Newsletter april new

easter 2014

Volume 2. 14

www.foxrunner.weebly.com email: thefoxrunner@yahoo.com SERVING THE PARKFARM COMMUNITY SINCE 1985 The Parkfarm Housing Co-operative Housing Newsletter is issued 7 times per year.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER, NOVEMBER/DECEMBER, JANUARY/FEBRUARY, MARCH/APRIL, MAY/JUNE, JULY/AUGUST and a SUMMER ISSUE

NEWS FROM THE EDITOR Jay Jamwant

My Easter newsletter article last year started with “…feels like old man winter finally made a Toronto stop….” As each of us may know by now it is certainly the opposite this year!

Please remember that Mother’s Day is coming up on May 11 and we should all acknowledge our mother or the mother figure in our life.

Spring is here so is cleaning time. Take time to clean not only in your house but around your house and even in common areas of the community. Let’s all come together and clean up ParkFarm Co-op neighbourhood. I must commend Shiraz and his nephew in taking the initiative to start the campaign last weekend. Great job Shiraz!!

We are looking for new members join our newsletter team. It is an exciting group,

where u can put your creative skills to work. We need members who can submit articles regarding technology, activities around the town, helpful hints, puzzles and activities or anything creative you can offer.

Also, your opinion on the newsletter is welcomed. Don’t forget that there is a newsletter member on just about every corner, feel free to find their contact information at the back of this newsletter and we will be glad to hear from you. We are a family newsletter after all. Please email us at thefoxrunner@yahoo.com

See you on cleanup day …..

Regards,

Jay Jamwant Editor

What to do when you finish a great book…

By Kim Maddin Want a way to extend the enjoyment of a great book with your child? A great and often over looked resource is the publisher’s website. Publishers have really put a lot into their websites, for adults as well as for kids. They offer great reading guides that boost book club conversations, links to web sites related to the topic of the book, links to the author’s web site (that also has many great goodies for you to enjoy), colouring pages and activities for kids plus other book suggestions that complement a favourite read.

Some great publisher websites are Harper Collins, Scholastic, Penguin, Orca, Random House, Simon & Schuster and Oxford University Press. These are just a few, and many publishers have a Canadian site as well as an American (or UK) site. With a trip to Google I am sure you can find many different publishers as well as international or multi-lingual publishers to take a peek at. Take a look at your favourite book and find the publisher’s name. (This can be located on the verso of the title page or sometimes in the back of the book; also the imprint of the publisher is usually in the first page or two of the book.) Many books, especially children’s books direct you to the website of the publisher, author or even a special website dedicated just to that book or series.

Using these resources is a great way to get more involved with what your children are reading and helps encourage

conversation about the book that is an important part of comprehension and narrative skills for children. I deal mainly with children’s literature, but I do know that these resources offer a lot of extras for grown up reads as well.

As a plug for the library, there are a couple of great databases that you have access to with your library card. One is Novelist (also a Novelist K-8 for kids) which helps you find books by putting in certain settings, time periods, character types etc that you wish to have in a book.

The other one is “What do I Read Next?”

This one gives you a list of titles similar to a book you enjoyed. Take a look at these and the other great databases through the library web site. www.rhpl.richmondhill.on.ca Take a peek at all these suggestions and you will soon find that a few hours have gone by as you scroll through the pages and you have a growing list of new reads, activities to try and a greater interest in different authors.

As an aside, I read a great article showing the benefits your child gets when they read for fun. Take a look: http://m.thestar.com/#!/news/eqaofinds-reading-for-pleasure-boosts-testresults/8ff4e7695f603acc052224f3a69cc 9e7

By Adrian Knaud

Gold: The Race for the World's Most Seductive Metal The deepest gold mine in the world is Mponeng, a 2.5mile hole in the ground in South Africa. A whole underground city—lightless and lawless—lives inside the mine.

The mine is as deep as 10 Empire State Buildings, and its 236 miles of tunnels are longer than the New York subway.

