I recently listened to an interesting piece on The Sunday Edition about, well, Sundays*. Michael Enright and his guests explored whether “Sundays have lost their Sundayness”  — what we do with Sundays (and what we wish we did with them). It was a fascinating discussion, and one that I think a lot of people think about. Among the topics touched on was the fact that the last holdout province, Nova Scotia, did away with its ban on Sunday shopping in 2006. Was stores being closed on the “day of rest” one of the last vestiges of a simpler, more relaxing and family-oriented time?  This discussion brought to mind something I’ve been meaning to write about for some time: Sunday shopping.

I might be crazy, but I think I remember my parents saying that when they lived here in the 70s, the only places open on Sundays were gas stations, but they were pretty much only allowed to sell you bread and milk (and, well, gasoline).  If that’s true, then times have changed since then!

Nowadays, in Winnipeg, we have it both ways: stores are allowed to open, but only during certain hours: retail stores (which include grocery stores) are only open from 12 noon to 6pm on Sundays. There are exceptions, of course. If your store operates with fewer than four people, you are allowed to be open whenever you like on Sundays. It’s not clear to me whether smaller cities that do not have a municipal Sunday Shopping bylaw are allowed to open.

The biggest adjustment for me in this regard has been to the hours grocery stores keep on Sundays. Before moving here, I was used to stores being open whenever they pleased. I think the last Safeway I shopped at in BC was open 7am to midnight, seven days a week. This was extremely handy – you could get groceries pretty much any time it was convenient – but any time I took advantage of late-night or early-morning shopping, I felt self-conflicted. On one hand, it was like, “See, it’s a good thing you’re open! Look at all of us shopping at 8 on a Sunday night! How accommodating!” But on the other hand, it was also a bit depressing. Don’t the employees deserve some time off? Do you REALLY need anything after about 7pm on a Sunday that can’t wait until Monday — or that you couldn’t pick up from the gas station convenience store? Is nothing sacred anymore?

Now that I’ve adapted to the rules here, I think limited Sunday shopping hours are a good thing.  It’s actually nice knowing exactly when stores will open and close. It’s lovely to have Sunday mornings for lying around, doing the crossword, drinking coffee and making pancakes, going to church, whathaveyou, but not HAVING to do anything. And it’s nudged me into becoming a bit more organized, too. I now know that if we’re, say, going to make brunch on Mother’s Day, we’d better get my supplies on Saturday, or be stuck buying extreme mark-up bacon and eggs at 7-11 on Sunday morning (and we can forget about that bag of potatoes we were in charge of bringing).

So, what do you think about Sunday shopping hours? Do you like the prescribed, set hours, or do you think stores should be free to set their own hours? Do you remember a time when there was no Sunday shopping at all in Manitoba?

*I know, I know. We WoMH’ers listen to a lot of CBC.

So, we all know that Winnipeg Wraps are a real phenomenon in this city, and perhaps around the province. As the weather turns I suppose I will be revisiting my theories about the WW. As for now, I may have stumbled across another very quirky Winnipeg-ism that defies all rational thought. Coincidentally (or as I suspect, NOT coincidentally), the first and last names of many CBC Radio One (Manitoba) personalities begin with either the letter M, or the letter W…or both! How strange that we live in Winnipeg, Manitoba…

I have devised a method of determining the level of local and provincial patriotism evidenced by the names of  each of these prominent CBC Radio One hosts. Here’s how the points system will work: each host is awarded one point for each first or last name that begins with either an “M” or “W”; the host may receive 1 (one) additional point if they possess both an “M” and a “W” as the first letter of either their first or last name; the host may receive 1/2 (half) a point if they possess a duplicate “M” or “W” as the first letter of their first or last name. Sounds pretty simple, huh? Well I say let’s start tabulating those points! But first, I know there are several awesome people that regularly broadcast on CBC Radio One (Manitoba); however, I am focusing on the major show “leaders” from our provincial radio programming. According to the website (click on “Programs”) these are our main hosts:

Terry MacLeod and Marcy Markusa (Information Radio), Marilyn Maki (Radio Noon), Margaux Watt (Up to Speed), Wabanakwut Kinew (The 204; Weekends with Wab), Beverley Watson (The Weekend Morning Show), and Mark Szyszlo (North Country). If you dispute this list, please let me know; we can add others!

