Define Poison

Bleach.

Bleach is one of the most corrosive and deadly chemicals, yet they still sell it in the supermarket.

Bleach is a known carcinogen and is also linked to fertility issues, miscarriages and birth defects.

When household bleach is mixed with waste water - such as that in your toilet - it is found to form numerous organic compounds.  Two of those compounds are chloroform, which can cause dizziness, headache, respiratory issues, heart attack, liver and kidney damage, birth defects and more - and carbon tetrachloride - nerve damage, liver and kidney degeneration, coma and death.

If you're interested in keeping yourself and your family safe and healthy, it's worth following up the dangers of household bleach.

What is bleach?

The dangers of bleach

Why is bleach bad for me?

Of course there will always be someone to tell you how safe household bleach is, because after all, the bottom line is the dollar, but I will repeat my mantra ... question EVERYTHING.

Yesterday, I made some Fresh Mint and Chocolate Brownies .. gluten free, sugar free, grain free, egg free and dairy free.

Very rich and very tasty, but a bit too minty for me .. I will probably reduce the amount of mint in it next time.

This morning I finally had an attempt at Sauerkraut.

"Sauerkraut provides a high-density source of a wide range of beneficial live lactic acid bacteria which assist in the digestive process, produce a variety of vitamins and other nutrients, and keep harmful micro-organisms at bay. A single serving of genuine raw sauerkraut gives your body a bigger health boost than any of the expensive probiotic drinks and supplements sold in stores.

Cruciferous vegetables (also known as Brassicaceae or Brassicas) include broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collard, cress, horseradish, kale, kohlrabi, mustard greens, radish, rutabagas, turnip and watercress.

Cabbage, brussels sprouts and other brassicas offer a host of health benefits. They are high in vitamins A and C. Cabbage provides a rich source of antioxidants. Studies have shown that the cruciferous vegetables can help lower cholesterol levels; have anti-inflammatory properties; and help prevent and combat many cancers.

A phytonutrient in these vegetables named glucosinolate significantly enhances your liver's detoxification ability. It is believed that eating these foods every day will halve your risk of getting cancer.

Some of the phytonutrients in this family seem to be able to protect mucous membranes, especially in the lungs and digestive tract. They are effective guardians against cancer, ulcers and infections in the digestive tract."

Sauerkraut must be raw

Most sauerkraut sold in supermarkets and shops is pasteurised. The beneficial bacteria and other organisms have been destroyed so that it has a long shelf life, and there is no risk of the jar exploding from pressure build-up. To gain the benefits from sauerkraut, it MUST be made the traditional way and consumed raw - best to learn how to make your own.

For more information and a recipe (which is not the same as mine) go here.

That's it for my Saturday.

At 3.30am tomorrow morning, it will be exactly one year since the tornado hit our town.  One year on and still there are a few repairs not finished.  

We have a big day planned starting with breakfast at the community hall, a barbecue with friends at lunchtime and then dinner at the local Bowls Club with more friends.  It will be a big day .. although I have a funny feeling that there will be some wet stuff falling out of the sky.

Happy Australia Day everybody.

Nite all.

An Hour to Kill

I've never been a fan of fad diets, though I admit to attempting a few of them in my youth.  The most successful of them, for me, was the low carbohydrate diet, on which I lost 14kgs in 1982, and which, funnily enough is very close to what I am doing now on my own created diet, quite unintentionally.

So when I read about current fad diets via my friends on facebook, I am, from a nutrition point of view,  quite judgemental and it's difficult for me to zip my lip.

Sometimes, I really can't zip my lip .. especially when people take 'fat' completely out of their diets .. luckily, they are always happy to hear my advice about eating 'full fat' .. they are rarely happy to hear that in conjunction with that, they need to cut refined sugar!

Another fad diet was mentioned in a facebook conversation today.  The 5:2 diet.  Where you eat whatever you want, and as much as you want for 5 days and then 'fast' for two days.

I highly doubted this to be a healthy way to live, but a friend shared this ...

Eat, Fast and Live Longer

So if you have an hour to spare, it's quite an interesting doco, that takes you on a series of different 'fasting' ideas, and it's more about the positive effects it has on your 'insides' eg blood sugar, cholesterol and risk factors for cancers, stroke and heart disease, than actually losing weight .. which is the bonus.

