Category Archives: Health

a year of small things…

20 Tuesday Sep 2022

Posted by in Alice Springs, Health, Life

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I’ve written on this topic a few times in the past, but I hope you can stand a little more. I’ve written half a dozen draft posts over recent months, and haven’t published a single one. It’s very hard to write with perspective about things that are ongoing. This has been a challenging year for many of us, not least of which is the frog that has taken up residence in our plumbing. He/she is only the size of my thumb and when I can catch him I put him outside again, but as I write he is ‘chirruping’ loudly from the bathroom sink drain. We had a shower together yesterday, he singing to me from the protection of the drain, and me wondering if he/she is raising a noisy family!

What is equally true is the world is very very beautiful–in many ways we fail to see or allow to touch us.

We’ve had extraordinary skies this year–beautiful light, colour and clouds.

In my life the little things that have saved me almost as much as the love…small moments, tiny events, simple actions. It’s one of the reasons my day feels lacking if I can’t start it with a walk at sunrise. Yes, it helps that I’m a morning person, but this year with serious sleep deprivation even though I am awake early…sometimes very, VERY early, it has been challenging. I’ve been doing it for so long, decades now, that my body almost goes through the preparations without me having to think about it. It knows that those bird sightings and the melodious carol of the Pied Butcherbird, the beautiful skies, and the movement that relaxes my muscles and bones set me up for the day. But sleep deprivation has intervened and some recalibrations (and naps) have been required.

You can’t tell from this photo, but he really is only the size of my thumb and I have small hands.

This year has been a series of physical/medical challenges for me. Nothing life threatening, but requiring attention, time and energy to respond to. Some years are like that, have you noticed? One of the tactics I used, but didn’t realise until afterward is something the experts call ‘attention deployment’. This is when you engage in something that takes your mind away from whatever it is you want to momentarily forget. They say it is different than ignoring a thing, it is only a breather from it. It gives a little break, though it isn’t clear to me if tiny frogs are meant to be included. Earlier in the year I was cleaning out and renovating the house, while also renovating my body. Lately I’ve turned to reading, painting and experimenting with flavours in the kitchen as well as brewing my own cleaning fluid.

Nothing is too lame. What does it matter if something sounds strange? If it interests you and diverts one’s attention enough to be helpful, relaxing even–do it.

Citrus season has just finished here in Central Australia but continues for a little longer in the southern regions. Our lemon tree has been bountiful. My neighbours had to be away for five weeks or so and left the fate of the fruit on their six orange trees to ME! I water their plants and check on the house regularly and pick the fruit up off the ground so it doesn’t draw pests. With the oranges, I make orange and almond cake, that deliciously sweet and moist gluten free cake that I normally save for special outings to cafes. When I’m just eating the oranges for breakfast or snacks, I save the peels and add them to a jar that has white vinegar in it. Once the jar is filled I put a note on top of it that has the date two weeks hence when the brew will be done. The vinegar draws out the orange oil (also works with lemons) and at maturity you strain out the fruit peelings and put them in your compost, and bottle the liquid for cleaning. I have read you dilute it with water, which I have done with the lemon brew, 1/4C lemon vinegar to 1C hot water for cleaning windows. Use it with a lint free microfibre cloth and it does a brilliant job. The orange one I use 1C diluted with 1/2C water as a kitchen and sink cleaner. It works with whatever cloth you use, and the smell is delicious and it is nontoxic. Today I cleaned out our smelly letter box in which a poor little gekko had died and begun to decompose. All smells lovely again now.

Strained peels from oranges. Lemons awaiting their fate, and orange peels brewing. The luscious orange and almond cake is the best.

Distractions? Let’s not forget a good craft or art practice. Recently our daughter attended a Cowboys-and-Cowgirls-Christmas-in-July party for her office. She sent me a photo of bedazzling her costume and told me it is ‘surprisingly relaxing’. I’m slightly trepidatious that she may be covered head to toe in sequins and rhinestones the next time I see her!

Life has always been hard. During the last Pandemic it was so much worse than now. If you want to read a novel that starts there and comes into the present, Isabel Allende’s new novel ‘Violeta’ is an interesting distraction, not a difficult read and describes lives in other times and places over a period of 100 years.

My little garden is another distraction that produces things which I can harvest from time to time. This is the third year since I built it and I now have surprise seeds that sprout like gifts from the earth and present me with chilies, lettuces and basil. The early spring/late winter dandelion leaves also add some zip to the occasional salad at the moment. I’ve left the broccoli and some of the lettuce and rocket (arugula) go to seed so the poor bees have something to eat until other things start to flower again. We’ve had the coldest Winter we can remember here in Alice, so things will take a little while to recover from frost bite. But a couple of weeks ago we had a glorious 16mm of rain which have helped bring on Spring. Meanwhile the bees enjoy the yellow flowers as well as the blue flowers of the four rosemary bushes in our garden. And little by little I’m potting up starts from winter cuttings and freshening soil and planting more natives for the bees and birds and us to enjoy.

