts to Baseball. It's one of the few sports I like. I'm not sure why he chose the term "jouska," though. It's close to jousting, however, it's from the French word for "until." Perhaps it means that you can be great alone, in your mind, until you have to face the real world, where all your glory is significantly diminished. Jouska is also close to "jest" or "jesting." Some of those monologues can be really funny!

I prefer the term "sermanimus" from the Latin sermocinatio - talk or conversation and animus - soul. It's more of your mind or soul speaking. Maybe you are saying what you really feel - often something you can't say in public. It has the overtones of a sermon, a mental oration to yourself. What it's missing is the actual public performance of the speech - maybe best left unsaid.

Yes, sermanimus is a murmur, something to enjoy in your head, while venting your soul, but kept to yourself unless you have a soulmate.

"My first sermanimus today was a mental discussion with the bank that cancelled a joint credit card. I pointed out their lack of customer service, could lose a customer." In reality, when I went to the bank, they couldn't have cared less. You need a whole lot of money in this world to make a difference.

This treatment of nondescript, unmoneyed beings begs another word. Something that crystallizes the feeling of being left out, ignored, even insulted for being a pain in the batt(l)ing cage to authorities.

The picture? The baseball patch for my daughter's quilt.

Have a thoughtful day!

Words, words and more words.....

 Today I bought "The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows" by John Koenig. I have mentioned this book before in an earlier post. It's a must read for anyone interested in words. Basically, it is a lexicon of terms the author has coined to deal with those feelings we all have, but are unable to express because there aren't words for them.

The "sorrow" in the title is partly because our common language - English - is missing so many words to describe complex emotions and partly because struggling through life might not seem so lonely, if we had the words to share our common experiences.

The author's words, though uncommon, are offered to create a common understanding among us. For example, the word "trumspringa" was coined to describe the concept of our thoughts wandering off from our career path or current occupation to dream of owning a small farm, living off the grid, being a shepherd in the mountains......etc.

 
I'm not a fan of the actual word, but I am guilty of daydreaming almost constantly. I dream of creating a new Giverny (Monet's garden) somewhere in Southern Ontario or living out the Winter writing in some warm, secluded place.

Koenig created the word from a "mash-up" of the German word for city centre "stadtzentrum" and the Pennsylvania Dutch (German) word "rumspringa" - to hop around, presumably out of the city or out of our confined life style. I think that I might go with a word like "somnity" from the Latin, somnium, for dreams or nonsense. The word has that sense of drifting, floating to places in your mind that may never be realized. These daydreams or nonsensical notions take us from the tasks at hand, making life a little more bearable perhaps.

"Today my somnity took me to a small cottage in Devon, where I gathered roses."

Have a sominous day!

The Joy of Plenty

This week it rained. I have been praying for rain for weeks now. Well my prayers have been answered. I have also been praying for a lot of other "things;" I guess rain was the easiest to deliver.  :)

The garden needed rain. This is the Yin Yang of gardening. We need rain. It comes (in torrents) and destroys the garden. The peonies drop, as do the roses and the more delicate ornamentals. I had to restake a Rose of Sharon too many times.

Still, it's better to see them hydrated, than parched. In fact, it has been a week not just of plenty of rain. It has been a week of plenty - period.

1. Plenty of rain!! OK I have repeated this, but then it did rain ALL week!

2. Plenty of connections!! Last Sunday I chatted to a friend for an hour, while I worked out a strategy to connect with my sister-in-law, who had missed our Sunday call. This is why we stay "connected" because if someone doesn't respond, we have to know why. We had a plan, however, we didn't have to use it!! It was simply a case of being involved and distracted. She called two hours later.....whew

 

3. Plenty of connections (part 2). Shortly after I chatted with my sister-in-law, my friend from England rang. This is 5:00pm our time and 11:00pm UK time. We go back a long time, (yes time tends to repeat itself. :) ) We met in our twenties. She will be 80 this month. Where has the time gone....and how can we get it back!!

