Deer in the city of Toronto:

Well it's been quite a week here in Toronto. I arrived to the office of my physiotherapist only to find the entire building blocked off by police, several camera crews and about a hundred people. I asked someone what the hell was going on and he said "There's a deer over there". A live deer in the city? Yup- there she was, beautiful. How very sad that we never get to see wildlife because we've covered every square foot with concrete. She seemed very tired and just lay there for the longest time. I went to my appointment, which was an hour long, and when I emerged from the building she was still there. Why was it taking so long for the animal rescue people to do anything? They were enjoying the press too much.

I watched with the others as police in bullet-proof vests (you never know right?), stood around with nets, and then a man with a long tranquilizer gun got into position for a shot. It was horrible to see what happened next. When the deer was hit she jumped up immediately and tried to run in every direction, but there were people everywhere. She jumped the police tape (great blockade guys), and landed on the wet pavement only to slip and fall directly onto the red dart that was sticking out of her. The needle must have broken off for sure and it looked so painful. The police and animal control moved in with the nets and the I saw them TASER her! I kid you not. This lovely creature convulsed violently for a long moment and then went limp.

Tasered? Really? Now that's caring about animals. The thing already couldn't walk. It slipped because it's hind legs went numb from the tranquilizer, and they already had nets around it on the ground. Of all the places in this city I could have been and at all the times... why did this incident happen in exactly where I was headed that morning? It really made me think about what we're doing as a species. We spread out like a parasite and destroy everything in our path only to create artificial impressions of nature- we choose the wildlife that is acceptable (our pets), The vegetation that is tolerable (our flower gardens), and pave the roads so we don't get mud on ourselves or our cars. Time to move out of the city. *This photo was taken from The Globe and Mail Toronto website because I didn't have my camera on me at the time.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you lovely people in the United States!

Click here to see some of my favorite recipes for the holiday:

Oh, and James took this photo while we were hiking.

Mass animal sacrifice begins in Hindu festival in Nepal; 200,000 animals to be killed

We couldn't believe what we were reading in The Metro News Paper yesterday- I had no idea about this "festival" where 200,000 animals like pigs and buffalo are hacked to death with machetes in a massive slaughter. Did you? Hindus? Really? Hindus are vegetarian right? That's what I thought too, but after they kill the animals they have a big feast where they eat them.

So it doesn't really matter if they are vegetarian for the entire year because about 200,000 people show up to this event, which means that each person is responsible for the death of one whole animal - probably more than some meat eaters would consume in a year.

The image is horrifying. There is a less public mass slaughter going on every day in the world- it's called factory farming. The images are equally horrific, but they are hidden from the public view and people all over the planet pick up the remains at supermarkets, wrapped in neat little cellophane and styrophoam packages.
Click here for the full article.

One of my paintings: The Ritual (after)

I'm in a show starting on December 5th at a gallery on Queen Street here in Toronto called The Beverly Owens Project. The show is the first of seven, with the theme of The Seven Deadly Sins, Lust being the first. So it should be a juicy show for sure. I'll post more about it when I have the fliers. (Lyn)

Creamy Parsnip soup with Pine Nuts and Sun-Dried Tomatoes (Raw!)

I just made this and it's wonderful- very delicate flavours and a little spicy. Here is how you make it:

Creamy Parsnip Soup with Pine Nuts and Sun-Dried Tomatoes:

2 cups shredded parsnips
1/4 cup of pine nuts
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh garlic (very small piece)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground mustard seeds
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground chilli powder
4 cups *hot water *(either hot water from the tap, or water heated to less than 118 degrees in a pot, so the soup will remain raw and retain all of the enzymes and vitamins. You can, of course, cook the soup, but don't add it to the blender hot of you will have a big mess on your hands... blenders don't like hot hot soup).

1. Mix the above ingredients in the blender until smooth and creamy.
2. Shred another cup of parsnips to add to the soup when you are ready to serve it.
3. Cut up a several pieces of sun-dried tomatoes to top it off.
4. Take a spoon and drizzle olive oil or chilli oil over each bowl to make it look pretty.

Kombucha Tea

Well I'm going to be making kombucha tea for the first time ever, even though I've been meaning to for years now. I found someone in the city (Toronto) who is selling their starter 'mushroom' (the scoby) for only $10, so if anyone else is interested in doing this thing with me, or finding out where they can obtain one, just drop me a line at beautiful-vegan@hotmail.com, or leave a comment under this posting.

I will be posting more about this process and videos and links to good sources of information later on so stay tuned!

Off The Grid: Documentary:

Here is a documentary made by the infamous Less Stroud (commonly known as 'Survivor man' and having a show by the same name): Watch Off The Grid. He and his family try their best to go Off The Grid and live more sustainably. I don't agree with everything they chose to do, but it's a good example of what is possible.

There are more affordable, sustainable, simpler, stronger and esthetically pleasing ways of building an off the grid house, such as Earthbag Building insulated with straw bales and rammed earth tires (go to the natural building section of the blog on the right hand column). Much of what Less decided on was not actually very eco-friendly, but it's a start. I found the film inspiring for sure.

James took this beautiful photo of a horned owl (I think that's what kind it is).

The Cost of a Coke: Documentary:

Watch this Documentary: The Cost of a Coke on-line for free. Everyone should know what they are getting into when they open a bottle of Coca Cola. Who are you giving your money to?

You need to see this: I am blown away.

