August 2016 - Page 2 of 3

Home & Garden August 21, 2016

Summer’s almost over? Start planning the next one!

With summer coming to an end, you may feel the need to put on some sad background music and imagine yourself walking down the street shivering in the coming winter. But before you do — stop! It isn’t necessary to succumb to the winter blues quite yet. Sure, you may have missed your chance at going south and drinking pina coladas, but there is no need to mope. Instead, begin planning for the vacation of your dreams, to come NEXT summer!

Budgeting for a summer vacation involves planning and consistency. The sooner you begin, the better! Think of what your dream vacation will look like next summer, and start that planning. To help, here are some tips:

Begin a vacation savings account

A vacation savings account is a great way to begin storing extra cash away immediately. If you set up automatic monthly payments, then money will add up in the account in no time. By keeping a separate account for your dream vacation next summer, it keeps you from spending it now. Remember not to dip into it, not even in times of emergencies! If you receive any extra cash at any point in the year (promotion, tips, bonus), it can also go into the vacation savings account. When you eventually embark on your journey, the money is also in one place so you don’t overspend. Worried about extra fees? Another option is to load all of the vacation savings onto a prepaid debit card before you embark on your journey. That way, you don’t have to deal with those pesky (and sometimes expensive) banking fees.

Look for good deals

Looking ahead for great deals can help save on costs for the vacation. By researching on Groupon and other discount savings websites, you may be surprised at the great deals you can find for your dream summer destination. This is useful for accommodation costs or events that can be otherwise pricey. If you are going with a group of friends, groupons also help everyone save money.

Buy tickets ahead of time

If your vacation is overseas, buying plane tickets ahead of time is essential to cutting costs. By watching the cost of plane tickets and looking for deals, it allows you to catch the best price in plenty of time before your vacation. There are websites that supply the cost of several airlines in one consolidated spot, which makes the search for the best price much easier.

Cut back on draining expenses

A part of budgeting is finding out which costs are wasteful and draining to your bank account. Cutting back on expendable purchases can help make your vacation more affordable. By printing out your bank statement and highlighting every non-essential purchase, you can see which of your expenses are wasting a lot of money and can be cut out. By monitoring these draining expenses, it helps to save money and budget for more important expenses like beautiful vacations. Another way to monitor expenses is to download a an app that allows you to see what you are spending your money on and how it contributes to your overall budget.

Research cheap local favourites at your destination

Since you are planning way ahead of time, there is time to plan and research fun activities and restaurants at your destination. Explore local blogs of affordable restaurants instead of eating at expensive tourist destinations. This is a good way to cut costs when you are on the vacation. By finding free or cheap activities that are commonly done in your destination, it will help to save money. It is also a more authentic way to enjoy a place rather than by taking part in the the touristy, and often very pricey, outings.

Budgeting far ahead of your vacation is the best way to ensure you can afford it. The more time you have to save, the better off you will be. Keep these tips in mind, and don’t forgot the most important thing; have fun!

Sustainability August 20, 2016

Sustainable homes that care about the homeowner

What makes a good home?

According to Great Gulf Homes, it is a house that is good for the environment, has a good indoor climate for its occupants, and is as comfortable as possible for homeowners.

With homeowners and the environment in mind, Great Gulf President Chris Wein has launched an active house in Toronto’s Centennial Park. An active house is a home that is not only sustainable, but strives to to benefit the people who live in the house as much as possible. In order to study this active house and its benefits for homeowners, a pilot project has been launched that will allow a family to live in a sustainable house for six months to assess how comfortable it is for the average family. The house will then be sold afterwards. The home is a part of Active House Alliance, a worldwide movement based out of Brussels that Great Gulf became involved with several years ago.

Great Gulf active house. Provided by Great Gulf Homes.

“This is the first fully-certified active house in the world. It is a different formula from LEED. LEED doesn’t focus on the quality of life for people who live in the house,” Wein says. “That is why [an] active house is so rare. From a LEED perspective, the standards our houses meet are as just high.”