I don't think I would try it because, as far as health and wellbeing goes, I like the way my current diet makes me feel and I enjoy the food I eat now.

The thing I found most interesting in the doco, was how your body, during a 'fast', repairs damaged cells, including brain cells .. and how they are experimenting, using mice, on the effects of fasting on Alzheimer's Disease.

Anyway, I thought it was worth sharing here.

I hoped to have some new photos and a recipe to add, but Adoring Husband came out of his procedure with flying colours, so we did some socialising tonight.

This means that I have nothing more to add and I am off for an early night and hopefully an early morning for sunrise!

Nite all.

Contentious

This is a subject that is becoming important to me .. and to vaccinate or not, is not a decision that I need to make these days, because my kids are grown.

I will never have a flu vaccination myself and I would fight tooth and nail to stop Adoring Husband from having one .. although in the end, of course, the decision is his .. but I would make sure he read every skerrick of information available, so that his decision was well informed and not just based on his Dr's recommendation, or media scare tactics.

I found this very interesting blog today, that provides extensive information regarding all forms of vaccinations.

87 Published Works on Vaccines and Adverse Health Concerns

Each one of these is linked to research information .. where you can read a summary of the research conducted, or go deeper and get more detailed information.

I recently posted an article on facebook regarding the dangers of vaccinations and three of my facebook friends (who are also my friends in real life) put a comment up, warning me about how dangerous my information was.

Personally, I believe that media scare tactics are more dangerous than my information.

I believe that too many people take media reports as law, and don't do enough research themselves, to make informed decisions about something so important as vaccinations.

I'm absolutely certain that your Dr .. the one so willing to inject you with this concoction .. cannot tell you what ingredients are in the vaccination syringe, what each ingredient does to build your immunity against infection of these diseases or flus, or what the side effects are and 'everything' that you should be looking out for after a vaccination.

All of this information is important and you have a right to know the answers.  It's your responsibility to educate yourself and know what you are allowing to be injected into your baby's or child's body... or your own body for that matter.

There is so much negative information hidden from the general public and so many lies told.

Fifty years ago, doctors recommended smoking cigarettes as a way of relaxing and claimed that they had no adverse affects and that smoking was not addictive.

Fifty + years ago, doctors prescribed Thalidomide for morning sickness, and continued to do so for years, even after it was suspected of causing birth defects and miscarriage.  10,000 children, in 46 different countries were affected before they finally withdrew the drug from sales.

In 1999, an anti-inflammatory drug, called Vioxx was released, and is estimated to have caused 139,000 heart attacks before it was recalled.  It took 5 years before it was taken off the market!  That particular drug company made $2.5 billion from that drug.

More than 60 yrs ago DDT was declared 'so safe you could eat it' but it was banned in Australia in 1987 and we now know that DDT is a carcinogen and also causes birth defects.  So, for forty years, they poisoned us, before declaring it unsafe.

Well, instead of me listing the drugs, here is a link that lists more than 60 drugs that were released to the public and found later to cause deaths, heart attacks, cancer, deformities .. among other things.

This is why it's important to educate yourself about the drugs that you are going to put into your mouth or have injected into your body.

The pharmaceutical companies want to make as much money as possible and in most cases, the money that they pay in compensation damages, is a spit in the ocean compared to the billions that they make in profits.

Governments in most countries now trust the pharmaceutical companies to do the adequate testing on new drugs before release.

Basically, we are the guinea pigs, so it's up to us to take care of ourselves.

So, if I post information regarding vaccinations or prescription drugs on facebook, or here in my blog, unless you are prepared to read the information, please don't tell me that what I am doing is dangerous, because, in actual fact, by ignoring half of the available facts, what YOU are doing, is dangerous.

... and now for something a little more light hearted ...

Here is my photo for a mini challenge in one of the photography pages that I joined in facebook.  The theme is 'Yellow'.

... and here is my photo for the 104 group challenge which is themed 'white' (Yes I know! Both are colours - purely co-incidental!)

That's my cue to go to bed.  It's well after midnight again.

Nite all.  

