Kim Hanson

Writing & Quilting

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Third Act

March 9, 2018 | 5 Comments

Months ago, I came across an editorial piece in a women’s business magazine. The writer, a middle-aged female, was lamenting her reality; that she had spent so much time on building her business that she had missed out on precious time with family. Her business was very successful and over the years, she had expanded its reach.  She was rightfully proud of what she has created, yet so regretful of the day-to-day family activities she had not witnessed.

As I read her words, I realized it was exactly the opposite for me. I’ve always had such grand business ideas that have not been fulfilled. The lion’s share of my time has been devoted to family. My husband’s job has always taken precedence – I worked a part-time job away from home, took care of our three children and ran our hectic household.

Our three children grew into lovely, caring, responsible adults. When I was 46 years old, and still kinda filled with a youthful exuberance, our lives were blessed with the birth of our first grandchild. I was able to take care of our boy during weekdays for four years, while his parents were at work. I learned very quickly that I didn’t  really have youthful exuberance, he did! Jacob wore me out, but those four years were truly some of the best of my life. We went everywhere together…he has such an adventurous soul. We visited the Y, the library, the zoo – and met some of the best people ever, especially at the local Y. He’s now almost 16 years old and I pray that our time together in his youth established an unbreakable bond for life.

I’m turning 62 pretty soon and now my Dad’s health is in decline. His driver’s license was taken away by his family doctor sometime ago, so I’ve become his eyes and ears on the road. Prostate cancer, alarmingly high blood pressure, kidney issues and deteriorating vision keep us both very busy with countless doctor’s visits and scans, scans and more scans. He needed an emergency CT scan and for expediency, his doctor sent us to High River, a town 45 miles away from home. The appointment was at dawn. Neither of us will ever forget the spectacular sunrise that day, the laughs we had or the great health care professionals at the tiny High River hospital. Sometimes, when we’re at the Mall for his haircuts or having a blood draw at the clinic, we take a few minutes and walk and talk and he grabs a coffee. We sit in the food court and he tells me things I never knew. Stories I’ve never heard.

I’m beyond mid-life and approaching my third Act. In retrospect, I may have regrets in my life, but I will never regret all the time I’ve been able to spend with my family. Thanks to my husband, who has always supported me no matter what, I’ve done what I’ve really wanted to do. I’ve wanted to be there to watch our kids grow. I’ve wanted to be there to spend time with our grandchildren. I’ve wanted to be there when my parents need me in their last days. I’ve been blessed to be able to do all of that. Thank you God.

 

Kim

 

 

 

Filed Under: Personal, Photography, Stories & Essays, Writing |

Backyard Retreats

January 17, 2018 | 80 Comments

Happy Wednesday everyone. It’s still winter here in Calgary, and we’ve got a long way to go until it’s over, until it’s spring.

But nevertheless, I can’t help myself…..thoughts of spring are still rolling through my mind. I came across this fabulous piece from Houzz, as I subscribe to their email. It’s a wonderful article about “backyard retreats” and I so wanted to share it with you. You can find it here.

I’m particularly fond of the last little retreat, #8 – the one that looks more like an English cottage than a backyard shed. Which one is your favourite? (Leave me a comment at the end of my blog about which backyard retreat is your favourite and you could win a beautiful fabric bundle, coordinated to Pantone’s Colour of the Year for 2018 – Ultraviolet. More on this later.)

Who wouldn’t love one of these little “outbuildings”  in their backyard? Here in Calgary, though, because of our climate, it would likely only be warm enough to work outside from May through October ish; and even then you’d NEED a baseboard heater of some kind. I often imagine – stitching and writing and sewing in that little gem for six months of the year! Wouldn’t that be lovely?

But, besides the weather, there’s one teensy tiny other issue. Our backyard is filled with critters like him:

And mice, that I never see. I know they are there because I feed the birds and mice love freefall birdseed.

Would all these critters want to move into my little backyard retreat with me? Would I have to share it with backyard vermin? Would I find mice nestling in my bundles of fabric? Ewwwww!

THAT would definitely send me screaming and scrambling back to the safe confines of our house, never to enter my lovely shed again. In my dreams, vermin do not exist!

So, take a minute to look at the Houzz.com piece and tell me which is your favourite backyard retreaet. You could very well win a lovely bundle of fabrics, photos of which I will share with you all soon.

Take good care of yourself. Talk again soon.

Kim

 

Filed Under: Personal, Photography, Quilters, Quilting Studio, Writing |

Taking Stock and Getting Ready for 2017. Do you practice the Five Good Pillars of Health?

December 28, 2016 | 2 Comments

Happy New Year everyone.  I’m so grateful that you have stopped by.

I’m doing my usual year end review – more a mental review than anything else….pondering what worked for me this past year, insofar as quilting and writing are concerned, and what did not work. What parts of quilting and writing were particularly enjoyable?  What was not so much fun? Can I find some time to learn more about photography? Taking better photos is a goal.

