Just Bee-ing

#100happydays photo for today ...

Happiness is just bee-ing :)

Adoring Husband arrived home safe n sound from his SES training in Marburg, after a detour to visit his granddaughter Evie and new little grandson, Seth for a couple of days.  Perhaps I'll get to share his photos after he downloads them!

I got a little studying done today, although I got a little frustrated at some calculations that I'm having trouble with, so I had to step away from the computer and the books and I'll go back to it tomorrow.

I'm off to Bunya Mountains on Friday with The Nikonian, The Craft Queen, Mellylicious, Jman and Mr W.  We have a big weekend of photography planned and I'm pretty excited about it!

So it's time for me to get some sleep.  Big day of packing and cooking and menu planning tomorrow.

Nite all.

I'm here

Just so that you know I'm here .. because I have nothing to say tonight ...

I really thought this was very cool ...

Time for bed.

Nite all.

Satisfying Sunday

I had a lazy Sunday morning in bed and didn't leave the house until after 9am.

It was too late for the Seat of Knowledge, so I got myself a coffee and then pedalled to the beach.

The tide was almost all the way out, so I gathered my camera gear and went in search of some treasures.

I spent two whole hours out there and then got myself another cup of coffee before I headed home to check out my photos.

I could have spent the whole day playing with the photos, but instead, I edited three of them and then got stuck into some studying.

I feel like I haven't made the most of my studying opportunity today, so I'll make up for it tomorrow.

It's way after midnight, so I'm off to bed.

Nite all.

Getting on with it.

Some people may care and some may not ... but it's interesting none the less.



I had a bright an early start to the day and because we've had a very warm month of May and now a very warm start to Winter, I think the birds are all confused and they are singing up a storm!

It appears that the Magpies and the Butcher Birds are feeling the love ...

I am writing this post mid morning, because I intend to spend many hours studying today and that will mean that my brain will not want to think about much by this evening.

Today will NOT be a 'should' day!  I am 'positive' that by the end of the day, I will be 'joyful' and 'happy' that I got so much study into the day and will be a step closer to fulfilling the assignment requirements for this semester!

My 'life' is already 'wonderful' :D

Morning all.

Symptoms of Vitamin B 12 Deficiency

During the course of my studies, there are many referencing links to websites, medical journals, research results and videos providing more detailed information regarding whatever subject matter I'm reading about.

Needless to say, I spend a lot of time watching both short and movie length video presentations about nutrition, vitamin deficiencies, naturally occurring minerals, how the body processes/digests all of that, side effects of all things synthetic/chemical in both prescribed medications and supposedly 'natural' supplements ... I could go on.

This one was particularly interesting (and easy to watch at less than 15 minutes long) because it covers a lot of conditions that I know a few of my friends and family are experiencing right now.



It's a good site for gluten free information.  http://www.glutenfreesociety.org/

It's understandable that we take the 'apparently' easy way out with prescription medications because the human body is such a complex and amazing thing.  Everything that we put into our mouths, onto our skin and breathe into our lungs, causes a reaction. It doesn't matter if it's healthful or not, our body reacts/responds in some way, good or bad.

Most of the time, we don't even know what the reaction is and sometimes, it takes days or weeks for the reaction to occur, so by the time we know about it, we're looking at something that we ate 'yesterday', when it could have been something we ate, or something that we rubbed on our skin or a chemical that we breathed, two or more weeks ago.

Even if you are very alert to the changes and feelings in and with your body, you can't ever know for certain why it's happening .. unless it's a regular and familiar thing that you've had diagnosed or confirmed in the past.

Who knew that something as simple as a Vitamin B12 deficiency could lead to any of those things in the video? A deficiency also usually takes quite a period of time to develop, so the changes occurring are gradual and you don't even notice until you're diagnosed with something more serious or sinister.

To work out where our illness began, we would have to back track months or years and answer a thousand questions about our lifestyle, our diet, our habits, our travels, our stresses, our work, our hygiene practises etc, and every answer leads to another question to take us in a different direction.