Seriously?! Saturated fats are good!

Adoring Husband has to have a medical procedure performed this Friday and has been put on a 'special' diet.

This is a diet recommended by a Gastroenterologist.  A qualified one.  You know?  One that went to medical school for a good number of years, so that he/she could make people healthy?

These are the meal options, as recommended by the Gastroenterologist, to be eaten during the four days leading up to the procedure.

BREAKFAST:

• Cornflakes or Ricebubbles
• White toast with honey or marmalade
• Scrambled eggs on white toast
• Pancakes
• Apple Juice
• Tea or Coffee

MORNING TEA:

• Plain scones, plain biscuits, vanilla yoghurt or pikelets

LUNCH:

• Chicken soup (without vegetables)
• White bread sandwich with chicken/turkey/cheese
• Apple Juice, lemonade or lemon cordial
• Tea or Coffee

AFTERNOON TEA:

• The same as morning tea

DINNER:

• Chicken/Fish/Pork
• Potato/Pumpkin/Sweet Potato
• Boiled white rice
• White pasta
• Apple juice, lemonade or lemonade cordial
• Tea or Coffee

In the 24 hours prior to the procedure, he can only have clear broth or clear fruit juices, bonox or lucozade.

Call me crazy, but this is an invasive procedure that requires him to be anaesthetised, so I believe that his body needs to be as healthy as is possible, with strong immunity.

This will enable his liver to filter and remove the toxic anaesthetic concoction, as quickly as possible, and will help him to recover quickly from having foreign objects inside his body.

From what I can see, everything here (aside from the sweet potato and pumpkin) is 'white' food.  White food full of gluten and sugar and sodium and caffeine.

I can't think of any other foods that could possibly weaken his immune system more than gluten and sugar.

So I decided to do some of my own research and discovered that prior to this particular procedure, people must eat a 'low residue' diet and the actual list of fresh fruit and vegetables allowed on this diet is much more extensive than that shown on the sheet we were given by the Gastroenterologist.

Every day, in every way, I am questioning the common sense of these people who have our health in their hands.

Next, I'd like to add some links to information about saturated fats.  We've been told for 40 yrs that they are bad and contribute to heart disease, but this is not the case and these links will take you to up-to-date information regarding saturated fats .. and each of these links have further links to take you to even more information, if you choose to go further into it.

Eating-fat-is-good-for-you-Doctors-change-their-minds-after-40-years

Enjoy-saturated-fats-theyre-good-for-you

Saturated-fat-healthy

Last, but not least, an old photo of me, taken in 1987, all dressed up for the Policemen's Ball.  Sheriff Roz, attempting to look mean!

Nite all

More 'do' than 'don't'

With so many stories in the media telling us what not to eat or drink, it's very difficult to determine what is actually good for us, or what we SHOULD be eating or drinking.

If you're a fussy eater, it's virtually impossible to eat a healthy, well balanced diet and when your working life brings a high stress load, then the low nutrient foods that you do eat, just exacerbates your problems.

Your hormones and sugar levels and therefore your moods become erratic and it's difficult to get through the day without feeling overwhelmed with various emotions as the day wears on and by the time you get home, you're too exhausted to do anything except grab a beer or a can of coke out of the fridge and snack on high sugar and high sodium snacks as you collapse on the couch.

If your life is busy, complex or complicated, where your time is limited for each of the duties that you have to perform during the day, plus you have to maintain a home, care for children, share yourself equally between a number of different people/jobs/locations, then generally speaking, taking care of yourself seems to slide very low down the priority list.

The trouble is, the longer you neglect your health, the more likely your body is going to break down with problems like high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, hyper/hypothyroidism, cancers and even problems like headaches, joint pain and allergies, which disrupt your already full and busy life.

I was reading a story online the other day which surmised that the current generation of young people will die before their parents, because their diets are so full of sugars, chemical and synthetic additives, and are so lacking in vitamins, minerals and nutrients that their bodies are almost malnourished and chronic diseases will develop much earlier than in their parents or grandparents.

I was speaking to one of the checkout ladies at my local supermarket yesterday as she weighed and packed my shopping which consisted totally of fruit and vegetables, when she commented about how healthy my purchases were.

