Shopping Sue’s closet

March 3, 2017March 3, 2017 / edebock / 7 Comments

My sister-in-law, Sue, loves to shop and has a larger clothing budget than I do. She has excellent taste and knows what looks good on her. Many of the sales clerks in her favourite mall know her by name and are familiar with her personal style. I am often the lucky beneficiary!

As a child I didn’t wear hand-me-downs, not because we were well off or because I didn’t want to, but because I was the oldest daughter in the family and had only one female cousin who is ten years older than me. There wasn’t anyone to hand clothing down to me. As an adult, however, and a frugal fashionista, I am more than happy to wear pre-owned clothing, especially Sue’s! Though I’m taller, we are very similar in size and can usually wear one another’s clothes without alteration. Though Sue tends to wear dramatic colours (she says I need more colour in my wardrobe!) and I favour neutrals, we have similar taste in clothing and we love to shop together.

Last month, we got together for our annual girls day out… lunch and shopping. Though I bought a couple of items, most of what I came home with came from Sue’s closets! Before I arrived for the weekend, she had done a major closet purge and I was met with several large bags of clothing to sort through and try on. What fun! I came away with one dress, one skirt, four sweaters, three golf shirts (like me, Sue is an avid golfer), three dressier tops, a warm fleece pullover and two handbags. That was just a tiny fraction of what was in the bags which then went to my daughter and, after she chose the items she wanted, to a thrift store.

Here’s my favourite item from Sue’s most recent castoffs. I love its loose fitting blouson style. With elastic at the hem, it’s great at camouflaging a midsection bulge and the colours coordinate with so much that is already in my wardrobe. I know I’ll wear this one a lot especially when the weather gets warmer.

This is far from the first time that I’ve benefitted from Sue’s extensive wardrobe and her generosity. In the past, she has also acquired a few items from me, but I’m a minimalist in comparison, so her gain has not been as great as mine. Shopping Sue’s closet started me thinking about clothing swaps in general. I’ve never taken part in a clothing swap party, but I’ve been reading up on the idea and I’ll share what I’ve learned next week on Fashion Friday. See you then!

Day or night? Home or away?

December 30, 2016December 29, 2016 / edebock / 5 Comments

Lots of cute pyjamas were worn around our house over the past few days when all of our kids and grandkids were home for Christmas. Other than the children in one family who like to wear them for the long car rides to Gram and Grandpa’s house and back, none of us wore them out in public though.

img_3461-version-2

img_3487-version-2

When we lived in China, it wasn’t unusual to see grown men and women on the street in flannel pyjamas. What we didn’t know until later when one of my Chinese students came to stay with us for a few weeks was that it’s commonplace for the Chinese to wear pyjamas whenever they’re at home, getting dressed only to go out or when they’re expecting company. If they’re just stepping out to pick something up at the street market or a nearby shop, it’s not unusual for them to wear their pjs rather than bothering to get dressed.

In Europe and North America, the fashion industry seems to want us to follow suit. While they’re not suggesting that we should go to work or stroll the mall in our fleece onesies or our flannel pjs, designers are definitely urging us to turn fancy pajamas into glamorous streetwear.

While I could entertain the possibility of wearing a satiny pyjama shirt with jeans for a very casual look, this is not a trend I’m about to adopt. What about you? Would you go out dressed like any of these gals?

photo credit

photo credit

Hats, hats, hats

October 28, 2016October 27, 2016 / edebock / 9 Comments

October is usually a golden month here in Alberta, but this year it’s been grey and dreary. I did my seasonal wardrobe switch earlier this week, putting away my summer clothes and bringing my winter ones out of storage. This is not something that I enjoy doing as I dread our long, cold winters, but I do like the fact that the chilly autumn air means there are some hats that can also come out of storage. We took advantage of a few moments of sunshine this afternoon to take a series of hat photos with the remaining leaves on our weeping birch as a backdrop.

A hat is a great accessory that sets you apart, whether you’re at a formal event or just running errands. This jaunty tweed cap is casual, yet chic.

When I lived in Japan in 2008 and 2009, most of the older women wore bucket hats that often reminded me of upside down flower pots on their heads! It was in Japan that I found this black felt cloche, however, and I immediately fell in love with it. I was delighted that it actually fit my larger than average head.

