Guest Post: Welcome to Birchie!!

At some point in 2023, I was introduced to Birchie (who blogs at The Birchwood Pie Project; more on the story behind that name here) through Nicole and have been happily reading along ever since. Travel adventures! Cooking exploits! Book and movie reviews! Basically…blogging at its best.

Birchie is taken with all things Frank Lloyd Wright and has become quite an expert in the subject – choosing to live that interest out by visiting as many sites as possible, including plenty in 2023. She is also a kindred lighthouse spirit and has visited many of those in the last year as well. Birchie has mastered the local vacation and does it with great style and amazing pictures of delicious food. My eyes and stomach are always wishing I could leap through the computer screen and see/taste everything myself!

Birchie was kind enough to tolerate my growing list of questions and answered many of them below. Without further ado – enjoy!

Q. What seemingly “little” moment have you observed or been a part of lately that brought a disproportionate amount of joy?

My favorite “little” moment of each day is something that we started doing early in the pandemic.  One day my husband took my stepsons hiking, and he sent me a selfie of the three of them.  I responded with a selfie of me and the dog.  Somehow that morphed into us taking a daily selfie with the dog right before her lunchtime walk every day and putting the pictures into a Google album that we share.  Usually only my husband and I are in the pictures with the dog, but sometimes we get lucky and the boys are around and willing to join in.  We’ve gotten some great family photos that way.

Q. Do you have a go-to reset when you’re feeling overwhelmed or struggling to stay focused?

I take breaks like a boss!  I’ve always taken a full lunch break, and always go for a walk to clear my head.  When work gets overwhelming, I step away and snuggle with the dog, do a crossword, or scroll through our album of dog selfies.

Q. If you could add (or subtract) one habitual behaviour in your life, what would it be?

I’m not sure if this counts as an addition or a subtraction, but I would pick a lane.  I’m always trying to do ten things at once and then wonder why I never get very far in any of them. [Yup – I relate to this 100%.]

Q. What has been your favourite purchase so far in 2023?

Hands down, it’s my bike.  I hadn’t ridden since I was a teenager, and had no interest in riding.  Last year I started on a local tourism quest and found myself in places where there was too much ground to cover by foot but where it wasn’t convenient to take a car, and I realized that it would be nice to have a bike.  I started researching and got overwhelmed by the options and the prices.  I took a step back and went for something that was cheap and that I could fit into my car.  I took that bike everywhere with me this summer and have plans to take it many more places next year.  They say that money can’t buy happiness, but this particular $300 purchase sure did. [Money can’t buy happiness but it can make life easier and a lot more pleasant – especially when we spend it on things that allow us to do activities that bring joy!]

Q. If you could eat only one meal on repeat for a week, what would you choose?

What do you mean “if”😜  I used to do a counter on my blog to see what percentage of my meals each week were burritos (defined as anything in a tortilla or something that could go into a tortilla, such as a burrito bowl).  There were weeks when the percentage was very high.

Q. What international destination – that you’ve never visited – do you most want to see?

Here’s the thing – I love travel but I hate flying, so that kind of limits my international travel to Canada.  I’ve also been thinking about a train trip, and I keep hearing great things about VIA Rail.  Blog wise, I’m a huge fan of you in Nova Scotia and of Nicole (HI NICOLE) out West…so connect the dots…I’d take the train out to NS to explore lighthouses and then I’d get back on the train and head over to Nicole’s side of the country. [Sign me up!]

Q. If you could snap your fingers and have all the capabilities necessary to excel in any career or hobby (e.g. if your wish was to be a famous rockstar, you’d magically have the necessary vocal/instrumental skills), what would you choose and why?

This might come out of left field a bit…but I would be the world’s Most Famous Opera Singer who just happens to be a Virtuoso Pianist on the side.  I put some serious effort into both of these things in my 20s and went from getting the feedback “we can tell you work so hard, you have so much potential” to “we can tell that you work so hard” so whomp whomp that dream had to die.  But if you’re telling me that I can have anything I want with a snap of the fingers, that’s where we’re going. [If I had a magic wand, I’d make this happen for you!]

Q. Share a weird/random/true fact – any odd skills or unusual experiences?

I’m a long time blog reader, and my random fact is that just a few years ago I was barely reading any blogs. I hit a patch where it seemed like all of the blogs that I followed either stopped writing or they went the SEO route and became unenjoyable so I stopped following them.

