Hospice Care

Time has passed and I finally have time to reflect on the passing of a number of older friends. One of aspect of care that I learned about was hospice care at home. Hospice care sounds wonderful until you become involved. Volunteers and staff provide practical, emotional, and spiritual support in collaboration with family caregivers, health care providers and community support agencies. This sounds wonderful . Hospice volunteers give an average of 4 hours care a week. How many hours of hospice care is a patient allowed? A question, I would love to have answered by various Hospice associations. In a week, I don't think that the hours amount to very many. I have a feeling that all the other agencies mentioned in the list are expected to come to the table and provide the majority of care. Someone or some agency is still expected to provide coordination. In many cases, the coordinators will be the family. In the situation that I was involved in, it was a team of care givers. Three of us coordinated care on a 24 hour basis. What a learning experience. After a period of time, we had a greater appreciation of what agencies are able to offer and how much must be paid for.

Not far from the tree

Last year, I found an article about the organization "Not Far from the tree". www.notfarfromthetree.org. This started as a volunteer gig for Laura Resinborough as the article in the paper said with Laura and others picking fruit at Spadina House and other gardens and then selling the fruit at Green Barns in Wychwood. The crop has grown to the tune of 3,000 pounds of fruit. Reinsborough and friends would gather each Saturday morning during the harvest season, collecting apples in the morning for sale that afternoon.
Reinsborough found Not Far from the Tree to pick neighbourhood fruit in Ward 21 area of Toronto. In the first year, they had interest from more than 100 homes across the city and it has grown.
What a wonderful venture. Wonder how many can be started and how many exist but they just don't have the publicity?

Beads

On Friday, when I went out to find a yarn shop, I passed an area that was fascinating;there were at least 5 bead shops if not more. I lost count. Each of the shops had its own specialty. One of the shops was the Beadery. www.thebeadery.ca. A friend of ours who lives in Florida loves beading and even teaches courses. She would love these shops.
In addition to the yarn shops, fabric shops were situated in between them. Again, I took time to go into one of them and discovered exotic fabric that would make a wonderful jacket or some special outfit. Wonderful to discover that these shops exist since fabric departments are no longer part of department stores. I still remember in my teens being able to go to the department store and hunt for a pattern, fabric, and accessories in the department store. One stop shopping at its best. This is no longer the case. Good to know that there are still people sewing and creating interesting things.

Romni Wools

As you might know, I love knitting scarves. I might branch into hats next. A friend showed me a hat that she had knit and it looked like fun.

Yesterday, I went exploring and discovered Romni Wools. It has taken me a long time to get to this part of the city which seems to be undergoing gentrification. A mixture of new and old stores coexist on Queen Street. I suspect that this is like Cabbagetown which two economic groups try to co-exist. I hope that they manage.

Now back to my main point, Romni Wools was a revelation. There was wool from floor to ceiling. I was glad that what I wanted Ribbon Yarns tended to be on the lower levels and there was plenty of it. I will be busy for quite awhile. I managed to find a number of manufacturers and colours. Now, that I am going to be knitting with the intention of selling my work, it is time to be more systematic about what I am doing.

Those of you who love knitting, Romni is a great source of yarn and knitting supplies.

Plastic Shoes

For years, I have maintained that if you keep something it will come back in style. Styles are recycled. The recycle time is getting shorter as we have greater media coverage. What used to take years and at one point decades now just takes years.

I have friend who is a vegan, so she is going to be ecstatic about this fashion statement. Apparently plastic shoes are in! Wow, whoever decided that does not live in a hot country. Plastic does not breath. Apparently, the Brazilian shoe company Melissa has been designing and manufacturing plastic shoes for the past 25 years and is their products are sold in over 80 countries. This eco-friendly company believes that plastic is the best medium to communicate technology and renewal. (My mistake-Brazil qualifies as a hot country.)

An interesting trend, I will watch to see if it catches on. I try to be eco-friendly but plastic shoes are a problem. Will check them out when I buy my next pair of shoes but must admit that there are issues. I think that there is a deodorant for feet? Hopefully the quality is better than it appears in the pictures that I looked at and posted since the prices shout quality!

