March 2024: Round Up

Posted on April 8, 2024 by Karyn Good

Goodbye, March! Hello middle of April. You were full of busy days, both warm and cool, just like you’d expect from March. A gradual warming cooled by a big bout of snow. That’s okay, we’ve had a couple of very dry years and this winter didn’t change that. We need the moisture. That said, I’m sure glad it won’t be sticking around. But enough about the weather…

I’ve been keeping my New Year’s goal of always having flowers in the house. And of course we dyed eggs for Easter. Like I mentioned, we had a big dump of snow. I got a new baby. Another snake plant. I also repotted some plants. And March as been full of cozy lounge wear, including this sweatpant and sweatshirt combo from Hernest, a Canadian ethical and sustainable clothing company.

A good friend put together a delicious Anne of Green Gables themed lunch. It was a delectable mix of different dishes and, of course, there was raspberry cordial. My friend found recipes from Lucy Maud Montgomery online. Apparently Lucy Maud loved cooking and was very talented in the kitchen, much like my friend.

Until next time…

What is everyone most looking forward to in April?

February 2024 – Round Up

Posted on March 1, 2024 by Karyn Good

February is over. Hello, March. I have to say, I’m not sorry we are looking at January and February in the rearview mirror. It feels like a milestone and I have no idea how to explain the relief of welcoming longer days and shorter nights.

February was a mix of trying to get out, celebrating Valentine’s Day, and doing a little crafting. We have watched a lot of cooking shows. We’re new fans of Chopped, which we’ve never watched before now. I’m definitely in a reading slump, but I think that has to do with my ability to focus. As a library user, luckily I can just return books if they don’t immediately draw me in.

I did manage to read Murder on the Red River by Marcie R. Rendon which I’ll review next week.

I started listening to Mistletoe Murders, Book 1 by Ken Cuperus and Narrated by Cobie Smulders and others on Audible. It’s excellent but I have had zero time to put headphones in and listen to anything.

My goal for 2024 was to always have flowers in the house and so far I’ve managed to keep it. So, win.

I haven’t done much fiction writing. I’ve been busy applying for funding to help support our daughter. But I cleaned up my office. For some reasons book titles have been running through my head this last month. I had thought the working title work my book was Just About Perfect but 8 Jasper Street has taken over. I love the simplicity of it.

Here’s to March days which sometimes cling to winter while others melt like spring.

Until next time…

July 2023: Round Up

Posted on August 4, 2023 by Karyn Good

July round up, even though it’s August. Here we are on the brink of the August long weekend so stopping in with a quick update.

My Quick Top Five Round Up From July:

Being able to host family from away for a week always gets the win.
Being able to see Beyond Van Gogh with my Mom and my sister. Definitely recommend. It was like being inside a painting.
Going to the Regina International Fringe Festival for the first time and seeing Tomatoes Tried to Kill Me, But Banjos Saved My Life by Keith Alessi. Highly recommend.
Eating things I somehow managed to grow in our garden. Keeping a garden alive is hard. Then there is the weeding…Not sure I recommend. (Do people lol anymore?)
Soaking up the lovely, warm, slow days of the warmest month of the year.

Until next time…

What’s your July highlight?

June 2023: Round Up

Posted on June 23, 2023 by Karyn Good

I’m busy getting ready to go on a writing retreat this weekend at St. Peter’s Abbey in Muenster, Saskatchewan. The first one in the after times. I’m so excited to spend three days thinking of nothing but writing.

June was a lovely month that went by entirely too fast. Somewhere in between planting, watering, and weeding, I fit in a couple of games of golf. A read a great book, A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske. It’s the first book in her Last Binding series. Highly recommend!! Will go into more depth in a couple of weeks. I baked a rhubarb pie for Father’s Day from rhubarb I picked from my yard. And the peony I planted last fall is blooming and it’s the prettiest pink. I ordered a couple of mugs from The Clay People. I’ve been wanting to order a mug from them forever, but every time they announced a stock resale of their Wheat Collection they were gone before I could order one. This month I was successful and I LOVE these mugs!

Now I’ve got to get back to packing!

Until next time…

What are your plans for the weekend?

