Tag Archives: the Ultimate Blog Challenge

MEMORY LANE AND OTHER TRIPS

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August 18 and 18th day the Ultimate Blog Challenge. I am aiming to improve a little each day by showing up every day and a little earlier. This summer when it isn’t hot, it is cold. I woke up to 10℃ whereas only a couple of days ago, it was 21℃. I have no control over it. I best adapt as all living species have to. It is a good day to cuddle up to the keyboard. Yesterday I travelled down memory lane and Winnipeg in 1967. I will travel again today down the same highway but maybe to a different year and destination.

As with all trips, it will take time to gather my thoughts, memories and photos. I will have to search through my mental bags, find and sort out my stories. My day has taken me to other directions. Those trips will have to be saved for another day. Instead I will talk about the trip I took today. It is out to Sheba’s old haunt in Furdale, the dog park out by the river. She and I had many happy days there in our younger years. It brought back so many memories and feelings. If it had not been for her, I would not have discovered it or wanted to venture there.

It is August 19 and day 19 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. Yesterday got completely away from me. I’m still trying to finish this post. So yesterday the guy and I went out to Furdale. It felt strange to go without a dog. This time we went with ice cream pails. We were hunting for chokecherries to make wine. It did not take long to find them. They were plentiful and we went back today for more. I think we got enough chokecherries to make a batch of wine, some syrup and some to give to our friend who introduced the idea to us.

I hope to show up again tomorrow. I will try my best. There’s a lot of chokecherries to clean and freeze. I’m tackling a bit at a time. I have 2 cookie sheets of chokecherries frozen but there’s alot more to be done.

WHEN I WAS SEVENTEEN

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August 17 and 17th day of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. Time is marching on so I must not tarry. Time waits for no one. I thought I would change my routine and come to my keyboard earlier. Someone asked posed the question “WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU DID SOMETHING FOR THE FIRST TIME?” in her post yesterday. It did get me thinking about how I’ve lived my life. Have I lived it? Was/am I adventuresome or was/am I a stick in the mud?

When I was 17 I certainly did not feel confident or adventuresome. Indeed, I felt very lacking in those areas. Back in Grade 7 and 8, boys asked me to dance at school dances. Grade 9 seemed to be the cutoff date. I became a wallflower so I stopped going to dances. I envied everyone else for their normalcy. I became aware of my differences, my Chinese-ness. Our life was the cafe, school and home. We had none of the travel out of town, to the lake, get-togethers with other people in town except with our cousins.

Thinking back now all these years later, it is a wonder to me that I was sassy enough to invite myself to a penpal, Gail’s home in Winnipeg. We had met on the plane to Japan when both our mothers and us immigrated to Canada. Our mothers had exchanged addresses and kept in touch. In my teenager’s loneliness I started writing to Gail. In 1967 the Pan American Games were being held in Winnipeg. That was my reason to ask for an invite for a visit. I’m not sure if I had any intentions of seeing any of it.

My friend’s grandfather Harry had a restaurant on Main and Portage called Chan’s Cafe. I had the audacity of asking for a summer job which I got. More surprising than anything, my mother agreed to let me go. So I headed out on the Greyhound Bus to Winnipeg. I never did see any of the Pan Am Games. Mostly I waitressed the afternoon to evening shift the whole summer till it was time to come home for school. Gail had the day shift. I never saw much of Winnipeg except the airport. My friend’s father had one of the cooks drive me home after our shifts. Gail’s mother felt responsible for me and didn’t trust me coming home alone on the bus. The cook taught me to drink coffee, smoke and showed me the airport.

I was a very young and innocent 17. I couldn’t get into trouble if I had wanted to. I can’t remember if I worked 6 or 7 days/week. When you are working an afternoon/evening shift, there isn’t too much time to get into trouble. But I had a clandesdine date or two if you can call matinees that. That’s when I saw Clint Eastwood in The Good, Bad and Ugly. The other matinee was with Kirk Douglas. I can’t recall the name but Kirk was butt naked in it.

