Centerpieces Made at Art Group

We  had a guest come to the Stroke Recovery Association of Manitoba Art Group this week to show us how to make centerpieces.  Teresa, is the wife of a Stroke Survivor and she was happy to share her talents with us. Her family had a flower shop when she was a girl and she still really enjoys working with fresh greens. She came with everything needed fur us to make our own centerpieces. She spent many hours gathering supplies and preparing by wrapping picks onto pinecones and a few artificial berries to be used as picks in the arrangements we were creating. Trimming the greens and making bows were difficult for a few of our group members but we all supported each other and we all wound up with georgous arrangements.




You start with a small bowl and a piece of green Oasis floral foam and n you push a candle into the center. Next we trimmed some pieces of pine greenery into manageable pieces and pushed it into the Oasis all around the arrangement. Our top layer was pieces of cedar. The two kinds of greenery gave a  much  greater depth and variety of color and shape that was very attractive. Next we added the trims.. pinecones, artificial berries, mistletoe, holly and we made or were given ribbons on a wire that can be poked into the Oasis foam. A few people even added a cute artificial bird!








My daughter Emily came along to art this week to give a helping hand. Its always nice to have her with me. We made one centerpiece together, that we now have on our coffee table.  Teresa said we can expect the centerpieces to last all the way into January.

 I want to thank everyone who came out for this event. I especially want to thank Teresa but I also want to give a big thanks out to the volunteers and family members that assisted in making this workshop such a success

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Fruit Cake?

I confess - I like Fruit Cake.

Most of my family could live without it but it is part of my childhood memories. It the past few years I was using a box mix and I have been very happy with it but last year I couldn't find the mix so I bought the dried fruits to do it the old fashioned style and then time got away and I never did make fruit cake. This year I got an early start and it is done!

Have you ever heard about "Stir Up Sunday"? It is the last Sunday before Advent and is a traditional day to mix up your cake or pudding so it has time to mellow and all the flavors to blend before Christmas. It was fun to make our cake on a day when we knew lots of other people around the world were doing the same things.I will probably be making some more tiny loafs to give away later this month  -- but no promises. 😊

Emily has made this cake with me before but we usually leave out the almonds and alcohol but this year I showed her how we blanch and prepare the almonds and we got the dried fruits measured out into a bowl the night before and we tossed it all in a couple tablespoon (or more) of brandy. We assembled the cake on the following day. One of the biggest challenges with this kind of cake is the timing. You need to bake it at a low temperature for a longer period of time until done and that is about 2 hours for 2  loaf pan like we used this time or 3 hours for one big cake. Once the cake is cooled down we wrapped it tighter in its foil paper and then put the loaves in a plastic bag to mellow in a cooler part of the house.

Fruit cakes are a big tradition for so many people and everyone has their own story or their favorite recipe. Most of these recipes are really not about the cake part with fruit in it, it is all about the fruit being held together by the cake part.  Fruit cakes usually fall into two categories, light and dark and really, if you are preparing a dainty tray it looks fabulous with slices of both kinds.

This is a great recipe to do with a group and I would recommend using a box kit if you can find it. It is easy and actually winds up a little less expensive because you are not purchasing packages with more fruit than needed. Alternately I would spend some time well ahead of the event to talk to people about their experiences and preferences and then try and work in the participants favorite ingredients. The smells, flavors and textures of the fruits, nuts and spices are such a wonderful sensory treat. I would probably aim at more small loafs of cakes so it is easier to manipulate and cooks faster.
 Watch for allergies and people who might need a soft diet.

If you want my Mom's Light Fruit Cake recipe please check it out on the little Christmas Blog that I write for my family.

The Christmas Season

I love Christmas and all the excitement that goes with it. I also get very stressed and tend to overshoot with my expectations.  I am not sure that is really a bad thing, more just who I am.
This year I still want to do everything but I am not moving my best due to arthritis and I am quite slowed down so I need to take it a bit easier physically. I think the answer is in pacing myself!

I like to be creative, I like pretty things, I like to make others happy, I love to celebrate.
I have lots of traditions to keep and new ideas to try things out. We tend to add things slowly over the holiday season and so there is always something new to see at our house.

One of my Girl Guide Leader friends posted 100 days of Gratitude on Facebook over the summer and fall. I know that it is hard to post so frequently so even though I thought about joining her I did not jump at the opportunity but the idea of posting daily has stuck with me.

I decided to post a Holiday Season Daily Post here on Leading a Healthy Life. I hope to share a bit about our family traditions, and share a few nice pictures and maybe give a few ideas for family and friends and maybe programs ideas for groups. My energy isn't great and we are having lots of non Christmassy challenges in our lives right now but that seems like all the more reason to embrace happy activities!