May 2023: Round Up

Posted on May 26, 2023 by Karyn Good

Well, May flew by and it’s already the last Friday of the month.This round up includes a bunch of spring things. Like Mother’s Day, tulips, garden planning.

I love my three S’s: salad, soup and sandwiches.

The Lasagna Roll Up recipe is from Natasha’s Kitchen. It was delicious. Definitely recommend giving the recipe a try.

I order my tulips from Whistling Prairie Flowers which can be found in southwestern Saskatchewan. I have had nothing but success with anything I’ve purchased from Whistling Prairie Flowers. But be warned, they are a small operation and they sell out of stock fast! If you’re interested sign up for their newsletter so you know when stock becomes available.

So…this is my second attempt at planting a garden and I’m hoping it goes better than last year when nothing but zucchini and weeds grew. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

What I’m Reading: The Eden Series by Devney Perry. I’m on Book 3, Garnet Flats. So far, the first book is my favourite so I’ll see if I finish the series, or not.

What I’m Listening to: A Sinister Revenge, Book 7 in the Veronica Speedwell mystery series by Deanna Raybourn. One of my absolute favourite series! I’m also listening to You Just Need to Lose Weight and 19 Other Myths About Fat People by Aubrey Gordon, cohost of Maintenance Phase (my absolute favourite podcast!)

Until next time…

Who else is up to their ears in yard and garden work? Loving it? Or hating?

February 2023 Round Up

Posted on February 24, 2023 by Karyn Good

The Round Up

Despite the still frigid temperatures, there is something about the light in February that warms my soul. Maybe it’s because January was so foggy and cloudy. Beautiful, but the landscape was snow white everywhere you looked. Luckily, this month the sun has been shining more often than not.

This month has been full of birthdays and valentines but very little reading. I’ve been in a reading slump and not because of the books that I picked but because I’ve been in a slump. Damn you, February in Saskatchewan. To combat that slump, I turned to a favourite author to pull me out. I picked up the first book in Nora Roberts’ The Guardian Trilogy, The Stars of Fortune. And it’s working. This is exactly the kind of story I needed. It takes place on the sunny island of Corfu. It’s fantastical. And sexy. And delightful.

The 100 Day Project

I’ve also signed up The 100 Day Project which is a free global art project that takes place online. You can follow along using the hashtag #the100dayproject. The idea is to pick a project and work on it every day for a hundred days, even if it’s for five minutes a day. I’m working on a cross stitch project that I’ve started. It’s an abstract design centred around a butterfly using leftover threads from other projects. I can’t wait to see how it turns out.

I’m also brainstorming an art project for our bedroom. Very excited about that too. And Whisper Creek Book One is coming along and I’m relieved to say the words are once again starting to flow.

Until next time…

How do you pass the February days? Maybe you went on a much needed vacation? Read a great book? Baked a cake? Or watch a great show? Let me know.

January 2023: Low Battery Mode

Posted on January 20, 2023 by Karyn Good

I ran out of clean underwear. That’s probably TMI. But the thing about having a minimalist wardrobe is having to do laundry on the regular otherwise you run out of things to wear. But it’s also January so I’ve switched to low-battery mode to save on power. Thus, I’m behind on laundry.

In other weather news, rime frost, a type of frost that only occurs under warm, foggy conditions, is creating a winter wonderland look around here. Very pretty. But it also means we haven’t seen the sun in days and I’m feeling it. Today it’s supposed to be partly sunny, so yay!

The revising is coming along. Slowly. But still…

A Little Snippet from Whisper Creek Book One.

What I’m Reading:

Paperback: Bluebird by Genevieve Graham

eBook: Daughters of the Deer by Danielle Daniel

Audiobook: Death at the Crystal Place (A Below Stairs Mystery) by Jennifer Ashley

Until next time…

What’s everyone else reading? Or watching? Or doing with their January?

November 2022 Theatre Recommendation

Posted on November 18, 2022 by Karyn Good

This Sunday is Grey Cup. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the CFL (Canadian Football League), that means this weekend is the final game of the season. Now normally I don’t care about the sports. Sorry, not sorry. But my city is hosting this year, which means there are all kinds of events happening. None of which I’m attending, by the way. But it’s fun to absorb the atmosphere from enough degrees of separation.

