Things We Miss.
Nostalgia. I love looking back. I remember the patterns on my Grandmother’s dishes, sometimes I see a cup and saucer just like that in an antique store, I never purchase them, somehow just looking and enjoying the mental scene they evoke is enough. There was a wooden clock on her sideboard that donged out each hour. A garden of flowers , beans, and potatoes. The colors in her front room, and her massive fern plant sitting on a table. I often watched her cook and bake and that was where I learned nearly everything I know about cooking, and especially about waiting ’til...
Read MoreNo Energy – No Interest in Sex
There is some truth to it when women say“I am too tired”. To have a fulfilling sex life we need to have energy. It seems since we have WiFi/EMF more and more people are tired, experience extreme fatigue and have sleeping problems. Many other health problems may be also related to the constant exposure to electro-magnetic frequencies. Studying JinShinDo® Acupressure my instructor said: “When the Kidney Meridian of somebody is weak do not try to pull the energy over from another meridian that is strong. The person has to change their eating and living habits.” This made a lot of...
Read MoreStop the Mid-Afternoon Slump
Do you get that feeling at about 3pm that you just want to crawl under your desk and take a nap? Here’s 1 simple trick to stop the mid-afternoon slump that I use with my clients. And, that I use in my life. What’s the trick? It’s to have your morning coffee with your breakfast – not before breakfast. In other words, don’t drink your morning coffee on an empty stomach. You may be surprized that I’m addressing something in your morning routine when it’s your afternoon energy levels that are the problem. Here’s why. The rate that caffeine is absorbed and reaches peak...
Read MoreOur Plum Tree
Each year our wee yellow plum tree got bigger and fuller. It always remained a dwarf, but was lush with juicy fruit. At first the plums were yellow and round Then, as we became inundated with other fruit-picking the plums became pink and even more sweet and juicy. Each year our friends would come with their children and pick to their heart’s content. We took our picture in front of that tree and used it in our annual Christmas newsletter The HoHoHo Times, as well as in several articles that Laurie wrote. The tree was loaded for Laurie’s last summer, the fruit...
Read MoreSeniors Advocate’s latest report.
Contracted Residential Care Facilities Responsible for Substantially More Hospital Visits and More than Double the Rate of Deaths in Hospital when Compared to Publicly Operated Care Facilities B.C Seniors Advocate, Isobel Mackenzie, today released a report that compared hospitalization rates for residents of contracted long term care facilities (both not- for- profits and private companies) with residents from publicly operated care facilities. “After careful review of multi-year data, a consistent pattern emerges that shows a demonstrably greater use of the emergency department and...
Read MoreMother’s Day
Olivia sat, staring into space, smiling, while her children charged around above her, yelling at the tops of their voices. She remembered acting just like that. Her own childhood wasn’t so far in the past, that she had forgotten the joy of weekends – no school, no schedule, no need to be quiet. Eight-year old Bonnie and six-year old John were good students. She had never had a call from the principal except, of course, that once. She remembered her own mother saying that it wasn’t when the children screamed or cried that you needed to worry; it was when they went quiet. Like now....
Read MoreVariable rate
This Spring we’re seeing lenders getting aggressive with their pricing for variable rate mortgages: a sign that lenders are fighting for market share, making it a great time to be shopping for a mortgage! First a reminder of the difference between fixed vs variable. Fixed rates are often well suited to first-time buyers or those who haven’t owned a home for long because they want to know with absolute certainty what their payment will be for a set number of years. A variable mortgage has an interest rate that will move in conjunction with your lender’s Prime rate, which in turn tracks...
Read MoreB.C. 2018 Municipal Elections
Island Woman Magazine will actively support and encourage all the women candidates on Vancouver Island that will be running in the upcoming 2018 municipal elections. We invite the candidates initially to send us biographies of who they are, why they are running for office. We encourage them to state their values and their vision of what needs to be done to ensure that we can maintain and improve the quality of life that we enjoy here on Vancouver Island. Most importantly, we ask them why we should vote for them. During the campaign we will post the details of any meetings or announcements...