The new family living in Great Gulf’s active house includes dad and engineer Russell Ibbotson, mom Bethany Foster, and three girls, Eleanor, Lucy and Poppy ranging in age from one and a half to six years old. Wein was looking for a regular middle class family and the Ibbotsons fit the bill.

“We wanted someone who could understanding building science and how to measure air quality and energy efficiency and so on. Russell works in the area of envelope energy, windows and skylights,” Wein says. “We want as much feedback from the kids as Russell.”

The Ibbotson’s oldest daughter, Lucy, also happens to be autistic. Wein saw this to be a benefit in the analysis of the pilot project.

“We didn’t want to get the Beaver Cleaver family. We want a family that has to deal with challenges and school. Looking at this family, including that they have different challenges with their children helps with their review of the house,” Wein says, “The quality of life for a child … is that much more important. This child can give us feedback on how this house performs for her. We are very keen to see how their reviews in testing go.”

Active homes focus strongly on quality of life as well as sustainable building, and the pilot project will look at a series of metrics to assess whether those standards are met. The family will discuss and measure air quality, energy efficiency, sound transmission, energy usage, indoor climate, access to natural light, flexibility of the home, livability, and mood and happiness in the space.

Great Gulf brings its top game to the sustainable design of the house as well. The construction of the house includes triple glazed windows, which helps avoidance of heat loss and heat gain. The house also has Huber zip walls, which have waterproof sheeting and insulation built into the sheeting itself. These materials make the house more energy efficient. The interior of the house has low flow plumbing and energy star appliances. One of the most exciting environmental elements is the Tesla power wall. The power wall has built-in batteries that allow the house to run off the grid in peak times.

Another key element to the sustainable homes is the cost effectiveness. Environmental housing often comes under fire for being too expensive. Wein has a different approach to sustainable housing that not only makes it affordable, but also allows its residents to reduce their carbon footprint.

“The active houses are competitive in their neighbourhood. We built other traditional houses beside it. The price of the house is similar to the houses around them,” Wein says. “The houses on either side are bigger and have a larger footprint, but inside the house you don’t feel the difference because of the open-concept design.”

Great Gulf is focused on designing sustainable homes that use small spaces well. Wein hopes to build more active houses, and even wants to extend the design concept to different types of homes.

“Use every square inch of space to make it more affordable. Every time I build a new one, [the goal] is to build smaller and smaller. I would also like to apply it to apartment condominium complexes,” Wein says. “It is an exciting time to be a developer because there are forces coming that are juxtaposing at the same time. People want to live in large cities now [instead of] suburban style homes. Climate change is a real thing, and subdivisions and office towers contribute heavily. It is our responsibility as leaders in the industry to reduce the impact of carbon and urbanization has on the planet.”

Wein is dedicated to building green and believes that if you aren’t developing sustainable homes, you aren’t one of the best. Building active homes sets a new bar for sustainable building in Toronto, and by emphasizing quality of life as well as environmental factors, Great Gulf is truly creating dream homes.

Living August 19, 2016

Thinking of moving in with your partner?

Moving in with a boyfriend is an exciting and life-changing experience. It can also highlight some of the less flattering realities of living with a stinky man-bear and his habits. Luckily, I have managed to discover a few solutions.

One of the more difficult aspects of living with someone is how you both deal with cleanliness. There is nothing worse than having a roommate (not to mention a bedmate) that is too messy. For me, the limit is the difference between being dirty and messy. If someone leaves clothes on the floor or keeps collections of odds and ends — that is acceptable. If your partner leaves garbage on the floor or lets dishes collect until there are new insect roommates moving in, that is an immediate red flag that you will end up being more of a maid than a girlfriend. I’m blessed to have a messy boyfriend and not one that is dirty. If you have a partner who is inherently disgusting, training can help the situation, but it may take more work than it’s worth ladies.

