Month: October 2024

Historic Powell River Townsite

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My hometown of Powell River, BC, was established as a single-industry town in 1910. The mill, the first newsprint manufacturer in western Canada and, for a number of years, the world’s largest, was for many years the town’s primary employer. Built on the hill above the mill, the original Townsite was designated a National Historic District in 1995. It remains remarkably intact with over 400 original buildings still within the compact grid that was commonly used in early planned towns. The majority of those were employee houses. 

I lived in one of those houses for the first two and a half years of my life, but unfortunately, I don’t remember which one. Hubby and I might very well have walked right past it when we took a self-guided tour of the historic Townsite earlier this week. 

Our tour started and ended at the Dr. Henderson House. Saved from demolition and now fully restored, it houses the Townsite Heritage Society. It was the first actual home in the Townsite and was built in 1913 for Dr. Henderson and his family when he was hired as the Powell River Company’s first doctor. 

IMG_7671 Dr. Henderson agreed to come to Powell River on one condition. There had to be a hospital, so St. Luke’s Hospital was built next door to his home. While no longer a hospital, that building is still in use today. 

Our tour took us to 17 of the original buildings, but I won’t bore you with all of them. One that holds a special place in my memory is the Patricia Theatre, the oldest continuously operating movie theatre in Canada. First housed in a tent with a gramophone for music, the “theatre” literally blew down in a storm! The first theatre building was constructed in 1913, but the Patricia moved into the current building in 1928 and has now been operating there for almost 100 years. I attended my very first movie there when my mother took me to see Peter Pan on the big screen. I was about 5 years old. 

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Another building that holds early memories for me is Dwight Hall. The Powell River Company built the “Grand Old Lady of Walnut Street” in 1927 and named it after Dr. Dwight Brooks, co-founder of the Company. In addition to performance and kitchen facilities, the hall boasted a dance floor that could accommodate 800 people! It’s as grand today as it was then and is still the centre of many community activities. I remember going to Dwight Hall to participate in music festivals with my class from school and on one occasion I stood all alone on the big stage to do a recitation. A couple of women from church had talked me into it and I was terrified. I think I still have the adjudicator’s notes someplace. 

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The fine brick building that currently houses Townsite Brewing was opened as the Federal Building in 1939. Built at a cost of $50 000, it housed the Post Office, Customs and Excise Office, and the Canadian Telegraph operations.

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And lastly, there’s the former Provincial Building, constructed in 1939 at a cost of $20 000. It was home to the BC Police, the courtroom, government agent, relief services, and the jail. Now it’s The Old Courthouse Inn. It boasts eight guest rooms with names like Judges Chambers, Sheriff’s Office, and Old Police Station. Each one is furnished with antiques and collectables.

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No, we didn’t stay there. We had a lovely airbnb suite with an ocean view in the part of Powell River called Westview, but I’m sure that the Townsite’s Old Courthouse Inn would also be a fine place to stay. Perhaps another time! 

The end of the road

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When I was a child, my father loved to explore the most remote areas of our home province of British Columbia. Outings and vacations often involved driving to the end of the road, any road, and sometimes camping there. I guess I inherited a bit of his wanderlust! 

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The tiny village of Lund, a 35 minute drive north of Powell River, BC, is literally either the beginning or the end of a very long road. Highway 101, the Pacific Coastal Highway, is one of the longest highways in the world. At the other end is Puerto Montt, Chile, approximately 15,202 km to the south.

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Best known today as the gateway to Desolation Sound and the Copeland Islands, Lund originated as a rugged and remote fishing village. When we spent part of an afternoon there earlier this week, the sun was shining and the ocean views were spectacular. 

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In addition to providing services for boaters, Lund is known around the area for the wonderful cinnamon buns at Nancy’s Bakery. While cinnamon buns are Nancy’s specialty, she serves a variety of other tasty treats and we enjoyed lunch at a little patio table out front of the bakery. While the food was delicious, the view was amazing. I really didn’t want to leave! 

IMG_7647 This is a very short post, but also the first one I’ve ever written while waiting in line for a ferry! We’re on our way back to Vancouver for another weekend with family before we head for home. 

