Heather Holm

I recently washed my $15 plastic shower curtain because it was getting mouldy. Unlike previous ones I had, this one has a smooth surface, not a finely textured one. The mould (I'm using the British/Canadian spelling for this word BTW) came off easily with oxyclean and a brush.

For the other, newly renovated bathroom I bought a cloth curtain for $20 with a nice pattern on it. It's polyester.

Don't use cotton because it will take forever to dry out and will get mouldy fast. It needs to be quick-drying. If you're making a curtain out of second hand materials, make sure there's no cotton in them.

I lived in Nigeria, West Africa, for two years, back around 1980. Chewing sticks were commonly used, and you could buy cellophane packs of about 20 in the market. I brought some back home to Canada. My Canadian dentist was very impressed with how clean and healthy my teeth and gums were. My supply got dry and splintery with time, and eventually I ran out. I thought it was some special kind of African wood, so never really explored boreal forest alternatives, but I guess I should!

As I get older, I can't help but think that a bean cutter, similar to a meat grinder, would most serve those who, like one friend of mine, have lost most or all of their teeth and can't be bothered - or can't afford - to keep a working set of dentures.

That would have included a lot of adults back in the day. My Danish grandmother had all her teeth out years before she immigrated to Canada at the age of 27 (in 1929). Toothbrushes were probably rare or expensive, and dental floss unknown. My grandparents had full sets of dentures. My parents had partial plates. I get root canals, and try to keep as many molars in my head as possible. Progress.

So the tradition of julienne or "French-cut" beans helped older people stay nourished and healthy. I can imagine my grandmother loving a machine like Inge's.

At our house, we just eat ground beef and stew, not steak. Meat grinders are a great invention.

Niki Jabbour has written another nice book about season extensions:
https://www.amazon.ca/Growing-Under-Cover-Techniques-Weather-Resistant/dp/1635861314/ref=sr_1_1

She is (and I am too) in zone 5b-6a in Nova Scotia, less challenging than the Laurentians where you are, admittedly. I made a little greenhouse out of an old swingset, and suspended row cover over the salad greens - if you figure out what and when to plant them so they're strong enough through the coldest weather. I've had salads at Christmas and Easter, if little between those dates, but sprouts or shoots grown indoors can fill that gap. A tunnel or greenhouse with row cover inside (as Eliot Coleman mentions) will boost your zone by 2 or 3. Lots of tomatoes are grown commercially in greenhouses in Nova Scotia.

SKIN - Ever since I took an evening massage course and the instructor extolled the benefits of almond oil for the skin, I used it on my face almost exclusively, happy to not buy smelly creams and lotions. More recently, a local entrepreneur has been making a pure, unscented shea butter product (may have coconut oil) which being post menopausal, I bought to use on my lady parts. It's very thick but warms on contact. I've been putting it on my face as well, and started applying it to the few patches of psoriasis that remain, and it seems to clear them up over time.

LIPS - I've always found commercial lip balms to cause my lips to crack even more unless reapplied constantly, to the point that I consider them something of a scam - although I note someone above said they had good experience with them. Starting in my late teens, I used Vaseline on my lips once a day when I went to bed. Now I use a local beeswax-based product similar to the recipe described above. Much nicer. Burt's Bees is close enough if that's all you can get. And I still just use it once a day. I might use it more often if I were in a hot dry climate, but once a day is generally enough even in an eastern Canadian winter.

I saw a fancy peppercorn mix for the pepper grinder, and one of the ingredients was coriander, something that easily goes to seed and which I'll never have to plant again. So I mixed some with black peppercorns in my grinder. I should try it on its own. Doesn't taste like pepper, but for the kinesthetic FEEL of grinding something on your supper, it might help, kind of like a reformed smoker chewing gum.

I used an old swingset and scrap wood to make mine 4 winters ago. It's still there. I'm patching the plastic now with that sticky red construction tape, and when I finally am forced to replace the plastic, I'll build a frame for the sunny side, as I mention at the bottom of the article here:

http://novascotiaphotoalbum.com/blog/2014/11/old-swingset-greenhouse/

How to keep it out of the mouths of babes: The Candy Fairy!

From my blog:

If you ever saw the movie Elf, you know that Santa’s elves live on candy. “We elves try to stick to the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns and syrup,” Buddy the Elf explains.

Don’t you think Santa’s kitchen must run low on supplies before Christmas Eve?

Not if the Candy Fairy can help it. She’s a sister of the Tooth Fairy, and she works for Santa Claus.

If, and only if, your parents are well connected, she will come to your house while you sleep on Halloween night – if you can sleep after eating all that sugar – and in exchange for a BIG pile of candy, she’ll leave you an early Christmas present from Santa’s workshop.

She’ll let you keep your favourites – maybe you want to keep the chips and the chocolate bars. You decide. She’ll take the rest and leave you a cool toy.

Ask your parents if they know the Candy Fairy.

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Of course, that doesn't answer the question of what to do with it if the Candy Fairy doesn't show up and take it away.

Sleep has been the Holy Grail at our house. Here are some things we've learned/used.

1. Since menopause, I have had a hard time sleeping if I've had sugar and/or chocolate late in the day. Or I might get to sleep then wake up at 3 am restless. Some other women I've talked to have had the same experience.
2. My husband used to talk about catching the train - the sleep train. If you miss the wave of sleepiness, it's harder to get on board later.
3. Valerian. I have some in the garden, but we just buy capsules at the drugstore. Take enough. Then catch the train.
4. Recently we've been discovering ayurvedic herbs such as Tulsi (Holy Basil) and Ashwaganda which help with relaxation and stress.
5. I've had trouble with some herbs like Ginseng and Yerba Mate which stimulated me too much and kept me from sleeping, so experiment.
6. Sometimes a little exercise helps get rid of the excess fuel in the body (perhaps from too much sugar in the evening as in item 1). We have an exercise bike, but a walk might help.
7. I know sleep experts say to keep technology out of the bedroom, but since getting a smartphone a year ago, I've had great success quieting or distracting my worried mind by listening to hour-long talks on YouTube by soft-voiced spiritual or meditation teachers. They put me to sleep even if I want to listen to what they're saying. If sharing a bed I use earbuds. My favourites are Matt Kahn and Rupert Spira, but you can find your own.
8. Finally, if the mind is distracted and the body is restless (perhaps from too much sugar in the evening as in item 1), an orgasm works wonders, whether self-induced or assisted. It reboots the system.

Buckwheat greens (flowers too) are totally edible and tasty. I put them in salads and smoothies. If they go to seed, you can cook the seeds too, though I haven't tried to get the black hulls off. Dark buckwheat flour that you buy has dark specks in it, so I think they must grind it with the hulls. A friend did so, and shared a photo of the resulting pancakes on Facebook.