Direction

Sometimes life hands you a lot of this: 

But it's all about perception. What it's actually handing you is this: 

Kaths things: Jewellery (Edited with new story)

These are three of my most-worn neck decorations. Let's jump right in:

My friend Olivia gave me this laser-cut wooden bike necklace for my birthday several years ago. It quickly became my favourite piece of jewellery! (side-note: I've just googled which is the correct spelling: jewellery or jewelry? Seems one is British, the other one is American. Which do you use?)

Pretty much every time I wear this necklace, someone compliments it. I wish I could take credit for finding/making it, but all I can take credit for is having awesome friends!

This silver bird necklace isn't mine. Well, it is now! I "borrowed" it from my mom when I was young, and just haven't given it back yet. She has a long story for this necklace:

"Back in the early 1970's Windsor hosted a large art and craft show around the periphery of Willlistead Manor ( an estate bulit by Hiram Walker). During one of those shows I think in 1974 or 1975 I bought this necklace from a man who was the father of my good friend David Hillis. I remember when I first saw the piece it took my breath away but it was way above my spending budget at the time. Mr Hillis was a very generous and kind soul and sold it to me at half the price he was asking for it as he likely sensed how enamoured was with it. I especially loved the centre Dove...which clearly he hand crafted from silver whereas the other birds were prefabricated. The whole piece is silver. Mr Hillis was, I believe, a tool and die maker by trade....but I think a true artist in his soul."

I bought this sun pendant when I was in Florence, Italy. I was on a trip with school during March break. I fell in love with this city, and I also love this necklace. I found these three photos of the day I bought it. I don't know if my memory is correct, but I feel like the shop I bought it from is just to the right of that window sill I'm sitting on in the second photo. (Photo credit to my friend Eileen! We both bought pendants there, I do believe!)

Look at my amazing braided hairstyle!

What I love about this pendant is the weight, and how warm it gets against my skin. The stone seems to hold the warmth, and if I hold the pendant in my cold hands, it seems to warm them up. It really is like a little sunshine around my neck. 

Unfortunately one of the points of the sun broke off last year. I'll still wear it until all the points break off. I really do cherish it.

Let me know what you think of these posts. Would you like to see more of these, or more craft/art posts? 

Kath's Things: Old Leather

I would like to begin this post by saying that I do not really support the slaughtering of little (or large) earthlings to make new fashion. That being said, I'm not 100% against where leather or fur comes from. Especially if it's hand-crafted by someone you know has used everything from that animal for a very important reason. 

I have a few leather items in my possession, and they're very important to me. 

The first one is this very old purse.

When I was 18, I went to live in the Swiss Alps with an absolutely lovely family for three months for a school exchange. My exchange partner's parents were antique dealers. 

My exchange parents had come across two of these solid leather pilot bags. They were used by old swiss pilots to carry their flight plans.  They gave one to Claire (my exchange partner) and myself. 

Flight and navigation is a big part of my family. I don't know if my exchange dad knew how meaningful this gift would be to me. It's my most cherished "souvenir" from that exchange (besides all the awesome memories, of course!)

There are two slots for pencils inside, and it fits envelopes/paper perfectly. 

I love this purse. When I wear it, I feel like I'm carrying around something historic. 

Next, I have this belt. Now, if you've ever seen me more than once in your life, you've probably seen me wearing this belt. I've been wearing it consistently since circa 2003, when I nabbed it off my dad. 

My dad came across this belt when he was in the North West Territories, working his first job as a bush pilot. (See why flight is important in my family? ;) )

The belt says "Pelly Bay NWT" and is adorned with images of First Nations Inuit people with a sled. 

Pelly Bay is actually in Nunavut, but my dad was there way before Nunavut got its name. 

I just did a Google Maps search of Pelly Bay and gosh, it's so far north! I have personally never been north of Edmonton, Alberta, so I feel like I can barely conceptualize the northern-ness that is Pelly Bay . 

Classic Winter Kath

I hope you enjoyed the first part of this "series" of blog posts! I can't wait to write more. There are exciting things to come!

Cards for YOU!

Hi friends!

I've been doodling cards for a while now, and I'm feeling good about sharing them with you!

I'm selling my inked cards for $20 for 4, or $6 each. I can mail them to you if you live in Canada for pretty cheap I think, or hand-deliver/meet-up if you're in Montreal.

I'll be making more in the next week, so there will be some for everyone. They're not really holiday-themed, but hey, I think they'd make great gifts :)

You can contact me at katwatson007 (at) hotmail (dot) com

Peace and Love!

Sneak Peek at a blog project coming soon!

Hi friends! I've been thinking about a cool concept for some future posts I'd like to make. 

I'm going to be making posts about stuff that I own. 

I often think about the idea of needing material items, and how we can create meaning or have absolutely no meaning attached to them. In the last several years of my life, I have become more minimalist in what I own, but also very minimalist in what I accumulate. 

Here's what I think makes my things kind of special, and special enough to share with you: most of my things have a "story". I wasn't really aware of this, until a new friend I'd made would often compliment something I had, and then I'd respond with gratitude, followed by a description of where the item came from. I remember her telling me "everything you own has it's own special story!". I hadn't really thought of that before, because I guess I thought everyone's everything had stories too. 