This is not just an American problem, but artist Chris Jordan starts there. You may have seen his work before, but watch the video because what he says is very effective.

Food Inc. Documentary:

watch the documentary Food Inc. for free here: Food Inc.

Vaccines: 2 Documentaries to watch:

Click here to link to and watch 2 documentaries on vaccines we all should see. Very interesting indeed.

In Ontario you can call this phone number (416.392.1250) to get your opt-out of vaccination form mailed to you free of charge. If they ask you why you don't want your child immunized just tell them it's not ethical or go with the religious answer. I received a letter in the mail from Joshua's school saying that if he did not get his immunizations up to date he would be expelled from school indefinitely. There were no opt-out options on the form and no indication that this was even an option. I was furious and called the number on the letter, asking why there were no opt-out options on it. They said "Well I don't know... we will have to look into that".

Also you do not need to give them a reason and you do not need a notary to sign your letter! They are just trying to make it more difficult- I simply wrote on it that I did not need a notary to make decisions on whether my child was immunized or not, and that sufficed. I never heard back from them, nor was Joshua expelled from school. Know your rights. Find out more by going to this website: http://vran.org/

It is now believed that 51% of the world's human-caused greenhouse gas emissions come from raising livestock!!!

Read this article which links to the full report and it's new findings. This is astounding and I'm blown away. Of course it will make all the meat eaters of the world freak out and get angry because they refuse to change. And if we refuse to change something as simple as our own diets, something that is in our hands and that we do three times a day, how can we change anything on this planet?? It's not going to happen.

Of course I'm preaching to the converted, as most of you awesome folks out there are already vegan, but maybe a few of you are considering the lifestyle and to you I say WELCOME! You are the courageous souls that are not blinded by the stereotypes and misconceptions about veganism, and you are not as selfish as the meat eaters who simply will not budge from their rigid pedestals. For them we will ALL pay the price. One person at a time, please go vegan.

*I took the photo above while we were visiting a working farm at Fort Williams in Thunder Bay. It's clearly not from a factory farm, as it would look and smell very different if I was inside of one of those.

Vandana Shiva on Seed Saving- a very moving and powerful talk:

James and I went to see Vandana Shiva speak at the University of Toronto, and she is one of my greatest heroes. She moves everyone who is open and offends those who are guilty.


The courage she has in speaking out all over the world for diversity of seeds, water security, and the importance of organic food is astounding. I am so inspired by this woman and feel strongly that I have to get her message out to everyone who hasn't heard her words before; so here is a full video (it's and older one) that needs to be watched. There are so many videos on youtube that you can see and all of them are very moving and educating.

Here is a link to Vandana Shiva's website where you can "join our more than 85,000 members across the country saying no to industrial agriculture, and yes to True Food! It's free to join, and you will get updates and action alerts on simple things you can do to make a difference".

$1 from each of our eBook sales goes to Vandana Shiva's Seed Saving Foundation, or Cal-Earth, an amazing organization that teaches people around the world how to build beautiful, sustainable and inexpensive Earthbag houses.

(Click on the sidebar where it says "buy it now", if you would like a copy of our eBook).

Colloidal Silver Generator: Make it yourself!

So many people have been asking about colloidal silver and it's many many uses for health... so I found this video that explains a very simple and really inexpensive way for you to make a generator yourself, to see what all these claims are about. I will be making one too, so write and tell me about your successes or failures and I'll write about mine! Oh, and at the end of this video he says that if you drink too much colloidal silver your skin will turn blue- but let me say that that is ONLY if you are drinking ridiculous amounts of it every single day. So take that comment with a grain of salt.

Creatures of Black Forest:

This little guy was polar-bearing it in the freezing cold water. The leaves have turned and fallen off in preparation for the winter, but some critters are still messing about.

There is nothing like the warmth of a fire and the smell of wood burning on a cold day. We needed to get out of the city very badly to soothe our souls. I have been very inactive since I broke my arm, and it's so upsetting to me to be away from nature, so I was delighted to be back.

This is the most magical place. Our secret forest that I've missed so much. Hiking is really hard on my arm. Who knew that we use our arms so much when walking? By the end of this trip I was in agony, but it was worth it.

Well it wasn't Squeaks (the grey squirrel we released after raising him from infancy), but this little guy had his appetite, and promised to say hello to him for us.

James and his friend looked perfectly content together.

There were also fairies in the forest that day.

6 Degrees of Separation Documentary:

Visit documentary-log.com for free online documentaries!

This is a really interesting documentary that brings the world together in an astounding way (not that we're really separate at all), but it's a scientific way of proving that we are all linked to everyone in the world. Watch it!

Fighting the flu naturally:

Here is a link to an article I found very interesting and helpful, that goes along with my method of staving off colds and the flu: Give Your Body a Fighting Chance Against Colds or the Flu

What's in a Flu Shot?? Let's have a look at this video:

And... if you are in the Toronto area there is a group on MeetUp.com that you can join called the Toronto Survivalist Group that is having a special guest tomorrow evening (November 3rd), who will talk about fighting the flu naturally using the Ancient art of Chinese Medicine. This group also has amazing workshops on all sorts of topics. Read a little about the group here: , and go to their calendar for details about upcoming events.

Here is a video on Vitamin D for fighting the flu:
- there are many of these videos by doctors toting the benefits of using vitamin D. It won't hurt to try. This one is very interesting too, and explains why using vitamin D is important: