Nice to see you!

Three major events occurred for me last year (2010), all in the space of about 2 weeks. I turned 50. The following day I got married. Two weeks later, my oldest daughter became pregnant with her first child and my first grandchild.

Most middle-aged people will tell you that in their minds, they still feel 20 something. It's the same for me.

Wasn't it only yesterday that I was planning a night out with guys from the surf club? That gorgeous new perm. Flaired, cuffed denims and the red t-shirt with the off-the-shoulder frill. Corked platform wedgies. **sigh**

Suddenly I'm looking in the mirror and wondering how 30 years can flash by so damned quickly!

So here I am in cyberspace, sharing my genuine shock and horror with anyone who'll listen and maybe I'll even meet some other over 50s who find themselves in the same predicament!

Welcome to my dilemna!!

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Christmas Lights

Our first Christmas here, in 2008, we began a collection of Christmas lights.

Our plan was to add to it every year until we had a spectacular Christmas display that would be on a 'must see' list every year, for the Christmas light fanatics.

Last year, we didn't even put a tree up.  No decorations.  No lights.  A non-event Christmas ... followed by a destructive tornado!

This year, Adoring Husband pulled all of the decorations out of the shed, only to discover that, after 5 years, some of them had disintegrated, as had the plastic attachments that held them to the roof.

So we've had to replace some of the lights, as well as buy a couple of extras.

We got some solar powered candy canes for the path and some solar powered fairy lights to drape over the Geisha Girl shrub in the centre of the front garden.

We also got quite a tall green Christmas tree that glows and flickers green lights.


It looks very Christmassy!

Our tradition for Christmas dinner is to have seafood.  Lots of it.  Crabs and prawns and fish and calamari, as well as the traditional ham and salads.

In Australia, it's too hot in December to have a cooked dinner ... you know, turkey and vegetables and pie, not an option in our house.

So our seafood is ordered.  Our ham is in the fridge.  Our lights are hung.  Our tree is up.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Nite all.

Friday, December 6, 2013

Friday Night

You know the drill.  Friday night.

All I've had to eat today is a medium popcorn at the movies.

We watched "The Hunger Games - Catching Fire."

Great movie!

With an ending that has us hungry for more!!

An unlucky night at the Club tonight.  3 glasses of wine and no wins.

That means .. time for bed.

Tomorrow night, I will take a photo of our Christmas lights at the front of the house - we added to our collection today.

Last year, we didn't even put decorations up for Christmas ... this year, we are making up for it.

Nite all.

Thursday, December 5, 2013

I Did It!!

At last!  My desk is clear!  It took me about an hour, but now it is clean and shiny and white again.  My brain feels clearer and tidier and ready to embark on some long blog posts.

I currently have a giant pot of prawn stock on the boil - almost ready to strain and pack into the freezer.

I also have the slow cooker simmering away with about 6 chicken frames, making a big batch of stock.


Yesterday's batch of bone broth has been packed away.  First, I scooped the layer of fat off the top and stored it in the fridge to use for cooking.  Hmmmm yum.

Bone broth.  Who knew that it was so good for you?

I don't recall my grandparents making bone broth - but I do remember reading about bone broth in period novels, set in England and Ireland.  My memory recalls that bone broth was fed to anyone with an illness.

Here is what I've learned about bone broth in the last week ...

1.  Bone broth is excellent for your joint health.

The health of your joints depends upon the health of the collagen in your ligaments, tendons, and on the ends of your bones. Collagens are a large family of biomolecules, which include the glycosaminoglycans, very special molecules that help keep our joints healthy.

Bone broth is loaded with glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). You've heard of Glucosamine?  Yep, those supplements that everyone is taking for joint health contain one of the GAGs we get from consuming bone broth.

This is why Real Food is better than supplementation…

Notice I said that glucosamine is just one of the GAGs contained in bone broth?  When you consume broth you also get chondroitin, hyaluronic acid, and a bunch of other equally important GAGs.

The best part is that the GAGs we get from bone broth are resistant to digestion and are absorbed in their intact form. These intact GAGs like hormones, stimulate cells called fibroblasts which lay down collagen in the joints, tendons, ligaments, and even the arteries.

It’s truly powerful stuff!

2.  Bone broth heals your gut.

We all experience some kind of gastrointestinal challenge at some time in our lives .. especially as we get older — constipation, diarrhea, food sensitivities, leaky gut, or even autoimmune disease.

