Suzanne Stengl's Blog, page 3

Tired of COVID-19

Who isn’t tired of COVID-19?

The World Health Organization officially declared a pandemic on March 11. My home province, Alberta, declared a state of emergency on March 17.

Stores closed. Schools and daycares closed. People started working from home. Non-essential surgeries were cancelled—partly to prevent the spread of the virus and partly to be sure that ventilators would be available if symptoms got that bad.

People were encouraged to wear masks if they had to go out for groceries. And most grocery stores would deliver. Even Staples will deliver free of charge because if you are working from your home office, you need ink.

The local drugstore has arrows to direct the flow of traffic down aisles and thus ensure social distancing. Same for Safeway. I like stores that have that “flow of traffic” figured out.

And now, finally, the curve has indeed “flattened” and some restrictions are being lifted. At least, in most of the province. Calgary and Brooks are a little late since these two cities have had a higher number of cases.

I walk on the path by the river in the morning. People maintain the 2-metre “social distancing” and wave as we pass each other. They are all team players.

Earlier this year, I was one of the lucky ones. I got my “non-essential” surgery done on January 28. A new hip. For me, most of February was a blur as I rotated ice packs, did my exercises, and slowly recovered.

When March came, I was looking forward to getting out into the world again. But then, COVID-19.

At first, the stay-at-home was not too hard to follow. I’m an introvert, after all. So you would think I’d be getting a lot of writing done with this social distancing.

But, not so much. It’s hard to stop thinking about COVID-19.

And, I find that I miss people. Now my favourite café, Friends, has sort of reopened, with take-out service.

There’s Plexiglas at the service counter, and masks and gloves for the staff, and visibly marked-out social distance areas. Using the front and side doors, a one-way flow of traffic has been created. And there’s a brand new “tap” for the credit/debit machine.

They even have curbside pickup.

This morning, two of my writer friends and I met at “Friends”. We got our take-out coffees. (Also, I picked up one of the “Heat & Eat” lasagnas for tonight’s supper.) Then we headed back to one friend’s balcony where we could sit apart but be together. We could have made coffee but it’s just not the same as going to Friends. (friendscappuccinobar.ca)

Zoom has been great, and my writing groups have made good use of it. But I have definitely missed my Friends.

FriendsCappuccinoBar.ca

How are you coping? Are you tired of COVID-19? Do you love Zoom?

Mask from Bigstockphotos 351136352

Keyboard from Depositphotos_361140466_l-2015

Friends Cappuccino Bar image from Friends Cappuccino Bar

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Almost Christmas

The temperature is hovering around zero Celsius and it’s sunny. It snowed a few days ago and there’s still snow on the ground so, it looks like we will have a White Christmas.

Tonight the temperature will dip to minus 14 Celsius, but tomorrow, for “Christmas Eve Day”, we’ll have a high of minus 5. And sunny again.

The roads outside the city have mostly been cleared so those travelling should be okay, unless they’re trying to get through the mountains. Better to fly.

Closer to home, like in our back alley, the water main is broken. The city crew and heavy equipment are back there working as quickly as they can, trying to get the water back online. The good news is that the Emergency Water Supply is right in front of our house so we don’t have far to walk for potable water.

The fridge is full. Tree lights are glowing and glitter is glittering. Santa’s sleigh is loaded and ready for takeoff. The main celebration is about to begin. In preparation for January, I’m trying to taper off my intake of Starbuck’s seasonal drinks. I love this stuff.

And so, it is almost Christmas. Are you ready? Or as ready as you are going to be? Of course, you are. It’s time to stop preparing and settle in for the holiday. Whatever does not get done can wait for another year. I’ll be happy to have water coming out of the tap. Kudos to those city workers who are out there in the cold fixing pipes! 

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

To all of you, far and wide, whether you celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah or the Solstice or your own special brand of Winter Wonderful, I wish you the best of the season and a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year and new decade.

For your enjoyment, here’s a video of the Christmas fairies checking out our neighbourhood. That’s me on the right, waving to you.

Write Chicks

Last Saturday, some of the “Write Chicks” had a Christmas party. It was hosted by the mega-creative Write Chick, Katie O’Connor. Katie is the Queen of Christmas decorations!

For this get-together, we had a potluck lunch and a Secret Santa gift exchange.

pot luck

“Write Chicks” is a group of writers who meet to provide motivation and accountability for each other, and to get “words on the page”. At the party, we tallied up our word counts for the year, and guess what? As a group, these Write Chicks wrote about 900,000 words.

I’m sorry to say that I didn’t contribute many words to that total—but I am definitely motivated for next year.

