Victoria’s Read

SEPTEMBER

September’s birthstone is the sapphire. The meaning is clear thinking. The birthflowers for September are the forget-me-not and aster. Astrology signs for September are Virgo and Libra.

Women’s Health & Fitness Day is September 30th

First roll-film camera was patented, Sept 4th 1888

Ladies Auxiliary VFW was organized Sept 17th 1914.

World’s longest kiss recorded - 17 days, 10.5 hours, September 24, 1984

September is Women of Achievement Month

Women’s Friendship Day is  September 20th.

1. Which queen started the vogue for white wedding gowns?
-Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine
-Queen Marie Antoinette
-Queen Victoria
-Queen Elizabeth I

2. You’ll often see shoes tied to the bumper of the newlyweds car. Where did that tradition originate?
-Ancient Greece
-Mediaeval Germany
-Anglo-Saxon England
-Renaissance Italy

3. Where would you find a bride going from door to door to collect wedding presents in a pillow case?
-Canada
-Southern Italy
-Finland
-Wales
4. In rural areas in the Czech Republic, it is a tradition that the bride wear something made by her family and friends. What does she wear?
-A wreath of rosemary
-A lace kerchief
-Woolen stockings
-An embroidered apron

5. Where would you be if the bride came into the church with a lump of sugar in her glove?
-Ireland
-Russia
-Sweden
-Greece

6. Why does a traditional Japanese bride wear a triangular head band.
-To cover her horns
-To keep the hair off her face
-To honour her ancestors
-To signify virginity

ANSWERS

1. Until Queen Victoria married Prince Albert of Saxe-Cobourg-Gotha, royal British brides wore silver gowns on their wedding day. Victoria, always a girl who liked her own way, broke tradition and opted for white - and white has been the colour for wedding dresses in the West ever since.

2. Once the vows had been exchanged at an Anglo-Saxon wedding, the bridegroom would take off his shoe and smack the bride with it to symbolize that she was now under his authority.

3. It is an old Finnish rural custom. The bride is accompanied by an older male relative who holds an open umbrella over the bride’s head to signify protection. The bride receives a gift as well as a drink.

4. The wreath of rosemary is woven by the bride’s friends on the eve of the wedding, to signify wisdom, love and loyalty.

5. Greek brides slip a lump of sugar inside one of their gloves on their wedding day to ensure that their married life will be sweet.

6. Evidently, it was once believed that women have horns of jealousy and a bride wears a tsunokakushi to hide them on her wedding day.

Almost everyone, has a desire to improve their life. Many of our aches, pains and orthopedic problems are a result of poor core strength, stabilization and poor core activation.

What is our core? Simply it is the muscles, ligaments and tendons that wrap around our abdomen from our ribcage to our pelvis. This structure is responsible for  allowing us to be the dynamic people we are.

The problem is our modern lifestyle has contributed to a chronic weakness in the core. It’s not uncommon to see an individual whose Transverse Abdominals rarely activate when they should or they activate very poorly. Place your hands on your waist with fingers pointing towards your belly-button. That is the location and direction of these muscles.

The other key muscle group that is chronically weak is the pelvic floor. This group of muscles stretches from your tail-bone to the front of your pelvis.  There are many factors in life that may affect your core strength. Some of these include child birth, abdominal surgeries like a C-section, prolonged sitting in work or your lifestyle. All of your core muscles must be strong and activate correctly of optimum health and wellness.

The good news is it’s never too late to return to balance. One of the best all around core strengtheners that’s suitable for every body is yoga. Yoga is thousands of years old and has evolved into one of the most efficient, inclusive systems of wellness. It’s not uncommon to see those who do yoga regularly overcome backache, digestive problems, constipation, breathing problems, stiff joints, posture problems, headaches and many other problems. We are dynamic beings and are meant to move.

Another simple step to a stronger core is to be conscious about activating your core in day to day activities and re-train it to work automatically. To begin, sit tall with your shoulders, back and above your hips. Place one hand in the small of your back and notice the gentle curve there. Place the other hand on your tummy just below your belly button. Gently tighten up your tummy underneath your hand and gently press your back slightly into the other hand. This is engaging your transverse abdominals. Now shift your attention to engaging your pelvic floor. You do this by tightening like you are holding back gas or the urge to urinate. Practice this seated or standing. Now that you are aware of what to engage, you can begin to consciously engage your core.

Enjoy life, stay well, stay strong… you deserve it.

©Darren Renaud, Natural Health Practitioner. Ohana Wellness Centre

Born: Sept 8, 1937. Death: Mar 26, 1992.

Barbara was a multi-media journalist. She wrote for numerous magazines, was an original host for the CBC Radio program As it Happens and also a host of CBC TV’s nightly current affairs program The Journal. She was one of Canada’s most respected and best-known interviewers.

She was raised across the border in Niagara Falls, New York and decided on the University of Toronto for her post secondary studies.

It was in Toronto that she met and married Dr. Murray Frum, a dentist, in1957. Together the couple raised a family of three children, David, Linda and Matthew.

She graduated from the University of Toronto with a B. A. in history, in 1959. Right after university she began her life long avocation and career as a journalist.

She was a radio commentator and writer of reviews and magazine articles and in 1961 she worked briefly in Television. On CBC Radio she became a well known and respected current affairs journalist. It was the fall of 1971 that she took on the co-hosting work of the program As It Happens, which followed the 6:00 p.m. CBC News. It was an innovative show for its time and the show still is well received with its new hosts to this day.

Barbara’s journalistic skills sparkled in the telephone interview format of the show. Honing her skills she earned the respect of colleagues and listeners across the country.