EVERY OTHER DAY

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August 16 and 16th day of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. It seems I can only show up every other day. Even that is difficult though I have so much good intentions. Now I’m showing up every 3rd day. The heat of this summer is very tiring. I try to do my best to show up where and when it is most important. I was sorely tempted not to show up for my exercise class today. But keeping fit is important for staying active. The class was in the morning and a good way to start the day. It would limber me up for work in the garden after. I bit the bullet, pack my bag and got in my car and went.

Hard things are not quite so hard when you have developed good habits/routines. I have been going to the YWCA for my aerobic class and swimming regularly for years. I know from experience that even though I start off feeling tired and not excited, I end up feeling great after. I have established set grooves which I can slip back into after falling off the wagon. I was glad I made the effort. It was a good class and an opportunity for a bit of socializing, an important thing in these times. It got me out of the house and onward to my day.

I have to admit I have periods of despondency with Covid and climate change. It doesn’t make me feel better knowing that we are all in this together. However, since this is what’s here and there’s nowhere to run, I am facing and accepting. There’s no alternative except to do the things I love and are passionate about. I am a minimalist by nature. I like to ‘make do’ and live frugally. Perhaps it’s from our life in Canada as an immigrant. We didn’t have alot of money. My father had to borrow money to bring my mother, sister and I over from Hong Kong. The money was like an insurance that we would not be a burden on the government.

We/I have always been self sufficient. My mother always had and still have a garden. I got the bug and other things from her. I love experimenting and trying new plants and ways of growing. They are endless. I get tired but I never get bored. I am often excited and awed by the wonder of growing things. It is so rewarding to see some of our harvest.

CEREMONIES/RITUALS – a season for everything

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It is August 13 and day 13th of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. As usual of late, I am having difficulty finding the words. My brain is in a fog and my body slow moving. I am feeling the harbingers of summer leaving and autumn approaching. I felt a sudden twinge of the ‘blues’ and a sense of dread out of nowhere yesterday. Can you feel darkness? That’s what I felt, not seen and not spoken of. I gave myself silent comfort, thinking it is probably the changing of the guard – those forces that are ushering in a new season. Perhaps I should hold a ceremony of a sort.

I believe in ceremonies/rituals. They give me a sense of connection, direction and a reason to be. Every morning this summer I do a walk-about on my property, visiting the greenhouse, the garden and flower beds in the backyard. Then I meandered to the front to see how everything is growing there. This is my morning walking meditation – the greeting and giving of thanks to the gods above and those in the garden.

I’m learning important lessons in the garden this year. We are all familiar with the saying, There’s a season for everything but do we really understand what it really means? For one thing, I have forgotten that the saying came from the Bible, from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.

3 For everything there is a season, and a time for every [a]purpose under heaven: 2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 3 a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6 a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7 a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

What I take away from it is everything is changing. Nothing is static. I must learn not to hang on to everything so tightly as I have been doing, but to let go when it is time. There’s a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted. And so I plucked up the Armenian cucumber vine. It was past its best by due date. It has given me many cucumbers and now its leaves are full of white powdery mildew. Letting go is never easy. After trimming off much of the leaves, it took me another day before I could say goodbye. Now it is chopped up and in a bucket for the garbage as mildew is not suitable for the compost. Everything looks much better now. The bitter melon and peppers said thank you for the extra elbow room and light.

SOME THINGS ARE JUST FOR ME – a meditation for one

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It is the 11th day of August and the Ultimate Blog Challenge. I’ve missed a day again. Time is elusive, hard to grasp. It’s like holding onto water. It slips slides away faster, the harder you try to hold onto it. Before it does today, I’m sitting down, my fingers are on the keyboard, to have this conversation. I’ve come back from grocery shopping with my parents. I’ve unloaded and carried theirs into their house. Mine are sitting on the kitchen floor. No perishables. They will be alright.

Sometimes you just have to drop everything just to have some time/things for yourself. You can run yourself ragged if you don’t. I have that habit of doing, of being productive, of doing/giving for others, trying not to being selfish. Sometimes I end up feeling neglected, resentful with mean thoughts. It’s no one’s fault except mine own. I recognize my flaw, my incorrect thinking. Now I try not to fall into that hole as much. Now I try not to share all of me and what I have. It is nice to keep some thoughts/things just for myself.