Terry MacLeod = 1 point (“M”; my name change suggestion for more points: “Merry MacLeod,” which would also earn another 1/2 point!)

Mark Szyszlo = 1 point (“M”; my name change suggestion for more points: “Mark Wyszlo,” guaranteeing 3 points)

Wabanakwut Kinew = 1 point (“W”; my name change suggestion for more points: “Wab Minew,” which would secure Wab 3 points! Plus, it just sounds cute)

Beverley Watson = 1 point (“W”; my name change suggestion for more points: “Maverley Watson,” for a solid 3 points)

Marcy Markusa = 2.5 points (“M,” “M,” and 1/2 point for the double “M”)

Marilyn Maki = 2.5 points (Just like Marcy, Marilyn’s a double “M”!)

And our winner is…Margaux Watt = 3 points! (one “M,” one “W,” and a full extra point for the combo!)

A note about CBC News at 6 and the I-team. Janet Stewart and John Sauder have the same…exact…initials – aside from their middle names, which I don’t know. While this is creepy in its own way (the matching initials), I find it interesting that neither of them has an M or a W as the first letter of either their first or last names. Just like Janet and John, I-team lead investigator Alex Freedman also does not have an M or a W in his main initials. What conclusions can be drawn here? Did this team miss the memo about how important my discovery would be? Do you think these outcast CBC hosts should consider changing their names in order to become more beloved in the hearts of “W”innipeggers and “M”anitobans?

My suggestion is that Janet Stewart should consider changing her name to Waneta Stewart (1 point). The name John Sauder might easily be replaced by John Waulder (1 point), and Alex Freedman might have a better better luck as Will Manfreed (that’s a creative switch that would earn him 3 points…if he cared!). I mean, c’mon – what’s a name change if it means you can join the ranks of those other chic, patriotic CBC personalities? If I’m ever a host on CBC Radio One (Manitoba) you can bet I’ll be changing my name to Maron Witchett in a heartbeat! But seriously…is it just a strange coincidence that so many of these hosts have “M” and “W” names?

A quick note to share a new survey with my fellow Winnipeggos:

The City of Winnipeg wants to know more about “how people use and value City parks and what people want now and in the future for our parks and open space system.”

I just did it – it took me all of three minutes. You should, too!

Start the “Parks, Places, and Open Space – Winnipeg User Needs Survey” at Speak Up Winnipeg.

The reality of our friend and fellow Wo’MHer Laurel’s departure is really beginning to sink in. We were lucky to spend a fair amount of time with her before she moved back west, and on her last night here, we presented her with a little farewell gift to remember Manitoba by…. a bagful of made-in-Manitoba (or at least, strong connection to Manitoba) treats, including:

• La Cocina tortilla chips
• Morden’s chocolates
• Half Pints Stir Stick Stout
• Green Bean – Hot 103 “Coffee with a Purpose” Red River Roast
• Canoe brand Shoal Lake Wild Rice
• Greetalia Honey Dill Sauce (yes, you read that right!)
• DD. Leobard Winery Raspberry Wine
• Nutty Club Chicken Bones
• Old Dutch chips

To hold the bounty... this tote bag from Weirdos of Winnipeg

We bundled it all up in a Weirdos of Winnipeg canvas bag and pinned on some cool Confusion Corner and Louis Riel buttons.

We had to make sure all the items would survive the drive to the Coast sans refrigeration, so cheese (New Bothwell, perhaps?), pretty much anything Peak of the Market, and frozen perogies were out of the question. We would have liked to add some Pic a Pop and ManitoBars, in there, too, but we ran out of time to track them down

While a couple of these items immediately came to mind, we turned to the Manitoba Food Processors Association’s Manitoba Made food guide to get more ideas. We’re not locavores by any stretch, but it did feel good to collect such a lovely bounty of locally-made food!

