July 1st, I signed up for a month of SportsNet so I could watch the Calgary Stampede online (since I don't have TV access). The Stampede started July 3rd with the longest-ever Parade (I was able to watch it online) and then the rodeo and chuckwagon races. This year they are also broadcasting the Indigenous Relay Races after the chucks so that means really late nights for me, but it's great to watch. My favourite 10 days of year! It's almost a real holiday as I do very little except watch the Stampede and rest more in between broadcast times. I even have to remind myself what day of the week it is!
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Word of the Year: Hobbit (Comfort / Cozy)
Celtic Year theme: Joy and Delight (fire, do what brings you joy weekly, how can you bring joy to others?)
[SPRING/PLANT/SEEDS]: Give into Passion (fire, let yourself go and follow your bliss, replenish yourself with joy and passion)
Summer Solstice: Fire Magic (fire, cook something in your kitchen)
Celebrations:
June 11th my rug hooking neighbour gave me some burlap pieces and a pattern - we both signed up for Deanne's free 10 Minutes a Day Rug Hooking Challenge that will run this summer, and my neighbour wanted to make sure I was prepared when it started June 25th!
On June 12th I left home at 7:45 AM as I had a Live Blood Analysis appointment in Red Deer. The gal was sure the rebounding IS helping me, and even said that my face/body look different - I joked that she hadn't seen me for 6 months and must have forgotten what I looked like! Overall, I was showing great improvement!!!! Still had some parasites (grr), wee bit of yeast/inflammation, and wee bit of liver/stomach stress (grrr). My dry sample was DRAMATICALLY improved from last time. The gal was also shocked when I told her I had mowed my lawn 3 times so far this year as she's never known me to have that much energy. I still don't have a clean bill of health, but she said I'm MUCH closer than I was, and I don't have to go back for another 6 months (unless I feel the need). Great news!!!!
I was going to stop at the Telus store in the mall after my appointment because I needed to see if my 3G cellphone could be converted to 4G, or if I needed a new phone, as 3G will cease to exist in a few months, but discovered I'd left my phone at home! Grrr
Instead, my friend (who drove me to Red Deer) and I stopped at Parkland Nurseries on our way home as I wanted to find out more about a Hardy Kiwi that is supposed to be able to grow in this area. I not only found out a lot about the vine, but I ended up splurging and bought one!
After I returned home, I grabbed my phone and then drove myself back to Red Deer to the Telus store - it's an hour drive one way so not a quick trip. There was an insanely long line up, and only 2 employees dealing with everyone, so I waited 45 mins in line, and in less than 5 mins they were able to tell me that 1. my phone could NOT be converted (grrr), and 2. they were sold out of flip phones (grrrr). I bought a new cellphone at Walmart at the opposite end of the mall - while still a flip phone, it's vastly different from my previous phone so will take a bit to get used to using.
As I headed home, I somehow managed to get completely mixed up in the roundabout before the exit out of the city - in my defence, roundabouts are fairly new in Red Deer/Alberta, and I have very little experience driving through them - and ended up on a gravel road out in the middle of nowhere! I had a vague idea where I was and knew the direction I needed to go, but the roads didn't seem to go where I thought they should. I ended up at the entrance to Canyon Ski Hill so knew how to get back to the main highway, but again, it didn't go as planned because there has been so much new development in that area (very swanky properties) so I ended up taking a very scenic route back to the highway. Everything worked out and I was home at 2:50 PM.
And then, I even managed to plant the Kiwi vine myself! All the rain must have helped make the ground soft enough that I could actually get the shovel into it. Fingers crossed the Kiwi vine survives and thrives now.
I was a wee bit concerned about how I would watch the Ottawa Canada Day celebrations as I don't have TV service anymore. Thankfully, I was able to watch the ceremony live on CBC's YouTube channel. It was a fabulous ceremony and the speeches were amazing. I was able to continue my annual viewing tradition!
