Shift Mama

Updates to the Blogging Life

Hey friends! 

You probably noticed some changes to the blog - like the fact it's reverted back to shiftmama.typepad.com.  Well, that is because I was using the blog so infrequently and with so little continuity that I have decided to switch to a free version and a whole new site altogether. 

I'll be pulling some of my favourite posts from this site and posting on my new one, and for now I think this site will remain live? 

There is not a lot (like nothing) on the new site but bookmark outsideinkelowna.home.blog to keep tabs on what's new in my world. 

As always you can find me on Instagram at @hcgardiner 

Thanks for reading for so many years - hopefully you'll follow me over to the new spot! 

Heather

Hiking Okanagan: Bear Creek Canyon Trail

This year The Husband and I set some  adventure/lifestyle/get healthy goals, and what's the best way to be accountable and (hopefully) follow through on them???  Post them for the world to see! 

These outdoor adventure goals technically are The Husband's,  but since we are a team I'm just going to go ahead and report on them through the year and share what we learn with you!  

The Goals: 

1. 10 hikes
2. 10 bike rides (not commute to work rides)
3. 10 paddles 

I'm pretty sure we can get these done, even with the usual July-August extreme heat and forest fire smoke in the air breaks that we traditionally need to take. 

Today we kicked it all off with a local, easy (?), winter hike. 

Bear Creek Canyon Trail

According the brochure available on the Provincial Park website, The Canyon Trail is a "Popular, but slightly demanding, hike offering spectacular views of the creek and surrounding areas".  It also mentions that the trail takes about an hour, signage at the trail head indicates that it takes about 2.5 hours.  We did it in less than two.  We also missed the "slightly demanding" part when reading the information. 

Location: Bear Creek Provincial Park is located about 7km from West Kelowna on Westside Road.  It's an easy drive from Kelowna and West Kelowna and a popular hike - even in the winter.  

Parking:  There is parking at the trail head - in the winter parking is across the road but it looks like in the summer there would also be limited parking on both sides of the road as well as in the Provincial Park as well.  This is a well travelled highway so watch for vehicles if you need to cross the road. 

Good Trail Map from the trail head - lots of options for different lengths of hiking.

The Trail:  I think in the spring, summer, and fall the trail would be rated low to moderate difficulty.  There is quite a bit of elevation gain and loss as you walk so average fitness level, good footwear, and proper hydration is required.  In the winter proper footwear is crucial.  We discovered pretty early on (within minutes) of walking that my old boots had close to zero tread left on them so there was a lot slipping and sliding! Portions of the trail obviously see heavy water flow through the year and sections of the trail had layers of ice covered by snow.   I've seen a few Kelowna based sites (including the Tourism Kelowna one) mentioning hiking along/on  the creek to the waterfall - I'd caution against this.  The weekend we did this hike was immediately following some of the coldest weather we've seen in a long time (we're talking -23 with windchill) and we could see areas of the creek where the ice had not fully formed and when our 70lb dog ventured onto the ice when the trail passed close to creek we could see cracks under her.   Stay off the ice and just admire the frozen falls from above. 

We stopped for a snack and tea break, and a nice view of the lake!

There are a lot of stairs.  A lot. And many sections of the trail are quite close to the edge with a steep drop off, so if you go and are taking small children keep a close eye on them, especially during the winter.  

One of the many sets of stairs along this trail.

We saw one outhouse just under 1km from the trail head.  There were no other facilities and we didn't see any garbage bins along the trail.  If you go please be prepared to pack out all of your garbage (including dog poop if you take your dog).  There are garbage and recycling bins at the trail head. 

 

Review: Sweet Reads Subscription Box

Two things I love in the world come together in this great monthly subscription box. 

I can't remember exactly when I first heard about Sweet Reads Box, but it took me a while to finally decide to place an order and now I can't figure out why I waited so long!

Sweet Reads Box gets delivered once a month, usually pretty early in the month, and always includes a new novel, something to drink, a sweet treat and two or three other items that go along with the theme of the book.  You can buy a single box, three months, or six months, and periodically they have a special box as well.  In the time that I have been subscribing there has been a Young Adult (YA) and Christmas themed box.  I've just been sticking to the basic box for now though and here are my thoughts on the experience. 