One of the most vital nutrients for healing the gut is gelatin.

There was a time when gelatin was the most studied nutrient under the sun for all of its healing virtues. 

Times have certainly changed.

The intestinal lining is supposed to be permeable in order for nutrients to pass through. However, this lining can become too permeable due to lifestyle factors such as poor diet, stress, long-term contraceptive use, as well as bacterial and fungal overgrowths.

This is how leaky gut — or gut hyperpermeability — works. Undigested food particles can slip through the gut lining and pass directly into the bloodstream.  When this happens, the immune system freaks out and starts attacking the very foods you eat — we call these food sensitivities.

Over time, this can turn into an autoimmune issue by which your immune system thinks your thyroid — or any other tissue, for that matter — looks like the piece of steak molecule it’s been fighting off for the past few years, and your body starts to attack itself.

According to some, autoimmunity will soon be the number one cause of death. Gut hyperpermeability is a big reason why.

The gelatin in bone broth fills the excess holes in the gut lining, a bit like silly putty!  It should be part of any gut-healing protocol.



3.  Bone broth is excellent for your hair, skin and nails.

I know people who, in a quest to recapture a youthful appearance, will pay top dollar for products that boost collagen — also the main constituent of hair, skin, and nails.

As we age, production of collagen declines and we start to see the outward signs of aging.

Botox — a drug made from a toxin produced by the bacterium clostridium botulinum — is all the craze for the reduction of lines and wrinkles.

In my opinion, it's weird that people choose to inject that into their bodies .. and it's expensive!

Personally, I’d much rather prepare and consume bone broth to keep my skin, hair, and nails looking fabulous than have a toxin injected into my face.

But that’s just me.

4.  Bone broth helps remove toxins.

The liver is the master organ of detoxification, but it was never intended to withstand the very toxic, chemical nature of today’s world.

The liver is under assault on a daily basis, and its capacity to detoxify is limited by the availability of the amino acid glycine.

Guess where you can get tons of glycine from? Bone broth!

For now, forget about all the fancy detox programs you’ve heard about.  Do your liver a favor by giving it what it needs to do its job most effectively.

Get down to your butcher and grab yourself a stack of beef bones (they are surprisingly inexpensive) and simmer them away with some veggies and some apple cider vinegar (which helps draw out the good stuff).  Simmer on low for about 12 hours to get the best out of them.

******

Adoring Husband and I have been discussing getting a bigger freezer.

We have a small upright freezer and two fridges with freezers attached, but all of them are absolutely chock-a-block full of soups, stocks, stewed fruits, home-made ice creams, gravies, sauces, pestos, meats and garden vegetables.

I will struggle to find space for the stocks that I'm making today.

I need to stay out of the kitchen for a while and we need to use up what's in the freezers!

Nite all.

  

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Big Plans

Well, yes, I had big plans for tonight's blog post, but time got away from me, so I'm afraid it's another short and sweet effort.

 A couple of black and white shots from the wedding last month...




I still haven't tidied my work area and I think it's having an effect on my brain!  Messy work space, messy brain.  Just can't seem to get my act together.  Perhaps I should seriously dedicate tomorrow morning to creating a more user friendly work space ... no more procrastinating!!

I won the flickr challenge for the second month in a row for 'Vertical Landscape' with this photo.


My self esteem is suitably boosted (which is the prize for each challenge).

'The Nikonian' won the other challenge (One of the 7 Deadly Sins), also for the second month in a row!

We are on a roll!

Now I have to think of a theme for December's challenge.  I'm off to find my thinking cap.

Nite all.




Tuesday, December 3, 2013

So Interesting!

I spent all day in the kitchen today, cooking up a storm!

Real bone broth ... still simmering away, after 14 hours.  I'll keep it going til tomorrow morning, so it will be 24 hours.  All that marrow and deliciousness oozing it's way into the broth.  Yummy!

I also slow roasted a rolled beef and made some real gravy out of the juices.

I used the old tomatoes in the fridge, some red capsicum, onion, two chillies and a little kombucha to make a spicy tomato sauce.  I got 3 containers out of the batch, so froze two of them and will use the third tomorrow.

I made 3 containers of Coriander Pesto.  It's full of brazil nuts, pine nuts and pepitas, as well as lemon juice and macadamia oil, plus loads of organic coriander.

