Simple Happiness

Salicylates Challenge = FAIL

2011-06-14T11:02:00.005+10:00

Over this long weekend we did our sals challenge. And we failed :(

According to the challenge guidelines, for a sals challenge you must consume at least 6 serves of salicylate rich foods per day for 7-10 days or until you see a reaction. Each serve is the equivilent of 1 cup of sal-only fruits and vegies (so no tomatoes, spinach, grapes, etc that contain aminies and glutimates as well), 150 mL unpreserved apple juice, 1 tbsp honey or curry powder, 1 cup strong tea.

The girls were very excited to do the challenge and actually get to eat fruit again, so on Saturday our food diary looked like this:

10am: 1 cup watermelon each, 150mL nudie apple juice each
11am: (girls only) 1/2 royal gala apple, 1/6 granny smith apple
12.45pm: (Em and I, Z took one bite and didn't like it!)Homemade cream corn on toast (2 cups corn cooked, 1/2 tub philly cream for cooking - blitzed in the food proccessor then toasted in a sandwhich press - pepper on mine)
1pm: (girls) 1 cup watermelon
5pm: Failsafe dinner (leftover chicken alfredo)
6.30pm: (girls) 1/2 royal gala apple, 1/6 granny smith apple
7.30pm: (girls) 1 cup each coles organic sweet and salty popcorn
9pm: (Me only) English breakfast tea

So over the course of the day Z and I had 6 serves and Em had 7.

Besides one tanty at the shops by Z that was diffused in about 5 minutes, Saturday was a really good day. The girls were listening, playing nicely and overally being nice to be around. That night I was awake until 3am. Not sure if it was the sals or caffiene in the tea, or just the fact that I was still doing things until that time.

Things were looking promising - I even started looking at my cook books to see what recipes I could add once we had finished the challenges . . .

Then came Sunday.

Shan had been fishing the previous night and got home about 9am. Before this time the girls had been playing nicely, even walking out of their bedroom in the morning hand in hand. Then things went downhill. We had had 1 cup of watermelon and 150mL coles cloudy apple juice before Shan had gotten home.

Shan has a tendency to stir the girls to get a reaction. Well he got one. Crying, yelling, running around like kids gone crazy, jumping on the lounge, hitting each other and Z bit Emily. Em's cheeks became very hot and red too. Out came the caltrate.

At this stage there was no reaction with Abby or I, so I kept going and had a big serve of apple juice (400 mls, so nearly 3 serves) and some salad vegies at lunch (butter lettuce, carrot, cucumber). I had a couple of episodes of tinnitis, which I had only had one since starting falsafe but it was after Abby did a poo that I knew it was time for me to stop too. Her bottom was raw and bleeding. Game over.

We've since gone back to straight failsafe eating and it will be interesting to see how the next few days pan out. Over Monday and today, I have already had several more tinnitis episodes, the big girls are very teary, fighting a lot and not going to bed. We were terribly late for school today because Em would not get dressed and at the time that her classmates were going into class, she was sill in her pjs and hadn't had breakfast - and we still had to walk to school. I was very tempted to keep her home but I don't think I could have handled her today. Thankfully one of my friends was also running late and drove past when we were trying to finally get out the door and was able to drive Em while I walked Z to kindy.

Abby is now covered all over her tummy and legs with ezcema. Her bottom is healing with the help of a lot of nappy free time and liberal amounts of calendula cream. When I showed Shan her bottom his response was "It's because she isn't used to those foods" well der!!!!! That is the whole point!!! We have also discovered that Abby reacts to synthetic fibres, so have to be careful with what she wears and lays on - we can't pop her straight on our carpet without her rashing up.

Shan still doesn't think that the diet is working, and thinks that maybe the icecream that they had last night before one of their beating-each-other-up bouts was the cause of the fight. *sigh*

Hoping to get back to baseline now in time for the June school holidays which are just under 2 weeks away so that we can do the amine challenge when they don't have to go to school.

Six week catch up (slacker I know!)

2011-06-14T10:19:00.007+10:00

Six weeks today since we started this failsafe journey!