I told her about my new eating regime and what I had cut from my diet and she looked at me as if I was crazy and said "I thought about doing something like that .. but it means all you can basically eat, is fruit and vegetables and meat!!  I just couldn't do that!  And the other thing is, all that healthy stuff is so expensive!"

I replied "Well, yes, and so are all the medications that you'll be on for your high blood pressure and your diabetes and your thyroid condition."

"Oh God!" she said "That's already started for me!"

She is only in her late 30s.

So I thought maybe a list of 'do eats' instead of 'don't eats' would make it easier to look at making some dietary decisions.

• Chicken, turkey, veal, bacon, lamb, venison, rabbit, kangaroo, beef, fish and shellfish. 
• Asparagus, avocado, artichokes, brussel sprouts, carrots, spinach, celery, broccoli, zucchini, cabbage, capsicum, cauliflower, eggplant, onions, pumpkin, sweet potato, potato, beetroot, corn, beans, peas, turnips, parsnips, silverbeet, pak choy, bok choy, kale, lettuce, radish and cucumber.
• Apple, blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, oranges, lemons, kiwi fruit, bananas, pawpaw, papaya, mango, tomato, grapes, lychee, plums, apricots, peaches, mulberries, passionfruit, figs, watermelon, guava, lime, raspberries, tangerine, rockmelon, rhubarb and any other fruit you can think of.
• Almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, pecans, pine nuts (which are not actually nuts), pumpkins seeds, sunflower seeds, macadamia nuts, walnuts and brazil nuts, sesame seeds, poppy seeds.
• Coconut oil, macadamia oil, avocado oil and butter.  Olive oil .. only used cold .. not for cooking.
• Soft cheeses, full cream milk, full cream cream, full cream plain yoghurt, greek yoghurt and butter.
• Eggs.
• Quinoa, rice, GF oats, rice bran, psyllium, linseed.
• Raw honey, pure maple syrup, coconut sugar, rapidura sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder, shredded coconut, desiccated coconut, shaved coconut.
• Coconut water, coconut milk, coconut cream, coconut butter.
• Almond milk, rice milk.
• Quinoa flour, chick pea flour, potato starch, brown rice flour, tapioca flour, GF cornflour and almond flour (in moderation).
• Parsley, rosemary, basil, thyme, mint, dill, coriander, cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, paprika, cayenne pepper, chilli, garlic, ginger, salt, pepper and any other herb or spice that you can think of.
• Water - lots of it.

Ok, that's off the top of my head and covers a lot!  I'm sure that I've also left a LOT off this list too. 

Of course, the other requirement is knowing how to cook .. or at least knowing how to read and follow a recipe.  I know some 30+ year olds who have never actually cooked a meal, other than toasting bread or putting frozen processed food into a microwave or conventional oven.

Think of it as a challenge!

I've learned to care about, and try to take charge of my own health because I want to be in my children's and my grandchildren's lives. I want to be around for a lot longer than my parents and I want to have a good quality of life.

That's important to me.

Nite all.

Super Walnut Coconut Oil Fudge

I made this delicious fudge today.  Instead of using all walnuts, I used half hazelnuts, half walnuts for one batch.

The other batch, I replaced the nuts with desiccated coconut.

They are delicious ... and so easy to make (as long as you have a food processor)

Super Walnut Coconut Oil Fudge

1 cup raw walnut pieces
1/2 cup raw cacao powder
1/2 cup softened/melted organic coconut oil
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 pinches sea salt

Garnish: 3/4 cup rough chopped raw walnuts

In a food processor, blend 1 cup walnut pieces, cacao powder, softened coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla and sea salt together.  Reserve 3/4 cup walnuts for garnish.

Line a small square dish with baking paper. I used a small loaf tin lined with a baking paper for one and a chinese container lined with baking paper for the other.

Scoop the fudge batter into square dish. Top with chopped walnuts, pushing some in as you go, and add a finishing layer. Freeze for an hour or more.

Chop into squares, ENJOY! Tastes amazing when chilled or right out of the freezer! (Best stored in the freezer).

All of the ingredients are good for you and they taste delicious!

Haven't had a chance to take any photos lately, so I rode down to the lagoon yesterday morning and watched the bees buzzing around the lilies.

