Victoria’s Read

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in women over the age of 65 and accounts for more deaths in women than in women than all cancers combined. Women are less likely to survive a heart attack than men. The reason for this is not known. Why then, given these staggering statistics, do most women perceive heart disease as a man’s problem?

Heart health is everyone’s concern. For both women and men, the most significant factors that contribute to poor heart health are smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and a family history of heart disease.

There are a number of things you can do to lower your risk. Eat a low-fat diet with lots of fruit, vegetables and whole grains. Consult the Canada Food Guide to ensure that you are getting enough nutrients from each food group. Maintain a healthy weight through regular physical activity. This could be as simple as taking the stairs instead of the elevator or walking around the block on your lunch break. Smoking significantly increases your risk of heart disease. Women who are going through menopause should be particularly aware of their alcohol consumption. If you drink, be sure it is only in moderation. These small but simple steps will If you drink, be sure it is only in moderation. These small but simple steps will go a long way toward improving your overall health.

Women have an advantage over men when it comes to heart disease. We produce a hormone called estrogen that raises the level of good cholesterol and lowers the level of bad cholesterol, combating heart disease. However, when women reach menopause, the production of this hormone is significantly reduced. Many women use Estrogen Replacement Therapy during menopause to put this hormone back in their bodies. Estrogen replacement therapy alleviates the symptoms of menopause and reduces the risk of osteoporosis. Some studies have found that this treatment can actually reduce the risk of heart disease as well. You should talk to your doctor or health care professional to find out if estrogen replacement therapy is right for you.

Ladies, it is possible to lower your risk of heart disease. Keep your body healthy, especially as you enter menopause. Your heart will thank you! For more information on heart disease and women’s health issues, visit HealthyOntario.com, The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada or Canadian Cardiovascular Society

Marie-Joseph AngÈlique
(ca. 1709-1734).

February is Black History Month

Marie-Joseph AngÈlique was a slave in the early 1730s. Being in her sexual prime, she was expected to breed with male slaves as well as provide sexual services to her master. AngÈlique had other plans, such as freedom and having a normal relationship with her lover Claude Thibault, a white indentured servant from France.

On April 10, 1734, AngÈlique learned that she was about to be sold and in a fit of fear and anger, retaliated by setting fire to her owner’s home. The fire spread and the final damage was forty-six buildings, including the famed Dieu hospital. The conflagration resulted solely in property damage. No lives were lost.

After trying to escape, AngÈlique was captured and brought to trial. The trial, in accordance with the French justice system, was a systematic process that took two months. First, the chief investigator extracted her “confessions” which in essence was a narrative of her entire life. Later, she endured another round of confession, this time under torture, where she admitted her guilt.

On June 21, the day of her execution, she was driven through the streets on a scavenger’s cart, with a rope tied around her neck and signs bearing the word “incendiaire” (”arsonist”) on her chest and back. On arrival at the parish church at Place d’Armes, she was made to kneel and beg for forgiveness from the King, God, and her fellow citizens. Then her hand was cut off.

Placed back in the wagon, she was taken to the gallows where she was publicly hanged by another slave. She was summarily burned at the stake and her ashes were “cast to the four corners of the earth.”

Slavery in New France was tacitly condoned by the church, which sat silent when benevolence became brutality.
www.blackhistorypages.net

FUDGEY VALENTINE CAKE

Ingredients:

2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
1-3/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Cocoa
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups dairy sour cream

Pink buttercream frosting

(recipe follows)

Maraschino cherries or chocolate curls (optional)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch heart-shaped pans.*

2. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl on medium speed of mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; add to butter mixture alternately with sour cream, blending well. Beat 3 minutes on medium speed. Pour into prepared pans.

3. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove
from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

Prepare pink buttercream frosting. Spread frosting between layers and over top and sides of cake. Garnish with maraschino cherries or chocolate curls, if desired. 10 to 12 servings.

