Category Archives: Blog Categories

It was hard to stay in touch

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Dear Vi,

Obviously I haven’t been around for a bit!

It was hard staying in touch with you while we were in Dawson City last summer because I had even less access to wifi than I did the year before. So blogging was …difficult.

Since we got back last fall, I’ve been hunkered down: dealing with health, struggling with some big questions & working things out in my mind, doing lots of writing, doing lots of critiquing, a little quilting. I’ve pretty much been keeping to myself here in my little corner of the world.

I’ll catch you up on all that really soon.

Tippy Canoe and Broccoli, Too

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Dear Vi,

I thought you might like to hear a bit of what I’ve been doing.In case you can’t tell from the picture, I planted a garden!Actually, I created a garden completely from scratch.I purchased bags of soil, plants, and seeds when we passed through Whitehorse last May………and when we got here I scrounged some old cement forms to hold the dirt.My neighbor Sally very generously let me shovel out several buckets of dirt from her dirt stash to supplement what I brought with me.Yes, people in Dawson City have dirt stashes. And least you think otherwise, I’d like to inform you that romance is alive and well up here – her boyfriend bought Sally a pile of dirt for her birthday one year. And also in case you’re wondering, yes, it was the perfect gift. I’ve been sharing salad greens and produce which is really cool, considering.Everyone has been enjoying the greenery. Amazing, who knew you could grow a kitty cat in only 4 inches of dirt?And of course there are flowers……how could there not be flowers?How’s your garden growing?

ps you’ll need to excuse any typos…I’m posting on my phone!

Tulips and other Small Things that bring Joy

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Dear Vi,

Yesterday was the official first day of spring.  The sun has crossed the celestial equator, moving northward.

I celebrated the Vernal Equinox by going outside to inspect my flower beds. Were my tulips poking green tips up through the chilly dirt yet? Yes! Yes, they were.  Small, green tips about an inch high, full of promise.

I can’t begin to say how happy that made me. Even though we’ve had a pretty good winter (by my standards, anyway), I still felt a burst of joy at the first sign of the flowers the deer find such a delicacy each spring. I am crossing my fingers they forget to check the edges of my driveway this year.

Tulips confirmed, I came inside, made a cup of tea, and tidied my sewing room. As I ran a damp dusting cloth over newly cleared surfaces, I appreciated all the things I love about this space: the way the lace curtain hangs to the side of the glass door leading out to the deck, my shelves with their bins of colourful scraps, the sampler blocks I found while tidying and impulsively arranged on the design wall, Samson watching me from his pillow in the corner, the sight of Bastion Mountain rising up into the sky, stone grey and green against the blue sky right outside my window.

Here, I’ll hold my camera up to the glass and show you:

Sometimes it’s the simplest things that bring the most joy.

What small things bring you joy?