She's right, though. If I'm complimented on an article of clothing or jewellery, you will rarely hear me respond "thanks it's from *insert some store* and it was on sale!"

(Unless you're complimenting my running shoes because yes, they're from the Running Room and I got them on sale. But no one's complimented my running shoes because they're pretty much the same as everyone else's)

Here are a few sneak peeks at things I just happened to already have photos of on my computer. In the next few weeks, I plan on taking good photos of my list of items and categorizing them into appropriate blog posts. I'm pretty excited to share with you all the stories and memories associated with everything!

Handwarmers- Fall, 2015

Belt- Summer, 2005

Toque- Winter, 2008

Scarf- photo from 2008 and I thought it was funny so added it in here

Paint in circles

Depression.

...

Woah, wait, what? Katherine?

Yup. Sometimes it slaps me in the face so hard. I have learned a lot of ways to become aware of when I'm experiencing it, and I have learned to do what I need to do to keep being a good, functioning human being.

One thing I do that I think is a good defense against depression, is to retreat to a safe place instead of a really dark place.

I find myself pining to be somewhere else. "Somewhere else" is almost always one of these two places: in the Alps in Switzerland, or at the dock by the lake at sunset. 

I like to recreate these places with my beginner painting skills. I want to recreate the feelings of peace and love and tranquility that I experienced as a child and/or teenager in those places. 

I'm so fascinated by the mind. Specifically, my mind. Several years ago, my anxiety was rampant. It controlled every single aspect of my day. 

Thanks to some serious health re-organization, feelings of anxiety have been very dormant. Yay! 

But WHAM. The other side, the sad side, the slow, numb, "I don't want to do anything ever" side surprises me some days by just taking over my mind. 

Here's a cool fact I've noticed: it is almost always directly proportional with the cloudiness of the sky. Actually I don't know if that's a fact, or something I made up because it feels poetic! I am 99% sure that I'm directly affected by the sun and lack-thereof, though.

I like to remind myself that sad days are OK.

I realize this post is a bit scatter-thoughted, and not very concise. Maybe I will continue in point-form!

Why I feel sad:

-situations in my life

-life hands me a lot of "no" all at once

-I start to remember all the "yes" and then I feel guilty for being sad and that makes me more sad

What I do to feel better:

-continue with my tasks of the day

-clean something

-be around people that are more energetic than me

-walk

-go to yoga

-paint

-draw

-call my parents and tell them all my insecurities (this sucks at first, but once it's out, it feels good)

What I want to do with my life:

-I want to help

-I want to share

-I want to create

I've been mulling over a bunch of topics that I want to write about and share through this blog.  A lot of them are deep, heavy, and hugely personal. This post is step #1. 

I'd really love to open a dialogue about these kinds of things, and if you're reading this right now, it means I had the guts to hit "publish" regardless of my fears and inhibitions about sharing stuff like this on the World Wide Web. 

What this post isn't: 

-a cry for attention

What this post is:

-honesty

Food!

Hey friends! Today I'm going to talk about food.

Gaspacho with loads of fresh parsley

A good while ago, I started to wean myself off dairy. I'd had a wide array of health issues, with no real cause or solution according to the doctors I went to see. I'd decided to go off the book and figure some things out on my own, for my own healing. The initial removal of dairy was strange, since I'd drink milk in my tea and cereal every morning. I also had a real soft spot for cheese. 

Top Left: Italian quinoa salad Top Right: Southwestern sweet potato salad Bottom: Squash and beets (used in next photo)

I did it though, and even though I'm sure diary sneaks its way into some of the foods I eat occasionally, I don't make a huge fuss about it. I usually just get a headache or a stomach ache. 

Roasted beets, spaghetti squash, kale, pepitas

I stopped eating meat, too. This was gradual: I stopped eating beef after a terrible food poisoning incident, (or it may have been the flu; I'll never know!) and then pork, and a few months later, chicken. A month or two after that, I had my last piece of fish. I haven't had any meat or fish since then, and maybe I won't. But maybe if I'm in Japan and there's fancy sushi, I might? I have no idea. 

Drying mint to make tea!

"So are you totally vegan?"
Nope. I would say that I'm not that word. I am a vegetarian, but I prefer to not eat dairy. Do I eat eggs? Occasionally. I don't buy eggs. I eat eggs if they're from Vicky's farm, or being served to me in a context where I really want to eat them, like on the Camino. Sometimes they're available to me, and they come from healthy happy chickens that I may or may not know personally. 

I totally eat honey.

Sweet and Sour veggie soup

How do I feel? Amazing.

If you knew me before I took my health seriously, you'd know what a massive change I've made in my life. I was constantly sick, headaches, migraines, fatigued, allergies, stomach aches, etc. Also anxious, depressed, very unfit, and grumpy.

Burrito bowl with rice, corn, salsa, cilantro, peppers, spinach, avocado

At this moment in my life, this lifestyle is working. If I want to start eating more eggs one day, I will. If I want to eat something else one day, I will. 

When it comes to health and nutrition, I don't think anyone has it truly "figured out". I like how this is working right now, and I'm going to stick with it. 

The one hurdle I'm trying to figure out is this: I train pretty frequently and hard for triathlons. I do eat enough, but I always crave oatmeal cookies! 

I love eating plant-based foods, and I'm certainly not sick of it yet!