In addition to looking at the hats, take notice of the fact that scarves are a great way to add a bit of trendy animal print to your fall and winter wardrobe.

Vintage hats can be a fun addition too. This “Saratoga Uncrushable” was made by Biltmore, a world-renowned hat maker, likely in the late 1960s or early 1970s. Though the hat was made in Canada, the tweed fabric, which is 55% wool and 45% cotton, was woven in Scotland. A little research online told me that this is actually a man’s hat and meant to be worn fedora style, but the soft, pliable material is easily reshaped as a cloche which is how I have always worn it.

The “Saratoga Uncrushable” is actually on long term loan from the community theatre group that I belong to. It was part of one of my costumes several years ago, but when the production came to an end, I hated to part with it! It will go back to the group when it’s needed again, but in the meantime, I continue to enjoy wearing it.

And finally, a real felt fedora! I’ve never actually worn this one except for for these photos. Made by the great British hat makers, Christys’, probably in the 1940s, it was my father’s. It even has his initials punched into the leather headband inside. When we were cleaning out his apartment and storage unit in preparation for his move to an assisted living facility a few years ago, I laid claim to the hat that he hadn’t worn for years. I knew that it, too, would make a great costume piece for our theatre group. It has been worn onstage several times by several different actors, but I’ve always been tempted to wear it myself.

What do you think? Should I wear it or not?

Meat Cove… at the end of the road

October 17, 2016October 26, 2016 / edebock / Leave a comment

When I was young, my father’s desire to get away from it all often led us to the end of little out of the way roads in our home province of British Columbia. As a child, I didn’t always appreciate those trips to nowhere, but they eventually bred in me a yearning to take the road less traveled and see what’s at its end.

On our first weekend in Halifax, a gentleman told us that if we were going to drive the Cabot Trail, we should go into Cape North and then take the little side road to Meat Cove. Looking at the map, I discovered that Meat Cove is the northernmost community in Nova Scotia. A lone gravel road leads to a tiny dot on the map surrounded by nothing but blank space. Of course, we’d have to go!

As is often the case, the journey was as interesting as the destination. Along the way, we missed a turn and first ended up at another small fishing village, picturesque Cape St Lawrence.

Back on the right road, the views were spectacular.

Meat Cove, with a population of 65 people, is a remote fishing village. Apparently, it takes it’s unusual name from the fact that in days gone by, boats would stop there to reload with wild meat. There isn’t actually a lot there; just a dozen or so houses scattered around the area, a guest lodge, a tiny campground clinging to the cliff top high above the cove itself and a small community centre that also serves as a restaurant and an internet access site.

As I looked down on the crystal clear water, I was glad that we’d taken the time to drive to the end of the road and when I called my 93 year old father to tell him about it, I could hear the pride in his voice!

Hello Nova Scotia!

October 5, 2016October 5, 2016 / edebock / 7 Comments

As I write this post, I’m sitting in the sunshine on the beautiful south shore of Nova Scotia! These are the views out the window beside me.

With this trip, we’re killing four birds with one stone. First of all, we celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary on Sunday and we wanted to do that somewhere other than home. We spent the weekend in Halifax where we stayed in a lovely Victorian bed and breakfast that is older than the town we live in! Ascendence Harbourside Mansion was built in 1891 for the Auditor General of Nova Scotia. We stayed in the luxurious Auditor’s Suite. Our hosts went above and beyond, placing chocolates and fresh flowers in our room when they learned that it was our anniversary. The breakfasts were wonderful and we had a great time visiting with the other guests around the table each morning.

Our main reason for choosing Nova Scotia as the destination for our anniversary trip was the fact that we’ve been wanting to return to Mahone Bay for another visit with the pen pal that I inherited when Richard’s mother passed away. The two little girls began writing to one another when they were 11 years old. When Mother passed away in 1993, the family asked me to write her pen pal to let her know. In return, I received a beautiful letter from Myrna telling me that she didn’t want to lose touch with the family that she’d known only through letters for so many years. I began writing to her and the relationship between our two families has now been going on for 77 years! As I write this, I’m sitting in her son’s living room three doors down the road from her house at Indian Point, just outside the beautiful little town of Mahone Bay. You can read about our first visit in 2009 here.