Revisiting Powell River: a nostalgic journey

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The past couple of days in Powell River, the BC coastal town where I was born and spent the first ten years of my life, have been a wonderful time of revisiting and reminiscing. One of my favourite things as a child was riding the ferries and after all these years, that hasn’t changed.

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That’s the one that took us from Earl’s Cove to Saltery Bay on the last leg of our trip and there’s our white SUV sandwiched between two big trucks as we make the 50 minute crossing.

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When we arrived in town, we immediately drove up the hill to check on the one remaining piece of family history in town, the giant California redwood that my grandmother planted from seed in the early 1940s. It stands in the corner of the yard that was hers and continues to thrive in its unusual location. Back in 2019, I contacted the Powell River weekly newspaper and they published this excellent article about it.

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There’s our vehicle again to give you an idea of how big the tree actually is!

The little house that my grandfather built in the 1930s is still standing, but I’m sure my grandmother, an avid gardener, would be as horrified as I was at the condition of the yard. She lived in that house until she passed away in late 1980 and I spent many, many happy hours there.

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My childhood home is still standing too, but it’s been completely transformed since we lived in it. When we moved in in 1955, it was a modest family home with two bedrooms and one bathroom, a completely unfinished upper storey, and a partially dirt basement. Later, as the family expanded, my father added two additional bedrooms and a half bath upstairs. Now for sale, it’s advertised as a “stunning 5 bed 4 bath character home” with a walk out basement and an attached bachelor suite and if you happen to have an extra $1.5 million to spend, it could by yours! While I wouldn’t even recognize it as the same house from the ocean side, this view from the street still looks very familiar.

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Living on the waterfront, I could hear the waves from my bedroom at night and the beach was my playground. On this visit, we walked the 2.7 km (out and back) Seawalk that is a new addition since our days in PR.

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I remember my father telling the tale of climbing Valentine Mountain with his two preschool children (my older brother and I) on Father’s Day 1955 and, in his words, when we got home his wife “felt like having a baby”. My sister was born later that day! I also remember that in his younger days, Dad, an avid mountaineer, would climb the mountain with a pack filled with 40 pounds of magazines on his back to stay in shape. With these family stories in mind, I decided that on this trip, hubby and I would climb Valentine Mountain. It’s actually a short, but steep hike up to a rocky bluff with a beautiful view. The final part of the climb is a made up of steep stone steps.

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The panoramic view from the top includes the old pulp and paper mill which was originally Powell River’s sole reason for being as well as a breakwater made of WWII merchant marine vessels.

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The mill, now closed, played a very big role in our family history. The grandfather that I never knew because he died in his 30s worked in the mill and my beloved Grandpa, the man my grandmother married when I was 7, was a millwright there for his entire working life. During WWII, when women filled roles left vacant by men who’d gone to war, my mother also worked in the mill and later, my father was employed as an engineer by the company.

While in Powell River, we’ve been staying in a beautiful airbnb with an ocean view. Each evening, we’d watch the sun set and then go out for dinner.

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We were halfway through dinner the first evening when I realized that the restaurant we were eating in was probably originally the movie theatre where I’d seen the 1959 film, The Shaggy Dog, with a group of neighbourhood kids. The waitress confirmed my suspicion. Then this evening, we ate in a bistro that is housed in what was always called the beer parlour when I was a child. I remember that back then it had two separate entrances. The signs over the doors said “Men” and “Women and Escorts”. My grandmother spoke of it as if it was a terrible place. I’m sure the ambiance has changed significantly since then!

Tomorrow, we’ll say goodbye to Powell River and return to Vancouver. There won’t be a fashion post this week, but I do plan to write a couple more about our time here. In the meantime, I hope you’ve enjoyed this rambling bit of reminiscing.

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Hike to Smuggler Cove

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While the actual distance from Vancouver to Powell River on BC’s Sunshine Coast is only about 125 km (78 miles), it’s a 4 to 5 hour trip by car because it involves two ferry crossings of 40 to 50 minutes each.

