Local island ingredients make holiday dinners grand
As this year draws to a close, I feel privileged to celebrate this season of togetherness as I take on a new role as British Columbia’s Ministry of Agriculture and Food. The holidays are a time to gather with friends and family, but it is also a time for us to support local producers by incorporating B.C. ingredients in our holiday meals. With so many products grown and raised here, a feast of B.C. products is both easy and tasty, and due to the mild climate and plentiful greenhouses in B.C., we are able to enjoy some of the best of B.C.’s vegetables even in the colder months. Here is a...
Read MoreSeasoned Greetings
If we’re not meant to have midnight snacks. why is there a light in the fridge? – unknown author Once again that magical time of the year is upon us. For many folks Christmas and New Years is all about friends and family and…FOOD, glorious food; my favourite 4-letter word that starts with F. Come to think of it, it appears to be the common denominator in all of life’s celebrations. Let’s name a few: Thanksgiving – turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, squash, and the grande finale pumpkin pie; then Christmas – more turkey, ham, brussel sprouts. But...
Read MoreWinter Food for birds
Our wildlife depends on Native plants for the food. Whether it is Native bees which depend on Native plants or birds that depend on fruit or seeds, we can lend a helping hand by supplying a food source. Many of you readers will put out bird seed in the winter to feed the hungry birds, but recently we have heard about a number of infectious diseases killing birds where feeders were not meticulously maintained. You can lend a hand by growing berries that help some of our birds survive the winter. Snowberries fall into that category. I am sure you are all familiar with snowberry or wax berry or...
Read MoreWhat’s stopping you from getting your affairs in order?
As mentioned in my last article, we typically associate getting our affairs in order with the end of life. As a result, it is considered an undesirable task. It is also known to be overwhelming. Where do we start? How do we know when we are finished getting our affairs in order? Getting our affairs in order is simply about getting our life organized, whether that be details regarding our future health care planning, financial and legal matters, or information regarding our vital statistics like identification documents and family history. Documentation regarding pets, pre-planned funeral...
Read MoreBook Worm
There is more treasure in books, than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island -Walt Disney, I have a confession – a shocker for some. Although I like to write & love to talk (really?), I’ve never been a reader; a pleasure-reader that is. I have indeed digested many a medical tome. During my nurse training the favourite party tale was about how I sustained a black eye while studying late into the night. The massive anatomy book that I had propped up on a pillow suddenly careened over just as I was momentarily checking my eyelids for cracks. I believe the term...
Read MoreHelp your bees and butterflies!
We have all heard about the worrisome reduction in native bee and butterfly world-wide. But we can help a little on a local basis. BC is known to have about 400 different Native bees and many varieties of butterflies that depend on our Native plants. By planting Native plants in your garden you will provide a food source suitable to those bees and butterflies (especially their caterpillars) and can enjoy the beauty of our local flora and fauna. When the Saskatoon bush blooms in April-May they are covered in white flower, a great attraction to bees, then in July-August they have...
Read MoreA message from Lana Popham B.C;s Minister of agriculture.
To me, summers on Vancouver Island are emblematic of farmers markets, packed with local produce, patio season and afternoons spent on the beach, enjoying a picnic lunch. As the leaves begin to change and we welcome the arrival of autumn and the harvests of many B.C. fruits and vegetables, I also wanted to share some lesser-known products from Vancouver Island that feature in fall meals at my home. They are all part of the BuyBC program, which helps consumers recognize local foods through labels and marketing, making over 3000 participating products easy to identify and are a shortcut to...
Read MoreGetting your affairs in order
Having our affairs in order is NOT just for those who are dying! When we start talking about getting our affairs in order, we get this uneasy feeling in our gut. Am I am going to die soon? If I think it, therefore I am? In our society we have come to accept this expression as preparing for end of life, when, we could all benefit from having our affairs in order in any season of life! We can spend countless hours looking for personal information that has been stashed in different corners of our home. We keep meaning to get it organized one day – but each day gets consumed with other...
Read More– The Office of the Seniors Advocate today released BC Seniors: Falling Further Behind, a review of the financial challenges facing B.C. seniors.
