Saskatchewan winter – Seclusion 101 with AnneMarie

January 11th – Day 10 of My 2026 Daily Activity Journal

January 11, 2026January 11, 2026 by annemariedemyen, posted in 2026, Health and Fitness

Today is Sunday – almost midway through January! This year, much like the past few, seems to be flying by.

I should be deep into hibernation mode by now, but life does not seem to be co-operating. Yesterday, I was ready for a nice relaxing day, but Microsoft decided to pick a fight. I would say I won, but while I may or may not have saved my account from some hacker, I have locked myself out of my phone. I can gain access by entering my handy dandy new PIN code, but that has already gotten old.

Our weather is likewise failing to co-operate. While we should be facing frigid temps, cloudy skies, and occasional blizzards – we have clear skies, above freezing temps and the only snow we have has packed down to a solid sheet of ice. Other than the ice, I can live with this, but it does make hibernating a challenge.

I continue to work on my winter crochet project.

I have now formed three balls of yarns out of skeins that had self destructed. I also made two flowers which I tossed due to their less than professional appearance. I will give it a couple of more tries before I move on. Maybe I possess more skills creating fluffy pastel insects…

This week I am planning on another fieldtrip – either to Walmart or to our Victoria Square Mall.

I have always been partial to Vic Square and apparently they have added mini golf to their offerings and Spunky’s Nuttery Bar. Spunky appears to be dowright edgy since he carries cigarettes, vape products, Watkins spice and extract products, as well as his own line of Spunky Nuts.

**It has been a long while but there are memories awaiting at Vic Square.** (Like..a young Maddy charging into a virtual reality battle while Mom stood by to ensure she stayed on her saddle.)

That is it for today. Take care and have a great rest of your day!

Daily Food Diary – Day 52 of 365

February 22, 2025February 22, 2025 by annemariedemyen, posted in 2025, Health and Fitness

For 52 days now, I have been recording and posting my Daily Food Diary. Focussing on my diet does not mean that I am neglecting other aspects of my health.

I am doing my morning aerobics six mornings a week and with our much milder temperatures, I am excited about getting outside and enjoying our fresh air. With this in mind, I set out with Dan and Molly yesterday for a walk around our neighborhood.

I don’t know if you can see or relate to our ice rutted street or the sidewalk across the street, which is buried under two or three feet of ice and snow. I know you can’t see our sidewalk but Dan does keep it cleared and passable – unlike most residential sidewalks in this area and ALL sidewalks adjacent to city owned property.

Walking in conditions like this is extremely difficult and dangerous. Walking in conditions like this while holding onto a Great Pyrenees like Molly is pretty much impossible.

**Walking a Great Pyrenees on dry solid ground can be difficult enough.**

Fortunately, there are parks in the city with trails that are maintained and we have a large yard that I can access to get some fresh air. But, walking around our neighborhood again will have to wait until Mother Nature makes our streets and sidewalks passable. 🌞

Food Diary – Day 52

(1) c coffee (2)

(2) crumpets with butter & jam (211)

(2) thin sliced bacon (200)

(24) ounces water

(1/2) grapefruit with sugar (56)

(1) blueberry/oatmeal muffins with butter (190)

(12) ounces carbonated water

(1) tortilla wrap (170)

(12) pcs pepperoni (65)

(4) slices shaved ham (90)

(2) slices back bacon (35)

(1/3) c shredded cheese (120)

(1 1/2) c mushrooms, red onion, red pepper, green olives (35)

Total Calories: 1224

That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day! 💕🤗

Daily Food Diary – Day 41 of 365

February 11, 2025June 30, 2025 by annemariedemyen, posted in 2025, Health and Fitness

Good morning to yet another frigid day in Saskatchewan! I feel for those who have to be out and about in this weather, life and business as usual. 🥶

I have three days remaining to Year Three of my health and fitness journey. I am satisfied with how this past year has progressed. While I will always have chronic lung issues – asthma, COPD, & bronchiectasis – I managed to dodge any infections this year requiring antibiotics and oral steroids. 👍 My mental and emotional health has become ever stronger along with my physical strength 👍 I have missed minimal morning aerobics (very minimal due to health issues). 👍 I lost another ten pounds this past year and toned up noticeably. 👍 My life continues to get easier as I grow progressively stronger! 🤗

I am ending this year on one frustrating note. My strength and cardio training has been on hold for the past few weeks due to issues with my epigastric hernia. I have an appointment with a surgeon in a couple of weeks to discuss repairing the repair that I had done three years ago. In the meantime, I am being cautious. I have enjoyed getting out and walking with Dan and Molly in lieu of more strenuous workouts, but on the minus forty days that is not an option.

