Exercise releases hormones that allow muscles to absorb amino acids, which helps them grow and reduces their breakdown
Last July, Ruth Chorney underwent surgery to have her left hip replaced. About a month before, the retired educator and farmer began doing specific exercises recommended to her by her physiotherapist; exercises designed for the needs of a hip replacement candidate. A life-long active woman, she welcomed the opportunity to participate in her health outcome. […] Read moreStories by Shirley Byers
Alta. couple not retired from life — just farming
Peter and Lori Sereda harvested their last crop this fall and on Oct. 2 they left their grain farm, southeast of Bow Island, Alta. They moved into their new home and a new life in the town of Coaldale, Alta., near Lethbridge, about 90 km from Bow Island. For a period of their farming career […] Read more
Time for a new look at staying in hostels
In 2004, Eric and Karen Olafson of Wynyard, Sask., were planning a trip to Iceland. Both descended from Icelanders and they were looking forward to seeing the homeland, connecting with relatives and making memories. They were not looking forward to what it was going to cost. Iceland is beautiful — and expensive. Their daughter, Marea, […] Read more
It’s the same but different for Canadian snowbirds in U.S.
Americans and Canadians share a lot of similarities, but the differences can often be glaring, from guns to Cheezies
People marvel sometimes how the offspring of the same parents, raised in the same house in roughly the same time period, can be so different. What about countries? What about Canadians and Americans? We share the same parents, considering that we all mostly emerged from native and imported stock with early immigration primarily from Britain […] Read morePrairie land conservancy provides alternative
Retiring farmers have many reasons for not wanting to sell their land, and there are alternatives, says Duane Guina, executive director of Farmland Legacies, a registered, non-profit charity, which holds agricultural land in trust and promotes sustainable values. “Some don’t like the direction that agriculture is going in,” Guina says. He says issues some retiring […] Read more
Handing off the farm to an outsider
Al Boyko and Helene Tremblay-Boyko got an early start on their unique retirement plan because they knew they were in uncharted territory. There were no models, at least in Saskatchewan, for the way they wanted to pass on their farm. The couple have three daughters. None of them want to farm and they live in […] Read more
Read your health insurance policy before you travel
Joe and Suzanne Lefebvre of Ontario bought a travel health policy in October 2010 specifically for an Alaskan cruise they would take the following May. On the fourth day of the cruise, Joe, who was 80 at the time, had to be hospitalized in Fairbanks with pneumonia. Complications set in and he spent 15 days […] Read more
A story of two happy snowbirds
Clayton and Marjorie Markusson have been flying south for 17 years. They spend about four months in Texas and the remainder at their home on Fishing Lake, about 19 kilometres from Foam Lake, Sask. The first time they travelled to the United States for the winter, they went with another couple. They later bought a […] Read more
Farming, taxes and retirement
Taxation often makes up the largest expense and accounts for the largest loss of wealth in the lives of many farm families, particularly during retirement years, says Donavon Tofin, a tax specialist with Retiring Farmers in Saskatoon. Over a farming career that spans two, three or more decades, farmers defer income into the latter years. […] Read more
Couple make plans for life after farming
Bill and Gale Stonehouse have spent a lot of time lately planning an auction sale. It’s a big step. They’ve been farming since they were teenagers. Bill was 17 and Gale 18 when they married in 1970 and made their home on the Cut Knife, Sask.-area homestead that his grandfather had established in 1912 and […] Read more
