Red Cedar

This week was not about getting lost, but about a few days on my own where I had some reflective moments about a few things that have been a bit off the rails for me lately. Nutrition, for one. And the lack of music and writing in my life of the last few months. Brian was in the city for four days, and as much as I miss him when he’s gone, it’s also when I get a bit of being-time to really sit with some feelings that have been arising in the last few weeks. And now that I’ve done that, I’m focusing December on some ways to rebalance my wheel a little.

Food: This week was a crap week for food. I didn’t like anything I cooked, and I ate way too much starchy carb at the wrong times of the day, which is just a big energy suck. On a positive note, that smartened me right up mid-week and I’ve cut way back on the foods that don’t work for me. One thing I have been making for the last few weeks that really does float my boat right now is a recipe my friend Jenn shared in the summer for Paleo Morning Glory muffins. There are many versions of this on the Internet, but not the exact one she shared with me – so I’ll type it up here in the next few days – because as far as I’m concerned it’s the best – all nut protein and veg with just a tiny bit of honey and apple to sweeten.

Textiles: The first of The Assembly Line Oversized Shirts is done and I am in love with it. The Shetland flannel I ordered from Spool of Thread is unbelievably soft and quite warm – making it perfect for winter garments. The pattern itself is easy to follow and construct, does not use the dreaded “burrito” method in its construction (I have screwed up the burrito as many times as I have executed it successfully), and has a collarless option which is my preference in button-up shirts. One thing I will say is that this shirt is *very* oversized, so even though a medium is my correct size, it felt a little too big at first (though styling it is important, with the bodysuit and leggings on underneath it doesn’t feel too big at all – whereas with jeans it felt ridiculous).

I am working on my second version of this, in a slightly heavier flannel, red herringbone – size small. By cutting it down just a bit all over, I think the fit will be a bit more forgiving in terms of pairing with jeans. Should be done by the end of the weekend and then I can start working on a pair of jeans for Brian which is the next project in my queue.

Fitness: Last Sunday I ran nearly 7 kilometres which is the longest I have ever run in my life. The trails were muddy, and I had to do some creek hopping, but it was a satisfying circuit and my overall pace wasn’t bad either. I skipped my run on Tuesday (it was pouring rain), and went for a short run yesterday with a much-improved pace. I guess it’s true that to run faster you have to run longer distances. I also made it into the gym as per my regular (M/W/F) schedule for masked workouts on the heavy weights and some extra core work. I’m back at the point where I need to switch things up a bit and get back to some of the speed drills and core work I was doing in the summer – so I’m doing that.

Work: Work and union work have both been busy lately. I had a grievance hearing last week, and this week have been doing research to support another grievance, plus trying to get a lot completed on my staffing file, plus managing a large project that is still not well-defined and needs to get there (defined, that is) in the next two weeks. On the plus side, I have been making to-do lists, sticking to them, and getting things done – so I can look over the last week of notes and see actual progress. That always feels good.

Notable: During this pandemic lockdown period, single people are allowed to attach themselves to a household – and so we have invited two different single friends to be a part of our household for now – which more than anything else means we can have dinner together. All of us are low-circulation within our small community and we don’t have anyone coming/going from our house at the moment – so it feels like a safe enough approach on our end, but also a little lifeline to some folks we care about living alone out there, and a way to safely have a little company at Birdsong. Tonight we have paella and red wine on the agenda!

Also, I sang some songs this week while I was on my own, and I plan to sing some more over the next little while. My voice is in terrible shape, but like anything, will come back with just a few minutes practice per day and so I’ve set the intention for the coming month to find my way back into myself just a little bit through singing, and playing music, and maybe even writing a bit more. I see how much I’ve externalized during the pandemic, bit by bit moving to the outside of myself (weight lifting, running, etc) and abandoning the inside (music, writing, spiritual) to some degree. As I said up top, I need to rebalance the wheel a little, and it starts by learning a few new songs to sing!

Like pretty much everywhere else in North America, BC is back into near-lockdown mode as of last night at midnight. I have responded by ordering more two-person board games and masks for the gym – my gym is still open at least. The photo at the head of this is from last winter in Lund harbour – I somehow haven’t taken a single photo of note this week.

Food: I’ve been eating more since I’ve been running, which I’d like to curtail a bit since we are heading into the slowest months of the year. On the other hand, we’ve been eating very well this week – curried noodles, smoked sablefish chowder, lasagna, tacos, rotisserie chicken, and cumin lamb have all hit the table – owing to the fact that both Brian and I are at home everyday and we have a ton of food in the pantry and freezer. We split one-more fresh of the boat halibut with a friend this week and now we have enough seafood in our freezer to eat it twice a week for the next year.