The dandelion greens and a salad with sourdough toast. My little herb garden with it’s out of control parsley plants…that is just TWO plants!

And then there are the tiny pleasures, so easy to miss. The way the light illuminates my kitchen in the evening at the end of Winter. The little wallaby that peers at me as I eat my breakfast. The ever changing skies morning and evening.

I’m inclined to agree with Rilke.

In the depths of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer

Rilke
The late afternoon winter sunlight that shines into my kitchen. A visitor come to have breakfast with me, and glorious late winter blossoms, all of which I started from cuttings, after I nearly killed all three of the original plants!
A recent painting inspired by the mists at sunrise as they moved from the MacDonnell Ranges after recent rain.

to see…

13 Wednesday Oct 2021

Posted by in Creativity, Health, poetry

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I wrote the first poem, just as it describes, after cataract surgery when we were in Adelaide. We had been home a few weeks when the event in the second poem below happened…

See For Me

The day after my husband had eye surgery
He couldn't see things very well.
He loves a little sweet thing for afternoon tea,
So when he asked me if I would go
And look at the little baked item in the cafe window
And tell him what it was, I did.
I returned to the table and told him it was not
A scroll, as he had thought it was,
But it was 'his kind of thing'.
His eyes looked hopeful and he said 'What?'
It is a chocolate chip, salt and hazelnut cookie.
I could tell he was happy being married to
Someone who knew his kind of thing.
Gecko Toes

It was early in the morning
as I saw the object, pale
and delicate, in the middle
of the kitchen bench.
Gecko skin, familiar
but nonetheless fascinating,
complete with tiny toes.

Cats bring gifts to their owners.
Sometimes inanimate,
but usually dead...
mouse
lizard or
bird...but I have
no cat.

And so after 38 years
of marriage to a human
who pays attention,
I have a new treasure
to photograph
or paint or just admire
as I often do.

The lenses inserted where the clouded cataracts were removed, give his eyes a shiny crystalline appearance. What he sees is wonderful for both of us.

the comfort of food…

25 Sunday Feb 2018

Posted by in Cook's Edit, Food, Health

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IMG_5799Some of us eat to live. Others live to eat. I probably fall somewhere in the middle of that continuum. Influencing personal preferences are things like cultural and family rituals, environment and health. For most adults, it is one of the few things we can do in life that is totally up to us as to when, how and what we consume. But I have found, that my body and mind often disagree about what I should be eating, and that can be a problem.

In July of 2017 I quit eating grains. All of them. Not a fad or weight-loss diet, it was an informed choice—or as informed as is possible with food intolerances, which are quite mysterious. Having a psoriatic rash extending from my upper back to my legs, and periodic eczema, I was desperate to fix the problem, if possible. It had worsened over the year I was eating gluten free so that didn’t seem to be the answer…what to do? Quit grains…and then what?

After only 3 days the itching stopped. After 3 weeks the rash started to fade a bit and I was losing weight that had slowly crept on over a period of five years. It wasn’t a lot of weight, but it was stubborn and seemingly immoveable. And then it left. Not sorry to see you go! Now, some 8 months later, I am still noticing changes for the better. Not wanting to get into the very contested issues around medical versus alternative treatments of things, I will say that tests show that my blood sugar level has decreased from high to normal, cholesterol has adjusted to normal and there is a marked difference in inflammatory symptoms, such as arthritis. And more…

I still have a list of food intolerances, but have noticed that a few things seem to be digesting much better and eczema is no longer a problem. It reminds me of that movie about Benjamin Button, the one where he ages in reverse. It kind of feels like my body is returning to normal, whatever that was. It has been a long time.

I’m not on a bandwagon to tell you to eat any certain way, we are all different. I do what seems right for myself and leave others to make their own choices. My choices are informed. I read and update my knowledge continually. Be your own advocate, I say.

Perhaps the most valuable food and life lesson was told to me over 25 years ago when I began to try and heal myself. A naturopath told me ‘Make a list of all the things you CAN eat and post it on the fridge. That way, when you are hungry you will see all the available options, rather than all the things you need to avoid’. It was a lesson in perspective–food for thought, in every sense.