**Molly keeping otherwise occupied on another minus 40C day**.

Food Diary – Day 41

(1) c coffee (1)

(1) Denver (no toast) (2) eggs/ ham/onions (260)

(2) Potato patties (240)

(24) oz water

(1) Mango (202)

(2) cookies (146)

(1) c tea (1)

(1) 6 oz pork chop (283)

(1) c white rice (206)

(1) c broccoli & cauliflower with butter (89)

(6) Large olives (30)

(12) oz carbonated water

Total calories: 1458

That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day! 💞🤗

Daily Food Diary – Day 40 of 365

February 10, 2025June 30, 2025 by annemariedemyen, posted in 2025, Health and Fitness

Yesterday, I posted a few photos of summer in Saskatchewan. Today is Monday and it is time to get back to the reality of winter in Saskatchewan.

**Quick pic of my front yard flower bed.**

**Molly Dog – Her spot was on the sofa beside Dan. Since we got our new living room furniture, she is torn between Dan and** **her blanket which I appropriated to protect my chair in case she** **happened** **to jump up on it.**

**Molly and I out walking Waterfall Park yesterday.**

It’s a minus 41C (feels like) this morning. We are in preservation mode at this point. Dan and I just started a big pot of stewing hen broth. Tomorrow, we will be warming up with hearty homemade chicken noodle soup.

A couple of chicken soup suppers will be a good thing this week. First because it will be great for warming us up, second because it will be lean meat and lots of fresh vegetables (plus egg noodles).

Today marks FOUR DAYS until I complete three years of my health and fitness journey. When I started out, I was tipping the scales over 160 pounds. Now I am just a few ounces over 130 pounds. I would love to weigh in under 130 pounds this Friday. Our chicken soup might do it for me, especially if I up my aerobics to make up for the lack of weight workouts and minus 40 walks.

Food Diary – Day 40

(1) c coffee (2)

(1) Breakfast Sandwich – Back bacon, egg, cheese & tea biscuit. (465)

(24) oz water

(8) Licorice allsorts (167)

(25) BBQ chips (270)

(1) c tea (1)

(2) chilli dogs – no bun, with cheese, onions, and (14) multi grain crackers (710)

(12) oz Carbonated water

Total calories: 1515

That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day! 💗😊

No outdoor flowers to enjoy for a while, but the orchid Dan got me last Valentine’s Day is still blooming! (Blooming again for the forth time)

Daily Food Diary – Day 39 of 365

February 9, 2025June 25, 2025 by annemariedemyen, posted in 2025, Health and Fitness, Uncategorized

Day thirty nine and another bitterly cold day in Saskatchewan. I don’t know if February is typically this frigid or if we are having a particularly rough go of it this year. It seems worse than ever.

This appears to be a good day to go through my archives and remind myself that summer does come to our chilly corner of the world. 🥶

Food Diary – Day 39

(1) c coffee (2)

(1) breakfast sandwich – 1 lg biscuit, 1 egg, 1 sausage patties, 1 slice Havarti cheese (490)

(24) oz water

(1/2) pear (70)

(1/3) c raspberries (20)

(5) licorice all sorts (107)

(1) c tea (1)

(1) med salad with pork souvlaki, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, cauliflower, radishes, green onions, sunflower seeds, dried fried onion. (430)

(11) Hint of Lime chips (250)

Total calories: 1378

That is all for today. Take care and have a great day! 💗😊

Daily Food Diary – Day 38 of 365

February 8, 2025June 25, 2025 by annemariedemyen, posted in 2025, Health and Fitness

Thirty-eight days in and this isn’t shaping up to be a good one. A few years ago this would have been one of those days that put me over the edge – or at least kept me clinging to it for dear life.

There is nothing drastically wrong in my life today. It is just one of those days where every little thing goes wrong.

