Tips for mental health

Let’s just say it: This year has taken a lot out of us. Fears about our health, finances and family, all stoked by COVID, have really done a number on the psyche.

Here are some hints from the Mayo Clinic (www. MayoClinic.org) to help:

We will get through this; just be patient and stay healthy and safe.

Pet pal

DEAR HELOISE » This is my dog Ollie, a happy and spry pup who turns 11 next month! She also goes by “Smalldog.” I got her in December 2010.

She’s been the best bud in the decade we’ve had together. She loves hiking all day just as much as she loves curling up by a warm fire. She actually hiked the whole Long Trail (the length of Vermont from south to north, 280 miles) with me! I am lucky to have a dog like her at my side!

— Rebecca S., via email Readers: To see Ollie and our other Pet Pals, visit www. Heloise.com and click on “Pet of the Week.”

Kwanzaa

Today is the first day of Kwanzaa, a week-long celebration popular in African American heritage. Kwanzaa is a Swahili word that means “first fruits.”

What are some of the tenets of Kwanzaa? There are seven major ones (each day of the celebration is dedicated to one principle). Let’s list them: unity, self- determination, responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith.

Kwanzaa is a relatively new celebration, begun in California in the mid1960s. Participants celebrate with richly colored cloths, candles, fruits and dancing. Gifts are also often exchanged. Happy Kwanzaa!

Picture perfect

In reply to “Reader in Troy, Ohio,” who asked how to arrange picture frames on a wall. As an alternative to shelves, I got a remnant of short berber carpet to match the room and attached it to the wall to fit the area.

I attached hook and loop tape with the teeth to the back of frames, putting a strip at the top and bottom. The frames will stick to the carpet. This allows rearrangement of pictures easily.