A Meandering Mann

Almost, but not quite

On April 2, 2024

I have never been to Disneyland, Graceland, Dollywood, The Epcot Centre, or Marine Land, and now I have never been to Cadbury World. Although I got close, the Cadbury store where you exit into the gift store from the attraction. Cadbury World became a focus as Katherine and I made our way around the west and south of Birmingham, including navigating the Severn, going up the Droitwich Canal which included a whole day of progressing through 32 locks and the next day with no locks at all but including three tunnels. Two were 500 or so meters, one was 2500 meters. Yes, 2.5km. It is kind of weird to go underground for that distance. I know it is safe, but I really felt the weight of the land above me!

The light at the end of the tunnel, 2.5 km away.

What I was more interested in was Bourneville itself. The Cadbury family were devout Quakers and were early social justice champions, particularly George Cadbury. When he was able he had the village of Bourneville built for the Cadbury workers. It was during the Arts and Crafts period and the houses and community buildings reflect that style, which I am particularly attracted to. There is a community building named for Ruskin, one of the founders of the Arts and Crafts movement. Simple but elegant design. Hopefully more Arts and Crafts later in my narrowboat travels.

The village is a thriving community, beginning to turn its attention to senior housing. George Cadbury was one of a few industrialists who cared about his workers. Most improvements were wrought by the formation of trade unions, but my bias is showing.

It is a pretty village and reminded me of an upscale Bain Co-op in Toronto, which is also in the Arts and Crafts style.

A wedding present from George to his wife

We checked out the store, bought chocolate, and then looked around the village. Our plan was to do Cadbury World the next day, but decided it was not worth it as we would not see the actual chocolate production.

We have been so lucky with weather the last two weeks, very sunny and warm. In Droitwich the other day the Rosemary was already in bloom

Rosemary, in bloom in February. A tender perennial in Canada

Since leaving Bourneville (they named a chocolate bar after the village, my favourite when I was a kid, the Bourneville bar was dark chocolate) we travelled along the Stratford on Avon canal. Sounds posh doesn’t it? Well, it is not. It goes along the south side of Birmingham and was full of garbage, all kinds of it, including a 5 gallon plastic container spewing oil. Jammed up the propeller. No fun cleaning that out, then today the canal became really shallow and it was hard to navigate and move forward. Then 20 more locks. You never know what you will experience on the canals. The day we did the Tardebigge flight of 32 locks there were all kinds of people on the canal. Lots of parents with kids and grandparents with grandkids, which we had been seeing all week as it was half-term. Parents really enjoyed explaining what was happening as we opened and closed locks, filled them with water and moved higher up the flight. And they lent a hand . Today we were largely on our own and both the paddles (what you lift to let the water in or out), and the single gates were really heavy. It was quite a workout.

I have been on the canal for more than three weeks now and have not travelled nearly as far as I thought I would in this time. Katherine and I are getting close to Warwick in the midlands. I had thought I would be down by Heathrow by now able to drop her off there. As it is she will be taking a bus to Heathrow

It has been an intersting time. The canal is a microcosim of society of course, so there are all kinds of people on the canal, although almost exclusively white. I am glad that I am doing this five month adventure now, not 10 years from now. Narrowboat life is becoming very popular with arable land being converted to marinas. The boats come in all shapes and sizes and colours. We pass many that have permanant moorings and I can’t help feel that most of them look pretty forlorn. They provide a cheap place to live, but they begin to look un-loved. Leaves and other debris collecting on them, moss on the bumpers, needing a coat of paint and reblacked on the hull, and generally looking a bit sad. Maybe I am judging them to harshly, but it has cured me of ever wanting to live on a moored boat anywhere. Then of course there are the houseproud boat owners that keep them ship shape and everything in between. There is a growing number of boats in general, I wonder if they will have to limit the number some time in the future.

On the other hand, everyone is very helpful, always willing to lend a hand, and many of the people who walk along the canal, inevitably walking their dog, also seem to have experience being on a boat and offer good answers to questions.

One thing that really stands out is the smell of coal smoke. Definetely a smell from my childhood. I grew up in a modern house, built in 1957, but it’s only source of heat was an open coal fire in the living room. It was a four bedroom, four room downstairs house. Mom could not wait to get central heating, which we did in the mid-sixties, so that she would not have to make a coal fire every day of the fall, winter and spring.

Many boats have wood and coal burners, with coal seeming to dominate. Britain is yet again trying to crack down and discourge people from using coal fires for heat. Anyone who has watched The Crown will know the diastrous results of coal smoke pollution in London and it was banned there for many years. London smog killed. So I have a complicated relationship with the smell, but overall it is not pleasant. Certainly not as attractive as a wood smoke.

Already people are noticing that Little Star is a long way from home. They express suprise when they ask how long I have been travelling and it is a conversation opener. I can only imagine what the reaction will be when I am in Bath or Bristol, just about the furthest away from Nantwich in Cheshire that I can get! I do detect a bit of envy. I feel a bit like a snail, carrying my home around with me and I love it. I haven’t had to go through a lock single handed yet, that will probably happen in April, may try a practice one with my sister Mary on board in March. As a fellow traveller said, they loose their novelty when you are on your own.

Palermo and Sorrento next to each other!

The British have a habit, quaint?, twee?, of naming their homes even if they have a street address. Here the builder did it for them. Some do not have a street address, my sisters The Croft, my brothers Cayhill Cottage, so it makes sense to have a name, but otherwise……..

February, by the day

Day 1. Drove to Overwater Marina on the Shropshire Union Canal. Unloaded, lots and lots of stuff. Iced in.

Day 2. Lucien And Dani Arrive. Sorted and stowed gear. Iced in.

Day 3. Ice cleared in the afternoon. Travelled from Overwater Marina to bridge 100 on the Shropshire Union Canal. Visited the Barbridge Inn. Lovely beer.

Day 4. Barbridge to Cheshire Cat Pub, Christleton, Bridge 120 on the Shropshire Union Canal

Day 5. Christleton to Chester. Bus to Ellesmere Port. Toured National Waterways Museum. Visited The Boot Inn, built in 1643.