4. Plenty of connections (part 3). I met with another friend for tea. I have followed her family connections for almost 20 years now. It's always so enriching to share our stories.

5. Finally, on Friday, I met with another friend, I haven't seen in 4 or 5 years. We go back to elementary school. It's one of those relationships where we pick up where we left off. Plenty of time spent reviewing the past and discussing the future!!

6. I spent "plenty of time" going over my novel. A friend gave me the connection to a person who evaluates books, before you spend the time and money to edit them. This is an invaluable connection.

7. I have plenty of roses in my garden. So much better than last year. I gave them plenty of manure in the Fall and the Spring. In turn they are giving me plenty of Joy right now.

Thank you so much for putting up with my harvest of plenty(s). I promise to chose another word next time..." :)

It's hard to pick just one of these for the Joy Jar this week, bit I think that it has to be "rain." It is the elixir to enhance all the other Joys!!

The pictures...my plentiful garden.

Joy is a week of "many splendoured" things.....

 .....From several weeks of trying to "frack" Joy from the slate of "nothing interesting to report," there comes the motherload of refinable Joys.

1. My son has spent five splendid days with us. He was out East (from Calgary) for a wedding and stayed with us for a whole week before going back home!! Totally awesome!!

2. His purchase of 80 acres in Northern Ontario finally closed - nothing is ever simple. He and his partner plan to take possession in the Spring of 2024 to homestead there. It is an exciting time!

3. My sister is recovering from very complicated surgery. It went well, but had more steps than were anticipated. The Joy is in knowing she will make a full recovery and that I don't have to go to Hamilton, meet my nephew, who has vertigo, and try to get us both up "The Mountain" to see her. There is a Go-bus from Guelph that leaves every hour and is the price of parking a car at the hospital. He will take that. I will go later to see her in Guelph.

4. My roses are in bloom. More Joy from the garden!!

 
5. Joined a FB group of solo women travellers over 50!! It has given me itchy feet. Many people in the group are in their 80s and still travelling solo!!

6. Solved Wordle on the second try. Bought a lottery ticket....didn't win. The yin and yang of Joy.

7. Made pizza on the BBQ from scratch. Everyone loved it!!

8. It was also a Joyous week of friends. Between cell-phone and landline, I had conversations with 3 friends within an hour - two at the same time, while my youngest was asking how much of the apple tree should he cut down for the new patio umbrella. Joy in its most concentrated form - just add water (or wine) to spread it out!!

Now to select just one for my Joy Jar. Of course, it has to be that my son stayed with us for five days. It was a wonderful visit!!

The Joy of Spring 2024....

 ...OK, I keep a gardening journal to remind me of what I need to do next Spring. Rearranging a garden is a little like rearranging a room, except that it's usually done in Spring and can take 2 or 3 years to see the results. The picture below is the result of an entry in my journal for Spring 2023. I needed to change the location of the Hosta and the Rudbeckia in a back bed. The Hosta is low growing and the Rudbeckia, when in flower, is well above the Hosta, although, it doesn't appear this way in the picture, (it's early for Rudbeckia). So one mild April day, I swapped their places. I like the results.

Now, of course, I see that the peony needs to be moved and I have to fill in the empty space with Bleeding Heart, Astilbe and Lady's Mantle. I'm remaking what was once a flourishing vegetable garden into a shade garden. New neighbours planted trees, now tall enough to block out my sun to the south. Did I mention that they have three screaming kids, as well  - gardening in the city is a challenge and enjoying one's garden in peace is an even a greater challenge.

There were a few other chores to be completed from my journal for "Spring 2023." One was another "swap" of Hosta and Daylilies, which I have done. I didn't manage to "remove a large Hosta" - actually two, so they will go back into the journal for 2024, unless, I get really frustrated one day and decide to just take an axe to them.