In recent years I’ve become very dedicated to my morning cup of coffee. Some days it seemed it was the only bright spot in the day, not that my life is horrible, it isn’t. But food and drink consumption has been a lifelong challenge and the bright spots are not always easy to come by. The siren call of morning coffee, however, seemed to take on an elevated need to satisfy. Why? I only have the one cup, and it is half-caf, that is half decaf beans and half normal beans, ground and steeped together for my morning joie-de-vivre. I even enjoy the ritual of making my pour-over coffee. In cold weather I sometimes have a second cup but it is all decaf. Yes, caffein has become something I am also sensitive to. More’s the pity. For me, coffee is a comfort. I have been drinking it since childhood, when Grandma would ask me if I wanted her to make me some of her ‘rat poison’ (instant coffee) and we would both giggle with devilish delight. She would make me a milky cup, sweet with sugar. My parents always had coffee in the mornings and so have I. Morning just doesn’t feel right without it.*

I try to understand these things but sometimes the full picture eludes me, until one day while I’m reading or listening or watching, another piece of the puzzle snaps into place. One such day happened this month, listening to the BBC Food Program about ‘comfort food’. Most people understand what that term means, but few of us would identify the same food(s) to describe it. Usually, comfort food is something that reminds you of childhood, of home, or of a special meal, person or place. Often, all of the above! For me, comfort food was Mom’s homemade stewed chicken and dumplings, pecan pie, pancakes, mashed potatoes with gravy and fried chicken…and also, milky coffee.

As I began listening to the podcast I wondered, ‘…am I going to be able to get through this?’…such was the intensity with which people recalled their comfort foods and why. Eating can be a personal pleasure for one, or hold even deeper meaning, going to the heart of family culture and tradition. Nearly all of the foods described are things I can no longer eat. But I persevered. Not one to accept a joyless diet gracefully, I am used to researching cooking methods, foods and recipes that can restore my joie while also feeding my family and friends. Recent efforts have, of course, been focused on foods without grains.

Continuing to listen, I realised my search was not only for nutritional reasons, I had also been searching for a new set of comfort foods. 

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Slow cooked chicken and vegetable soup

Many of the old comfort foods were just not possible to recreate satisfactorily with alternative ingredients that did not include grains, or flour, as we know it. Fried chicken made with almond meal just didn’t make the grade. However, stewed chicken like Mom used to make for eating with dumplings or noodles, made into ‘Zoodle Soup’ is pretty good. It is a slow cooked chicken and vegetable soup made with zucchini ‘noodles’ (‘zoodles’) or in my case, stick shapes cut on the mandolin slicer, because I didn’t want to have another gadget in my kitchen. The zoodles remind me of the way Mom would sometimes break spaghetti into shorter pieces for soups. The soup is savoury and wholesome and what you would want if you had a cold or flu. That’s the comfort test, isn’t it? When you are sad, or sick, what do you want to eat that makes you feel better?

Russian ‘Syrniki’ or ricotta pancakes were soon to be added to my repertoire.

IMG_0871

Russian-style Syrniki, ricotta pancakes with yogurt and berries

And an ersatz English-style Muffin fills the void, when I want a crispy vehicle for butter and jam.

IMG_0916

grain free English-style Muffin with cashew butter and plum jam

My greatest triumph so far has been French-style Apple Cake. It looks and tastes like my distant memory of the real deal, and everyone who has eaten it thinks it is delicious and special, as is its namesake.

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French-style Apple Cake

I realise I will never replicate the exact feeling of those old comfort foods because they are flavours that were established in the beginning of my life. But there is great pleasure, and comfort, in creating new dishes for this phase of my life.

So what do you want to eat that gives you comfort? Go on, I’m tough, hit me with it….

 

*(I have eliminated coffee several times over the years, once for three years, replacing with green, herbal or black tea and not found any health benefits.)

every trip has a story…

23 Saturday Jul 2016

Posted by in Family, Health, Travel

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We have been in the USA visiting and, hopefully, helping my Mother and immediate family for the last two and a half weeks. Our intentions were good, but our execution of the plan left a little to be desired. We had booked the trip 10 months ago when Qantas was having a good sale on Business class seats to the USA (two for 1!!). And at that time we had just returned from a trip there and it seemed like two weeks would be long enough. Erroneous thinking on many levels. We are left wondering what led us to this decision, so that we don’t repeat it.

qantas-retro-roo

Our Qantas 737 plane to Sydney, named Retro Roo, painted with old style livery

Mum was good when we got there, but two of the last three days of our visit she was in hospital with an unexpected urinary tract infection. Did you know that this is a very common ailment in the elderly? The doctor who spoke to us was very nice and further informed us how this effects elderly people, and to some extent why. I thought I would share it since you may have someone in your family that is in a similar situation.