It was difficult not to give this bitter melon to my mother but I fought the urge. I told myself I had given her one already and there are 2 more little ones growing on the vine. And she has been complaining she got too much fresh vegetables. Everyone is giving her so much. So I kept this pretty one and cooked it just for myself. It was quite delicious, not that bitter at all. Pretty good for my first adventure growing and cooking a bitter melon. I hope I will get a few more than 2 though it is getting late in the season.

I know I inherited/learned this trait from my mother. She’s always giving/sharing all of her stuff. It’s hard to refuse. I’m trying to learn to be gracious about it. After all, they’re gifts and she is almost 90. It probably makes her feel good she can still give. Like mother and daughter, we find it hard to take. She is learning, too, to take as well as give.

I CAN’T DO EVERYTHING/REMEMBERING SUCCESSES

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It is the 9th day of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. I’ve missed a few days. The thing is I can’t make up or catch up. I recognized that I can’t do everything. Some things have to go. I will have to show up when I can. I can’t make up or catch up with the Daisy Yellow Index Card Challenge either. It is way over and I am short some 21 cards. I am rethinking and revamping my idea of success and commitment. It is not a do or die. It is about prioritizing and choosing what is more important and doing the best that I can. And this is my best. Instead of throwing in the towel, I will do a post when I am able.

There was a time when I did show up and completed both of these 2 challenges. It is good to remember my successes. I’m show casing some of my better index card paintings. The index cards are 6 inches by 4 inches. The guy made frames for them. Geishas are a favourite theme for me. Perhaps I was Japanese and a geisha in a previous life.

These three painting are still staying with the Japanese theme. The first one is of peasants hurrying home from work at the end of the day across the Meguro Drum Bridge, a copy of HIROSHIGE‘s famous painting. The next one is of the Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima. The 3rd is of the Itsukushima Shrine in Hiroshima. I was fortunate to have visited two famous landmarks in Japan many years ago.

The last collection of framed index card paintings are abstract studies. It is not my favourite form of art because I am not familiar and comfortable with uncertainty. It is something I have to work on.

THE FRUITS OF OUR LABOUR

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It’s August 6 but day 5 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. I’m running a day behind. I hope I can catch up and not fall further behind. It’s another hot day. Still no rain. I’m trying to work smarter and make life a little easier. It was tempting to skip my exercise class this morning. It wouldn’t be a smart thing to do so I tossed that idea. I need to keep healthy, fit and strong. I had a good workout and stopped at the community garden to water my brother’s and our plots. We share watering duties on alternate days. Our plots are side by side. It saves time and energy for both of us.

The day is hazy. The sun hidden by smoke from forest fires. The temperature is 31℃. The world looks uncertain and scary. Welcome to our new reality. Despite this, I am optimistic, putting my hope in my garden basket. Thanks to the river that runs through our city, we are able to water, water and water. We have such an abundance from all our gardening efforts in our greenhouse, outside garden at home, the community garden and the city allotments. Here are some of our harvest.

I can see I have my work cut out for me preserving and not letting things go to waste. My bowlful of Roma tomatoes are stewing on the stove. I’m doing the easy peasy. They will be jarred and frozen for spiced up tomato sauce when the need arises.

WHERE I LIVE

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It’s day 4 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. It’s a good day for another show and tell. These summer days are so busy with our prolonged heat wave and drought. My days are filled with watering, watering and more watering. Now the crops are maturing and we are overflowing with harvest. There’s little time to sit, be thoughtful and write something intelligent. So let me show you a little of where I live.

The herb spiral is in the immediate area as I step down from the deck. It’s made out of urbanite – broken up concrete from our front walk two summers ago. It was an immediate success. The herbs took to it like they’ve been growing there for years. I found the little monk statue at a garden center. He was meant for it and he reminds me of my Sheba every time I see him. Sheba was with me for almost 14 years and went to doggy heaven last May. The herb spiral sits in the space where a cherry bush sat. Sheba liked to pick the cherries when they came in season. It was also a cool place for her to lay under in summer.