Hopefully I’ll get out to the Coast to visit Laurel before too long, and I’m sure I’ll lug along some more Half Pints, as this is my favourite Manitoba product to share with out-of-provincers.

What’s your favourite local food item? What do you like to get visitors to try when they visit?

In the past seven years, I’ve lived in nine different apartments in five different towns. Needless to say, I’ve moved a lot; over that time I’ve had nine different roommates, and lived on my own for two and a half years. I have packing down to an art, and hoard spare cardboard boxes and newspaper like it’s going out of style. Moving to Winnipeg was my first time moving out of province and away from my family, and it looks like it will be my last.

For those few readers who have thought we were some marketing scam, some Destination Winnipeg tie-in, let me tell you: we are not. For this is a post, not about moving to, living in, and loving Winnipeg, but about leaving it.

I’ve been here the shortest of the Wo’MHers. I moved on a whim; after landing a job where I could work from home, I wanted a city that didn’t suck up as much rent as Vancouver, and loved the idea of moving near to dear friends who recently made Manitoba their home. In less than a month, I’d switched jobs, broken my lease, packed up 2000 lbs of books and Ikea furniture, and moved halfway across the country.

I didn’t anticipate what a lifestyle change I was in for – not just moving to a new city, but basically never leaving my apartment. In the last few months, I’ve experienced the amount of anxiety and depression I would normally stretch out over an entire year. It’s been an excellent experience as far as finding a new and welcoming city, but a very difficult one with being so far from family, feeling isolated, and struggling to align myself with my new life, new town, and a much smaller accessible support network that I’d been used to. In the end, looking forward to another winter — a full one this time — and maybe two more visits to my toddler nieces before the year was up, I broke down. I made phone calls; I surveyed my savings and booked a U-Haul: I decided to move back West.

This has been all the more difficult because of the public spectacle I made my move to this city. I feel like, after touting Winnipeg’s finer points, I should ‘eat my own dog food’ (as an old boss used to say about the software we made) and stay here, because didn’t I say the city was awesome? ON THE INTERNET no less? (And the radio. And in a newspaper. Annnnnd in a documentary.) I had a very easy time deciding I needed to leave for myself, and a much harder time reconciling that with this story I’d help weave about how great this city is.

So this is the verdict: I really like Winnipeg. Honestly, I like it way more than I could have imagined, because moving here, I really didn’t expect to. I thought, “This will be …. interesting”, but it hadn’t crossed my mind that Winnipeg would, in fact, be awesome. It’s a beautiful city with potential and promise; and, amazingly, a city I can actually afford to purchase real estate in. One with lovely parks and countless public events; one that is amazingly fascinated with itself in a way that only really seems to create more fascination. I’ve thought more about this town than the four others I’ve lived in as an adult combined; I’ve consumed multitudes about its flaws and its strengths. It is a great city. I’ve also experienced a level of loneliness here I didn’t expect; a disconnect from my family that somehow made me feel closer to them, and a desire to move back to an Island I decided, six months ago, that I wouldn’t call home for at least five years, if ever again. Of course, I’ve been wrong before, but never so publicly, and so counter to things I’d said again and again, through waaaay too many mediums not to at least be a little embarrassed.

As you can probably guess, this is my last post at Winnipeg O’ My Heart. I am so very grateful for the support and interest fellow Winnipeggers have shown us in this endeavor, and wish the best of luck and love for this city to my two remaining fellow bloggers.

Thanks for the awesomeness, Winnipeg. I will miss you.

Winnipeg is a city that seems to come alive in the summertime. With numerous events, festivals, and community celebrations packed into a few short months, I can imagine that grocery shopping remains pretty constant for many Winnipeggers. Stop by the nearest national food retailer on the way home from work (or pick up the essentials while leaving town for the weekend) and that’s that. Yet as I discovered at the St. Norbert Farmers’ Market, fresh produce and locally grown food of all types are available just a short drive south of the city.