The sickness I mentioned in the previous post turned out to be the flu - with all of us wiped out for nearly 2 weeks. While we were all hit, Em was by far the worst afftected. She was still sick on her birthday and didn't even want to get out of bed to open her birthday pressies! Finding her crashed on the floor like this was a common event. Thankfully she recovered in time for her first ever "friends" birthday party :D

I am very pleased to be able to say that there were no complaints about the food (by anyone but my husband that is - "You can't use beetroot juice to colour the icing!!") and the party went off without a hitch! We served marshmallow crackles, fairy bread, fun sized milky bars, werthers original cream candies, red rock plain chips and parkers pretzels, magic cordial, water and, of course, cake! As an alternative to party bags, each guest took ome a giant bubble stick. What kid doesn't like bubbles, right?

I am getting a bit frustrated at the lack of support from Em's school. On the first day back at school after neary 2 weeks off, we arrive and it is 'Bear Hunt Day' where all the prep classes get together and do 'bear' related activities to finish up their work on the story "Going on a Bear Hunt" We had brought in a plate of marshmallow crackles for Em to share with her class as her birthday treat since she wasn't there on the day itself.I saw that one of the activities was making honey sandwiches. I specifically tell Em's teacher "Please don't allow Emily to have any of the honey sandwiches as we cannot have honey. There are sandwiches in her bag that she can eat at the same time" Get told that this is not a problem at all so off I go (walking home because my car is still not back - but that is a different gripe!) That afternoon Em tells me that she didn't eat the honey sandwiches, but she had 3 honey joys (ingredients: homebrand canola spread (antioxidant 320), honey and cornflakes (both sals!))So frustrating!!! I spoke with her teacher the next day and was told that Emily said that she was allowed to have them, so she gave them to her!!! Apparently ME telling her that morning that we cannot have honey is over-ridden by a five year old. Awesome. Not only that, but the marshmallow crackles (that Em could have eaten in place of the honey joys) were put out for all of the 114 prep kids, not just Em's class of 22 and Em didn't get one. Poor Em :(

If anyone has any suggestions on how to get a school to take an elimination diet seriously, I'd LOVE to hear from you!

Week 3: Round in circles

2011-05-24T16:33:00.002+10:00

That is what I am doing right now, going round and round and round in circles. This week I have done everything by the book and we still have not reached baseline. Instead we are all disgustingly sick with head colds (Em's including a fever on and off up to 40.4 degrees) and the girls are being whingy whiney little brats - not helped by the fact that I am sick too so just want to lay on a couch and do as little as possible.

I really thought we'd be there by now. Even through this bout of sickness where every fibre of my being is screaming out for cold and flu tablets for me and dimetapp and a 'nice' tasting paracetamol for the girls, I have still stuck to failsafe and it has gotten me no where :(

We are halfway through my self imposed time frame in which to see a difference. We have the added stress of not having a car which can fit the 3 kids in it (apparently a month isn't too long to wait - and they still haven't figured out what the bloody problem is) and now being sick, so I am trying not to get too down on it today or else I might just go out and down a bucket of KFC and a bottle of moscato . . .

Thursday was an absolute write off for Z. Tantrums, spitting, tears . . . the whole works. My diary (where I am recording what food and any symptoms) says "Horrible horrible day" and that about sums it up. Caltrate and bi-carb baths barely touched the sides (no more macca's milkshakes for her!!) This has continued until today, getting gradually better until today's catastrophic day where she will not listen to a word anyone says, tried to put her doll's stroller on Abby's rocker (while Abby was in it) grabbed hold of the rocker while I was carying it to another room (again with Abby in it), poking Abby in her eye (deliberately), hitting and smacking both Em and I numerous times.

Em seems to be getting a bit constipated (something I am having a little trouble with too) and constantly wants someone with her. her attention span is virtually non existant.

I am feeling very angry and argumentative and had an episode of tinnitis in my left ear for the first time since starting failsafe (it used to be at least every second day).

I am feeling very despondant at the moment. Am I even doing the right thing trying the diet. Am I just bringing out the worst in us whenever we eat the 'bad' things, rather than bringing out the good when we don't?? Hmm maybe that doesn't make sense. Are our symptoms worth the feralness that comes out when we stray from a purely chemical free diet even the smallest amout??

I just want to get to the challanges so we can hopefully start to introduce foods back or make the decision to throw it all in . . .

Week 2 roundup - Live and Learn

2011-05-18T16:58:00.002+10:00

So many stupid mistakes this week with things that I thought were failsafe (some I have no idea WHY I thought they were in the first place!!) but I will start with the good.