I was also planning to redo a back "patio" next year. It's an area largely used for storage. But, we had robbed it of it's "good" stones to extend the patio near the house, so "something" had to be done with the remaining space. Well, as fate would have it (must have a word with the three sisters), I needed a place to replant some Rudbeckia from a ratty area in front of a back bench and also some Hosta dug up from the front.

Enter, the storage area of missing stones!! - half flagstone, half dirt and the most forlorn bit of Earth I have ever seen - well at least in my garden. Yes, forlorn pieces of earth exist almost everywhere. It breaks my heart!

 
Once I'm on a mission, little can stop me. So, after the remaining stones were lifted, I planted the Hosta and Rudbekia. I then dumped the stones, some were quite heavy, in an area that will be repurposed for storage near the compost bins and "bob's your uncle" or maybe "Nick's your son" because I'm hoping that he will relay the stones in the new area.

 Now, what to add to the Joy Jar for this week. I think it has to be my planting and replanting, as well as my garden journal. Also it's the fulfillment of the notes, I had made last year and knowing that the entries, I made this week, will bring me Joy in 2024.

Have a joyous week!!

Warm weather Joy....

 I am a warm weather person. As a family, we went to Florida in August. I could live in the tropics. How I ended up in the cold of Canada is something I often ask myself. This last week, though, was a warming up week. Everyday that the temperatures nudged up - 14ºC, 15ºC, 16ºC... were moments of pure Joy.

The garden has progressed with the warmer temperatures. The Rhododendrons are in bloom, my beans are up. I've planted the tomatoes, various annuals and dug out the invaders, for the moment.

The sprucing up of the house continues. I have ordered new basement windows, got a quote for a new door - it was ridiculous, so I guess I'll just paint the front door.

 
The noise of the build next door but one is deafening. Yes, they stop on the weekend, but then the kids next door take over and scream through most of the remaining 48 hours and if they are away for a few blissful moments, someone in the apartments at the back of the garden decides to talk to a friend on her phone, so all the world can hear.

I may be hard of hearing, but, unfortunately, I'm not deaf!!

In addition to the weather and the garden there were some other slivers of Joy this week.

1. A friend came over for dinner to celebrate Victoria Day. We smoked some ribs and chicken legs to go with a number of salads. It was delicious!

2. I had lunch with another friend on Wednesday. Always wonderful conversations about music, knitting, the creative process and life in general.

3. I decided I needed a plan for the next 10 years - working on it.

4. I watched several episodes of "Slow Horses" with my son. It's the first TV, I've watched in 6 months and it was fun.

 
On weeks that are "slow," it's difficult to decide what to select that is Joyful from a field of uninspiring routine. However, since I am here to elevate the mundane to the sublime (maybe), I have found that material "things" work.

1. (Mundane) Bought and assembled an outdoor storage box to tidy up the patio clutter. (Sublime) Did it myself without help.

2. (Mundane) Found some "cheap" doors on FB, just hoping something comes of it. $12,000.00 for a new front door is definitely not a go! (Sublime) Got reimbursed for a deposit scam on FB marketplace. There are too many out there.

3. (Mundane) Filled orders at work. (Sublime) It's quiet there and it's an escape.

On the less material side..

1. (Mundane) I have decided to buy the book, "Obscure Sorrows" by John Koenig because I need help in elevating the ordinary to the extraordinary with some new words and some new concepts!! (Sublime) - to come.

2. (Mundane) I can take my cooking to the next level by having pre-made Herbs de Provence on hand and maybe some ready-to-shake Italian seasoning. I have all the individual herbs, but I might just put them together in a jar to make it easier. (Sublime) - Jars of herbs with Summer Savory and Lavendar are transporting!!

3. (Mundane) I made BBQ'd pizza on Friday. It's a lot of work, but we ate the leftovers all week. It's festive, well received, a recipe from a friend and it's a summer meal. (Sublime) It elevates the frozen and the ordered in, to the made from scratch, cooked on the BBQ amazing!!