Day 6. Windy and rainy all night. Woke to no power, full toilet and bad weather. Emergency stop at Waitrose for a toilet. Chester to Tilston Lock 106. Visited the Dysart Arms. Toffee tasting beer. Saw an airbus called a Beluga, extra large, to carry airplane parts.

Day 7. Woke to wind and rain, very brief cruise through the Burberry Locks. Too windy to continue right away, back to Overwater Marina at 3.15. Lucien and Dani departed.

Day 8. At the marina, changed the gas cylinder.

Day 9. Picked up Sue and Katherine, stayed at the marina

Day 10. Feb 11, Sue’s birthday. Headed south on the Shropshire Union Canal.

Day 11. Had to call Mark o jump start us. We left the bilge pump on til 2 am. Through the locks at Audlum, arrived at Market Drayton..

Day 12. Market Drayton, Market day, has been since 1263. Visited at 1600’s pub.

Day 13. February 14, Katherine’s birthday. Travelled to Bridge 45 on the Shropshire Union. We celebrated all our birthdays with a roast lamb dinner.

Day 14. Woke to a flat battery again. Mark came and changed it.

Day 15. Wolverhampton flight closed for maintenance/repair, which they do in the winter, so had to continue down towards Kidderminster. Went to the Mermaid to figure out our route forward.

Day 16, Feb 17, Sue’s last day. Long day trying to get to Kidderminster, got as far as Kinver. Tied up, quick pint and then Sue was away in a taxi.

Day 17. Feb 18. Staffordshire and Worcester Canal. Made it to Kidderminster. Dropped my darn phone in the canal, had to replace it and get connected. Connection more difficult than it should have been.

Day 18. Feb 19. Laundry. Tootled down to Stourport and found a berth on the River Severn.

Day 19. Feb 20. Set off down the Severn only to find you have to book the lock. Back to Stourport and booked it. “Do on thing every day that scares you”. – Eleanor Roosevelt. Being on a river is potentially scary.

Day 20. Feb 21. Down the Severn past Lincomb Lock and Holt Lock and onto the Droitwich Canal, all the way to Droitwich. Lovely pampas grass beside the canal.

Day 21. Feb 20. Droitwich Spa Marina for household tasks, and pub lunch with Martin and Jane to get my new sim card.

Day 22. Feb 21. Droitwich Canal and on to the Worcester and Birmingham Canal. Did 15 locks before tackling the Tardebigge flight and sundry locks tomorrow. Lovely lamb dinner in The Queen’s Head.

Day 23. Feb 22 Did the whole flight plus sundry, 32 locks. Began at 10.57, ended 5 with a lunch break. A large day. Glorious weather. Lovely views.

Day 24, Feb 25 Easy cruise to Cadbury World and Bournville through the Tardebigge Tunnel, 580 yards, Shortwood Tunnel, 613 yards and Wast Hills Tunnel, 2726 yards. Visited the shop at Cadbury World and bought loads. Then Bournville, the model town built by the Cadbury brothers in Arts and Crafts style. Did more shopping in a charity shop – lovely stuff that I still use.

Day 25. Feb 26. Used a winding hole, my first, to turn around to go back to the Stratford on Avon Canal turn off. Went through the Brandwood Tunnel, 352 yards

Day 26. Feb 27. Another day of cruising. Shallow and muddy in places, slowed us down, thought we had lost power, and all around Birmingham was pretty dirty. Lots of garbage in the canals. Tackled the Lapworth Locks, 19 of them, before turning onto the Grand Union Canal. Lamb cassoulet for dinner

Day 27. Feb 28. Did 20 locks today, including the Hatton Locks, in the rain. Pretty miserable and hard on my left arm. Katherine was sick, so she did the driving. Got us to Warwich where she will get the bus to Heathrow.

Day 28. March 1. Katherine off to Heathrow and I moved Little Star to Saltisford Arm in Warwick. My first time by myself. I had to back down the arm, and then back into the tie up spot, managed it very well, though I say so myself.

Picnics, plant life and herons in trees.

By Maggie

On April 2, 2024

In Posts

The temperature got up to 26C today, even when the thermometer was in the shade. On February 21st. After a days delay in Stourport on Severn because the lock at Limcomb is manned, but closed on Tuesday and Wednesday, and you have to book in advance anyway until March 29th, we headed off down the Severn. I was a bit nervous as it floods when there is rain in Wales, and there is always rain in Wales, that is why Wales is so green. However it was straight forward and no mishaps. So nice to have two locks opened for you by an operator.

As the morning wore on the temperature rose, and by the time we had negotiated two locks on the Droitwich Canal it was time for lunch. Our first picnic canal side in 19C weather, and it rose to 26C by the end of the afternoon.

The Droitwich canal has only recently been restored. The Romans exploited the very salty water of Droitwich to produce salt by evaporation. In industrial Britain the salt pans were heated with coal which had to be brought to Droitwich, you guessed it, by canal, and I assume that the salt was transported away by the same means. So much water was removed from the ground that subsidence occurred. The British loved their spas and Drotiwich became a spa town where people would come to take the salt waters. The last original spa closed decades ago, but recently another has opened.

It was a day of tranquil chugging along, and we do chug along with our trusty diesel engine. We passed wonderful pampas grass ghosts from last summer.

In places they lined both sides of the canal. And we passed a tree full of herons. I am more used to them standing in the water or on a log beside the water. And there are trees full of mistletoe. I must look up what trees mistletoe grows in. All in all, a lovely day to be on a canal

Shipshape and Bristol fashion

By Maggie

On April 2, 2024

In Posts

It has been quite a week. Icebound for 2 and a half days before we could leave. But that allowed us to get organized. Sally’s car was loaded to the gunnels! Sheets, towels, glasses, mugs, kitchen implements, plates, bowls, cutlery. All supplied on the boat but I wanted extra. Including a donated Ringtons tea teapot. Found places for nearly everything, just a few adjustments left to make.