That's why a doctor, in a 15 minute consultation, cannot possibly figure out why you're sick, what caused it, how to cure it or prevent it and he certainly can't formulate a plan for you to change whatever it is that you've been doing to exacerbate your illness.

All he/she can do is choose which medication is going to take away your symptoms and make you feel better.

You are not cured.  Your problem is still high blood pressure, diabetes, indigestion, depression, the flu, hay fever, high cholesterol, gout, psoriasis, bursitis, insomnia, gastric and gut problems etc etc etc, but your symptoms are now masked by a pill.

I accompanied Adoring Husband to his doctor's appointment during the week.

He has to go for an ultrasound, but the doctor asked "Do you want me to prescribe something to fix what I think it is?  Or would you rather wait to see what the scan confirms?"

Seriously?

I mean .. SERIOUSLY?

Adoring Husband answered correctly (in my eyes) but if I hadn't been there, he may have accepted the medication because he wants immediate relief and assumes that the doctor knows what he is talking about.

The last time something like this happened, AH was given 3 lots of different prescription medications to fix a medical condition that was eventually proven to be non-existent!

Oops!  I digress!

What I was attempting to explain from the beginning, is that the human body and how it works is so complex and even something that you ate or drank a few days ago can exacerbate an existing medical condition, so that you go to the doctor and he/she increases your medication to fix it.

If the right questions are asked, you may find that you just have to stop eating cabbage or red lollies or pork or that you need to drink an extra 3 glasses of water a day or something that simple and easy, but instead, you are now ingesting extra chemicals to mask your symptoms even further and now increasing your risk of long term effects.

The difficult part is knowing what questions to ask.

A 'good' Natural Practitioner will know more about you, your life and your health history from the first visit, than your doctor will know in a lifetime of visits, because they ask the right questions that lead to somewhere other than a prescription notepad or a long list of natural supplements.

I don't believe that it's about taking vitamins or supplements either, except in extreme cases.

It's about whole health which includes, physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health.

But I'll save that for another day.

Day 35 of my #100happydays challenge ...

Happiness is feeling reflective in the morning light.

Nite all.





  

Early to Bed

I'm going to bed early.

I have an early start tomorrow and then a full day of study .. same old story!

Nite all.

The Value of You

I follow a site called Prevent Disease and they posted this little story today, on their facebook page, which I wanted to share here.

A well known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20 bill. In the room of 200, he asked. "Who would like this $20 bill?"

Hands started going up. He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you - but first, let me do this."

He proceeded to crumple the 20 dollar note up. He then asked. "Who still wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air.


"Well," he replied, "what if I do this?" He dropped it on the
ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. "Now, who still wants it?"

Still the hands went into the air.

"My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson. No
matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20.

Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless; but no matter what happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value.

Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, YOU ARE STILL PRICELESS TO THOSE WHO LOVE YOU. The worth of our lives comes, not in what we do or who we know, but by ...WHO WE ARE.

You are special - don't ever forget it."

... and along that theme ...

AAAAAANNNNDDDDD ... I won the flickr challenge this month with my bee photo!!  Wahoo!! The prize?  A slight boost to my self esteem :) although I think I took more than I should because my self esteem is boosted a bit more than slightly. Don't tell anyone though.

This was the photo...

I had a great day with Adoring Husband today.  I did lots of shopping ... food shopping, which I really enjoy ... mostly at the Go Natural Store and Nana's Pantry, but I also got some good bargains while clothes shopping and bought 3 tops, a pair of cargo pants, a bracelet and a necklace.

I also pampered myself, thanks to AH and enjoyed a pedicure.

Not a single second of study today .. so I should be fresh as a daisy tomorrow :)

Nite all.

Study Harder!

I decided to make a lamb roast for lunch today, so my studies got put off til quite late this afternoon.  I did squeeze a couple of hours in and then I looked at how much I still have to do in the few short weeks left in this semester and was shocked!  I really need to push myself harder.

I found this interesting little chart that I thought I would share.  You think your morning yoghurt is good for you ... but not necessarily!  Try to avoid the ones with too much sugar.