Beyond the spiral is our bicycle shed. On top of the shed is a living roof. It’s the first year for it so it has mostly Bachelor’s Buttons growing with some chives and sedum. It’s a very dry summer with no rain so not many native wild flower seeds germinated. Underneath there’s an old wood burning stove, all cleaned and polished up. Will be nice to cuddle up to for cool autumn days and evenings. Beyond the shed is a solar passive greenhouse which is not shown. It’s for another time.

These are my guardian protective angels in the corners of the garden. They are the spirits and eyes to watch over and guard where I live.

A SLOW BAKE TUESDAY

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It’s day 3 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. I’m feeling challenged to get the words onto the page. It has been overcast most of the day. It is cooler, but the house is still fairly warm from yesterday’s heat. The low during the night was 22℃. Still any temperature under 30℃ is a good day to bake bread.

It’s good that I’m an early bird since retirement. I’ve learned to get moving in the mornings during these hot, hot summer days. Seems like we are living under a heat dome. And there hasn’t been a break. This could be our NEW NORMAL. I better adjust and adapt. I can still live my best life. No need to cry Woe is me! That isn’t going to change anything. What is here is here. Does anyone hear any alarm bells besides me? No matter. I will proceed as best as I can.

This is turning out to be a laborious task. I’m toiling over my keyboard, pecking a letter at a time. The words, sentences and thoughts are difficult to organize. And dang! when I got a whole paragraph, I hit a wrong key and the whole thing disappeared. Pardon me while I cry ‘Woe is me!’ Baking bread is much easier. I know all the steps and measurements. I only messed up once and killed the yeast because the water was too hot. I ended up with unleavened dough for 6 loaves of bread. It wasn’t really a disaster. It made delicious flat bread and pizza dough. Most of the time I am overflowing with success.

Today was no exception. 6 beautiful golden loaves came out of the oven. The work doesn’t end there. It starts there with the clean up of endless washing of this, that and many other things. But apparently it is all worth the effort. I continue to do it as I continue to do the Ultimate Blog Challenge. Oh boy! what a struggle.

CHANGE ONE SMALL THING A DAY

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I am so happy that the dishes are done and I’m finally sitting down. Happy, too, that the weather is warming up and the sun is out. It is almost 4 pm and I am pooped on this 22nd day of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. I realize now that I’ve just gave out a very noisy sigh. Somehow that always makes me feel better. I’m alone at the moment. Sometimes I forget and do it in public. I would get a few chuckles. So no problem, eh?

Now that I have an opening, how shall I proceed? I always thought I was an active person. People seem to think I do alot because I garden and have lots of other hobbies. I also used to go to an aerobic class 3 times a week and swim every Saturday morning before Covid. That only took an hour or two counting travelling time. Then there’s the rest of the day in which I’m sedentary. Now I don’t even have that hour Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. I’m trying to rectify it by keeping in motion and not being such a couch potato.

I used to hate having going downstairs so I would try to line up jobs so that I would go down just once or twice. Now I think of it as an opportunity to move and work off some fat. Change my thoughts, change my life. Wayne Dyer would be so proud of me. I have the book on my bookshelf but I haven’t read it. It’s been there for a number of years. I have so many bad habits but I’m working on changing them. It’s not easy but I’m not sweating it. I’ll work on one small thing a day.

Today I worked on being in motion more. I did my 20 minute sitting meditation with my morning tea. Then I got up and put away last night’s supper dishes drying on the rack. I fed Oscar, my sourdough starter. The guy likes to linger over his morning coffee before breakfast, so I did my qigong routine. After breakfast, I tended to the garden beds, taking some of the covers over the plants. Then they would have to be folded and put away. In my other life, I would just drop them somewhere, wherever. I’m trying to correct my sloppiness also.

All this correcting takes more time, of course. I try not to feel resentful about it. It is actually helping me in having more time in the long run. You see, I’m thinking differently. It didn’t happen overnight. It’s taken me a long, long time to get here. And I’m really, really tired. I did some harvesting of my veggies this morning, cleaned and chopped, stir fried, made soup and did the dishes. I think I’ve earned the couch now. No, wait! I better do my hula hoop and other exercises. It’s a short routine. Doing something different can get rid of fatigue.