In addition to the mental part of this equation, I really like to do a reorganization of my sewing space, sort of getting things ready for the dawn of a new year. Checking out fabric (do I have enough? yes!), checking out what quilt patterns are have in the works and what stories there are to tell. Physically going through all my folders and papers and business cards and recycling and updating. It’s so much fun and a way to renew.

Besides the usual sewing and quilting and writing, I’m checking in to see what I can do to maintain good health.  Without good health, really, what is there?

There are five widely accepted “Good Pillars of Health”.

1. Eating foods that are generally good for your body. (Everyone slips up once in a while, but it’s important to get back on track and eat for the overall health of your body).

2. Maintaining some type of regular, physical activity. (Yoga and walking are it for me – they both help me to get up from my desk and my sewing machine and my couch and move. This one seems to be the hardest one for people to sustain; why is that do you suppose?)

3. Reduce your stress. (So vague, right? How do you reduce your stress?)

4. Maintaining social connectivity.  (To family, friends – especially women friends for women)

5. Spirituality.

What steps do you take to maintain good health…stay connected to both your family and your friends? How do you practice spirituality? I’d love to hear from you. You can leave me a comment on my blog – above the post, right under the title.

So hug your kids and grandkids. Let’s plan on making them some great quilted projects next year.

Thanks so much for being here in 2016. All the best to you and to your family in 2017.

Kim

 

Filed Under: Personal, Photography, Quilts and Yoga, Stories & Essays, Uncategorized, Writing |

Snow is everywhere

January 12, 2016 | Leave a Comment

We spent some time at our condo on Lake Windermere arriving on New Year’s Eve. The complex was crowded with people just waiting for dark so they could celebrate with fireworks. At the Lake, dark in January comes by 5 pm so the kids didn’t have to wait long for their spectacular explosions. New Year’s Day brought with it cold temperatures, -16 C, but many hardy souls were out on the Lake enjoying winter’s best – ice fishing, hockey, skating, cross-country skiing. The day was so dull and lifeless, yet the frozen Lake was alive with activity.

We walked for a little less than 10,000 steps that day and had a magnificient time in the freezing cold.

Staying only a few days, driving home on Highway 93 was a winter wonderland of snow and nature’s beauty. Having driven that highway countless times, this drive was just a little better than most. The sun shone and sparkled on the fresh, glistening snow. I loved the gray, low-lying clouds on the majestic Rocky Mountains the best.

Photo#1

Photo#10

Photo#16

Tons and tons of snow covered the landscape for as far as the eye could see.

Photo#9

Such a wonderful time of the year.

Till later…
Kim

Filed Under: Personal |

January is here!

January 4, 2016 | Leave a Comment

I love all things January; at least all things in the beginning of January. By the middle of the month, nearing the end I’ve usually had enough. Enough of the cold weather and dreary days. Today, though is a great day. As with the start of each New Year, I always feel anything is possible. It’s exciting and it’s creative and it’s fun.

As many of you know, I’ve been working diligently on curing my IBS. My naturopath, Dr. Angela Kirk is a wonderful lady who has helped me tremendously through this process. She is always more than willing to listen to me and to my concerns and stubbornly tries to address each one. Since everyone’s IBS symptoms differ, it is very helpful to embark on one’s own to do some independent reading on the subject and to discover as much as possible about the insidious disease. I did some IBS-related reading online, being mindful to pay attention to the sources quoted, being sure they were reputable. I found out several things that I was not previously aware of – (1) white rice can exacerbate symptoms, (2) carbonated beverages were not helpful to those suffering from IBS and (3) to stop drinking all kinds of teas. White rice I love, so changing to eating brown rice was a bit of a chore, but it’s now done. Since I avoid alcohol and caffeine, my “party” drink was club soda. Once I understood the carbonation was hurting my recovery and healing, I stopped drinking that. Since not being able to tolerate black teas, I drank herbal teas all during the day – especially when meeting a friend at Starbucks. Quitting the herbal tea side of things was particularly difficult for the reason that drinking it was part of a social routine.

Help, though, came in quitting white rice, carbonated beverages and herbal teas, and it came immediately. It was actually shocking! As a result, I’m doing much better now. My naturopath would like me to take some herbal antibiotics sometime this month to help with the bacteria in my small intestine. I must admit that I haven’t yet decided if I wish to go that route.

I have been following a low fodmap diet which has also helped me tremendously. The diet is not as strict (at least not to me) as the Paleo diet was and I seem to be tolerating it well. I do cheat; eating onions, cream cheese (in soup) along with a few other food choices. All in all, however, I’m doing better than I have in a long time.

Yoga helps me every day that I practise. Getting to class three or four or five times a week is always a blessing. I’ve never once left a yoga class saying, “well that was a waste of time!” It allows me to work hard for 75 minutes, refocus and regenerate. It’s a Godsend and I love it.

Writing is my goal in 2016 – all kinds of writing and writing whenever I can. We’ll see where this leads me.

Thank you everyone.

Till later

Kim

Filed Under: Personal |

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