Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities

Learn about hemstitching on show

Information on non-traditional sashiko, foods and nutrients to feed your brain, and bible journaling will be the featured topics on “Creative Living” on Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. and on Thursday at noon. (All times are Mountain.)

Dorothy Brown is going to talk about non-traditional sashiko which is an old Japanese embroidery technique used to strengthen fabric or to mend them. It was traditionally used on indigo fabric. Today sashiko is a decorative embroidery stitch done on one layer of fabric. Brown lives in Erie, Pennsylvania.

Elizabeth Somer, a registered dietitian and author, will give us the low-down on what foods and nutrients can help to protect your brain and keep you smart today and down the road. She resides in Salem, Oregon.

Marjolaine Walker is a designer and she’s going to show how to decorate a monthly calendar page with stickers and other scrapbooking supplies. She’ll also show how to make a dashboard with an inspirational message. Walker lives in Ottawa, Canada.

Information on sculpting dolls and wing needle hemstitching will be the featured topics on “Creative Living” on Tuesday at noon and on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Author and doll maker Terese Cato has been making sculpted dolls for years. She will show how to paint the doll’s face using several different techniques. She lives in North Las Vegas, Nevada.

Sue Hausmann is going to explain what hemstitching is and demonstrate the technique of wing needle hemstitching, which resembles the way ready-to-wear looks. Hausmann lives in Green Valley, Arizona.

Beautiful minds program

Can what we eat really make a difference in how smart we are and how well we remember?

Today we know that up to 66 percent of brain aging is within your control and diet plays a huge part in that (social connectedness, challenging your brain, and staying physically fit are the other 3 brain-health factors). Eating and living right at any age can help to grow new brain cells, increase connections between cells, and even expand your memory center — the hippocampus. That is what the Beautiful Minds program is all about. Beautiful Minds is a partnership between the National Center for Creative Aging (NCCA) and DSM Nutritional Products. It is a national health education campaign designed to empower Americans to develop and maintain healthy, beautiful minds by focusing on the four dimensions of brain health: both physical and mental health, social well-being, and nutrition. You can stack the deck in favor of thinking clearly and remembering more both today and down the road if you follow these simple diet steps and you can get more tips and information at beautiful-minds.com.

Why is “eating like a Greek" so important?

People who eat the traditional Mediterranean diet think more clearly, have better memories, and are at lower risk for dementia and Alzheimer’s. Recent studies report improvements in thinking by following this eating style.

Is fish really a brain food?

Your brain is very greasy, but in a good way. More than 60 percent of it is fat. Unlike the lazy fat stored on the hips or belly, fat in the brain is a worker bee. It makes up the cell membranes that surround each cell and the insulation sheath around neurons that allows thoughts to travel fast from one cell to another. The more fluid and flexible those membranes, the faster you react, the more you remember, and the more creative and clever you are. The most fluid fats are the omega-3s, and the brain must love the omega-3 DHA, because 97 percent of the omega-3s in your brain are DHA. An accumulating body of research shows that children, adolescents, and young adults think better, perform better on tests, and react faster when their diets are optimal in DHA. A recent study found that children performed up to 50 percent better on reading tests when they supplemented with the DHA, and studies (including the MIDAS study) find that seniors remember more and might even be at lower risk for cognitive decline when daily intake averages between 220 and 900 milligrams. Note: your body can’t make this fat. It has to come from the diet.

Besides focusing on what we can eat, tell us what NOT to eat, too.

What is good and bad for your heart is good and bad for your brain. You are one big package. So, it’s no surprise that saturated fats in red meat, fatty dairy products, and processed foods are associated with clogged thinking and mental fatigue. Cut back on beef, butter, sour cream, whole milk, cheese (the #1 source of saturated fat in the diet), and foods that contain palm oil or hydrogenated vegetable oils.

“Creative Living” is produced and hosted by Sheryl Borden. The show is carried by more than 118 PBS stations in the United States, Canada, Guam and Puerto Rico and is distributed by Westlink, Albuquerque.