Now, what can I extract from this week of nothing particularly special to add to my Joy Jar? I think it has to be that my Rhododendrons are in bloom. These are my late husband's flowers. He planted most of the bushes years ago. They reminded him of Scotland, where the "rhodos" grow wild on the banks of the Clyde. 

It is good to have something embedded, not only in memory, but also in place. We need a permanence to our lives. "Never cease to know, for whom the garden grows."

The second picture is of my ubiquitous Columbine. These are the free spirits of the garden. They grow where they chose and mutate, as they please, to some amazing colours!

Have an awesome week!

Victorian Joy

 It's been a quiet week leading up to a long weekend. Monday is a statutory holiday in honour of Queen Victoria. I'm sorry. I'm a royalist and I celebrate our connections to Britain, if only for the traditions that give purpose and meaning (maybe) to our lives. 

The 24th of May, or whenever it is celebrated, is also known as "firecracker day." It's the first long weekend of Spring/Summer and it has many traditions. 

1. For those, who have cottages - there is the tradition of "opening up" the cottage.

2. For those who don't (have cottages, that is) there are picnics, BBQs, a day "off" and.....

3. There are Firecrackers!!

I know many have decided to "do" fireworks on July 1 - Canada Day. Sorry, it's just too American for me. Yes, we should celebrate Canada, as a nation, but let's not give up so much of what has made us Canadian - our ties to Britain.

I'm not prepared to celebrate Nov 5 - Guy Fox, as the Brits do. It's too soon after Hallowe'en. :) However, Victoria Day, has a certain classic vibe, that counters all that is new, trendy and passing. If we give up fireworks on Victoria Day, might we think of giving up the traditions of Remembrance Day too?

 
It's a short post this week. I've spent most days in the garden. However, I did find a white shawl, I designed and knit, several years ago, to give as a gift to a friend of my eldest. She will be married in June and my son has been invited to the wedding, as have many of the graduating class from their high school. It will be more than twenty years since they all went to school together. I'm all about keeping friends and traditions.

The picture - Victorian lace, for a Victorian weekend. Victory is also in keeping all that is precious and meaningful in our lives.

The slip for the Joy Jar this week will be finding this lace shawl intact. Giving it to someone in honour of their very special day and remembering how much I love this first celebration weekend!!

Have a cracking great day!!

The Joy of Adventure

This week, my eldest sent me a text to say that he and his partner had put in an offer to purchase 80 acres of land in Northern Ontario. I had promised him a small sum from his uncle's estate, for any real estate investment. That small sum, has paid for a sizable piece of land just south of Cochrane ON. Yes, it's quite far north - 6.5hrs from Toronto. However, three nearby towns have hospitals; they may actually be on a train line and it is close to a dream come true!

They plan to take possession in the Spring of 2024 and live "off the grid" there, all year round. It takes my breath away to think of the -50ºC temperatures in mid-winter with nothing but a wood fire. I worry about the truck breaking down, the snow becoming impassable, or someone taking ill.

 
Still, my great-great grandmother arrived in Canada from Ireland in 1853. She homesteaded north of Mount Forest, ON with a 13-year-old son and two young daughters. Her husband joined her ten years later. He remained in Ireland to work their passage over. I come from a long line of survivors.

I wired my son the money on the day that would have been his father's 74th birthday. I was told that the transfer would take about four days. It took four hours. I have to believe that the powers that be are supporting this adventure.

In fact this entire week has been a portal of pure Joy....

1. My youngest has relaid the patio....it looks amazing!!

2. Jelena finished painting the dining room table. The last piece in my 35-year-old Ikea furniture collection - sofa, large chair, dining room table and 6 smaller chairs. I love it.

3. I may have found a "doable" route to add 4 basement windows, 1 new front door and 2(maybe) eco-heating systems with rebates and interest-free financing to the house.

4. My daughter has proposed a holiday to NYC in July to see a baseball game or two, plus a show - The Lion King. We just have to work out the details - another adventure.

