Radically Retired

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  • A Lesson in Distance

    A Lesson in Distance

    In the mid to late 1980’s, artistic murals on building walls here in my province, were a new concept.

    In 1989, the town administration of Duck Lake, Saskatchewan had heard of another Canadian town – Chemainus, British Columbia (where a murals project had become quite famous) so a delegation traveled to B.C. to explore the feasibility.

    The resulting Duck Lake historical murals definitely boosted tourism.

    Now, these massive art displays are found on building walls in cities and towns across our entire province.

    I snapped my feature photo in our capital city – Regina, Sask. Sadly, I was too close to catch the ladybug that was on the far right of this colourful mural. I always forget to switch to the .5 (extra wide) lens on my phone in such situations.

    Hopefully, lesson learned this time.

  • Invaders from Planet Earth

    Invaders from Planet Earth

    There are a few places here in our province where Canada Geese have moved in and taken over. One place is the beautiful Wascana Park in our capital city, Regina. Another is a beach at Kenosee lake, a popular summer destination here in the southern part of Saskatchewan.

    Don’t get me wrong – I love everything nature related, including these magnificent birds … I’m just not all that fond of trying to avoid their droppings on the walking paths and beaches.

    Our prairie city seemed to be spared … until recently.

    On a recent walk alongside the river, I was greeted by this squad and they were so bold that they barely moved as I walked by. It was like they were daring me to make a move.

    The only move I dared make was to raise my phone camera to get a couple of shots, and then move along as quickly as possible.

    These big birds can be aggressive, and I wasn’t eager to tangle with their mob.

  • 2016 – Cactus and Copper

    2016 – Cactus and Copper

    As a part of our 2016 mission to explore Arizona more fully than on previous trips there, we visited Bisbee – once a thriving mining town, and now a tourist destination with a fascinating history.

    Info at the entrance to the mine
    The Lavender Pit Mine
    In the museum
    The old equipment was intriguing
    An excellent tour
    Interesting rule for the restrooms
    Our car with a stunning backdrop
    Before I lost 40 lbs
    Hubs shows the size of the chain
    Downtown Bisbee. Two of these buildings were lost in a fire in early 2024
  • Reveal and Review

    Reveal and Review

    Here they are!!

    About three weeks ago, I found a recipe for these cottage cheese/egg muffins and adapted it to my own preferences.

    When I made these in my regular metal muffin pan, they were delicious, but sadly, collapsed as they cooled. In addition, despite the metal pan being well oiled, the eggs stuck terribly.

    Enter the silicone muffin pan I mentioned in my Friday post about self gifting.

    I used the same recipe but because the muffin cups in the silicone pan were so much deeper than in my metal pan, I added 4 eggs to the 6 the recipe called for.

    In addition, because I set the silicone pan inside a metal cake pan (for stability), I had to add 12 minutes to the recipe bake time in order to be satisfied that the eggs had set.

    The end result told the tale! Despite the lower fill level, the contents rose beautifully and maintained their shape throughout cooling!

    They released easily from the silicone pan and clean up was a breeze!

    Now, I can’t wait to try regular muffins in my new self gift!

    **For those looking for a recipe, this is loosely what I’ve been doing:

    Cottage Cheese and Egg Muffins (makes 1 dozen)

    Preheat oven to 375°F

    Whisk together 6 – 10 eggs, 1/2 cup cottage cheese and whatever spices you prefer. I used salt, pepper, and garlic powder.

    Stir in whatever cheese, meat, and vegetables you prefer @ 1/2 cup each ingredient (I used spinach, green onion, red bell peppers, real bacon bits, and shredded old cheddar)

    Pour into muffin pan and bake for 18 – 30 minutes (until eggs are set)

    Let cool in muffin pan for about 15 minutes and then remove to a plate to continue cooling.

    Store in a sealed container in fridge or freezer.

    Reheat in microwave for 30 seconds to one minute if out of fridge … 2 minutes if out of freezer

    **High protein, keto-friendly, and gluten free**

  • “Thank You, Self!”

    “Thank You, Self!”

    Self gifting is how I describe purchasing unnecessary items, just because you’re interested in them and you want to give them a try. The likelihood of anyone else gifting them, to you is, at best, slim, so you treat yourself.

    Silicone bakeware has always intrigued me.

    Last week, I finally caved in to my curiosity, and bought this muffin pan.

    Can you guess what I’m baking that might work better in this than in a regular muffin tin?

    *Big reveal and review coming on Monday.*

  • 2016 – Casa Grande and the Duke

    2016 – Casa Grande and the Duke

    Shortly after mid January 2016, we stopped in for a visit with friends from here at home in Canada, who own a winter home on an acreage in Maricopa County, AZ.

    Our friends treated us to a day trip with them to the 26 Bar Ranch at Casa Grande. This was, at one time, 14,000 acres of John Wayne’s total 50,000 acre cattle ranching operation in Arizona. The Casa Grande location was the headquarters for 26 Bar, and was where the Duke operated his feedlot. His feedlot was, at one time (at 85,000 head), the largest privately owned feedlot in the USA.

    When we visited, it was still an operational commercial feed lot with thousands of head of cattle, so between the sights, the sounds, and the smells, it wasn’t a stretch to imagine what it was like when the Duke owned it.

  • Don’t Let Them Fool You

    Don’t Let Them Fool You

    To the naked eye, the tops of most mushrooms look smooth.

    A macro lens says otherwise.

    As with many things (and people) … we need to look closely and beyond the surface if we want to see what’s really there, don’t we?

  • A Necessary Detour

    A Necessary Detour

    Recently, I’ve been hearing and reading about an exercise trend, called the Japanese Walking Method.

    I decided that it’s more appropriate for me (while I continue with recovery from the accident injuries) vs returning to my previous power walking too soon.

    So, for now anyways, it’s a bit of a detour, but a worthwhile one, according to my research.

    You can read more about this walking method here .

  • 2016 – Vegas x 2

    2016 – Vegas x 2

    In early 2016, we were in Las Vegas twice within a few weeks – once in mid January on our way to Arizona, and again in mid February (on our way home from Arizona) to pick my cousin up at the airport and tour her around on her first visit there.

    Hubs and I had visited “Sin City” several times before, so we enjoyed showing my cousin what we considered to be some of the highlights.

    So much to see and do besides gambling!
  • 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.