Time to Get Out and Enjoy Nature

Photo Courtesy of Helen Schuler Nature Centre

The beauty of autumn is beginning to show on the leafy trees in our neighbourhood and with it comes the crisp morning air. While researching an article on youth nature programs at our local nature centre, I learned a lot about how important the outdoors is for our wellbeing.

Getting outdoors and enjoying nature is one of the best actions we can take towards to having a healthy body and mind, according to Coreen Putman, coordinator of the Helen Schuler Nature Centre in Lethbridge.

Lifelong Benefits

Encouraging children from a very young age to engage with nature can have lasting benefits for their physical and mental health, as well as instilling a continued conservation ethic for the future of the natural world, says Putman. 

“Contact with nature is vital for every aspect of childhood development - it is literally the best thing you can do for your child,” she says.

Crush on Crushy

Driving home from work recently, I couldn’t resist turning into an estate sale not far from my home “just to look” where I found this sweet little gem of a bottle to add to my vintage collection.

It’s an amber Orange Crush soda pop bottle featuring the Crushy logo. Crushy, whose orange-shaped head was usually printed in blue on signs, resembles ancient hieroglyphics or one of today’s emoticons when printed in white on bottles such as this one.

According to http://www.collectorsweekly.com/advertising/orange-crush, Orange Crush was invented in Chicago in 1906 and founded as Ward’s Orange Crush in 1916, the brainchild of a California chemist named Neil Ward and entrepreneur Clayton Howel, who had already tried to make a go of it in the orange-soda business with Howel’s Orange Julep.

Sales of Orange Crush in the 1920s outpaced its competitors on the back of doctors recommending orange juice as an excellent source of Vitamin C, because the soda contained orange juice and pulp rather than the oils of the fruit’s peel, according to the 2013 book Fizz: How Soda Shook Up the World by Tristan Donovan.

Collectors Weekly also says from the end of World War II until the mid-1970s, Orange Crush was sold in a new amber-colored krinkly bottle, whose dark glass was advertised in an ACL (applied color label) on the bottle’s back as being able to “protect the fresh fruit flavor from the harmful effects of light.”

I think it’s fantastic that this particular bottle survived 40 to 70 years without getting chipped, cracked or broken. It was quite dusty inside when I acquired it, leading me to think it sat on a garage shelf for many, many years.

My earliest memories of Orange Crush have it bottled in clear bottles of the 1970s and being poured over vanilla ice cream by my grandfather making Orange Floats on a hot, summer day.

Those kind of memories are the type to make this bottle “priceless” to a vintage collector such as myself.

Today, the Crush brand and trademark are owned by Dr Pepper Snapple Group of Plano, Texas. Crush is also popular in Canada, where it is distributed by subsidiary Canada Dry Motts.

I haven’t added to my collection for a while and I’m not sure what made me attend this particular estate sale. I guess sometimes our intuition takes us places we wouldn’t normally go and where there might be a gem just waiting to be discovered. Follow your heart.

Digital Content Galore!

A few years ago, I invested in a tablet computer and a public library membership and I've never looked back!

Books, Books, Books

I mainly use my membership for digital content, and through the Overdrive App for iPad, I can spend hours exploring which books I want to read next. Bestsellers in categories such as fiction, self help, autobiographies, classics, and youth/children's literature, are all at my fingertips. 

Hmmm, How to Choose?

The software works intuitively and provides recommendations for future reading based on past selections as well as providing newly added materials. It makes the selection process a little less time consuming than browsing through a complete digital library of books on your own. Plus, the nerd in me gets a kick out of seeing what the artificial intelligence "thinks" I'll like.

Researchers and History Buffs

There's newspaper archives, as well as the entire National Geographic library to browse for research. Older Consumer Reports are also available for product research. 

Tons of Magazines

In addition to all the above, I can also flip through current and back issues of hundreds of popular magazines in every genre imaginable through the Zinio App for iPad. This alone can eat up a good portion of the afternoon. 

Get the Popcorn

Movie content is also available for streaming, however with a Netflix membership and cable TV, I haven't really explored all this category has to offer. I did test drive it just to see if it would stream through my Apple TV, which it did just fine. 

I think I'll make exploring this section a project for the winter months when the yard work chores are put to rest for a few months.

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC)

My latest love affair is with the Gale Courses. These free, six-week online courses are available in a variety of subjects from business training and accounting to writing and designing - plus much, much more. Whether you're looking for professional development or personal enrichment, these courses can get you on track. The ones I have taken are upbeat, current, fun and very rewarding. I have also taken several Coursera university level courses, and the Gale Courses compare very favourably to these. 