PINK BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

Ingredients:

½ cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
4 1/4 cups powdered sugar
4 to 5 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon red food color

Directions:

Beat butter in medium bowl until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar alternately with milk and vanilla until smooth and of desired consistency; stir in food color.

*NOTE: One 8-inch square baking pan and one 8-inch round baking pan (each must be 2-inches deep) may be substituted for heart-shaped pans. Prepare, bake and cool cake as directed above. Cut round layer in half, forming 2 half circles; place cut edge against adjacent sides of square layer to form heart. Frost entire cake.

We can only learn to love by loving.
Iris Murdoch

I sit in my uninsulated cabin after days of -30 weather. The fire went out last night and I shiver as I grab the axe and buckets to get water from the lake.

As the tiny cabin warms up, I think of earlier Februaries: years as a single mom with a hospitalized child, no money; Another time, a broken ankle, a year of casts and surgery.

The sun brightens, the snow glistens, a bird twitters and my heart sings! Such a joy to be alive! I deepen my commitment to help others find the sunshine in their lives.

Later, a woman calls to tell me of the wonderful changes in her life since her tarot reading last summer and my heart swells. Grateful, I light a candle, as I do each day, to honor the light in each of us and to send a prayer out to the world for peace and love.

I will be in North Bay the week of February 14th, so give yourself a Valentine’s gift and sign up for a Reiki treatment or tarot reading. Or gather three friends for a fun psychic party and receive a free reading. Be sure to enrol in my monthly tarot classes and seminars on intuition and energy healing. (To book an appt. please call 819-722-2176)

Patrice, B.A., B.Ed., is a holistic therapist and gifted psychic reader who has studied with renowned tarot experts, receiving her Certificate of Advanced Tarot Reading skills in New York City. Patrice studied at the Transformational Arts College in Toronto. She has read in Europe at psychic fairs and last summer appeared as a guest artist at Nuit Blanche in Toronto.

Patrice has been described as “warm, wise, colorful, intuitive.”

People have written:

“Bang on”…

“You inspired me”…

“Right on, amazing me!”…”Thank you for a wonderful first experience!”…

“Thank you so much for the light you have cast on my life.”…

“I needed to realize my divinity.”

Thank you for the validation. It has provided me with the wherewithal to walk my path with my head held high.

Patrice Cain, B.A., B.Ed
819-722-2176

How do you plan to spend Family Day this year?

By playing board games or making a craft with your kids? Perhaps by visiting some extended family? How about some outdoor fun? Maybe some skiing, skating, tobogganing or snowmobiling with your loved ones?

On Monday, February 18, 2008, most Ontarians will enjoy a well-deserved day off. Family Day was first proposed during the provincial election this past fall, when Premier Dalton McGuinty promised Ontarians that a day would be set aside to mark a special holiday for families. Upon re-election, the Ontario Government quickly delivered on its promise and announced that the third Monday in February of every year will now be a new public holiday called Family Day.

Family Day will allow hard-working Ontarians the opportunity to spend a little more time with their family and loved ones; to recharge by taking a restful, mid-winter break and to help encourage a healthy balance between work and family life. Introducing a long weekend in mid-February seems to be a perfect way to break up the long stretch between New Year’s Day and Easter and it gives Ontarians a total of nine statutory holidays per year, the same as in Alberta and British Columbia.

Of course some people worry that an extra holiday will be hard on the economy but the provincial government feels confident that Ontario’s economy is strong enough to accommodate an extra public holiday. We all know that a healthy employee is a productive employee, so odds are that giving people a little time off this time of year will help them feel more energized, enabling them to contribute more to their workplace and the economy overall. Plus, a mid-winter holiday may even spark an increase for some industries, such as tourism and entertainment and leisure, as we Ontarians fully exploit our extra long weekend!

Having trouble deciding how to spend your bonus day off? You may want to check out Travel Ontario at www.travelontario.net for some winter fun ideas or for local family friendly activities, check out www.ontariosnearnorth.on.ca.