... and that's it for my life today.

Nite all.

Nutrition

So I've made some enquiries about studying nutrition.

The Australian Institute of Applied Sciences has an Advanced Diploma in Nutritional Medicine that covers a lot of subjects in which I am most interested.  Aside from nutrition, they cover things like iridology, mineral therapy, anatomy and physiology, chemistry, clinical medicine and much, much more.  Sounds intense doesn't it?

The Australasian College of Natural Therapies also has the Advanced Diploma and they concentrate on boosting health and preventing disease ... I like the way they think.

Health Academy Australia has an Advanced Certificate in Nutritional Counselling which covers human nutrition, nutrition for disease management, children's nutrition and counselling skills.  I don't think this one is 'intense' enough.

The Endeavour College of Natural Health offers Study Bachelor of Health Science (Nutritional Medicine).  Their focus is the study of food, its nutrients and how diet affects health and wellbeing.  They specifically state that graduates will be eligible for membership with professional organisations like Aust Natural Therapists Association, Aust Traditional Medicine Society and The Nutrition Society of Aust Inc.

So, I'm still not certain that I am willing to make the commitment, and I'm not sure if my brain is capable of taking all of the information in, but my obsession with nutrition and how different foods,  and their vitamins, minerals, nutrients etc can heal/treat/boost the human body, is intensely interesting to me and I REALLY want to learn more.

I'd really like to use the information to help people and at the ripe old age of 50+, I'm beginning to understand how vitally important nutritional education is and I worry that people are so apathetic about what goes into their mouths ... just as I myself was, for such a long time, with little pockets of interest, at various stages of my life.

The media come up with a new idea every day about what's good for you and what's not and it's confusing for the regular Joe.

There is always a new study with results that contradict that last study.

So, no doubt, nutritional education will be a continual learning process.

I've had a keen interest in nutrition since I chose to go 'gluten free' two years ago, and felt the difference that it made to my health and wellbeing.

But the kicker, for me, was quitting refined sugar and processed foods.  It's been 5 months, but still, every day, I feel better and better.  I imagine, after 50 yrs of food abuse, it's going to take a lot longer than 5 months to heal the damage done to my body.

Anyway, I will continue, tomorrow, to research some more courses and hopefully, I will hear from the people who I have emailed tonight, and I'll have a better idea of what I want to do.

Now it's time for bed ... good sleep is just as important as good food!

Nite all.

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.


 

Eumundi Markets

Oh how I love Eumundi Markets!

We left the unit much later than we should have this morning (my fault for having a lazy lay in morning), so it was after 8am when we arrived at Eumundi Markets and the carpark was almost full!  This is no small carpark - it has room for more than a thousand cars on that empty block ... and that may be a conservative estimate.

The streets of Eumundi were already lined with parked cars and there were people everywhere.

This surprised me because it's so soon after Christmas .. aren't people supposed to be broke after Christmas?

Anyway, we paid our $5 parking fee, parked the car and then headed to Bohemian Bungalow for breakfast.

Adoring Husband and I first ate there on their opening day in early December 2012.  We didn't know it was their first day open when we walked in the door, but the food was great then, as it has been for the three other times that I've eaten there .. although the corn fritters that I had there today, were not as good as my own fritters that I make (even if I do say so myself!).

After we filled our bellies, we headed to the markets across the road.

I had no intention of spending money on anything except food .. but oh how I love Eumundi Markets!

So many lovely things.  So much colour.  So much atmosphere.

I got potions and creams and oils and balms and shoes and semi-precious rocks and jewellery and a fan and a lamp and delicious fresh fruits and that's all I can think of off the top of my head.

Four hours later, we were all shopped out, so we drove to the supermarket to get some food that we could have bought at the markets so much cheaper, if only we'd thought about it before we left the area!

We made lunch at the unit and then BGWLBH needed to rest, so she headed for the comfort of her bedroom, while I gathered the rest of Chicklet's gifts (books and dinosaurs) and wandered across the bridge to meet with Vegan Chickie for a cold drink and chat, until Chicklet woke from her nap.

More dinosaur play ensued and I had a lovely couple of hours with my precious girl.