Don't worry about becoming too reclusive if you submerge yourself into an online education, because you can talk to like-minded people through message board discussion topics. These discussion boards - which the instructors monitor and participate in - offer their users fresh ideas, support, assistance and even companionship.

Tablet, Desktop, Smart Phone Compatible

Don't despair if you don't have a tablet computer. The content works just as well with the modern web browsers on most desktop computers. Just log in with your membership card and password wherever you have computer access and stay connected as long as you want.

World Class Content at Dollar Store Prices

Being a frugally-minded person, I have a hard time believing all this content is available through my Library card. Renewing the card annually is less than the cost of two glossy magazines at the grocery store checkout counter. Factor in the costs of physically getting to the library or stores to get magazines, movies and books in person or purchasing online subscriptions, and the savings of a accessing digital content with a library card really begin to add up. 

Fresh Content to Pick From

New digital content is being added all the time and there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day to take advantage of all that is offered. I have to admit our house is a little less clean, our yard work needs doing and the dog doesn't get walked quite as often, but for me, the trade off is worth it.

World Class Cyclists Wheeling Into Town

Tour de France heroes, big-race winners and top Canadian talent are among the field of 120 racers wheeling into the city for the first leg of the Tour of Albertacycling event on September 3.

The Lethbridge course, spanning 142 kilometers in six laps through the city, was planned to provide maximum viewing options for local residents hoping to cheer on their favorite rider and team or for those just wanting to see some of the top cyclists in the world close up in action.

“The Lethbridge event, designed as a circuit race with several laps, is a very fan friendly style of race where spectators can stay in one spot and see a lot of race action,” says Duane Vienneau of Edmonton, executive director of the Tour of Alberta.

“The Lethbridge segment is also unique because it features a later afternoon start, as local organizers wanted residents to be able to watch when they finished work for the day,” he says.

Although this is the first time Lethbridge has hosted a stage of the race, it is the second year Vienneau’s team has organized the Tour of Alberta.

Touted as being the only event of its kind in Canada, last year’s event attracted 15 of the world’s top cycling teams and was viewed by 200,000 live spectators. It was televised to 41 million viewers in more than 162 countries.

The economic impact for Alberta was estimated at $24 million, he says. The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the world's governing body in the sport of bicycle racing, has given the event a 2.1 rating.

Future grim for bears

Grizzlies and black bears in southern Alberta face a grim future if public perception of them doesn’t change soon, according to local bear expert Charlie Russell.

“These are wonderful, beautiful animals that are trying their best to get along with us,” says Russell, a Pincher Creek area author and photographer who has been studying bears in Canada and Russia for more than 50 years. 

“It’s almost like bears have been deliberately given the reputation of being highly ferocious animals because then it’s easier to justify hunting and killing them.”

Russell will be presenting his insights into bear behaviour on Saturday, Feb. 8 at the University of Lethbridge after spending the past 52 years closely observing the nature of these animals in their natural habitat. 

U of L Fosters Research

Since its establishment in 1967, the University of Lethbridge has been building a reputation for research excellence around the world while maintaining its focus on giving its students the tools they need to achieve success.

“It’s all for our students,” says Dr. Dan Weeks, U of L Vice-President (Research). “The reason we, as faculty members, do research is to teach our students how to do research.” 

Spanning numerous disciplines across five faculties that include Health Sciences, Arts and Science, Management, Fine Arts and Education, the U of L provides more than 75 undergraduate programs and graduate degrees at both the Master and Doctoral levels for a student body of about 8,600.

“The U of L is excellent in a wide range of fields from the humanities to the sciences,” says Weeks. ”Having faculty members that are highly regarded in their field really benefits the student because they have access to so much more information than what is available just from lectures and textbooks.”

All Decked Out for Christmas

Downtown merchants are pulling out all the stops to make their shopping area the place to be this holiday season.

Hay rides, old-fashioned carolers, bright lights and seasonal promotions combine with historical charm to create a hard-to-resist festive mood in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

“We encourage everyone to bring the family downtown to enjoy a more relaxing, nostalgic way of holiday shopping,” says Ted Stilson, executive director of the Downtown Lethbridge BRZ.

“You can park the car and spend the day exploring the many merchants downtown — we have such a great variety of retailers,” he says. “Then you can cap it off with a visit to one our fantastic restaurants, coffee shops or pubs.” 

