This fall, the Alberta government decided we would stay on permanent Daylight Saving Time, even though residents voted No twice in the past 10 years. If they wanted to stop changing the clocks, they should have gone with permanent Standard Time. Anyway, two weeks after NOT changing our clocks, my body has been quite stressed (truthfully, it's been stressed for a couple of months, and not going back to Standard Time made it worse) and I have had to change my daily routines - starting my days MUCH slower and gentler so I don't have turn on the overhead lights), and going to bed MUCH earlier to try and get enough sleep so I can cope with life the next day. Thankfully, I have the flexibility to do so, but I'm still bound to a certain degree by the schedules of others.
Meme source unknown
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Word of the Year: Hobbit (Comfort / Cozy)
Celtic Year 1 theme: Hibernation & Regeneration (earth, action - rest/recharge/downtime)
Samhain: Affirmation for Acceptance (air, action: accept what you can't change and move on)
Celebrations:
Oct. 14th, I opened the kitchen drawer to put the metal tongs I used the previous day away and there was a pair of tongs already in the spot in the drawer! 😮 I only have 1 pair of metal tongs so I have NO idea where the 2nd pair came from at all! And it wasn't in the drawer the previous day when I took the tongs out to use! Interestingly, this unexpected pair is heavier and better quality than my pair. Very strange!
When I delivered papers later that day, I was given 5 free loaves of day-old bread! I put them all into the freezer.
Oct. 19th was Referendum Day in Alberta - because our premier catered to a very small minority of separation minded individuals who want us to belong to the US. Personally I think that if they want to be a US citizen so badly, they should just move there! Thankfully 75% of Albertans voted to remain in Canada. Unfortunately, the majority also voted Yes to most of the other nine questions targeting immigrants and the Canadian Constitution, so I'm sure there is still a rocky road ahead of us.
It was a different Halloween this year. I didn't end up getting any candy to give out so didn't plan on opening my door to any Trick or Treaters. Also, my neighbour who usually decorates for Halloween didn't, so I wasn't sure if she planned to hand out treats or not, and that meant I'd be the only one on the block giving out treats if I went ahead. Anyway, around 5 PM, 3 of my neighbour's family members knocked on my door - as they are special people in my life, I ended up giving them kid-themed magnets from my craft sale. And, after looking through the rest of the magnets, and finding more kid appropriate themed ones, I decided to put out my pumpkin ornament and turn on my light after all. I'm so glad I did because the next visitor was this little ghost...
Also, that evening my friend gave me two oracle card decks she found in the local thrift store. That was quite the surprise!
I can't remember if I shared that back the end of Sept./beginning of Oct., I watched a lovely BBC series called "Tales from the Green Valley" where a group of historians lived and worked on a farm in Wales like it was the 1600s. If you're a fan of history, this will certainly delight you. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6LJQOAaGj2magtWkqqRQOUKF9SOK-IIt The last week of Oct. I watched the same folks in the BBC series "Wartime Farm" - which Hannah of Real Vintage Doll House mentioned in one of her videos. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnQzRQaDvDFIZmAveIcRmdzx8Kgtl_swO They have other "farms" in other time periods in British history that I may watch at a later date.
I was delayed getting started on season 10 of "When Calls the Heart," so didn't watch till the Halloween weekend - bit of a marathon as I watched all 12 episodes over 3 days. Now I'm waiting to see if I can get the season 11 DVDs from the library.
I continue to watch Josh Johnson's weekly comedy sketches online for laughter and stress relief.
I watched more YouTube videos from Hannah of Real Vintage Doll House - I loved this one on clutter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPKUJ9_e4wU - while I will continue decluttering the house as there is a lot I don't want or need, I won't be getting rid of everything as there is lots I enjoy and gives me a cozy feeling to have around me. I also enjoyed her video on doing nothing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H64Lar-yOjo&t=301s something we can all add to pockets of time during our days. I've now watched her public videos to the end of May 2026 so am almost caught up.
I published two more comic strips in the paper and posted them online. Both are repeats from previous years.
Recently Completed:
Since the last newsletter...
I finished my 48th cartoon comic booklet. You can view it here: https://www.facebook.com/reel/3162563527267603
In Beth's Kitchen:
Oct. 8th, I made 2 green tomato (mock apple) pies. I made the pastry in the food processor again because I knew that was the only way I'd manage to get 2 pies made at once. I also completely threw out the rules and just did my own thing and the pastry worked MUCH better! Rolled out great! For the pies, I used half of the sugar called for, and I think I needed more tomato as it only called for 2 cups sliced, which didn't seem like much at all once I put it in the pie shell (and it does cook down a bit) so I'm sure that more could be added. Overall, the only real hiccup was that I had to make each pie (from start to oven-ready) separately due to the size of my food processor and space in my kitchen, but that was a very minor problem compared to my previous pie-making attempts. My second pie (on the right) turned out much better overall, and I popped it into the freezer.
