Sunshine on my Shoulders Makes me Happy

It seems like forever since the sun was shining around here but today it finally is. Flood warnings are in effect though as the Thames River has received a ton of rain recently. Not to mention that white stuff. See? I'm not going to mention it!

Life has been chugging along satisfactorily. I would say my only problem (if this can be called a problem) is that I need a few more hours in each day to get done the many things I want to get done. I complain frequently that there are not enough hours in the day. Years ago, before retirement, I imagined that most of my time would be spent lounging around reading from a big pile of books.

What I didn't imagine, but should have, is how much time my other hobbies/sports & recreational activities would consume in a day. If I had then I might have fewer hobbies and more reading time. So the point of this is do I try to be more efficient with my time, ditch a few hobbies or try to make reading a priority?

Perhaps a combination of all three:

• I have ditched, sort of, a couple of hobbies - I'm never going to be an expert crocheter or spool knitter. Now that I've put my outdoor bike in storage I spend time at night riding my stationary bike (and watching Netflix) to make up for the hours I had been spending cycling outside. Instead of long hikes I walk 2km twice a week to volleyball and then try to find ONE sunny day each week for walking in the forest. I also play volleyball on Friday nights. Each day I do 30 minutes or a bit more of yoga and stretching. My back has been giving me fits but I find yoga really helps. If you ever have lower back pain the cobra pose (start with baby cobra) provides instant relief!

BABY Cobra

Cobra

• Time management is not one of my strong suits. Today is genealogy day and Wednesday is workshop day.  So far I've done zero genealogy today. I've read the paper, made a meal plan, had breakfast and gone grocery shopping. And I have to say that the sunshine is compelling me to go to the forest. **just checked the forecast and tomorrow looks like a really nice day so I will delay the walk until tomorrow after volleyball and today I will do research all afternoon. There, that's solved!

• I guess instead of complaining I should be happy (I am) that I have so many choices of "things to do"!  On the bright side I finished a book during all of the rain and am partway through three others (part of the problem!!! I need to stick to one book til it's done - it's just that others beckon me with their wonderful covers and promises of what's inside!!). I'm reading a lot about Scotland especially the Isle of Skye. I am trying to find more times throughout the day when I can pick up a book. It's pretty much my most favourite thing to do yet I keep putting it off. No more!! 

See ya!

Hah, just kidding! Sort of.....first yoga, then reading while eating lunch and then research! 

See ya! 

Bracebridge Vaycay

Okay, remind me not to take photos like this in future! No one wants to look up my nose!

My sister, Dale, who is turning 70 this year is in the purple T-shirt and my sister-in-law, Pat, is photo-bombing on the other side of her.

Sitting patiently is my brother, Gord, and this time I'm photobombing in the background. Dale's living room has a whole wall of mirrors.

We are no longer the younger generation!

 We stayed at an Airbnb rental about 10 minutes outside of Bracebridge, where my sister lives, in a tiny village called Utterson. Because my brother loves statistics I can tell you it worked out to approx. $40.00 per person per night. As I mentioned in my last post he also likes a good deal and this time it was a very good deal. The house was lovely and we made good use of the front porch for 

"happy hour(s)" each day!

We had the main floor at the front of the house - if there was anyone else there we didn't hear them.

Across the street there was a Corner Store and take out restaurant which made the

very best greek salads and french fries. How very cosmopolitan!!

I kept to my schedule of walking 5km daily on beautiful country roads - much nicer than walking in the city.

A banded kingfisher - hadn't seen one of these before.

The front door of the bnb.

My room - I slept like the dead!

One of several gorgeous iron floor grates.

Our electric fire - the plaque says "On this site in 1897 nothing happened!" :) 

 It's that special time of day - Happy Hour!

The cute kitchen - huge windows as it used to be a General Store. A table and bench seats are 

straight out of a 50's diner!

 The living room - you can see the pink of my yoga mat - I managed two short yoga

sessions each day.

Local Muskoka scenery...

The weather was perfect - we had a few sprinkles on our two travel days; otherwise sunny and warm.

Gord working on sudoku puzzles while enjoying morning coffee.

We travelled to the small town of Gravenhurst, just a few minutes down the highway from Bracebridge. While Dale and Pat looked around at some stores Gord and I went to sample some amazing brews at the Sawdust Brewery. So MUCH to choose from!!

Dale and Pat had ice cream instead :)

The clouds driving back to Bracebridge.