As the WPCA and CPCA races are the same days now, I listened to the WPCA races live as there's no replay, and watched the CPCA races as I have access to the replays. I watched the June 12-14th replays of the CPCA races in Dewberry, AB June 15 - 17th. I listened to the WPCA races in Wainwright, AB (June 18 - 21st) - Day 4 was cancelled due to rain. I watched the June 19 - 21st replays of the CPCA races June 21 & 22nd - the final day was also cancelled due to rain. I listened to Day 1 of the WPCA races in Ponoka on June 26th - unfortunately, that was the only day of 6 they raced because all the rest of the days were cancelled due to rain and unsafe track conditions. I watched the replays for the June 28-July 1st CPCA races from the Onion Lake, SK June 30 - July 2.
I viewed this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQoYsX5oNgU&t=337s in June and since I had long hair that was WAY overdue for a haircut (and booking one just wasn't fitting in my life), I thought I'd give it a try. Now, I don't have the proper haircutting scissors (might be worth investing?), but I do have one good pair of scissors that I ONLY use to cut my bangs, so I used them. The gal in the video cut hers wet, I cut my dry as I knew it would be easier for me as this was my very first attempt cutting the main bulk of my hair myself! In the pictures below, the middle ponytail holder is actually at my chin (couldn't get the camera to line up so it showed properly) and the bottom one is around my collarbone. The piece I cut off had hairs 9 inches to 12 inches long! I could have cut more off but didn't want to go too extreme my first time. Overall, this was much easier than I expected, and I ended up with more layering than I'm used to (usually get a basic blunt cut), but I'm happy with this attempt, and will certainly consider doing again - my hair might get trimmed more regularly than it has in the past? It felt so nice to get rid of the ragged split ends! My decluttering for the day!
I watched Hallmark movies on the Global app on my ipad and Josh Johnson's comedy sketches online for laughter and stress relief. I also watched more episodes of "When Calls the Heart" - I watched all of season 6 & 7 now.
I published two more comic strips in the paper and posted them online. Both are repeats from previous years - I remembered to update the date on the grad one!
Recently Completed:
Since the last newsletter...I haven't completed anything, though I'm still creating daily.
In Beth's Kitchen:
We were under a rainfall warning June 20th, and I needed a distraction from the intense burning sensation in my legs - I'd been outside the previous afternoon visiting with a neighbour and the mosquitoes absolutely DEVOURED me and I was having a VERY bad reaction to all of the bites - so I made another batch of the "Easy Chocolate Chip cookies. I added some crushed dried orange and I made them smaller than before (both times have been smaller than the recipe suggested!) so I only had to cook 15 mins. Turned out great!
I also made a loaf of bread from the freezer into French toast.
Third weekend we were under a rainfall warning, so on June 27th I drained the rhubarb to finish making the juice. My original plan was to keep the batches separate, but knew I didn't have the energy to do this two days in a row, so mixed the two batches into one larger batch (since they were prepped a day apart) - though it seemed to take FOREVER to boil! I ended up with 7 quarts (and a wee bit) of juice!
Most of the shortbread cookies I'd made just fell apart and became crumbs so on July 4th, I made all the remaining cookies even more crumb-like and made two crumb crusts out of them. On July 5th I took a jar of very old - but still quite good - saskatoon jam and melted it down so it was pourable and poured it onto one of the crumb crusts for a pie. I then tried to make a simple chocolate sauce to go on top but had to substitute some ingredients as I didn't have all I needed, and it didn't turn out at all! Oh well, it tastes okay and it cleared jars out of my cupboard.
I had some chocolate milk that was past date so I used some of it to make a batch of (chocolate) waffles July 6th.
Later in the afternoon, I went out and picked a mixture of greens from the garden - first of the season! I picked some chickweed, beet greens (from a planter as the beets in the garden don't seem to have come up yet!), carrot tops, nasturtium leaves, bok choy (it's growing from the root ball I planted!), dill, sage, parsley, oregano, and basil. I tossed everything into the frying pan with the last of the chopped garlic scapes and the last jar of chopped green pepper from the freezer, sautéed it all in butter, and then made a wilted greens omelette. Oh my...YUM!