The downtown core has an abundance of restaurants with a variety of cuisines from around the globe, as well as several fast food restaurants and coffee shops.

Many of the cultural attractions, including the Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Galt Museum, Casa, Bowman Arts Centre, Lethbridge Public Library, and Trianon Gallery, are also offering unique seasonal promotions.

The fun doesn’t have to stop when the sun goes down. Stilson says the number of venues offering live music in the downtown core has also increased in the recent years, giving rise to a more vibrant and eclectic music scene.

Grandmother to Grandmother Campaign

An international exhibit of 40 art works currently touring 15 cities in western Canada is coming to Lethbridge on Saturday as part of a local fundraising event in support of African grandmothers.

The event is being organized by the Harambee Grandmas, which is the Lethbridge chapter of the Stephen Lewis Foundation’s Grandmothers to Grandmothers campaign. This campaign was launched in 2006 in response to the emerging crisis faced by African grandmothers as they struggled to care for millions of children orphaned by AIDS.

Across Canada, there are about 250 grandmother groups that have raised $19 million since 2006. In Alberta, $1.7 million has been raised, with the Lethbridge group contributing more than $100,000.

“Our group name — Harambee — means ‘working together to ease the burden’ in Swahili,” says Judy Scott of the Harambee Grandmas. 

Making Wishes Come True

Lethbridge Sun Times, October 2, 2013

Lethbridge residents will have the opportunity to make dreams come true for children undergoing treatment for illness through the first ever local Wishmaker Walk for Wishes. 

The walk, being held Oct. 20 at Henderson Lake Park, is for all ages and abilities and will raise funds for the Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada.

“Nationally, it is the single most important fundraising event of the year for us,” says event organizer Elisha Jackson. While the walk has been held for many years in communities across Canada, this marks the first time it is being held in Lethbridge.

Word on the Street is 'literacy'

Outdoor festival lovers are in for a treat this weekend as the third annual The Word on the Street gets underway Sunday at the Lethbridge Public Library.

Held on the streets surrounding the downtown library, the festival celebrates literacy and the power of words in every form — written, sung, spoken and read — through live author readings, musical performances, vendors and street theatre.

“This is the third year that the Library will be hosting the festival; it definitely provides an opportunity for the Library to connect with the community in a fun way,” says library CEO Tony Vanden Heuvel. 

The local festival is part of a national campaign to promote literacy and is held in five cities — Lethbridge, Saskatoon, Kitchener, Toronto and Halifx — on the same weekend across Canada.

It has become one of the world’s largest literary celebrations. In 2012, almost 270,000 visitors attended 440 programmed events featuring 650 authors, workshop presenters and arts performers. 

Exciting Research into Parkinson's Disease

Local researchers are stepping up their studies into Parkinson’s disease in hopes of improving the safety and quality of life for those afflicted with the incurable illness.
“We’re looking at balance and fall prevention in people at risk, particularly those affected by Parkinson’s disease (PD),” says Dr. Lesley Brown, kinesiology professor and associate vice-president research at the University of Lethbridge.
Brown says her team has been studying how listening to music while walking can benefit people with PD and they are expecting to expand their work to include participants from across the province this fall.

Photo of Dr. Lesley Brown
courtesy of University of Lethbridge

“One of the trademarks of PD can be a slow, shuffling walk, which increases the risk for falling and we hope to be able to reduce some of the dangers associated with that.”

She says her team is undertaking the new study as a follow-up to a five-year project that concluded in 2011. That study was made possible by a five-year research grant from the Canadian Institute for Health Research and involved around 40 participants.

“In the previous study, we had half the participants walk to the beat of music in the genre they enjoyed and where the cadence matched their walking gait,” she explains. They walked for 40 minutes, three times a week for 13 weeks. The researchers monitored their ongoing progress and compared it to the starting gait measurements of the participants, as well as their counterparts in the study that didn’t do the music therapy. They found definite improvements in the step patterns of the participants undergoing music therapy.

Power Mantras for Stress

Change can bring a lot of stress and fear into our lives and learning how to cope positively has been a journey of mine for awhile now.

I found a wonderful article on using power mantras to help with stress. The author, Shannon Kaiser, suggests repeating the following five mantras when those feelings of self doubt begin to overcrowd your purposeful thoughts:

1. "I believe in myself and know that I'm worthy of all that I truly desire. I accept my true self and live it fully."

2. "My playing small does not serve the world. I have the courage to live the life beyond my wildest dreams."

3. "My dreams are important and are coming true."

4. "I have the courage to step into my future gracefully with ease."

5. "I feel excited about the possibilities I am creating."

Kaiser's article describes very well how I've been feeling lately so I thought I'd give this a try and see if it can keep me from reaching for another piece of pie when times get rough.

So far the pie - using my grandmother's pastry recipe and baked with Nanking cherries grown in my own backyard - is winning! 

But I have hope and I'll be sharing some other interesting stress busting strategies soon!

Japanese Garden Seeks National Heritage Designation

The following article appeared in the July 24, 2013 edition of the Lethbridge Sun Times newspaper and website.

By Judy Westcott

The Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden has been providing a sanctuary of inner peace and serenity to visitors from around the world for 46 years and now plans are underway to have it designated a national heritage site by 2017.

Photo by Tom Buchanan

“We have a fiftieth anniversary committee working on plans for 2017,” says Lindy Rollingson, executive director of the Lethbridge and District Japanese Garden Society, which operates the Garden for a fee on behalf of the City of Lethbridge.

“We are also in the process of applying for municipal heritage status, which will lead to applications for provincial and then national heritage designations,” she says.

The heritage designations will be the icing on the cake for Nikka Yuko, which has received numerous awards from Communities in Bloom over the years and has been voted as one of the top 10 Canadian gardens to see by MSN’s Canadian travel website. It is also ranked 21 out of 330 Japanese gardens in North America by Sukiya Living Magazine, a bi-monthly English-language print publication dedicated to the special world of Japanese gardens and Japanese architecture.

Changing Focus of Blog

If there's one thing I've learned about life, it's that nothing ever stays the same and this blog is no exception.

Effective immediately, the Retro Junction blog is changing focus to better showcase those who are involved in my freelance writing and designing business and I will be blogging under my own name.

This all comes about as the result of a decision I made about a year ago to close my vintage shop on Etsy because of the problems arising from shipping. 

It was very frustrating that no matter how well I padded, bubble wrapped and planted boxes inside boxes, it seemed too many of my vintage (sometimes valuable antique) items were arriving crushed and broken at the customer's doorstep. One package even looked like it had been run over by a delivery truck. 

Of course, the only way to keep a happy customer and maintain an impeccable reputation on Etsy is to completely reimburse the entire item cost - plus the charges for shipping. Unfortunately, the mail service doesn't cover breakage, only lost packages.

So you can see where shipping was impacting my bottom line and turning an enjoyable hobby of buying and selling into a losing, stressful enterprise. Items that had survived 30, 40, 50 or more years were being shipped off by me to their quick demise. I felt like an assassin. 

Raising the shipping charges to add insurance coverage was not an option, as customers simply won't pay the rates needed to cover the losses. I decided I'd rather keep the item than have it destroyed. 

But that's okay too. I think I was ready to move from online retailing back to what I was really good at - writing and designing. 

The bonus is now I have a lot of really cool items dispersed throughout my home for my own enjoyment, thanks to my golden rule of collecting only items I would like to get stuck with if they didn't sell. Items that inspire creative thought, bring back wonderful memories or simply make me smile at their whimsy.

And so, while this blog takes on a new life - one thing that won't be changing is my love for vintage!

Vintage Comic Books

Today's post is dedicated to all the artists, illustrators and writers who worked in the vintage comic book industry during the last century.

It's amazing to think this artwork was created well before computers revolutionized the graphics industry. I imagine an illustrator sitting at a huge drawing desk with a colored pencil kit close by, one behind the ear and a coffee cup close at hand. Amazing!

Here are a few samples from a box full I recently acquired at an estate sale. Enjoy!

Results Are In!

Just wanted to give an update on the previous "Earth Day" post. 

The first monthly water bill has arrived from our municipality and we have officially dropped our water usage by more than half with the install of our new Stealth toilet! This amounts to a savings of $25 per month! At this rate the unit will pay for itself in a year. It also flushes smoothly, quickly and quietly!

Saving energy and resources is proving addictive, but it could also get expensive as we're now looking all around our home to see where we could improve our energy footprint. 

I'll keep you posted!

Happy Earth Day!

As much as I love vintage, sometimes it just makes sense to go modern. 

Our 1960s home has many of its original vintage features and fixtures that we've been carefully preserving as we go through minor renovations. 

However, we're very excited to be getting rid of one vintage feature that has been a source of constant frustration and costing us lots of money - the old 1960s American Standard toilet in the main floor bath. 

It has been a water waster to the max using close to 23 litres of water per flush. Recent flapper valve problems and leaky seals have been plaguing us and parts have been impossible to find.