Sewing Club

We all know that many people have turned to vegetable gardens to expand their groceries but how many people have noticed that children at least are starting to sew again. What a wonderful skill! How many people can not even mend their clothes because they were not taught how to use a sewing machine and then second factor do not own a sewing machine. (There is a shop in Toronto that offers use of sewing machines and also classes in sewing.)

Dixon Grove Middle Grove under the leadership of a grandmother offers sewing to students after school, 10 at a time and many have to be turned away. These students are learning how to alter clothes, remodel and hopefully even make new clothes from patterns. 10 years ago Design and Tech shops and Family Studies were closed down in most schools. Administrators decided that it was more important for students to learn science and computer skills. Please understand, I believe that they are important- I am using a computer to enter this blog and have been at this computer since 7 a.m. Time for a serious break. This is just one tool that we can use. We also need life skills. Sad that sewing now is taught as an after thought and by an volunteer. I am sure that she is doing a wonderful job but why did we end up in this situation?

http://www.thestar.com/article/625378

Work? Projects?

Wow, I could not believe that I have not posted anything since Sunday. Time does move too fast.

It is at times like this that I wonder how I get anything done when at work. Summer holidays are wonderful but I am still very busy. Now I admit tennis a couple times a week does eat into my time but I need the exercise. I also organize my Sunday group. Just sent out requests for players for the long weekend. (Going to a wedding on the long weekend and I will not be able to play Sunday morning.) This Sunday is done!

Gardening when I get to it also gobbles up major chunks of time but I love the results. Going to try to get out later this afternoon. There was a chance of rain so I decided to do work indoors and not do any drop offs today. Will do a driving drop off tomorrow.

Getting a lot of computing done- finished an article and I am working on a couple more-I am in the editing phase- I have not done much writing lately- just on my blog. Unfortunately, unless I find a fantastic theme like "Julie Julia" and get a movie deal, the blog is for my own amusement and those people who are loyal friends and check what I am up to or others who happen to find the blog when a topic that they are interested in finds my entry when they google the topic.

You would think that I would be spending time cleaning but no that is low on my list of priorities. That will get done starting today: I am going to take a box of things to Crippled Civilians- the aim will be a box a week until I get things cleaned up. As I mentioned many entries ago, I will not take a photograph of the pile things that are crying out for attention.

Time to clean, knit, read,practise. Oh the list goes on. Life is exciting.

Walter Cronkite

On the eve of celebrating man's landing on the moon, a man who was ecstatic about this event and who loved every moment of reporting about it, passed away. Walter Cronkite, a man trusted by all, passed away at the age of 92. He was an icon who told us about some of the most important events in recent years: the death of John F. Kennedy, death of Martin Luther King, Bobby Kennedy and numerous other events. A respected journalist and anchor, Cronkite will be missed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Cronkite

Gatehouse

For years, Michael has said that there is a particular house that he would like to see as part of Doors Open. Today, the Toronto Star had an article about what was once a gatehouse and was redesigned as a private residence by architect Frederick Fletcher. The house was once part of a large estate on Concession 2, Lot 4 . The house was part of a vast farming estate that was farmed for 90 years. Hard to believe that this was once farm country when you see all the homes in the area. However, some of the area was only developed in the late 1950's when E.P. Taylor sold some of his land and developed Don Mills.

One of these days, I must site down and research the area more thorough. Until then enjoy the Gatehouse. http://www.thestar.com/Comment/article/666906

Gardens

I love gardening but sometimes it helps to have an inspiration to get back to work on weeding, planting, dividing and the many fun tasks that gardening offers. Today, Martha Stewart did it. What a wonderful inspiration just looking at some of the photos of gardens and ideas. Must check if she has a magazine with the photos. Would be worth it. I am heading out as soon as I finish this entry.

If these pictures do not inspire you, you are not a gardener or you might be like some gardeners I know who want everything tidy. Personally, I love these. Time to head out.
Here for those of you who want to check out the site: http://www.marthastewart.com/summer-relaxing?lnc=b25f452be04c1210VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&rsc=slideshow_holiday_relaxing&contentid=3892f76e9c3f0210VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD#slide_7

Toronto City Hall Art Show artists

I know that the Toronto City Hall Art Show is finished and that is a relief to the many artists who display and sell their work at the show. As usual there was a spot of rain but not as bad as some years. I sincerely hope that all the artists met their artistic goals and hopefully financial as well. I am not sure how you can do well with so many artists; this was a much smaller show when I first went. Michael and I bought small pig figurines at the time, I did not see anything like that. Mugs are the only item that is economical and still one of a kind.