The doctor said that elderly patients, in general, have ‘less reserves’ in their system, so when this infection establishes itself it often appears that the affected person is confused and dizzy. He went on to explain why this happens. When a person has a UTI, they feel as if they need to relieve themselves more often than normal, thus dehydrating them slightly. This dehydration effects the blood pressure, so that when they stand, they are dizzy, and often fall. The dehydration also effects the brain function, and people can seem slightly more confused or less sharp than normal. If this is someone who already has some dementia, it can seem somewhat normal, since people have good days and bad days with that as well.

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Members of Mum’s gardening group at the assisted living home.

In Mum’s case she had not really noticed the burning with the urination that is often the telltale symptom, and so she fell twice in three days while getting up in the night. We had spent all day with her both days, and she had not commented on symptoms, or seemed much out of the ordinary. In fact, we did not know about the first fall, until the second one happened. How this can happen in an assisted living place is a very long and involved story that has to do with patient consent and how the issue is reported etc. Regardless, it is just plain frustrating.

The second time Mum fell she was wearing her medical alert necklace, which has a motion detector on it. When it detects a fall, they try to contact the person. If the person is unresponsive, they send paramedics, which they did. Mum was unconscious so they took her to the hospital. They ran many tests and immediately established that she had the UTI and started antibiotics intravenously.

Through what can only be viewed as a snafu of ridiculous proportions (internet not working properly, phone not working, hotel not having us listed as registered guests, despite the fact we had been there for 10 nights already), no one was able to get word to us until we appeared at her apartment the following morning, to find her gone, but the dog there alone. The assisted living place was able to update us and that is when I learned of her fall three nights previously. None of the rest of the family even knew about that one, since she was not wearing the medical alert necklace that night (they are uncomfortable for sleeping and Mum had removed it)

Mum was very confused that day and the following day. It wasn’t helped by the fact that hospitals are lousy places to get any rest! We took her home on the second day, and after a night of sleep, and two days of antibiotics in her system, she was like a new person on the last day we saw her. We spent most of the day with her and then left for the airport to fly home to Australia.

qantas-first-sydney

Sometimes trips are good just to break you out of your normal routine

On the long haul flight coming home, heavy fog was predicted for Sydney, so our flight was diverted to Fiji for refuelling in case we had to fly around a bit before landing, or fly to a farther airport. So, 17 hours in the same seat on an airplane was a new record for us, and not one I care to challenge. The fog did not eventuate in Sydney, but farther up the coast.

Yesterday after we arrived home and went to the grocery, unpacked bags and made some dinner, I remarked “I’m sure I have some idea how Mum must feel when she is confused. My brain has the acuity of chocolate pudding.”

Mum is good and we are exchanging emails already. I am deliriously happy, having awakened in my own bed and now enjoying a really good cup of coffee. The brain is less pudding-y and more protoplasm-y this morning.

…connections, the gifts we give to ourselves

22 Sunday May 2016

Posted by in Food, Health, Life

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I have been thinking about connections.  Specifically, connections with people, as well as whatever else sustains us in our lives. These are the true gifts we give to ourselves.

What started my thought processes ticking over was a passage from a book I’m still reading called ‘Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life’ by Barbara Kingsolver. It is a rather lengthy quote, but has so much to offer.

“…cooking is good citizenship. It’s the only way to get serious about putting locally raised foods into your diet, which keeps farmlands healthy and grocery money in the neighborhood. Cooking and eating with children teaches them civility and practical skills they can use later on to save money and stay healthy, whatever may happen in their lifetimes to the gas-fueled food industry. Family time is at a premium for most of us, and legitimate competing interests can easily crowd out cooking. But if grabbing fast food is the only way to get the kids to their healthy fresh-air soccer practice on time, that’s an interesting call. Arterial-plaque specials that save minutes now can cost years, later on. Households that have lost the soul of cooking from their routines may not know what they’re missing: the song of a stir-fry sizzle, the small talk of clinking measuring spoons, the yeasty scent of rising dough, the painting of flavors onto a pizza before it slides into the oven. The choreography of many people working in one kitchen is, by itself, a certain definition of family, after people have made their separate ways home to be together. The nurturing arts are more than just icing on the cake, insofar as they influence survival. We have dealt to today’s kids the statistical hand of a shorter life expectancy than their parents, which would be us, the ones taking care of them. Our thrown-away food culture is the sole reason.”

Recently, against much hesitation, I took a leap of faith that I was hoping would yield the product of a bread I could eat again. My hesitation was about spending time trying to do something that seemed beyond my technical ability, and for perhaps not particularly brilliant results. After years of retraining myself not to eat bread and pasta, I wasn’t even certain my ‘care factor’ was strong enough to inspire the new efforts. I used to bake wheat bread many years ago, with only moderate success, and so I was not at all certain this was an endeavour to satisfy the rather high standards for my food. But back then I didn’t have the connection with blog friends and the internet to support me!

loaf three

loaf three

loaf one.

loaf one.

