Fresh from the Cowichan Valley!
The 8 ½ Acres Farm is located just North of the Highway 18, this family farm has it all. Mike Shelten and Talyn Martin grow various seasonal fruits and vegetables all year long. Among their usual products you may find garlic scapes, greens and beans, berries, herbs and many more! Although farming isn’t an easy job and working in this line of business means constantly facing new and unpredictable challenges, adapting to fluctuating weather conditions, and working long hours, these charming farmers enjoy the lifestyle farming offers. The fact that they are able to spend their days...
Read MoreObesity – Why it is so BAD
If your dog is 10 percent over his ideal body weight, he is overweight. If he’s more than 30 percent over his optimal weight, we call him obese. Unbelievably, obesity strikes more than 30 percent of dogs, and the incidence is rising. Obesity is partly due to ignorance – owners not making the right choices about diet and exercise for their canine friends. However, even owners that recognize their dogs are obese often do not think it is an issue. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Fat isn’t just a layer under the skin. It is in every crevice of the body. If you were to cut a fat...
Read MorePunishment Without trial
I was, and remain, outraged to learn of the additional, mental and physical hardships women prisoners are faced with on the Island because there are no holding facilities here for women. The women we are talking about here are awaiting trial, they have not been convicted of anything. They are being taken away from family, friends and any support they may have here to await trial. They are being unduly punished by the lack of facilities for women on the island caused as the result of economic cut backs by a heartless, mean spirited provincial government. This is wrong and should be rectified...
Read MoreMiso Marinated Ling Cod
I came across this fish dish working for Oceania Cruise Lines, We originally used Black Cod, it was the second course in a 5 course promotional luncheon put on for the Italian press in Venice that visited the ship while in port – Yes Cruise Lines promote their ships when ever possible. I really liked it because of its simplicity, the Miso marinade really complements the Fish’s natural flavour. In the original it was served wrapped in a banana leaf with Sticky sushi rice as a side Miso Marinated Ling Cod & Spiced Vegetable Couscous for 4 Ingredients 900gr Fresh Ling Cod filet...
Read MoreSuccessful Doctor Visits
When my mother had stomach cancer, I flew back to Toronto to give my siblings a reprieve and support my mom post-surgery. The procedure to remove her tumour was long and very painful. Post-discharge, my mom experienced severe stomach pains, difficulty sleeping and digestive problems. Heavily medicated (not me, her!) to reduce the pain, I drove her to a follow-up appointment with her physician. My mom thought it was a good idea to have me sit in on the appointment with her. Pen and paper in hand, I was ready to be my mom’s advocate! I nearly fell off the chair when my mom smiled and told...
Read MoreLawn to Food
It’s a very unsuspecting location to find Lynda Smith’s business. In the middle of a Comox neighborhood where homes sit on lots not much larger than a quarter acre, an active vegetable farm is in production year-round. Lynda, founder and operator of Lawn to Food, is immersed in a small business that not only brings fresh, organic and plentiful food to her family’s table, but allows her to educate and coach others to do the same all while sharing the fruits of her labour for others to enjoy. “We had always gown food but I was always the one doing it and the one preparing it and I...
Read MoreSigns our body is giving us
How can we overcome the fear many aspects of our life are causing in us? Unfortunately there are many things in our world that are affecting our health negatively. Only to a certain degree we can protect ourselves from ElectroMagneticFrequencies – Chemtrails – Genmanipulated (GMO) food – Herbicides, Pesticides and Toxins. During my studies I learned from the MD Mary Lynch the vibration of DNA is nearly the same as the vibration of LOVE. This means when we are experiencing LOVE our DNA is better able to repair itself. JOY, LOVE, and PEACE have nearly the same...
Read MorePregnancy and Reflexology
Woman have come for treatments looking to conceive, to support their bodies throughout pregnancy and finally to induce birth. After care treatments also remain an important element in bringing mom’s body back to equilibrium. Pregnant women have found reflexology helped with: Headaches Constipation High blood pressure Shortness of Breath Tiredness Heartburn Backache Sleeplessness Anxiety Oedema (fluid retention, often in feet) Morning sickness It’s amazing what this gentle form of massage and acupressure can do. I have worked with women applying reflexology...
