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Dear Sister,
Well, we are back from
our Easter trip to Beautiful B.C. (for my American and Asian
friends, B.C.=British Columbia, or "Lotusland"). We drove,
which is my husband's favourite means of getting places, so
there were many hours on the road. We headed straight for
our son, Conrad, on Vancouver Island. The first night we
stayed in a motel in Golden (just over the BC/Alberta
border, two provinces away) and made it to Courtenay by the
next evening. Our motel, the Anco, was the one that Ed and
his brother stayed in last year during a golfing trip, and
at that time it had had a fire. This trip it was all fixed
up and very comfortable (and quite cheap, of course).
The motel had a
kitchenette and we prepared and ate a good portion of our
meals there. Dr. Bailey, naturopath, has me on an
elimination diet to see if there is an allergenic component
to my ever-swollen ankles. I have cut out wheat, corn,
dairy, and nightshades. Nightshades include tomatoes,
potatoes, and peppers. Corn is in everything as a sweetener
and a thickener. No wheat means no bread or pastries (and
quite a few other things). I have had my moments, but
amazingly, I haven't been craving anything for vast amounts
of time. My ankles actually do seem to be de-puffing
somewhat and I feel more balanced and energized. The
next step is to begin to re-introduce items, one at a time,
back into my diet and see if there is a reaction.
I am rather a
food-focused person (as you may have noticed) so I managed
to eat very well in spite of the restrictions. I am doing a
reduction in soya products on my own after having done some
reading about soya. I had two meals with grilled wild
salmon that were wonderful (in BC, of course), and I have
taken quite a liking to Rice Dream chocolate fudge frozen
desert (please, no one, don't tell me that chocolate is a
nightshade, okay?) Hummus on rice crisps has always been
one of my favourite snacks, lucky for me.
Here is my
non-dairy/non-corn/non-wheat/non-nightshade salad
dressing:
*1/4 C.
Bolthouse Farms Green Goodness (Fruit Juice with 14
"powerful ingredients" such as various fruit juices, and
barley grass, garlic, chlorella, dulce, etc. Find it at
Safeway in the Health Food section of the coolers)
*Juice of 1
Lemon
* 1 Tablespoon
Mum's Original 100% Certified Organic Hempseed Oil (read
about it at
www.mumsoriginal.com
)(You'll notice that the team appears to be made up of
women; I believe that these products are made from organic
Saskatchewan hempseed).
We had a very nice visit
with our son, Conrad, on Vancouver Island. One afternoon we
went to an art show at the historic Filberg Lodge on the
water at Comox. The artist, Brian Scott, regaled us with
the BC history that is the context of his florid and candy-coloured
canvases. I loved them.
http://www.brianscottfineart.com/
While in the Courtenay
area we attended services at the Merville SDA Church. We
were warmly received, just as we were at Christmas. This
time we also took part in their quarterly communion. A
lovely mom introduced me to her daughter and friends. These
mission-minded young folks will soon have a website up for
kids (a broad range of ages) that will include video
interviews when they can afford the video equipment they
have their sights set to buy. They even hope to do VBS
online... I will keep you posted as I know more so that you
can spread the word among the young people you know.
We had lunch with Pastor
Howard Homenchuk and
his wife, Geraldine. What a blessing that I didn't even
have to make a squeaky deal about all my diet shalt-nots: veggie
chili and rice! We very much appreciated their warm
hospitality, and then saw Pastor Howard again on Tuesday on
the ferry (it's a small world I think). Geraldine is the
sister of Pastor Glover. Like I said, small world.
B.C. is very charming, of
course, and our son lives there, so there are several strong
draws, but it's good to be home. The sun is shining and the
puddles are forming all over the place. I have a mountain
of laundry to get through (mostly Ed's stuff, hehehe). We
listened to 'books on tape' on the way there and back--
inspirational, motivational stuff-- so I am working on a
couple of projects at present and will talk more about
them in newsletters to come.
God bless you!
In Christ,
Cynthia
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