Farewell, Joanne

In August, blogging buddy Joanne Noragon of Cup on the Bus passed away after a long life "defined by curiosity, conviction, creativity, and a willingness to speak up when she believed something was wrong," as her obituary stated so succinctly. Her engaging blog, which I read for many years, made clear Joanne's love for family, social justice, the environment, cats, and her great passion, weaving.

Although plagued in her final years by fractures and broken bones due to osteoporosis, Joanne continued to weave and sell her beautiful towels of many colours and superb craftsmanship. Here's some photos from Joanne's blog of her loom and the towels being woven on it --

For me, Joanne was a real inspiration and role model about how to live vibrantly into our senior years. She did not give in nor give up, no matter the challenges and difficulties she faced. She was independent, self-sufficient, and fully present in her creativity and positive, informed approach to life.

I will miss Joanne and her blog. But I will remember her every time I use one of her towels, of which I have a few pairs. Here's one of her towels now, doing yeoman service as always, catching drips from my coffeemaker and fending off a Viking gnome invasion in my kitchen --

Farewell, Cal

Late last month, blogging buddy Cal Heighton of Red Deer, Alberta passed away after battling cancer. He was the prolific, quirky blogger behind Cal's Canadian Cave of Cool. After finding his blog in 2010, I became a daily reader and commenter there for 15 years.

I enjoyed Cal's sense of humour, his fascination with comics and superheroes, his aesthetic appreciation of art and design, and his political astuteness about Canada, the USA, and the world. He also loved cats and his Ukrainian heritage (except beets). I learned a lot from Cal over the years and yes, he is why I'm now hooked on Marvel movies and fandoms. A lasting legacy or continuing curse, depending on your viewpoint, hahahaha.

As do we all, Cal had his issues and shortcomings which negatively affected his life. But his blog gave many people a welcome respite and break from the cares of the world, and I know he will be greatly missed in the blogosphere.

I like to think that Cal is now free to roam the universe as he always dreamed of doing, exploring and experiencing his True Life, going boldly where no one has gone before.

To Infinity and Beyond, Cal!

I'm B-a-a-a-a-a-a-ck!

And ready to resume blogging!

My first couple of posts

will be sombre ones, though --

tributes to two blogging buddies

who passed away right before I left on my trip.

I want to acknowledge them

before any more time elapses.

And then after that,

it will be blogging as usual.

Although it seems that nobody's blog feed

is working anymore (*shakes fist at Blogger*)

I sure hope that gets resolved soon!

I'll Be Back Soon

I'm off on another road trip,

this time to visit my sister.

I'll be back blogging again

in mid-September.

See you then!

Full-Scale Trade War ON AGAIN

Apparently, a workable Canada/USA trade deal

was imminent, but then the USA made late-breaking demands

which would compromise Canadian sovereignty.

According to British Columbia Premier David Eby,

the proposed terms of the American deal reveal the "true nature"

of what the White House really wants from Canada.

"The suggestion that Canada would not trade with other countries

or reduce our trade with other countries ... would reduce us

to the economic equivalent of the 51st state," Eby said.

Prime Minister Carney also revealed that the USA complained

and made demands about Canada's support of Quebec culture,

the prevalence of French-language media online and even the

requirement to have bilingual labels on products sold in Canada.

It goes without saying that such matters are within the

sole control of Canada as a sovereign nation.

Trump's response confirms this entirely

inappropriate American approach by saying

Canada wants "the benefits of being a State, without being one."

As Carney has previously said, "America is trying to break us

so that they can own us." Punitive 50% tariffs

are designed to wreck the Canadian economy,

de-industrialize our country, and force Canada

into political subservience.

Monday Murals -- Celebrating Chocolate's Source

I'm taking part today in 

Monday Murals hosted by Sami.

This Edmonton mural created by artist Melisa Nocelli

(a muralist and illustrator based in Spain)

celebrates the cacao beans from which chocolate is made.

Cacao beans come from pods which grow on trees.

Cacao trees are native to the Amazon rainforest, but today

over 80% of cacao beans are grown in West Africa

This mural is found on the building which houses

Delavoye Chocolate Maker, a local boutique

chocolate factory, shop and cafe.

All its cacao beans are ethically sourced.

[Photos © Debra She Who Seeks, 2026]

Atelier de Linogravure / Linocut Workshop

[A link party about art issues hosted by

Nicole of DVArtist, Art, Food and Everyday Things]

A couple of weeks after my Alliance Française disaster,

I tried a different, shorter activity in French.

This one went much, MUCH better!

This linocut workshop was held at the

francophone art gallery & coffee shop of CAVA,

the Centre d'Arts Visuels de l'Alberta

(Visual Arts Centre of Alberta).

All supplies were included, but we were asked

to bring a design which we wanted to use.

So I came prepared with a simple design

that I had found on the internet.

The workshop was conducted in French, as were

most of the interactions with other students.

I managed to follow about 80% of what was said

and also had some nice conversations

with the other women at my table

while we drew and carved our lino panels.

Here is my finished print. It was a lot of fun to do

and I'm pleased with the outcome --

Later, I discovered there were photos of the workshop

on CAVA's Facebook, so here's a select few showing

the instructor, the process, some of the other students,

and yours truly hard at work on my lino carving.

[Linocut art & photo of it © Debra She Who Seeks, 2026]