I'm pretty sure that most of you will be able to relate to this quote ...

... and for number 32 of my #100happydays photo ...

Happiness is browsing/window shopping on the net without spending any money :)

Got a big day of shopping tomorrow, so I'd best go get some restful sleep.

Nite all.

Head Down

This morning, after a longer than planned visit to a friend who has been away for more than a month, I finally got to sit down to study .. and there I stayed for four hours .. I can't believe how quickly time flies when I'm focused!

So nothing to report except my number 32 photo in my #100happydays challenge ...

Happiness is a big empty box to play in.

That is all.

Nite all.

What I've learned about Vitamin D

You should know how important Vitamin D is for your health.

I first became interested in this when I was diagnosed with Hyperthyroidism in 2008.  There nestled among all the other blood test results that were taken, was a note "CHRONIC VITAMIN D DEFICIENCY".

So I did a little research .. not much, because I wasn't as obsessed about health and nutrition back then .. and discovered that the common denominator in people with serious diseases and illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, thyroid conditions, depression, stroke, osteoporoses, Parkinson's Disease, Alzheimer's Disease, gout, arthritis, psoriasis etc, was a vitamin D deficiency!

If you think you may have a Vitamin D deficiency, ask your doctor for a 25-hydroxy-vitamin D test.

Vitamin D activates the innate immune system, enabling the body to produce several proteins such as defensin and cathelicidin which trigger cell activity and disable viruses. (Vit D for the flu)
Healthy vitamin D levels will also help your body fight seasonal infections, including meningitis, septicaemia, and pneumonia, in both children and adults.  The length and severity of seasonal allergies like asthma and hay fever will also be reduced.

How much vitamin D you need varies with age, body weight, percent of body fat, latitude, skin coloration, season of the year, use of sun block, individual variation in sun exposure, and – probably – how ill you are.

As a general rule, old people need more than young people, big people need more that little people, in Australia - southern people need more than northern people, dark-skinned people need more than fair skinned people, winter people need more than summer people, sun block lovers need more than sun block haters, sun-phobes need more than sun worshipers, and ill people may need more than well people.

If you're really keen to know everything about Vitamin D here is a very interesting read from The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition .. be warned, it is long and detailed!

How do I get it and how much do I need?

It's important that you get your Vitamin D from the sun .. not just from supplements .. we should get 90% of our Vitamin D from casual daily sun exposure. Between five and 30 minutes of sun exposure to your unprotected face, arms, legs or back between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. two to three times every week is enough for your body to produce all the D3 it needs [source: National Institutes of Health - Office of Dietary Supplements].

It’s also important to understand that vitamin D3 is an oil soluble steroid hormone. It’s formed when your skin is exposed to ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation from the sun. When UVB strikes the surface of your skin, your skin converts a cholesterol derivative in your skin into vitamin D3.

The vitamin D3 that is formed on the surface of your skin doesn't immediately penetrate into your bloodstream. It needs to be absorbed from the surface of your skin into your bloodstream.

It's interesting to note that it takes up to 48 hours before you absorb the majority of the vitamin D that your body has generated in the sunshine.

If you shower with soap, you will wash away most of it, and decrease the benefits of your sun exposure. So to optimise your vitamin D level, you need to delay washing your body with soap for about two full days after sun exposure.

Are you frowning???? You really only need to use soap underneath your arms and your groin area, so it's not a major hygiene issue. Just avoid soaping up the larger areas of your body that were exposed to the sun.

Seriously, if that's the reason you want to avoid getting your daily dose of Vit D and put yourself at serious risk of all of those diseases, then I've probably wasted a whole post on this issue!!

If there is one thing that I seriously believe and would like for others to strongly consider ..

"IT'S IMPORTANT TO EDUCATE YOURSELF, BE ACCOUNTABLE FOR YOUR OWN HEALTH AND BE YOUR OWN HEALTH CARE ADVOCATE."

That is all.

This is what my lovely lagoon across the road had to offer this morning ..

What a great way to start the day!

Nite all.