Yard & Garden:
I have so many different experiments I'm doing in the garden this year, that if they don't work, I'll have no idea if they really didn't work, or if it was because of our weird weather this spring - extremely hot/drought to very cold/wet! I can say, out of all the seedlings I had started that I transplanted outside, only a couple of nasturtium plants actually survived. None of the squash, pumpkin or melon seedings made it after the brutal weather change. So disappointing.
I should have been mowing my lawn June 13th, but after 2 trips to Red Deer the previous day, I did NOT have the energy for that at all! I did spend 30 mins weeding in the herb bed - the only spot inside the labyrinth that I hadn't gotten to yet - the Bee Balm came back and the sage plant from my neighbour has been growing. I couldn't see anything else coming up, but hoped that the removal of the HUGE dandelions would allow some other plants to grow.
The pattypan squash seedling I had in one plant pot completely shrivelled up and died on me so I planted some beans in the pot as my other beans hadn't come up yet. A lot of weeds growing and there was no sign of carrots, beets or even potatoes growing yet.
June 15th I went out and spent 40 mins pulling HUGE dandelions and TALL quack grass from the labyrinth path. Still not even close to getting them all pulled!
Later in the morning I went out to mow the lawn. Grass/weeds were rather tall so it was slow going, and I only managed to mow about 1/4 of the lawn in 15 mins and then I had to stop as it was too hot/humid and I was too tired.
June 16th there was 1/8th of an inch of rain in the gauge. I spent 30 mins pulling more weeds from the labyrinth path (the point of the gravel is so I did NOT have to weed the path!) and then I finished pulling weeds from the perennial bed. Sky looked threatening so back inside.
The temperature dropped, so I went back out and finished mowing the rest of the lawn in 20 mins. Felt like a rather pathetic half-hearted job, but at least I got it done before it rained again.
When I was out delivering papers on June 17th, I stopped at PJ's greenhouse - tomato 6-packs were on sale for $2 each so I bought one! I planted the tomatoes among the pepper pots and in the east flowerbed where my poor cantaloupe seedlings didn't survive the intense heat/cold/rain. Then I decided I should get more tomato plants at that price so quickly headed back and bought 2 more 6-packs. I planted those tomato plants in the garden on the east side of the pea fence. Fingers crossed all survive and thrive. This is really shaping up to be a completely different garden that I had originally thought it would be this year! Half an inch of rain fell through the day.
June 18th, after delivering papers, I was at Tailcreek Greenhouse and they had their End of Season sale on. I bought a small basil plant and a 6-pack of corn. Planted the basil in a plant pot and the corn in the garden. I was pretty sure that I was FINALLY finished planting the garden! Another 1/4 inch of rain fell.
June 19th, I went out and started weeding chest-high (!) quack grass from the roughly 3 ft by 2 ft space between the labyrinth path and the raspberries. In an hour I barely got it done! And I still had each side of the raspberry fence to do! It gets out of hand so fast!
I went out before lunch and managed to mow 1/2 of my lawn in 20 mins before I had to call it quits because my body said stop! Wished I could have finished as spots were getting really tall.
All together we received 2 & 1/8th inch of rain from June 19 - 22nd!
I spent 15 mins mowing the other half of my lawn the afternoon of June 23rd. Felt completely wiped out when I was done.
My labyrinth garden on June 24th. I picked all of the rhubarb earlier in the day. I still have lots of weeds to get rid of, especially off the gravel path, but I have plants growing in the garden! Second picture is the east (of the door) bed and the 2 pots in the west (of the door) bed. (What you can't see in the picture is the snow shovel leaning against the house beside the 2 plant pots, because...it's Alberta!