I cooked a batch of chocolate brownies, but unfortunately I got distracted and left them in the oven a little longer than I should have, so they're a bit dry .. but still taste great with strawberries and whipped full cream!

Last, but not least, was a batch of Chocolate Coconut Truffles.  I was very impressed to get a batch of 45 truffles (the recipe stated 36), which I hope will last a while .. although Adoring Husband might have his eyes on them, since he didn't buy any of his special chocolate this week.

Tomorrow, I have 2kgs of chicken frames to make up a batch of chicken stock, but other than that, I will focus on photos and editing .. I still haven't finished editing the wedding photos .. so slack of me!

In the meantime, I found this video today, which was made three years ago and is still very relevant today.  Dr Oz has even supported this theory and I have always been a firm believer in eating your way to good health and curing some diseases this way.

The video runs for almost 25 minutes, but is very interesting!  I wouldn't share it if I didn't think it was worth your while.



I've enjoyed early bedtimes for three nights in a row now and have slept soundly for about 7 hours each night (unheard of for me, for about 8 years - since my mother passed away in 2005).

I've also enjoyed waking up earlier and getting a few chores done before I go for my ride to the Seat of Knowledge.

I'm feeling great, and although my back struggled with standing on the tiled kitchen floor for so many hours today, a few 20 minute breaks in between each recipe, helped, and right now I am pain free, so I'm very happy with that!

It looks like tonight will be another early night!

Nite all.

Monday, December 2, 2013

Birthday Boy

Tonight was a celebration.  Happy Harry's 70th birthday!


We were a group of friends gathered together at the local pub, to share his day.  Friendships that have developed over only a short period of time but have already endured heartbreaks and enjoyed celebrations, all of which, create strong bonds.

Happy Harry is a favourite because of his big heart and his warm and generous nature, not to mention his cheeky sense of humour.  He is always a gentleman.

WE LOVE YA HAPPY HARRY!!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Nite all.


Sunday, December 1, 2013

Cooking up a Storm

After a fantastic breakfast at the Lions Park, by the river, catching up with old friends, I pedalled home, hard against a strong head wind so that I could get started in the kitchen.

I made the nutty seedy bread that I've been dying to try for a couple of weeks.

It's very heavy and very nutty and seedy.

I waited, as per instructions, until it had cooled to room temperature before cutting and then I slathered butter on it to taste ... very nice ... then I added some raw honey ... delicious.  Tomorrow I will try it with avocado.  I'll also attempt to toast it and see what happens.

The bread making took about 4 hours and it's not your regular crusty bread with a soft fluffy centre.

In between times, I made some more of my magic muesli for Adoring Husband.

For lunch I fried up some zucchini fritters.

For dinner, chicken breast with chilli paste and onion, baked on a bed of orange slices.  To accompany the chicken, potato mash with raw onion, broccoli, cabbage and kale chips on the side.

I still have quite a pile of recipes to try tomorrow.

Last night, I stayed awake til 2.30am watching Australia win the Rugby League World Cup final against New Zealand.  It was played in England, hence the stupid time that I was watching it!

So after my poor sleep over my three days away, and then last night's effort, my body is definitely starting to feel it tonight.

As soon as I sign off here, I will be climbing into bed for an 'earlier than usual' night.

One photo from the weekend away.  The lovely 'Woman of Many Talents' ...


I hope to spend some time tomorrow, finishing off the wedding photos and starting on our 'Lady's Christmas Party' shots.

... and it's "Goodnight" from me.

Nite all.

Hi Honey! I'm Home!

It's good to be home and I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight.

Unfortunately I had a nap this afternoon, so it's almost 1am and I think I'm almost ready for bed now.

A good time was had by all on our lady's trip away.

Of course, what happens on the Sunny Coast, STAYS on the Sunny Coast!

You can know that we shopped til we dropped, drank til we were done, ate til we were full, bopped to the music, had a little flutter and laughed til we almost peed our pants.

We were especially excited last night, while eating dinner at the Surf Club, to learn that one of our husbands back home, had a MASSIVE win on the Keno!

We had a great time away, but we were all looking forward to coming home again.

It was a rainy drive home and the day has been very grey, but as the sun was setting, some cloud cleared and produced a lovely sunset ...


Adoring Husband has spent the day hanging Christmas decorations and setting up the Christmas tree, so it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in our house.

Tomorrow, I hope to share some holiday snaps.

Right now, I need to go to bed.

Nite all.