I did enjoy the show and here are a few of the many artists that I did manage to see:

I love fibre art although I am not very good at it, not enough hours in the day. Stephanie Ford Forrester creates wonderful tapestries and if I had the room and money, I would consider purchasing one of her works.

Alice Vander Vennen' s work appealed to me because she had a musical theme. Not sure if I would buy a piece but it was interesting to see where she was going with her ideas. Can you guess what musical idea she is trying to express here?

Adriana McNeely creates wonderful elegant jewellery and I wish that I had a great deal of extra money to spend on her creations. Oh well, another lifetime.

Anthony Bourdain

A couple years ago, we had the opportunity to hear and see Anthony Bourdain at a local bookstore. He was talking about a new cookbook that he had completed and obviously hoped that people would purchase.
Bourdain is an interesting character and now with food celebrities like Gordon Ramsay, it is not so hard to believe the interesting language that he uses. Anthony Bourdain does not yell at his staff but he does express his displeasure with some events in his life with expletives.
One of the book purchases that I made in the past year was No Reservations by Bourdain. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/index.html?curid=3415409 It is the background to his television show which was presented on the Travel Channel since it focused on travel more than food itself. I enjoyed many of the pictures in the but also he revealed that it was not always comfortable and glamourous filming a show about food in remote parts and not so remote parts of the world. He described the plight of the crew in Beirut when the bombing started a few years ago and their efforts to escape. Bourdain, who also wrote the Nasty Bits which I will check for in the library and Kitchen Confidential which started his writing career, is quite a character and not a pretentious cook. Worth a read.

Piano Lesson

One of my missions right now in addition to clearing up the many objects that we have collected from several estates is to clear up my back log of reading. One of the books that I just finished is Note by Note a celebration of the piano lesson by Tricia Tunstall. I never had a chance to take piano lessons until I had the funds to pay myself which meant that I did not take lessons until I was a working adult. It is fascinating to read about Tricia's students most of whom are very young. Also interesting that she does not teach her students with Royal Conservatory exams or exams of any kind in mind. She is American and only briefly mentions the possibility of some exams. I am sure that there must be some kind of exams system but Tunstall has opted out of that exercise. If you find a copy of the book, it is definitely worth a read; especially for those who are studying music, have children who take lessons or teach music.

Toronto City Hall Art Show

If you are wondering what to do this weekend, may I suggest the Toronto City Hall Art Show. Despite the civic workers strike, the show is on. Yesterday, I helped my friend, Line Dufour who is a fibre artist who weaves and knits. Her work is quite wonderful and worth a go see as well as purchase.

Hope that you have a chance to get down to see the show and support the artists who suffered through a thunder storm this morning.

Work of one of the many artists whose work I managed to see. With 500 artists exhibiting, I did not manage to see and enjoy everyone's work.

Article:
The show will go on!
Despite the ongoing city strike by CUPE Local 79 and Local 416, the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition will be taking place at Nathan Phillips Square, from July 10 to 12, as planned. TOAE is not a city run initiative - it is entirely self-sufficient, run independently of the City of Toronto. TOAE is also a charitable, non-profit organization that has been planning this exhibition for a year in advance and we look forward to another great event in July!

As the largest outdoor art exhibiion in Canada, the TOAE offers a fresh-air alternative to conventional art shows and galleries. Approximately 500 artists participate and over 100,000 visitors attend the exhibition every year. Side by side, established artists, undiscovered talents and innovative students sell their work directly to the public and make lasting connections with art dealers and collectors. We welcome applications from artists working in a wide range of traditional and experimental art forms.
The Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition is a charitable non-profit organization supported by a group of volunteers active in the art and corporate communities. The exhibition is financed through registration fees, and by government, corporate and individual sponsors, enabling the TOAE to charge one of the lowest registration fees in North America. No percentage of the artists' sales is taken by the organizers.

The TOAE gratefully acknowledges the support of the many sponsors and award donors that made the 2008 exhibition a success.
Now in its 48th year, the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition [TOAE] is a juried showcase featuring contemporary fine art and craft that takes place on Nathan Phillips Square every July.