Full Day

What a productive and satisfying day I've had!

It had a bit of a lazy start, when I woke up and lay in bed catching up on my facebook reading, but once I was up and about, I found quite a bit of energy.

After he pumped up the tyres on my trike, which were in desperate need of some air, Adoring Husband and I both rode down to the Seat of Knowledge.  It's amazing how much easier it is to ride when the the tyres are pumped up!

We sat with the boys for a while and then AH went on ahead and ordered our coffee, then I joined him to sit outside the local shops for a while .. chatted with a few different locals who strolled past and then AH bought some raffle tickets to support a local sporting teenager, while I shopped for some strawberries and avocados for tonight's dessert.

We pedalled home and made a big plate of bacon, eggs, mushrooms and toast and read the local paper over breakfast.

AH then headed out to the man's shed in the back yard, while I did some washing and then I gathered my study materials and headed out to the garden swing to do some reading.  After about 2 hours, I lay down and made myself comfortable with Ruby (my favourite psychotic dog) and had a little nap.

The chickens chased the other dogs around the garden, woke me up by trying to peck my toes and then we discovered that the other two psychotic dogs had been rolling in the chook poo in the yard! Charming! So up I got and started the bathing process .. gave them a bit of a haircut while I was there too.

By now it was 3pm, so I thought I would get dessert started.  It needed time to set for dinner.  Unfortunately those lovely looking strawberries that I'd purchased were all mouldy, so I found the receipt and pedalled to the shops to swap them for a fresher punnet .. but of course, ALL of the punnets were mouldy!  Ugh!

I bought myself a coffee and compromised with the fruit by buying some frozen raspberries.

Of course I had to check out the river before I headed home. The tide was out and there were lots of birds about.  This Whistling Kite dived down towards the boat ramp, but missed whatever it was aiming for, so I didn't get the magic shot.

It was after 4pm by the time I got home, so I spent 30 minutes on study, brought in the washing and started dinner ... smoked cod with white parsley sauce, potato/sweet potato mash w raw onion and broccoli.

In the end, I couldn't do dessert because the avocado weren't ripe enough, so they are now in a paper bag with banana in the dark cupboard.  They should be ready by tomorrow afternoon, so I'll try again.

AH was in bed before 8pm and I've watched two games of footy - three from three in the footy tipping this week wahoo!

It's only 9.45pm and I think I'll climb into bed .. fresh clean sheets are calling my name.  There is nothing nicer than sliding in between crisp, fresh, clean sheets.

The forecast is for showers tomorrow, so it will be nice to wake up to the sound of rain.  Fingers crossed.

A most satisfactory day.

Nite all.

Smile til it hurts

It's another cheat night .. but you just HAVE TO WATCH THIS. I smiled so widely through this whole 9 minute video, that my cheeks hurt by the end.  It even brought a tear or two to my eyes.  I guarantee that it will bring joy to your heart.



That is all.

Nite all.

Non-event

I am studying tonight and I'm well focussed, so there will be no post, except this quickie, to let you know that I am alive and will be back tomorrow!

Nite all

It's that time again!

State of Origin time.

You all know how I feel about State of Origin.

Queensland v New South Wales

Maroons v Blues

Cane Toads v Cockroaches

I am a Queenslander, born and bred.

Adoring Husband is a New South Welshman, born and bred.

I wear maroon.

He wears blue.

Queensland has won the last 8 series in a row.

Tonight, New South Wales won the first game of the series 12-8.

So all I have to say is ...

AND ...

Congratulations Adoring Husband.  Enjoy the moment :)

Nite all.

Lunching Again

I would just like to briefly mention that I had a lovely lunch with the Burrum ladies today ..

.. and that is all.

Nite all.

A Bit Productive

I soaked up some more beautiful Autumn sunshine this morning.

I played briefly with the camera ..

I got to cook in the kitchen .. home made tomato sauce in the slow cooker .. I'll give you the verdict tomorrow after I give it the final whizz in the blender.