I'm so glad we made this trip north. My sister, Dale, can't travel due to a back injury she experienced 30 years ago. She was volunteering at a Senior's home and helped an elderly woman who

had fallen injuring her own back in the process. It's been 30 years of weekly chiropractic appointments and physio exercises without a lot of improvement.

We had a great time getting together and now that we have a sweet and comfortable place to stay I'm sure we'll do it again. 

Next stop - Scotland!!

BIG DAY

I am tired of being so inactive and I am well informed of the dangers of sitting too much so I re-started my home physical program this morning by doing 5 sun salutations. Then I set the timer on my phone for an hour so that each hour I would do a series of stretches and yoga positions. This works really well when you keep your phone nearby.

I think mine is on the kitchen counter....nope...maybe I left it in the laundry room where I spent 30 minutes of my life I'll never get back flattening out the Christmas tissue paper earlier (does anyone else do this?)......nope, not there, but I left a closet light on in the basement so took the opportunity to turn it off......maybe I left it up in my bedroom.......nope.....OMG, I was sitting on it hee hee hee!

Fifteen minutes to go but perhaps I can consider the last few minutes of going up and down 2 staircases as my exercise break this hour.....no? Who asked you!!

I have 12 minutes left and then I am heading to my stationary bike.

Then....get ready for it....I'm going out!!! Yup, I went to print off my passport renewal and while I have every colour of paper imaginable I had only 1 piece of white paper left. As I'm not sure if the passport office will accept fuchsia paper I'd better go buy a package of white. And.....I need some fan brushes for my upcoming water colour project so will kill 2 birds with one stone!

Oh, and here's my sign for Saturday's march:

And there goes my timer!

New (to me) Summer Wardrobe

Finally I got around to taking photos of my recent thrift shop purchases. My sister and I went to Talize while she was visiting and last week a friend and I went to a Goodwill Store. I ALWAYS find some that I need - hee hee!

Considering I've gotten rid of at least 2/3rds of my clothing since I retired I do have closet space. And looking ahead to a summer of hiking/biking and wandering around Ireland I tailored my purchases to my needs. For the most part. Bathing suits are a nightmare!!

Anyhoo...here is a great yoga top - I love the elastic at the bottom so my top doesn't fall into my face during downward dog!

This is a top for running in - I can report today that during yesterday's run I ran much more smoothly and didn't get so winded. And I gave myself only about a minute break halfway through instead of 3-4 minutes. Go me!

A loose fitting T-shirt - multipurpose.

To wear with my jean shorts. Yes, I still wear jean cutoffs! And I likely always will :) You just cannot take the hippy out of the boomers!

I have conceded, however, to NOT wearing tops/dresses with spaghetti straps. Unless I have a tanktop or T-shirt underneath. Here's a really cute tank top I found.

And another, by Roots. I thought it was cute and it fits well.

This is a two-piecer attached at the shoulders. This will be worn with tights.

This will be worn with tights also on somewhat more fancy occasions.

 It has a nice crochet overlay.

I should have done a close up of the one below too as it has a nice lace piece added to the bottom.

I LOVE this next one with a blue shell pattern - the back overlaps creating a drape-y effect!

Shorts were on for half price so I got 3 pairs in basic neutral colours.

BOYFRIEND jeans!! Always wanted a pair :)

 Another great pair of jeans in a dark blue wash - don't tell anyone but these have a stretchy waistband with faux buttons and zipper :)

I think I have forgotten a couple of things - such as, I found a blue short-sleeve Columbia hiking shirt which fits well, that'll go to Ireland with me. And I bought a NEW (on sale) pair of stretchy capris for yoga and biking. I think I have all the bases covered! As for NEW stuff I would like to magically find a lovely bathing suit that hides all of my flaws (HAH!!), some new undies and socks and maybe another pair of hiking pants if I can find my favourite kind.

Have you found any good deals lately??

I Love Sunday

Don't you just love a Sunday when there are no demands on your time? Me too! Especially since we've lost an hour by springing ahead. I appreciate having daylight now til 7:30pm but I don't like that it will be dark in the morning again with sunrise at 7:38am instead of 6:38am. That being said, however, this is my favourite time of year wherein we add 2 minutes of daylight everry day now until June 21st, or "Summer Equinox". I plan to use those extra minutes on my bicycle. I don't believe I've ever had my bicycle out so early in the year before and I don't kid myself that spring is here to stay (considering it's still WINTER!!)

OOPS - there goes the dryer...I'll BRB! (be right back!)

Okay, one load folded, another in the dryer.

