The 2026 Chuckwagon season officially started with the World Professional Chuckwagon Association (WPCA) races in Grande Prairie May 27 - May 31st! I was able to listen to the races online. I also listened to the races online from Bonnyville June 4 - 7th! They had to cancel the Friday night races because of rain and unsafe track conditions, and then the Monday night finals for the same reason!
These first two race stops had 8 permit drivers competing for the remaining 4 spots in the WPCA line up and the 4 who didn't make it, will compete in the CPCA tour which starts this weekend.
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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)
Bealtaine: Tears of Joy and Sadness (water, everything will work out okay)
Celebrations:
May 11th my neighbour, who introduced me to Deanne Fitzpatrick and rug hooking, showed up at my door with this book! That was a delightful surprise, and now I don't have to buy my own copy!
May 14th, I joined my Sis and we attended the (2nd) performance of my Niece's drama production: "Sam Shovel, Private Eye," which was in the style of a 1940s radio show. My Niece had numerous roles as she was in the "sponsor commercials" segments of the program. She was a delight to watch, as was the entire cast. This was one of my favourites that the Drama class has performed.
I was in Bashaw putting gas in my truck on May 15th and decided to buy more seeds for the garden (fingers crossed they grow after being planted) and I treated myself to a Chinese dinner. YUM!
As May was a 5-Friday month, the 2nd last week of the month was one of my 4 holiday weeks this year. I took the entire week to work outside in the garden and to sort/declutter in the house. While it wasn't completely "visibly" obvious, I did make significant headway in both areas!
A school friend stopped for a visit May 30th. We started reminiscing about former classmates and teachers, and she commented that we'd need to look in a yearbook, but that wasn't possible. I assured her it was, and within 5 mins I had my copies pulled out for us to look at! There are some things in this house that I can put my hands on quickly and easily.
The end of May I finally had to toss the Telus bouquet greenery into the compost as it was very sad looking. I'm amazed it lasted this long! After I tossed it, my landline completely died and internet started cutting out June 3 & 4th - after days of heavy rain and wind! Thankfully everything was working again on its own June 5th. Some others in town weren't as lucky as their landlines died and didn't come back up. I had a tech scheduled to come look at it, and didn't cancel when the landline came back as it was obviously having issues and needed looked at.
June 9th the tech was at my neighbour's first and had to replace her phone line to her house due to age/worn out. Then he arrived here - all was good, and he discovered that my problem had been the box on the pole in the alley was open and a small branch from a tree growing very close had tangled with the wires and when the wind was blowing, everything got badly jiggled, but not disconnected. He broke off the branch, untangled the wires, closed the box, and said I shouldn't have any other problems because my lines are newer. When he was in the house testing/resetting my modem, he complimented me on the various artworks he could see from the hallway (which was a lot as he could see the art for sale in solarium) and on my MANY covered coathangers and asked if I sold them (yes, $2 each) - he didn't buy any, but was very interested in them. He also said he could understand why I don't watch an extensive amount of TV!
The next day, I had a very interesting phone call with the Telus guy following up to make sure everything was resolved - told me he had been talking to my neighbour before me and her issues were resolved (good thing he said that, or I might have hung up on him thinking he was just a salesman) - after we confirmed all was good here, and he apologized for all the hassle and said I'd be receiving a small credit, he asked if I was an author?! Seems the guy was checking out my website and wanted to know more because he is just about to release his first novel (a side hustle of his) - we discussed different ways he could get the word out and different things I've done (unique because I own the paper) and he thanked me so much for my suggestions. THAT was certainly unexpected!
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 have been watching episodes of "When Calls the Heart" as I have free access to the first 11 seasons on the Global app - I own season 1 on DVD - I have watched all of seasons 1 - 5 now. I discovered I had free access to the current episode of "Elsbeth" on the Global app too - I watched a couple of episodes, and decided it was very funny and worth starting from the beginning, so I borrowed Season 1 (DVD) from the library and I am now waiting for Season 2 (DVD) to arrive.
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 completed 33 covered coathangers to the beginning of June. I've been completing an average of 1/day. I sell the covered hangers for $2 each. I'm stalled on doing any more until (if?) I can find more wire coathangers. I have asked two thrift stores to save any they get in for me.
I finished my 45th cartoon comic booklet. You can view it here: https://www.facebook.com/beth.richardson.10/videos/1387918119818484
In Beth's Kitchen:
I made a batch of applesauce pancakes May 18th.
May 19th, I mixed up a batch of flourless chocolate cupcakes - added some crushed dried orange to the recipe just for fun. As the oven was hot, I also made a batch of applesauce blender muffins.
After almost a week of heat warnings, we were under rainfall and wind warnings on May 31st. As it was such a wet blustery day, I decided to make some French toast and a batch of almond flour chocolate chip cookies - I used some mini chocolate chips I had and that worked much better for mixing the dough (instead of regular sized chips).