I’ve always lived in my girly zen zone. It smelled nice, there were decorations, and everything had a place. Now, I have smelly socks hanging from my jewellery stand and I can’t seem to ever locate my brush (I should mention my boyfriend has long locks). The lady cave I built has been infiltrated by a man, who is half bear when he wakes up in the morning.

Though this would leave many women running for the hills, I can honestly say I’ve never been happier. My perfectly clean apartment was lovely no doubt, but there is nothing better than coming home and being met with a smiling man you love, especially one that has a couple glasses of wine and dinner on the table. Love is messy girls. It is stinky and it is unorganized. Love has required me to give up any pretences of perfection I’ve carried with me for years. But perfection be damned. It isn’t worth it to have a show home and give up actually learning how to compromise space and love someone for who they are and how they live.

Compromise is key. It is important that both parties feel they have a stake in what an apartment looks like. An example is moving over my vintage Patti Smith artwork to make room for a Toronto Maple Leafs poster beside it. It looks better with both anyways. My boyfriend also knows how insane I get over clothes on the floor. It is a pet peeve. So, to meet in the middle, we have a corner that is solely his. He can dump his clothes, and anything else he wants, in this area and I can’t bother him about it. I’ve come to accept this messy area and by keeping it contained, we are both happy.

Open communication is a must. Talking about expectations, financial plans, and emotional needs BEFORE moving in is essential.. To make things simple and functional, try making a schedule of tasks that need to be done around the house. For example, my boyfriend and I pick a day to clean, and contribute equally by splitting cleaning, dishes, and cooking right down the middle to avoid any resentments.

Be prepared to learn the oddest things about your partner. For example, my boyfriend collects receipts. Not just a few, but ALL of them. Apparently, he has this epic plan to file them all (this will never happen). I find them everywhere and quietly dispose of them when he isn’t looking. It is a quirky, albeit adorable, habit that I’ve learned to accept. On my end, apparently I can’t brush my teeth without looking like I just dunked my face into a bowl of ice cream. It is juvenile and gross, but my man laughs about it when we brush our teeth in the morning.

The bottom line is quite simple — Learn to love the mess. Moving in together is a hectic and exciting process of getting to know all the habits and quirks of your loved one. Previously, I had this idea that if you lived together, all the mystery of that person disappears. I thought this would be a bad thing. Instead, the fact that two individuals with different habits and histories can come together and grow as one is truly mysterious and magical. We only have one tender moment to love after all and then we are gone. So take the leap and make room on the bookshelf. I wish you the best in your pursuit of the madness of the mess. It is one of the best adventures to embark on.

Living August 18, 2016

PHLEGM showcases view from St. Clair

When Slate Asset Management purchased 1 St. Clair West, they knew they had to do something about its 12-story blank wall. The company started to look into public art, with the goal of making the corner of St. Clair and Yonge into a cultural and vibrant community.

“The neighbourhood has been overlooked for a while. It has stagnated,” said Lucas Manuel, Managing Director of Slate Asset. “We are trying to make impactful changes and in real estate that takes time. This is a great first step.”

Now, a year later, that very same wall is covered in paint. The mural, which was designed and painted by international street artist PHLEGM, whose work can be found throughout Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. Toronto can now be added to the list.

The international project was funded by StreetARToronto, a city program that finances public art in an effort to revitalize and engage neighbourhoods. They fund a single international project a year and chose to invest in the Yonge and St. Clair community.The piece was commissioned back in October in partnership with the STEPS Initiative, a charitable organization that melds urban planning with public art.

PHLEGM’s mural. Photo taken by Kaeleigh Phillips.

Wednesday marked the official reveal for the mural, which now covers nearly the entire eastern-facing wall. From afar the image appears to be of a human figure, huddled over in contemplation. But a closer look exposes a number of smaller images within the figure showcasing different elements of Toronto. The CN Tower, St. Lawrence Market, and, of course, the green spaces that weave in and out of our neighbourhoods.