A walk to the pub in Audlum while icebound

Sally in her favourite place, the galley

There had to be some celebrations:

Wearing the captains had my knitting friends gave me. If you come on board expect to have your photo taken wearing it!

We have already had some adventures while on the learning curve to smooth life on board. Yesterday we woke up in Chester after a night of high winds and lots of rain, with little power, and no toilet, our cassette toilet was full. Jumped into action, moving the boat close to Waitrose, a posh grocery store, to use the washrooms. The wind fell, the rain stopped and we were off to recharge the batteries. Was able to empty the toilet a bit later. I will be using the guides I have to use every emptying station available! Managing our electricity consumption is interesting but we are getting the hang of it. The central heating works well but we don’t leave it on overnight. So first one up gets it going and we are toasty in no time. The beds are nice and warm, with hot water bottles to supplement heat. Connectivity to the web is a bit dicey. As someone at a marina said, getting a signal inside a metal boat is a bit challenging, so between getting our phones and computers charged up, and getting a signal communicating is patchy. Hence the delay in this posting! But we have been busy. Lucien insists on tying up near a pub each night which sometimes pushes us further down the canal than cold permeating my body would normally allow. In the pub are open fires, lovely, and lots of dogs, even lovelier. Helps with missing Zoey.

I am getting much more comfortable with managing the boat, its daily care, steering, stopping and starting. Doing maneuvers in the wind will be a challenge on my own, but luckily there are few people out on the canals so I can mess up and no one will be impatient while I learn. And next week I have another boat person on board, so more learning.

Lucien, my helming coach, should I trust him?

Bringing the past with me, a calendar of VW buses, which we had when we were kids

Dani, waiting for us to come back and pick her up

We had a good lesson in counting heads before setting off. Dani was in the marina building and we sauntered away on Little Star. We quickly discovered our mistake and rescued her. She is now safely back with us.

I Went on a Knitting Cruise

By Maggie

On March 20, 2024

In Posts

No smirking in the peanut gallery, it is a real thing, created by Treena and her right hand man, Bob. They both work in the travel industry, and Treena wanted to open a yarn store when she retired. Bob said, why not now. So she did. Spin Me A Yarn in Etobicoke. For the brits reading this, don’t pronounce the k in Etobicoke. And then they put the two together, SMAY (Spin Me a Yarn) Knitting Cruises. Cathie, from my Monday night zoom knitting group, is a SMAY customer and told me about it. I was intrigued, and I inveigled my cousin Cathy to come along. What a lot of fun. My first ever cruise.

Miami Beach from the Symphony of the Seas, as we left port.

Cathy and I had an afternoon and morning in Miami and Miami Beach before we got on the cruise ship, and we stayed in the Art Deco area of Miami Beach. Not for the last time on this trip I was like a kid in a candy store. I love Art Deco.

And couldn’t stop taking pictures. Must have driven Cathy a little crazy.

In the afternoon we walked to the beach, Miami Beach! Quite honestly not somewhere I ever thought I would find myself. The politics in Florida scare me. I think Trump is the worst possible choice for president, but Ron DeSantis is a close second worst choice, now out of the race and back to being governor of Florida. The following is from Wikipedia, March 7, 2024. “DeSantis opposes abortion and has denounced Planned Parenthood.” “On December 15, 2021, DeSantis announced a new bill, the Stop Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees (WOKE) Act, which would allow parents to sue school districts that teach their children critical race theory.” “Throughout his political career, DeSantis has opposed bills and judicial rulings upholding the legitimacy of same-sex marriage, and his political campaign has refused to clarify his position on the subject.” No my taste in politics. I could go on, but why, I can’t do anything about it, and there are more fun things to say.

Despite US politics, the walk on the beach was lovely.

The morning of the cruise we went for an extended walk from 20th Street to way down Miami Beach, from North Beach to Mid Beach and maybe a bit of South Beach. We walked down the activity trail next to the beach and back up on the road set back from the beach. It was a lovely day, warm and breezy.

How cool, to photograph the current rescuers in front of the Art Deco headquarters.

We broke the walk with a lovely latte, and then went in to use the bathroom.

And

Can’t get enough Art Deco:

Walking back up the street we saw the back of the Beach Patrol Headquarters

And

Had to go in to the Official Art Deco Gift Shop, and yes, I bought a few things. Miami Beach is in full rejuvenation mode and many of the old Art Deco buildings have been or are being renovated and brought back to their former glory. I really enjoy Art Deco, Art Nouveau and the Art and Craft style. They were all close together in time, such a creative time in history.

Just a few more pictures of Miami Beach:

As you can tell, Cathy and I have to up our selfie game. Actually, it is me that has to do that.

Back to the hotel, and then off to the boat.

We had a charmed time getting on the boat. No line ups to speak of, and we were in our cabin in no time.

A balcony is a must, and we slept with the door open, to the sounds of the ocean as the ship created waves.

Even before we met our fellow knitters and their friends, Cathy and I had gone down the water slide, twice. Kid in a candy shop time again for me. Such a hoot.

We did it on the last day aboard as well. We missed our chance to use the Flowrider: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-ships/symphony-of-the-seas/things-to-do By the time we looked into it the line up was loooong and it was hot. We played mini-put instead.

We met our group for sail away, and again for dinner in the dining room where three tables were reserved for us each night. By then we had seen an ice skating show, and after dinner we enjoyed an outrageous, but not sexist, comic. Adults only.

Have you done a cruise? They are a curious mix of everything being laid on with a spatula, and a hard sell. Let’s talk about the “being laid on with a spatula” first. Dinner in the dining room, a luxurious, three floor affair. You are seated, you have a changing menu every night of delicious food. You order, eat and digest. Yum. And the service is impeccable, tips on your cruise bill are mandatory. If you order a bottle of wine and don’t finish it they bring it back to your table the next night. They remember whose bottle was whose each and every time. You pay for each alcoholic beverage unless you buy the alcohol, fancy coffee and soft drink package. (Those that did buy that package were easy to distinguish around the pool areas, had to get their money’s worth) At the end of dinner you get up and leave. No bill.

