Family Treasures

I read some interesting research about SIDS yesterday.

In case you don't know, I lost my first child to SIDS at the tender age of 4 months, so I always read, with interest, any new developments in possible causes.

I was shocked and intrigued to read that 85% of SIDS deaths occur at 2 months and 4 months of age, which also appears to be the ages for certain vaccinations.

Anyway, I know that I have Jamie's paperwork here somewhere with a timeline of his medical history .. he was born 9 weeks early, so he spent his first two months of life in hospital .. and I was given a medical sheet that listed all of his treatments, vaccinations, check-ups and weight details.

So today, I went in search of this paperwork.

I've had a box sitting in my work space for about 6 months.  It's full of all kinds of paperwork and photographs and, purely due to laziness, I have put off unpacking it... until today.  I found:

• Kid's school reports and photos. 
• MY school reports.
• My father's medical records and all the paperwork relating to Mum's compensation claim for Dad's wrongful death.
• Funeral details for both Mum and Dad.
• Old letters that Dad had written to me way back in the 70s.
• A letter written by my sister, aged 13, explaining how she would treat her children when she had them.
• A note from one of the kids' babysitters, with her signature, telling me to keep it because she will be famous one day.
• A poem that I had written for my mother when I was about 16 or 17 and she laminated it and hung it on the wall.
• Many many emails from Vegan Chickie when she was in her late teens and early 20s.
• Paperwork, that I didn't know existed, about my Mother's side of the family.  Information about my Grandfather and Grandmother and beyond, as well as very old photos and a storyline to go with each person.  Sooooo interesting!

If only I'd known, when we were in Esk last week, that my Grandfather's name is on the War Memorial in that town, I'd have gone looking for it!

Needless to say, I wiled a couple of hours away, reminiscing through that box and never did find Jamie's paperwork .. that has been left for another day.

Today, I mostly spent in the kitchen.

Bacon and Eggs for breakfast and then a loaf of seedy bread, chocolate brownies, home-made gluten free sausage rolls (which took FOREVER), spicy tomato sauce and then orange chilli chicken for dinner.

I think I will make tomorrow, Sunday, my day of rest.  No cooking tomorrow.

BGWLBH is leaving tomorrow *insert sad face here*

She has already packed her car and since we don't do 'goodbyes', she may not even be here when I wake up in the morning!

I've created a book of sorts for her, with recipes, shopping lists, clean eating tips, lists of dos and don'ts, what food to avoid, ideas for easy meals etc etc.  I hope that it comes in handy for her and that she is able to continue this healthy change in her lifestyle once she gets home and into a routine.

Time for bed.

Nite all.

Weight Loss

I am eating more food now, in a 24 hour period,  than I can ever remember eating in my life. (but not ten eggs in one day!)

The difference is, that it's all fresh food, and no processed food, no sugar, no gluten and all the dairy that I eat is full fat .. no skim, no lite, no low fat, no fat-free.  I drink and use raw milk as often as possible, only eat soft cheeses and use butter a lot.

I use coconut oil for everything .. cooking, dressings, smoothies, skin care, for cleaning teeth, hair conditioner etc etc.

I began this way of eating at the beginning of September last year (2013), after I had done LOTS of research on line, and put two and two together, I created my own diet regime.

What I am doing, is no specific diet - I've discovered that it is probably closest to the Paleo way of eating, but mostly, I've used my own common sense and chosen the foods that I believe will lift me to optimum health.

Since September, I've noticed these things

1. When I wake in the morning .. it's no longer painful when I climb out of bed.  Where it used to take ten or fifteen minutes for my joints to loosen up and stop feeling pain, I now climb out of bed pain free.
2. My fingernails grow faster and stronger .. though I am not accustomed to this and it annoys me to have to clean my nails regularly and file the rough edges that occur because my habits are those of someone without fingernails.
3. I have more energy and instead of requiring a nap every day at around 2-3pm, I only need a nap perhaps once in a week or once every ten days, and that's because I stay up too late at night.
4. I sleep more soundly.  For the last seven years or more, I haven't slept no longer than two hours before waking up to either go to the bathroom, or to ease the pain in my joints/back or because my brain suddenly decides to be active.  Now I sleep for at least 5 hours and if I didn't drink so much water before I went to bed, it would probably be longer.
5. To me, my eyes seem clearer when I look in the mirror.  The whites are whiter and the colour of my eyes is clearer.
6. My skin feels softer to me and after the initial breakouts when my body felt like it was detoxing, it feels and looks clearer to me.
7. The plaque has loosened and dropped from my teeth.  I know this seems strange and I haven't read anything anywhere to indicate that this is a side effect of clean eating, but it was sudden, and over a period of two days, that the plaque literally fell off the inside of my teeth.
8. I have more energy during the day and I am motivated - mostly in the kitchen - and for researching new recipes.
9. I don't have cravings any more.  I once had regular sugar cravings and salt/savoury cravings.
10. The whole idea of this diet change, was not to lose weight, but to become healthier and to fix the minor health issues I had (as well as any imagined major issues), but as a bonus, I have lost 7 kgs in less than 5 months and I feel fantastic.  The weight loss has been slow but with a lifestyle change like this, I expect it to be permanent weight loss.

