Go to the Water

May and I just had a blaze of glory "Summer Bakesale". To say we threw it together would be an accurate description of how it came to be. We are not new to making a Bakesale happen, and this time we only offered six choices. The Bakesale favorites are our signature brownies, Grandma Dempsey's gingersnaps, Kay's Puffed wheat cake, Monster cookies, pumpkin muffins and carrot muffins with cream cheese icing.  We baked everything within 24 hours of the sale. The muffins and puffed wheat cake were made the day before. The day of the sale we did the brownies and cookies. It is unpredictable as to what people's favorite would be. We threw in the carrot cake muffins as the last-minute item, and they became a popular request. I realized I only had this one picture to share, and it was at the end of the sale.  My business partner is now 13 and is very capable in the kitchen. Her mother is the business manager; we describe ourselves as non-profit. In other words, we work tow...

On August 16th, I celebrated 50 years since I started my nursing career. I can't even believe I am writing that. Fifty years is an exceptionally long time. When I started my career 50 years ago, I thought I would work for a couple of years, have kids and be a stay-at-home mom. Well, I did start my family, but I was never a stay-at-home mom. I paid my nursing registration for 43 consecutive years. Nursing at that time, was a highly respected career. It was a career that made a difference. You could physically and emotionally touch people. Everyone believed that a nurse knew best and never questioned her decisions. No google search, or AI at that time to question your knowledge.  My career has served me well. It is the one thing that has always been there in the highs and lows of my life. When I moved to Brandon and started my new life, I woke up every day and said thanks to my career. It has served many purposes. It has been a distraction; it has always been a way for me to make ext...

I have always felt that if you listen to your body, it will tell you what food and nutrients it needs. A message will be sent in the form of a craving. Let's start off with coffee in the morning. The very first thing I do every morning is turn the coffee pot on. It has been fueled up the night before with water and coffee and it is locked and loaded, ready to go. There is no doubt drinking coffee the first thing in the morning is a huge habit. I also think the reason we need/want coffee the minute we get out of bed, is we crave the taste of coffee and the effect it has on us. It makes us feel more awake and ready for the day. I am one of those people that can eat the minute I wake up. I usually wake up hungry and eat very soon after getting up. It is a well-known fact that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and in my world, it is my favorite meal of the day.    Do you ever get a craving for something? Have you ever considered that is your body telling you that it...

I love to read stories about people that have made it to "100" years old. The young at heart, vibrant, no one would have a clue they are 100, kind of person. Canada has 12,281 people that are centenarians. (29.5 people per 100,000). It is now the fastest growing age group in the country, having more than tripled since 2000. Women are the vast majority of centenarians having 81% of the population.  I recently read an article about a woman that just turned 100. She lives with her grandson, and he posts comedic things that she does on her Instagram "Gangster Granny". She has seen it all, WW2, the great depression and at 96 she was diagnosed with colon cancer. She had treatment and is healthy again.  Here is a recap of her list of 6 things that she attributes to her long and healthy life.  1 Keep Busy : She maintains that she keeps her mental acuity through "faith and hard work". During WW II she built bomb shelters, she then worked at General Motors, General ...

I recently joined a friend on the "Brandon Garden Tour". I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the little adventure; it was a little like the Amazing Race for us. It is incredible to see the work and dedication people have put into their yards and gardens. I noticed at many of the places that vegetables were planted among the flowers. It seemed any little spot was used to grow a vegetable. One young couple had a very eclectic front yard with nothing but raised vegetable gardens in it. They lived in a very old historic home and clearly, they lived off of their garden. It was evident that planting a garden in a perfectly straight row is a thing of the past. It is now replaced with raised garden beds, a zucchini plant in the flower bed and all sorts of creativity.   The first place that we went was to a home at Lake Clemente. I visit that lake often and I have admired the home and the beauty in this one particular yard for a very long time. I was excited to have the opportunity ...