All of the shows are included and there are endless ways to entertain yourself on board, games, trivia, gym, swimming (avoiding the people drinking Mai Tai’s in the pool), rock climbing. You can pop into the buffet day or night, or go the bistro on the “Buy Me” deck. So much to choose from and all included And the bars. Many of them. All themed.

Staircase down to the Buy Me deck, aka deck five

Ah, the Buy Me deck. It was a strange mixture of very expensive items, including high end jewellery and alcohol, and tat, often overpriced. Not too much in between. And lots of ways to entice you to buy buy buy, which of course is universal. More of that in a bit. It was hard to avoid, it was a major through way from forward to aft, some other decks were blocked by theatres, ice rinks and by the smoke emitting from the casino. So strange to be around smoke, we have such strict laws in Ontario. Apart from the Buy Me deck, which also included the Excursions Desk, there is the Customer Service Desk. So even if you tried to avoid the Buy Me area but had an issue with a charge on your account you had to go there. On another deck was the Next Cruise selling area. What better time to get people to commit to another cruise holiday with Royal Caribbean than when they are on a very enjoyable cruise? And deep in the ship, deck two, where the conference area is, is the Loyalty desk where you can become a member of the Crown and Anchor Society. Now, this is my first cruise, which as I said, was a lot of fun, and I have never been to an all inclusive resort, or many resorts of any kind, so all of this is likely to be par for the course. But all new to me, and interesting to observe, a combination of sheer enjoyment and a cynical mind.

Our first day was a sea day, and we were in class at 10 am. We began by correcting mistakes, we had had homework where we intentionally made mistakes which were to be corrected. Except I didn’t. I had been willingly enticed into a jewellery promotion for a free bracelet, and off I went with Sherry to stand in line to claim it. Get the bracelet free, and buy the first 5 charms for $5, US. After that each charm was $5. I got one for Cathy as well, whether she wanted it or not. It was her birthday after all.

It took almost 1.5 hours. Later I found out I could have gone after class! So annoying. Not so lucky with the bracelet being given away by the jewellery store. It was a time limited giveaway that afternoon and I missed it. For those that did manage to get one, when you went back to get a charm each day (theirs were free) you had to go into the jewellery store. Clever. And they had a plan for buying things on “tick”, aka payment over time.

So, back at the class. I missed fixing mistakes, but not the big reveal. At the end of the class Treena unveiled her what we were to knit, a mobius cowl, i.e. a cowl with a twist, and showed us an ingenious way to cast on 200 stitches, and then double them to 400. You knit from the centre out on both edges at the same time. Very clever.

Karen modelling Lambert’s Smooth Sailing Cowl, designed by Treena

And me being delighted. The yarn was hand dyed for the cruise by L’il Red Kettlehead. Catching a Wave, blue, and Stripes Ahoy, white. Very soft and cushiony.

Treena tutoring us on the cast-on in the hour before dinner, when we would meet for drinks.

Cathie, who got me into this. Happily so.

Getting the hang of it.

Very focused. Wish I had taken more pictures, but I too was trying to get the hang of the cast-on.

This picture pulls at my heart strings. Mike holding the yarn for his wife Norma to wind. Just like my dad used to do. Doesn’t he look like a pro?

Cathy’s birthday was on our first full day on board. Treena and Bob had this photograph taken of our table that night and gave it to Cathy at the end of the cruise. I think it is a lovely one. Treena and Bob are on the right, Kayleigh and Ron are the couple in the middle and Norma and Mike are on either side of them. There was a chorus of singing by the waiters and many other cruisers besides our own tables.

Day two and three were excursion days. I can’t say I have “been” to Jamaica, but we did have a very good guide for the hour journey to Swimming with the Dolphins, and the time we spent with the dolphins was magical. I realized as we interacted with them that they probably see humans as a the means to an end, getting lots of treats. For each time they did an action that was requested they received a fishy treat, which they insisted on if they felt it was delayed. Just like training Tucker, but they are way more successful. We both thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience and the dolphins seemed very happy to perform. We couldn’t take pictures, but we took them of other groups.

Notice the cooler, full of treats

Hard to stop taking pictures

And

The matriarch was 60, usually they survive to 20 in the wild, and she had a baby at 55! She had separated a baby from its mom, and they had to isolate her to get the baby back to mom. So they decided she should have one of her own. She had been in a travelling show and then brought here. It was probably her only baby. I asked if she was retired, but our guide said she was still very happy to perform.

Try as I might I could not find a pair of dolphin earrings, that I think would have been a big seller at the cove, but no luck anywhere.

I am sad to say that the excursion at Labadee was not as enjoyable. Labadee is a cruise company developed resort, not really for Haitians, and we did not know what was misery was developing for Haitians at the time. Both Cathy and I signed up for the Snorkel Safari. But sadly, as Cathy said, it was snorkelling in a graveyard. The reef was dead. I saw a small amount of pale yellow brain coral, lots of dead coral and few fish or crustaceans. Not the cruise line’s fault, we humans really have soiled in every being’s nest.

Just to lighten the mood, more pictures

Loved that balcony

And

Approaching Falmouth, Jamaica

Aren’t we relaxed:

No doubt we are related

Despite my sometime cynical observations I thoroughly enjoyed myself and am very glad I went. Thank you Treena and Bob for a great experience, and Cathy, for coming along for the ride.

The last picture is the whole gang of knitters. Sadly there wasn’t enough time to get to know everyone. One participant preferred not to have her picture published, but this is such a great shot I had to make it work.

You don’t know what you’ve got…

By Maggie

On January 30, 2024

In Posts

til it’s temporarily gone. I have a broken down knee. There really is something about reaching my mid sixties. For most of my life my health has been good, very good really, when I think of what others have had to deal with. I enjoy cardio classes, aquafit, walking Tucker and all over town, Tai Chi, yoga. I eat well, or at least I think I do, and sleep, well poor sleep as we age is the big secret that we are never told about. And then, mid sixties, health irritations started to creep in. Besides my knee, mystery teeth pain, mystery sinus pain. Back, shoulder and arm pain. The last three are inevitable I think, for a massage therapist after a long career. But my health seemed to go from being good to being a pain in the neck, literally. I suppose I knew it would happen some day, but not yet. Mid sixties? The new 40’s?

