Tag Archives: retirement

Sunrise in Coutts, blue and pink.

Pots are delivered and Christmas is on its way.

It was a good week in the old school and the studio. I got all my pots made and delivered. We took a truck load, literally, but we have a small truck, to Calgary.  Walking into Galleria Inglewood  was like walking into Christmas. It was beautiful. There is over 9,000 square feet of gallery filled with art, craft and Christmas. If you live anywhere near Calgary AB, it is certainly worth to trip! Our pots looked good and now there is a truck load more.

 

A display of Moonshadow
A display of Moonshadow.
A display of pottery glazed in Prairies
A display of the Prairies glaze.
Almost empty shelves of our pottery.
The cupboard at the gallery is bare. Need more pots.

 

 

Tuesday, the town had their annual  cookie exchange. To participate, you make four dozen cookies and bring them to the library in the Historical Coutts School. Put the cookies together, and everyone brings home four dozen cookies, just not the ones you made. Jim made chocolate chip, peanut butter, oatmeal, they were really good. We got a great variety of wonderful and not so wonderful cookies. There were about 25 people that took part and the library was hoppin’.

Tuesday night was the last adult clay class, next week is our party. The studio was full of students. The gym was rented out to a family that was playing and exercising.The cookie people came to the studio to visit, the studio people were checking out the cookies, the family in the gym was back and forth.  The school was buzzing with pre-Christmas excitement. It felt wonderful to be a part of it. The old girl was alive!

Tonight is another supper, not pot luck this time. We were invited to join the neighbours at the Milk River Senior Society Christmas Dinner.  It should be fun. I am getting dressed up, new jeans, and taking my hair out of the pony tail that it has been in since we moved here. Tonight, I am letting my hair down.

We stopped in Lethbridge on the way back from Calgary and did the normal in town, run around shopping. We also got all new Christmas decorations. When we moved, I gave them all away. Back then, I was feeling like the Grinch and Scrooge all rolled into one. My daughter got all the decorations, wrapping paper, everything, if she wanted it all or not . I was done with Christmas.  That was then and this is now. I am glad I did the purge. Out with the old and in with the new, is very much like our life here. As time goes on and we get our new rhythm in the new life, I can only wonder how different next Christmas will be. If last year to this year is any indication, I should hang on for the ride.

Until next time.

Cindy

 

 

 

AKA Mrs. Clay

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Out of the Fire Studio

Our house with Christmas Lights

It was Pot Luck.

We went to our first Senior’s Club Pot Luck last Thursday. Many people here join the Senior’s Club even if they are not all that senior. The theme was Spanish or Portuguese. The only ones to bring a dish from the theme was Jim and I. Sharon, the Librarian, said that no one ever paid attention to that sort of thing, but they like to have a theme.  It was good to meet some people that have been here for decades. I keep forgetting that everyone knows everyone here, and has for years,  except for us. They welcomed us and took them into their group with open arms, literately.

The attendance was low. It had been miserably cold and snowy and it is a busy time of year. It was the hard core original members. I have to admit it was a bit like visiting the old folks home. One lady was a little vague in her conversation and as we chatted, the last slow and stupid fly of the year, landed on her plate and got bogged down in her meal. She squished it with her thumb, wiped it off with her napkin and continued eating. I offered to get her a new plate and meal, but nah, she had cleaned it all up with the napkin, it was fine…… all righty then……

We sat across from Mildred, who has lived here forever. We bought our property from her. She chaired the meeting after dinner with the same humour and rural hospitality that I am sure she has shared with Coutts for all the years she has been here. A very sweet lady.  We sat next to Ken, that as a boy, played in what is now our yard and burned down the shed that was here. He and his friends had their first attempts at smoking near where we now park our car. We helped decorate the Christmas tree, Ken and I had a short game of shuffle board and Jim and I called it a night. It was good. That night we knew that we not only joined the Senior’s Club, but joined a community.

The senior's Christmas Tree
The senior’s Christmas Tree. A group effort.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last night we went to the town Light Up and Pot Luck Dinner. Two Pot Luck dinners in one week, a first for me. The attendance was much better. We met the same seniors from last week and about 50 other people. It was a wonderful evening. There were lots of kids, for Coutts, food, Santa, singing, hay rides and I won a draw for $50 from the local grocery store. The local grocery store is 18 kilometer away, Coutts doesn’t have a grocery store.

Kids just before the hayride.
The town kids ready for the hay ride to begin.
Kids at Pot Luck singing for Santa.
Singing and waiting for Santa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we wanted to move and  chose Coutts, it was much like a Pot Luck. Come on down and see what you get. We moved here because of the land prices. Serviced town lots in Coutts are  among the lowest, if not the lowest priced lots in Alberta. We had no idea what a wonderful little community we were moving into. Oh the town has it’s grumpy and it’s nosy. The ones who only grumble, complain and don’t get involved. We don’t hang with them, mainly because they stay home, grumbling and complaining  and aren’t  involved. Living here is like the Pot Luck dinner, if you try a little of everything that is offered, soon you have your plate full. We have been here a year, my plate is full and life is good.

Until next time.

Cindy

 

 

 

 

AKA Mrs. Clay

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Out of the Fire Studio

 

 

A large sign welcoming you to Coutts AB

Life in a small town.

 

We moved from Edmonton AB, a city of about 1,000,000 people, to Coutts, AB, a village of about 300 people.

Happy Face on the water tower

We have been here for almost a year and life here is not quite the same as life in Edmonton. For one, we are mostly retired and not getting up every morning and hurrying out the door to be The Clay Teacher. The reason we picked Coutts was the cost of living.  Now that we are settled, we are spending about $1,300 per month less to live in Coutts than in the city.  We made a few online changes, new server, got rid of a few websites we weren’t using and a few other things. That brought the total up to about $1,500 less per month than we were spending a year ago. The cost of living was the motivator to get out of the city, but could not have landed better. It is beautiful here. A wonderful little town with wide streets and grand old trees.  Continue reading Life in a small town.