I've watched the last game of tennis for the night, so I'm off to bed to get my 5 solid hours of sleep before my bladder urges me to wake up.


I had a rest day in the kitchen today, because I was searching for some paperwork and ended up taking a stroll down memory lane, finding paperwork that I didn't realise that I had, including some interesting facts about my mother's side of the family .. which I hope to share with you tomorrow!

Anyway .. I digress ..

Nite all.

Aussie Aussie Aussie!

Oi!  Oi!  Oi!

Can you tell that I'm watching the Aussie Open Tennis?  I'm watching a young 18 yr old Australian by the name of Nick Kyrgios play a 24 yr old French player, Benoit Paire.

Kyrgios has won the first set and is currently in a tie breaker for the second set.  The Aussie crowd is going wild every time he wins a point and he is thriving on the attention.

I've never seen him play before and he is a mighty fine player .. I expect big things from him in the coming years!

He has just won the second set!

Anyway ...

Today, I had a tiny bit of retail therapy with BGWLBH.  The shops were a bit disappointing.  No great sales and nothing different to anywhere else in the world.

We did get a few dvds from JB Hi Fi and we watched one tonight "Red 2" with Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, Anthony Hopkins and Mary-Louise Parker.  A great all-star cast and although it had a lot of violence, it also had a lot of fun and a lot of action.

I really enjoyed it.

I also bought the dvd "Jobs" starring Ashton Kutcher.  I haven't seen that movie yet.  I'll let you know.

Yesterday I made a gluten free bread from the 'Monica Topliss in the Kitchen' cookbook.  OMG it's delicious!  It has a lot of ingredients and I think that's probably the most time consuming thing about making this bread .. measuring out all of the ingredients and then waiting the required 8 hours after you take it out of the oven, before you can eat it.

I was so impressed with the bread that I even posted a comment on the author's facebook page commending the recipe and thanking her for the great recipes in the book.

Tonight, I made 'Olive Oil Ice Cream' (not from Monica's book) and was surprised by how sweet and delicious it was.  I think I'd like to make it again and possibly add some kind of fruit for a different flavour, or maybe some chocolate/cocoa.

We collected the FROG box this afternoon (there were actually 2 boxes) and they were full of beautiful looking fruit and veg.  I need to get creative in the kitchen this week to use up all of that deliciousness.

I've missed seeing my boys at the Seat of Knowledge for the last two mornings so I hope to get up bright and early enough to head down there tomorrow.

I wonder how late this tennis match is going to go tonight?  That may have a bearing on whether I get up early tomorrow.  I'll be making every effort to watch this match to the end!

Nite all.

Cooking Cooking Cooking

*  Berry smoothies
*  Bacon and Eggs
*  Lamb and vegetable fritters
*  Gluten free grain bread from scratch
*  Beetroot tahini dip
*  Lemon chicken risotto

So today, between the three of us, we have each consumed blueberries, banana, coconut water, raw milk, bacon, 10 eggs, lamb, potato, sweet potato, zucchini, mushrooms, parmesan cheese, fresh beetroot, tahini, greek yoghurt, lemons, broccoli, celery, chicken, rice, baby spinach, iceberg lettuce, rocket, red capsicum, tomato, avocado, cucumber, feta cheese, mint, basil and sugar-free/gluten-free chocolate brownies.

That's a pretty darned healthy day of eating I feel!

I've just tasted the bread .. it's the first time I've made it (from Monica Topliss's recipe book) and even though it has a bit of an after taste, the texture and flavour is really good.  I'm looking forward to having some for breakfast tomorrow morning.  I think it will toast well too.

My FROG box arrives tomorrow .. the first one for the new year .. I hope there will be enough room in the fridge for everything!!

I would like to make some ice cream tomorrow, if I get a chance, otherwise, I think BGWLBH has some shopping plans .. and you know that I am always good for some retail therapy!

One photo to share ...

