Radically Retired

Category: Health

  • Friday Freestyling … IP Brekkie

    Friday Freestyling … IP Brekkie

    I learned the word “brekkie” from a Canadian nurse friend who lived and worked in Australia for 10 years.

    In the Instant Pot™️ (not instapot) world, the social media shortcut name for this appliance is IP.

    For some, it was a passing fad, to be purchased because it was popular, and then to be sold or to be stored in a closet, never to see daylight again.

    I bought my first 6 qt IP eight years ago. Since then, I purchased a second 6 qt which I keep in Texas, and a 3 qt that I keep here.

    To this day, I use my favourite appliance three or more times weekly, both here, and in Texas.

    Why do I love it? Let me count the ways … on another day.

    Today, it’s because of the ease of preparation for steel cut oats. It’s basically dump, stir, and cook for the amount of time that makes your oats the chew that you prefer. I like my steel cut oats to be fairly soft, so my recipe for apple cinnamon steel cut oats takes 5 mins cook time. It’s a set it and forget it cooking process – no stirring, no watching for doneness, no stove spatters, and overall easy clean-up. What’s better than that?

    Peel and Chop 2 small apples
    Add 1 cup oats to pot
    Add 1.5 cups water x 2 – once to oats and then again with chopped apples
    1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp nutmeg 1/4 tsp alspice
    Add spices to pot
    After cook time is done, release pressure, stir, and add your sweetener of choice

    Feature photo is my IP Brekky prepared the way I like it, with a splash of maple syrup and some almond milk.

  • Read My Sign – Hopefully Never Again

    Read My Sign – Hopefully Never Again

    Camping in the summer of 2020 – It was a sign of the times.

  • Friday Freestyling … Reflection Perfection

    Friday Freestyling … Reflection Perfection

    On recent morning walks, there has been virtually zero wind. This is a rarity in these parts.

    Besides adding to the comfort and the peacefulness of my morning power walks, the reflections on the river have been outstanding.

  • Read My Sign … Little Hands with a Big Message

    Read My Sign … Little Hands with a Big Message

    At one of our city parks that’s adjacent to the newest elementary school here.

  • Happiness Is … A New E-reader

    Happiness Is … A New E-reader

    I’ve had an e-reader ever since the Amazon Kindle was first released in 2007.

    At that time, these amazing little gadgets weren’t offered in Canada, but I was able to get one because hubs was regularly driving to the USA and he could have mail sent to a hotel address where his company had overnight accommodations booked year round for their drivers. These originals even had a keyboard! (The iPad wasn’t released until 2010).

    My next e-reader was the Kindle Fire, released in 2011. I didn’t get mine until 2013. I still had to order to hubs’ USA address. The Fire tablet was in full colour.

    A few years later, I purchased a Kindle Paperwhite. Finally, I could purchase a Kindle in Canada! This e-reader felt good in hand, was close to the same size as most paperback books, and the backlit non glare screen was perfect for both bedtime and sunny outdoor reading. Unfortunately, my current reader was facing end of days and I wanted to be sure I didn’t lose any of my extensive e-library.

    Yesterday, my new Paperwhite arrived. The screen dimensions are a bit bigger (approximately 1/2” overall in each of width and length). Where the frame had a ridge before, it has none now. Overall, it feels and looks great.

    E-reader pros: To me, the biggest pros are space, convenience, and cleanliness. I have a huge library that takes up only a bit of real estate on my bedside table or on the little table by my armchair.

    When we travel, my entire library fits into my purse.

    I can have several books on the go at a time, without having a pile of them around my chair and each book is automatically bookmarked at the last page read. I can also hilight passages and look up the definitions of new-to-me words.

    For many, the tactile sense is the biggest reason for “real” book preference.

    That’s not an issue for me. Real books can be a pain in so many ways: torn pages and broken spines, too bright to read outside on a sunny day, the space they take up, the book mites that make me sneeze, if they accidentally get wet, they swell up or the pages glom together and they’re pretty much hooped, and the list goes on.

    I guess you could say that e-readers are a good fit for my ocd-ish personality.

  • Friday Freestyling … Directionally Challenged

    Friday Freestyling … Directionally Challenged

    On a recent morning walk, I decided to check out a route I hadn’t been on in almost two years.

    I was curious to see if a new walking path had been paved there.

    As you can see from my feature photo, that wasn’t the case.

    I decided to forge on ahead along the grassed and gravelled paths.

    I don’t love walking on gravel because it’s easy to hit a large stone and twist an ankle

    When I was there last, I turned left at the end of the gravel path above.

    This time, the left turn was blocked off, so I carried on ahead. The path had a few twists and turns, and before long, my sense of direction was gone completely.

    When I finally reached pavement again, I looked at a street sign when I reached a corner, and in my mind, it was all wrong.

    My entire life, I’ve been directionally challenged in big buildings, but seldom outdoors.

    I did see some familiar landmarks off in the distance, so I knew I wasn’t completely lost.

    Along my new and unplanned route, I did find our city school bus yard, which I didn’t even know existed.

    All in all, it was a nice long walk with some unplanned new scenery. I wasn’t at all panicked because I knew I’d eventually find my way home. We’re a small city and the people are friendly and helpful … once you find some people, of course.

  • Happiness Is … Brain Health

    Happiness Is … Brain Health

    I’m thankful that, at my age, I can play (and win) complex thinking games like bridge and mahjong.

    In the summer, female family members gather each Friday for a summer fam-jam mahjong league.

    We play four games and share lots of laughs and good-natured teasing.

    Three of our past players have dropped off for various reasons, one being that the game was too complex.

    Each week, we do “I’ll make you famous” photos of the winners. The photos are given this name, because the winners’ pics are posted to Facebook.

    If anyone wins more than one game, she holds up the number of fingers to indicate how many wins that day.

    This was a very good day for yours truly
  • Friday Freestyling … Pigsqueak?

    Friday Freestyling … Pigsqueak?

    When I’m out for my morning walks, I’m always on the lookout for something to photograph.

    These quick stops and then restarts at or above pre-stopping pace, create a form of HIIT.

    Recently, this flower in a yard I passed by, caught my attention.

    After I got home, I looked it up and was surprised at its many aliases:

    heart-leaved bergenia,heartleaf bergenia, leather bergenia, winter-blooming bergenia, elephant-ears, elephant’s ears, Korean elephant-ear, badan, pigsqueak, Siberian tea, and Mongolian tea.

    The one that made me smile and wonder why was “pigsqueak”.

  • Happiness is … Tatagwa Parkway

    Happiness is … Tatagwa Parkway

    Tatagwa Parkway is the name of the trail system developed in our small prairie city for hikers, bikers, and walkers.

    The system includes 180 acres of land adjacent to the Souris River and encompasses two large nature habitats.

    The paths that make up the trail also run alongside city streets, down a long lane towards health care facilities, and along the river boardwalk.

    The majority of the paths are peaceful and away from housing and city traffic, and even the ones that run alongside a street can offer something new to keep an eye on (such as the progress on our new hospital) and the many beautiful yards along the way.

    Slated to open fall 2026

    Because hubs and I live close to the centre of the city, I walk from our condo to all of the trail heads.

    I choose path combinations that add up to the 5 to 6 Km (3 to 3.7 miles) distance I aim for in each power walk. This allows me to have many different experiences vs walking the same route day after day.

    Tatagwa is a Cree word that means, “It is flat” … definitely apt for this area of our province.

  • Read My Sign

    Read My Sign

    According to The Beatles in 1967, it’s all you need.