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I was born in Powell River and spent the first ten years of my life there. We made the trip back and forth many times for everything from medical appointments to visiting family in the city. Later, after moving to Vancouver, we returned to Powell River to visit my grandparents who continued to live there. Never during all those years did we ever stop to explore the peninsula between the Langdale and Earls Cove ferry terminals. To me, the trip always seemed like a mad dash along the narrow, winding highway to get from one ferry to the next. More than once, we arrived just as the ferry pulled away and had to wait for the next one!

It’s been about 20 years since I last returned to PR and this time I decided to make it a more leisurely trip. Instead of rushing from one ferry to the next, we spent 24 hours exploring the peninsula and spent the night with a good friend at Sechelt. We also enjoyed a hike to Smuggler Cove.

After the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1885 ex-Royal Navy seaman, Larry Kelly, used the tranquil waters of Smuggler Cove to collect cargoes of unemployed Chinese labourers who each paid him $100 to smuggle them into the United States where they hoped to find work. Later, during Prohibition (1920-1933) rum-runners used Smuggler Cove as a safe haven.

The hike to Smuggler Cove is a fairly easy one. The first part is a well-maintained trail and includes sections of boardwalk that pass through a wetland area, largely the work of resident beavers.

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Further on, the trail becomes slightly more challenging but it’s still not difficult. Hiking through the coastal rainforest, life beneath the canopy is lush with numerous kinds of ferns and fungi.

Without question, though, the highlight of the hike is the cove itself. So beautiful and so serene! Hubby was curious about the building in the second photo that would only be accessible by water. 

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At the end of the in and out hike, before beginning the trek back to our vehicle, we sat for awhile in this beautiful spot. After experiencing the destructive power of an “atmospheric river” that caused serious damage and claimed at least three lives just a few days earlier while we were staying in North Vancouver, these peaceful ocean waters were a boon to my soul!

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Choosing 10 key wardrobe items for fall

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logo-by-samI was scrolling through Facebook recently when I came across this reel by wardrobe consultant and blogger, Sarah Kelly who calls herself The Haute Homemaker. In it, she shares the ten pieces that she would include if she were starting her wardrobe off from scratch this fall. With them, she says that she could create endless outfit possibilities.

At the time, I was about to begin my seasonal wardrobe switch from spring/summer to fall/winter and I was also thinking about what I would pack for the trip that we’re now on. That led me to ask myself which items I would choose from my fall wardrobe if I had to limit myself to just ten. As I packed away most of my warm weather clothes and brought out the cooler weather ones, I worked on my list. Socks, underwear, and pyjamas didn’t count and unlike Kelly, I decided not to include coats or footwear in my ten. Considering the climate and my lifestyle, I would probably need to include a couple of coats and at least two or three pairs of shoes. That wouldn’t leave me much else to wear!

I seriously thought about including my denim military jacket because it’s new and I love it. It was on the list and off again more than once, as were my dark brown corduroy pants, but neither of them made the final cut. I decided that if I had to I could get away with just two pairs of pants as long as one of them could be dressed up or down. In order to create a variety of outfits that would suit my lifestyle, I decided that the rest should be tops and layering pieces. Most, if not all of my choices, have appeared on the blog before. After much thought, here’s my list:

  1. jeans
  2. navy pinstriped pants
  3. sleeveless top
  4. 3/4 sleeve top
  5. long sleeve t-shirt
  6. long sleeve shirt
  7. pullover sweater
  8. cardigan
  9. lightweight hoodie
  10. Uniqlo ultralight down vest

Depending on where you live and what stage of life you’re at, if you were to make a similar list, yours might look entirely different from mine. I’m retired, so mine didn’t have to include items that would be suitable for a work environment although some of them probably would be. On the other hand, until the snow flies, I want to be able to continue to enjoy outdoor pursuits like hiking, so I needed to take that into account.

Now, here are some of the outfits I created with the ten pieces. I’ve included both casual and dressier looks. As you can see, I could easily create more by mixing and matching. I could also vary these looks with different accessories and footwear.

I’m faking! Hubby was raking leaves when I interrupted him to take photos for the blog.

The key word in this exercise is if. I’m not actually going to limit myself to only these ten items and while I did pack most of them, I also have a few other pieces with me on this trip. I do, however, remember my self-imposed fashion fast during the fall of 2021 when I wore only six items from my closet for 30 days. I definitely learned to be more creative in coming up with different ways to combine the same pieces and I also put a lot of thought into how to use accessories to add variety.