I love Christmas cookies!

At the party, we also had two contests.

Best Holiday Outfit, and
Ugliest Sweater

Here are the sweaters and outfits.

Katie O’Connor

Katie O’Connor writes contemporary romance, often steamy ones! Now, she’s also writing cozy mysteries. Find her here. 

Shelley Kassian

Shelley Kassian writes Romantasy, a combination of Fantasy + Romance. Find her here.

Brenda Sinclair

Brenda Sinclair writes historical western romance and contemporary romance. She has published over twenty novels. Find her here.

Katie O’Connor, Shelley Kassian and Brenda Sinclair are part of the Women of Stampede series. You can read about the project here. 

Jenna Howard

Jenna Howard loves to write sexy, contemporary romance. Find her here. By the way, I love the Welcome page she has on her website.

Victoria Chatham

Victoria Chatham writes “history, mystery and love”. You can find her here. 

A.M. Westerling

A.M. Westerling writes historical romance “from Vikings to Viscounts” and she is the winner of the Best Holiday Outfit. I love the necklace with the flashing Christmas lights. You can find her here.

Both Victoria Chatham and A.M. Westerling are authors with Books We Love.

M.K. Stelmack

M.K. Stelmack is a contemporary and historical romance author who writes for Harlequin Heartwarming about “Home & Heart, Family & Friends”. You can find her here.

MK is the winner of the Ugliest Sweater contest. (Points also for the tinfoil hat and earrings.)

Suzanne Stengl

And this is me. The Sweet Romance author. I’m still hobbling around with my cane, but next year, I get a brand new hip.

Thank you, Santa!

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The Asparagus Festival

Last Sunday (June 9, 2019), the Annual Asparagus Festival was held at Edgar Farms near Innisfail, Alberta.

Who knew such an event existed?

 
Edgar Farms is a sixth generation family farm established in 1907. From a diversification experiment in 1986, the farm now cultivates 50 acres of asparagus. As well as asparagus, the farm grows green and yellow beans, rhubarb and peas. They also raise grass-fed Angus beef which is hormone and antibiotic free.
 

 
The asparagus has a short growing season, usually only May and June. After that, the asparagus is allowed to grow into a fern so the plant can store nutrients for the winter.
 
Over the growing season, the asparagus is picked every day. If there’s rain, the field might need to be picked more than once. The little spears grow that fast.
 
Thanks to the cool Alberta climate, this asparagus is sweet and tender. It’s available fresh onsite at the Edgar Farms General Store and also at Farmers Markets from Edmonton to Calgary. Soups and pies from Edgar Farms can also be found in the frozen section of some grocery stores.
 
You might like to know that asparagus is a good source of Vitamin B6, calcium, magnesium, zinc and many other trace nutrients. It is also an excellent source of dietary fibre.
 

 
The festival offered wagon ride tours of the farm and viewing windows for a glimpse of the kitchen. Children visited farm animals, pumped water, and played in the activity centres.
 
And, Aspara-Gussy was on site providing treats and photo-ops.
 

 
The festival also hosted an Artisan Market with everything from chocolate, nuts and honey to pottery, woodworking and mini donuts.  
 

 
We purchased meat pies, fruit pies, pickled beets and a huge bag of asparagus. I’ve already tasted the Saskatoon rhubarb pie and it’s the best on the planet.
 
I will definitely be at the Festival next year and will most likely stop by the General Store the next time I’m in the area.
 
Have you ever been to an Asparagus Festival?

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Raindrops on lilacs

I have always loved the smell of lilacs, especially in the rain.

 
It’s raining in Calgary today. Not just “showers” or “chance of showers” but “rain”. This is unusual because it only ever rains for about an hour, maybe two, and it’s been raining all morning.
 
Today is welcome rain, soaking the lawns and flower beds, and clearing the wildfire smoky skies.
 

 

Into each life some rain must fall. 

—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 
I grew up on a farm in Southwestern Ontario. When it rained, we didn’t have to hoe beans or pick cucumbers. There were multiple indoor activities on a rainy day – a game of euchre, a jigsaw puzzle, a pie to make. Once my brother built a telegraph from the house to the barn and we practiced Morse Code for hours.
 
At any rate, I still associate rain with rest. Today I sit in the kitchen and enjoy the view.
 

 
The backyard is mostly perennials because who has time to plant each spring? I suppose a gardener does but I’m not really a gardener. I am an Enjoyer of Gardens.
 
Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet.

— Roger Miller
 
This bleeding heart comes back every year—
 
—and so do the Saskatoons.