The final straw for my knee happened during Tai Chi! The last place I would have expected it to happen. One second I was fine, then a ping and the pain was overwhelming. There was a paramedic in the class, Jim, that tied three bandages together so I could support my leg while sitting in a wheeled chair that was designed to help people into a swimming pool. The chair was driven by a respiratory therapist, Patty, who kept telling me to keep my arms in because I was frightened I would hit the door frame, or the elevator door, so was reaching out to stop that. She was a good chair driver but it was a beast to move. I got into the back of Dan’s car, a third volunteer. I had to bum my way back to rest my leg on the seat, I am glad they were all in class that day. And then off we went to the emergency department, where the security guard brought out a broken down wheelchair for me to get into. After a relatively short wait I saw a doctor. I was referred for an MRI, given pain meds and sent home with crutches and a brace. In two weeks I will see an orthopedic surgeon and hopefully a few months from now they will clean out the floating bodies and torn cartilage in my knee. I am being well taken care of by a medical system that is vastly overstretched and understaffed. BUT, what a difference having mobility issues makes. Argh. No driving for a bit, limited walking, no cardio. Everything takes longer, it’s tiring and a blasted nuisance. When I owned my own business and someone asked how I was the answer would be how the business was. Now, it is about the knee. Or not. I am really trying not to be the person you dread asking how they are because you will get a litany of their health woes, and now I understand why! I guess we are all a bit self obsessed.

View from the Tithe Barn in Bradford-on-Avon

It is not going to stop me going on the two trips I have planned. A short knitting cruise. Yes, you read that correctly. A Caribbean cruise with a group of knitters. I found out about it and persuaded my cousin Cathy to join me. My first cruise. Wonder if I will like it. We are going to be knitting a neck cowl on the blue Caribbean seas.

The second trip is three weeks back on a Narrowboat on the Kennet and Avon canal. My cousin Jim, who had been on Little Star with me for a week along with his wife Karen was all over it when I said I was getting itchy to go on another trip, so this May we are. Along with more friends and family rotating through. That is why there are photos of narrowboats on this blog. You don’t exactly want to see the inside of an emergency room, or a swollen knee!

Somewhere on the Kennet and Avon Canal. Love the view through the door.

So it was my knee that finally prompted me to finally write another blog. To follow up on my last one about getting my life in order in preparation for death. Or incapacity.

Reading, first night on the Kennet and Avon. Big city lights

The new Will is done, my doctor has the contact info for my POA (Power of Attorney) for health, and has my wishes for end of life care in my health records. My lawyer will be my executor as I didn’t want to put the burden of wrapping up my estate on family or friends. Being an executor is a heck of a lot of work. And you pay the lawyer the same as you would pay the executor and they have more experience with these things, so can do things faster. At least that is the hope. The lawyer also knows how to contact my POA’s for health and property, and vice versa. So it is nearly all done. What is left is disposal of my personal property and I am working on that. It is sad to know that my collected possessions will probably not be treasured by family, but they are mostly far away and have no sentimental attachment to any of it. I may try to force some family “treasures” on them, including some family jewellery, and they can do what they like with them. I am smiling as I write this. And why would my friends want it? They have enough stuff of their own. We are all trying to get rid of things. So it will be dispersed out in to the world by an estate sale or given to charity, and I guess some items chucked away. I will continue to enjoy them for the foreseeable future though.

Along with tangible possessions are the intangible. Email accounts, websites, social media accounts. I have just found out that gmail will delete your account after you have not signed in to it for 2 years. I was trying to figure out how to delete it but couldn’t get back into it because the cell phone number I had used for a verification code was no longer valid. After going around in circles for a while I did some searching and found the above info. So hopefully those gmail accounts that I no longer use will eventually go away. Facebook now has a system in place to delete accounts so will look into it. Two friends accounts are still around many years after their deaths. It is the last hurdle.

It has taken well over a year to get to this point. And when I reflect on why the best reason I can come up with is because of all the decision making that has to be made. And all the thinking about it. Which is something that is easy to not do. Some of the sticking points were: Deciding who to choose as POA for health. Having a conversation with my POA for health about exactly what I wanted, not only when something drastic happens but going through a variety of scenarios where I may be incapacitated and unable to make decisions for myself. For my POA for property, writing down information so that they can easily step into my shoes to keep my life running financially. Not easy when so much is electronic now, and computers and phones are locked by a code. Thinking about what I want my estate divided, what percentage for each beneficiary and making sure that the lawyer has the correct contact information. Choosing a lawyer whose values align with my own, and choosing an executor. And how to dispose of my “stuff”. After helping friends with their family member’s possessions I don’t want to inflict that on anyone. Then of course how I want my body to be disposed of, green burial please. I am glad that it is almost done, and glad to know it is done.

A right angle bend in the canal to go over an aqueduct. Kennet and Avon Canal

I intended to write about this tidying up process in an ongoing way, and I haven’t. So sometime over the next little while I will write a blog about the specifics of what was involved hoping that it may be useful to you and others. I will include references to organizations and forms, check lists I developed etc. And if after that I still want to I may put a workshop together. Will wait and see on that. Don’t hold your breathe, there will probably be a knitting cruise blog and narrowboat trip blog before that.

Embracing life, preparing for the inevitable

By Maggie

On February 26, 2023

In Posts

Last year the brother of a friend of mine died suddenly. In his sleep, and for no apparent reason. Under 60. And he did not have a will, nor did my friend have any way of getting any information from his computer or cell phone because they were locked. My friend, while working as a social worker for a school board (read: huge workload, dealing with kids in difficult circumstances) began a bureaucratic nightmare with multiple institutions while also grieving the last member of her family of her generation.

