Radically Retired

Blog

  • Spring Weekend 2026 – Day 3: The Best Laid Plans …

    Spring Weekend 2026 – Day 3: The Best Laid Plans …

    Neither hubs nor I have ever been involved in a spring break celebration, so we thought that a Sunday visit to South Padre Island during spring break might be a good way to wrap up our weekend of welcoming spring 2026.

    Out of curiosity, the morning that we planned on leaving, I decided to consult professor Google as to what we might expect in terms of crowds. I’m so happy I did that.

    Sunday, March 24 this year just happened to be the apex of the Texas Spring Break and this is what we should expect: possibly fifty thousand high school and college students in full and noisy party mode, heavy traffic (including complete jams) for both South Padre Island and the causeway going to and from the island, two hours or more waits for food, and zero parking at the main venues.

    We decided to nix the trip and spend our last day of celebrating spring by watching nature programs on TV in the comfort our A/C’d living room, with snacks available immediately, and silence on demand as soon as we decided to mute the TV and have a nap.

    The header photo for this post came up in Google Images when I looked for Claytons Spring Break Celebrations 2026. Claytons is one of our favourite stops for food and entertainment.

    This photo was all that either of us needed for a “hard no!”

    I guess we’ll complete life with never experiencing spring break.

    I’m perfectly OK with that.

  • Celebrating 2026 Spring Day 2

    Celebrating 2026 Spring Day 2

    On the second day of our celebration of spring weekend 2026, we attended the 35th annual RGV Big Bloom Home and Garden Show at the McAllen Convention Centre.

    Even though this was the 35th year of the show, it was the first time we’d heard of it.

    With over 200 vendors, this event featured literally everything from bedknobs to broomsticks and everything in between.

    It was a wonderfully apt way to welcome spring.

    Image
    This section had plants native to the RGV
    Image
    Creative use of Burl
    Image
    Every cactus and succulent one could imagine
    Image
    Flower pot decorations
    Image
    Glass flowers
    Image
    Hand carved military memorabilia
    Image
    Funky clothing
    Image
    Many food vendors, most with tasting samples
    Image
    Lawn furniture galore
    Image
    BBQ’s and Smokers of every type and size
    Image
    Apparently the leaves are used in India to make a med that lowers blood sugar
    Image
    This large outdoor courtyard was filled with plants and pots
    Image
    Talavera pottery – my favourite
    Image
    These ceramic plant pots caught my eye
    Image
    Hubs bought two for me 😊

    Now that we know about this event, we’ll definitely attend again next year. It was a couple of well spent hours that truly brought home the feeling of spring.

  • Welcoming Spring 2026

    Welcoming Spring 2026

    Because the official first day of spring fell on a Friday, hubs and I decided to spend the weekend welcoming the new season by doing new things.

    On Friday, we visited the Veterans War Memorial of Texas in McAllen, TX.

    Hubs and I have passed this park many times over the years, but have never stopped to take it in.

    The 3.5 acre site was opened in 1990 and pays tribute to the 1.4 million Americans who were killed or missing in action in every conflict the nation has been involved in.

    There are 160 tall granite panels, each engraved with a plethora of historical information. To read it all, one would have to spend several hours there. Because it was a hot day, we browsed and read a bit from each plaza and I took photos of every block, so we could read them later.

    Each plaza is made up of several granite panels arranged in a circle and has its own theme.

    At the centre of the site is a 104 ft tall granite monolith. It’s named the American Spire of Honour.

    Image
    There is a statue of a female officer at each entrance
    Image
    A Sobering experience
    Image
    Memorial to WAC and WAVE members
    Image
    General Bernardo de Galvez
    Image
    Patrick Henry
    Image
    George Washington
    Image
    Martha Washington
    Image
    This shows the amount of engraving on each panel

    This was well worth the stop and we’ll definitely visit again on a cooler day.

  • A Decadent Treat

    A Decadent Treat

    This is a late post for me. We had a busy day finding ways to celebrate the first day of spring.

    We’ve actually decided to do something special each day over spring weekend 2026. More on that Monday.

    Yesterday, I found a forgotten loaf of homemade focaccia bread in my freezer.

    I defrosted it in the fridge overnight and this morning, set it out on the countertop to soften in the bag. When we got home from our day out of the park, I cubed up a slice for a decadent late afternoon snack. .

    The slightly sweet and tangy notes of the aged balsamic vinegar floating in light olive oil made the perfect dip.

    It was a bit too good.

  • Sneaking Up …

    Sneaking Up …

    Spring weather in deep south Texas basically happens all winter long.

    One hint that spring is sneaking up on us here is the flush of white blossoms on our back yard orange tree.

    Soon, we’ll be heading back to our home in Canada, where spring will become glaringly apparent by about mid April to early May.

    There will likely still be snow when we arrive home in a couple of weeks. The nice thing about driving home vs flying is that we have time to acclimatize on the way north.

    Jumping (via a flight) from the current mid 30° C (mid 90° F) temperatures in South Texas to our near or below freezing temps at home in Saskatchewan, Canada, would be too much of a shock to our systems.

  • It’s That Day …

    It’s That Day …

    Happy 3.14 to all of the mathematicians out there!

    Pi day is the only day all year that I bake pies.

    Hubs likes homemade pie a wee bit too much, so I always wait until March 14 to bake a couple for him.

    This year, it’s homemade coconut cream from scratch.

    I predict that at least one of the three will be completely gone by morning.

  • Thoughtful Tulips

    Thoughtful Tulips

    On Wednesday this week, hubs and I hosted a dinner party for two couples in our park who we consider to be friends.

    Sherry and Den are from Wisconsin and Sue and Pete from Minnesota. It was a bittersweet evening because Sherry and Den are moving to Italy soon. It’s always difficult to say goodbyes to friends, especially when you don’t know when or if you’ll ever see them again.

    I decided to do a raclette meal, as it’s a fun way to dine and visit, while everyone prepares their preferred foods on the table top raclette grill.

    Image
    Image

    I requested that our guests bring nothing besides their appetites because we had lots of everything.

    Sherry did bring something … a beautiful bouquet of tulips. These have been my favourite flowers for a very long time because they’re the first sign of spring at home. Sherry had no way of knowing this, so that made the gesture all the more special.

  • A Watchful Eye

    A Watchful Eye

    I recall a nature photography class where the instructor (a professional photographer) said, when photographing birds, the key is to get a good shot of the eye and to be sure that the eye is at a junction of two grid lines. He said that this would give the most impact and that if that junction wasn’t set exactly in the photo, a post-processing crop could be done to make that happen.

    I was fortunate that this pelican rested perfectly still on the pier railing, so that I could get close enough to set up the shot.

  • “I Can’t Believe You Just Did That!”

    “I Can’t Believe You Just Did That!”

    Some photos just beg to be captioned.

    What would yours be for this one?

  • Great Gentleness

    Great Gentleness

    Most people with whom I have discussed pigeons hold them in low esteem. I have history with pigeons, or perhaps I would not even have noticed the small creature. The great gentleness I have found seems to have escaped most people’s notice. Of course, like most humans, I did not recognize their true worth at all until I got to know one very well.”
    ― Kathleen Knight, Sanctuary – Exploring the Magical World of Birds