Picnic Time at St Vital Park

Bob and I decided it was time to get out a little more. 

We have always loved visiting different parks and landmarks, and we decide we just need to get out a lot more often and check out places near us. We both have enjoyed outdoor cooking in all kinds of forms, and we even have a pretty cool picnic backpack, but it has been sitting there never used. So we decided it is the time!!

This week we visited St Vital Park. It is about 46 hectares of park space located in the city beside a river. It features BBQ areas, lots of picnic spaces, soccer fields, volleyball, and many trails. There is even a charming duck pond. Another nice feature is a rock and flower garden that would be lovely for things like wedding pictures.

We parked the car on the side of the road when we spotted a couple of lovely picnic spots toward the river. We were looking for a table located with some shade on this beautiful but still very warm day. Jasper, the dog, really is well adapted and insulated to both hot and cold temperatures because of that furry coat. Still, no need to push it, so we find places in the shade for him to lie down. 

Between the road and the picnic spot we picked, a family of geese were enjoying the shade. Once we got out of the car, the family got their kids up and headed across the road stopping traffic. There were large trees and lots of lovely wildflowers nearby.

Jasper loves picnics. He has a bag of his own that comes complete with a water bottle, doggie water dishes, a big bag of his favourite treats and the all-important poop bags.

Our dark green picnic backpack has lots of pockets and an insulated center compartment for our picnic lunch. We are starting off with simple food, but I hope to get into more exciting menus over the summer. 

Here we really enjoyed our unplanned "grab and go" lunch from our fridge at home

• a ham and cheese bagel with mayo and lettuce.
• potato chips
• fresh fruit from our fridge
• a soft drink
  

After we cleaned up, we ran our supplies back to the car and went on a little walk on the trail by the river. I am not up to walking much right now, but the lovely walking trail and fantastic views were so beautiful they encouraged me to walk a little further.

I shall soon be rested... to sit in the shade on a fine day, and look upon verdure, is the most perfect refreshment. 

~Jane Austen, Mansfield Park, 1814

Jasper Greetings

Jasper loves Christmas trees.  When he saw the car drive up and the tree get carried in he was so excited! The first year we had Jasper we thought he was going to be ummm hard on the tree. It turns out it is more like napping in the forest. He slept under it and he tried to drink water from the tree stand and  ran in circles under it.  When we started to decorate the tree and hang the ornaments he got in on the process much to our shock. He went to his toy basket and got one of his squeaky toys and balanced them on the branches then went and did it again.  Jasper is an outdoor winter type dog and he appreciates our seasonal attempts to bring the outdoors in. 

Jasper is on Santa's Nice List

What Next?

 I checked my email yesterday and opened one from my boss and there it was--- 4 weeks notice of the termination date for my part time job.

I have always known that my job is a term position related to someone's maternity leave. The leave is almost over and changes are going to happen. I knew it was a short term position and thought of it as an excellent way to get real life experience after doing the training. This job has been very rewarding and I have enjoyed my work, spending time with my co-workers and I am really sad that this is coming to an end. I admit it was physically harder than I expected largely due to the issues related to the building. I have pushed and pushed, gone up and down stairs, dragged, lifted and twisted. You know what? It has gotten easier over the past year.

I previously thought I had gotten as far as I could with physical rehab. It seems that working in a 9 story building, where you can't always wait for the elevator, encourages a whole lot of exercise that I would never have chosen to do for myself. On the other hand my neuro and muscle work related improvement is meeting a spot where my age and years of walking funny have damaged my joints. I am going to physiotherapy as needed  and it helps.

Jasper resting at the cottage after a long day of play.

What next?

I follow a wonderful blog The Murphy Saga and the amazing and inspiring author recently wrote :

I've got a choice to either stew over it and be miserable until it consumes me, or I can get busy adjusting to my new life.

 What a powerful approach to dealing with change!

First my husband and I are going on a two week vacation and taking time to have an adventure and enjoy a break away from it all.

I will start to apply for jobs again. I probably should have started much sooner but I was enjoying being settled into this life. I am optimistic that I will find another part time job .. hopefully a permanent one!

Maybe I will take some more courses, maybe I will actually spend time practicing guitar maybe do some different type of volunteering. There are so many new things out there that I could try out..

or

 Maybe I should follow Jasper's lead and just take more time to nap.

Daily Blogging during April

I decided to accept the challenge of blogging every day in April for the Annual Health Activist Writers Month Challenge. It is organized by WEGO Health which is an online hub for health activists.  WEGO sends out a list of daily topics to write about and I think most of them are very interesting. I did this challenge before and I learned a lot about myself and about blogging. I have had a lot of different experiences in the past couple of years and I think I will be writing from a very different view point this time.

Todays Topic:
Wednesday, April 1

Wordless Wednesday!
Since this is the start of HAWMC, post a picture that shows how excited you are for the next 30
days. We always love a good Health Activist selfie!  #HAWMC

So here you go!  This is what I looked like yesterday evening.  I was playing on my computer and our dog, Jasper, decided it was his turn to get some attention. Jasper and I are all settled in for a month of cuddling and blogging.