Janly's Canadian Retreat

 Just a short report from here .- rain!!! it looks the same and feels the same and does the same. Thank goodness there is at least one thing we can rely as being the same - in essence wherever we find it, and being British I have a reputation to maintain  as to my  tolerance and acceptance of the stuff.  As for the price of parsnips, we all need to watch our backs pretty carefully because those tariffs are almost here and we are going to be slammed!!! Parsnips in a different store today were marked at $3.60 CAD per lb today but i can't even begin factor this all with all the other mayhem, coming out of DC.  Due to the rain and forecast snow,  I asked new friend Jane if she could take me if she was going to shop .   I was very fortunate that she took me to a good store with good fresh produce. However, It transpires that  alcohol can only be sold in liquor stores, not even Costco !!! So still not wine for me. The other shop Jane introduced me ...

  Looking back yet again as I try to decode and then convert kg. to lb. and CAD to USD, it's all a bit of a mystery. Suffice it to say that unless i was overcharged or i am not reading the receipt , I was charged $3.61 CAD for 1 parsnip that weighed 0.210kg @$6.59/kg. So that 's $3.30 a lb!!! but someone else will need to convert CAD to USD. So the parsnip weighed about 7.5 ozs in US money(imperial weight) . In summary i bought an 8 oz.pasnip that cost me $3.61CAD! I need to check this out and i will get back to you on this.  MEANWHILE, yesterday , i walked with a friend one my hosts ; she is from northern UK and so is her husband -Jane and Keith . They have a labdoddle or similar called Molly. We had a good walk of a trail i partially know and i went to their house for coffee. It was a lovely visit; our conversation covered  the whole gambit across culture, life choices, travel, education and more. Jane and Keith have a very interesting collection of contemporary art wor...

 My main news today is that I read in the newspaper, at the cafe. where i had coffee and muffin prior to Figure Drawing , that British Columbia has had  125 days  of dry weather which is the longest on record. Meanwhile, most of the readers of this blog are still experiencing freezing temperatures in the southern USA. My newspaper  read also mentioned that Canada is ramping up border security and this international boundary is the least secure in the world - to date.  So figure drawing morning included the absence of the amazing model so we all took turns posing in 5 minute short poses and paid 1/2 the fee. . The best thing about today was that i got a ride home with another whose name i have not learned how to pronounce or spell but she is from SOUTH Korea (south she was determined to say as if one might question North or South?) . Her author daughter has recently been at VCCA Amherst , VA on a writers retreat.-small world.  Also met a Scotsman with whom w...

  Today was different. I had a pretty reasonable sleep but watched the sun rise quietly not making too much noise  at around 6.am .My day had been planned but the new friend offering me a ride to Victoria told me that her class was cancelled today so we would not go to downtown  after all. Never mind- i decided i would permission myself to read the novel "Still Life "by Louise Penny that i am enjoying. I cannot recall the last time that i read a novel so this is a luxury. The novel was randomly picked from the family book shelf and shortly after, on the same day, Kate suggested it!!! The author is Canadian so it matches the theme of the retreat !!!😁 So to read  a novel on the sofa on a Sunday morning is literally a new experience for me and everyone who cares about their personal health and state of mind should ensure that this activity is prioritised. However, I was allowing for procrastination because I had almost written a large post-it note to stick in a promine...

 Today I send  photos, to bring respite from all the words of yesterday. I walked 7.600 steps in 2 hours and took these photos on the way starting and finishing at the house. The lagoon look across the water to the snow on mountains of Olympia  The Arbutus tree , sometimes called Pacific Madrone is indigenous to BC. It  has red, peeling bark and branches that twist and lean . and sometimes are massive  with holes in the trunk and then i drew with a watercolour pencil in my sketchbook

  This retreat is demanding, and its a lot of hard work. I am, of course, referring to the mental demands of finding ways of moving forward, going against the grain that feels like its supposed to be clearly on track.  Having the head space available to deliberate about the what and why and how of life, takes it out of you.  But the best thing about being in this peaceful place is that all pressure on me is just for me to expend as i see necessary.  The walks on lovely wooded trails, the trees filled with the voices of birds to be indentified because I have the time and the app, and the quiet but persistent slushing of tiny tidal waves all require comtemplation and consideration. So this is a retreat , as most should be, that works on serving  the mind and soul. If some physical work is done, so be it, but don't feel like a failure if a day passes and  you don't have a clue where the time went. The sum total of this day is that i folded and cut four 36" squ...

T oday, i rose earlier than usual because i needed to catch the bus at 8.30 to take me to Life Drawing session at Art Pod, Metchosin. The bus takes to me the door, pretty much , but i was 1 hour early . Problem solved because there is a coffee shop right across the road that also has real. tactile, newspapers to read.  T he news was of course  pretty grim :about all those pardons for people  insighted to storm the US capital that Trump instantly denied involvement. The  tariffs on Mexico, Canada and the rest of the world were mentioned as well as the concern about renaming Denali in Alaska . Denali means High Mountain or similar in First Nation speak.  so the connection is one that holds memory and significance.  At Life drawing  session, one very  thoughtful woman with strong connections  to the Art Pod, suggested I borrow an easel for 6 months . After the word have gone round the room twice , I was told that of course I could borrow an ease...

 Not much else good can said about this day, besides honouring MLK and his instrumental work for the oppressed. Any other events had blighted this as a day never to be forgotten  is one that brought  full focus on  the way in which US "thuggery" now lives in the White House. It was a difficult day in many ways but at least Victoria BC was not blasted with extreme cold temperatures . I walked in the sunshine in comfort along slightly slippery trails that lead to the waters edge, just minutes from the house. The Juan de Fuca Strait provides views of sky, ships, clouds and snow covered  Olympic Mountains of USA. Large "islands" of rocks that look like massive loaves of bread , or maybe the back of a whale are just off the edge of the cliff . Started some small watercolour  studies that might develop into paintings on canvas . My roll of unprimed 12oz. duck will arrive any day now so the heat is on!!!  Photos are from my short walk today shrubbery with the...