Every day, 4,000 workers descend into the mine through elevators—or, as they're called in mining parlance, cages.

These triple-decked cages fit 120 people at a time, and the first 1.6-mile shaft takes only 6 minutes to descend. A second shaft takes workers deeper down, and the last part is only accessible by foot or vehicle.

The whole, mind-bogglingly huge structure mines a seam of ore only 30 inches wide.

Seriously: the depths humans will do to get to their hands on gold.

The rock is so hot underground that ice has to be pumped down to cool the tunnels.

Because temperatures increase the closer we get to the earth's core, the rock faces in the mine can get as hot as 140º F. "You can imagine what it's like to crawl into a cavity there,". "It's like crawling into a pizza oven."

To keep those super-temperatures from becoming deadly, an ice-slurry mixed with salt is pumped down from the surface; huge fans then blow air over the ice, forming a controlled cold-air system within the mine—its own internal weather system. The above-ground ice-making plant goes through 6,000 tons of ice a day. Ultimately, this means that many tunnels can be kept at an almost bearable 85 degrees.

Illegal "ghost" miners live, eat, and even visit prostitutes right in the mines.

At least 10% of the gold in South African mines is stolen.

Criminal syndicates help illegal "ghost" miners sneak into the mineshaft, where they then hide out for months at a time, turning ghostly from the lack of sunlight. Security guards also tend to let these ghost miners be: the illegal miners are often armed with AK-47s and beer bottle grenades, and it's all too easy to hear someone coming from far off in the mine. The mine is so big, it's difficult to police anyways.

There's also a whole, well, underground economy where legal miners help out their illegal brethren. Since bread, for example, costs twelve time as much in the illegal economy, packing some extra lunch can get you much more than lunch money.

Gold is so expensive, the mine only needs to extract 0.35 ounces from a ton of rock to be profitable.

Some People Don't Get Bitten By Mosquitoes — Why That's True Will Surprise You If you can't spend a summer night outside without slapping your ankles — and you still end up with dozens of mosquito bites — then it might be true that the flying pests really do love you.

And those lucky people who say they don't get bitten?

They exist too.

But it's not because one person's blood tastes better to the small hovering bloodsuckers — or at least, not just that.

In a TED 2014 talk on Wednesday in Vancouver, microbial ecologist Rob Knight explained that the bacteria, or microbes, on skin produce different chemicals, some of which smell more attractive to mosquitoes.

The trillion or so microbes that live on skin are a small percentage of the 100 trillion bacteria that live on and inside the body, but they play a huge role in body odor.

Without those bacteria, human sweat wouldn't smell like anything.

However, those different bacteria vary greatly from person to person. Knight explained that while we share 99.9% of DNA with other humans, most people only share about 10% of their microbes.

A siren song for mosquitoes To demonstrate that mosquitoes are overwhelmingly attracted to certain types of skin microbes, researchers asked 48 adult male volunteers to refrain from alcohol, garlic, spicy food, and showers for two days. The men wore nylon socks for 24 hours to build up a collection of their unique skin microbes.

Some People Don't Get Bitten By Mosquitoes — Why That's True Will Surprise You (cont’d) Researchers then used glass beads that they had rubbed against the underside of the men's feet to pick up their scent as mosquito bait.

Nine men out of the 48 proved to be especially attractive to mosquitoes, while the scents of seven lucky volunteers were largely ignored. The "highly attractive" group had 2.62 times as high a concentration of one common skin microbe, and 3.11 times higher concentration of another common microbe, compared to the "poorly attractive group." That poorly attractive group had a more diverse bacterial colony on their skin as a whole.

Researchers say that it's possible that some people's smell acts a natural deterrent.

But there's an equalizer for those that naturally draw swarms of mosquitoes. The same pests are attracted to beer drinkers.

The study was published in the journal PLOS ONE.

2014

The Participation Committee will be doing a mailing very soon to all Co-op members. It is time to up-date the Directory again!

