Should I restart my blog?

In today’s world, it seems that many are gravitating towards quick posts. Tik Tok, Thread, X, Instagram and not so much Facebook.

I began my blog as a journal of sorts as I went through my days. Over the years I have changed and haven’t felt the need to document my thoughts and doings. My interests remain mostly the same, a few new ones have replaced others and some have just been shelved because…

So what to do?

Stay tuned, or not. I just wish you well wherever you are.

Friday already

For me, time seems to be playing tricks with my mind since the pandemic turned everyone world upside down. Schedules have morphed into suggestions, deadlines now non existent. I am wondering what David Allen of Getting Things Done fame is thinking about how we are going about our days to day lives. I used to trust in his words that if it only takes about 2 minutes to do, then just do it. 

Monday, with Joe’s help, I got my latest quilt All Buttoned Up longarmed. It’s a cute project made of mostly my stash fabrics with a lovely flannel backing. The blocks are buttons, either 2 hole or 4 hole against alternating backgrounds on while or black. It’s quite striking and will be a baby gift.  I worked on hand stitching down the binding at out Loose Threads group and enjoyed catching up with a few of my friends who ventured out. This is only the second time we have met, socially distanced, masked up but it was good for us each emotionally. Usually this time of year we are all working on something for the upcoming Christmas but not this time around.

Monday was also the day my friend Shelley adopted my 1948 Singer 221 featherweight. She was a black beauty and worked like a charm. With the onset of the pandemic and quilting events getting shut down everywhere, I found I was feeling more and more guilty about not stitching on the Featherweight. I got it so I could go to group gatherings, retreats, etc and there she sat in her case getting dusty.  Then I realized, despite her compact size and portability, my grip was weakening. I had visions of going down hard and her with me. My days of lugging a machine around had ended.  I debated selling it but didn’t want to profit from it and didn’t want someone else to either. So I had her adopted by someone who could appreciate her history and employ her talents. She is in good hands now.

I am still adding steps/distance to my virtual Cape Breton walk. We have enjoyed several days on above season temperatures to get outside in the fresh air. We hit the new local trail beside our local rec centre. They just paved the path and have landscaping to do once the new soccer fields are created next year. I like the fact that we can easily walk there, do the trail loop and come home without having to get the car started. Yesterday, Mother Nature sadly threw freezing rain at us and we are now back to more normal weather conditions.

 

Walking The Cabot Trail

If you know me or have followed my past blog posts, you know I love a challenge. They inspire me to push myself and stay in the game all while staying off the proverbial couch. However, it has to spark something in me so that I will stay on target and keep going. Going is tough because you could easily talk yourself out of it. I’ll go to the gym tomorrow could soon escalate and the next thing you know, a month has passed and your step count is sadly lagging behind everyone else in the challenge.

January 1, 2020 I joined A Great Canadian Running Challenge or in my case it was a walking challenge. The goal, 1000 kms before year’s end.  I had a plan formulated in which I would be walking indoor during the winter months at our local recreation centre. Then everything shut down due to COVID-19. As people began to work from home or were totally laid off, there was a influx of folks trying to fill their days by hitting our walking trails. It was so hard to retain the recommended distance. Spacing front to back was fine,  it was the narrowness of the paths due to the snow banks on both sides. You couldn’t really just step aside and carry on. What to do? My brain storm was to head over to the rec centre and just walk the perimeter of the huge parking lot! It worked like a charm. I had my trusty partner in crime aka Joe to keep my company.  Once spring arrived and things thawed out, we headed to different trails in the area. The app All Trails was an superb resource. We seen some absolutely gorgeous views while exploring. After a while of daily walks on the same route, you crave the unexpected. As it was, I hit my 1000th kilometre late August!

My steps dropped after that, as I wasn’t motivated to push myself. Then a couple weeks ago I seen My Virtual Mission & The Conqueror Events. Hey, what’s this????

I checked out some of the different events they were running and when my eyes spotted the Cabot Trail challenge of 298 kms with a suggested finish goal of 12 weeks, I knew I had to sign up. We had toured the very same trail in 2018 and fell in love with the area and the people. The big carrot for me was the suggested finish date of Jan 3, 2021.  I thought this would be a fitting challenge to wrap up the day before my birthday. And it will be one of the ‘big ones’. I’m not saying which one but it is a significant marker in a person’s life. 

Autumn has been unpredictable here, snow and cold temperatures and then yesterday and today we hit +13°. Hard to believe but I will take it as I get as much fresh air and exercise before having to head back indoors. *** Should a second lock down happen, you will find me back in the parking lot, doing laps. 

Be good, stay engaged in whatever fashion suits you. 

522 words

 

Did you miss me?

My how the world has changed since my last blog post. What has not changed is the reason to get back into blogging.  I feel the need to connect with family and friends as what the coronavirus continues to spread, isolate, kill families, friends, communities, countries, businesses small and large.

Personally, we all have to weigh our options and do what is best for ourselves. Scientific evidence proves that frequent hand washing, not touching your face, wearing a non medical mask and physically distancing  all help keep folks safe. Are we disinfecting high touch surfaces as vigorously as we were in March? I know I’m not but I should be. I need to work on that sooner than later.

Enough doom and gloom, time to move on to more uplifting words.

The past 12 months have been quite unique in our household in that Joe has been home, almost glued to my side! With the collapse of the oil business in this province, he was laid off. He was thrilled to have time to spend with me, our extended family, relax and perhaps even get some travelling done. This has been the longest stretch that we have not been geographically separated because of his work.

On the plus side, he has been around to help get those household chores and projects done. On the flip side, it would be nice to be able to drive myself into town for a medical appointment. He patiently sits in the car and waits to drive me home. No chance of a spontaneous shopping trip to poke around. Because he is waiting, that pressures me to rush or just never mind. I don’t shop a lot but I do like to get out in the world and see what’s what. 

The best result of his unemployment/retirement is I have an enthusiastic walking partner.  We have ventured out to new to us trails to explore what is around the corner within the greater Edmonton area. I rely heavily on the app All Trails to find the next locale.  It has proven to be very accurate and we have not been disappointed yet. Now if we could only keep these moderate autumn temperatures. I enjoy walking in winter, Joe, not so much. Add the need to mask up while wearing glasses and things get foggy very quickly. Step carefully but more importantly, do get out in the fresh air and nature as often as you can. It does wonders for your mental well being and it’s just plain fun.

Pyramid Lake 

Jasper National Park

October 2020

word count 427 

Decisions decisions...to return to blogging or not

Let me know your thoughts.
Hope you are well.