June 25th I went out around 6:50 AM and spent an hour pulling more quack grass from around the raspberries - still didn't get it finished. I figured that would be the extent of my outside activity for the day, but after a half hour rest, I went over to the neighbour's (one who gives me the free plants!) as she'd mentioned I could have her rhubarb and I hadn't confirmed with her that I even wanted it. No one else had shown up to claim the rhubarb so I picked it all (it made quite a heap in the truck bed!), plus all of her garlic scapes and large handful of fresh dill. I brought her over here and we did a quick tour of my garden, and what's growing and what survived (most) from the plants she gave me last year. Back to her place and she gave me a cherry tomato seedling, some rosemary, and some more chamomile (mine didn't self-seed from last year). All together, I was there about an hour.
Back at home I put the new plants in the ground, and then spent half an hour taking the leaves off the rhubarb and spreading them on the ground at the east end of the raspberries to hopefully suppress weeds for me. Fingers crossed.
I started cutting/prepping the rhubarb for juice during my Zoom with my Austrian and Portland friends. We met in Inner Circle and they've kept in touch since I left Inner Circle, and we Zoom twice a week, two times a month. At the end of the hour Zoom, I didn't even have half of the rhubarb dealt with!
I should have kept going with the rhubarb, but I needed a break and I wanted to check out PJ's greenhouse as it was their last day open for the season, so I headed over. Still lots to choose from and I bought 5 strawberry plants and a 6-pack of pansies.
Back at home, I finally got back to the rhubarb - yes, I procrastinated with other tasks for a bit - and filled the large stainless steel pot and left it steeping for juice.
I phoned Tailcreek greenhouse (they were to be open a couple more days yet) to see if they had any herbs left, and they did! I headed over and bought some lavender, Greek oregano, parsley, and
(lemon?) thyme. In the end, I ended up with almost exactly what I would have purchased normally, but for much less money, and CONSIDERABLY more work on my part! It was too hot and I felt too tired so left the greenhouse plants to be planted another day.
(lemon?) thyme. In the end, I ended up with almost exactly what I would have purchased normally, but for much less money, and CONSIDERABLY more work on my part! It was too hot and I felt too tired so left the greenhouse plants to be planted another day.
I also was too tired to deal with the fresh dill so stuck it all in a jar of water - I will just dry it.
June 26th I went out and spent 45 mins planting the herbs, strawberries (where ones didn't survive the winter), and pansies (in pots where potatoes didn't grow), as well as pulling more quack grass from around the west end of the raspberries. That was more than enough time outside as the mosquitoes were beyond ridiculously thick! We were under a rainfall warning for the evening of June 26 through the whole weekend!
As my one pot of radishes inside didn't do anything, I went out June 28th and dug up two of the small volunteer chocolate mint plants and planted them in the pot to see how they do inside. Fingers crossed.
All together, we ended up with 1 inch of rain from June 27 & 28th. The mosquito population was unreal before all the rain, but had now reached a level that made it very difficult for me to be outside as I get devoured no matter what I do, and I've been having too many bad reactions to the multitude of bites I keep getting. Really hard to get outside work done when I can’t be outside for very long!
We received 1.5 inches of rain July 1st. As my lawn had completely gotten away from me and was too tall/heavy for me to mow, I asked my neighbour (one who helped with the mowing last year) to mow my lawn and he did so on July 2nd. My hope was that with it under control again, I could continue mowing it myself.
I spent 15 mins pulling more thistles from the garden as I waited for the the garbage man to stop - I had some cookies for him and didn't want to just leave them out back on the garbage box as there were a lot of crows around (and they've been known to take treats I leave outside). Thankfully, he arrived earlier than I expected so I didn't have to be out long as the mosquitoes were beyond nasty.
I went out for 25 mins before lunch on July 4th and pulled a few weeds, dumped decomposing weeds (rain has sure helped the weeds decompose faster in the various pots I had around the garden) around my potatoes to "hill" them, and I pruned the two grape vines a bit.
Around supper-time, we got a WICKED hail storm! My lawn was rather white with the marble-sized hail! I really hoped it didn't damage anything outside as it was coming down HARD! All together we received 1/2 inch of rain. We received another 1/8th of an inch the following day.
Overcast and windy July 8th so I decided it was a perfect day to mow my lawn before the (forecasted) rain came again. Took 20 mins to mow the whole yard as I mowed around the large clover patches so that the clover can spread.
Jigsaw Puzzles
Since my last Letter, I have a very challenging puzzle on the go that is taking longer to complete that I expected.
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 sorted and to my Sister
- more craft supplies to our postmistress
- more items to the second hand shop and thrift store in town
- items to the Clive thrift store
- items given to friends who had a need for the items
- watched a freebie art class online and closed the tab on my computer
- more items added to the yard/craft sales (though the weather hasn't cooperated for me to open the sales again, and I no longer open during Stampede time)
- a very nostalgic task I'm doing is slowly eating the last jars of jam and jelly that Mom made. I am down to the final 4 jars now.
Sometimes something is so obvious that it's hard to see! I have a LARGE box of brand new page protectors that I've been trying to get rid of for 6 years, and haven't found anyone who will take them. In the middle of June I realized that I have a number of papers, forms, etc that need sorted by year and I have nowhere to really start sorting them till I get a LOT more done in the house. Then I realized I could sort the various pages into page protectors labelled with the year and put in a binder to keep them in one spot till I have them all sorted and can deal with them in the manner they need dealt with. Too easy. Also, every time I come across one of these items, I can just slip it in the appropriate page protector and continue on with my day/activities. So, so simple and obvious.
I seem to be at a stage now in decluttering where the more I remove from the house the more overwhelming the whole situation feels as there is still SO MUCH to do! I'm trying to not get too discouraged.
Kiala Givehand’s 7 Books in 7 Days course: I still have ideas for books I want to make though that's on the back burner for now.
Courses and Challenges (free and paid):
Karen Abend's annual (free) Sketchbook Revival online retreat. With the outside work, I'm currently stalled on the journal(s). Thankfully, I have the instructions so I can take as long or as short a time as I need to make them.
Deanne Fitzpatrick's (paid) Playful Joyful Rug Hooking beginner course: I finished my small abstract/stain glass looking hooked rug on July 1st. That finished up the second burlap runner so now my next step is to cut all the rugs apart and finish the binding on them. I do have a larger (for me) rug that I also started hooking.
Physical Activity:
Rebounder: I do 10 minutes of the health bounce, four times per day. What I really like about rebounding is that...
1. I don't need to change or put on special clothes - what I wear is good enough
2. I don't need special footwear - I bounce in bare feet
3. weather is not a factor - I can bounce no matter what
4. there is no special prep - in less than a minute I can go downstairs and get on the rebounder
5. it's easy to fit in my day - while I generally bounce around the same time everyday, I have the flexibility to adjust depending on the day and my activities.
"Mystery activity” I’m still doing this DAILY!! For 2026, I'm just enjoying the activity and not worry about reaching a specific time duration or level of proficiency.
Works in progress:
Currently, I'm working on...
- Era of the Dreamers journal - almost daily as I've been recording my outside activities in the garden.
- personal smashbook for DAILY journal writing as part of my connection to Spirit, my Guides, and my inner Wisdom.
- mini collages - at the stage where I have a whole bunch more bits and pieces that need sorted before I complete more.
- painting (18-20?) ceramic Easter egg people from Gramma's craft kits (acrylics) - on hold
- UFO crochet project (not food) - on hold
- my next small hooked rug
- I have my 13 inch round canvas that I started in Lou's program last year (that I got kicked out of) and I'm trying to decide what to cover it with.
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.
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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Thank you so much for your support, to receive this newsletter directly via email please email: thechautauqua@gmail.com to be added to the mailing list. Thank you!
Back issues of this newsletter are found here: https://thechautauquanewspaper.blogspot.com/ under the category "Artist Newsletter"
To support my artistic journey, please consider purchasing my artwork, items available in person at 4910-47 St, Mirror, AB
or make a donation via
Mail a cheque or money order (made out to Beth Richardson – Chautauqua) to Box 261 Mirror, AB T0B 3C0
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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!
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