The pie was surprisingly tasty! I needed to cut the tomatoes smaller. Pastry was my best yet! (Though, still not "completely" right). I should have been making green tomato pies for the past 2 months with my green tomatoes!
Thanksgiving Sunday (Oct. 11th) was snowy, and I was in the kitchen early. I mixed up a loaf of peasant bread - added some cinnamon and dried diced banana (instead of raisins) for a twist.
I cleaned the carrots from my neighbour, chopped them up (added a handful of my larger carrots from the fridge), and boiled them in the electric frying pan. I ended up with 4 cups of carrot puree to freeze for future pies.
I rolled out the pastry scraps from the other day. Didn't quite have enough for a full pie shell, but with some patching, it was close enough. I baked it and put in the freezer for a future cream pie.
Thanksgiving Monday (Oct. 12th) I wasn't sure if I'd get anything done in the kitchen as I did so much the previous day, and felt a wee bit tired, but I was in there bright and early because I had a LOT of green tomatoes that I knew wouldn't stay green! I made 2 more green tomato pies - pastry mixed in the food processor, I used 4 cups of chopped tomato per pie instead of 2 cups (didn't use as many tomatoes as I hoped!), and I used half the sugar called for. I didn't quite have enough scraps for a pie shell, but I patched and made it work. All three went into the freezer. Then, because the oven was hot and I had the ingredients, I made a carrot pie using the Impossible Pumpkin Pie recipe - though the preparation and cooking didn't happen right away as the rest of my morning got interrupted by a lovely phone call with a neighbour for 1.5 hrs. Having it mixed up and then sit for so long before cooking didn't seem to hurt it at all as that's the best pie I've made!
Oct. 13th, I had a gander at my tomatoes and decided to try making some ripe tomato jam. Mom used to make a ripe tomato marmalade that was the only marmalade I liked and ate - and I'm down to the very last jar she made! I thought the jam might be an easier option for me as the marmalade was always VERY labour intensive, and that's beyond me at this point. The recipe called for 4.5 cups of chopped ripe tomatoes - I used 5 cups. I also used 3/4s of the sugar called for. I didn't have lemons or lemon juice so instead broke up dried orange slices (for lemon slices) and added a couple drops of (food-grade) lemon essential oil to vinegar for the lemon juice. All in all, it worked out better than I expected, but almost an hour of standing by the stove stirring the pot was a real strain on my body. I ended up with 3.75 cups of jam.
Then I took the really, really green tomatoes and made one last green tomato pie for the season. Instead of the 2 cups the recipe called for, I used 5 cups of chopped tomato so it was more of a deep dish version. I used flour to thicken as I was out of tapioca - that was obviously not the best choice as the pie REALLY boiled over on me, and the filling didn't thicken at all. This stayed out for me to eat, and didn't go into the freezer.
I made another pie shell with the pastry scraps and used a smaller pie plate - was shocked how much the pastry shrunk this time! Oh well, it's in the freezer and will be used for something in the future.
After all that, I had to go lie down so clean up didn't happen right away. I also decided that I'd just ripen the remaining 5(ish) lbs of tomatoes and make them into soup as it's SO MUCH easier on my body!
Oct. 15th I was craving a chocolate dessert and I recently came across a recipe for a Hot Fudge Pudding Cake for 1 or 2 people so decided to give it a try. Not sure if I was too tired after all the paper deliveries, or what, but it didn't work out at all! And I even had the right sized small oven-save bowl to bake it in. I might give it another go before I decide to keep the recipe or not.
Oct. 17th, I blended up all of the ripe tomatoes with fresh basil, parsley, 3 sweet peppers, 5 hot peppers (that was 1 hot pepper too many!) & onions and filled my Dutch oven. Besides the miscellaneous spices, I also added some sugar and vinegar to tone down the heat from from the hot peppers so it wasn't quite so overpowering. I ended up with 18 cups of soup.
I had a few larger green tomatoes still so decided to make a mini apple crisp - another new recipe I came across recently - with them as a mock apple crisp. It didn't really turn out right but sure tasted good!