After years of not being able to digest wheat options in any form, except the tiniest amounts, bread I can eat is like a little miracle in my life. As the Universe often does, it conspired to support me. The author of a blog I follow has similar problems with similar foods to myself (FODMAPS, google it, it is not as uncommon as you would think). Through her diligence she developed a spelt sourdough starter, tested it, dried it and sent some to me, along with copious notes and instructions. After text messages and a phone call I got through making my first loaf.

It was very dense, not ideal, but it was edible.

The second loaf was more edible, as was the third. More research was required. More practice as well. The fourth loaf was a breakthrough, and the fifth loaf confirmed my skills. But after five weeks of trying, loaf six…was…brilliant (she said modestly).

gorgeous oven spring of loaf SIX!

gorgeous oven spring of loaf SIX!

I think I may be hooked. There is something so satisfying about taking flour, water and salt and making something to nourish one’s body, not to mention is a beautiful thing! It is the connection with our food that our culture has nearly lost. A few brave and dedicated souls, like Barbara Kingsolver and her family, Michael Pollan, the Slow Food Movement, and the entire population of France, are helping us see our way back again.

So, this gift of bread making is more than just a connection to my food. It is the practice of a lifelong source of joy—making something with my hands. And it is the return of another joy, eating, and sharing good bread. This, my friends is how we should give to ourselves. And this, my friends is my gift to you…the recipe 🙂

Perfect texture for sandwiches or toast
mixture of higher hydration dough–very soft and sticky
after proving overnight
the joy of toast and butter

More resources if you wish to make your own connection with sourdough bread making: figjamandlimecordial; pleasepasstherecipe; zebbakes

a few quiet days…the magic fix

04 Wednesday May 2016

Posted by in Food, Health

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As some of you know I have been labouring under the effects of a nasty virus for weeks. In retrospect we think it was the flu, not just a cold. Late in the third week I took a turn for the worse–again, and pushing up against the long weekend I decided to do something desperately different to see if I could recover. I stopped. Well, my version of stopping.

I had just done a major grocery shopping trip and so I had food for the duration of the long weekend. Fortunately it was food that didn’t take loads of prep time and energy. My husband cooked salmon on the barbeque (grill) and we had simple vegetables with it. I made the leftover salmon into a delicious Nicoise style salad the next day. I made chicken breasts in the slow cooker according to my cousin’s recipe and again, it was simple but delicious. An eggplant recipe from my friend Sandra’s blog was deceptively easy and tasty. I slow cooked a pork scotch fillet roast and more simple vegetables. And for a couple of days we had the leftover meats recycled into salads and with more simple vegetables.

carrots and zucchini sauteed with thyme and butter
Salmon Nicoise style salad
Sandra’s eggplant

And I rested in between.

I’m not good at doing nothing. Everyone who knows me understands that about me. So let me explain what I did not do, so you will appreciate that what I did do was quiet time. I didn’t sweep or mop the floors. I didn’t sweep the outside areas, or work in the garden as I had planned. I didn’t go for my daily walks or do anything but a few stretches on a couple of mornings, when I felt like it. The other mornings I did nothing.

And rested in between.

Quiet activities included, reading, minimal cooking, a bit of washing and ironing in a very leisurely manner, and folding. I discovered a new book by Marie Kondo called Sparking Joy: An Illustrated Masterclass on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up . She teaches you how to fold things for more efficient use of space and care of garments. So at several intervals, with rests in between, I dragged things from shelves and folded. I had already done the onerous task of discarding, so the folding and stacking was a finishing stage. Minimal effort for maximum satisfaction.

And rest.

For ten minutes one morning I trimmed the bay tree of this year’s supply of beautiful leaves, so that I could dry them for the coming year of cooking.IMG_8100

And then rested.

Not surprisingly, I improved each day. The head finally cleared, the chest congestion began to go, and the ache in my back began to subside. I am nearly well again. The final bit of therapy was the making of Gluten Free Double Chocolate Chip Buckwheat cookies. If only I’d known that was the magic fix I would have tried that first 🙂

Chewy, gooey goodness, with Grandma's ice cream scoop in background

Chewy, gooey goodness, with Grandma’s ice cream scoop in background

my experience with a personal trainer

11 Thursday Feb 2016

Posted by in Health

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I’ve cleaned our house for years, not because I love cleaning, but because I love a clean and orderly place in which to live. And when it comes to exercise, it is not much different. I don’t love exercise, but I love an orderly and responsive working body!