So, in a few days we'll be replacing the world's most inefficient toilet with the world's most efficient. Soon we'll be sitting on a new Profiency toilet (also marketed as the Stealth toilet) that uses a mere three litres of water per flush. 

It's Canadian designed and qualifies for two LEEDs points. It's supposed to be quick, quiet and compact. Online reviews are extremely positive and it should pay for itself by reduced water charges in two years. 

It might make me weird, but I'm really excited about our new toilet. And it's a fitting way to celebrate Earth Day 2012!

Authentic 1970s Jean Purse

I just had to share this awesome early-1970s purse made from a pair of GWG blue jeans! 

I love the hobo design and all the retro patches. I especially like the "Kiss My Patch" placement.

Vintage items always have a past and when I dug into the history of GWG jeans, I learned some interesting facts.

According to Wikipedia, the Great Western Garment Company (GWG) was a Canadian denim and western wear clothing company founded in 1911 in Edmonton, Alberta by Charles A. Graham and Alexander Cameron Rutherford (the first Premier of Alberta).

The jeans appealed to a working class demographic with their affordable pricing, which was usually 2/3 the price of red-tab Levi's jeans. 

During the 1950s GWG's Donald Freeland developed the stone washed technique for its products, increasing the softness and flexibility of the rigid denim fabric. 

GWG became the largest clothing manufacturer in the British Commonwealth when it produced up to 100,000 pieces of military clothing per month for the Canadian and Allied armed forces during WWII.

In 1961 Levi Strauss acquired 75 percent of GWG, expanding these holdings to 100 percent in 1972, at a time when GWG held roughly 30 percent of the Canadian jeanswear market. 

Demand for designer jeans in the 1980s and beyond eventually resulted in the demise of the GWG brand. The Edmonton GWG factory, along with all remaining Levi Strauss factories in North America, closed for good in 2004.

What fun to find an authentic GWG pair of jeans preserved in this way! It's also great to see crafters continuing to re-purpose their old jeans into these wonderful hobo bags! Sew on!

Fabulous Package Arrived Today!

Don't you just love surprises? I do and today I got a super nice one!


It all started when I re-ordered some scrumptious lip gloss from an Etsy shop called Blackbird Soap Company of Colorado Springs. This stuff works wonders during these dry winter days (and I swear it healed a cold sore in less than 4 days, which usually takes 2 weeks). I use the Java Junkie flavor, but this time around I had ordered one in the Frost Bitten flavor too (yummy, tingly spearmint). Heather, the shop owner, emailed me to say the order was delayed but she was putting a little something extra in the package for me.


Well, I couldn't wait to rip into the package when it arrived and try my new lip gloss. To my surprise, Heather had sent not only the two lip glosses I had ordered, but a full size bar of her Goldilocks soap and a container of Padrona del Venice creamy body mousse to try out as well! 

What great customer service! And an excellent marketing technique as well, because if these other products are half as good as her lip glosses, I know I'll be coming back to her shop again and again. 


This is also a prime example of why I love shopping on Etsy. It's been my experience that the shop owners give great personalized service and the products are second to none at great prices. It's a huge marketplace set up so both the customer and the shop owner can find success. 


As of this month, there were 290,877 sellers with millions of items available. If you haven't already, you should check it out soon for its handmade, vintage, and supplies merchandise. Many items are one of a kind and I hope you experience the great customer service that I've been receiving.

A Burst of Energy

A fantastic way to add "pop" to your home decor is with a splash of color and Pantone's 2012 color pick of the year - Tangerine Tango - will certainly do that! Its an orangy-red that evokes a burst of energy and it looks great in all shades. Picture a feature wall this color or perhaps a vase or even a coffee set arranged on a dining room buffet. 

Or how about a great enamel pitcher full of flowers on the dining room table? 

 

Give a summer outfit a shot of sophistication. 

Pantone is famous for its color selections and designers everywhere take notice. According to Wikipedia, Pantone Inc. is a corporation headquartered in Carlstadt, New Jersey, USA. The company is best known for its Pantone Matching System (PMS), a proprietary color space used in a variety of industries, primarily printing, though sometimes in the manufacture of colored paint, fabric, and plastics. This system has been widely adopted by graphic designers and reproduction and printing houses for a number of years now.


Watch for the exciting Tangerine Tango to show up in home decor (including personal electronics and home appliances), both women and mens fashion, and the cosmetic industry during 2012!


(For more information on any of the items pictured, please visit Retro Junction on Etsy)