5. I have been able to do a ton of work in the garden!! This is an ongoing garden adventure.

6. My son and my daughter took me out to dinner for Mother's Day Eve - It was wonderful.

7. I went for cocktails at my next door neighbours.....initially to discuss eco-heating solutions.....and, well, life in general!!

8. We prepared a pork roast tonight to be cooked on the smoker tomorrow. This food adventure is coming closer to perfection!! 

The picture - so sorry there is just one (OK, now there's two) and not at its best. It's the front garden with the re-position dwarf Iris in bloom. I have to remember to photograph & post the garden more often.

My slip for the Joy Jar this week has to be the purchase of a piece of Canada!!! - My home and native land!! - Gotta love her and the people who inhabit her - we are all a special breed!!

Have an adventurous day!!

 

 

The Joy of Scales.....

 I probably should have said the Joy of new windows, but the disruption of any sort of renovation takes away a lot of the Joy!! Still I have 3 new windows at the front of the house upstairs and the main window downstairs clad in the same colour as the upstairs windows, so I never have to paint any of them again.....future Joy!

 
My real Joy that day was how I occupied myself for the 12 hours it took to do the installation!

It might not be everyone's idea of a good time, but...I worked out all the major and minor scales in music. OK, I usually pass the time doing crossword puzzles. I like puzzles. Well, from my Coursera course in music theory (from the University of Edinburgh), I learned that there was a pattern for the major scales and another pattern for the minor scales. Obviously I had missed this somewhere along the line. My daughter knew the patterns, as I'm sure almost every beginner in music knows them. OK, I didn't, but now I do.

 
This exercise got me half way through the window renovations. For the other half, I finished the improvements to the book I am writing. I now have to get it professionally edited and go from there. Windows let in so much more than light!

There was little Joy in the rain most of the week, except that the garden looks very green. The cold Spring has kept the blossom and the lime green of the young leaves a little longer. These are Joys I look forward to every year.

 
Finally, there was the Joy of working in the garden on a sunny day. I mended the raised bed, with a wooden plug from Ikea. One of the original plastic plugs that came with the raised bed had dislodged itself and the frame was threatening to break apart. I raised it; inserted the plug and Eureka! It worked.

I prepared and fertilized this bed. Dug the front bed and prepared it for fertilizing tomorrow. It will be planted with tomatoes, cucumber, zucchinni etc. after the 24th of May. Finally, since I didn't want to leave a gorgeous Spring day, I dug out a dozen huge weeds from the patch of grass we still keep.

 The Periwinkle is in full bloom, as are the wild tulips, the Azalea and some Forget-Me-Nots. On Friday, I began the planting of a shade bed under a False Cyprus with Astilbe, Primrose, Lady's Mantel, and I will transplant some Bleeding Heart there, as well. 

This is a working blog....a blog in progress.....and it can be, at times, a little pedestrian. Although I enjoy working in my garden, the work is about progress and "getting things" done. So I sense that my writing here is a little laborious. Things will improve, once I move from the real to the sublime...just give me a few days to find my magic wand.  :)

Now to select just one Joy for the Joy Jar this week. It probably will be my new windows...."All the better to see you with, My dear."

Have a joyous week.

The Joy of Solving Problems....

I have a list...yes, OK, I have dozens of list. They are there to avoid a "listless life" - no pun intended!!

One of the items on my list for the front of the back yard.....(it's a big yard)...is to stop a basement window sill from rotting. 

"Something there is that doesn't like a wall (or a well)." Years ago, we had timbered in a small space below a basement window. Well, (gotta love that word) over time, the timbers rotted, the soil seeped in and the wood framing around the window decomposed. Why hadn't I noticed this before? Well, (there it is again) I hadn't been in the mood for thirty - odd years to paint the basement windows. However, I am getting new windows for the front of the house and I decided that the basement windows needed to match - almost.