While the laundry gets laundered I plan to do the following on my peaceful Sunday:

• finish the crossword puzzle that I started Friday (I do the Los Angeles Crossword every week; I like a challenge but find that the New York Times Crossword is usually too difficult for me to complete. The LA version is just a tad easier.)
• I've started reading the "4th" book in the "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" series. If you've read that series of books you know that it's a trilogy, not a "fourology" (yeah, I just made that up). 

"Spider's Web notably marks the first novel in the series not written by Larsson. Instead, Swedish writer David Lagercrantz, a former crime journalist and novelist, took over for Larsson, who died of a heart attack in 2004. Lagercrantz was chosen by the Larsson estate and the author's Swedish publisher, Norstedts, to continue the Millennium books."

You can click on the link above if you want to read the full review. I'll let you know if it's any good! I have high hopes!

• bring my bike upstairs from the basement where it's been stored the past few months
• clip kitty nails
• eat whatever I want as Kazi is away this weekend
• ride my exercise bike (not the best weather here today so I'll stay inside)
• listen to CBC radio which I am currently doing - Stuart McLean of The Vinyl Cafe fame, is on right now - he's a Canadian story teller who sees the humour in everything :)
• have "afternoon tea" and eat snacks :) :)
• maybe yoga, maybe not - we'll see if I can find the ambition!
• go to bed early!

Thank you for your supportive comments on my last post. Needless to say my confidence was severely shaken by events that happened a couple of years ago but I am on the upswing and have great hopes for the future!

Part of becoming stronger obviously must take into account my physical shape...or lack thereof! It seems that I take in way more calories than I burn! My mother referred to her tummy as "middle-aged spread" which is scarily accurate as I watch my middle spread to my thighs and butt! I have good intentions to eat right and get lots of exercise but my good intentions are often thwarted by the fact I have so many retail stores near me that offer great deals on JUNK food! No Frills, Giant Tiger, WalMart and not just one but TWO Dollaramas!

I'm (sort of) glad I don't know where to buy
chocolate-covered black licorice!!

My greatest indulgence, as some of you know, is licorice and chocolate. Sometimes I buy dark chocolate instead of milk thinking I am making a healthier choice. HAH! More fool me!

So...anyways I try to balance things out by juicing at least once a day, eating oatmeal for breakfast and having dinners that are mostly based on vegetables. Add to that -daily exercise- which will increase with better weather and I still have a lopsided pear-shaped body but it's strong!!

THIS??

My exercise regime includes walking/hiking on Mon. Tues. and Wed., yoga on Thurs. and volleyball on Fridays. Yesterday it rained ALL day so instead of getting outside walking I rode my stationary bike instead. I hope to gradually increase the length of my walks/hikes so that when Annie's and my trip rolls around in late August I'll be strong and fit (well, fit for me!) Usually I don't do much in the way of exercise on the weekend but I may try to get on my bike for an hour each day.

Or THIS??

It's the age old problem, no?

Foto Friday

One year ago today....

...Luna and Lily were soaking up the sunshine - last year we had such a frigid winter so any way to warm up was appreciated.

Oh, here's another way to warm up :)  I was laying on the couch reading and Luna was laying on a pillow behind my head. Gradually she got closer and closer til she was hanging over my shoulder with her head on my chest.  I was able to reach my phone and snapped her with a big smile!

Last year I did a lot of winter hiking and ended up with an injury that almost put my UK trip in jeopardy. And was one of the reasons I slipped into depression. This year I'm not taking the chance and will only hike if the trail is clear. My hip muscles (piriformis - the muscles that maintain balance as you walk) have healed but I still have some pain in my glutes.

I remember this day -  we walked along the river in the city - it was very sunny and very cold!

We got to see some of the lovelier parts of London like this graffiti laden underpass.

Instead of seeing the fronts of houses we get to peer into their back yards! Much more interesting.

 Ooooh, an untagged underpass - it might not be now though one year later!

Urban decay vs. nature.  Who's winning?

Guess what this is? You're right...it's part of Labatt's Brewery - yes, we got to walk behind the beer factory!

In place of hiking I've been riding my bike, going to yoga AND tonight I'm going to play volleyball!! I'm so excited! I went once before last Sunday with another group but it's only once a month. But I found out about another group that plays every Friday night - yahoo! Oh, and I'm down 4 pounds from juicing twice a day and then eating a regular dinner. Double YAHOO! 9 more pounds to  go!

Any plans for the weekend?