I got to study for an hour in my work space and then for an hour on the garden swing .. I think that's my favourite place to study now.  The chickens come over for a chat.  I can hear my neighbour's sewing machine in her upstairs sewing room, which brings back childhood memories of my mother sewing in the house while I played outside.  The neighbourhood sounds are comforting.

I wonder how many of you agree with this?

It made me laugh.

Nite all.

Sweet Sunday

What a beautiful sunny Autumn day!

After I left the boys at the Seat of Knowledge and got my coffee, I pedalled down to the Lions Park and rode all the way along the river path, stopping a couple of times to chat with some locals.  Then parked myself under the big gum tree in front of the beach and took this photo.

Twenty minutes later, I was pedalling back in the direction of the Seat of Knowledge, when I stopped under another big gum tree to try to photograph the pelicans as they flew past.  They were flying one at a time every few minutes and below my eye level, so I wanted to take the photo from slightly above them.

As I patiently waited for the next one to fly past me, camera at the ready, I also saw a couple of Brahminy Kites heading in my direction and then a voice spoke up behind me.

It was a local man who LOVES to chat about birds and he pounces on me for LONG chats whenever he sees me.  Ugh!

Not now.

So thirty minutes later, having missed all of the shots of every bird that came in my direction, I headed home, with visions of a big breakfast of bacon and eggs and then I planned to make a new paleo tomato sauce in the slow cooker.

I walked in the door to discover Adoring Husband preparing dinner in the slow cooker!  What a lovely surprise!

No bacon and eggs.  No tomato sauce.  It was worth missing out on both of those because dinner ended up being delicious and I didn't have to do a thing!

So it was definitely a sweet, lazy Sunday for me!

Nite all.

Look within

Tonight's my lazy night ...

Nite all.

Story of Stuff

Twenty minutes of your time .. just a reminder of how things are .. maybe you'll stop to think and make one small change in your lifestyle .. every small change makes a difference.  We can't all do everything, but we can all do 'something'.



A couple of ways that we can make a difference ...

• Buy Local - consider the amount of pollution created to get your food from the farm to your table.  Whenever possible, buy from local farmers or farmer's markets, supporting your local economy and reducing the amount of greenhouse gas created when products are flown or trucked in.
• Buy second-hand - consider buying items from a second-hand store. Toys, bicycles, roller blades, and other age and size-specific items are quickly outgrown. Second hand stores often sell these items in excellent condition since they are used for such a short period of time, and will generally buy or take them back when you no longer need them.
• Give it away - Before you throw something away, think about if someone else might need it. Either donate to a charitable organisation or post it on a web site designed to connect people and things, such as Freecycle.org. (This is world wide and Hervey Bay, Bundaberg, Sunshine Coast and Canberra are all part of the group (not Griffith or Wagga unfortunately) - everything on the site must be free and able to be used)

So that's my little bit of environmental sharing for today.

A couple of photos to share ...

Now back to my studies!

Afternoon all.

Success!

The muffins were a success and Gentleman Jim turned 77 today (not 76 as I thought).

The muffins were such a success that I had to make another batch of them today for Adoring Husband and I.  So yummy.

I think Vegan Chickie will love these and Bubbles has already put in her order for when she visits in August.

The alarm was set for an early start and a sunrise, but it was overcast and not worth getting out of bed for.

I got lots of study done today, and spent time on the garden swing, reading text books, so there is nothing new to report.

I did receive a photo of my little Chicklet on a scavenger hunt today.

Apparently this was item number three on the list.

Nite all.

Another Birthday

Not mine.

Gentleman Jim, from The Seat of Knowledge, is having a birthday tomorrow.  I think he is 76 yrs old.

Today, I made some 'Chocolate Maple Crunch Banana Muffins' so that I can take one each for the boys to celebrate his birthday for breakfast.

I have eaten four of them today!  They are so delicious on their own, but when you cut them in half and spread real butter on them ... O-M-G ... they are my new favourites!

Then this afternoon, while I was in the middle of cooking dinner, I looked out the window and saw a sunset in the making, so I turned the stove and the oven off, threw my camera gear in the back of the trike and pedalled to the river ... just in the nick of time.