It took a bit of prompting the Friday before, but Laurel did finally agree to accompany me. I know that wacky excursions on early weekend mornings aren’t always popular, but I was armed with my grandma’s beet leaf borscht recipe and a burning desire to get cooking that afternoon. Thanks to the Vancouver-like weather we’ve had this summer, it was of course raining on our drive out to St. Norbert. Arriving at our destination we discovered you can either a) scour the streets for free parking, or b) simply drive into the big lot and pay $2 for a spot. We chose the easier and quicker option “b”.

As we exited the car a kind gentleman struck up a conversation with us (he noticed my out-of-province plates) by asking if we drove all the way from Alberta just for the farmers’ market. This devolved into a discussion of which grower offers the freshest chickens. He showed me his. I gagged internally as I haven’t eaten meat for 9 years. Dead birds in plastic bags aren’t my “thing”. It was charming, nonetheless. Manitobans are so kind and eager to strike up conversation! (at least, they are in farmers’ market parking lots)

After our experience with Winnipeg garage sales – and the lessons I supposedly learned about bargaining – I should have known better than to accept a first offer. One key ingredient for grandma’s borscht is fresh dill. I mean, a lot of fresh dill. When I saw a bunch of the stuff for $2 my initial reaction was “is this $2 day? A couple bucks for parking and now $2 for dill? Sweet!” I snapped it up quickly. However, by the time I was buying beets at the next stand I discovered a much finer, more full bunch of dill for $1.75. WHA-WHA-WHAT? By this point Laurel saw what was happening and began to help keep me calm.

As I was selecting hearty carrots at the next stall I noticed another ample bunch of dill…for $1.25! I ultimately broke down and bought it. In the end I used both bunches of dill in the borscht recipe (I doubled the instructions grandma gave me) and it was well worth it to have extra. The lesson I can impart with regard to farmers’ market shopping is that when you’re new to the game, always “do a lap” before you commit to a location. Check out the prices each vendor has set for their produce, and then make your choice from that point. Don’t jump the gun and prematurely purchase. Take your time and ease into the experience of shopping for farm fresh, local produce. It’s worth it!

Our tweets from the farmers’ market adventure:

Aaron: If the rain doesn’t stop the farmers and the Market, it can’t stop me! St. Norbert bound!

Aaron: Picking up @formerhasbeen for our adventure…hope she has her umbrella and her produce-picking hat on!

Laurel: Just got coffee with @directedreading, now off to the farmer’s market!

Aaron: It is raining less now! Had to pay 2 dollars for parking and just got advice on fresh chicken

Laurel: Ugh, just got dumped on by a tarp puddle.

Aaron: Mission accomplished! Green onions, dill, potatoes, carrots, beets…yum! Laurel got, um, soaked!

Laurel: Where were the eggs, St. Norbert farmer’s market?

Aaron: At Smitty’s for a post-Farmers Market breakfast…the special today is chocolate chip waffle; I heard “shellfish”waffle!

According to the St. Norbert Farmers’ Market website, this season is going to be their longest to-date, and they are open Saturdays from 8am – 3pm (June through to Halloween), and also on Wednesdays from 1pm – 7pm in July, August, and September only.

"The Lake": Heaven on Earth

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of taking my first trip to “the lake” since moving to Manitoba. When I was younger, we often visited my grandparents at their place in Lac Du Bonnet, where they lived year-round, and memories of those days contributed a great deal to my yearning for the province.

Needless to say, I was pretty excited for my first invitation to the lake as a Manitoban, and even more delighted to learn that we’d be going through LDB to get to Lee River. The weather was perfect, and we enjoyed horseshoes, beer, reading, more beer, roasting hotdogs, and mosquitoes. The next morning, we made a big breakfast, did the crossword, went swimming, and were treated to a spin in the boat. Heaven! By the end of our 24 hours at the lake, we were trying to figure out how to buy a cottage and work from home. We got back to the city grubby, covered in bug bites, but very happy and relaxed!

