Creative Fat Grrl

Creative Fat Grrl was a name I invented for myself when I wrote a web column for Lockergnome. I was looking for something that felt like me, not one of the bright, trendy and excitable young people who create energetic YouTube video posts on the side. It was something I could live up to without feeling left out. I kept it going for a couple of years. The name still works for creative arts sort of posts. Most of the posts in this category will be written for that column or others.

There are 2,969 posts filed in Creative Fat Grrl (this is page 4 of 297).

It Takes Bravery to Get Old

It takes bravery to get old. Young people won’t know, or may scoff at the idea, until they get here too. If they get here, not everyone is fortunate enough to get old.

Getting old means dealing with your health in new and innovative ways. You take pills and don’t really know what to expect from them. You go for tests and don’t know what they’re going to do to you. You trust people, professionals, who were in diapers and learning how to drink from a cup just a short time ago.

Getting old itself. Knowing things aren’t what they used to be. Knowing other people, younger people, look at you and see an old woman. They don’t see the person you are. Every old face is a resting bitch face.

You measure things differently, especially time. More of your decisions are about time than quality or quantity.

It takes bravery to look at yourself in a mirror and see yourself, still there. To find yourself, as they said long, long ago.

Wasting Time Looking for Useless Shortcuts

Is there something about getting older that I find myself looking for shortcuts. To make things simpler, less complicated and less trouble. Or, is it the loss of confidence, maybe bravado, from being older. I can remember being reckless (I’ve tended to caution, not a big dare devil all my life) enough to open my computer and fix it myself, things like that, in my younger years. Was it confidence or trust or that feeling of invulnerability that people say young people have. I don’t know. These days, I look for shortcuts.

Maybe its the idea or feeling that I just don’t have as much time. I’m 59 now. Since December. Turning 50 was a big deal for me. Now 60 is coming around the corner, assuming I get there, and I don’t feel too bad about it. Still seems an odd surprise, even though I can count past 60 even as far as being mathematically correct. The surprise is finding myself this old. I wasn’t born this way. I used to be much younger and I looked different too.

Younger people look at me and assume I’ve always looked this way. I can remember thinking the same, even though it isn’t logical, about people when I was younger. Look at old photographs and you imagine everyone living in black and white with (mostly) dour expressions. It’s hard to think of them as real people in colour. But, real life has always been in colour. Its only technology that couldn’t show it that way, at the time. We rely too much on technology, far too much as time goes on.

Anyway, shortcuts, to stay on topic. The more time I spend looking for shortcuts the more I think about the time I’ve wasted looking for shortcuts that I usually end up rejecting and I could have been actually making real progress, without shortcuts. (There’s a good run on sentence for you, and I’m not changing it).

Posted to Ontario Barn Preservation – Spring Barn Fashion

This is the post I wrote about clothing choices for barn wear, for the Ontario Barn Preservation newsletter, March 2023.

Thinking About… Spring Barn Fashion

One thing you may not spend time really thinking about… barn fashion. But, here we are, approaching another Spring and you might need to consider fashion, or at least function.

First, you might avoid open toed shoes. No matter how cute they look before you walk around in the barn. Gardeners say “keep your knees dirty” but I’d change that to, “keep your toes clean, and not itchy”.

Do you wear that typical sort of lumber jacket look? How about that Buffalo check, the red and black plaid often used for rustic fashion? Denim is also a traditional must have, whether its jackets or jeans, or something else. One of my favourite fashion finds is a denim backpack. It goes anywhere, including the washing machine.

Then there are t-shirts. How many free t-shirts have you collected? Attending events is a good way to get more t-shirts. But, I find they don’t hand them out as often as before. Also, I’m not always keen to be a walking billboard for various products and causes. I still find sources for cheap t-shirts, plain shirts. Of course, a t-shirt never really dies, they make great rags. Really, if you took time to make a list there must be a hundred uses for an old t-shirt. Socks too.