Just doing this exercise, thinking about which pieces I wear most often and which are most essential to me, has had two definite benefits. It has reminded me that I, like most people, have way more clothes than I really need and it’s shown me a gap in this season’s wardrobe that I’d like to fill. Maybe more about that in a future post, but for now, I have miles to go and people to see!

‘Annibirthday’ week: what I wore

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logo-by-samWe call the first week of October ‘annibirthday’ week as our wedding anniversary (48th this year) and my birthday both fall within that week. Today I thought I’d share a few of the things we did and some of the outfits I wore during the week. 

Although our anniversary is actually October 2nd, we celebrated a day early this year because hubby had an appointment in Camrose, a small city about an hour from home, that morning. Yes, at our age appointments sometimes happen even during annibirthday week, but thankfully this was a routine and uncomplicated one. Since there are many more restaurants in Camrose to choose from for a nice celebratory meal than there are in our tiny town of less than 1000 people, I went along with him and after his appointment we enjoyed a fabulous anniversary lunch at Marrow, a lovely restaurant housed in a historic feed mill. The bison burgers were delicious, the service excellent, and we loved the vintage decor. 

Since I was shopping while hubby was at his appointment and we had some outdoor pursuits planned for after lunch, I dressed for comfort. I wore dark wash jeans and the cozy Checkmate Jacket from cabi that hubby gave me for my birthday in 2019. It has become a fall favourite. Under the jacket I wore a dark green top with three-quarter length sleeves that was thrifted a couple of years ago.

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You would have to zoom in very close to see the tiny pearl drop necklace that I also wore. It was a gift from hubby 43 years ago on our 5th wedding anniversary! Interestingly, we celebrated that anniversary with dinner in that very same historic feed mill. The restaurant was under different management back then and looks entirely different inside now, but as I recall, the food was just as good. 

After lingering over lunch, we went for a 2.3 km walk around beautiful Mirror Lake in the middle of town and then played a round of disc golf, a sport that we’ve recently taken up and that I’m quite bad at! We finished the afternoon with lattes at GOAT Coffee, a favourite stop of ours when we’re in town. A sugar-free caramel latte with whipped cream from GOAT is the only time coffee crosses my lips.  

The following day, our actual anniversary, was a quiet stay-at-home day. I spent quite awhile doing some travel planning, but more about that in future posts.

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This is where I can often be found when I’m at home; on the end of the couch reading or using my laptop. In fact, this is where the blog usually happens. In the photo I’m wearing what could be called my style uniform at this time of year. Simply put, a style uniform is an outfit formula that you wear on repeat; a combination of clothing that make you feel most like yourself. Mine consists of blue jeans and a shirt or top that’s a step above a simple t-shirt or sweatshirt. This shirt, from Gap, was thrifted last year. It has a thin gold metallic thread running through the darker horizontal stripes elevating the look a little bit and the plaid pattern matches at the side seams, always a sign of good quality. 

For my birthday, on October 5th, we drove about an hour from home to the tiny village of Donalda where we started with a lovely lunch at the Coulee Tea House, another favourite of ours. 

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I wore a variation of my style uniform; a pair of charcoal jeans with a very lightweight striped boatneck sweater that was thrifted in 2022. I chose the sweater as a base layer for the hike that we planned to do after lunch, but I dressed it up for lunch by adding a scarf. 

For the hike, I left the scarf in the vehicle and added several layers for warmth. When we started out, it was only 12ºC (53.6F) and there was a stiff wind blowing. I may have looked a bit like the Michelin Man, but I didn’t want to be cold!

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As it turned out, the temperature climbed and the wind began to die down. Before long, I was stripping off layers and stuffing them in our backpack. Soon, the sweater and my light hoodie were all I needed. 

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Just an old gal and an old car!

The 5.15 km hike brought my 150 day walking/hiking challenge to an end with a total of exactly 330 km, 30 km beyond my goal! When we were done, we returned to the Tea House for a birthday cupcake and another pot of tea. They have 34 varieties to choose from!  