The co-operation of all members in this endeavour would make it possible for us to have complete information in our Directory.

This is for use by Co-op members ONLY, and is helpful for committee work.

Your attention to this is greatly appreciated. ***********************************************************

Just a reminder to all Members:::::::::: ANNUAL PARKFARM GARAGE SALE SATURDAY, MAY 31, 2014 *********************************************************** Thanks!

Nikki meurlin_2000@yahoo.ca

By Joanne Murack This year Passover begins April 18.

As with many Jewish holidays, this spring time is laden with food and family

Tender beef roasted for hours in a savory sauce, flavoured with WINE and tomato WINE BRAISED BEEF BRISKET INGREDIENTS: 1 teaspoon dried thyme 1 teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper 3 pound beef brisket 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 red sliced onion 14.5 ounces beef broth 8 ounce can tomato sauce ½ cup red wine DIRECTIONS: 1. Preheat oven to 350 F. 2. Mix thyme, salt, and black pepper in a small bowl and rub both sides of brisket.

3. Heat olive oil in a roasting pan over medium heat. Place brisket in hot oil and brown on both sides (3 to 4 min per side). Remove brisket from oil and set aside.

4. Place red onion slices into the hot roasting pan and cook, stir until onion is softened. Stir in beef broth, tomato sauce and wine.

5. Place brisket back into roasting pan and cover pan with foil. Cook for approx 2 hours.

Say Hello to Spring Asparagus is one of the first vegetables to harvest in the Spring…………….

This recipe will put a spring in your step with this colourful pasta and veggies.

CHICKEN AND SPRING VEGETABLE TOSS What you need: 3 cups of uncooked corkscrew pasta ¾ pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts 1 medium red pepper(cut into 1 inch pieces) (cut into 1 inch pieces) 1 medium yellow pepper(cut into 1 inch pieces) ½ pound asparagus (cut into 1 inch pieces) 1 tablespoon water ½ teaspoon pepper 1 (10 ounce) Alfredo pasta sauce What to do: 1. Cook pasta as directed on package, drain.

2. While pasta is cooking, spray 12 inch skillet with cooking spray, heat over medium heat.

Cook chicken in skillet for 4 minutes or until brown.

3. Stir peppers, asparagus, water and pepper into chicken, reduce heat. Cover and simmer 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until chicken is no longer pink and veggies are crisp tender.

4 Stir pasta and Alfredo sauce into chicken mixture, cook until hot.

Here is an eggs-cellant recipe for kids Choco- nut Easter eggs Egg halves are made with melted chocolate, butter, sugar, nuts and eggs.

Once set they are stuck together with nutella.

Then, let the kids decorate the eggs how ever they want to.

Ingredients: 170g cooking chocolate, chopped 150g butter 170g ground almonds 6 eggs separated 150g caster sugar 1 pinch salt 4 tablespoons Nutella Preparation: 1. Microwave chocolate and butter in 30 second bursts, stirring until melted. Once melted, add nuts and stir well. Let cool slightly.

2. In a separate bowl, beat together egg yolks and sugar until light and creamy. Gradually add to the chocolate mixture, folding to combine.

3. In another bowl, beat egg whites with salt until stiff. Gently fold into the chocolate mixture, then pour batter into half egg shaped moulds.

4. Let set for about 30 minutes before removing from moulds.

5. Brush the flat side of the egg with Nutella and stick two halves together, forming a whole egg.

Decorate with ribbons or coloured icing.

Operation Clean Sweep April 20 to 26 During the week of April 20 to 26, communities across Canada will participate in Pitch-In Week by voluntarily collecting litter from parks, valley lands, open spaces, boulevards and residential streets, resulting in a cleaner and safer community. Will you be one of the more than 1,700 participants helping to make a Clean Sweep in Richmond Hill?