St. Clair and Yonge is one of the highest points in the city, so the artwork is representative of the majestic view of the Toronto skyline as seen from that specific intersection.

According to Alexis Kane Speer, founder of the STEPS Initiative, the organization took part in a number of public consultations to make sure the piece, while being designed by an international artist, was representative of the city they love.

“We tabled in the local library, we did a lot of online surveys, talked to people at bus stops – asking people what they thought of when they heard Yonge and St. Clair and this city.,” Speer said. “We also collected a lot of images of the city and fed them to PHLEGM and he came up with this design.”

“For [PHLEGM], the city is a living breathing organism. It’s a reflection of all of the people living here currently as well as the people who lived here over time.”

PHLEGM was assisted by emerging Toronto artist, Stephanie Bellefleur. It was her job to brave the heights and do the initial background painting using a swing stage. According to both Bellefleur and Speer, there isn’t a lot of female representation in this type of artwork. Most swing stage work is performed by men.

“For me, it’s a big accomplishment and to be a part of the process, I felt really honoured,” Bellefleur said. “Being a woman, it is very empowering because street art is very male dominated and for us women it allows us to be entrepreneurial to be strong and independent and make a difference in the world — a positive one.”

Stephanie Bellefleur (left) and Alexis Kane Speer (Right). Photo taken by Kaeleigh Phillips.

Bellefleur will be working with the STEPS Initiative as the assistant for a number of different artists. Her next piece of work will soon be found at COSTI Immigrant Services near Bathurst and College St. The mural will illustrate stories of immigration that have been generated by community members.

“I enjoy public art because I believe art is for the world,” she said. “I believe art is for everyone and it brings a great sense of interconnectivity. I think that just by having a conversation like “look up there”, it brings you together.”

For more information about STEPS Initiative, visit their website.

Health & Fitness August 17, 2016

West Toronto Railpath is on its way to being built

Biking through Parkdale and Liberty Village is similar to completing a difficult Olympic marathon challenge, complete with zooming cars, road-crossing pedestrians, and no bike path to be seen.

Luckily, cyclist enthusiasts and the City of Toronto are working on solving the problem — and the West Toronto Railpath is the solution. The goal of the pathway is to keep pedestrians and cyclists off the road, but there remains key challenges to achieving this goal. For example, the objective of the RailPath is to avoid roads. For this to happen, overpasses would have to be built over current rail bridges so that pedestrians could navigate through the limited land availability in a highly congested area. However, the City of Toronto is determined to persevere despite these challenges.

The West Toronto Railpath has been a long-time in the making. The first phase of the project began at Cariboo Ave., just north of Dupont St. to the Dundas St. W overpass and was completed in 2008. It has been a considerable success, and even won the 2011 City of Toronto Urban Design Award. The second portion of the cycling path begins at Dundas St. W. and Sterling Ave. and proceeds along the Kitchener GO rail corridor to Strachan Ave. The third and final phase would connect the bike path to the planned Fort York Pedestrian and Cycling Bridge.

Phase two of the project is moving forward despite challenges and the province of Ontario has recently approved a cycling path along with the expansion of the Dufferin St. Bridge. Metrolinx is expanding the bridge to increase access to GO service and the UP Express, and construction for the West Toronto Railpath will also be included.

So what does this mean for the West Toronto Railpath?

The Dufferin St. Bridge announcement means construction of the RailPath has finally begun! The project has now moved into its next phase: detailed design and implementation. This part of the construction process decides which of the recommended pathways should be chosen. After that, construction commences. The cycling and pedestrian bridge that will be built on the Dufferin St. Bridge is a good start for the next phase of the project. Creating a safe bike path at the intersection of Dufferin and Queen is a difficult task and placing it on top of the bridge solves this problem.

The RailPath currently stands in phase two of its construction, with an Environmental Assessment (EA) successfully completed last year. The study report from the EA was released for public review between Jan. 14 and Feb. 15, 2016. The project will move forward, and recommended alignment options are in place.