Back in September of 2015, I started working with a personal trainer. We hit it off right away. The reason I sought her out is because I have Fibromyalgia* (since 1999) and a 62 year old body, which is not improving in condition. Despite my frequent walks and more or less consistent sit-ups, yoga and stretches, I could tell things were going in a negative direction strength-wise. I’m not ready to deal with an increasing number of preventable aches and pains or sit in a chair and wait to die.

I thought perhaps if I shared a bit about this experience with you it might be of some value. We all have weaknesses in our bodies. I don’t dwell on mine, just accept they are there and try to work with what I’ve got. I knew when I needed help, and that I had reached the end of my limited knowledge of yoga, aerobic exercise, and physical therapy exercises, all of which have actually helped me maintain a reasonable level of flexibility…but not strength. I just didn’t know where to go to get the help.

Gym ball doubles as office chair, floor doubles as exercise studio

Gym ball doubles as office chair, floor doubles as exercise studio

The fact that the nerve cells get overly excited with any kind of unusual movement means that most exercise classes and trainers who believe you have to ‘push through the pain’ are completely inappropriate for me. An added difficulty is, when supplementing new movements to my exercise regime I need to do them very nearly every single day for months before the muscles finally ‘remember’ the movement and don’t get sore when I skip a couple of days and then start up again, which is inevitable in life. I needed a trainer who understood all of this and could help me work with the abilities I have. As seems to be my current, very good relationship with the Universal Energies, Alexandra appeared in my life! She is a qualified ‘C.H.E.K.’(Corrective, Holistic, Exercise, Kinesiology) trainer, which is a particular protocol that tries to balance one’s movement with diet, sleep and chi, appropriately tailored to individual needs and goals. I filled out several hours’ of paperwork, and a 10 day diet diary at the beginning, so that she could evaluate my needs. Also I read a couple of books she suggested so that I could better understand her approach, but she tells me not everyone is amenable to the books, and that is okay too. 

Having worked on diet, sleep hygiene and some moderate physical movement for years, most areas of concern are in pretty good shape. We reviewed them and made minor changes. For the physical movement, however, we started with a whole new program of stretches and strength training. The stretches were specifically targeted to correct certain problems with back and groin pain, and began to help immediately. We are talking very targeted movements here. She started me with very low level core strength training and we began building. I was going great until November when my right knee didn’t like a particular move we tried and swelled up, and then in December my left foot had a problem and again recently the groin and back pain tried a resurgence. So we backed things up and did some remedial work. Such was the benefit I experienced with the core strength exercises and stretches, I pushed myself to continue doing what I could even while finishing the photo challenge—all very challenging indeed.

We are into 6 months of training now and I am pleased with the areas already improved. I can’t say enough good things about the process, even though I still don’t like exercise! I do stretches and strength building for about 25 minutes each day, and I take a walk. All up, the time invested is about 1hr to 1 1/4 hours a day. And now I am able to take one day a week off without the muscles reacting too badly. In fact a day of rest about once a week has proved to be very helpful…and normal.

2 kg free weights resting on yoga mat

2 kg free weights resting on my yoga mat

The cost and time investment are things most people, including me, think about when considering a ‘personal trainer’. It sounds so exclusive and, one assumes, expensive. Alexandra and I have only had about 6 one hour sessions (in addition to the initial consult) in the six month period. Partly, that is because I do the work. If I have questions she answers me via email, but would come if I needed her to. She visits me at home, tests my levels of accomplishment with the recent program, and supervises the new moves to replace ones I have mastered. A couple of days later she follows up with a pictorial summary of the updated program. All for $80 a session. The initial consult which took two hours, and for her, even more time afterward, cost $120. I have invested $100 in a gym ball, which now doubles as my computer ‘chair’, and is great for my back, and some graduated free weights which cost less than $60. It is very affordable, especially when considering the costs of going to the physical therapist and chiropractor which I haven’t needed since we started. In addition, my posture is improved, I feel stronger and, in the occasional instance where my old problems recur, the experience is brief and less intense than previous episodes. Usually I only miss one day of training and am back into it the next day with no pain.

I doubt I will ever love exercise. I have come to that realisation. I know it would be good for me to do more, like I know it would be good for me to never eat sugar again. But there’s a limit to these things.

(*Fibromyalgia is a muscle condition where the nerve cells become overstimulated very easily and cause a variety of symptoms. In my case if I overdo it, I ache all over and feel as if I’m coming down with the flu. There is an element of depression, too, which, thankfully I’ve only had to deal with a few times, but the symptoms vary with the individual. Also, most people who have Fibromyalgia also have food sensitivities, as do I)

In My Kitchen – June 2014

01 Sunday Jun 2014

Posted by in Food, Health, photography

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three siblings

three siblings

This little family is growing. It seemed the original two on the left, wanted a sibling. Can you see the family resemblance? If we find space in the cup cupboard, we may have to add a fourth.