It's a Wedge-tailed Eagle actually looking at me!

It's 11pm and I can't stop yawning .. need to sleep .. too many hours in the kitchen today.

Nite all.

Who?

After a short visit with the boys at the Seat of Knowledge this morning, I then met the girls briefly for morning tea, but left early to come home and cook breakfast for BGWLBH before heading into The Bay for a spot of grocery shopping.

My kitchen pantry is now full of all the necessary ingredients to make some delicious food in the coming days!

I definitely need to make some nice sugar-free and gluten-free snacks and desserts to keep BGWLBH satisfied while she has withdrawals from sugar and at the same time, cravings for sugar ... and desiring food that she never even eats usually!

Adoring Husband has not been so diligent with his diet while I've been away either, so I have to get him back on track.

Pretty sure they are already calling me names!

I've got plans for tomorrow in the kitchen and I think they'll be happy with the results!

Adoring Husband made us an alcohol free cocktail this afternoon and BGWLBH made a list of movies that look interesting enough to either download or buy on dvd.

After dinner, we had a short play with the new Dr Who trivia cards that I bought for AH while on holidays.

Considering that AH is the biggest 'Whovian' that I know, and BGWLBH is possibly the second biggest, I did pretty well against them ... admittedly, I got a few hints, but I wouldn't mind sitting down with a trivia board and playing a real game.

I have a few bird photos to share tonight.

It's been a while since I've shared some birds ... and I know that they are not everyone's 'cup of tea' but I also know that there are some bird lovers our there, who enjoy my bird photos!

I'm disappointed to say that it's been an unhappy day on the tennis courts for the Australian males in the Aussie Open today.  Let's hope tomorrow brings better luck for the Aussies!

Time for me to sleep now.

Nite all.

Kitchen Capers

After eleven days away from home, I was so keen today, to get into the kitchen and start cooking!

Unfortunately, I was missing some important ingredients, that I'm unable to acquire here in this little town, so tomorrow calls for a trip into The Bay to purchase the missing ingredients.

I saw my boys this morning.  One of them has gained so much weight over Christmas, that he is now walking with his 'frame' to get to the Seat of Knowledge in the mornings, with the hope that exercise will help him lose the Christmas belly.   It'll be interesting to see how long he lasts .. I think his record is ten days.

There are a lot of tourists in town at the moment, although I noticed that one of the caravan parks is looking pretty empty, so the numbers of out-of-towners is thinning out.

The exciting thing about today, is that The Australian Open Tennis Championships started!

I was so concerned about my inability to cook, that I forgot about the tennis and didn't watch any of it today, until after dinner.  Luckily, the best games will be tomorrow, so I'll make a concerted effort to watch them.  Also luckily, I have a TV in the kitchen, so I can watch and cook at the same time!

Meanwhile, despite having had a nap this afternoon, I am feeling very tired, so I think I'm off to have an early night.

No photos to share today.

Nite all.

Home Sweet Home

The 'Most Excellent Adventure' is over for another year.

Travelling in the heat of the Australian Summer is probably not the best idea ever.

The thought of taking any bush walks or trekking through the hills sent us into a sweaty panic, so we only did two shortish walks in our travels.

It was tough to keep cool, and sleeping at night to the hum of a variety of aging air conditioners was interesting.

Speaking of 'ageing', by body requires something bigger than a single bed to sleep in, because these days, rolling over is not the quick agile movement that it once was and I need more room to move!  So many times, I almost rolled OUT of the bed!

Lastly, BGWLBH has suffered with a few health problems during this trip, so it was necessary to take things a little easy, and pace ourselves somewhat.

Despite those four points, it's been fun and funny and dietary challenging and interesting and time warped and frightening and surprising and amazing and educational and socially pleasant and photographically inspiring and therapeutic and relaxing and with the lessons that we learned, we can plan better for the next road trip.

The next road trip will start in Sydney and hopefully 'Bubbles' will be able to accommodate us for a couple of days at the beginning and at the end of our trip.  It was nice to catch up with Number One Son and Vegan Chickie this trip, but it's definitely time to swing by the big smoke next trip and catch up with my Bubbles.

Now we get to relax at home for a while, and I get to spend time in my beloved kitchen and create gastronomical delights full of healthful goodness, to hopefully get BGWLBH back on the track to good health.

I don't have long, so I have to work extra hard and make the most of it.

On the way home today, we stopped in Gympie, where there were Cattle Egrets nesting in a tree in the park...

When we arrived home today, this is what greeted us ...

Who knew that Wilbur Herbert could be so aggressive!?

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

Nite all.