Radically Retired

Blog

  • Running on Empty

    Running on Empty

    My motivation and energy levels have been down a few gallons for the past couple of months.

    In choosing to dedicate more time to family, some things had to go for a while.

    I’ve put on hold: power walking, macaron baking, language classes, photography and photo editing, guitar playing, and even my love of cooking and ventures into trying new recipes has ground to a halt.

    I was well beyond tired, running on fumes, and finally realized that I needed a vacation from retirement. What a concept.

    I think I emptied all of my mojo tanks and am now (somewhat impatiently) waiting on refills.

    The fuel pump I require is self-serve, so there’s only one person who can start the flow.

    I believe that resuming this blog is my first trip to the filling station.

    “Why?” (You may or may not ask)

    Well – I like to have at least one decent photo in each post, so getting those shots will start to refill the photography/photo editing tank. In order to find what I consider interesting photo subjects, I need to be out in nature – so my walking tank will soon be getting a partial refill (partial because after the long break, it’ll take some time to build back up to power walking speed and distance)

    I’ll make several trips to the mojo station and fill each tank a bit at a time – sort of like eating the proverbial elephant.

    *I took some liberty with my feature photo. These gas pumps are at an old filling station we visited along Historic Route 66. They weren’t selling mojo, but I made it so with the help of ChatGPT *

  • Rest Easy

    Rest Easy

    Subscribe to continue reading

    Subscribe to get access to the rest of this post and other subscriber-only content.

  • No More Empty Spaces

    No More Empty Spaces

    This morning, there was an upgrade to Jetpack and one of the issues addressed was the issue where posts showed blank spaces where photos should be.

    I’m thankful for this fix.

    I’ve decided to end my hiatus. First, I’ll try to catch up on all of the bloggers I follow.

    I’ll also slowly be resuming my own posts.

    Thanks to everyone who reported the photos issue.

    It takes a village, and we definitely have a village here.

  • Empty Spaces

    Empty Spaces

    For the past couple of weeks, whenever I’ve had time to check out blogs of those of you I follow, I’ve been frustrated by the blank spaces where your photos should be.

    If I tap on those spaces, the photos come up after a few seconds, but that adds a lot of time and frustration to what was once a seamless, easy, and enjoyable reading/viewing experience.

    I’ve wondered if WordPress Ai is taking over and hiding/condensing your photos to save space.

    This is happening on both my iPhone and iPad, so I’m also wondering if the site needs an update to work with iOS 27 and beyond.

    I’ve done extensive searches and tried all of the recommended fixes to no avail.

    If anyone else experienced this and found a fix, I’d sure welcome and appreciate you sharing it.

  • Hiatus

    Hiatus

    I’m behind and not able to catch up with reading and commenting on the blogs I follow.

    Today, I’m just letting my followers know that I’m healthy and OK

    A break is necessary for me right now.

    Family first is and always has been my motto.

    I’m also at a place where I find myself needing to prioritize many things in my life – maintaining this blog is one of those things.

    Take good care, all – and I’ll maybe be back in a few weeks with my final decision about whether or not I’ll continue WP.

  • Reminders

    Reminders

    One of hubs’ brothers (Dan – the one hubs was closest to) passed this spring, shortly after we returned home from Texas.

    Dan had purchased this loonie bank at a Ducks Unlimited event. The bank itself is a loon and the coin slot is made for loonies (Canada’s nickname for our dollar coin)

    His kids gave this bank to hubs as a remembrance.

    As I face the pending loss of one of my sisters, I look at the bank sitting on the ledge near my armchair and am reminded of hubs’ loss a few months ago.

    #TodayInOnePhoto

  • A Tough Day Ahead

    A Tough Day Ahead

    I consciously avoid topics about politics and religion in my posts. Today is different.

    It’s a sunny, crisp October morning.

    Soon, we’ll be heading to the city to take my 92 yr old mom to visit one of my sisters who is very ill in hospital.

    I’m sitting on my balcony listening to hymns being sung over a speaker in a nearby church and I’m trying very hard to pray with faith.

    “Thy will be done”

  • #TodayInOnePhoto

    #TodayInOnePhoto

    Made by my niece and on my bedside table for review each night.

    Carole over at pigletinportugal.com has started a new tag-along. It sounds like fun!

  • Talkin’ ‘Bout … Our Girl

    Talkin’ ‘Bout … Our Girl

    Our daughter was raised in a small town until she was five, and following that, in a small prairie city.

    The only exposure she ever had to farm life was during her first five years when hubs would help my aunt and uncle with harvest on their south Saskatchewan grain farm, and I’d take her out to visit for a few days.

    After her first marriage ended, she held out on committing again for many years. Hubs often said to her, “Marry a farmer”.

    Three years ago, she took her dad up on his suggestion and married a grain farmer. She has embraced the lifestyle and is the most content and happiest that we’ve ever seen her.

    Last week, we drove up for a visit and it was the perfect time to be there.

    Harvest was finally in full swing and our daughter was driving grain cart for the first time ever. She had recently resigned from her full time day job in order to become more involved in the farming operation.

    Hubs’ younger years (until he was 13) revolved around farming. After his dad sold the family farm, hubs had a few years in his adult life where he was able to help friends and family at seeding and harvest time.

    His thrill last week was being able to climb up into the tractor with our daughter and make a few rounds.

    My thrill was seeing the two of them together doing what they both love.

    My other thrill was using my new 240mm mobile tele lens for iPhone to get some shots of harvest in progress without me having to venture into the fields.

    My feature photo is of our daughter bringing the tractor and grain cart to pick up her dad. I was a good distance away for that shot, as I was for these:

    Barley from grain cart to truck
    Our girl
    The older combine
    Hubs climbing into the tractor
    Unloading the combine to the grain cart
    She’s completely focused
    Our son in law driving one of the grain trucks
    Grain truck being loaded from the grain cart

    After hubs had his turn, I hopped in. My first time ever in a tractor! That’s an unusual statement from a small town prairie gal in her 73rd year.

    I didn’t have the 240mm lens with me for my ride and that was ok because I was close enough to the action when I was in the tractor.

    Our girl in her glory inside the tractor
    A typical nighttime scene in Saskatchewan at harvest time
    Another shot of the grain being augered

    🎶I’ve got sunshine, on a cloudy day🎶.

  • Shine On …

    Shine On …

    Last week, we travelled north to visit our daughter and her family as well as friends in the area we called home for over 20 years.

    My feature photo is from Wednesday night at about 8pm. We were returning from a wonderful evening meal at a fave restaurant in a neighbouring town. Our daughter was driving and pulled over when I spotted the almost full moon and wanted a shot. I used the native camera app on my phone zoomed in at 8x. I didn’t have a tripod with me, so handheld wasn’t stable enough for the 8x, thus the slightly wobbly moon in my feature photo.

    On Saturday, hubs and I were returning home, and as dusk arrived, I saw the big harvest moon rising over the horizon.

    I pulled over to an approach, attached the new moment 240 mm mobile lens to my phone, shot using the 4x lens in my phone camera and the Moment Pro camera app, and voila!

    🎶Shine on, shine on harvest moon 🎶