Anyway, I had lunch today with an eclectic group: an Albertan, several Winnipeggers (some of whom are originally from elsewhere in the country), and one Ontarian. Somehow, the topic of cottages and cabins came up, and we started discussing what you call the visit to your cottage country home away from home. I’m a giant word nerd, so naturally, I found this discussion fascinating. And if I have everything straight…

• People from northern Ontario (Kenora-ish) will call it “going to camp” [aside: I always get a kick out of the fact that a town that's parallel to Winnipeg is considered to be in northern Ontario!]
• Southern Ontarians are more likely to say “going to the cabin“
• Winnipeggers will say “going to the lake” regardless of what type of structure they will be staying in, though if pressed, I’d say I usually hear them say “going to the cottage“
• Someone asserted that calling something a cabin denotes no indoor plumbing

Are we on the right track? Any corrections to be made to this? (A new Winnipegger’s gotta be sure she has her terminology straight!) Are there regional variations in other parts of the country, too?

Incidentally, CBC Information Radio was interviewing someone from Cottage Life magazine the other day, and the topic was cottage etiquette, or more specifically, cottage guest etiquette. You can take this quiz to find out if you pass the test, and read their guide on nine ways to be a good cottage guest.  I had to laugh at one essential piece of advice from the Cottage Life interviewee: When you’re a guest at someone’s cottage, and your host asks you how you slept, no matter how old and lumpy and uncomfortable the bed was, you always say, “Great!”.

How very Friendly Manitoban

I drink a lot of water, and love the pure, cool, tastelessness of it.

But it’s the time of year when the tap water in Winnipeg begins to emit a certain taste and odour, one that’s undeniably musty and… algae-esque.

Now, we’ve got it pretty good here in the ‘Peg, when you consider that water in other parts of the Prairies can be quite unpalatable. As a child, my family visited a great-aunt in Carnduff, Sask, and I was offered juice or iced tea to drink. I said water would be just fine. “Are you sure?” the great-aunt asked. When I said yes and took my first sip, I immediately regretted it. It was like drinking dirt. And I remember this as clear as day, all these years later!

We’ve been drinking purified water since last summer’s algae invasion, even though the water generally tastes okay in the winter.  We just sort of got into the habit of picking up a 19L bottle once a week or so, and usually it’s okay if we run out and drink tap water for a few days. But not right now – I can’t stomach the smell or taste – it is distinctly mouldy to me.

But I have a nagging guilty feeling about this. I know that in a lot of parts of the world, they only dream of having clean, safe water like ours. My conscience, like many others’, tells me that it’s crazy to support an industry that sells water, which is a basic human need. I worry that buying purified water sends the message that I don’t trust the city’s water treatment process, which isn’t true. There is no doubt in my mind that tap water is clean and safe.

So a part of me tells myself that I really cared about this issue, I would just drink tap water and be done with it. The only reason I buy water is that I like to drink a lot of it, and straight up… I’m not into adding anything to it to mask the taste. My sister-in-law was over the other day and asked for some water. When she said tap water would do, I silently marvelled at her moral superiority, secretly hoping she just has no tastebuds.

So, what to do? A Brita-type jug/filter doesn’t offer a significant improvement (plus, I have no patience for them). Do those under-counter purification/softening/conditioning systems work?

Winnipeggers, I need your help on this one. Do you drink tap water for all or part of the year? How do you cope with our algae-infused water? Does one eventually just get used to it?

…is a Wo’MHer’s treasure!

Armed with only large bills (rookie mistake) and a list of garage sales, we set off on our mission.

Aaron: For the most part I’m an outgoing and sociable person. I’ve worked in retail for years and years, and this has further developed my small-talk skills and tolerance for brief, meaningless conversation. However, I hate haggling or even mildly arguing with someone I don’t know (I’m not sure I enjoy it that much with people I do know). Because our mission was to garage sale as seasoned Winnipeg garage salers might, I knew I’d have to negotiate a deal at some point. Following our visits to two lame sales and one mystery address that didn’t seem to exist, we headed over Chief Peguis trail to the Winnipeg garage sale mecca: Inkster Boulevard!

The fruits of Aaron's haggling skills.

