Radically Retired

Author: Terry

  • Trouble in the Sky

    Trouble in the Sky

    Late yesterday afternoon, a call was interrupted by the loud honking on my cell phone of an Environment Canada tornado warning for our area.

    Within an hour, the eerie calm set in and the sky darkened.

    My feature photo is looking east from our balcony. Soon, the wind picked up, and the nimbus clouds moving in from the west started attacking the fluffy white cumulus clouds, threatening the formation of the dreaded combination: cumulonimbus. The cloud formations I learned in science class so many years ago have stuck with me. That’s a testament to a good teacher.

    Thankfully, our only outcome from the ominous warning, was a ten minute episode of heavy rain, wind, thunder, and lightning; then it just carried on moving east.

    I’ll admit I was more than a bit anxious for a while.

  • Seas of Gold

    Seas of Gold

    Canada is the top canola producer in the world, and of the Canadian provinces, my province of Saskatchewan is the top canola producer in Canada.

    This is the time of year that canola comes into full bloom and my feature photo (taken “on the way by”) is typical of what we see no matter which direction we drive.

    Click here if you’d like to learn about the many uses for canola besides canola oil for salad dressings or cooking.

  • 2016 – A Crazy Travel Year

    2016 – A Crazy Travel Year

    While searching my Amazon photos app (by year) to find when we visited Old Tucson, AZ … I arrived at 2016 and said “Wow!” right out loud.

    That year was an absolutely crazy travel year for us!

    It may have had a wee bit to do with the fact that this was our first full year of retirement together, so we were in “yahoooo” mode.

    For the next unknown number of Wednesdays I’ll recap some of the many hilights of that year, through a feature photo and a brief description.

    This feature photo was taken in Old Tucson, AZ … in … you guessed it … 2016!

  • Homesick

    Homesick

    Do you ever get homesick for places that aren’t home?

    I sure do.

    Since we’ve been wintering in South Texas, I’ve come to love the area around Port Isabel and South Padre Island. I think of it often when we’re back home for the summers in our landlocked Canadian province. Our summers here at home are great, weather wise. There’s just something about our winters, living so close to the Gulf of Mexico, that makes me “homesick” for the water.

  • SD Jackalope

    SD Jackalope

    Yesterday, I was reading a fellow blogger’s hilarious reply to my reply to a comment he’d made on one of my recent posts (clear as mud, right?), and a fun memory came back.

    I immediately recalled my ride on this mythical creature, while road tripping in 2008.

    How many miles are “you” from Wall Drug? It’s 496 for us😉

  • Framing Sunrise

    Framing Sunrise

    In my world, it’s the best time of day … quiet, except for the waking birds, peaceful thinking time, and that consistently soft glowing light, illuminating everything it touches to welcome a new day.

    These days, it’s just before 5 am.

  • The Dreaded Rabbit Cage

    The Dreaded Rabbit Cage

    When I was a child, my dad worked building the first gravel roads around our small prairie town.

    He was known near and far for his CAT operating skills.

    While Dad was out on his daily work schedule, he’d often come across wounded and/or abandoned animals.

    His soft heart resulted in a great variety of temporary pets for us kids. Once they were nursed back to heath, or had grown enough, the critters were released back to their home in the fields.

    One spring, he brought home two abandoned baby rabbits. He promptly built a cage for them and all seemed rosy and filled with love of nature, until …

    Taking turns cleaning the rabbit cage became a part of the chore list for my sis and me.

    All the love of baby bunnies went downhill from there.

    If you’ve ever had to clean a rabbit cage, you’ll understand.

    *My feature photo is courtesy of Google images*

  • Sentimental Soup

    Sentimental Soup

    This week, canned soup from Tim Hortons (a Canadian coffee shop and lunch spot as popular for us as Starbucks is for folks in the USA ), was on sale, so we picked up a few cans to try it out.

    I’ve been a dedicated Campbell’s Soup lover forever, so to say I had reservations is an understatement.

    Review: The vegetable soup was bursting with flavour and contained some different pasta and veggies than what’s in the Campbell’s brand.

    The tall saltine crackers tin, I’ve had for years. It’s a part of our soup ritual, so had to be included in the photo.

  • A Quintessential Prairie Dinner

    A Quintessential Prairie Dinner

    Many would not call this a complete dinner, but it’s one this house looks forward to each summer.

    I have mine with just butter and salt. Hubs adds pepper as well .

    Both of us were raised in families where corn on the cob was a complete summer meal. Both of our Moms made big pots full in boiling water.

    I’ve found several prep methods that are far easier and quicker (and more flavourful) than the boiling method.

    This time, I just wrapped the shucked cobs in damp paper towels and then microwaved two cobs at a time for seven minutes (total time – not each)

    My favourite method is four shucked cobs in the Instant Pot for two minutes at high pressure, which we’ll do next time.

    Do you ever have corn on the cob by itself for a meal?

    What’s your fave prep method for this veggie?

  • The New Build

    The New Build

    Last week, I was happy to return to (brisk) walking the developed trails that follow the outskirts of our prairie city.

    As I was walking along one of these trails, I looked up to the side and saw this big new build. I can’t begin to guess the square footage of this three and a half story house that looks over a trail by the river.

    I couldn’t help thinking, “I wonder if they’re installing an elevator.”

    Is my age showing?