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KUDOS TO A COMMITTEE MEMBER Shiraz Hudda and his 5 yrs. old nephew picked up all the garbage from the north side of Fox Run Crescent and the back of the townhouses, and they came up with 5 full garbage bags and 2 full blue bins.

If everyone can do their part and pick up the litter on their yards, roadway or anywhere they see garbage, our neighbourhood will look better and in return we will all feel better. Plus with heavy winds, all garbage leftover tends to pile up on one side of the road. Please we are all in this together.

Smudging away negativity Smudging is a custom to have a good clear out of old, unwanted things and give your home a good clean. Cleaning and clearing can be very therapeutic. This is where the term 'Spring Cleaning' comes from, but we don't just clean the material things we also clean our spiritual self too. The best way to do this is to do a smudging of your home. If you feel heavy with negative energy or if you have had negative people or situations in your home, smudging will expel them. It is very powerful and has been done for thousands of years in many cultures.

Sage is the major herb used in Smudging but Sweetgrass is also very powerful stuff too and can be used together with Sage. Many smudge sticks will have cedar as this is a good protective herb and it also burns well.

To the Native Americans Sage was one of the gifts from the Great Spirit and it was used as a powerful purifier in many of their rituals. The Romans cleansed themselves and dressed in white before ritualistically harvesting sage with special silver tools. The Greeks used sage as a brain tonic. In English the word Sage means "someone who is wise" below are 10 steps to do a successful sage smudging.

1. Buy a sage smudge stick from a natural foods store or a new age store. Moonflowers Magical touch in Stouffville is amazing place the energy is fabulous or the rising sun on Yonge St in Richmond Hill. It can be mixed with sandalwood or lavender to increase the fragrance, but you should burn the entire bundle in one ceremony.

2. Open all doors and windows.

3. Light the smudge stick, and when the flame catches, blow it out and allow the embers to start to smoke like incense. Carry it over a large shell (traditional) or bowl to catch any ashes.

By Janice Webber

4. Before you start, set an intention for your home overall, and then for each room.

5. Walk around the house, waving the sage stick so its smoke drifts into corners, along walls, around windows, and along ceiling lines. As you do, imagine the smoke absorbing negativity, problems from those who were in the space before you, toxicity, and anything else you want to go away. See the smoke dissipating and floating out the windows, and imagine that bad energy flowing out of your space, making room for positive, fresh energy. Pause in the kitchen and express gratitude for the meals you prepare there. In the bathroom, for the fresh abundant water you have been blessed with. In the bedroom for the sleep you have and wish for good dreams and peace and so on with each room.

6. After you've blessed every room, give yourself a sage cleanse by cupping your hands over the smoke and wave it around your face and body as you would with water. Visualize any residual negativity sailing out of your body, out of your home, and into oblivion.

7 Take a moment to feel the energy of the house now. It should feel very light, spacious, & clear.

8. Walk out the front or back door, close it, and smudge around the door and door frame. Leave the bundle (safely) outside to burn itself out, and then bury it in your back yard.

9. Stay outside for a short while. Let the energies of the house reboot themselves and work. After about 5 minutes go back into the house and that is it you’re done.

10 Smudge anytime you feel your house or yourself feeling heavy with any negativity.

Cell Phones, Internet, TV & Technology I know this column is about things I know, and what I know is that I can’t live without my technology. In fact, I’m sitting here writing this article from my laptop. My wife is downstairs playing Candy Crush from the internet on the other laptop, touch screen if I may add. My youngest son is playing his favorite game, FIFA 2014 on his new PS4 which of course can only be played on the 48” LED TV. My older son, well I know he’s not doing his homework because he’s in his bedroom talking to the world through his Xbox. All in all, that’s four different bits of technology on and being used in one house.

For most people, technology is not something we give a second thought to, but some people literally can’t live without it and that’s not an exaggeration. In fact, for some people, the existence of technology is the difference between silence and laughter, loneliness and interaction, and even life and death.