It remains to be seen how the rest of the path will be built connecting the Dufferin St. Bridge to Dundas St. W overpass in the Junction, and then through Sudbury St. to Strachan Ave. That being said, the Dufferin St. Bridge is a key area that is needed for the success of the West Toronto Railpath. Though the rest of the cycling path is still in the planning stages, the announcement for the bridge makes this cycling path a reality — and that is exciting indeed.

Feminism August 16, 2016

When a sexist comments on Women’s Post

Last week, Women’s Post published an article about the success of Canada’s female athletes at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. It was a great piece and it received a fair amount of attention from our sport-fan readers.

However, Monday morning I opened up my computer to check the website’s status and found something shocking underneath that very article: a comment by Roosh V, North America’s favourite hateful misogynist.

At Women’s Post, we have a strict policy in regards to our comment section. We will publish almost anything. It doesn’t matter if opinions differ, but as long as the comment is not hateful, sexist, or racist, we will publish it.

Women’s Post will NOT be publishing Roosh V’s comment.

The comment includes a link to an article published on his website Return of Kings, where he writes about how women shouldn’t win real medals in the Olympic Games, rather they should be awarded “a giant knockoff of that cheap Hanukkah gelt (chocolate gold coins) that Jewish children get for the holiday season.” The post goes on to say that women are the weaker sex and shouldn’t be considered real athletes.

Before deciding to delete the comment, the staff at Women’s Post got together to express their concerns and their frustrations. As women ourselves, we had a lot of reasons for wanting to address Roosh V in an article on our website. We wanted to let him know exactly what we thought of his activist group and his theology. At the same time, we didn’t want to give his organization legitimacy by acknowledging it and linking to the post.

But, the biggest question we asked ourselves was this: should we let our personal feelings dictate what our readers — which I still can’t believe includes Roosh V — write in our comments? After much discussion, the answer in this particular case was yes.

The post Roosh V included in his comment was everything that Women’s Post despises. It was hateful with no purpose. It took obscure facts and altered them to make women sound like pathetic and weak creatures that need to be coddled and taken care of by strong, athletic men. It argued that women have no place in society other than staying in the home and taking care of a man’s needs. And finally, it demeaned the vast accomplishments women have made over the last week and a half. It was sexist and hateful — and therefore has no place on this website.

To solidify this argument, let me say this. These types of activist groups and comments are not welcome here at Women’s Post. We will not give them credence. We will not allow them to insult or offend women using our publication. There is no wiggle room.

Women’s Post has written about Roosh V previously, but this will be the last. We refuse to waste more precious space and time defending our choices against a man who thinks women are scum.

And that’s all we are going to say about that.

Sustainability August 15, 2016

Canadian and African Grandmothers unite against HIV/aids

In the midst of international terrorist attacks and great global unrest, seeing people continue to work across international borders and battle against forces greater than human conflict is truly inspiring, especially when it comes to the HIV/aids epidemic.

The Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign connects Canadian and African grandmothers and gives them a platform in Sub-Saharan Africa to provide support for their grandchildren, whose parents have been decimated by the HIV/aids epidemic. There are over 14 million orphans in Africa after their parents contracted and died of HIV/aids and many grandmothers are raising their grandchildren alone.

The organization was founded in 2006 in Toronto. “The Stephen Lewis Foundation invited 100 grandmothers from sub-Saharan Africa to come to Toronto for a gathering and 100 Canadian grandmothers came as well. The Canadian grandmothers listened to the African grandmothers and what they have had to do to deal with the Aids pandemic,” Grannies for Good founder, a chapter of the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign, Joanne Gormely says. “It really created a connection between 250 groups of grandmothers in Canada in solidarity with grandmothers in Africa.”

The campaign is not a charity run by people who aren’t African, but instead is a movement created and controlled by African grandmothers and local field workers who have first-hand knowledge about what these communities need.

Gormley is one of the Canadian grandmothers who began a chapter in Montreal to support the campaign. She, along with other grandmothers, run events ranging from art sales to long-distance cycling fundraising for the grandmothers in Africa. Gormley has her own painful memories associated with HIV/aids. “I lost my own brother to Aids. I was still in grief of losing my own younger brother when I joined the group,” she says. “It touched me because I understood something they were living through.”

Joanne Gormley (centre) with two of the other Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign members who attended the South Africa Grandmothers Gathering in Durban: Elizabeth McNair (L) and Carol Little (R). By Alexis Macdonald.

Gormley, along with nine other grandmothers, also traveled to Africa to join a meeting of over 300 grandmothers in Durban, South Africa ahead of the 2016 World Aids Conference that ran from July 18-22. The group participated in protest of the lack of funding available to support the raising of these children, and joined over 2000 other grandmothers to Durban’s convention centre where the conference was being held.

The group of 10 traveled to South Africa and Zambia to see firsthand where their funds are going. The Grandmother to Grandmother campaign has raised $25 million over the last 10 years, with the proceeds going to various projects run by African field workers and grandmothers that live in the community.

The campaign has also provided jobs to women in the various communities that run the Grandmother to Grandmother projects. While on her trip to Africa, Gormley traveled with an African woman named Ida who originally grew up in abject poverty, and her husband had also passed away from HIV/aids. She now works for the foundation and her daughter is studying to become a lawyer.

These inspiring activists lobby governments across sub-Saharan Africa to take further measures to stop the spread of HIV/aids. The region has seen a 43 per cent decline in new HIV infections among children since 2009 due to UNAIDS global plan to eliminate HIV infections in the region. Public decimation of the antiretroviral treatment and educating has helped to lower the rate of HIV/aids. That being said, 24.7 million people are still living with HIV in sub-Sahran Africa due to lack of access to the medicine, with only 39 per cent of adults on the antiretroviral treatment.

Not only is this campaign helping reduce HIV in Africa, but this women-led group is also helping promote solidarity among women across the world. “The campaign promotes a sense of camaraderie and belonging by making a difference and being a voice for Africans in a global world. It helps in overcoming a sense of hopelessness,” Gormley says. “There is anger in those African women and they have a right to be angry. They deserve to be heard.”

The grandmother to grandmother campaign is a great initiative supporting women that are working together to solve issues from different cultures. We should all take these lessons from our elders and join the movement to help promote an agenda to eradicate aids from sub-Saharan Africa once and for all.

Sustainability August 14, 2016

Habitat for Humanity GTA to build 50 affordable homes

Toronto is looking to build more affordable housing, with a 50 unit townhouse development approved last week in East Toronto.

Habitat for Humanity GTA, along with Mayor John Tory and the Toronto Foundation, have approved the affordable housing development at 140 Pinery Trail. This is the first project to use a dense build form of back-to-back-stacked townhouses, featuring three, four, and five bedroom units. The housing project is set to house 50 families by 2019.

Habitat for Humanity has an affordable housing model that allows families to become homeowners while paying a no-interest mortgage. The mortgage is capped at 30 per cent of their annual housing income, and instead of contributing a down payment, the family must volunteer 500 hours towards the construction of their home and other habitat properties.

The Toronto Foundation is providing funding for 15 homes through a social impact investment. This type of investment looks to help push forward positive social supports such as affordable housing, but it is a loan. This loan will be paid back using mortgage payments once the first 15 families move in. Private donors will also contribute to the loans. The Toronto Foundation was created in 1981 and helps provide resources for individuals and families.

Other donors for the project include the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB), Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD), Right at Home Realty, Great-West Life Realty Advisors, Enbridge Gas Distribution and the Clark Family Foundation.

Habitat for Humanity GTA is a non-profit housing organization that works with families to help them obtain affordable housing. The organization has built over 300 homes in Brampton, Caledon, Toronto and the York Region since 1998, and is affiliated with Habitat for Humanity worldwide.