She was the co-host of The Journal, a TV news magazine that took CBC late news into the new and successful  10:00 pm  time slot , launched January 11, 1982. She interviewed newsmakers of the day, big and small, including Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of Britain and world peace maker Nelson Mandela.

She won the National Press Club Award for Outstanding Contribution to Canadian Journalism and was the recipient of four ACTRA Awards. She received the Order of Canada in 1979.

Another proof of success is in the flattery of impersonation. She was parodied on the comedy news show, CODCO and was the inspiration for the Canadian Sesame Street Muppet “Barbara Plum”. She also appeared as a reporter in the cartoon series The Raccoons!

In 1992, Barbara died from complications resulting from chronic leukemia.

By: Dawn Monroe
www.famouscanadianwomen.com

Cheesy Herbed Mushroom Caps

INGREDIENTS

-1 package (250g) light cream cheese, softened
-1 clove garlic, crushed
-4 small green onions, chopped
-1/2 tsp hot pepper sauce
-2 tbsp chopped parsley
-1/2 tsp dried basil or thyme
-1/2 tsp salt
-36 medium-sized fresh Mushrooms
Garnish:  chopped fresh parsley or basil and diced red pepper or paprika

DIRECTIONS:

1)In medium bowl, blend cream cheese, garlic, onions, pepper sauce, parsley and basil. Mix well.
2)Remove stems from mushrooms and save for future use.
3)Spoon or pipe 1 tsp cheese mixture into mushroom caps.
4)Serve immediately or cover and chill until serving. Garnish as desired.
Tip:  Cheese mixture can be prepared, covered and chilled a few days in advance of serving

Mozzarella Mushrooms

INGREDIENTS:

-1 pound fresh button mushrooms, sliced into thirds
-1/2 cup Italian-style salad dressing
-1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
-8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS

1)Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2)Dip each slice of mushroom in the salad dressing, then into the bread crumbs.
3)Layer the coated mushroom slices into a 2 quart casserole dish.
4)Pour in any remaining dressing and sprinkle with any remaining breadcrumbs.
5)Sprinkle the shredded mozzarella cheese over the top.
6)Bake, uncovered, for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

Source:allrecipes.com

Two months ago, I embarked on an interesting adventure. I made the decision to eternally change my life and have a gastric bypass. I was soon to discover that it would not be without its own kind of challenges.

My first decision was which hospital to put my life in the hands of. Once I did my homework, an appointment was made to head state side.

My husband and I are not big travelers so this would prove to be quite…..interesting. To make a long story short, we got so very lost and it was wonderful!!! We wound up catching a glimpse of some beautiful county side. We saw vast fields of graceful windmills and rode over large bodies of invigorating water by ferry. Isn’t it sweet how life works sometimes?

Anyway, my day at the hospital was informative and I was soon to learn through seminars and meetings that there was so much more to having a gastric bypass then just the surgery.

The first seminar was on nutrition and since everything about the way I had been addressing this subject for the past 40-some years was about to change…permanently, it would turn out to be the most important.

I was sent home with instructions to keep a 30 day food diary where I relearned how, when, why and what to put into my body.  This task was a great challenge of which I thought I had mastered, only to realise that I had not.

A month later, we headed back to the hospital. My parents who are avid travellers, offered to take me this time and since we took the right way, I experienced many new sites yet again. We travelled over some beath-taking bridges and saw many beautiful waterways. Sharing a hotel room with my parents was interesting. My mother said that she didn’t get much sleep but my father and I knew differently since we listened to her snoring all night.

As I sat waiting to see my nutritionist, I felt confident that I done my homework entirely and began to daydream about what my life would be like in just one short year from now.

But, as she reviewed my dairy, I soon learned that although my food choices were great, I had failed to cover all the food groups. So, I was sent home to complete yet another 30 day food dairy and that is where I’m at right now.

…………….to be continued.

By Victoria Reed

Female dog bites are twice as numerous as male dog bites

Bad news on the lipstick front. Only 50% of our lipstick stays on our lips while the rest we end up accidentally eating.

Blondes have more hair. Redheads have the least.

Lazy Susans are named after Thomas Edison’s daughter. He invented it to impress a gathering of industrialists and inventors.

The black widow spider can devour as many as twenty ‘mates’ in a single day

Linda Labbe does not have a typical, normal, job: she is a Karate instructor at her own business, North Bay Karate, a not for profit organization.She has owned and operated North Bay Karate for 25 years now.

Her credentials are impressive and include a 4th degree black belt in Karate, 3rd degree black belt in Jujitsu, Reiki Master status, an Early Childhood Education degree, a BA in psychology, and a Bachelor of Education in Special Education.

Since childhood, Linda has had an interest in martial arts, but wasn’t able to pursue that interest until her own son was 4 yrs of age.

Linda has 2 grown children: her daughter Shayna is 25 and is a junior black belt, and her son Robbie is 31 and has a senior brown belt. Both children are ADD and were told that they would have serious challenges making it through high school. However, not only did they graduate high school, they also went on to graduate from college. Linda attributes their successful school performance, to a large extent, to their disciplines they learned in martial arts.

Linda loves working with the kids and seeing that look in their eyes when they accomplish something they’ve been working hard towards. Keith Perrin, her partner and love, has also recently become involved with the club instructing senior belts once per week.

North Bay Karate is a place where families can come together to take a course that doubles as fun and educational. The classes are kept small – no more than 10 students per class – in order to have ample room to spread out and create a comfortable atmosphere. You can visit their website at www.northbaykarate.ca or call Linda at 705-474-4794 for more information or to register for class. Classes are starting in mid-September and are limited.

By Michelle Lashbrook.