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4 economist suntribune opinion thursday july 112002 my hrtfree trip through menopause when i hit 45 i made a serious decision id go through mentalpause cold turkey no pills no patch no sympathy i admit i left a few casual ties along the way but i sur vived ill be 57 next month ive managed to come out the other end with most of my marbles a study recently released in detroit suggests i made a smart choice 12 years ago hormone replacement therapy hrt deals with medication taken by mil lions of north american women for relief of menopause symptoms american researchers are now reporting this medica tion should not be taken longterm because it carries more risks than benefits replacement medications like estrogen and pro gestin are very popular theyre being used by about 40 per cent of women during and after meno pause studies indi cate these women run greater risk of developing blood clots strokes breast cancer and heart attacks the new message now being delivered is women should get back to the basics of controlling menopause with diet and exercise while were back to the basics were not reaching back to the past to once again call menopause the change of life its been years since any one whispered in my ear the poor thing cant help herself shes going through the change i didnt mind menopause for me being a little off was nt all that foreign besides from where i view the world whats wrong with having a hot flash id rather lie in the snow throw the blankets off roll down the car window or fan myself than have a stroke why cant we women of 50plus enjoy a little cry once in a while we earned it if youre old enough find a box of tissue sit down in your favourite chair and let the tears fall if people object ignore them theyll the bottom line on menopause is why cant a woman throw a hissyfit break into tears pout a little or go home and kick the cat joan ransberry go away eventually after all were allowed every damned menopause symptom that comes our way a good cry is a darn sight better then developing breast cancer as for a temper tantrums heres your defense did any one of your sweet little dar lings ever find himself in a fit of temper on the floor at church or in the grocery store well its your turn now con sider it payback time its better to blow a fuse than have a chest buster who says a 52- yearold woman cant spend a day or two pouting a bit of self pity is good for the soul while it may be a tall order to ask the hus band the kids and the boss to carry on without the womans undivided atten tion couldnt they just back off and leave her alone think about it shes paid her dues shes gone the extra mile a sabbatical is in order let her have a day or two to pout it does less harm than a blood clot a few years ago a friend told me a wonderful story about how the family han dled his mothers meno pause years in his mothers absence his father gathered the four teenage children around the dining room table and made this brief statement you may have noticed your mother has been acting a lit tle odd of late dont pay attention to anything she says or does for the next eight or nine years the bottom line on menopause is why cant a woman throw a hissy fit break into tears pout a little or go home and kick the cat where in the rule book of life does it say females have to be nice all the time asxhma we can help call the lung association sowcmwmuok week obakert lettuce well have a whole range of sourcherry items including sour cherry pie in either 99 ft9g small or large size it mp y w sour cherry custard cake extremely edible when its warm even more desirable a day later its one of those things that 1 295 1 q9s improve sour cherry scones 129 ea sour cherry qq cheesecake brownies 1 jelly roll with sour cherry and 9 whipped cream filling xu sour cherry cheese cake with cherries baked through and topped with 1 95 a sour cherry mixture ajj cl 3 for the last few years we had the good fortune to connect with an organic farmer from muskoka who grew the most amazing lettuces tomatoes and various types of squashes shes back this year with the first shipment of a variety of organically grown leaf lettuce they come with the root to maintain freshness and theyre delicious co ea ea chocolate sour cherry loaf our rich chocolate loaf with cherries baked in butter almond sour cherry j50 m ea cheese flan whew 95 ea black forest cake these have received a bad name over the years at the hand of others ours are made with dense chocolate cake kirsch sour cherries and whipped cream all wonderful and to sweeten our sour deal were featuring them at periette grapes the last couple of batches of mexican grapes and even some california grapes havent been the best but now the california perlettes are in theyre the crunchy round type sometimes sweet sometimes not these are sweet and so is the price jsm id amazing lilies its our last purchase of plants before the perish the thought autumn mums arrive it might seem late to buy these but be niindful that theyre perennials and theyre flowering only now so youll see- whatyouget in the years to come weve got a great selection of asiatic oriental lilies about 20 varieties all in 6 pots all tagged and all ready to plant arriving friday jaycal boneless banana just the regular one this week folks baked more than once daily reg 349 ea off this week sirloin steaks these are either grade aaa or canada prime sirloin is not the most tender cut but it certainly has a following especially for the flavour there is not an endless supply so when theyre gone theyre gone eat up your veggies folks this week its broccoli really nice and fresh local produce at the very digestive price of local ea our farmers sausages are made with a touch of our english seasoning and finished with some of our german bratwurst spice and youll call them delicious once you try them reg 399 lb off this week south african a tmvr 17 cj granny smith jjz mz mjj o i recollect perhaps incorrectly that all granny smith apples originally came from south africa from small beginnings they became extremely popular worldwide what makes these apple particularly nice is that a theyre new crop meaning that they havent been picked last fall and stored these are freshly off the tree b theyre not overly tart as some granny apples can be and c theyre a great price from south africa summer salads english cukes these are our hand- wrapped large size the pick of the crop product of ontario 99 ea i association village grocer quality foods i marvel at the amount of time our kitchendwellers spend on making these and how often we make them sometimes twice daily i think to myself why notjust in bigger batches wouldnt it be more efficient the answer is that the seasoning works on the batch sizes we make and those are the bowl sizes we have other than that if you were home and had the time youd make them daily too thats the principle of homemade to ponder the alternative pick up a container of supermarket salad put your glasses on and read the ingredients a lot of the additional stuff is not to enhance flavour but to preserve shelf life note also where it comes from very often from the us arid dont think that the salads that they sell in the deli counter in bulk are any different at all and dont forget to look at the code date sometimes its 4 to 6 weeks have you ever had a salad last that long in your fridge the moral of mis little story is that if you want to buy homemade were it specials in effect until closing sunday july 14 hours mon 1100700 r tuesthurs 900700 fri 900800 sat 900600 sun 1000500 548 carlton road unionville 9401770