I'm lazy and selfish and spend too much time on the internet. I love to be creative with photography and jewellery and sketching with pencil and pastels. I'm happier now than I have ever been and I love everything about my life ... where I live, my home, my fantastic grown up children, my lifestyle, my friends, my dogs and last but not least my wonderful adoring husband. Life is good!
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!
Had a great night at the Woodgate Bowls Club tonight.
Twenty two of us caught the barge over the river to Walker's Point, where the Woodgate Bowls Club buses were awaiting our arrival and drove us to the Bowl's Club for dinner.
I had a Club salad with Salmon and it was the most delicious salad and salmon that I have ever tasted. So fresh and crisp and the dressing was 'to die for'.
I had a pretty lucky night on the Keno and the Pokies and Adoring Husband got to dance on the dance floor with one of our friends who enjoys dancing as much as him.
Mardi and Lady Lynn xxx
Lady Lynn, Happy Harry, Adoring Husband and I all walked home when the barge dropped us off. On the way, we came upon a young man standing on the roadside with all of his fishing gear in his hands, staring at the road.
When we took a close look, he was watching a very large crab sitting on the driveway of a house, so Happy Harry decided to pick it up - the young man didn't want the crab - in the process, the crab lost a claw, which I confiscated, and Happy Harry took the rest of the crab.
I plan on having crab claw for breakfast tomorrow morning. Yummo!
We had a really good time tonight - as we always do on the boat trips across the river. It was a good crowd of people and we have The Lifesaver to thank for this one.
Anyway, it's been fun, but it's time for bed now as it's creeping up to midnight.
Interesting Science #1 - I discovered this interesting snippet of information today. Information that everybody should know about! If you choose to read it, read to the end ...
Interesting Science #2 - Science is making a fact abundantly clear: our genetics do not determine our health fate.
In fact, genetics don't even determine which genes our cells express (meaning which ones are turned on, and therefore control the proteins being produced by the machinery in our cells). Environment does. The field of research that is broadening understanding of how environment controls which genes are turned on or off in our bodies is called "epigenetics", a term roughly meaning "outside of our genes".
The signals to our epigenome begin even before conception. In fact, your parents' environments, even as children, affect your epigenome. Yes, the epigenome is inheritable. But, it's also dynamic and at any one time represents the sum total of the environmental influences experienced by your cells to date (from conception to present), with the current environment exerting the strongest impact.
Studies show that genes account for only 10-30% of our risk for disease, while the other 70-90% comes from our environment. The reason for this is how our environment affects our genes (or rather which genes are turned on or off by affecting our epigenetics).
Environmental factors that impact your epigenome include:
-the foods you eat
-the foods you don't eat
-nutrient status (whether or not you're deficient in certain nutrients)
-whether you smoke
-alcohol
-toxin exposure
-environmental or pharmaceutical hormone exposure
-medications and drugs
-exercise
-your social and family networks
-stress
-infections (current and past)
And as you can see, most of these are things you can control. We are starting to understand that those things that correlate with better health (getting enough sleep, managing stress, being active, having tight social and family networks, not taking medications or being exposed to toxins, not smoking, not drinking, eating a nutrient-dense diet including lots of veggies) achieve their benefits to health via positive changes to our epigenetics.
Epigenetics are why, when you change your diet and move your body, you feel better, lose weight, and reverse risk factors for things like cardiovascular disease. Epigenetics are why we can put autoimmune disease into remission with strategies like the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol.
And here's what's most exciting - because our epigenetics are inheritable, we get to pass on the benefits of our good choices to our children and their children and beyond.
Epigenetics show us that WE are who determine our health fates.
I LOVE 'Epigenetics' - I think I'll study that next!! At least I'll put it on my list of things to study!
We shopped til we dropped, or perhaps we shopped til we were broke!
We met the Wippell's truck in Pialba and collected our organic meat order.
We went into Office Works so that I could buy a $4 lever arch folder and came out with over $60 worth of gear. Oh how I love you Office Works.
We went into Go Natural for some chook food and came out with chook food and two bags of other goodies.
We went into Nana's Pantry for some coconut oil and some nuts and came out with quite a bit more than that.
We went into Stocklands for some dog food ingredients and came out with a trolley load of groceries, some flowers, a set of stainless steel saucepans and a scarf.
The saucepans that I have now were acquired from the prize cabinet at the Griffith ExServicemen's Club in 2003. They have done their time and I'm excited to now own a new set of delicious, good quality cookware.
We went into Harvey Normans to price a food processor (because mine is almost 12 years old and it's clip attachment decided to snap off yesterday!) and came out with a very large box with a very lovely processor that even has built in scales!
My food processor and blender are probably the two kitchen gadgets that I use almost daily, so the old one has had a damned good run. The new one has big shoes to fill!
Finally, we picked up our FROG box on the way home.
Needless to say, our car was chocka-block full to the brim by the time we arrived home.
We drank a cup of bone broth before we left home this morning and then each had a coffee at about midday and that was it all day. We both still had plenty of energy by the end of the day and after I unpacked our loot, I cooked up some chicken and salad for Adoring Husband before he set off for SES training and I had a bunch of grapes. My body is so well nourished, I still have plenty of energy tonight. It's a good feeling.
Tomorrow I'm going to groom the dogs (yes, I know, I've been meaning to do that all week!) and then I'm going to spend some time in the kitchen to christen my new food processor! Woot! Woot!
There is nothing like a bit of retail therapy to rejuvenate the mind :) and now I'm watching one of my favourite movies (in my top 5 list) "Dances With Wolves", so ...
I have the 'before' and 'after' photos of my work area.
We spent the morning doing some much needed housework and washing today and then the afternoon catching up on some more of the series of 'Nurse Jackie' that we've recorded.
Tomorrow will be a day of shopping and picking up our organic FROG fruit and vegetables as well as our big organic meat order. I guess I'll be spending the afternoon and evening packing everything away!
The funeral of June Wallis, who was murdered by her husband, our local baker, on 22nd March.
I knew her husband a little better than I knew June, but I still considered her a close acquaintance.
She was only 32 years of age and was a happy, warm and friendly member of our community. Her crazy laugh could often be heard bubbling through the bakery doors.
June adored her children and family, and horses were her great passion. The presentation slide show of her life was full of photographs from her childhood and 95% of them contained at least one horse! What she didn't know about horses was not worth knowing. She was the local horse 'go to' guru.
AH and I estimated that there were more than 300 people who attended today's celebration of June's life and so many of us wore bright colours for that celebration which, I must say, was quite uplifting!
As people arrived with flowers, the ushers took them to the front of the church where there was a large stage and lay them along the front of it. By the time the funeral commenced, it was a sea of colour.
After we were all seated in this very large church - more like an arena - the casket was carried down the centre aisle, with her father, affectionately known as Wal, as lead pall bearer and I swear I could hear hearts shattering as we watched this broken man carry his baby to her final farewell. The physical pain that I felt was palpable and I struggled to hold it together. There were many who clearly did not hold it together.
Luckily, the friend with whom I sat, had spare tissues, because I forgot to take any.
When they placed the casket at the front of the church, they lay June's saddle and other horse riding paraphernalia upon it.
I'm not sure that you could call it a 'service' today. There were no prayers or hymns or scriptures, but simply beautiful words written by the family members telling the story of June's life and how she affected theirs. Incredibly moving and emotional.
Part way through, we were all invited to step forward to relate any stories that we wanted to share. I don't think there was a single person there with the emotional strength to publicly speak.
We listened to some of June's favourite music while people made their way to where ushers were holding baskets of gum leaves and each person selected a gum leaf to place upon the casket and embraced each member of the family to offer their condolences.
As heart breaking as that was to watch, the love in that church was overwhelming. You could feel it, it was tangible and like two giant arms wrapping around all of us.
An hour after the funeral began, we all followed Wal and the other pall bearers as they carried June's casket out to the waiting hearse.
It really was a beautiful celebration and a credit to the family for bringing it all together under such trying circumstances.
I know what it is to lose a child, but I cannot begin to comprehend the world of hurt that Wal and Sue and June's children are enduring right now. Thankfully, they have each other and there is love.
Refined white salt, such as commercial table salt is bad.
Unrefined natural salt on the other hand is good, very good stuff, providing many health benefits.
Unrefined sea salt is healthy, as is Himalayan salt. Both are very easily metabolised by the body.
Real salt (of various kinds) contains plenty of magnesium and other important minerals, which is why it usually does not affect blood pressure in a negative way.
Most people have trouble making a distinction between unrefined and refined salt.
They ‘lump’ all salt together as a bad substance. This is a mistake.
'Refined' salt has had its minerals removed and has been bleached to give it the white appearance that we are accustomed to seeing with salt. It is the fine, white salt that is available at almost any restaurant or supermarket.
'Unrefined' salt, on the other hand, has not been put through a harsh chemical process.
It contains the natural minerals which are found in the natural product.
The mineral content gives it a distinct colour. The colours of unrefined salt can vary depending on where it is from and this is due to the changing mineral content of the various locations that it's taken from.
It is the minerals in unrefined salt that provide all the benefits. The minerals supply the body with over 80 trace elements needed to maintain and sustain health, plus, the minerals elevate the pH (correct acidity) and lower blood pressure.
Nature gave us salt—unrefined salt—with its full complement of minerals. It should be the salt of choice. It is a vital ingredient that needs to be part of everyone’s diet.