I ordered Thai food for dinner and picked it up on my way home to the unit, so BGWLBH and I sat down to a delicious green curry and BBQ chicken with chilli sauce and rice.

It's been a lovely restful evening and tomorrow we head off on our merry way, unsure of a direction or a plan at this stage .. but we will see what the day brings us.

Vegan Chickie took a photo of Chicklet and I walking along the path yesterday .. it's not often that we get a photo taken together, because it's usually me behind the camera, so I'm excited to share this one here tonight.

Feeling pretty rested now.

Nite all.

Antique Heaven

On our travels today, we stopped in Esk, initially to look at a clothes and gift store, but right next door was the old 'Staging Post Inn' (a pub) which is now an antique store.

I have never seen so many antiques in one building!

The old pub, which has so many rooms, I lost count, and every room is filled to the brim with antiques and collectables of every possible description.

Old carved timber chests of drawers, cabinets, kitchen dressers, dressing tables, desks, dining settings, coffee tables, side tables, lamp stands.

A hundred (if not more) different fine bone china table settings .. Royal Doulton and more.  A hundred (if not more) bone handled cutlery settings with carving knives and their velvet lined timber boxes.

Brass items of all descriptions, bowls, bells, decorative pieces, ornaments, animals and birds among other things.

Big old timber boat wheels lined one wall, 6 deep.

Stained glass windows and doors, lamps and ornaments.

Hundreds of crystal sets, vases, bowls, glasses, dresser sets.  Engraved silver teapots, brush and comb sets, engraved cutlery all shining in the light.

Stuffed long haired goat heads, complete with horns and mounted on plaques - I'm sure there was one in every room!

Uranium glass of all descriptions, locked in a timber cabinet with glass doors and backlit with a special light to show how it glows in the dark.

Pianos of all types .. beautiful old timber frames with ebony and ivory crazed keys.

Old framed paintings hung on the walls, some so darkened by age, you could barely see what the painting was and all different sizes.

Gold and silver jewellery with diamonds and rubies and semi-precious gems of all types.

Numerous church pews scattered throughout the building.

Boxes and boxes of old vinyl records.

A table full of commemorative plates and cups from every country and for every event, be it royal, religious or political.

Old doll perambulators.  A velvet cushioned, carved timber child's high chair that converted to a rocker.

There was even a complete stuffed cat sitting on top of one of the cupboards!

I believe that you could spend a full day in that building and still not see everything that they had on offer.  The list just goes on and on ... I wouldn't like to be the one doing 'stock take'!!

It was certainly an eye opener!

The weather was very gloomy for almost our entire trip today, with some heavy rain in parts and fine misty rain in others.

Our final destination for today, was the Sunny Coast, and Vegan Chickie was kind enough to research accommodation and found us a lovely two bedroom resort style unit for two nights.

It's the busiest time of the year for holiday makers on the Sunny Coast and with so little notice, she did very well to find it so quickly for us.

After we settled into our unit, we walked over to the Chicklet household late this afternoon, where the bare-chested chef fed us a delicious lamb casserole for dinner and I got to play dinosaurs with Chicklet.

I gave her a 200 piece bag of dinosaurs, but most of the pieces are trees and rocks .. not so many dinosaurs .. however, she loved it and we played for about 90 minutes before it was her bed time and we walked home to the unit.

We'll check out Eumundi markets tomorrow morning and then go visit Chicklet again in the afternoon.  Perhaps a walk through the National Park with our cameras later in the day would be nice.

Here's a photo from the first day of our road trip ...

Now it's time to sleep.

Nite all.

Oakey Dokey

What a great 'rest' day we've had today.

We spent the morning indulging in some serious retail therapy.

I got gifts for Adoring Husband and Chicklet and for myself!  It was very therapeutic!

After lunch, we headed out to Oakey to visit with Number One Son, who finished work at 3pm, and met us for a drink at one of the coffee shops on the main street.  Then I finally got to see where he lives and met his dog Jake.

Jake is a black labrador pup, who is still a bit crazy with puppy energy, who has already chewed up a plastic pool, among many other things.

Unfortunately, we didn't get a photo!  I could kick myself!!