That left me with a good sized handful of unripe smaller tomatoes that I decided to just eat once they ripened.
I really had a MESS in the kitchen from 3 days in a row of baking, plus 2 days out of the house delivering papers, and then the new dirty dishes!
I found another partial box of pancake mix in the cupboard and there was just enough mix for a batch of pancakes so I mixed it up on Oct. 18th. Another box out of the cupboard! I'd forgotten how good a really fluffy pancake can be! I'll need to start making them more often (from scratch, not a mix).
Oct. 19th I really needed the healing power of baking (Referendum Day in Alberta!) so I mixed up some 2-Ingredient Biscuits (again, mine were 4 as I don't have self-rising flour) - this batch worked! I have NEVER in my life made biscuits this good before!!!! I'm definitely keeping this recipe and making again - though, truthfully, I still don't know why the first batch didn't work or why this one did! Recipe is from here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZn5OLsLCnY
Oct. 20th, I finished the grape juice. Despite somehow spilling a LOT of juice on me when I was draining the grapes, I still ended up with 15 cups. With the exception of the potatoes, that was all of my harvest dealt with.
I decided to try another Hot Fudge Pudding Cake - I doubled the recipe and used up more baking supplies. Even doubled, it still fit in the small pan so I didn't have to worry about that. The darn thing didn't want to cook! Instead of 30 mins, it was literally in the oven for 2 hrs! I was worried there was something wrong with my oven, but a cooking thermometer showed that the temperature was correct so I don't know what was going on. It still didn't turn out as it was supposed to, but was a tasty cake so not a complete fail.
I mixed up a loaf of peasant bread on Oct. 25th - added dried rosemary from my garden and garlic salt. I let it rise a bit longer than the recipe called for so it actually filled my mid-size loaf pan better (since my preferred pan to bake the peasant bread in was already in use). As this is a smaller loaf, I had to guess how much rosemary and garlic to use. I could have used more rosemary and the garlic was just right. I thoroughly enjoyed eating this bread toasted with lots of butter as it tasted like an extra special garlic bread/toast!
Yard & Garden:
As snow was in the immediate forecast, I spent 1.5 hrs the morning of Oct. 8th picking the last of the garden produce along the house, and I put the plant pots in the garage for winter. I ended up with 8 lbs of grapes and 16 lbs of tomatoes! Those tomato seedlings were my best garden investment this year.
I went out later in the afternoon and emptied the last 2 rain barrels onto the trees and shrubs in the yard. That was the last of the "have-to" jobs before winter.
Even later, I remembered to check the hazel branch growing through my fence from my next door neighbour - I picked 19 small hazelnuts!!!!!! Bonus!
The snow arrived - just a skiff - Oct. 10 & 11th. For the first snow of the season, that was pretty good and as it was above freezing, we also received a bit of rain too. Valuable moisture for all the plants!
Oct. 23rd we had quite the blizzard. Snow was staying on the ground, though mostly melted by suppertime. And that was the last of our moisture to date.
Jigsaw Puzzles
Since my last Letter, I completed a 1,000 piece puzzle
UFO (UnFinished Object) Update:
As part of my Hobbit year, I make sure that I let go of (or put away, or finish) at least one physical item per day, and delete at least one computer file (or old email, or tab closed) per day. Some of my bigger highlights so far...
- more items to Sis and more craft supplies to our postmistress
- more items used up from the freezer and cupboards, and as I subbed ingredients in recipes for what I have on hand. This also allowed me to start rearranging my pantry cupboard. It may seem like I have had SO MUCH, but I really don't, it's just many small dribs and drabs. (I might have to win the lottery though when it comes time to do a total pantry & cupboard restock!)
- when I dropped papers at the pub in Mirror in Oct. a gal asked what I did with the old/extra ones as she needed some to wrap glass items and such as they were moving soon - I invited her out to my car and she took the half-filled box of old papers from my backseat! Bonus!
- I had a 2 foot tall stack of used bubble envelopes that had been saved to use again should someone in this house ever need to mail something in a bubble envelope - I walked by the stack in the hallway literally every day, and I realized I haven't used a single one since mom died. so Oct. 23rd I tossed the whole lot away. My hallway feels so much clearer now!
- because there is lots more that we can recycle with the new blue bins, I've been adding more from the house that I decided I can live without - such as styrofoam trays and various plastic food containers. I went through the yard sale items too and put any glass jars (for example) that hadn't sold into the blue bin too. As well, I don't need to save as many cardboard boxes to hold recycling any more, so I'm slowly going through and getting rid of a lot of them as I make my recycling nook on the landing much smaller.
