Seniors Cohousing Letter to the Editor

I'm pretty proud of this letter to the editor.  It is in response to an article telling people to educate themselves about the choices for their seniors loved ones.  I wrote this and was published withine hours of writing it!

Dear Editor,

I would like to respond to an article you published, headlined “Making the right choices, the costs of seniors’ care.”

A friend has sent me a clipping of this article in relation to work I am currently doing in the area.

This article is advocating that people educate themselves thoroughly on behalf of their senior loved ones.

The article seems to suggest doing this education once the individual involved has already lost some degree of ability.

Of course, this is important. We all want to take care of our loved ones.

But what about taking care of and educating ourselves before we come to the place of need?

Studies show that by making changes when we are in our 60s and even in our 50s, it goes a long way to increasing quality of life and the ability to age in place successfully.

Downsizing while you have the energy to do so, finding a community to age with and consciously deciding how the next 20 years will play out can possibly add 10 years to your life,

It will definitely increase the quality of life as we age.

We are offering a 10-week study group for people who are seriously considering making proactive changes in their lifestyle, before they lose whichever capacity might fail them first.

The problem we find is that while people are willing to consider their senior loved ones as they age, there seems to be a genuine resistance to considering our own needs in time to ward off extended care needs down the road.

I seriously urge your readers who are beyond the young age of 50 to take time to educate and plan for their own aging.  While looking at such depressing subjects feels awkward when we feel fit, now is the time to do it.

Our aging in place study group is geared towards 50- to 65-year-olds who are interested in downsizing and working with others to design their own future residence.

By joining peers and going through this developer-assisted process, one assures oneself the ability to stay “young at heart” longer through a supportive community.

I’d love an opportunity to share our process with readers. I can be contacted via email at welcome@yarrowecovillage.ca

Vivian Vaillant

Raising the Roof

I have never done a barn raising before. Truth be told there are all sorts of things I hadn't done before moving to an ecovillage.

I've done some research now. And I can't wait to raise a barn!

The idea of a whole community coming together to bring alive something as big as a barn astounds me. To assemble walls- and then raise them into place? To support people in such an integral way as making a barn! I'll spare the rewrite- there is a good 10 minutes of wiki should you be interested in the olden day way of raising a barn. My favorite part is when they talk about how it was unheard of to skip a barn raising. The idea that every single person was expected to support their neighbour, their town, their community. Is that what is missing? Now days it is hardly taboo to skip voting, never mind helping a neighbour. What a different world we live in "nowadays".

We laughed today about the food it took to feed a barn raising.

Food for a Barn Raising

115 lemon pies

500 fat cakes (doughnuts)

15 large cakes

3 gallons applesauce

3 gallons rice pudding

3 gallons cornstarch pudding

16 chickens

3 hams

60 pounds roast beef

300 light rolls

16 loaves of bread

Red beet pickle and pickled eggs

Cucumber pickles

6 pounds dried prunes, stewed

I large crock stewed raisins

5 gallon stone jar white potatoes and the same amount of sweet potatoes

(Enough food for 175 men).

The reality is that I would never have even thought about a "barn raising" if it weren't for my neighbour Tam.

Let me tell you about Tam. (and then I pause for a good 15 minutes trying to find words for my amazing neighbour)

Tam is one of our farmers. She turns 30 in a few weeks. She has two beautiful sons, and a darn tootin' neat husband. The trick about Tam is that she is so versatile. The first time you meet her she'll probably be hauling a load of dirt, or sawing a piece of wood. The next time you see her she'll making that thrift store dress she found last week look beautiful. Two weeks later you'll learn she's also artistic AND she can use photo shop AND she can slop around in a stream looking at Tadpoles.

Truthfully I don't know very many people as versatile as Tam. She is a hard working, smiling, endeavourous creature. She is thoughtful. She is kind. She is a joy to have in our neighbourhood.

Speaking of endeavours... Tam really wants the community farm to have a barn. I don't know where she has found the time to put this little number together but here it is! A barn-raise-fund-raiser! I hope you'll be able to help us. Every penny counts. Every forward of the URL counts. Whatever you can do will be a string pulling up our barn!

Thankyou for reading!

(wiki post on barn raising linked below)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barn_raising

Garden Tips from Nevin

Hello aspiring green thumbs!

This time of year is perfect for those early seeds and early transplants. With low temperatures overnight now hovering above 6 degrees, most flowers, herbs etc can be transplanted into your garden. This is also a good time to start some early vegetables (direct seed) such as : Lettuce, Radish, Kale, Carrots, Beets, Arugula. Wildflower patches can be seeded directly now as well. Check the west coast seeds info sheet for planting this time of year, and you will notice the doors are opening for great possibilities!

Also as a note, with such a beautiful spring upon us, we are actually getting some dry periods! This is wonderful, but dont forget about those tiny seedlings you may have already planted, if they haven't sent out a root to get water, and the surface is dry as a bone, they are going to have a rough start! So just keep an eye on the weather and give them some h2o when you see them panting in the sun. Remember watering usages this time of year should be minimal, but a few sprinkles here and there can make all the difference early season, however we might also go back to rain and not need to think of that again till late May, only time will tell :) Also remember to consider mulching your surface areas after transplanting to retain moisture and make your garden lower maintenance!

Lastly, look at starting some seeds indoors in preparation for May, things such as : Summer squash, broccoli, cucumbers, winter squash, etc. These things can be started anytime between April 15th and the end of the month, for transplant mid to late may to your garden!

Nevin