You might think the topic of barn fashion is kind of silly, but almost everyone has a favourite old jacket, or jeans, or something they wear working around outside. It’s been weathered, time tested, patched, mended, washed more than a few times. What’s yours?

Barn Clothes: Life on The “fashion Don’t” List

Why Add Hoods to Sweatshirts?

I like sweatshirts, they’re comfortable, usually warm, and easy to wash. But, why do they add hoods to them? The hoods pull down on the back and leave the back of my neck cold. I try different things, like rolling it up and pulling the string tight to keep it from dragging down my back. I’ve tried stuffing it inside down the back. But, none of these stay put well enough. I’ve read about people cutting off the hood and sewing the remains together to make a collar. This seems the best solution. I haven’t done it yet.

Mostly I avoid buying sweatshirts with hoods. That works better than anything else. But, I wonder, does anyone actually wear the hood? Not as a fashion thing, but for practical reasons, or just because the hood is comfortable, or warmer? Maybe this is something men, or people with short hair would like. With longer hair the hood doesn’t work. Not for me anyway.

In the end, I wonder why they add the hood. There must have been some reason for it.

Glass Handles/ Pulls for a Set of Drawers

GOhandles on Etsy.

One of the handles on my dresser broke. I’ve had the handles replaced once since I got the dresser and matching bedside table/ dresser. The handles I had on it for years were nice looking but plasticy. So, I wanted to find something I would like better this time.  But, not something that would outshine the dressers. Plain but not dull. I’m trying to picture how these handles would look. I may not like them at all if they look cheap. Or, I might love them if they look sort of antique and a little rustic. Being glass, I will be able to see all the carving on the dresser drawers, nothing will be covered up. So, I wrote to ask for a photo of them (on a dresser) from the seller. I’m going to need ten, plus a small knob. I think I will like them.

Posted to Ontario Barn Preservation – Wind Farms

This is my post for the Ontario Barn Preservation newsletter for April, 2022. My first couple of newsletter posts were a bit bland. But, I’ve started thinking of more interesting topics, I think. So I’m going to re-post them for myself here at my own site.

Spring has me thinking about wind farms.

Ontario has wind farms (wind turbines and wind power farms). To me they seem to be a good way to have the land pay for itself, especially if it is no longer being farmed in other ways. But, others don’t like the wind farms at all. Some claim they are noisy. But, we parked beside one on a country road, turned off the car and listened to it turning. There seemed very little noise. I think the main concern are birds flying into them. People are coming up with solutions for this but nothing works 100%, so far.

If you have thought about having a wind farm, there are a few things to consider:

  • Average wind speeds. The location needs enough wind, year round. You can use an anemometer to measure wind energy. Keep track of the wind over the year and see if you have a good location.
  • Location regarding access to roads for maintenance, transmission lines (if you plan to sell energy back to the power company), bird migration patterns, air traffic and radar signals (check with the government offices), water in the area (a tall structure needs a solid base to build on).
  • Even if this is a DIY project you need to get permits. You will need to know all the above for getting a permit.
  • Construction of a turbine requires, among other things, an electrician to set it up. They also require regular maintenance. They may not be trouble free but once a wind turbine is up and working it does seem practical for generating power and income if you sell it back to the power company.

Canadian Renewable Energy Association – Wind Energy

David Suzuki Foundation – A post about Gunn’s Hill Wind Farm, Ontario’s first wind community. Located in Oxford County.

Henvey Inlet – the largest single-phase wind project in Ontario. Generates enough clean, renewable energy to power approximately 100,000 Ontario homes.

Wind Concerns Ontario is a province-wide advocacy organization whose mission is to provide information on the potential impact of industrial-scale wind power generation on the economy, human health, and the natural environment.

Wikipedia – List of Wind Farms in Canada

The Wind Power – See more about wind power from around the world.

Image from Forest History Society of Ontario.