This affordable housing project is the first recipient of the Toronto Foundation social impact investment. The Open Door affordable housing initiative is pushing for non-profits to work together to create housing, and this project is a big win for the city. It is important to note though that it is somewhat disappointing that Toronto must lean on non-profits such as Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit that is already stretched from providing resources to dilapidated regions around the world. Toronto is clearly in dire need for affordable housing and is looking for help. On the other hand, it is a progressive step forward to see large private donors contribute to the funding. Hopefully this is a trend that continues and ultimately solves the housing crisis in the largest Canadian city.

Entertainment August 12, 2016

Canadian women are taking home all the Olympic medals

Women are dominating at the Olympics in Rio, having won eight medals so far. The Canadian men have yet to take home a medal at all (although Canada is rooting for you!). Five medals were achieved in swimming, one medal in synchronized diving, one medal in lightweight double skulls, and the women’s rugby team took home a bronze. Clearly, Canadian female athletes are a force to be reckoned with and the best part is that the Games aren’t over with. There are still a number of key opportunities for even more Canadian women to bring home medals.

Here is the rundown.

Winners:

Canadian women came out strong in swimming, but there is one woman that is proving to be one of the next great Canadian athletes. Penny Oleksiak,16, won Canada’s first gold medal this year and is bringing a total of four medals home so far from these Olympics. She tied with U.S swimmer, Simone Manuel for gold in the women’s 100m freestyle swim, making her the first Canadian female swimmer to win gold since 1984 in Los Angeles. Oleksiak also obtained silver in the women’s 100m Butterfly and led the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay team to a bronze. Oleksiak is from Toronto, and was joined on the podium by teammates Katherine Savard of Montreal, Brittany MacLean of Mississauga, and Taylor Ruck of Kelowna. Kylie Masse, 20, from LaSalle also won a bronze medal in women’s 100m backstroke.

Diving in a not-so-green pool on Tuesday, two Canadian divers took home a bronze medal. Hailing from Laval, Meaghan Benfeito, 27, and Roseline Filon, 29, won bronze at women’s synchronized 10m platform. The pair also won bronze at the 2012 London Olympics. They have been diving together for 11 years, and cited their friendship as a part of the reason for their success. Both women demonstrated Canadian pride upon winning their medal, and their humble appreciation for each other reflected the respect and vitality of the Canadian athletic spirit.

Women’s rugby wowed Canadian Olympic fans.. The sevens team took home bronze, beating Great Britain in the final match 33-10 and following New Zealand for Silver and Australia for gold. Canada’s women’s rugby team has dominated the summer Olympics, taking home a medal in every sevens event since its inception. Captain Jen Kish, 27, of Ottawa led her team to victory, along with other strong players Karen Paquin, 29, from Quebec City, Ghislaine Landry, 28, from Toornto, Bianca Farella, 24, of Montreal and Kelly Russell,29, from Bolton who all scored in the final game.

Women also came out on top in rowing, with two Canadian women taking home silver in women’s lightweight double sculls. Both hailing from Victoria, Lindsay Jennerich, 34, from Victoria and Patricia Obee, 24, showed off their impressive abilities to finish quickly. Coming into the 1000 metre mark, it looked as if they weren’t in for a metal, but entering the final 500m they pushed forward into second place.

More to come:

Trampoline Gold-medalist Rosie MacLennan.

Rosie MacLennan, Trampoline

The women domination of the Rio Olympics is not expected to slow down either, with more female athletes potentially winning medals over the next 10 days. Trampoline gold-medalist Rosie MacLennan, 27, hailing from Toronto was the only Canadian to obtain a gold in London, and there is a high expectation that another medal is in her future. MacLennan also dominated at the Pan American games in 2011 and 2015, and has won at the world championships. She was the flag-bearer for Canada at the Rio Olympics and big things are expected of her in today’s women’s trampoline event.

Women's soccer team captain, Christine Sinclair. — Women’s soccer team captain, Christine Sinclair.