Eleven years ago I went to Ghana, Africa, to volunteer for my friend Peta who was building a vocational training school there. It seemed a slightly daring destination, after all I had to get special vaccinations for exotic diseases such as yellow fever. So I decided to finally write a will and get Power of Attorneys set up for health and property. I felt like a responsible adult, I had completed a task that most of us feel intimidated by, facing our future death or possible incapacitation. Now, I thought, it would be easier to wrap up my affairs if I died, and for my appointed Power of Attorney’s to look after my affairs if necessary, or so I thought. After taking a short workshop last summer I realized that I had only given them half or less than half of the tools they needed to make their jobs easier and more efficient, not to mention how much stress, anxiety and frustration I had unwittingly potentially inflicted on them.

The workshop, given by Bill Bruce at Trinity Annan United Church was deeply enlightening. Now anyone who knows me knows that formal religion is not my bag, but I immediately knew I had to update my will and POA’s, the workshop was spot on. Thank you Bill for your time and information.

I also knew that I would find it difficult to complete this process on my own, I would be more motivated if others were going on the journey with me, so enter Glenda and Mike. They are friends I have made since moving to Owen Sound. We do the same classes at the YMCA (gym). It took us a while to set a date when we could meet as life kept on getting in the way, but we finally did. As a small group we can divide up some of the issues that have popped up in our discussions. How and who can determine incapacity, what are the current rules about MAID. In Canada we have legislation in place that allows us to have medical assistance in dying, MAID. In some ways it is a straight forward process, very well delineated and regulated. Over 10,000 people have taken advantage of it in the first five years it has been legal, 2016 to 2021. There are many lovely stories from the families of those that have chosen that option. The one that stays with me is of an older couple, in their 90’s, married forever. They had multiple health issues that made them both eligible for MAID. They discussed it with their family, and they chose to do it at the same time, surrounded by family, all goodbyes said and love surrounding them. The husband or wife could not bear be the one left behind to grieve. They were holding hands at the end. I digress, but MAID is an option I am glad that I have. So Glenda, Mike and I have our research tasks and we will meet again after my trip to England. I am writing this, at the moment, from the bed at my sisters house in Durham.

Seaham Harbour, County Durham. The spray is higher than the lighthouse on the harbour wall.

One of the first things that hit me as a result of taking the workshop is that if I had a medical emergency at home and dialled 911 and then passed out the paramedics would not easily be able to get information about my health status, such as medical conditions or medications without rummaging about in my home, wasting time. Once at the hospital the staff would not know who to contact or what my wishes were concerning my care should I be unconscious or unable to communicate for any reason. That is important to me as I have definite views about what care I want and maybe more importantly, don’t want. They wouldn’t know what medications I take, by blood type or if I had any major medical conditions. You get the picture. I was happy to discover it is not rocket science to solve these problems.

How about a sheet of paper in an easy to find place with such information on it? Apparently paramedics look for a piece of paper or envelope on the fridge or near a front or back door. Titled IN CASE OF EMERGENCY, ICE. Easy peasy. Mine is now in place.

Now, what about finding me unconscious while walking my dog. Tucker would bark his head off and attract attention, but how would they know who I was. I have learned that cell phones, both iPhones and androids have ways that pertinent information can be accessed from a locked screen. Paramedics and other first responders know that, but from my conversations with others many people do not. On an iPhone it is accessed

I am sure Tucker would bark and bark and bark if anything happened to me. He does anyway.

and completed on the health app. We did find it on one android quite quickly, so good luck everyone with finding it on yours should you wish to and haven’t already done so.

In the weeks after the workshop it hit me that I had tied the hands of my Power of Attorney for property and health behind their back, so to speak. They needed more information than they presently had access to to act effectively on my behalf. It was a bit of a shock when I thought things through. The POA for property did not know, among a lot of other things:

My phone or computer password
Where I banked
What are my income sources
What my expenses were and how I pay them, automatically, manually, and do the bills arrive by mail, email.
My credit card or banking pin numbers

Many of these things we are told to keep secret, but my POA for property would need access to them to keep my financial life ticking along if I had an emergency and could not do it for myself.

My POA for health had a general idea of what my wishes were, but mainly in worst case scenarios. What about the not so worst case scenarios, but ones that would significantly alter my quality of life. We had a breakfast meeting and discussed it. We used forms that the Province of Alberta had produced to provoke exploration of various scenarios. Then we went into the nitty gritty of what I absolutely do want, and maybe more importantly, what I absolutely do not want. Interestingly Alberta seems to be the province that has produced the best information to help explore POA for health issues and Bill gave us the one we used as the basis for the discussion. I will now discuss these wishes with my doctor so that it is in my medical record.

I don’t know quite why I feel so compelled to dive into this topic, and then to share it as a blog. Life is good and life is full. I am happy and feel incredibly lucky to have the life I have. For all the usual reasons, family, friends, a dog, an adequate retirement income, where I live, my ability to travel, and time for doing the things I want to do. Some people say “you will be dead, it won’t be your problem”, but I think that statement partly comes from our fear of the inevitable. It is too scary to think about, and plan for. Maybe I want to control things from beyond the grave or while being incapacitated, but is that a bad thing if it empowers my POA’s and executors to confidently act on my behalf, save them time and the stress of wondering if they are doing the right thing? After all, they are people I love and who love me. I want to make their burden as light as possible.

So I have started out on this journey to try and tie the details of my life up with fancy ribbons, beginning with an IN CASE OF EMERGENCY information sheet. Done and on my fridge, and new POA forms signed.

I feel inspired to write about this process as we go through it, and I have developed some forms, and will do more. Presently I have an ICE form and another for Power of Attorney for property. They are Microsoft Word based and I would be happy to email them to you to customize for your own use.

Thinking about why I want to share this information as a blog, as mentioned above is interesting. I want to do a series of them as I go through this process. There is so much to look at besides the POA’s and ICE forms. How do we choose POA’s and executors. I have already mentioned incapacity and it is a bit of a winding road. Then there is dementia and how if affects the eligibility for MAID. Hopefully that will be sorted out in the next review of the MAID law. Then what about our relationships and our belongings and our legacy. Thinking about all that will help me write a much better will, and on a personal relationship level guide me as to who I may want to bring back into my life. Covid has already brought some very old but distant friends back into my circle, but there is more to think about.