Ever imagined what life would be like without all these tech toys? We wouldn’t be checking our Facebook account, sending tweets or chatting with total strangers half way across the world, now would we? In fact, I remember way back when in the 80’s when cell phones were the size of bricks and car phones had antennas in the shape of shark fins or those big 60” TVs that weighed a tonne.

Amazing how technology has evolved over the last 20, 30 years to bring us revolutionary hand held cell phones that can surf the net, talk and text, take pictures in HD, hold thousands of songs and apps to record music, play games and even show you directions on how to get from one place to another through an on screen GPS navigation system. How about the state-of-the-art LED TV’s that weights less and is paper thin? What I find even more

interesting is the new age of gaming consoles, have you seen these? We don’t have to leave our home anymore to go to the local because these little devices when in front of pick up your every move from rolling that bowling ball to dancing to your favorite songs. Or how about, you can video call anyone you want in the world with Face Time or Skype and best of all, it’s FREE! Did you ever think a car could run on batteries? When I first heard the word Tesla I thought to myself, what is that? It’s actually an electric car with NO engine, requires NO gas, weighs 5500lbs and while driving, inside is virtually devoid of any noise from the outside world. Only drawback is it costs more than a BMW or Mercedes Benz.

Every aspect of our life is touched by technology.

Our transportation, everyday communications right down to the present method of teaching is influenced by technology. Looking throughout our history, man never ceased to stop innovating and inventing different technologies in different aspects of our lives. From electronics to medical technologies, these advances made our lives easier as well as connect us with the human race from all corners of the world.

President’s and Prime Minister’s use it to win elections, Doctor’s and Dentists use it to save lives, Corporations use it to spread their message and all in all, the proof is in the pudding just how far technology can help you especially in an age where more people now shop online than go to the malls, amazing isn’t it? Want to see how your life would be like without technology? For just one day, turn off your cell phone and laptop and see how long you can go without the internet or the phone. If you survive, who knows? Maybe we can make this into a challenge or contest for co-op members, what do you think?

The Garden project proposed by the Recreation Committee is struggling to get off the ground.

If you think you can help please contact Nicholas Snowden at meurlin_2000@yahoo.ca

Also, any gardening expertise (i.e. growing tomatoes) would be be very helpful.

Squigly’s Easter Crossword 1

4

2

5

3

6 7 9 10

8 11

12 13

14 15

16 17

19

18

20

Across

Down

4. Dairy confection 6. Bush with purple flowers 8. First day of the week 9. Holiday in April 10. Easter flower 13. Colour of grass 14. Roses (for example) 15. A holder for Easter eggs 16. Shade for colours 17. Locate hidden Easter treats 19. Jesus tomb was ____________ 20. To make merry

1. Easter hat 2. Special occasion 3. Sweet Easter treats 5. Chickens lay them 7. Colour of baby chicks 11. Day before today 12. Religious symbol 16. Talking to God 17. Mother, father, sister, brother 18. Rhymes with dandy

Copyright Š 1998 Barb Willner, All rights reserved. www.SquiglysPlayhouse.com

These are the people who make it all happen……. #9 – Jay Jamwant – Editor #54 - Kelly Kedistos - Kelly's Kids Korner and Secretary/Treasurer #56 - Adrian Knaud - Something to think about #7 - Joanne Murak - Joanne's Cooking #30 - Shiraz Hudda – Things I know #30 - Sukaina Hudda - Birthdays, Anniversaries, Photographer, Fun n Games # 75 - Maria Bates - Health and Wellness #64 – Svetlana - Distribution #223 - Kim Maddin – Literacy and You #38 - Rashida Samji – Committees Updates #225 – Janice Webber –Alternative Health

For more information on the newsletter or any comments please direct your enquiries to thefoxrunner@yahoo.com or call Jay at 647-383-8466.

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PARKFARM CO-OPERATIVE HOUSING CORPORATION 1 Fox Run Crescent Richmond Hill, Ontario L4C 8A8 PH: (905) 737-3373 FAX: (905) 737-5496