Galbraith and The Great Crash 1929

In addition to the many mystery novels that I indulge in, I do read some books with depth. Usually they are not of great interest to others. This week, I finished reading The Great Crash of 1929 by John Kenneth Galbraith. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Kenneth_GalbraithI read it hoping that Galbraith would provide insight into that challenging time and insight into how it happened and what could be done to prevent a second or third event like this. Sadly, after reading the book, all that I found out was that there was a moment when peoples' aspirations financially took a turn for the worst and there did not seem to be any way of turning the tide. It took nearly ten years for the things to return to pre-crash times. Wow, I guess that offers insight into what we might expect at this time. The only positive is that governments seem to have stemmed the tide and the financial disaster is not as great as 1929 but news continues to be bad and maybe we are still in for more challenging times.
Let us hope not.

Space Station

After last night, I know that it is time to get really good binoculars. We went outside to an open field and in this case it was a baseball field to watch for the space station. Luckily, Michael knew what time the space station was supposed to fly over. Right on time, it flew over and in the correct path. We could tell what it was because it was slight larger than the stars and also because it moved in a very defined path.
Apparently, it does fly by most nights but usually flies across the horizon and as a result we are not able to see it. Not sure why the flight path changed but it was certainly exciting for Michael.
I will be checking for those binoculars.
Fascinating. Wonder how long this station is supposed to continue flying. Just tried goggling for pictures and information but was not very successful. Will try again.

Hostas

(Someone remind me to publish before moving on to another page to get pictures to insert!)

For those of you who love gardening and visiting garden centres, I would like to recommend the following places.

Yesterday, I went to garden centres with a friend and one of the places we made a point of visiting is Giboshihill Hostas which is run by Kevin and Olga Elchuk. A wonderful private garden full of hostas of all sizes, shapes and various greens. Kevin and Olga sell some of the specimens and the prices are wonderful worth checking out k.o.giboshill@airnet.ca.

Another place that we did not have a chance to visit yesterday but will catch next time is Gardens Plus which is another boutique type centre which is just outside of Peterborough. Will worth the visit if you like hostas, daylilies or irises. http://www.gardensplus.ca/. Also check out this page to see the many wonderful spots in the garden at Gardens Plus. http://www.gardensplus.ca/Tourthegardens.htm

So many wonderful places to visit and check out plants. I need to do some gardening today and then will allow myself to visit more places.

Blueberry Lemon Loaf

Some of you may realize that I love fruit and blueberry season is one of my favourites. This summer, I am trying some new recipes. Today's was Blueberry Lemon Loaf and it is definitely a keeper.
Here it is for those of you who love trying recipes as much as I do.

Blueberry Lemon Loaf

Preparation Time: 15 minutes (I found that it took me a little longer)
Baking Time: 70-75 minutes
Makes: One 8.5” x 4.5” loaf
Freezing: excellent

Ingredients:
½ cup unsalted butter, softened 135 mL
1 cup granulated sugar 250 mL
2 eggs 2
2 tsp vanilla 10 mL
2 cups all purpose flour 500 mL
2 tsp baking powder 10 mL
½ tsp salt 2 mL
2 tbsp finely grated lemon rind 30 mL
2/3 cup milk 150 mL
1 cup blueberries 250 mL

Streusel topping:
2 tbsp granulated sugar 30 mL
2 tbsp packed brown sugar 30 mL
¼ cup all purpose flour 50 mL
2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened 30 mL

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350o F, (160oC). Line an 8.5” x 4.5” (1.5 L) loaf pan with parchment paper.

Streusel Topping:
In bowl, combine granulated and brown sugars and flour. Cut in butter until mixture is very crumbly; set aside.

Using electric mixer, cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, then vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder, salt and lemon rind. Using wooden spoon, alternately stir dry ingredients and milk into butter mixture, making three addition of dry and two of milk. Gently fold in blueberries. Transfer to prepared pan. Sprinkle with streusel.

Bake in centre of preheated oven for 70 to 75 minutes or until topping is golden and cake tester inserted in centre comes out clean.

Tips:
If using frozen blueberries, do not thaw. Toss gently into 1 tbsp (15 mL ) all purpose flour before folding into batter, to prevent the blueberries from “bleeding”.

