Hot flashes occur in approximately 75 to 80 per cent of women.

Guide Health: Menopause and hot flashes

Keeping fit and watching your weight can curb menopause symptoms, but three-quarters of women will still get hot flashes

Reading Time: 2 minutes While menopause affects all women, its symptoms and timing vary greatly. With age there is a cessation of ovarian function, but it is not a sudden stop. Rather it is a waning over an average of two to 10 years. Menopause occurs anywhere from age 40 to 60 with the average age of 51. (Obviously […] Read more

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said or what you did, but they won’t forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou.

Say it by mail

Send your thoughts in actual writing. It makes them become a keepsake

Reading Time: 4 minutes When you go to the mailbox and find a handwritten envelope among the bills and flyers, chances are it’s the thing that will draw your attention. A handwritten card or letter is a rare treat in this time of instant messages, texts and emails. While being able to Zoom with our family and friends during […] Read more


Guide Health: Benzodiazepines and your health

Guide Health: Benzodiazepines and your health

These medications can be helpful, but they should only be used for a short period of time

Reading Time: 2 minutes Discovered in the 1930s and with the first agent, chlordiazepoxide, marketed in the 1950s, benzodiazepines have been part of drug therapy for decades. Until benzodiazepines were introduced, barbiturates were the drugs used to treat anxiety and sleeplessness. But barbiturates were a worry with their narrow therapeutic margin (that is, their small or narrow difference between […] Read more

Three Lean books to read in 2021

Three Lean books to read in 2021

Guide Books Review: How about a holistic approach to management?

Reading Time: 3 minutes Lean in Agriculture: Create More Value with Less Work on the Farm By Vibeke Fladkjaer Nielsen and Susanne Pejstrup The Lean Dairy Farm: Eliminate Waste, Save Time, Cut Costs By Jana Hocken with Mat Hocken The Lean Farm: How to Minimize Waste, Increase Efficiency, and Maximize Value and Profits with Less Work By Ben Hartman […] Read more


It’s time to shift our notions of what productivity means on the farm, says Van Ewyk. It isn’t just what you do in the barn or that shop. It’s also what you to do to enhance your health.

How to cope in the long months ahead

Smart, healthful and fun tips for coping with winter and a global pandemic

Reading Time: 6 minutes Canadian winters on the farm can be tough at the best of times. The dark and the cold and the isolation can leave anyone feeling down. And this winter, of course, we also have the added stresses and restrictions of a global pandemic to make us feel battle-weary and burned out. The good news is […] Read more

Glaucoma develops slowly over time, and you may not notice it until you lose some of your peripheral vision.

Guide Health: Guarding your eyesight against glaucoma

An estimated half of patients with eye drops don’t remember to use them, or don’t use them correctly

Reading Time: 3 minutes If you’re young, glaucoma may not even make it on to the list of health conditions that you’re at all concerned about. As you age, however, your thinking will change, especially if you experience the eyesight loss associated with glaucoma! Worldwide, glaucoma is the leading cause of blindness, and according to CNIB about 250,000 Canadians […] Read more


“Conflict and differing perspectives… should become a competitive asset — and an engine for rapid learning and innovation.”

How to Discuss What Matters Most

Guide Books Review: 'Difficult Conversations' by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton and Sheila Heen

Reading Time: 3 minutes Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton and Sheila Heen Penguin Books / 249 pages / $23.75 I cannot say too much about what a revelation this book was and how critical it is in both a personal and professional setting. If I had known in the past what I […] Read more

Tracing your family history

Tracing your family history

This winter will be ideal for exploring your family’s roots

Reading Time: 5 minutes With travel plans interrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, new hobbies are needed to occupy our time, especially during a long Canadian winter. If you’re curious about your family history, there has never been a better time to take up genealogy as a hobby. Every week, more and more records are being scanned and made […] Read more


“About 80 per cent of farmers fall into two categories,” says one Australian agronomist.

What type of person are you?

Across the business world, personality testing is growing exponentially. Now, it’s coming to the farm

Reading Time: 3 minutes We’ve met them all before. In fact, many Canadian farmers don’t even have to drive down the lane to meet them all. Australian agronomist Cam Nicholson says farmers can be divided into four basic types: Dependables are the reliable types who defend the status quo. Doers work fast but don’t always finish every job. Pioneers […] Read more

It’s a good idea to periodically check expiration dates on the medications in your home and safely dispose of them if they’ve expired.

Guide Health: Prescription drugs and expiration dates

Hmmm… you’ve got a headache, but your only bottle of acetaminophen is expired

Reading Time: 2 minutes An expiry date is the date after which you should no longer use a product, whether that product is a drug, a grocery store item or anything else. The product can no longer be guaranteed as fresh, stable, safe or, very importantly, 100 per cent potent.  Drug expiry dates are carefully calculated by drug manufacturers […] Read more