Wanderlust and Words

Great Torrington is a small market town in the heart of north Devon. One of the best parts of taking a day trip to another town is the bus ride. Unlike cars that usually take the quickest, straightest route from point A to point B, buses meander through the countryside, stopping in all the small communities. The bus to Torrington follows the Torridge River and the Tarka cycle trail for much of the way, travelling on narrow country roads between tall hedges or banks. At one point, the driver had to carefully position the bus before taking a sharp turn into a low tunnel. I was excited to visit Torrington as their Pannier Market (covered market) was built in 1842 and redeveloped in 1999. I made sure to go on a market day but was severely disappointed! There was only one food vendor selling home baking. Seriously, Saskatoon! You don’t know how lucky you are to have a thriving farmers’ market. I’ve visited several British farmers’ markets this year and they were all so small w...

Local Happenings  Attend a free public screening of the food waste documentary Just Eat It from 1:45-3 pm , Jan. 31 . Registration is required. An article entitled food bank users deserve luxuries as well as lentils – just like everyone else made me think. I normally make a cash donation so the Saskatoon Food Bank & Learning Centre can purchase what is most needed, but if I do contribute an item, it’s usually something very practical like pasta. Maybe next time it will be chocolate bars. Food for Thought  Nature Food is a new online magazine publishing research, reviews, and comments on aspects of food production, processing, distribution, and consumption that impact human and planetary health. There’s a strong UK slant to the articles and many are very research-oriented. The article I enjoyed the most in the first edition was the evolving history of pie and mash shops in the UK . A research experiment asked participants to rate oat biscuits on appearance al...

“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes S. Portico Bowman is a friend of mine and a talented artist, writer, and teacher. She is also a creative and insightful person. I particularly admire her ability to transition between different media – from pottery to printing to writing, and her insights during our shared travels have helped me to see things differently. Portico is offering a workshop from July 12-16, 2020, at the Hollyhock Retreat Centre on Cortes Island, British Columbia, and I strongly encourage you to take part. The workshop is entitled Drawing Towards the Earth: Making Journals for Life and will involve making coptic stitch Arcadia Playhouse journals and Bargello tapestry bookmarks . The slow, repetitive creative process is designed to be contemplative, meditative, and introspective. In addition, Cortes Island provides the most fabulous garden setting surrounded by the ocean. It sounds absol...

Local Happenings  Congratulations to Kathy Evans , department head secretary in the College of Medicine’s Department of Community Health & Epidemiology, who has received the 2019 Sydney Inskip Award. One of the many things Kathy does to establish a welcoming environment in the department and the community is to invite students into her home to cook and share a meal. I worked with Kathy for a short while and she went out of her way to make me feel welcome and to help me obtain contract work once I went freelance. CHEP’s Collective Kitchens Partnership is hosting a Grub ‘n Gab starting at 5:30 pm , Jan. 23 . Following supper, there will be a presentation by Slow Food Saskatoon explaining what slow food is and how it’s tied to culture. Pre-registration is required. Contact Janet at 306-655-4575 or janet@chep.org if you’re interested in attending. Edible Landscapes Permaculture Design and Consulting, Regina, is offering a 3-day course covering edible and medicinal prairie...

There was far more action on the waterfront when I headed downhill just a short while later to catch the bus. So here are a few more photos of the gig boats getting ready for action. Don’t miss the guy waist-deep in water guiding the boats away from the slipway. Paddles go up in the air as they make their way out through tight quarters. What’s missing (along with photos of the actual races) is a photo from the end of the day when the local bar and cafés were packed with racers and their fans celebrating their endeavours.   Previous post: Saturday Morning Gig Races

Good morning! It’s a sunny crisp day in Appledore, North Devon. I’ve been in the UK for two months and this is the first time the temperature has dipped to just below zero – is it any wonder I prefer winter in Europe to Canada! I love to walk along the quay early in the morning and again after dark. Usually, the only other people about are the dog walkers. But today, the parking lot was full and there were crowds of people setting up their boats ready for a gig race. Here are four boats set and ready to go. Two smaller boats had already headed out to mark the course. Somebody must have thrown some food in the water as the gulls suddenly converged in a feeding frenzy.

Local Happenings Core Neighbourhood Youth Co-op is hosting their second annual Snowdrift Fundraiser on Feb. 2 . Tickets must be purchased by Jan. 25 . There will be 3 floors of fantastic food and desserts made by some of Saskatoon’s amazing chefs along with roasted marshmallows and hot chocolate. Slow Food Saskatoon is sponsoring a workshop on regenerative agriculture on Feb. 7 . Check out Shannon Parton’s beautiful macarons on Instagram . They’re available at CUT Steakhouse as well as for birthdays and other events. Jenn Sharp (Flat Out Food) and John Cote/Barb Stefanyshyn-Cote (Black Fox Farm and Distillery) are finalists for Western Living magazine’s Foodies of the Year . Congratulations! They’re talking about the University of Saskatchewan’s dwarf cherry breeding program from Hungary to Montana. Have any of you tried Field Fox Gardens and Cookery ’s ready-made meals? The website says they’re intended to be as healthy, local, and organic as possible. A lot of the di...

I moved into a new housesit in Appledore, North Devon, yesterday. This is my third housesit looking after Fenn the puss in a lovely old fisherman’s cottage just up from the waterfront, so I was happy and looking forward to the move. But there are always some regrets and anxieties. I’ll miss my walks beside the sea in Littlehampton and the companionship of a wee dog that was never far from my side. There’s also the upheaval of cleaning house, packing, and making travel plans. This particular trip involved changing trains at 3 different stations. Luckily, they were all small stations so it was easy to locate and change platforms. As I was early arriving at Littlehampton station, staff suggested I catch an earlier train, so I even had time to buy a hot drink at my first changeover! All the trains were on time, but that’s not always the case. My previous trip from Yorkshire to West Sussex was seriously messed up, but it’s hard to complain when you know the delays are often caused by...

Local Happenings  Happy New Year! I’m so pleased to see that the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market attracted a good crowd at its first market in its temporary location at 2604 Koyl Avenue. Change is hard, but it’s also an opportunity for renewal. I’m hoping that this move will provide the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market Co-operative with a chance to focus on their long-term goal of connecting the urban public with the source of their food. I look forward to seeing new vendors coming forward who really value that connection with the people who eat their food and new customers who are eager to meet the person who grew or baked their food – whether it’s the farmer who tells you about the hailstorm that played havoc with their crop or the baker who tells you about the Mexican festival origins of their different baked goods. There has been an interesting conversation on City Perks’ Facebook page this past week (Jan. 3 post) about ways of reducing the number of disposable coffee cups. S...

I had the great good fortune to visit the Arundel Wetland Centre yesterday. As a prairie dweller, I was amazed by the huge network of ponds and canals. Even more astonishing, the ponds were lined on either side with reeds that towered over my head. The array of ducks and geese was astonishing – geese elegantly dressed in black and white, small ducks with downy soft feathers, geese with long necks wrapped in swirling stripes. Each pond was designed to suit a different type of waterfowl so there were some with waterfalls and others with large rocks and ledges. The site doesn’t just cater for waterfowl. There were boxes for bats and barn owls as well as insect hotels and big stacks of branches providing shelter for all sorts of animals. There were birdwatching hides and a cabin full of dried herbs to touch and smell. The best part of the visit was a silent electric boat ride through the canals providing a duck’s-eye view of their world. ...