I woke up to a balmy minus 40C (feels like). In reality it was only minus 30C. I made sausage and egg breakfast sandwiches and Dan’s sausage decided not to cook. My computer was glitching, also my phone. My phone worked, it just refused to make calls. Since Dan was going to drive our Maddy to work, I needed to call her to make sure she was ready. Dan took the garbage out when he left. I got into a battle with the new garbage bag. I wanted to put it in the garbage can and it did not want to go. Ultimately, I prevailed, but things got ugly. Meanwhile, Molly dog was on a tear while I was trying to do a video for my accountability group. Again, I prevailed but not before I accidentally deleted my video. Finally, I managed to complete my aerobics without incident but I have been experiencing coughing and sneezing fits ever since. Sigh…

It could be a long day. I might even make a few poor food choices. 🙄 But this will be a good day to mark on my diary, because I know that tomorrow is another day – and it will be better! Looking back through this year, there will be more days like today – and more better days that follow. And this Daily Food Diary will be the solid proof I need to remind myself that such is life.

Daily Diary – Day 38

(1) c coffee (2)

(2) tea biscuits with butter (234)

(3) slices thin sliced bacon (270)

(24) oz water

(4) air-dried chicken wing flats (320)

(1) egg roll with plum sauce (100)

(1) c tea (1)

(2) chocolates (130)

(12) oz carbonated water

(3) c chilli with cheese & fried dried onions (640)

(25) Salt & vinegar chips (270)

(1) c tea (1)

Total calories: 1968

(I knew that one was going to be ugly! 🙄)

That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day! 💓☺️

Daily Food Diary – Day 35 of 365

February 5, 2025June 30, 2025 by annemariedemyen, posted in 2025, Health and Fitness, Uncategorized

If our local groundhog declared an end to winter earlier this week, Mother Nature did not get the message.

We got a fresh drop of snow last night, we are expecting a lot more in the next forty eight hours, and while our temperatures are out of the deep freeze, they are far from balmy.

The good news is, our weather has us craving comfort food, much of which is nutritionally sound. Our stew last night was full of protein and fresh vegetables and I’m thinking chilli could be on the menu tonight.

This fresh snow also provides an opportunity for a good workout and fresh air. That snow isn’t going to clear itself and even if Dan gets our (NEW) snowblower back up and running, there are places a snowblower just can’t go.

Food Diary – Day 35

(2) c coffee (2)

(3) Crumpets (240) with butter (68) and jam (100)

(24) oz water

(1) c tea (1)

(1/2) pear (51)

(2/2) kiwi

(3) cookies (219)

(4) c homemade beef stew (600)

(12) oz water

(1) c tea (1)

Total calories: 1313

Beef stew – Beef, potato, carrot, lo bak (daikon), onion, garlic, mushrooms, peas, turnip, celery, gravy

That’s it for today. Take care & have a great day! 💞🤗

Daily Food Diary – Day 28 of 365

January 29, 2025July 3, 2025 by annemariedemyen, posted in 2025, Health and Fitness, Uncategorized

We are wrapping up January and for those of us in Saskatchewan, we are fortunately enjoying some unseasonably warm weather. Our temperatures have been straddling the freezing point for a few days now and I have been showing my appreciation by getting out and about.

I have even been heading to the dogpark with Dan and Molly every morning. Walking there is a bit challenging because our streets and sidewalks are, for the most part, icy ruts and snow banks. Navigating them while walking an excited hundred pound dog is a workout. Yesterday, although the temperatures were mild, the wind was anything but. My lungs did not appreciate the wind. By the time I got home I was pretty much exhausted by constant coughing fits, but after a bit of a rest the coughing subsided and I was able to do my morning aerobics and get on with my day.

Food Diary – Day 28 of 365

(1) c coffee

(3) waffles with butter and syrup

(3) slices thin sliced bacon

(24) oz water

(1) c tea

(2) sm bowls of Hint of Lime tortilla chips with salsa

(24) oz water

(1) Large chef salad

(1) c tea

I came up a bit short on my water yesterday, but my salad included a generous serving of lettuce, spinach, tomato, cucumber, radishes, orange pepper, and green onion. Plus I had a couple of cups of tea. 🙂

That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day! 💞🌞

January 27th – Nearing the End

January 27, 2022January 27, 2022 by annemariedemyen, posted in Canadian Meal Options

We are seeing the tail end of January and we can already see and feel the difference. The days are dawning earlier and the sun is setting later. The ‘warmer’ days are getting warmer and the cold days do not seem quite as cold. Maybe I am acclimatizing.

I cannot say too much about my cooking efforts yesterday.