winter – Seclusion 101 with AnneMarie

Gratitude and Compassion

February 9, 2021February 9, 2021 by annemariedemyen, posted in retirement

Saskatchewan has officially frozen over. It has been this way for a few days and there is no end in sight for these frigid temperatures.

In years gone by, I would be miserable and exhausted by now. This year I am happy, rested and GRATEFUL that I am retired. Every time I glance outside or see a weather report, I am reminded how fortunate I am to be at this place in my life. I have nowhere I have to go, nothing I have to do. We have everything we need to keep us safe and warm.

My life these days revolves around eating heathy, working out with Dan, sitting by the fireplace crocheting a cozy blanket, and meditating. My favourite meditations involve going within and sending love and peace to our world – the plants, the animals, and especially the people that inhabit it.

These days when I meditate, I have been focussing on the people who are most affected by our brutal weather. I think of the children who are trudging back and forth to school on our icy streets. I feel for those who are dealing with the miserable drive to work and back – more so for those brave souls who are working outside in this frigid cold. My heart goes out to those desperate souls who have no home to provide shelter from our Saskatchewan winter. There are shelters where those on the street can find a warm bed or a hot meal – if they are lucky. Facilities are overwhelmed at times like this and sadly some must be turned away.

It is hard to look out at our frozen neighbourhood or watch our weather forecast and find anything good in it – but there is. There is the opportunity for gratitude. There is a reminder that there are those who need and deserve our compassion, kindness, and generosity. And there is hope that things can and will inevitably get better for all.

Strawberry bedding plants. When spring arrives, we will be ready for it!

Another Day on the Prairies

November 25, 2020November 25, 2020 by annemariedemyen, posted in family

It has been a while since I have posted. Everything changes from one day to the next so by the time I go to write about something, things have taken a turn. 🙄

Our weather goes from snowy to icy to brutally cold and back again. I have all but given up on walking, which of course has been detrimental to my health. I have been working on my meditation, which is helpful and I have been enjoying sourcing out different You Tube videos on that – so that is something!

There has been an uptick of Covid cases, including quite a few at the plant where Dan works (right in his area 🙄). We seem to have dodged it. Personally, I believe Dan and I had it in February, which was when my health went sideways, but they were not testing then. The doctors can tell I have lung damage that suddenly shows up on scans but they cannot tell what caused it.

I went out one day last week to help granddaughter Genie pick out her Christmas present. Our favourite dress shop (Le Chateau) is closing down so we went looking for a dress for son Dan’s wedding and her graduation (should they have one this year).

This is the dress Genie went with. It fit her perfectly! It will look even better with fancy heels instead of fuzzy black socks😂

Then, son Dan called last night to say that due to new Covid restrictions in Alberta, they are postponing their wedding party until next summer. They are going ahead with their wedding ceremony on New Year’s Eve – with just their children, officiate, and the couple who are standing up for them. They have had to wait long enough, they just want to be married already. We look forward to celebrating with them in the summer!

With case numbers going up here every day, we have stayed home as much as possible. We did go to Leon’s and got a new mattress for our bed one day. (Kat does NOT like it). Dan had to go to Canadian Tire so he picked up a new monitor for our computer. I went and did our weekly shopping early Monday morning – by myself. With things being bad at Dan’s work I thought this was our best option. I did amazing btw. There were only 3 items I did not get (frozen okra, oven gloves, and soda crackers) and I only went rogue twice (picked up 4 cans of tomato soup and a container of sour cream). I hate shopping but actually got through it ok – even packing everything up at the cash register. 🙂

Dan is at work starting a new round of shifts today. They are finishing off a couple of orders, then he expects to be laid off mid-January until the company picks up more work. He has been expecting lay offs for about fifteen years and they always come up with something, so who know? We will see when, or if, it happens.

Have a great week and take care out there!

Winter 19/20

February 5, 2020February 5, 2020 by annemariedemyen, posted in life

I am having a spectacularly unproductive winter this year. I started the season with shingles, rested and relaxed over Christmas break and went back to work with a flu/cold that has hung around for weeks. My biggest accomplishment over the past three months was to buy myself a box of eight jigsaw puzzles for Christmas and finish every one of them. 😊

They were pretty small as jigsaw puzzles go, 300 to 1000 pieces, but I found them surprisingly challenging.

I hope that now that I have that project complete, I will start feeling a bit more ambitious. It is not that I do not have things to do. I am just stuck in hibernation mode. 😴

Winter in Saskatchewan

January 8, 2020January 8, 2020 by annemariedemyen, posted in family, life

The mercury is dropping out of the thermometer so thought I would share a few pics of our winter season. These pictures are of years gone by as we have not gotten a lot of snow yet this year. We have however had a few days where the temperature has dropped to obscene nether regions so will take any sympathy I can get.☃️

On our way home from my son’s. They were having such a blizzard when we left that Dan could not see their driveway and drove over their lawn. We couldn’t resist sending them this pic when we stopped on the way home and saw this sign.😂

My favourite – icy roads at the crack of dawn😟

Winter is Here

November 6, 2019 by annemariedemyen, posted in Uncategorized

4:30 today and things did not look good. I went out to brush the snow off the Jeep. Damn, the new long-handled snowbrush Dan bought me last week was still sitting at home. I grabbed an oversized work-glove off the toolbox and improvised. The windshield was pretty much out of reach so I started the Jeep and cranked up the defroster to finish what I had started. One of the company installers finished clearing off his vehicle and came to lend a hand. Yay Louie! So grateful for good co-workers.

With the Jeep cleared off and toasty warm, I headed out on the icy roads. Driving through the industrial park has challenges at the best of times. Dodging semis, trains, half-tons and heavy equipment, I made it to the main road safely and was on my way.

You would think that living in a city with icy roads six months of the year, people would know how to drive on them. You would be wrong. I passed several gatherings of police cars, tow-trucks and the like. Sometimes there is a garbage truck to help pick up the pieces. If the weather is super bad, the city parks sanding trucks at donut shops around the city to remind people that the roads are icy.

I made it home and stumbled through the snow in my sneakers. In the porch, I passed my winter boots, sitting beside my new snowbrush. As Dan finished supper, I make a cup of tea and relaxed – until I remembered it will still be cold, it will still be icy and I’m pretty sure it is going to dark when I head back to work tomorrow. 😟

My Winter Green Spaces

November 4, 2019May 27, 2020 by annemariedemyen, posted in nature

We are seven months away from green grass, budding flowers, sprouting vegetables and leafing trees. Although our house is small, I have my areas of greenery to brighten our spirits through the long Saskatchewan winter.

Now that I am almost recovered from my outbreak of shingles, I will be returning to work tomorrow. I must make time one evening to work on my kitchen ivy. It is getting a little out of control and becoming a problem when I work at the sink.

I dusted my bamboo last night. Somehow there is always dusting to be done, even when we are six feet deep in snow. 🤷

Occasionally, we wake up to random blossoms to brighten our day.