• Novel (usually paperback) are recently published titles and for the most part are general fiction.  I haven't seen any science fiction, thrillers, horror or non fiction.  There has been a pretty good mix of easy to read mystery, some historical fiction, and a couple of titles that border on romance/chick lit.  Nothing too heavy, just good light entertaining reads. 
• Mix of Canadian and non-Canadian authors.  It's nice to see the box, which is Canadian,  also support Canadian authors every couple of months.  December's box featured, Starlight by Richard Wagamese.  Wagamese was an Indigenous Author from Kamloops (just North of where I live) and the book featured many locations that I am familiar with.  I really loved the book (although it was unfinished due to his death) and how everything was carefully curated to reflect the book.
• Drinks:  The beverage choices alternate (more of less) between coffee and tea.  I love that the coffees that have come so far have been from small Canadian companies, mostly Ontario based, but since the box is shipped from Ontario I'm ok with that.
• Sweet Treats - is it wrong to say that this is probably my favourite part of the box?  I love seeing what treats get included every month and then seeing how they match the theme of the box.  Chocolate gets featured heavily in the box and I think that is just fine! 
• Everything else - the additional small gifts that get included are super fun as well.  I love it when the box has socks included (I'm wearing a pair right now) but my all time favourite is the turtle tea steeper that came with the February box.  I took it to work and everyone always comments on how cool it is - the tea gets placed in the egg part and the top is a baby turtle body, the turtle flippers hold the tea steeper on the side of the cup and the tea steeps trough the egg.   It's adorable! 
• Facebook Group  - there is a private FB group for subscribers and it is slowly picking up in activity, I think the idea is to have it as kind of an online book club, which is a great idea for all of us who just can't get it together to organize or make it to a real life book club.  I'm a bit behind right now in my to-read list so haven't been able to participate fully in the discussions yet, but the most recent book, The Gown, is one that I am really excited to read so I might put down my current book (The Music Shop - might have been the November book?) to start that one. 
• Canadian Pricing - this is terrific, so many times I have found a box (even Canadian) that uses US dollars as their pricing.  Although this is a bit pricy (see below) at least there is no extra surprise when the currency conversion happens! 
• Downside....it is expensive.  Boxes are between $52 and $59 plus shipping (ouch) so it's definitely a luxury, but if you like books and getting things in the mail, like I do, it's worth it.   If you subscribe to their email list or follow on social media they sometimes run a discount code which helps reduce the price, occasionally as well they engage bloggers to write about the box and they will have a discount code as well, so do some research before your subscribe the first time.  Subscription rates are found here.

I just resubscribed which will take me through the summer  - if you subscribe,  let me know, we could start up our own book club! 

Happy Reading! 

Each Box Comes Beautifully Packaged - Tissue paper hides all everything - building the suspense!

 

October (I think?) Box. I loved all the woodsy accessories to go along with this box.

 

February Sweet Reads Box. Love the luxury and how each item was curated to match the book.

 

Every box also comes with an artwork/info card. The back of card outlines each item and helps tie them into the theme. This month the card was outside of the tissue, which I loved. 

Instant Pot Thai Squash Soup

At work recently the group that organizes fun things at work came up with the idea to have soup making contest. Department members were invited to bring in their best soup  creations for everyone to sample and vote on.  So of course I took part - I love soup!  Six of us in total brought our favourite soups to share with coworkers.   I didn't win, but that is ok, I ended up with five new soup recipes and extra ingredients for my offering so I decided to adapt the recipe for the Instant Pot.  

The recipe I use is based on one from Canadian Living Magazine - Thai Squash Soup With Shrimp.  I've been making it, in the crock pot, for years.   I've changed it up a bit, making it a bit less spicy for my family and and adjusted the amount of liquid used for my 3quart Instant Pot. 

Here's what you need: 

• 1 lemon grass stalk 
• 1 butternut squash (approx 4 cups when peeled and cubed)
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1.5 cups of vegetable stock
• 1/2 tablespooon of red curry paste
• six slices of fresh ginger root, visually this is approximately the same size as two dice 
• 1.5 teaspoon of fish stock
• 1/4 tbsp of packed brown sugar

Here's what you do:

Peel off the outer layers of the lemon grass stalk, hit the stalk with the blade of a large kitchen knife to bruise/soften it.  Cut in half (keeping the pieces large helps you take them out later). 

Put everything into the Instant Pot and give it a stir.  Set the pot to manual (pressure cook) 9 minutes.  Let the pressure release naturally at the end.  When the pressure is released (and pin has dropped) open the lid, remove the lemon grass and ginger pieces.  The using an immersion blender, or potato masher if you don't have blender, blend until you have a smooth soup.  

This soup freezes really well so is a great take to work option.  I pull a portion out of the freezer in the morning and let it thaw a bit in the work fridge, then microwave for about 2 minutes. 

Thai Inspired Squash Soup