Read MoreAn Accidental Pilgrimage
Rose Spit was on our list of adventures, and we were running out of time. A few days before, we were blessed to have been two, of a dozen hearty souls who shared a zodiac expedition through Gwaii Hanaas to the site of Sgang Gwaay. But that is a story for another day. My traveling companion, and sister, and I had been asking around Massett for a couple of days, hoping to find a ride out to the spit. There were a few possibilities, but nothing actually firmed up. We were told that Rose Spit was a 15 km return walk. We could see it in the distance. How hard could it be? We would be challenged,...
Read MoreVancouver Island, 1941
There were four crockery barrels on our back porch. I was four years old. We all had jobs. My job was to get things from the crocks. One held eggs preserved in water-glass; one was filled with oolichans (eels) in salt; one, my mother’s concoction of lye, oil and I don’t know what, which was the soap used for dishes, the floor, the laundry, the dog and our Saturday night baths in the tin wash tub; and one, goose grease, the salve of all bad things from cut fingers to leg-aches and whooping cough. When I see an episode of the TV show, “Survivor,” featuring people touching or...
Read MoreYour Flashlight
Spring is with us and the days are brighter. This makes me think of a poem that I recently wrote called “Your Flashlight”. I performed it at the Spiral Café in Victoria, and you can check it out on You Tube if you like. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EL_FqK0zIDc I am thrilled to announce that I have been writing with Island Woman Magazine for nearly two years now. Whenever I meet a new audience, I begin in a safe and easygoing manner, and then I begin to unleash myself more and more. It occurred to me, a few weeks ago, that I have yet to fully unleash, or even step it up a...
Read MoreWonder at the Choices
Have you ever wondered at the choices you’ve made? Not judged them, condemned them or blamed yourself for them but simply wondered? Have you ever stepped out of your judgement and simply wondered at the choices you’ve made? Has it ever occurred to you to say to yourself…”I wonder why I choose to do that?” or “I wonder why I choose that path or said those words?” And if you were to allow yourself to simply wonder, how do you think you might feel about your choices? You could open yourself up to possible reasons for your choices; you could allow the bigger picture of your life...
Read MoreB.C. Seniors Advocate
B.C. Seniors Advocate is reinforcing the need for seniors in the province to file tax returns, even if they think they do not make enough income to file. “There are many subsidies available to seniors that are based on income tax information,” said Isobel Mackenzie. “If seniors don’t file their taxes, low-income seniors in particular may be giving up opportunities to access subsidies which can make significant differences to their lives.” The importance of filing taxes was highlighted in a recent case where the Federal Government found that 83,000 Canadian seniors, 13,000 of them in...
Read MoreUrine and Grass Scalding
Urine. Some veterinarians call it “liquid gold” because it has incalculable value in determining a dog’s health status. However, puppy owners who have to clean it up call it a waste product. Likewise for people who take pride in their lawns. To them, dog urine is a force that wreaks havoc on their pristine green carpets. Urine scalding of grass is so upsetting to some people that they won’t allow their dogs access to their beautifully manicured lawns. Others try to limit unsightly yellow urine stains by adding ingredients such as baking soda or apple cider vinegar to their dogs’...
Read MoreEven Caring Has a Limit
With the daily demands life puts on us, it is stressful to provide comprehensive daily care to elderly parents when one or both parents are not as independent anymore. It’s usually the daughter caring for her elderly mother or father. The family caregiver can become mentally and physically exhausted, irritable and resentful. Just like our own pool of physical energy, the mental energy required to provide care to loved one has a limit. When it becomes very stressful to see a loved one struggling with independence, sometimes with high demands – at the end of the day it can be...
Read MoreToo Far From The City
Did I hear you utter under your breath, “Too far removed from the city for me.” I know you’d be gobsmacked with our “Gabriola emergency services infrastructure”. And, this is what I’m going to call it because moving here without much thought to what would happen if: I locked myself out of my house, out of my car, the campfire got out of control, found my neighbour running down my driveway with his hand slit open from his band saw, hadn’t heard from my elderly neighbour for weeks, witnessed through the autumn mist a crush of Highland cattle herding themselves down Burnside...
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