The third reason for this trip was our longtime desire to see the spectacular colours of eastern Canada in the fall. So far, everyone here has been apologizing for the fact that the trees aren’t in full autumn colour yet due to the extreme lack of rain in this area this year, but we are still seeing colour we would never see at home! Hopefully we’ll see more before we return to Alberta over a week from now.

Lastly, we had lots of Air Miles to use up before they begin expiring on Dec. 31. We’ve been collecting them for years and had enough saved to pay for our flights and our little rental car and still have enough left over for a mid winter vacation!

Stay tuned for future posts and pictures as we continue our travels. Right now, the sun is shining and the locale is too beautiful to spend any more time sitting at my keyboard!

Dressing up

September 16, 2016September 13, 2016 / edebock / 13 Comments

Screen Shot 2016-03-18 at 11.07.24 PM 3

One evening while we were in Vancouver this week, we went out for an elegant dinner with my father. We ate at Hart House Restaurant in Burnaby’s Deer Lake Park, just a few minutes from the assisted living facility where my 93-year-old father resides. The restaurant opened in 1988 in the beautiful century old Tudor-style house that was originally home to New Westminster businessman Frederick Hart. We dined in the sunroom overlooking nearby Deer Lake. The food was outstanding and the service warm and friendly.

I seldom wear dresses, but this was an occasion and setting that seemed to warrant dressing up a bit more than usual.

img_2519-3

This simple dress, consisting of navy lace over a nude underlay, is a couple of years old, but still a favourite and very much on-trend. It’s also a perfect traveler. How well a garment packs in a suitcase is an important consideration for me and this dress is a winner in that department. It takes up very little space, weighs almost nothing and doesn’t wrinkle.

img_2533-2

The colourful totem pole stands outside the building where my father lives.

Bringing the Beatrice home

September 11, 2016 / edebock / 8 Comments

In 1984, shortly after my father retired, my parents ordered a Volkswagen Westfalia camper van from the factory in Germany. They traveled from their home in Vancouver, BC to Germany via Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, through China, across the USSR on the Trans Siberian railway, and into Europe! After picking up their brand new van in Germany and outfitting it with dishes, bedding and other basic necessities, they lived in it for a year and a half as they traveled around Europe and the Middle East.

Clearly, I came by my wanderlust honestly!

When Mom and Dad finally decided that it was time to return to Canada, they had the van shipped home to Vancouver. Because they’d owned it for over a year, they were able to bring it into the country duty free.

For almost two decades, the blue camper van traveled through the mountains almost every year bringing Grandma and Grandpa to Alberta to visit their grandchildren. It continued to be their only vehicle until Dad, now 93, finally gave up driving a few years ago. At that point, he passed it on to our niece who was a college student at the time. She drove it until she graduated from college, but once she got a job she bought a little car and the van sat under a tarp in my sister’s backyard in Vegreville for the past two years.

This summer, our son, who also lives in Vancouver, acquired the van from his cousin. Matt plans to use it as a camping vehicle for his young family. Prior to their visit to Alberta last month, we rented a U-Haul auto hauler and moved it to Sedgewick.

img_20160812_170528680

Matt knew that after sitting unused for so long, the vehicle would need some work to make it roadworthy and he came prepared.

When he knew that the van was going to be his, he joined TheSamba.com, an online site for Volkswagen owners and checked out other informational sites. In addition to learning important information including the common quirks of the vehicle and where to access parts, he discovered that owners of these vintage vans often give them names in the same manner that boat owners name their crafts. I was touched when he chose to name his Beatrice after my late mother!

Sadly, though he had hoped to drive her home to Vancouver, the Beatrice needed more work than Matt was able to accomplish in the few short days that he was at our place. That’s when Plan B came into being and here we are in Vancouver! We loaded the van onto another auto hauler and pulled her through the mountains. Now she’s tucked into a corner of Matt’s backyard where he can work on her as he has time. This has also afforded us another opportunity to visit Dad before winter sets in as well as a few unexpected days with our grandsons!

In addition to bringing the Beatrice home to the coast, we brought our 17 foot Coleman canoe for Matt, Robin and the boys to enjoy. It’s an extremely durable, very stable family canoe, but bigger and heavier than Richard and I want to haul around anymore. As I paddled it through some fairly rough ocean waves at Porteau Cove on the Sea to Sky highway yesterday afternoon, I knew my paddling days weren’t over though. A couple of waves crashed over the bow and left me soaking wet, but it was a blast and a lightweight kayak is definitely on my wish list!