We took the camera because we hoped to get in a bit of photography while we waited for Number One Son to finish work, but he was right .. there really isn't much to photograph in Oakey.  It's a very dry and unhappy looking town .. very much a mining town.

It was good to see Number One Son looking happy and healthy.

We left Oakey with enough time to make it back for a particular movie that we wanted to see, but we couldn't find a parking space near our chosen cinema.  We decided to try the other cinema in town and rushed through the complex and up two flights of stairs, only to discover that the movie we wanted wasn't even showing in that complex!

There was plenty of time then, to find somewhere for dinner before the next screening of the movie, so we found The Cube Hotel, which is just across from the cinema, and ate in their stone grill restaurant.

We bought our movie tickets first, because we didn't know how long dinner would be.

The food was very good, as was the service.  I had stone grill garlic prawns and BGWLBH had Thai Beef Salad.

We got to the cinema thirty minutes early, to find a long queue .. so we were grateful that we had bought our tickets, however, we couldn't watch a movie without popcorn!  So we stood in the long queue for twenty minutes to get popcorn and water.

The movie was "Philomena" starring Judi Dench and Steve Coogan.  It took us on quite an emotional rollercoaster ride and we liked it a lot.  Judi Dench is always good.

So tomorrow, we continue on our journey.

Mickey Mouse is already tucked up in bed, because he's exhausted from all the shopping!

Now that you know about today ... yesterday is still a mystery!

Nite all.

Over the border

Today, we made it into Queensland territory!!

I'm too tired to give you the rundown on today's travels, so with BGWLBH's help, we'll get you up to speed tomorrow.

It was a good day and we saw a lot and travelled some terrible roads, experienced some dreadful weather, heard some glorious birds calling, among other things.

We found this lovely little out-of-the-way stream with rock pools and running water ...

We are in Toowoomba and tonight we got a bite to eat and then went to the movies to see "August: Osage County" which was quite an intense movie, well acted and with many big names in it.

Now it's time to curl up in bed and hopefully sleep soundly for many hours.

Nite all.

Gorged Ourselves

We left Armidale bright and early this morning to take advantage of the early morning light with our cameras.

There were lots of places to turn off the main road and play 'tourist' today.  Gorges and Falls and small towns.

Our first detour was to find Gertz Gorge.  Along the corrugated dirt track, there were lots of little bunny rabbits hopping about and on the side of the road, we could see the holes that led to their warrens.

We tried to get a photo of the bunnies, but they were too quick.  I got a couple of shots in, but they are not clear ... you can tell it's a photo of a rabbit, but that's about it.

At the last grid and gateway to the gorge, there were two alpacas grazing nearby!

We made it to the gorge, but the viewing area was quite overgrown.  The good part, was that nobody else was there, so we got to stroll around on our own and enjoy the scenery and there were lots of little birds fluttering around the place.

The birds were very small, stayed close to the ground and flitted in behind the tall grasses - so none of my photos turned out very clear of them either!

When I think about it .. I had some great opportunities today, but luck wasn't always on my side and most of my photos were disappointing.

The next stop was at some 'falls', but we can't remember the name of them - we stopped where we thought the falls would have been, had there been water (the rivers and streams are very dry in these parts and only one of the falls has water at the moment), and took some photos.

What we thought were fish creating swirls in the stream, with hindsight, we think they may have been platypus, because the signs for accommodation had a platypus as a logo.  *forehead slap*  If we had been on the ball, there may have been a marvellous opportunity there with the camera!

Wollomombi Gorge was our next turnoff and this is where we discovered the Wedge Tailed Eagles!  They were soaring and playing on the thermals in the gorge, and looming from below us on the viewing platform.

We got lots of photos, but the air was very hazy and when they were above me, the light was too bright.  When they were below me, and when the light was perfect, I panicked and missed the perfect shots!  UGH!

The Wedge Tailed Eagle is the shot that I most want now, on my bucket list.  I know there will be another opportunity in my future .. hopefully it will be on this trip!

Next, we tried Point Lookout, but we could see as we got closer, that the weather was closing in.  The higher we drove, the lower the cloud dropped and by the time we reached the lookout, we could barely see in front of us, let alone the view from the lookout.  What a fizzer.

