Tag: Wind

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A Simple Woman’s Daybook: July edition

Since there isn’t electricity or internet at the cabin, I’ll be writing my posts and publishing them the next day from town.

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(It’s been awhile since I’ve done one of these!)

Sunday, July 7th, 2013:

Outside my window…when I got up at 5:30 this morning, the lake looked like this:

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But now, several hours later, the wind has picked up causing the lake to surge onto the shore. A man in a boat has just gone past the dock, giving up the battle against the waves and Samson has marked his passage with loud barks of indignation that the boat should pass so close.

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I am thinking…about my friend Pam who came over for tea yesterday. We sat on the porch swing, she with her crochet and me with my stitching and solved the world’s problems. She remembered that it was my birthday and brought me a lovely gift basket, containing (among other things) a recipe book for vegetables, because Pam knows that I want to eat more vegetables but don’t know how to prepare them (vegetables don’t come naturally to me). Thank you, Pam!

I am thankful…that we are having such a wonderful summer in the Yukon this year. We have had several years of non-summer, so this one – this last summer – feels like a gift.

In the Kitchen…water is heating on the propane stove so that I can wash the dishes that I used to make a pan of lasagna. The lasagna is in the fridge, ready for the oven tomorrow. It should provide supper for several nights next week. CBC’s Cross Country Check-up is playing on the radio.

I am wearing…yoga pants and a sleeveless t-shirt. My feet are bare. I would not be wearing this outfit if there were anybody else here besides me because I am self-conscious of the 20 pounds I put on during my year of illness. I also think that it is interesting and sweet that this question is included in the Daybook…such a female thing.

I am creating…so many things! I have spent part of the morning hand quilting and thinking of what to name this quilt. I think it needs to be named after an exotic tropical drink. Tequila Sunrise, anyone?

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I am going…well, nowhere at the moment. Today is Sunday and I am at home. I have been here all week, alone (except for Sammy, Spooky & Misty), while Kelly and Michael have been driving the U-Haul to Salmon Arm. I’ve enjoyed being self-sufficient this week.

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I am wondering…what time I will get to sleep tonight. Kelly and Michael will get to the house about 1am. Then there will be the visiting and catching up, and I have to leave the house at 7:30 to go to work in the morning!

I am reading…My new vegetable cookbook for mealtime inspiration and Nora Roberts for entertainment.

I am hoping…that my son’s appointment to talk about getting a mortgage goes well tomorrow.

I am looking forward to…having my husband home in my arms tonight! And trying some of my new vegetable recipes!

I am learning…to listen to my body and ask questions (does my knee hurt because I have not stretched my hamstrings? Am I eating this because I am hungry or simply because I am bored or lonely?

Around the house…all is calm and a fresh cup of tea awaits me. The wind has picked up, causing the curtain that I hung in place of a screen door to billow in and out. I love using fabric instead of a screen door – it lets the cats & dog go in and out as they please, when they please; it keeps the bugs out and it billows in the wind. What more could you want?

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I am pondering…what my new life will be like after I retire and move to Salmon Arm in November. Will I be bored? Will I make new friends? (No! and Yes!)

A favourite quote for today… “20 minutes in the kitchen can save you 3 hours at the gym” – Devin Alexander from her cookbook I Can’t Believe It’s Not Fattening.

A few plans for the rest of the week…Go to work. Come home. Sit on the deck with a glass of wine. Catch up on the day with my family. Write a few blog posts to publish from town during the week (no electricity & no internet at the cabin).

A peek into my day… I have appointments with my Leslie Sansone Walk at Home DVD and one of my Rodney Yee yoga DVDs this afternoon, but first I’m off to do my nails. Ciao!

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The Simple Woman’s Daybook is a monthly linkup. Why don’t you check it out and join in?

 

 

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Just Write {2}

When I step out of the car, the wind takes my breath away. I fumble with my hood, but the closure is too tight, so I yank my right mitten off with my teeth and unzip my coat a bit. Holy Freaking gawd, it’s cold. I can’t get the hood up with one hand, so get back into the car. A blast of snowy wind rocks the car as, with two hands finally free, I manage to pull my hood up and re-zip my coat. Leaving my things behind for a minute, I step out of the car again and immediately turn my back to the wind. I take two side-steps to the back door, get the extension cord out and move quickly to plug the car in. This part isn’t too bad as my back is to the wind and I’ve left the engine running so the headlights shine onto the electrical outlet mounted on the post that I’ve parked in front of. At least I can see what I’m doing. 

The college parking lot is full this morning – it always is when the temperature drops into “cold spell” ranges – and I have had to park at the very back of the lot. I suppose that’s good…extra steps and all that, but this morning I could do without them. Finally, clutching my insulated coffee cup to my chest with one hand and gripping my purse with the other, I begin the trek to the building.

The world is a cozy muffled place inside my hood. The snow strikes the fabric over my right ear with a deceptively soft patter that reminds me a bit of rain on an umbrella, but by the time I get to the building, my shins are stinging and burning with cold. It’s an odd sensation to have a warm torso and warm feet but be nearly frostbitten in  a single area the width of my hand, just below the knees.  I need a much longer coat. Or maybe after 27 years in the Yukon I should buy some snow pants.

I am taking my coat off when my coworker comes stomping in, face red with cold and hair disheveled. “Bloody god-forsaken country,” she mumbles not so quietly. We laugh. And really, it’s only -28o c. Hardly cold at all.

 

Linking up today with the free-writing exercise over at the Extraordinary Ordinary .

 

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One Yukon Minute: Fox Lake Sept 23, 2012

 Sometimes we forget to stop and just rest our eyes on something beautiful in nature. We are so plugged in: the radio is playing, ear buds are in, and there are traffic noises or the background hum of appliances. We forget how important it is to just listen to the wind in the leaves or the waves on the shore. We forget to clear our minds and simply breathe.

I am going to practice stopping and listening and observing. I am going to practice just being for a few moments at a time.

Here is the first of what I hope will become a series many minutes that I can share with you. I’m going to call the series “One Yukon Minute”. My aim is simply to provide a minute that you can take out of your day to just be. So turn off your radio. Take the buds out of your ears. Turn the computer’s volume on, sit back, and relax for just one minute.

 This was taken at our cabin at Fox Lake on September 23rd, 2012.