I would really enjoy your thoughts about this blog and its contents, don’t hesitate to contact me. It is a big conversation.

References

I read a book about a Doctor who changed from delivering babies to delivering MAID: This is Assisted Dying by Stefanie Green which I found was very thoughtful and compassionate.

Others recommended at the end of that book:

Being Mortal by Atul Gawande

Knocking on Heavens Door by Katie Butler

The Inevitable by Katie Englehart

Physician Assisted Death, What Everyone Needs to Know by Wayne Sumner

Link to Power of Attorney booklet for Ontario: https://www.publications.gov.on.ca/300975

Alberta’s personal directive kit: https://www.alberta.ca/personal-directive.aspx

All the very best in 2022

By Maggie

On January 16, 2022

In Posts

Bradford On Avon on the Kennet and Avon Canal. A walk down memory lane in November 2021

I am very pleased to write and say that I have made donations to both the The Women’s Centre Grey Bruce and to the David Suzuki Foundation, for those not Canadian David Suzuki is a long time environmental and climate change crusader. The donation, of over $100s comes from 10% of the sales I made during this year. Thank you for your purchases so that I can make these donations.

I chose these two organization for the following reasons:

Women have been very adversely affected by the Covid pandemic. They were trapped in abusive homes, and some were murdered. Many lost their jobs in the service and other sectors and the wage divide between men and women is reported to be widening. They are now talking about women not getting promoted as they may choose to work from home longer due to childcare responsibilities and will not make the contacts and be able to shine in person that encourages promotions. Very frustrating to see hard wins lost like this. Apart from this ongoing plague women are also loosing their right to have an abortion when they need one by right wing politicians who still want to control women via their reproductive systems. When will this fight ever end. There is a very good book exploring the push of right wing conservatives and evangelical religious men against the equality of women, All the Single Ladies by Rebecca Traister that I highly recommend. Well researched and very insightful.

2021 has been the most tumultuous year in terms of weather that I have ever witnessed. From heat domes and fires to winds and floods and more all over the world. I got a registered letter from my insurance company this year saying that my home was no longer covered for overland water damage, i.e. flooding. Luckily that is not likely to happen to this house, but what about the people that it will affect. A good reminder that insurance companies only real goal is to make money. David Suzuki has been a long time champion for the environment, and hopefully more of us are listening and changing our ways. Walking a little more lightly on the earth. It is not surprising to me that people such as Greta Thunberg are up in such arms about climate change and mad at the adults in charge. Children have been educated about climate change, environmental concerns and reducing their carbon footprint with such initiatives as litter less lunches and re-usable water bottles for years. My friend Alan taught some of those lessons, yea Alan and all the other teachers.

Walking lightly on the earth is not a simple as it seems. It is challenging to keep believing that the incredibly small things I do such as recycling, composting, re-using, refusing plastic bags etc has any affect at all. And then there are the larger issues, should I fly, and if so, for what reason. Is the desire to visit exotic far away places justification? Or is visiting family and friends? And what about my fossil fuel burning vehicle? Is an electric car the answer, but how is the electricity generated? Are we on the verge of a sharing society, such as cars and tools, or is that an idealistic folly? I suspect that those much younger than myself will determine that.

This post seemed so negative it was hard to send it out into the world, so I am going to end by recommending another book. It is called Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard. As usual, I listened to it and it is also available as an ebook as well as in print. I found it in my library. She is a forestry researcher and has revealed the complex cooperative relationship among trees through complex Mycelium (fungus) networks connecting roots underground. The Mycelium facilitate transmission of water and food to trees in need and particularly younger and stressed trees. More recently she is investigating the ways that trees signal danger to each other. The Mycelium are being likened to the nervous system of plant life. I find this thrilling as I first read about bushes warning other bushes about approaching deer eating their leaves. Other bushes made themselves less attractive by increasing tanins in their leaves, but the route of the warning was not known. At the time I wondered if it was airborne, such as an essential oil being evaporated from the leaves as it is with Mediterranean herbs such as lavender, rosemary and thyme, but it is through the roots and Mycelium. Her work is changing the way that forests are managed, and in the future may alter the forests vulnerability to infection and forest fires such as we have seen in recent years due to single species planting. I will never walk in the forest in quite the same way again.

Denise and I enjoying a visit at the Georgian Bay Centre for the Arts cafe before the latest Covid closures.

Til next time…..

Creations for Christmas

By Maggie

On December 14, 2021

In Posts

Well, I certainly don’t have marketing under my belt as it just occurred to me to day that I should be letting the world know that there are still a few pieces available of the Sauble Collection.

It has been a year of thinking things through in terms of my desire to create items and then how to put them out into the world. Creating and not dispersing would fill my home very quickly. The website and Sauble collection were a good beginning, but I am realizing I do not want to be limited to one medium. I have bought leather and have made some bags, which did not make it to the website, so I have to find a way to streamline all this. I think if I was a computer native it would be easier, but no, I have to plod my way through figuring it out. But I am having fun creating, which is the important thing, to me anyway. I really like my tag line, a Meandering Maker. Meandering all over the place, literally and creatively.

Here is the last bag available. Hand stitched, veg tan leather which I dyed myself. Very organic, not at all the style I made in Florence.

It is based on a bus or train conductors ticket bag and has three sections inside. I am offering it at $90.00 as a prototype. Can be cross body or a shoulder bag. The one I made myself two years ago is now soft and supple and I got a compliment on it just today!

I hope everyone has a great holiday season however you celebrate it, and what better way to end than a picture of Tucker and Piper at play.

Taken by Piper’s dad, Dave Landry of https://www.davelandryphoto.com/

If you build it, they will come, take two

By Maggie

On September 5, 2021

In Posts

This August Tucker and I drove from Owen Sound to St. John, New Brunswick to visit long time friends that had recently moved there from Prince Edward County, Ontario.

I broke the journey up into three days in each direction, but they drove from Kingston, Ontario to St. Johns last fall in just one day. In two cars, so there was no switching up drivers. Even dividing it into three days, did I experience much of what Ontario, Quebec or New Brunswick has to offer along the way, no, because I mainly drove on highways. It started to make me think about childhood journey’s by car.