Read MoreLia Versaevel CVRD Area G
I am running as a Candidate in the upcoming fall elections, as Area Director in the CVRD. Area G encompasses many Gulf Islands, including Penelakut and Thetis, Valdes and Ruxton as well as the residential neighbourhood of Sunny Saltair and a vast swath of territory reaching into the center of Vancouver Island, almost to Youbou! With a population of approximately 2000 people, Area G has several distinct communities, and yet we all share common concerns. Thetis continues to enjoy its historic Forbes community center with plans to expand, while Saltair embarks on planning for the recently...
Read MoreMystic Mountain
It was not April Fool’s Day. Nor was I the victim of someone’s cruel joke. Yet there is no explanation for what happened on that July 13th in 1977. I was in my thirtieth year. I had travelled some by then and was familiar with various lifestyles, various human foibles, wisdom and stupidity, yet nothing in my life to date had prepared me for what I encountered on that walk up the side of Mystic Mountain. Mystic Mountain was on the outskirts of the village where we had recently settled; a quiet rural setting with clean water, clear skies, fresh air, lots of nature to explore. On this rare...
Read MoreGo Confidently into Summer
It is that wondrous time of year again, where anything is possible.Sun-drizzled horizons, aqua skies, and long golden days. This is the time for every woman to blossom into that fabulous flower nurtured inside. From the mind-bending beauty of Joseph Ribkoff to the mellow and sensual flow of Sympli designs, we have styles for every unique personality. Our fashions give women the confidence that they can be or do anything. ‘Marie Claire’ magazine doesn’t mince words in its overview of the new trends in fashion for summer 2018: ‘We’ve got two words: Fashion Prozac. Designers reacted...
Read MoreThe Cable Company.
I popped down to the local cable company for a chat. After standing for a customer service person for five minutes, aggravating my seized up right knee, I was called. “I’d like to talk about my PVR,” I said, hoping that didn’t sound too personal. The lady sat bolt upright in her computer chair. She was very neat – clothes, hair, desk. She wore blue framed glasses behind which were matching bright blue cold eyes that said – don’t mess with me lady. Her thin cupid bow mouth was painted a dull red. I said very politely. “I’ve paid $15 monthly...
Read MoreFoods To Avoid for Hay Fever
Hay fever. I have it. Do you? Did you know that what you eat could be making your hay fever worse? All human bodies contain histamine. Most of us, most of the time, aren’t bothered by it one bit. However, our bodies have a threshold for histamine. When the level of histamine in our bodies goes above that threshold, we experience symptoms. They are the symptoms that us hay fever sufferers know all too well – itchy eyes, watery eyes, sneezing, runny nose, etc. Histamine in the Body Where do the histamines in our bodies come from? There are three major sources. The first source are...
Read MoreReduce Care Giver Stress
Being a caregiver to a senior often leads to stress and may also weaken physical health. It also increases financial responsibility and pressure. Many caregivers report feeling tired, worried, anxious, overwhelmed, or isolated. Specifically, meal preparation, cleaning and lack of support are the leading causes of stress among caregivers of seniors. In 2009, it was reported that 34% of Canadians aged 65 or older are at nutrition risk. This emphasizes the need to better support family care givers to provide nutrition care to senior parents. Why isn’t it obvious? Many seniors experience poor...
Read MoreMenswear: Not Just for Men
There’s something about a crisp, clean men’s button up that makes it a timeless classic in the wardrobe of every well-dressed man. And who’s to say that it can’t be a staple in the wardrobe of a well-dressed woman? The form of the shoulders, the way the shirt is tapered, and the cut of the garment invokes an undeniable air of masculinity when worn by a man, and yet the contrast when worn by a woman does nothing but draw attention to the femininity of the wearer. It also adds an element of boldness to your look, telling the world that you are not afraid to defy convention...
Read MoreThe Bee Man
Winnie the Pooh and I have a lot in common, we both love honey. “I eat my peas with honey; I’ve done it all my life. It makes the peas taste funny, But it keeps them on the knife”. I have always loved honey. I love its texture,its smell and its taste. Each jar when its opened takes me on a journey to where the bees first started the journey of turning pollen into the nectar that we generically know as honey. One smell can take me to the fireweed covered sunny slopes on a mountain or the tangled brambles of a river estuary. The magic of...
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