- I also pulled various items that haven't sold in ages from the yard sale and boxed them up and took to the thrift store.
Mom did liquid embroidery for years and years, and also sold it, so I started going through some of the more specialty paints (the ancient unopened/brand new ones) - alas, they had all hardened and were completely unusable so had to be tossed in the garbage. That cleared a whole shelf in the basement! Then I tackled the regular liquid embroidery paints - I freely admit that a part of me felt I should see if any could be salvaged, but Sis and I agreed that just based on their age, they weren't worth keeping so I tossed 16 lbs (!) of paints into the garbage - that REALLY cleared a LOT of space upstairs! Yet, it was so sad to toss them all - waste/loss of money, plus the knowledge they could have been passed on years ago and someone else enjoy them.
I was able to open the sales quite a number of days in October and November, despite the cooler temperatures, including the snowy Thanksgiving weekend. I met some delightful people, and sold the odd item. It would have been lovely if I had sold much more, though I was surprised to sell 5 large old coffee tins one day (we had the tins because back in the day we used to make them into little stoves at Guide camp) - I'm almost turning into the retro shop in town! Anytime someone is trying to find a particular item that is old (but not "antique"), they come to me first!
Many, many months ago, I had signed up for Minette Riordan's free "Mythical Makeover: The Goddess Within" class - I did her Wizard of Oz themed one in 2024, so was looking forward to doing this one, and then...Life happened! I finally started it on Oct. 24th. The beginning of Nov., I also started two short freebie online art classes I've had forever. I'm taking my time going through these.
Physical Activity:
It has been quite awhile since I've done any yoga, but instead of starting where I left off with my Yoga Teacher training, I decided to start off slower with the 5 Tibetan Rites. When I first was looking into yoga in my early 20s (not only could I not touch my toes, I could barely bend over and touch my knees!), I ended up buying a book on the 5 Tibetans and thoroughly enjoyed doing them. I even taught them in my yoga classes in my 30s. For this round, I'm starting off with the modified Tibetans to ease back into my practice.
Rebounder: I've been doing 10 minutes of the health bounce, four times per day. I haven't missed a day at all!
"Mystery activity” I’m still doing this DAILY!! I haven't missed a day!
Works in progress:
Currently, I'm working on...
- Era of the Dreamers journal - now that the garden is finished, I'm not adding to this as often.
- personal smashbook for DAILY journal writing as part of my connection to Spirit, my Guides, and my inner Wisdom.
- mini collages - I have even more bits and pieces that need sorted before I complete more.
- making 3 journals (from Sketchbook Revival session) - I did a wee bit more on this project
- painting (18-20?) ceramic Easter egg people from Gramma's craft kits (acrylics) - on hold
- UFO crochet project (not food) - on hold
- my small hooked rug
- I have my 13 inch round canvas - on hold
- Kiala Givehand’s 7 Books in 7 Days course: ideas for books I want to make on the back burner for now.
Featured Products for Sale:
This is a great time to get back into routines, so I have my hour long Love Your Body Yoga Class (suitable for beginners and all levels) available in digital format for $20. If you would like to experience this class, please email thechautauqua@gmail.com.
I have inspirational card decks, journals, chapbooks, musical CD's and more for sale that would make gifts and stocking stuffers. Please contact me at thechautauqua@gmail.com or phone 403-352-3837 to make a purchase. Or visit 4910 47 St, in Mirror, AB. Items are also available for sale at Amy’s Bakery on Main Street in Delburne, AB, and at Pharmasave, Main Street, Clive.
I offer $50 Distance Reiki/Energy Healing sessions. I’ve been an Kundalini Reiki Master since 2023. Energy healing works great from any distance and I've sent Reiki healing as far away as Queensland, Australia. Please, contact me to set up your healing session.
"I have been suffering with Long COVID for over a year and have tried every healing modality in the book to get my energy back. Beth has been gifting me with healing Reiki energy for quite some time now and I have, for the first time in over a year, started to feel like myself again. Much of my weakness has dissipated, and the dark cloud that I have been stewing under has lifted. Thank you Beth. ♥️" - Carla, Esthetician, Nova Scotia
Thanks for reading, and as always, feel free to share with anyone you think might enjoy it.
Beth
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To support my artistic journey, please consider purchasing my artwork, items available in person at 4910-47 St, Mirror, AB
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Your support and kindness are always greatly appreciated, and I look forward to bringing you joy and inspiration! Thank you so much and have a marvellous day!