In other exciting food news, I harvested my first flush of Elm Oyster mushrooms and we’re going to eat them for dinner tonight (with some ground venison, and fresh tomatoes on pasta). I’ve put the kit back under the humidity tent to see if I can get another crop or two before the kit is done.

Textiles: I spent a bunch of time this week printing, taping, and cutting out PDF patterns for the Quadra Jeans (for Brian), the Morgan Jeans, the Persephone Pants, and the Oversized Shirt as well as the Beatrix top. Once I got that done, I cut out the first of my planned Oversized shirts in a lovely charcoal brushed cotton (so soft) and have started sewing it last night. So far so good, but I’m just at the beginning stages. I plan to work on it this weekend, and get it done if I can find the time.

Fitness: I seem to be getting stronger again after a couple of months of dropping back and maintaining my lifts at a lower weight level. Without a lot of effort I have found myself adding weight and intensity to my gym workouts – and though I’m not back up to my personal record weights, I’m heading there pretty quickly. I missed one workout this week because I was driving a friend around for house-inspection stuff – but otherwise, the workout regimen is pretty much on track. Running continues to interest me, and I am pretty consistently hitting 3 runs per week.

Work: This week we administered the exams in the job competition process I am running and I just spent the last two days marking them. Testing is a big part of federal government job processes but there is no particular standard for devising tests so everytime I do a process I have to come up with some way to have individuals show their ability to do what we need. This time I was testing for writing, web coding, and strategic advising. Now that I’ve marked them, I can move onto scheduling interviews with the goal of having all the heavy lifting done before xmas. This is a major milestone in a big process and I can’t believe we are this close to being done!

Notable things: Brian’s coworker and partner bought a place on Gabriola this week, something they can work on fixing up and use on weekends while they keep it tenanted – and I’m really happy for both them and the folks who currently live in the house who get to stay.

Other than that it’s been a pretty non-eventful week of stormy weather and periodic sun, new pandemic restrictions, and listening to podcasts (new favourite is Conspirituality, but also really enjoying Criminal, Reply All, and Maintenance Phase at the moment).

I think the photo at the head of this might be the last of my cheery autumn sun photos for the year. I took this on a walk last Sunday – a cold but brilliant day – and shortly afterwards the clouds rolled in.

Food: Just when you think you are done with processing food for the season, someone comes along with a whole lot of hot peppers and then the hazelnuts are also ready! This week I was pickling peppers for a market gardening friend, when I decided to also try fermenting hot sauce for the first time – so now I have 21 tiny jars of pickled peppers and 1 quart jar of fermenting peppers on my kitchen counter. Two kilos of hazelnuts came from one of the farms up the road, and are drying in my pantry until the time when I get cracking! In our house, hazelnuts are used as flour meal and in bliss balls, so my tendency is to shell and freeze for ease of use.

As per my previous weekly posts, cooking and baking are my autumn obsessions at the moment. I’ve recently switched to using fresh-ground flour for my bread (Vancouver Island wheat and the ground in the vita-mix right before mixing), bought an air fryer which has been all sorts of useful, and have been working on expanding my cooking repertoire through extensive use of the New York Times cooking site. The food has been very good around here lately.

Textiles: Got nothing this week on the textile front except the fact that I’ve finished knitting the main body of the Drifter pattern I’m working on. Now for the neckline, the edges, the buttons and buttonholes – another month most likely until I get it done. I’ve just ordered some flannelette fabric to make the new Oversized Shirt pattern by Assembly Line which I’ve feel a strong calling to make even though oversized isn’t usually my style choice. We’ll see how it turns out.

Work: Every once and while I get a union case that doesn’t sit right with me for some reason or other, and I’ve got one right now that just feels off. It’s been preoccupying me this week – and so work has suffered a bit. I made up for it yesterday by going through my inbox and making a bit long task list of all the things that need to get done – and so now I’m sitting here with a daunting list on a Friday morning.

Fitness: This week I unlocked two new fitness achievements. On Sunday it was longest run (ever) at 6 km, which I accomplished with a hangover (I am often foggy after Saturday nights!) I started out in my normal fashion but then decided to run up the really steep/long hill near my house and into a whole different neighbourhood in an attempt to hit 5 km. I overshot a bit, and now I have a new lifetime distance record to build from. Then on Tuesday, a friend who I walk with asked if I wanted to run instead. Running with someone else intimidates me, but I told her that as long as I could set the pace I would try. Turned out to be a blast and we did 5 km, chatting most of the way. Somehow I feel like running with other people makes me a real runner, even if I do slow them down.