Enter the window-well tradesman (and his wife). I called a few companies that advertise in a small local newspaper. Fortunately, one responded. The quote was OK and he arrived on time. Did a great job and filled a number of holes in and around the foundations with the leftover cement at no extra charge.

 
I can now make a small tick beside a big problem that has been resolved.

The next problem was to re-do an adjacent flag stone patio.

Enter my son!! He promised to help and I held him to it. What I was surprised to find was a master craftsman. He relaid the flagstone, we had removed to facilitate the work on the window well and went on to repair the entire east side of the patio. I can now tick off two of three items for the back yard list!!

 
The last item is a small extension to the patio, which my son has offered to do and I think I can find enough good flagstone in the various "areas" of the backyard to accommodate.

Joy this week has not been all "bells, whistles and gongs," nor as it been "sunshine, birdsong and blossom." Rather it has been shovels, pitchforks and brooms. There is a certain Joy in the work ethic. It does elevate the slog and adds a hint of rapture (maybe) to the bricks and mortar.

So, in spite of a cold week, we managed to solve a few problems, move through the chores, save some money by doing things ourselves, cultivate the garden, play the piano, fill orders at work, have a lovely lunch with a friend, and write about the Joy of being able to do it all.

I think that my slip for the Joy Jar this week is the fact that my son did an amazing job on the patio repair. Did I mention that he wanted a canopy with lights for the picnic table? Everything is a trade off!!

The pictures? I added flowers because they are prettier than the well.

Have an awesome week!!

The Joy of "Obscure Sorrows"

 Mostly the weather this week has been very "unjoyous." After a week of summer, we are back into the cold and grey of a Winter/Spring. However, coffee this week with a friend was joyous! In fact my friend recommended a book that I might like - "Obscure Sorrows." The author, John Koenig, creates words based on their Latin, Greek, etc, roots to explain, what is often obscure feelings or states of mind. 

For example:
“Sonder - n. the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own—populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries and inherited craziness—an epic story that continues invisibly around you like an anthill sprawling deep underground, with elaborate passageways to thousands of other lives that you’ll never know existed, in which you might appear only once, as an extra sipping coffee in the background, as a blur of traffic passing on the highway, as a lighted window at dusk.”

From the German word for special.

or

“Adronitis - n. the frustration with how long it takes to get to know someone—spending the first few weeks chatting in their psychological entryway, with each subsequent conversation like entering a different anteroom, each a little closer to the centre of the house—wishing instead that you could start there and work your way out, exchanging your deepest secrets first, before easing into casualness, until you’ve built up enough mystery over the years to ask them where they’re from, and what they do for a living.”  

From the Greek word Andron - the part of the house reserved for men.

 
For Andronitis, I might use Eonitis, from the English word "eon" - ages and ages. For Sonder, I might use Amassonian from the English - masses.

I have said before that I am a wordsmith. I love using words, finding new words, coining words and arranging words - a.k.a. writing.

I am, however, more fascinated with John Koenig's thoughts behind the words than the actual onomatopoeic value of his words. I am obviously a very superficial person. It has never bothered me that I could spend years getting to know a person and yet never really plumb their core. Nor does it bother me that I don't know much about the lives of passersby. Wait, I am very curious about people who are out and about at 3:00am. Never cease to know for whom the clock ticks in the wee hours of the deepest dark. Serial killers abound.

In this cold but productive week. I bought a grade four Conservatory music book and I am learning a new piece - Allegretto in E Minor, which curiously has an F-sharp. I also joined the University of Edinburgh's Coursera to start to understand music theory. Both small joys in the sense of moving forward. I even thought that I might resume my conservatory studies with lessons.

For the Joy Jar, the highlight of my week has to be coffee with my friend and her recommendation of Obscure Sorrows. I think I have to buy the book.

The picture? Now I am curious about the artistic process. Above is a model of The Globe theatre in London. It's been on my mind lately. I did a tour of the rebuilt Globe a few years ago and promised myself that I would see a play or two there one day - unfulfilleditis - maybe.