With just one address to guide us (collected and mapped by Emma the night before; further navigated by Laurel and her iPhone), we were shocked to discover the surplus of garage sale signs planted in the the grass along Inkster boulevard. Particularly impressive are the intersections where the signs tend to converge and multiply. Zipping along Inkster to our next address we stopped abruptly due to suspicion of a closer target. The single yellow balloon tied to a gate always belies a garage sale in the backyard. Once inside we spotted a garage sale and thrift store staple item: UNICORN paraphernalia. Foregoing the temptation, I found two items totalling $2.25, and Emma found herself a Tupperware item priced at $5.00. I had a feeling this would be my only opportunity to haggle like a Winnipegger, so I approached the lady in charge and upon displaying the three items in my hands, I asked would she accept $5.00 for the lot? After a couple of seconds delay (“YES! She wants to barter!”) she accepted my offer and it was all over. I didn’t get to haggle after all, but I did make her an offer she couldn’t refuse…Winnipeg style!

Emma: Garage sales are crazy. When I was growing up, my family would have one every couple years – sometimes with neighbours, sometimes on our own, but I never put too much thought into them one way or another. It was much more fun to go to other people’s sales, and I often would troll around the neighbourhood looking for purchasable-with-allowance treasures… Ziggy mugs, cat posters, that sort of awesome thing.  Now that I’m an adult and have learned that time equals money, it blows my mind the amount of work that people are willing to put into a garage sale that might make them one or two hundred bucks, best case scenario.

Twenty cents worth of glassware.

There are definitely a few sorts of garage sale hosts. One, the kind who, despite having advertised the starting time as 8am, at 8:15 seem to have just rolled out of bed and are now dragging boxes onto the lawn. At this kind of sale, there are no price tags in sight, and the hosts are sitting on the front steps drinking coffee, bleary-eyed and zoned out. Another kind is ultra-organized: every item has its price and place on the table, and the host keeps track of each sale in a little notebook. There’s obviously a lot of planning that’s gone into the affair, and the sellers probably know from experience how to run things properly. But my bet is that it’s anyone’s guess which type of sale makes more money.

I, for one, must not be a true Winnipegger yet, because I feel uncomfortable when there are no prices, and also when it’s not clear what’s for sale and what’s just random stuff in close proximity to the merchandise (we noticed this was common when the sale was actually held in the garage). Who knows, maybe it’s all for sale — for a price!

Emma's Rudolph cookie cutter set.

Annnnyywayyy, my great finds were the much-coveted, ever-useful and exceedingly versatile Tupperware Serving Center (big props to Aaron for getting a deal on this – buying it new would cost $42.00!) and a Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer stand-up cookie cutter set (so reasonably-priced that I didn’t bother disputing it). Score!

Our Tweets from the exciting morning:
(Aaron): Off to hit up some Garage Sales…finished my oatmeal, now it’s time to shop! Haha!
(Emma): Just got some cash to haggle with… Let the garage saleing begin! (but first, coffee!)
(Laurel): Just got picked up by @emmaewood @directedreading for garage sale-ing!
(Aaron): The thrill of the hunt!
(Laurel): First garage sale down. Some lady positioned self in front of books, blocking all browsing. We were not ruthless enough to shove aside.
(Emma): Aaron is my hero! What a deal!
(Aaron): Drive 20 feet. Stop again. Another garage sale!
(Emma): Inkster is a hotbed of garage sales! Jackpot!
(Emma): Well, the early birds (us) caught the worm… The tupperware worm, that is!

Winnipeggers, we’ve heard you’re cheap. Or frugual. Wait a minute, what’s the kindest way to say that you have a reputation for being the worst penny-pinching bargain hunters this side of the Rockies?

Our plan is to embark on our first Garage Sale Mission this weekend! Any tips on the best Manitoba haggling techniques? Where do deal seekers search for the best Garage Sale listings in Winnipeg? Is it true what they say about Winnipeggers being amazingly thrifty, and if so, how can we disguise ourselves as Winnipeg Garage Sale Veterans?

We look forward to your feedback…and we treasure your comments. Now, hopefully we’ll find some treasure of our own! Updates via twitter (#winnipego) tomorrow morning!