On the way back to the main road, we stopped near a stream to take a shot, and disturbed a man camped in a tent.  He appeared to have a marijuana plant growing in a pot by his tent .. can't say for sure, because we didn't get that close, but he seemed very edgy when we pulled up!

We found Ebor Falls next.  We had visited the same falls about 18 years earlier when Vegan Chickie was a teenager, so it triggered some nice memories for us.

By now, we were starving.  We hadn't eaten any breakfast and it was now after lunch, so we desperately wanted some food.

We stopped at Ebor, but just before we walked into the cafe (the only one in town), a large group of about 10 people walked in ahead of us.  We decided to push on to Dorrigo, which was about 55kms further up the road.

Well, wasn't that an adventure in itself!

The temperature dropped from about 26C to 14C and the fog was so thick that we could barely see the road!

We slowed right down to 40kmh in some parts of the drive and we had two trucks on our tail.  The road was very twisty and windy as we travelled over the mountains to our destination and it took much longer than we anticipated!

Thank goodness, we found a cafe and produce store, that had organic and gluten free goods for sale, as well as delicious, healthy food.

We had a Moroccan Chicken dish with three different salads and two much-needed coffees.  It was delicious and the price was right.

We left the cafe and strolled through the store of a second hand/antiques dealer.  The store was as big as a warehouse and it was like a trip down memory lane for BGWLBH and I.

We pointed out all the items that we grew up with, as kids.  Crockery and biscuit tins and vases and milk bottles in their little carry cage, money boxes, wall decorations, kitchen utensils and cooking gear.  It was very enjoyable.

We found the Art gallery and viewed some beautiful art and jewellery and timber-wares.

After we left there, we had to endure some more foggy twisty roads, to find the little town of Bellingen and the butter factory.

Great little shops that we could have spent a fortune in, if we had a fortune available to spend!  Instead we 'spent a penny' and used the bathroom facilities, then bought refreshments before taking off on the next leg of our journey.

We wanted to head north to Coffs Harbour, but somehow found ourselves heading south to Kempsey!  By the time we figured it out and found a way to turn around on the highway, we had lost about 30 minutes of travel time ... just another little adventure along the way!

We are not very keen on freeway or highway travel, so after we got to Coffs Harbour, we found a turnoff that took us through Nana Glen, and onto the back roads towards Grafton.  We'd hoped to find a motel in Nana Glen for the night, but it's a much smaller town than we realised, and even though we didn't drive right into town, there didn't appear to be much in the way of accommodation there.

We pushed on for another 50km through beautiful rolling green pastures and rainforest areas to finally reach Grafton.

South Grafton was our point of entry and it looked very dodgy, with broken down old houses - it appeared to be a very old part of town and not very well maintained or cared for.

A drive over the bridge to the other part of town and it's a completely different story.

We found a little motel called 'The Abbey' and took the last room available, which has two single beds in it.

So, it's been an eventful day, but Mickey didn't want to get involved at all with the day's activities because it was so cold and wet.  No Mickey photos today.

Let's see if I can get some decent sleep tonight.  I've slept poorly since I've been on holidays and am beginning to feel a bit worn out.  Luckily we've been eating well, although missing breakfast today was a big mistake I think.

Tomorrow should be another eventful day and I'm excited to see what it holds for us!

Nite all.

Where are we?

The 'Most Excellent Adventure' was quite a bit less than 'most excellent' today ... a lot of driving and not much adventuring, however ...

... tomorrow should involve a bit more adventure.  We'll be taking the back roads to tomorrow's destination and there are national parks and bush walks and side tracks to fill up the whole day .. as long as the weather holds up.

There are showers forecast for the whole area, but hopefully they will be scattered and won't interrupt our day too much.

We did stop to visit some alpacas ...

... and Mickey was kept fairly busy for the day ...

We arrived in Armidale nice and early and took ourselves to the movies to see "The Hobbit No 2" which was good, but went for 2.5 hours and BGWLBH asked me near the end of the movie "How many days have we been here?"

Room service is always a bonus when you're too tired to make any effort to find food elsewhere.

We want to start early tomorrow, to make the most of the adventures to come, so I'm signing off now!

Nite all.