 

 

Also, this month, there was an unexpected guest that came calling around dinner time.

I saw him, from my kitchen window but didn’t invite him to tea…inhospitable though it may seem. A deadly Western Brown snake may not eat much, but they can certainly ruin a meal!

Trapped in the top of the spa cover

Trapped in the top of the spa cover

This was a baby, but they are still deadly. The snake handler came and captured it, to be released out bush. We’ve had a few of them over the years, the largest of which was IN the house. We are grateful for good snake handling services here.

Most of the kitchen activities at the moment are focused around a food elimination diet I’ve needed to pursue. Don’t the food Gods know I’m part of the IMK group and still need to eat well?? A challenge is usually a good thing, and my challenge has been to enjoy life and eat well, despite the elimination program. A recent post explains a little further, if you care to read here.

soaking blanched almonds

soaking blanched almonds

 

 

It’s not my first brush with food tolerance issues, so I do have some skills in this area. Keeping one’s diet simple and pure is really the challenge. Being able to make things like almond milk, to replace dairy, and mayonnaise to replace the store bought one, have both been necessary. Though the first almond milk recipe was rather ghastly, I learned an important thing. When you soak the blanched almonds, drain and rinse them. Don’t be tempted to use the water in which they’ve soaked to make the milk. Bleah. The recipe said to do this and even when I used bottled water the taste was still rather bitter. That’s because the bitterness leaches out of the almonds when you soak them. Duh. The stuff nearly drove me to quit drinking coffee–but I’m stubbornly holding on to my one cup a day! The recipe I later adopted and slightly modified to my liking is here. It doesn’t moo, but it’s not bad.

Tuna with homemade mayo and wasabi paste

Tuna with homemade mayo and wasabi paste

The mayonnaise was such a fast and magical creation I forgot to photograph the process, but I have just learned that Celia has a very similar recipe and post, complete with photos, so I will refer you back to her for that one. It sure beats the old, laborious way of making mayonnaise! Who thinks up these things? Home cooks like us??

Avo n eggs

Avo n eggs

Walnuts, almonds, macadamias

Walnuts, almonds, macadamias

'ave an Avo!

‘ave an Avo!

 

 

 

 

While leaving out a number of entire food groups it is wise to pay careful attention to the intake of whole food fats, as well as healthy vegetables and proteins. So we consume nuts. Such a burden, but someone has to keep the nut industry healthy. We do our part. I like to spread the support around, so I help the avocado industry as well.

'deli' dinner, marinated beets, dill pickle, olives with fresh lemon zest, and homemade paté

‘deli’ dinner, marinated beets, dill pickle, olives with fresh lemon zest, and homemade paté

I love paté, and, made properly, it is good for you; but I can’t eat the commercially prepared ones so I bought chicken livers and made my own. So nice! We had a ‘deli dinner’ one evening, with homemade paté.

Gelatinised bone broth

Gelatinised bone broth

Our wonderful butcher who provides grass fed beef loves to cut anything to suit your needs, so we had the most delicious slow cooked beef ribs you can imagine. And the neck bones they had made a delicious bone broth— look at that gelatine! (very good for the tummy!)

Crock pot Chicken

Crock pot Chicken

My favourite stewed, slow cooked chicken has been on the menu twice. Organic, free range chicken is just so tender and delicious. I use the broth to make vegetable soup, and put a few pieces of chicken in the top of it for a delicious and nutritious autumn meal.

Grilled salmon and broccoli

Grilled salmon and broccoli

Pssssst, you have to promise not to tell anyone… I’m sharing with you my very special secret to cooking salmon fillets on the grill. Fresh salmon with stir-fried or steamed vegetables is one of our favourite meals. Thanks for stopping by.

Life is good. And Celia’s monthly hosting of In My Kitchen posts, makes it better. Have a look here at some of the other kitchens around the world.

–Ardys

 

One for the road

24 Saturday May 2014

Posted by in Food, Health

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I am on a journey at the moment. It’s not the kind I usually take you on. It is one of those we would prefer not to take, truth be told. But if we can somehow get perspective on these things Life throws at us, it makes the journey, if not easier, at least not wasted. So I’ve put my big girl panties on. I’ve had health issues all my life that were difficult to categorise. Not the very grim kind, mostly, but the kind that Modern Medicine doesn’t know much about; the kind with which one has to grapple, or suffer the consequences. Suffering implies misery. I don’t want misery; so I grapple!