Christine Sinclair, Soccer

The women’s soccer team recently beat Australia in the tournament and has garnered a change to play for a medal. Quarter-finals against France is on Friday, August 12 at 6 p.m. Soccer star and captain of the national team Christine Sinclair, 33, from Burnaby is hopefully leading the women’s team to another medal. Sinclair is an Olympic bronze medalist and has competed in three Olympics. Sinclair has scored in both of Canada’s victories so far in Rio and fans are avidly watching which moves she pulls next in the quarter-finals.

Brooke Henderson, Golf

The Canadian professional golfer on the LPGA tour, Brooke Henderson, 18, from Smiths Falls has been dubbed the one to watch at the Olympics this year. Henderson is one of the best female golfers in the world and has been a professional since she was 14. She won the 2016 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, which made her the first Canadian woman to win a golf major since 1968. The sport was removed from the Olympic roster in 1904, and this is the first time golfers have had a chance to compete on this international stage since. Henderson will compete on August 17, and will hopefully bring home another gold medal for Canadian golf in the Olympics.

Kia Nurse, Basketball

The women’s basketball team will compete on August 12 against the United States, followed by Spain on August 14. They have won every game they have played so far against China, Serbia, and Senegal. Kia Nurse, 20, from Hamilton is the player to watch and is the top pick for the talent pool of the basketball team this year. Nurse has previously helped her team win the 2015 Pan American Games and was also the MVP for the 2015 FIBA Americas Women’s Championship. Nurse comes from a strongly athletic family, with father Richard Nurse previously playing in the CFL, and mother Cathy Nurse played basketball at McMaster. Nurse’s brother Darnell Nurse currently plays for the Edmonton Oilers and her older sister, Tamika plays Basketball for Oregon.

The Fab IV. Taken from the Fab_IV twitter.

The Fab Four, Divers

Four divers in Montreal spend hours together in the pool and have become Canadian athletic icons. Benfeito, and Roseline Filion have already won bronze in the synchronized 10m dive. The other two contenders of the “Fab IV” on the Canadian diving team are Jennifer Abel, 24, from Montreal and Pamela Ware, 23, of Longueil. Abel and Ware missed a medal by one point at the Aug. 7 in competition, but still have another shot at winning in individuals coming up. The women’s 3m individual synchro final on Aug. 14.

Women are leading the way for Canada and it is exciting to see them continue to win more medals in Rio. By tuning in and showing support for these hard-working athletes, it demonstrates solidarity and passion towards Canadian women dreaming of being on that podium. I wonder, who will win next?

Home & Garden August 11, 2016

Reupholstering Wicker in Muskoka

We have a beautiful set of old wicker furniture that was built to last. The quality of the craftsmanship is excellent and the idea of throwing away anything that can be restored has never sat well with me.

The key to restoring furniture is finding a good upholsterer. I discovered Worth Upholstery in Bracebridge. Mary Henderson, the owner, is fantastic and does everything from marine and auto upholstery to furniture repairs, refinishing and revitalizing old furniture, and creating custom built furniture.

And she is FAST!

In just two weeks, I was able to get the entire wicker set reupholstered. We had tried getting it done a couple of years ago, but the cushions came back far too hard and small, and we soon found that we didn’t use the furniture as much. But now, with the new cushions made for comfort, I am happy to report that in the past four days we have played games of Apples to Apples, Settlers of Catan, and Spite & Malice all using the wicker furniture set.

Original set of wicker furniture — Original wicker furniture

A big THANK YOU to Mary Henderson of Worth Upholstery for doing such a fabulous job on our wicker furniture set.

And if you have any spare foam from pillows Mary will take it, clean it, and make it into dog cushions – with all the proceeds going to Sick Kids Hospital. Please share this with your friends and support a wonderful, strong and dynamic woman who is making a difference. Her contact information is:

Mary HendersonWorth Reupholstering
705.205.2777
WorthReupholstering@gmail.com
Facebook; Facebook.com/groups/WorthReupholstering