The streusel doubles and triples well. Use on top of muffins, open faced pies and other quick breads.

First baked, July 5, 2009.
Excellent

Grano and Roberto Martella

While taking a break from baking and trying out new blueberry recipes- yes,( if the recipe is good I will include it on the blog), I am checking for ideas for the blog.

Roberto Martella is someone we had the pleasure of meeting at his restaurant Grano. This restaurant is special. It is not just a place to eat but Martella has created a place to learn Italian- language classes, learn about great wines especially Italian at wine tasting and opportunities to exchange ideas at the various forums he has instituted. What a wonderful place he has created.
http://www.ideasthatmatter.com/people/2006roberto.html

Martella was awarded the Jane Jacobs award several years ago. This was a worthy recognition of the contribution he is making in this city.


We need more people like this who make places a wonderful and exciting place to live. Hope that your city has people like this as well.

DIY jewellery

A friend of mine who lives in Florida makes her own jewellery which means that I am always looking out for places in Toronto that have diy jewellery. Toronto now has another place for creative people to make and create jewellery. As the article mentions, the store which is in the west end of the city has a variety of supplies like pearls, beans kukui nuts and tinted wood. The place store looks inviting and friendly enough that I would consider stopping by and giving it a try. http://www.laperlerie.ca/home.htm

Who knows, I might add jewellery making to my repertoire.

Places to get sick

Finally, after nearly a month of being very sick- three days in bed, sleeping and attending to personal needs at the beginning, I am feeling 100%. I had not realized how long I had been ill until I started counting days and thinking about it. Wow, nearly a month!
Today's papers lists 6 place that you are most likely to get sick. I was in #2. #1 was on my list while I was looking after my friend who was terminally ill.
Wow, some of these places are places that you would consider safe and places that many of us consider havens. Be safe and careful!

1. Hospitals
It's where you go to get well. But at least 7% of people admitted to hospital will get an infection, including from the antibiotic superbug C. difficile.
2. Schools and daycares
Close quarters, lots of sticky hands and kids' immature immune systems mean viruses quickly make the rounds. In one study, a virus introduced on a toy into a day care in the morning was found on 80 per cent of kids by 5 p.m. and on 50 per cent of parents by the next morning.
3. The TTC
Or any closed-in, crowded place where people touch their mouths, pick their nose or cough into their hands. And then touch their surroundings
4. Public swimming pools
Gastrointestinal illness from public pools are on the rise in the States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. The offender? Cryptosporidium, a microscopic parasite found in human feces that can live as long as 10 days in chlorinated water.
5. The Saturday night party scene
Or any place people are going to have casual sex. Stats from Toronto Public Health show some sexually transmitted infections, including Chlamydia and syphilis, are on the rise.
6. The Backyard BBQ (on a hot summer's day)
Every year, 1 in 6 Torontonians get food poisoning. According to Toronto Public Health, sporadic cases peak in July and August. Blame it on the summer heat, which causes micro-organisms to grow faster in food, and undercooked meat.

Blueberry Cornbread

It is that time of year again. I am baking and enjoying food. When I am on vacation, I have time for these activities. Love exploring recipes, new and old. This one is tried and true and always a hit. Enjoy.

Blueberry Cornbread
This excellent recipe is adapted from The Blueberry Connection by Beatrice Ross Buszek. Serve it slightly warm for brunch or wrap it up and take it on a picnic.

1 cup cornmeal
1 ½ cups sifted all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
2 eggs beaten
1 ½ cups milk
¼ cup melted butter
1 cup blueberries, washed and drained

Place cornmeal in a bowl and sift in dry ingredients. Stir to combine. Mix together beaten eggs, milk and melted butter. Add to dry ingredients and stir to blend. Fold in blueberries. Bake in a greased bread pan at 375o F for 25 minutes. It can also be made in an electric frying pan. Grease frying pan and preheat to 250o F. Pour in batter, cover and cook with the vent open for 25 to 35 minutes.
Makes 1 loaf

This recipe was first made July 8, 1984 and included in the first cookbook that we prepared. Recently, Michael spoke to his optometrist about macular degeneration and what can be done to prevent it. His advice was to eat blueberries and green vegetables every day and eat fish regularly. I am including this to help everyone with their health.