Flowerpot Rock, Fownes Head, Fundy Trail

I would not describe my parents as intrepid travelers, but we had a VW campervan, and the only way that we could see the world as a family of 7 was to camp. And we were lucky enough to have a university lecturer as a father. That meant we could travel for the whole six weeks of our summer vacation from school. In 1965 and 1966, yes, an age ago, we went to the south of France. It took us a week to drive through England and France, and a week to get back, which left us four weeks to play on a Mediterranean beach.

Although I was very young, I distinctly remember arriving in France. Everything was so different from England, immediately. We did not drive by highway, which, if they did exist, and I am not sure they did, we certainly did not use them. Each village had a sign indicating you were entering the village, not unusual anywhere, but when you left the sign was repeated with a red line going diagonally through it. You were out of the village. No inviting sign asking you to return soon. And the villages did not look like English villages, even apart from the style of buildings. There were women walking around, mainly older women, wearing head to toe black, permanent mourning was de rigueur . They were often carrying a baguette, a form of bread that we had never seen before. Bought fresh daily. And the vehicles, Citroen, Renault and goodness knows what else, did not look like vehicles in the U.K.

We stopped every day for lunch, often by the side of the road in a pull off, and it was very common for anyone riding by on a bicycle, yes, were were on very small roads, to call out bon appetit.

So we meandered through France, stopping to look at things along the way. One time is was the Bayeux Tapestry in Normandy. It depicts the Battle of Hastings, 1066, the last time was Britain was successfully invaded. It is 70 meters long, and when we saw it it filled three rooms. Even at the time I wondered at how long it must have taken to create it. https://www.bayeuxmuseum.com/en/the-bayeux-tapestry/ I wanted Mom and Dad to rent one of the listening devices you carry round to hear about the tapestry, but Mom quickly dashed those hopes by saying that Dad would be able to tell us all about it. I also remember wondering why the tapestry was in France, not in England, and I have to admit that it just dawned on me that it is there because they were the victors! The Battle of Hastings is such a seminal date in British history, but I never think of it as a defeat!

King Harold, with an arrow in his eye. There is still dispute as to whether this is how he died.

More exciting was the visit to the to the Pont du Gard Roman Aqueduct in southern France. We were able to get to the highest level that is now closed to the public.

It was built to bring water to the city of Nimes. It carried 8,800,000 imperial gallons of water a day (thanks Wikepedia). An amazing feat, created two thousand years ago! However, for us it was just something to climb all over, which we did. One advantage of being young back then is that a lot of things were easier to explore, now, as I said, the only part you can walk on is the lowest tier. When we visited Stonehenge, again, sometime in the 60’s, it was not fenced. We parked on the road and walked right up to it and played on and around the stones.

Dad made the journey as much a part of the holiday as he could. Not so the trips that my sisters and I took driving across France in more recent years. We definitely used the highways, and we drove as far as we could each day, making it to Provence in two days. As we drove off the ferry into France the cars were no different. Now all makes are available everywhere it seems, and they all look the same to me. Now the French are very clever. Most of their highways are toll road. They make the tourists help pay for them. And yes, if they build it, we will come. There were cars from all over Europe, and we would have opinions as to which were the worst drivers. And as we drove along we passed all kinds of signs for places of interest, but we forged on, just seeing the country immediately next to the road.

On my return trip from New Brunswick one sign in Ontario did catch my eye, and I did go and have a look. It was a lock on the St. Lawrence River, and a freighter was going through it as I watched.

It made me very nostalgic for my time on Little Star, and fueled the stirrings I have for another narrowboat holiday in the future.

Two things before I go.

Firstly, my friends Caroline and Arlene want to spend some time exploring using a camper van, and while we visited Nova Scotia from New Brunswick we went to see a 1985 (or 86) VW Westfalia, or a Westie as they are now known apparently down in Chester Basin.

Although they did not buy it, it sure was a walk down memory lane for me, and probably got me thinking about my childhood holidays. While they chatted to Jeff, the mechanic that restored it, I had lunch at the Seaside Shanty. I had previously had a lovely dinner there years ago with friends that my friend Lori and I met up with while traveling the east coast. The best scallops, and Blueberry Grunt anyone?

Secondly, I am going to be part of a Pop-Up Studio Sale at my home on Saturday, September 25th. Would be great to see you if you are in the neighbourhood.

Pop-Up-Studio-Sale-1 Download

Fixing the glitches, oh, and here is the website address

By Maggie

On May 27, 2021

In Posts

Wow, I am really happy with the response to the creations. There are little boxes going out in the mail tomorrow. It is exhilarating to know that my pieces are striking a cord and going out into the world.

I am really glad that I am not responsible for the website of a multi-national corporation, but I am sure that they would run a beta version past lots of people first. It was just Kailey and me, and even with Kailey’s experience there are glitches to fix. It was fun today to go through them and find solutions. So, here we go again.

When you get the latest Meanderings there will be an icon you can click on to go the home page of A Meandering Mann and Made by Mann. From there you can click on Available Creations. If you just want to go to the webpage it is www.madebymann.ca I wanted to keep the Meanderings, or blog, as the first place you land when one is sent out.

Some of the pieces have numbers, some don’t. If you want to buy one quote the number and the area, e.g. Stacks, when you email me, and include your address for mailing, and a telephone number you want me to call if you want to use a visa or mastercard.

Now I will be tidying up my studio getting ready for my next endeavour. Nearly all of the Sauble pebbles are now jewellery, just a few haven’t found their home with another pebble or two yet. Some of them are lovely so I will have to think of more ideas. It will probably be a while before pebble jewellery will be on my bench again, although I do have some from the North East Coast of England and other styles of jewellery that will go up in a while. Getting the Sauble pebbles up was enough of a hurdle. But a happy hurdle. My tag line is apt, A Meandering Maker, I will be meandering from one thing to another.

The last blog was a long one, I hope you didn’t get bored before the end. It felt important for me to write so your thoughts and responses are always welcome.