One day I googled something about running and I stumbled across a blog called Taking the Long Way Home.  I clicked the link and expected to see a bunch of words and a bunch of links with no actual contact, but that’s not what happened.  It was written by a Real Person, had Real Information, and it was a pleasure to read!  And then I noticed that the commenters were also Real People who were writing great blogs of their own.  What even was this!!!!!!  Very slowly I keep coming across the genre that I call Real People Bloggers and my Feedly queue is full again.  We may not be breaking the internet, but we’re very cool people. [Shout out to NGS for launching her Cool Blogger’s Bookclub this summer and San for organizing NaBloPoMo and the Secret Santa Mug Swap each year!]

Q. Did you have any pets as a child? 

I sure did!  My parents had three cats when I was born.  The cat that I was closest to passed away when I was eight, and a few months after that our friends found a stray cat who was about six months old.  He was my beloved companion for the next 18 years.

After my cat died it was so painful that I swore I’d never have another pet again.   Years later I told this to my then-boyfriend/now-husband, and he said “yes you don’t have the pain but you miss out on all the love”.  Shortly after that my stepsons’ mom came across a two year old dog that needed a new home and got the dog for the boys.  At first the dog was strictly “her” dog but after a while the dog became “the boys’ dog” and started going to whichever house the boys were going, and over time “Stepdog” came to stay mainly with us.  If you’re keeping track, that’s nine years of love and counting.

Q. If you were doing it for fun – and money was no object/didn’t factor into your decision – what would your dream job be?

This is a great question since in the past few years I’ve gone from absolutely loving to despising my job, and have a Top Secret (shhhh don’t tell anyone) plan to leave the workforce in two years if I can’t find a job that I love in that time.  My dream job at this point is to NOT HAVE A JOB.

The things that I’ll be doing if I stop working are the things that I do when I’m not working now: travel to cool (somewhat local) places, put time into learning about a bunch of things (photography and photo editing are at the top of the list), spend two hours cooking dinner on a weekday if I want to and/or get takeout on nights when I’m not feeling it.  Honestly I don’t know how I’m managing to squeeze work into my busy schedule.

Q. If you got to relive one memorable day from the past, which day would you choose?

I’d go back to any day on the first vacation that I ever took with my husband.  We went to Siesta Key, Florida for a long weekend on the beach.

Q. What is the first thing you do in the morning/last thing you do at night?

The first thing that I do most mornings is work out.  On rest days or on weekends when I have more time I settle in with a cup of coffee and do Wordle and the NYT Spelling Bee.

Last thing at night I’m bundled in bed with my husband and the dog.  I read for a bit and then do the NYT crossword as soon as it comes out at 10.

Q. Favourite book/song/movie of all time?

I have SO MANY favorite books and movies.  I’m less into songs.

Book – Instead of picking one I’m going to cheat a bit and pick a series. The Inspector Dover series by Joyce Porter is a spoof of the great British detectives.  The first three books of the series are excellently plotted mysteries that can hold their own with any Agatha Christie novel, but with belly laughs.  In later books after Porter “earned it” she relaxed her plots a bit and just went for the laughs and those books are great as well.  I first came across this series when I was 12, and I’ve reread these books so many times. [Never heard of these; will have to check them out!]

Movie – IF you’re going to force me to pick just one, I’m going with Lonesome.  It was made in 1928 as a silent movie with a few talking scenes.  The director had just had a big hit with his first movie and was told to name his budget and make any movie that he wanted.  He chose a very simple short story about two bitter, lonely, and single New Yorkers who are alone on the July 4^th holiday.  They go to Coney Island on the same bus where they meet, hit it off, and have the time of their lives.  Then Something Happens and they get separated in the crowd.  How will they find each other again!!!!!  It’s a very simple plot and a short movie, but there’s just something about it that’s always stuck with me.

Thanks, Birchie – this was so fun!

Your turn. Any questions for Birchie? Has anyone else read The Inspector Dover series or watched Lonesome? Do you own and regularly use a bike? Is anyone reading here retired? Soon-to-be retired? If not, at what age would you LIKE to retire? Expect to retire?