Please join me is celebrating this Holiday Season!

Jasper Dreaming of Santa on Christmas Eve 2015

ART- Trip to the Park

My Art Group from the Stroke Recovery Association of Manitoba wanted to try a few things this summer that we can't do very easily in the winter. One of the activities we picked was a trip to a the beautiful Leo Mol Sculpture Garden located in the Assiniboine Park.

The nine of us took a quick walk through the English Gardens and then we went into the sculpture garden. Most of our group had never seen this part of the park before and were surprised at  how big and beautiful it was. We all appreciated the benches and beautiful views located along the way. The park staff was just starting setting up for this evening's huge fundraiser Garden Party and it was interesting to see the place change for this very fancy party as the staff set up tables and displays. I wish I could have afforded to go in the evening and enjoy
the final product!

It was perfect weather, warm, sunny, with a bit of a breeze. and we just enjoyed the lovely displays during these last lovely summer days. We followed up by returning to the restaurant located nearby. The wait for the restaurant was the worst thing about the outing. It was over an hour before we got seated at a table and we had worries about getting to eat before the pick up times for some of our people who use our local handi transit system. It all turned out but if we do this kind of an outing next year I think we should bring a picnic lunch!

It was nice to be outside and see such beautiful plants and art. It was a pleasure to spent the day with our group. 

Special Thanks to my husband Bob for coming along and supporting us.

Cinco de Mayo Themed Guiding Event

Last night  my daughter and I attended our Girl Guide Area Annual General Meeting at a local community center. It is an event open to the adult volunteer Guiders in our local section of Manitoba. Last year our Grand Pines Area membership was over 3300 women and girls.













I had an awesome time. They had a great Cinco de Mayo theme for the event and they carried it through from the decorations, food to music and even more. The organizers had us shout out answers to Mexican themed trivia questions to choose the order in which tables of guests went up to the buffet .

We got festive drinks,  pulled strings on piñatas and enjoyed a great taco dinner.

 There were door prize draws and my daughter got one of them. There is an outing at a trampoline facility in her future.

I have been to lots of general meetings for volunteer organizations over the years but it is always feels  so different at Guiding ones. You can feel the passion, energy, and yes- fun in the room. We are part of the largest association in the world for girls and women and we have so much to be proud of. The annual report is a joy to read because of the great ideas and experiences shared in the reports and as you look at it you can see the impact that our organization has on our members and those we come in contact with.

There were lots of awards given to members and we heard about some wonderful achievements that happened in the past year of Guiding in the Grand Pines Area.  I got a chance to visit with people I don't see too often and it felt like a family reunion. It is great to be part of the sisterhood of Guiding!

#GrandPinesFiesta

Sharing New Ideas Here

I would like to start  sharing more of the resources and different projects I do with my art groups and some other therapeutic recreation interests on this blog.

I have felt very uncertain about putting actual programs up on the blog. It is a little bit unnerving somehow. Leading a Healthy Life is and always will be about my personal journey and the things I feel passionate about.  I have shared a lot of personal information here over the past nine years since I started this blog on the advice of my occupational therapist.

I keep thinking that I should open some kind of professional themed website or blog for the purpose of sharing recreation therapy ideas and local resources and yes, I do get asked once in a while if my projects or programs are on line for others to get ideas. I really don't want to divide my blogging efforts between two spaces but I have been a bit hesitant to let professional colleagues have access to my umm... vulnerable side which I occasionally share here.

The other side of the issue is that I think the programs I can share would be useful for some of the people who already visit this blog. People who have experienced some major life changes, caregivers and some of my friends might be interested too.

I have worried about this for a long time now and have finally worked it through in my own head. I am comfortable in who I am and I can own the experiences I have had. I have gone through a lot of ups and downs but I still keep going and the times when I have not coped well just show I am human and need support. That is not something to hide but something to be proud of.

I am looking forward to sharing some new posts with art projects, theme ideas and resources as well as more of the healthy living and therapy ideas I learn about on this journey.

What are you waiting for?

I was recently at a meeting where we had a large group discussion and talked about changes we could implement. It was a bit of an exercise in discussing needs and goals and then coming up with creative solutions. I was happy - that's my kind of thing~

The take away lesson was to take responsibility for the changes you want to see next around you. Try and come up with ideas but don't just stop there. Don't assume it is someone else's responsibility and sit there waiting for things to changes.  Just go for it yourself and make positive change happen.

So what are YOU waiting for? What are you going to do to make a difference?