The report highlights the impact of rising costs on B.C. seniors who depend on government pensions and ranks B.C. as the lowest in its financial support for seniors compared to other provinces and territories. “Seniors I speak with tell me their pension incomes are not keeping up with rising costs and they are paying too much for rent, groceries, dental care, homecare, house repairs and other essentials,” said BC Seniors Advocate Isobel Mackenzie. “Currently 45% of seniors in British Columbia are living on less than minimum wage and 25% of seniors are living on less than $21,000 a...
Read MoreNEWFOUNDLANDERS, OCTOPI, AND AN OIL CHANGE IN HIGH GEAR
During the fishing season, at least for a few trips, we had a Newfoundlander on board as another deckhand. I couldn’t understand a word he said, but we had fun with him. I found out he had certain phobias. Spiders. Women. On the first trip out, Bill had him convinced that on our stop in Rose Harbour, we would be taking him to the dance, and setting him up with a nice girl. (In reality there is absolutely nothing in Rose Harbour, let alone a dance) He spent the next twenty four hours locked in his bunk because “all women had AIDS!”. During my turn at wheel watch one night I’d promised...
Read MoreA Tale of Two Unicorn
A great horse will change your life. The truly special ones define it. As I sit here on the swing, in the shade of a rather large cedar tree, protecting me from the sun/cloud/rain (take your pick, give it an hour and we’ll get all three!), I’m looking out at the corral where my 2 unicorns remain sequestered. I watch them nibble away patiently, nay more like rambunctiously, at their hay net bags – nuzzling, prodding, lifting, teasing the stands of dried grass through...
Read MoreFALLING ON MY HALIBUTCHEEKS
Bill became part owner of the boat he normally skippered for a good friend, Loman Daury. When tragedy struck and Loman died unexpectedly, Bill partnered with another skipper friend, to buy the old Prince Rupert longliner, Zapora from the widow. The Zapora was a haywire boat. Everything was wrong with her, but like the Grande Dame she was, she seemed to plug along with baling wire and a wad of chewing gum. That’s not the way Bill rolled however, and before the boat was taken out again, she was overhauled from stem to stern. There was no end to the problems, but finally the work was done. Or...
Read MoreThe Importance of Early Literacy
I began writing stories for all the right reasons, more than 20 years ago.Having been an avid reader for as long as I could remember, I was rather upset that my eldest daughter, then age nine, chose not to read. She could read, and she could read well – she just didn’t want to. I didn’t understand that logic, and so like any good mother would do, I set out to guilt her into reading; child abuse at its finest. I decided to write a story about magic and mermaids, two of her favourite subjects, and this story would without a doubt, change her life forever. My evil plan worked, and I...
Read MoreBBQ Pizzas
I love making my own pizza. I get the toppings and the thinness of the crust I love without the cost. However, in the middle of summer I don’t want to turn my oven on and heat up the whole house. Using the BBQ is a great option during the summer months. Not only do you keep your house cool, cooking pizza on the BBQ gives it a “fire wood oven” taste. So good and so easy. I pair the pizza with a light and crisp salad to round out the dinner. To get this meal to the table all at the same time: Make the pizza dough earlier in the day. Prepare your toppings earlier in the day and keep them...
Read MoreChildren at Risk
One of the positives from COVID was that it shut down all my regular activities and gave me the time to focus on writing my first book, Children at Risk. The book is a thriller and I wanted to write it for forever. COVID gave me the time and opportunity to do it. Many years after I worked as a front-line social worker, I am haunted by some of the difficult and heart rendering situations in which I was involved. Though my story is fiction, the emotions of the main character, Lillian, are real. After having worked as a social worker for forty years, only briefly in child welfare, I was fed up...
Read MoreAlong the Way
My recently released a 12-volume series of children’s books introduces young readers to each of the Canadian provinces and territories. Entitled “Along the Way”, the series features a young dinosaur named Albert, who takes his readers on make-believe road trips to points of interest around the country, where they learn amazing geographical and historical facts and are introduced to different cultures, cuisine, horticulture, science and more. The series is dedicated to encouraging children aged 6-12 to broaden their horizons; be all they can be – all the while sharpening their...
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