We NEED salt to survive.
Some of the benefits to our body includes preventing muscle cramps, strengthening bone structure, helping maintain muscle tone and strength, balancing sugar levels in the body, helping the body absorb nutrients through the intestinal tract and it helps regulate sleep.
One problem is that every processed food from dips to sauces to dressings to cakes to ice creams and crackers contain refined salt. Unless you are super vigilant, it's almost impossible to avoid.
So that's the salt story, the good and the bad.
This is what I found on my morning trike ride today. It might be a bit graphic for some, but this guy should have listened to Mama when she said "never touch two power lines at the same time"!
Another lazy day. A bit of cooking. A bit of cleaning. A bit of online shopping - ordered some nice organic meat from a beef, pork and lamb farmer up north. Pick it up on Thursday at the same time as we pick up our organic vegetables. I'm drooling just thinking about it!
Things you need to know about some popular health trends.
Superfoods: Chia seeds, Maca powder, Cacao powder, Goji berries etc.
Are they really super? Yes, these superfoods are extremely high in antioxidants and do have superior qualities.
Cacao is exceptionally high in iron and magnesium (justifying those chocolate cravings that tend to creep up during the menstrual cycle) and Goji berries are loaded with vitamin C (500 times that of oranges by weight) and have been used in traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years.
But they only work if you're eating a clean diet to begin with. If you're eating a lot of processed foods, sipping sugary drinks throughout the day, munching on crackers and cheese while slugging down a few beverages and then sometimes adding a few chia seeds to your morning smoothie expecting results, then it's not enough to cancel out all that bad stuff.
Instead of treating superfoods as a cure-all, clean up your diet and then embrace superfoods as add ons to an already balanced diet. That's when they become really super and there are plenty of other nutritional powerhouse foods around like leafy greens, wild salmon, sweet potatoes and avocado that can also be classed as superfoods.
Supplements: Most supplements on the market are absolute crap. Yep, it's true. Someone I know who was a Naturopath and then accepted a job with a well known, highly respected supplement company, discovered after a year, that most of those little pills are loaded with impure additives including fillers, binders and lubricants. (The discovery was a huge disappointment to her and ethically and morally, she couldn't continue working there)
Those additives cause malabsorption and prevent your body from utilising the few benefits that are in the supplements, or in the food that you eat. Kind of defeats the purpose, doesn't it?
No supplement is going to cure or take the place of a bad diet. Some supplements may be beneficial, but it's best to consult with a health professional whom you trust, before heading to the health food store to load up on herbs and supplements.
A good diet (have I said this already?) is always better than anything else you can try.
Calorie Counting: Although the world is moving away from the calorie counting trend, it still rears its ugly head in the form of catchy marketing slogans. We see it everyday in advertising on our television screens and in the magazines. Food marketers still (successfully, unfortunately) use calorie totals to disguise the fact that their "health" foods aren't actually healthy. "Buy me! I'm only 100 calories!" And we buy them, because at one point in time, counting calories was all the rage.
The latest news? Calories don't matter. Clean food does matter. As a former (rather obsessive) calorie counter, I've gone the opposite way and have to tell you — it's beyond freeing.
As long as you are eating quality food and not eating beyond your body's needs, calories are insignificant. However, if you simply must buy packaged foods, don't completely ignore nutrition labels. They are still necessary to evaluate other aspects of the nutritional contents, such as sodium content and sugar.
End of today's lesson.
Another four minute video of Nora Gedgaudas talking about gut bacteria.
Now for a question that will get you thinking ...
If you had to be trapped in a TV show for a month, which show would you choose?
My shortlist was
'Moonlighting' - because I had the hots for Bruce Willis way back then.
'Will and Grace' because I adore Jack and Karen and they would be a blast to play with.
'Brothers and Sisters' just so that I can hang with Sally Field and possibly meet Harrison Ford who is married to one of the other stars, Calista Flockhart, oh and of course I'd meet the yummy Rob Lowe.
'Absolutely Fabulous' for the wine, travel and sarcasm.
'Sex and the City' for the cocktails/wine, shopping and friendship.
'Friends' for the friends and Phoebe would be my best friend!
'Gilmore Girls' because living in Stars Hollow would be fabulous, eating at Lukes would be interesting and watching old movies while eating junk food is my kind of heaven.
My final decision is 'Gilmore Girls' - old movies and junk food and love abounds!
Adoring Husband has chosen 'Big Bang Theory' because it's funny and he can relate so well to Sheldon (the main character).
I'm off to make a late lunch/early dinner. We had a huge late breakfast of bacon, eggs, mushroom, tomato and avocado and I'm still not the slightest bit hungry 5 hours later, however, Adoring Husband is asking for food, so I'd best provide some healthful nourishment before he chooses to fill up on junk.