Yesterday, when I got to the river for the sunset, I was eaten alive by sandflies, so this afternoon, I quickly splashed and rubbed coconut oil on my arms and legs.  I spent 20 minutes at the river and came away without a single sandfly bite!

It's now 10pm and I am off to bed!  I am going to set my alarm and get up early for a sunrise in the morning, then have birthday breakfast with the boys, and then spend the entire day studying with enthusiasm.

Nite all.

Motivation

Why am I so lacking in motivation?  I have been trying to study for 3 days and just can't get into it. It's happening in spits and spurts and it takes so little to distract me and make me lose focus.  Ugh!

Last night, the sky looked very promising for a beautiful sunset, so I pedalled to a new spot along the river, where I have never been to see the sun going down before.

The tide was out, so there was only a small channel of water left in the river, which reflected the light quite nicely, but the sunset itself was quite disappointing.

I met a man who was staying in one of the holiday rental properties with his wife.  He was from the suburb of Aspley, in Brisbane, and was keen to tell me about some idvds that he had been making for his family because his mother was turning 90.

He was disappointed that none of the younger family members seemed to want to know anything about her history and never asked her questions.  He said that she had wonderful stories to tell and that time was running out for the family to hear them.

It reminded me that I promised a friend that I would do a blog post about the sorts of questions you should ask your older family members before it's too late.

I've had the reminder to do this, sitting on my desk for about a month or more ... I just haven't had the time to sit down and think about it .. I could use that as an excuse to procrastinate when I should be studying!

So I hope to have those questions to post here soon.  Not today though.

Today, for the first time in about 4 weeks, I made myself a smoothie.

A bit over a week ago, I made packets of fruit and veggies to put into the freezer, to make it easier when I was ready for smoothies.  I used the first one today!

My study has put me into a new schedule and my smoothies seem to have slipped out of the morning routine.  I have noticed the difference in my energy levels and how my body is working, so it's time to bring them back into my morning schedule.

Started today and will continue from here on in.  Maybe my brain will work better and my motivation for study will return with the new energy!

No more coffee after lunch (which I stupidly did yesterday and couldn't sleep til almost 2am) and I must get myself into better sleep habits.

It's so easy to slip into bad habits if you don't keep focus on your own well being.

I think 'habit' is the operative word here.  It supposedly takes 3 weeks to create a habit .. I suspect it takes about the same amount of time to lose one.  That's exactly what I've done.

Time to get back on track.

Nite all.

Puddle Jumping

Oh how I love these photos of Chicklet jumping in puddles .. sent to me today by Vegan Chickie!

I adore her :)

There is a man in town who has bee hives and yesterday I asked his wife to ask him if he would allow me to take photos of the honeycomb for a photography challenge.  He wasn't at home at the time, so she said she would ask him when he phoned her last night.

This morning, she called me and told me that he was at home all day today and happy for me to photograph his bees!  So after my coffee, I headed over there...

He got stung 3 times pulling the beehives apart and we searched for the Queen Bee without luck. He was very passionate about his bees and I learnt a lot from him today.

Lucky for me, I didn't get stung and I left there, very happy.  He told me they can sense fear .. but I wasn't afraid.

I'm off to bed.

Nite all.

Cook Off

No study today.

I spent quite a bit of time in the kitchen though and really enjoyed it.

Chicken stock, pumpkin soup and curried sausages with rice.  We had the curry for dinner tonight.

I spent a little time in the garden and found a giant passionfruit which had fallen from the vine but was stuck on some branches very well hidden.  It had been there for a while because it was obviously old and quite shrivelled.

I wish I'd taken a photo of it before I threw it in the garbage, but I did take a photo of how much meat was in it!  Almost a whole cup!  It wasn't very sweet, but it was still ok to eat.

That was my #100happydays photo for the day.

There was an egg in the henhouse today.  That's 3 days in a row.  'Happy' is laying.  Now we just have to convince Hector and Helen to lay!

Adoring Husband arrived home safe n sound this afternoon.

All is right with the world.

Nite all.