 
These two bushes were recently planted. They are Haskap berries. Apparently, Haskaps are higher in antioxidants than blueberries. Behind the plastic is the strawberry patch. The plastic keeps the birds away and also keeps the plants a little warmer.


This is the new grapevine, with accompanying trellis. The backyard is on a slope—a sort of hillside. Grapes grow on hillsides, right? Even though Calgary has a short growing season, we can always hope.

 
I do plant a few annuals in pots on the balcony—mainly because I can bring them indoors when Calgary has snow late, or early, in the season.

 
 
A poet is someone who stands outside in the rain hoping to be struck by lightning.

—James Dickey
 
At the beginning of each spring season, we put the concrete birdbath outside. It’s in the basement over the long harsh winter and now it is enjoyed by the birds—

 
—and by the humans watching the birds.
 
I hope you are enjoying this rainy day!

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Out like a lamb . . .

In Calgary, Canada, we have left winter behind. (I hope.)

March came in like a lion following on the tails of Calgary’s coldest February since 1979. And now with just a few days left in the month, it seems as if March will go out like a lamb.

And so, for you, some lamb cupcakes.

Cupcakes from bigstockphoto.com #82754852

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February’s End

It’s the end of February, the coldest month of winter. Also, the snowiest month.

Today, we have a “warm” day. It’s only minus 5 Celsius (23 F). However, tomorrow we are back to minus 17 Celsius (1 F) and more snow, so March will come in like a lion.

I had not realized how much I use skiing for getting outside in the winter. This winter, I have not been able to ski and I’m feeling very cooped up.

For a long time, I’ve noticed this pain in my hip and I’ve written it off as a pulled muscle. But, last summer, while walking up a hill at Whistler, I was having major difficulty.

After vacation, my doctor sent me for an X-ray, and it turns out I have osteoarthritis. In fact, I have a lot of it. So much so, that I will need a new hip. It’s amazing what they can fix.

Here I am hobbling around in the mountain town of Canmore, Alberta.

By the way, this is where THE THURSTON HEIRLOOM is set.

I can still drive and I have one of those parking passes so I can park in the handicap spots. In the house, I get around with just a cane, but outside in the snow, I feel more secure with crutches.

These past few months, I’ve been amazed by how kind people are. They are always holding doors open for me. I go to Starbucks for a latte and people ask if they can carry my drink to my table. One barista even offered to bring my drink out to my car.

At the bank, I’ve had an employee offer to bring me a chair while I waited in line, and I’ve had a customer send me ahead of him in the line.

While Christmas shopping, I was carrying my bags out to the parking lot when a lady offered her help. She carried all my stuff to my car for me.

So, thank you, world. You’ve been a great help!

There’s a fairly long wait to get this operation and in the meantime, I need to stay active. That means walking in the water and doing Aquafit. I also do yoga. And yesterday, I tried a stationary bike for the first time. I think I’ll like that exercise.

In other news…

Fortunately, my arms still work because I am a grandmother again.

Isn’t she sweet?

She makes me count my blessings.

Calendar from bigstockphoto.com #275300788

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Writing to your Future Self

So it’s already the second week of January, and I remain resolution-less. 

I could be making a list and I know all the usual suspects: write more, read more, eat healthy food, drink lots of water. The exercise component has shifted to yoga and floor exercises since I can’t do walking/skiing/line dancing now. Turns out my hip has severe osteoarthritis. I’d really like a new hip but time will tell.

Since I started this blog, I’ve had various approaches to the New Year’s Resolution:

In the beginning, 2012, I simply listed my resolutions and hoped for the best. New Year’s Resolutions.
In 2013, I talked about what Smart Goals are, and I made an “Un-Resolution List”.
For 2014, it was Setting Intentions.
And then in 2015, although it was not specifically about Resolutions, I looked up the Stages of Exercise.
I listed some . . . things to do in the New Year . . . for 2016. It was a pretty laissez-faire approach but it seemed to work as well as anything specific.
The next year, I think I gave up.
By 2018, I had found A different take on Goal Setting which is to simply not talk about it. The idea is that by stating your goal to the world, you actually decrease your chances of achieving it. The STATING gives you all kinds of approbation before you actually do anything. So, go ahead and make that goal, but don’t announce it. Not until you’ve achieved it.

This year, I’ve found a new approach. Instead of simply making that list, you talk to yourself about what you’d like to do in this new year. Then answer yourself at a later date. At that time, you might get a nudge from your Future Self to try again, or, you might see progress. Often we do make progress, but we don’t notice it because the progression is glacially slow.

Incidentally, my school of nursing motto was Persistent in Progress.