Hiking Johnson Canyon

August 26, 2016August 26, 2016 / edebock / 4 Comments

I first hiked Johnson Canyon, one of the most popular day hikes in Banff National Park, as a university student in 1974 and I’ve been wanting to do it again ever since. On Sunday, I finally did!

The parking lot was already full by mid morning when we arrived and the trail was packed with tourists. Catwalks affixed to the limestone cliffs make the canyon easily accessible to everyone and the 1.1 km trail to the lower falls involves very little change in elevation.

At the lower falls, a bridge crosses the creek allowing both an excellent spot from which to view the falls and access to a water-formed tunnel through the rock to a closer viewing platform.

IMG_2402 - Version 2

The crowd thinned out a little as we moved on toward the upper falls, another 1.5 km up the trail. Spectacular views continued to surround us as we followed the crystal clear creek.

There is significantly more change in elevation on the way to the upper falls and by the time we arrived at the bottom our two little grandsons decided that their legs had hiked far enough. Our son and daughter-in-law took them back to camp while Richard and I pushed on. It was a short climb to the top of the falls where we enjoyed great views of the falls themselves and the deep pool at the bottom.

Beyond the upper falls, the trail leaves Johnson Canyon behind and climbs another 3.1 km to the Ink Pots, seven cold mineral springs that bubble to the surface forming small pools in an open meadow. These springs are unique in that they have a constant year round temperature of 4ºC and their basins are composed of quicksand.

I had not hiked beyond the upper falls in the past and wasn’t expecting the steep climb that was involved. Once we’d set out, however, I was determined to finish! The trail seemed to go on forever, climbing higher and higher. Younger legs passed us by, but we pushed onward and eventually reached our goal!

My old knees were a bit achy the next morning, but a soak in Banff’s Upper Hot Springs was all they needed to recuperate!

Robin’s ride

August 25, 2016 / edebock / 5 Comments

After our day of dinosaur fun at Drumheller, we moved on to Banff where we camped at the beautiful Two Jack Lakeside campground. The main reason for choosing that destination was our daughter-in-law’s participation in the Banff Gran Fondo, a 150 km bike race/ride on Saturday morning.

Our grandson’s, Sam and Nate, slept in the trailer with us on Friday night so that Mom could get a good night’s sleep before her big ride. Before any of us were out of bed in the morning, she was already on her bike! At 7:15 am, we headed over to the campground entrance to watch and cheer her on. As the first wave of riders rounded the curve and came into view, excitement built and it was an emotional moment for all of us when Robin rode by. We are so proud of her!

IMG_2352 - Version 2

It takes a lot of determination for any young mom to prepare for something like this and even more so when she suffers from rheumatoid arthritis! She is definitely one of my heroes!

In addition to offering us a front row view of Robin’s ride, Two Jack Lakeside campground, just minutes away from Banff itself, was a perfect spot for us to explore the area from and just down the path from our campsite were the most stunning views imaginable.

Dinosaur fun!

August 25, 2016August 25, 2016 / edebock / 1 Comment

It’s very rare that we ever have all five of our grandchildren together in one place. Three of them live in Calgary and the other two in Vancouver. Last Thursday was just such a day, however, and I was one happy Gram! We were camping at Drumheller, Alberta with our son, daughter-in-law and grandsons from the coast and our daughter’s family came out from Calgary to spend the day with us.

IMG_2223 - Version 2

The Drumheller Valley is known internationally for its rich abundance of dinosaur fossils and what can capture the imagination of children more than dinosaurs? Our day began at the world-renowned Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology where life sized skeletons abound.

My five littles are hardly any bigger than five giant dinosaur toes!

13895100_10154331282355915_8239574559261308982_n

After our morning at the museum, it was time to visit the world’s largest dinosaur, an enormous statue at the downtown Visitor’s Centre.

Climbing the stairs inside and viewing the town from within the monster’s mouth 86 feet above the ground was fun, but so was clambering over its enormous feet!

Our third stop for the day was the hoodoos, natural columns of rock composed of sand and clay. Formed by thousands of years of erosion, their solid, strong capstones protect the softer, underlying bases creating their unique mushroom-like shape.