For church on annibirthday week Sunday, I wanted to style my recently purchased denim military jacket in a new way. I had a skirt in mind that I’d had for about 20 years and hadn’t worn for quite awhile, but apparently I’m thicker in the middle than I was back then. When I put it on, I couldn’t zip it up so it was set aside to donate and I wore this dress instead. I finished the look with a pair of blue suede ballet flats. 

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Now that annibirthday week is over, we’re looking forward to celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving on Monday with one of our daughters-in-law’s family. I do love October! So many things to celebrate! 

Stirrup pants: a fashion flashback

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logo-by-samWe all know that fashion repeats itself. If we wait long enough a style comes around again, although in some cases I really wonder why. After all, isn’t once sometimes enough? A perfect example of this is stirrup pants! Yes, that strange trend from the 1980s and early 90s is back again!

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Stirrup pants weren’t a new creation of the 80s. They actually originated as equestrian gear in the 1920s. When women started to move away from riding sidesaddle and began wearing riding breeches similar to men’s, the straps were designed to keep their pants firmly in place inside their boots. Later, the style was adopted by skiers who first wore stirrup pants during the winter Olympics in Germany in the 1930s. Then came the fitness craze of the 1980s and stirrup pants made a comeback, but not just in the gym where they make a certain amount of sense. No, this time they became mainstream fashion.  

There’s almost always something a wee bit different about a style when it comes around again. This time, the stirrups are being made longer so that they can be worn outside the shoe instead of inside! As if stirrup pants weren’t already weird enough!

Also, keep in mind that many of the most recent iteration of stirrup pants are actually stirrup leggings and ladies, leggings are not pants! Unless you’re wearing them in the gym, please keep those butts covered.

I suspect that you’ve probably already guessed that I’m not adding stirrup pants to my fashion wish list. I wore them in the 80s, but this time around, I’ll pass. They weren’t comfortable or flattering then and I doubt that they’d be any more so now.  

What about you? Would you consider wearing them?

Images: Pinterest

Book of the month – September 2024

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Hope for the Best, Plan for the Rest

Dr. Sammy Winemaker and Dr. Hsien Seow

Screenshot 2024-09-09 at 11.49.03 AMBeing diagnosed with a life-changing illness can be completely overwhelming. In Hope for the Best, Plan for the Rest, Drs. Sammy Winemaker and Hsien Seow offer a valuable guide to help patients and families deal with their new reality. Combining their decades of palliative care research and experience caring for seriously ill patients and harnessing the advice of thousands of patients, they offer 7 keys for navigating a life-changing diagnosis. With real-life stories, tips, and exercises, these compassionate experts empower patients with practical tools to help them successfully navigate the health care system with knowledge and confidence.

The 7 Keys:

  1. Walk Two Roads. Hope for the best, and plan for the rest. Toggle between being realistic and being hopeful.
  2. Zoom Out. Understand the big picture of your illness and what might lie ahead.
  3. Know Your Style. Review your past patterns for insights into how you will journey through your illness. Identify your coping strategies and your ways of processing information.
  4. Customize Your Order. Communicate your wishes, values, and beliefs to help tailor your care plan to your preferences.
  5. Anticipate Ripple Effects. Recognize that those caring for you will also need to be supported.
  6. Connect the Dots. Play a central role in coordinating your care (or identify someone who can).
  7. Invite Yourself. Speak up. Initiate conversations about what to expect and advocate for yourself.

These 7 keys are not steps or stages to be followed in a particular order, but are meant to be blended together and used as needed. After devoting one chapter to each of the keys, the writers wrap up with a chapter entitled Putting It All Together and then two final chapters that deal in more detail with the late and end stages of disease and the actual process of dying. They caution their readers to read those two chapters only if they feel comfortable doing so. The book would be a complete and helpful tool without them, but personally I found both chapters informative and reassuring.

This book, published in 2023, wasn’t available ten years earlier when I received my first cancer diagnosis. Looking back, I think that over time I implemented most of the keys either intuitively or through bits and pieces of advice that I received along the way, but how much better it would have been to have a book like this one to guide my way. It’s a book about hope (my one word for 2024) in the face of uncertainty. It’s about living well, being fully informed, and getting the best care available. It’s about being a whole person and not just a patient. It’s a call for patient-led, patient-centred health care.