However you plan to spend your family day this year, I hope you are able to spend it with the ones you love most and that you fully enjoy a little extra break during the winter season. Happy Family Day everyone!

Monique M. Smith, MPP
Nipissing

Over the past decade, car manufacturers have developed different paint systems to improve durability. In the 1980s domestic cars had conventional finishes, that is, a pigmented enamel coat on top of the primer. Today, 96% of all new cars have a base coat / clear coat finish, which are comprised of a thin color coat covered by a clear acrylic or enamel urethane coat. This clear coat finish is only .2 mm thick. (About the thickness of an ordinary plastic trash bag.) Daily wear and tear on a car’s clear coat finish may leave it with swirl marks or signs of oxidation. To the eye, it means a dull and hazy looking appearance.

Your car’s finish provides more than beauty. Over time, a car’s paint erodes due to the effects of sunlight, UV radiation, salt, dirt and air pollution. Wax your car every six months with a quality wax or polish. More frequent waxes are needed if your car is red, black or white because these colors are more susceptible to acid rain and UV rays.

Frequent washing (once a week) and vehicle polishing (once every 6 months) go a long way towards protecting your investment. Keeping your vehicle consistently clean clears away the build-up of damaging chemicals and dirt that may attack your car’s finish. In northern Ontario we experience the use of road salt in winter months; frequent washing can also reduce the corrosive effects of salt that cause metal to rust.

Driving in snow and sleet can compound the effects of acid rain because of the corrosive nature of road salt. To prevent this damage, washing your car during the winter is highly recommended, provided the temperature is above freezing.

Waxes and polishes (these two terms are used interchangeably) serve three primary purposes:

1) Cleaning a car’s finish.

2) Improving the shine.

3) Protecting the surface against the offensive effects of foreign materials.

Most waxes/polishes contain very mild cleaning agents, along with shine ingredients, lubricants and waxes. Regular waxing and polishing also sets up a protective barrier against hostile attacks from the environment and your vehicle’s appearance will be protected for years to come.

Compliments of:

Jay’s Auto Centre
95 Lakeshore Dr.
North Bay
472-1838

The North Bay Social Planning Council’s Kids and Community Project is pleased to announce the extension of the Rideshare Pilot Program into March 2008. Originally, the Rideshare Pilot Program was slated to operate from October - December 2007, but due to an overwhelming demand, the Pilot Program will continue to operate for an additional three months. Currently, there are 29 active families enrolled in the Program and 38 families on the Rideshare waiting list.

Rideshare is a community-based transportation program designed and implemented by parents, as a way of providing convenient and affordable transportation for families. It is intended for those with young children who need to go grocery shopping, visit food banks, or attend medical or agency-based appointments. Volunteer drivers, who are reimbursed for their kilometres provide rides to the families.

Tiffany Nunner, Rideshare Co-ordinator comments: “The Rideshare families are very grateful for our Program. They tell us how much easier their lives have become due to the service we provide for them. For instance, getting their groceries used to be a dreaded experience and now they look forward to it because it no longer takes three hours out of their day.”

The Rideshare Pilot Program is one of the developments emerging out of the Kids and Community Project, which is funded by Human Resources and Social Development Canada. The Program has been sustained through the fundraising efforts of the Parent Advisory Committee; however the North Bay Social Planning Council is seeking out additional funding opportunities in order to sustain this program in the long-term for our community. If funding is secured to support this Program, it will be expanded in April 2008 to include more families and destination points.

For further information, contact:

Tiffany Nunner,

Rideshare Co-ordinator.

Tel.705-495-2458 rideshare@northbayspc.com www.northbayspc.com

• In ancient times, it was believed that certain colours could combat the evil spirits that lingered over nurseries. Because blue was associated with the heavenly spirits, boys were clothed in that colour, boys then being considered the most valuable resource to parents. Although baby girls did not have a colour associated with them, they were mostly clothed in black. It was only in the Middle Ages when pink became associated with baby girls.