Hamilton and District School of Nursing crest

 
One way to talk to yourself is to journal.

That’s an ongoing thing and sometimes we don’t take the time to go back and see what we wrote. The progress, if there is any, does not stand out.

Another way to talk to yourself is to write yourself a letter.

And have it delivered to you next January. Or maybe on June 30 at that halfway point of the year. Or maybe even on this date next month.

Of course, there is an app for this. It’s called future me.

You can sign up for free. There’s also a premium option for $3 per year if you don’t want to see ads.

I think I wrote a letter to Me sometime in December. I’m pretty sure I scheduled it to send sometime in January. I wonder what I will be telling Me?

Are you a resolution maker? Do you start off with new optimism each January? Or, do you prefer to remain resolution-less? Do you think a letter from You to You might be motivating, reassuring or even slightly interesting? Will you give it a try?

little girl writing a letter to her future self from Depositphotos #59092059

 

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The Christmas Chronicles

This year, Netflix produced “The Christmas Chronicles” and it’s the best holiday movie I’ve seen in a long time.

There are nights when I can’t sleep and Netflix is my drug of choice. So, on one of my sleepless nights, I scrolled through the Netflix offerings and found this Christmas movie starring Kurt Russell as Santa. And what an excellent Santa he is! Cool and macho and I love that coat!

I’ve watched the movie twice more with Rolf and we are both hoping we’ll be able to buy this one on Blu-Ray and put it in our Christmas Collection.

The basic premise is this: two siblings are left alone on Christmas Eve because their mother has to work in the Emergency Department at the hospital and their firefighter dad died last year. Teddy, a teenager, is unimpressed with having to babysit his younger sister Katie, but she concocts a plan to catch Santa on video and Teddy helps out.

The two kids end up in the back of Santa’s sleigh and cause Santa to have a near crash with a Boeing. Santa loses his hat, his bag of toys and his reindeer. The rest of the film deals with finding those items and saving Christmas.

There’s a car theft, a car chase, a reindeer chase, and Santa ends up in jail where he performs a blues “Santa Claus is Back in Town” with a cell-full of accompaniment. The police get the Christmas spirit and release Santa. Eventually, all is put to rights, the good guys triumph and the bad guys get coal. And the ending has a surprising and charming cameo that I know you’ll love.

I’ve read some of the serious critic reviews and many of them like to diss the movie. But on sites like the Internet Movie Database (imdb.com) the user reviews are mostly positive. When I looked this morning, the overall rating was for 7.3 out of 10.

For me, the movie was heartwarming and enjoyable, even without eggnog. Don’t pay a lot of attention to the naysayers. Watch “The Christmas Chronicles” yourself and make your own decision. Bah Humbug to the critics.

Have you seen “The Christmas Chronicles” yet? Do you like binge-watching Netflix movies? What’s your favourite Christmas movie?

Image from imdb.com

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My books are in the Calgary Library!

My print books are now in the Calgary Library. This one, WEDDING BELL BLUES, is the first to hit the shelves. It’s at my local library, the Crowfoot branch.

The other two books in the “SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW” series are at the new Central Library downtown.

~ the new Central Library ~

GO TO https://calgarylibrary.ca/ and do a search for Suzanne Stengl.

Sign out a copy!

Here is the catalogue entry for A WEDDING AND A WHITE CHRISTMAS.

A whirlwind Christmas visit to Las Vegas. A long night of merrymaking. An Elvis Chapel. Whoops!

ON THE WAY TO A WEDDING is also on the shelves downtown.

My wedding series (SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW) is set in Calgary. I took some liberties—like calling my hospital the Nose Hill Hospital. It somewhat resembles the Foothills Hospital where I used to work. I renamed a few other places. The Oak Room at the Fairmont Palliser became Kipling’s. I also combined a junior high school name with a senior high school name to get the high school called Aberton. Some of my friends will recognize their names as streets and avenues. But the essence of Calgary, the foothills city east of the Rocky Mountains, is here with its Chinooks and its wet Junes and its cold autumns.

If you’re looking for LARGER PRINT, you can find THE GHOST AND CHRISTIE MCFEE in the Large Print Collection at the new Central Library downtown.

My other book, THE THURSTON HEIRLOOM, is at the Judith Umbach Library in Thornhill on Centre Street. You can put a book on hold at any branch in Calgary and have it delivered to your local branch.

I have one more book to convert to print (ANGEL WINGS) and that is on the list for next year.

Do you enjoy spending time in the library? Do you ever go there to get some writing done? Or to do some research? And then, do you end up wandering the stacks and looking for books by your favourite authors?

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