In my family, porridge (particularly Cream of Wheat) was an evening meal (when we were all busy, or mom really didn't want to cook), or comfort food on a really cold day. I can easily make porridge on the stovetop - for 4, not for just 1, no matter how little I try to make. So, off and on through the years I've tried to figure out how to make porridge in the microwave, and haven't been successful as it ALWAYS boiled over on me. A couple of weeks ago, I wanted porridge and decided to give it another try in the microwave. I can't remember why now, but all of the right sized microwave cooking bowls had something in them, so I pulled one of the Corelle cereal bowls from the cupboard and used that instead. Oh my gosh! Game changer! No boiling over at all!
Too wet to do anything outside on June 6th due to some rain during the night, so I decided to work in the kitchen instead as I really needed to prep some food. As I was in the freezer, I discovered a frozen rice meal - bonus. I made two savoury clafoutis - used coconut milk as I didn't have any 2% milk - with peppers, onions and mushrooms. The coconut milk did change the end result slightly, so I'll make sure I have 2% milk next time I want to make another. Then I made some Tuscan burgers and used chopped mushroom for the "meat."
I saw a recipe for super easy chocolate chip cookies and decided to give it a try on June 9th. Personally, I think chocolate chip cookies are super easy to make normally. I ended up cooking them twice as long as the recipe called for as they weren't even close to cooked when the timer went off! Other than that, it is a recipe worth keeping.
When I was downtown at the bank, my friend gave me 2 bundles of bok choy - bonus! - so I sautéed that up for future meals too. As the root ball was still attached to the bok choy, I planted the roots out in my garden as an experiment. Fingers crossed.
Yard & Garden
May 7th, I planted some more radish, some beet seeds, and some nasturtium seeds inside as an experiment. Too windy to work outside, and I was in too much pain and agony to do anything.
I went out May 8th and put my final rain barrel up and swept the cement pad under the deck. Then I started raking my yard - barely managed 10 mins before I had to quit. Oy! A little later in the morning, I went out again and managed another 10 mins so that 1/4 of my yard was raked! And it's such a small yard, that it shouldn't take any time at all!
May 10th I went out and started putting the various large plant pots around the labyrinth/garden. I had more than I thought I did, AND, I had less than I thought I did, so I was mentally revamping my tentative plan for the garden.
Later that afternoon, I went out and set up the wheelbarrow that will be made into the planter - I may or may not get it ready to plant something in it this year!? I planted some more miscellaneous unknown flower seeds by the wheelbarrow and some perennial sunflower seeds in the east flowerbed by the house. I was pretty sure that was the LAST of the seeds-of-an-unknown-ancient-age in the house. Fingers crossed the flowers all come up!
While I was outside, my next door neighbour dropped a bag of seed potatoes over the fence for me. Bonus!
Seeds just keep showing up in this house!!! I found some jack-o-lantern pumpkin seeds in some Halloween stuff so decided to sprout them in my seed starting kit - since the onions, parsley and watermelon didn't sprout (too ancient?) - with some more nasturtium seeds on May 11th. This is certainly going to be a different garden this year!
Before supper, I went out May 16th and mowed most of my yard! Amazing how easy it is when the grass/dandelions aren't a foot tall! I wasn't able to finish as the very back was really covered in branches that I still needed to get raked up.
May 17th, my next door neighbour dropped more seed potatoes over the fence for me. Bonus! And then, May 18th, they gave me even more seed potatoes and some onion sets! Personally, I felt it was still too cold (freezing at night) to plant anything.
I was outside for 75 mins on May 19th - probably was too much for one go. I finished raking the back and then spent 10 mins finishing up the mowing. I weeded two sections of the garden and planted some potatoes in them. I planted the bonus onion sets with the other onions I had planted.
Despite the windy conditions, I went out after lunch on May 20th and spent 50 mins weeding two smaller sections of the garden. Right after I walked back into the house, it started raining!!! Alas it was only a 5-min burst.
May 21st I spent 45 mins weeding in the garden. I weeded the main strawberry bed and I'm not sure if I'll get any strawberries this year because the plants are looking really sad. We needed rain desperately.
May 22nd I went out at 9 AM and started weeding on one side of the west pea fence (left in picture above) - didn't get far and had to quit after 40 mins as I was getting too hot and the mosquitoes were ridiculous. It was very overcast after lunch, so I went out at 2:15 PM and spent 45 mins weeding the other side of the west pea fence. Didn't even have it weeded halfway.