However, Globe Theatre is back and this year’s first reproduction is paying homage to football in Saskatchewan.Yes, ’tis the season for theatre going. That I can get excited about. Last Sunday was our first time back and the Globe is putting on #34 by Munish Sharma which highlight’s the incredible, groundbreaking career of George Reed. Reed was a running back who played for the Saskatchewan Roughriders for 13 seasons from 1963 to 1975. So, if you’re here to watch the Grey Cup, you might like to buy a ticket to the show.

I found it interesting. I really loved the last fifteen minutes of the show. There was deeper level of depth there that I felt was maybe missing from the rest of the production. Although, that is probably because of my lack of interest in the game of football. I still found it very entertaining and I learned some things about the early days of the CFL and what life was like for the players. I came away with even more reasons to love George Reed, like his support of Special Olympics Saskatchewan.

Me and my Momma! Who knit the sweater she is wearing, which in my unbiased opinion is a piece of art!

Until next time…

What’s everyone else out and about doing? Or are you keeping close to home?

Happy Thanksgiving

Posted on October 7, 2022 by Karyn Good

I’ve ordered the turkey from a local grocer. I shopped for the rest of the food on ten percent Tuesday. By accident, but still. I’m feeling very organized. It feels like forever since I’ve hosted a holiday meal and I’m very excited about the whole business of setting out a feast.

My Go To Roast Turkey Recipe:

This cookbook, Canadian Living Cooks Step by Step, is over twenty years old. So, I guess you could say it’s vintage. The photos are certainly dated. But the recipes are still awesome. And you get basic step by step visual instructions. It’s one of my favourite cookbooks.

It’s true that in Canada British explorer Martin Frobisher held a thanksgiving feast in Newfoundland 1578 with salted beef and mushy peas so thankful was he for being alive after a failed attempt to discover the Northwest Passage, but Indigenous peoples have held fall harvest celebrations for thousands of years before the first settlers arrived. And no doubt they were tastier too.

Our big dinner is tomorrow, so I’ll be stuffing a turkey and mashing potatoes. There will be carrots and salad and buns. And linens on the dining room table. There will be cranberry sauce and dessert.There will be stories, old and new, told as we sit shoulder to shoulder at the table. If necessary, I’ll steer the talk away from politics. We’ll be together and we’ll hold the ones not able to make it in our hearts.

From our table to yours, Happy Thanksgiving.

Until next time…

Turkey? Ham? Roast cauliflower? What’s your go to fancy feast dinner?

September Round Up

Posted on September 30, 2022 by Karyn Good

So long, September! It’s been an absolute pleasure. I baked, like a lot, which is strange for me. But I really enjoyed it. From biscotti to a plum almond cake to peach streusel muffins. Everything turned out as it should and was delicious. This is not always the case when I bake so maybe it’s a sign I should continue. Maybe it’s all those episodes of The Great British Baking Show that I watched.

One of the things I don’t talk a lot about is fashion. Not because I’m not interested in clothes. I’ve spent the last years creating a sustainable, ethical wardrobe that meets my budget and is functional. It’s still a work in progress, but it’s come a long way from the days I had a closet full of clothes and nothing to wear. These days I love the things in my closet. Some of them are new, some of them are old (and mended), and some of them are thrifted.

A lot of it comes from Canadian, female owned, small businesses. The dress in the upper lefthand corner is from Buttercream, one of my favourites. Buttercream fits my need for casual apparel and is budget friendly. I wore this dress to a baby shower for my son and daughter-in-law. That’s right, I’m going to be a grandmother for the second time. Very excited!

However, once in a while I splurge. Because sustainable and ethical fashion usually means expensive. The sweater in the upper righthand corner is new and from an American company called Able. I don’t usually order clothes from the US, because of the exchange rates, the shipping costs and the duty and taxes. But this sweater filled a hole in my closet and I couldn’t resist. Hello sweatha weatha!

Meanwhile, it still looks like summer in my yard and in our favourite park. There are rumours going around that this winer is going to be harsh. As in COLD. Like colder than our regular cold, which is plenty cold enough. Looking forward to enjoying the short fall prairie season with it’s crisp mornings, cozy evenings and pretty leaves.

Until next time…

What does fall look like in your neck of the woods?