Notable: Things are going down with my aging parents these days and I have been on the phone talking to people about home care this week. They don’t need much at the moment – but a little housekeeping and food prep would sure help my mom out these days. We’re going down to Victoria for an overnight visit tomorrow and taking a cake and a lasagna for her birthday. After this weekend I expect we will be very limited to the island for a long time since the pandemic regulations are increasing in the province and I expect that Vancouver Island will get lockdown orders sooner rather than later.

In mycology news – my oyster mushrooms have sprouted! They poked their heads out yesterday, and already today they look more like real mushrooms:

It’s really stormy here this morning, which seems to be a theme this month. I’m hoping the rain lets up for a mid-morning run but I’m not counting on it. November really is a difficult month on the coast with the increasingly dark days and socked in weather – but at least the gym here is still open and I can always work the kinks out there 🙂

The picture at the head of this post is what it looks like when I am cooking, baking, and watching CNN at the same time (I am mesmerized by CNN’s magic wall, and I can’t believe the commentators have been at it since Tuesday – it’s insane). Here’s hoping there is an answer to the question today as we close out a week of anxiety for so many people – though I’m not sure I’m less anxious knowing that 49% of people who live right next door voted for fascism.

Food: This week was pretty average on the food front – Brian was away for work so the meal plan included leftovers, pressure canned beans, yams, and veggie burgers (comfort food). Last night, however, I made a lamb stew with miso/ginger flavours and it knocked us out of the park. I adapted it from another recipe so I could make it in the Instant Pot and plan to share it here once I type it up. Definitely one of the best things I’ve eaten in ages.

One thing I’ve been digging lately is the air fryer we bought in October. While I’m not sure it can really be called a fryer (more like a countertop convection oven), I’ve used it almost every day for something. We got one with a rotisserie basket which turns out is fantastic for roasting vegetables, and making french fries. Yesterday I used it with just the light on (no heat) to rise my sourdough starter more quickly than it would on the cold countertop. As we have a propane stove/oven, I am all for reducing the amount we heat up the whole oven for jobs that can be handled by a smaller device. With just two people to feed most of the time, we don’t need an oven that can cook a whole turkey, we just want to do a few veggies on the side or make some quick oven fries – an air fryer can do that with a fraction of the energy use.

Textiles: I mentioned my desire for bodysuits last week and this week I made my first Rowan bodysuit which I am totally in love with (wearing as we speak). The Rowan can be made as a shirt or a bodysuit, has three necklines and three sleeve choices – so it’s really a great pattern if you like a form-fitting tee. But beware that your fabric has enough stretch! In one iteration I made with 100% cotton, the tee was so tight because I hadn’t factored the stretch requirements in when pulling the fabric out of my stash.

Speaking of t-shirts, the other thing I’ve done this week is made four everyday shirts with 3/4 length sleeves in different colours since I needed something more than t-shirts and tank tops in the wardrobe as we move towards winter.

Besides the obsessive making of shirts, nothing else got done in the studio this week.

Work: Work has continued to be very work-y except now I’m also starting to panic about deadlines in March that can’t possibly be met. I did start a new project manager reporting to me this week, which means I have help in sorting out the mess that is to come. I also met some major milestones on the competitive process I am running (which in the federal government is as bureaucratic as you can imagine it is) – so that continues with the goal of getting it wrapped up by xmas. I am now hiring for a total of nine positions, some of which have staff in them in “term” positions and some which are vacant – that is a crazy amount of paperwork to come….

Fitness: It’s been happening but without any real inspiration. I’ve run a couple of times, I’ve worked out at the gym on schedule – though I haven’t been getting much yoga in. Right now I am in the mode of just showing up which is the key to long-term success. I’ve also been thinking about a shift in mindset I read about earlier this week which is to stop thinking about exercise as something I “do” but think of myself as “someone who exercises” (being vs. doing). Apparently that is one of the differences between people who stick with it over a lifetime and people who don’t – and I would love it if my brain would just make that shift so I could dispense with the resistance I feel when it’s time to go to the gym. I’m always glad to be there and to get through a hard workout, but getting there is such an effort some days!

Notable: This week I started growing mushrooms in my studio shower stall. As mentioned in last week’s post, I bought kits for Oyster and Reishi mushrooms from Grow Mushrooms Canada (who are located really close by, in Sayward BC) and set them up with humidity covers in the shower. It’s an ideal spot as it never gets used, has good drainage, and gets lots of indirect (but no direct) natural light. At the moment there is not much to look at (set up is pictured below), but I will share more if I actually get some growth happening in there.

It’s really blowy here as I write, and I expect some visitors later today. We don’t have a ton of people coming through due to Covid, but when we do we’re fortunate to have enough space for separate bathrooms to use and some distancing while sharing the same space. I expect a lot of outdoor visiting tomorrow as we have some other friends coming to look at a house for sale on the island, so we’ll be setting up the propane fire ring and sandwiches outside!