Coconut milk with chia seeds, pecans and berries

Coconut milk with chia seeds, pecans and berries

The challenge I’m dealing with at the moment is food related. This is the third elimination diet in the last 20 years. Each time was for different symptoms and each time it did work for a period of time. Always there is a steep learning curve. But our bodies, like our lives, don’t stand still. They change, and so we must change how we look after them. I have made it my business to read a lot of health material over the years, to educate myself, and take some responsibility for helping myself; because goodness knows the medical specialists have had little to offer.

We are all works in progress.

Ghost gum

Ghost gum

 

 

I don’t want to bore you with physiological and nutritional details. It fills the volumes I have read and continue to read. But you may be curious, what I have learned so far, this time around.

  • We humans are extremely creative and adaptable when sufficiently prodded, er… motivated.
  • Prepare high quality foods in simple ways, instead of poor quality foods with sauces, bells and whistles.
  • My little problems are nothing. There are people with huge Life challenges. Mine are small.
  • I have a pile of new recipes. (which I have shared in past posts and will continue to share)
  • Not all almond milk is created equally! (My homemade recipe here)
  • If it even needs to be said, the Internet is a fantastic resource.
  • A fun diversion as a break from the challenge is helpful. Mine has been a photography course. Of which, hopefully, you will be the beneficiary!

stir-fried celery, snow peas and almonds with egg ribbons

stir-fried celery, snow peas and almonds with egg ribbons

Since January I have revamped our diet, mostly mine, but my husband is wonderfully flexible with most of it. To the outside observer, there was nothing wrong with my diet before. It was pretty darned healthy. But what is healthy for one, can be problematic for another.

I had experienced considerable improvement in a couple of areas, but one thing remained a problem. The areas in my body where I have arthritis, mostly my lower back, were quite sore and aching. Through my reading I learned that sometimes dairy can cause inflammation. Having exhausted most of the things I knew to try, and prayed to the great Jersey Cow God with no response, I decided to make one more big change and see what happened. Within a week of purging dairy from my diet much of the soreness and aching abated. It continued to improve the second week. I have two weeks yet to go before I can try to reintroduce certain dairy items to my diet to see if the inflammation returns… or not. We prefer not, of course, but we shall see.

Unfortunately this period of time coincided with my birthday. What does one do to remain on track but still cut loose a bit?

grilled salmon and stir fried vegetables

grilled salmon and stir fried vegetables

One has delicious salmon cooked on the barbecue grill plate (by one’s husband, preferably), with perfectly stir fried vegetables to accompany. Okay, I made the veggies.

birthday bubbles

birthday bubbles

One has a single glass of one’s favourite bubbles.

 

 

 

And One has a birthday banana.

toasted pecans and banana

toasted pecans and banana

No party or cake or further celebration required; a single, gorgeous banana, arranged beautifully on a small French plate with toasted pecans. Four months without a banana was enough. Let them eat cake, I’ll have more bananas, please.

And one for the road.

 

Why we have eyes

12 Wednesday Feb 2014

Posted by in Family, Health, Inspiration, People

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We have eyes to see, of course.  But what do we see?  As I was going through the grocery store this morning I could see that some of the veggies were a bit passed their prime.  I could see the ‘use by’ date on the dairy products, that there was no fish I particularly fancied, which of the sun-dried tomatoes looked best to me.  I could see the potential danger in the display that hung out in the aisle a little too far, as well as the young woman stocking the shelves, who smiled at me.

It’s true I could have ascertained most of these things if I was blind, or had no eyes.  I could use my other senses, or ask someone to help.  But I would have missed the woman’s smile, regardless.

A few weeks ago my dear 86 year old Mother was recovering from her second eye surgery in four months.  She has glaucoma, a disease that runs in our family. She had been told more than a year previously that the condition was worsening and she would need to consider eye surgery, if she was to retain her vision.  At the time she was caring for our Dad and couldn’t even contemplate the ‘down time’ to have the surgery, nor was it quite called for yet.  But soon after he died, she was told there was no time to waste.  The pressure in her eyes had soared and the doctor said the only option was the surgery.  Imagine, in her grief and fragile state of mind, what it was like to contemplate surgery on her eyes… the windows on her radically changed world.

At first she actually wavered about putting herself through what she knew would be yet another difficult challenge.  And then, suddenly, she changed her mind and decided to go ahead.  The first surgery went fine but the recovery was more difficult than she anticipated.  Three months on and the doctor pronounced her well, and scheduled the surgery for the second eye.  As she was recovering from it, a less invasive procedure than the first one, she wrote me an email (a feat in itself, only a few days out from the surgery).  It was short, but said so much…  “I got this surgery so I could see you when I tell you I love you.”

If there is a better reason for us having eyes, I don’t know it.

Mum and I learning to use her new iPad.

Mum and I learning to use her new iPad.

xx Ardys