May 23rd I went out and spent 1 hr 20 mins in the garden. I planted my 3 large plant pots along the fence as "mini gardens” for an experiment. I pulled out the East pea fence as it was constantly falling down and I don't have any extra stakes right now to fix it. I planted my peas - I read something this year that you are supposed to plant the seeds very close together (despite what the package says for spacing) so I experimented with that along the West pea fence. I also planted beans, beets, carrots, and some more potatoes. Still had 1/2 of the potatoes to plant!
I didn't worry about trying to plant by the moon this year and just planted when I had energy and it wasn't insanely windy!
I went back out after lunch and weeded where the pea fence had been - took an hour! Then I spent 25 mins planting potatoes there. We NEEDED RAIN!
May 24th my next door neighbour dropped off even MORE seed potatoes that he'd found in their basement! If they eat that many potatoes that they plant so many, why aren't they planting them this year? I thanked him, and told him I'd find somewhere to plant them.
May 25th I spent 30 mins mowing my lawn. While it was easy, it did wipe me out. Grrr
Later in the morning, I stopped at a neighbour's on my way downtown, and she gave me more plant pots, a sage plant, and a bunch of miscellaneous garden seeds (apparently she scored a very LARGE box full of seeds, for cheap, at a garage sale and these were ones she wouldn't plant)!
After lunch, I made a flying trip to Tailcreek Greenhouse - bought 3 small pepper plants to put in a planter myself. They wondered if I was still doing the paper (yes, and it seems the last papers I left in their gate blew away???) and they noticed I hadn’t put in my order for my usual pots and plants yet! (Life not cooperating)
May 26th I was outside at 6:40 AM...I planted some cucumber seeds, handful of onion sets, and the sage plant from my neighbour. I also planted the three pepper plants, 5 pattypan squash seedlings (that I started), and some more seed potatoes. Still had half of the potatoes to plant! I rolled up the pea fence and took to my sister because I really don't need 3 pea fences with the labyrinth set up. Had to use reverse osmosis water from the house to water the newly planted items as my rain barrels were completely empty and dry. All in all, I was outside for an hour.
I went back out and spent an hour pulling weeds - didn't get very far.
Despite the heat warning and high humidex on May 27th, I went out at 8:40 AM because there was a breeze and pulled more weeds for 1/2 hr. Then I had to return to the house and rest.
When I pulled the weeds I accidentally pulled out the main stake for the end of the West pea fence and I wasn't able to get it back into the ground myself. After asking around, I found a neighbour willing to help and he arrived before lunch - I also had him shift the north end of the fence so I have more space to plant in front of it.
After lunch, I made a flying trip to Tailcreek Greenhouse - as my finances ended up very tight in May due to unexpected increases and unexpected expenses, I wasn't able to get my usual items from the greenhouse - I bought a cherry tomato plant and called it good.
We were still under the heat warning on May 28th. After I sent the paper file off to the press, I headed out the door at 6:40 AM - it was quite hot and humid, even at that time! I weeded the east flowerbed by the house and planted my cantaloupe seedings and the tomato plant. I planted my pumpkin seedlings in the garden. I planted more potatoes in the various plant pots around the labyrinth. Still had potatoes to plant, but needed to weed more before I could do so. All in all, I was outside 50 mins.
Later in the afternoon, on my way home from a quick trip to Clive Library, I stopped at PJ's Plantation greenhouse - they were sold out of honeydew melons (!) so I bought 2 watermelon plants. I planted them later in the day after I watered everything.
The heat warning continued, and I could not believe how hot and humid it was when I went outside at 6:15 AM on May 29th. I only managed to pull weeds for 45 mins before I had to go inside as I thought I would pass out!
It suddenly clouded over so I quickly went out at 9 AM and in 15 mins I finished pulling the rest of the weeds from the space I was clearing and planted the last of the potatoes - there weren't as many left to plant as I thought.
May 31st the rain started falling and didn't stop until June 2nd! All in all, we received 4 inches of rain! Hallelujah!
When I was out delivering papers on June 3rd, I picked up a couple of strawberry plants at PJ's greenhouse to add to my mini garden experiment. Before I returned back home, I was also given 17 free plants!!! Irises, a Christmas cactus, aloe vera plants, spider plants, and 3 unknown (gal couldn't remember what they were) perennial plants! Bonus!
June 5th I went out and spent an hour pulling 3 ft tall quack grass from the tulip/perennial bed - amazing how fast it grew in all that rain! Also, it's not surprising the Indigenous used to use the roots to make rope as they are indestructible! I only managed to get 1/3 of the bed cleaned out, but it was enough to find the two daisy plants I planted last year, and see that three of my irises were blooming!! I planted the 7 free irises I'd gotten the other day, and the three unknown perennial plants. The remaining free plants will stay in the house. Also, ALL of those dandelions (pictured above) in the garden went to seed so I had quite a mess that still needed cleaned up. OY!
I was out later in the morning and spent 20 mins mowing. Only got half of the lawn done before the humidity got to me.
After the sun dried things up a bit, I went outside June 6th and picked some volunteer dill and volunteer chives to dry - in the past I would have tried to get rid of the plants because they were growing where they shouldn't be, but last year I decided that any volunteer herbs can stay put - no matter where they pop up. I noticed I have some volunteer chocolate mint coming too!!!!! My Lily of the Valley just started blooming! That's late! I pulled a few HUGE dandelions from the labyrinth path as I looked to see if anything was growing yet in my garden - looked like a few sprouts were about to break through the dirt! The seedlings I started, that survived the intense heat, seem to have drowned! I'm not sure I'll get anything from them, but I'm crossing my fingers that the roots were strong and the plants will come back. Then I spent 30 mins mowing and finished the rest of the lawn. Good thing as we received another 1/8th inch of rain that night, and a further 1/8th the next night.
The sky was threatening but no rain was falling so I went out at 6:35 AM on June 10th and spent 50 mins getting rid of 2 foot tall thistles and rogue rose bush shoots off the labyrinth path. Now I don't need to worry about stepping on something prickly - assuming I managed to get rid of them all and stopped future growth. Fingers crossed. Shortly after I walked back into the house, the rain started, though it didn't last.
Jigsaw Puzzles
Since my last Letter, I completed a 1,000 piece puzzle,
and a 750 piece puzzle that had extra sparkle!
UFO (UnFinished Object) Update:
As part of my Hobbit year, I'm going through the Inner Circle Let It Go, Let It Flow program again. 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
- two bags of chocolate moulds (most had never even been used) to the second hand store in town.
- used foodstuffs from the freezer and pantry
- more items added to the yard/craft sales
- more teacher resources given to the school (Mom's teacher resources also keep appearing in this house - she had everything in ONE spot so it's a surprise to find in other areas of the house)
In my great decluttering journey, there are very few things I've gotten rid of that I wished I didn't - maybe some craft supplies, but then I've found more in the house (sometimes even something that would work better!) so I have them when I need them. The one major exception so far though is Mom's broiler pan - it was probably as old as I am (if not older!) yet looked like it had never been used (probably hadn't as I never remember her or Dad using it) - because of its age and quality, it would have been handy to still have and I could have decluttered some other pans instead. Oh well. Again, it was never used in my living memory, so am I really missing out by not having it anymore? No! Do I feel the need to buy a new one? No!
After I got really sick/collapsed when I was 14 years old, I started collecting information and research on topics, activities, and more I wanted to pursue when "I was finally healthy again." I have pages upon pages, in folders upon folders, in boxes upon boxes, from my teens, 20s, 30s and 40s! Nothing is sorted into categories as it's all just in order of when I saved it, not by topic. It covers the gamut from different healing modalities, healthy eating diets, off-the-grid living, sustainable living, gardening, yoga, exercise routines, writing resources, business resources, magic, religion, mysticism, gardening, recipes, creative projects, patterns (knitting, crochet, sewing), unpublished articles/books I wrote, and so much more. I also saved umpteen interesting resources and pages on various topics because in my 20s, I wanted to create a magazine (FYI, the newspaper I own and run is much less work!), but didn't know what I wanted for a focus for the magazine so I just collected anything and everything hoping I would figure it out.
Now, I've managed to live without referencing any of this since it got boxed, so I probably could just get rid of it, but I also want to see what is there and if it is still something I want to do, something I've already done (in which case, I can just recycle the info), or something I no longer have any interest or need for (which can definitely be recycled).
This past month, I've slowly been working through a few of the folders, and some IS getting recycled. Mainly health and diet info that we know now doesn't work for me (ie low-fat, gluten-free, etc). I've also found important papers (financial and otherwise) that I do need to keep and file! I would have had NO idea where to find them if I ever actually had to pull them out, so I'm glad I have access to them now. It has also been interesting to see what topics I was interested in the past that I haven't thought about for decades! I also discovered a lot of topics I still managed to pursue through the years despite not having access to the saved info in the boxes. I recently found a lot of the pictures, and bits & pieces I'll use for future mini collages.
I was concerned about what I would do with the pages I wanted to keep as I didn't want everything to end up in one giant unsorted pile again, and I didn't want to spread them out on the floor as I don't know how long they might end up there! So, I was quite pleasantly surprised when I realized I'd dealt with so many items in the basement, that I had two long empty shelves! So I started sorting the papers onto those shelves - that way I can see what I have and they aren't all over the floor!
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: May 27th, I finished the small rug I started way back in Nov! I have my next small rug started.
Physical Activity:
Rebounder: I've been doing 10 minutes of the health bounce, four times per day for 3 months now. I am crossing my fingers that the daily bouncing is why I've been able to do more outside work than usual.
"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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