- We are still without a car, so walking to and from school each day (Zoe twice a day with me) and for the past 2 days we have gotten there in good time without Z complaiing the whole way or sitting down on the path not moving!! A whole lot easier I tell you!! :D

- After nearly a week of Em coming in and sleeping in our bed with nightmares, we have had 3 nights in a row that they have both gone to bed nicely and stayed there all night!! That is HUGE!!!

Okay, now the things I have learnt this week that are NOT failsafe even though I thought they were:

- Vanilla shakes from Maccas - why the heck did I think these were FS?? Thay have 211 and 220 in them.

- Crossaints from Coles (I will check woolies again tomorrow) - these have whey powder in them, which is cultured from Calcium propanoate (282) and used in bakery products as a preservative.

- Coles Pears in Syrup Snack Packs - the 'syrup' in these is thickened pear juice (with skins) so contain sals. The big tins (not at our coles, but our woolies stocks them) are still fine.

- Sour cream and yogurt - just off the list as a fermented product - so contains amines.

We have had some success with meals this week. We've had Creamy Chicken and Cabbage Alfredo again as well as Fried Rice and made the Chicken Casserole (failsafe cookbook pg 75) as chicken pot pies which went down well. The mix would also be good on rice I think.

I have discovered that I cannot make mayo (after 3 ill fated attempts lol) but I have made mighty mayo from the Fed Up book and will be using that on our burgers tonight.

My localchemist is ordering in plain toothpaste for me (regular toothpaste contains at very least sals from flavours if not colours and artificial flavours and preservatives)

It shouldn't be this hard to know what we are putting into our bodies . . .

Week 1 Round Up

2011-05-09T10:14:00.004+10:00

I am not coping very well at the moment. After a very promising start to the week with Abby's rash getting a lot better and only waking once after the second day, we then went downhill. I knew to expect it (all the books say that from day 4 up to 10ish are the worst but I didn't expect it to be so bad.

Abby was waking 4-5 times a night (was only 2 last night but not banking on that keeping up!) and still rashy. Z is incredibly lethargic and so whiny!!! One of our cars (the one that can fit all 3kids in it of course) is out of action at the moment and so we have to walk to and from school - but the 700m walk is taking nearly half an hour with Z dragging her feet, throwing tantrums and screaming that she is "NO GOOD AT WALKING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" She threw up on Saturday (just once with no cause that we can see) last night wet the bed for the first time since toilet training over a year ago.

Em is in hysterics over nothing, seems to be more sensorally (is that even a word?) aware, crying that the anti slip stuff on the bottom of her socks was hurting, then the next pair of socks had a pattern on it and where the colours changed underneath had some loose threads, which apparently hurt too. She had a nightmare on Friday night and is 'scared' to be by herself (which meant that she was in Z's bed when Z wet it - argh!!)

Both of the older girls are not listening to a thing that either I or Shannon say and neither time out nor smacking their hands has any effect whatsoever, which is putting both Shan and I in bad moods with each other too :(

As for me, I'm not craving coke as much as I thought I would be. The first 2-3 days I had a bad headache, but seem to be past that. Thursday night I had some nasty leg cramps and I still feel like I am walking around with my head in a cloud, but that could also be from the lack of sleep (sleep deprivation is a type of torture for a reason!!) Friday had me feeling very agitated and flustered too.

Slip ups during the week:
- Em wasn't given her snack pack of pears for fruit break on Friday, so the teacher just let her have apple and banana instead (but ate her pears later so she didn't think to tell me!)
- Shan gave the girls each a bottle of 100% orange juice on Saturday - they didn't drink it all themselves, but had a decent amount each.
- On Saturday and Sunday we had bbq chicken which had been seasoned and stuffed. We only had the white meat, but apparently this is a no no?
- I have been having a small glass of Schwepps unpreserved lemonade each day (supposed to limit to 150mL per WEEK while in full elimination - I just need some flavour dammit!!)
- On Sunday we were at Caloundra for Mother's Day and had icecream cones. We had vanilla 'all natural' icecream, but it was very yellow, so might have had annato? And in a waffle cone. I asked to see the ingredients list but they couldn't find them, and by then all the other people we were with had already bought theirs and so I just gave it to them.
- On Saturday Z was bitten on her hand by something and by last night (Sunday) it had puffed up like a blown up glove, so I gave her some Polaramine syrup which is heavily flavoured and coloured. Today when she needed another dose, I have quartered a colourfree polaramine tablet (which is the equivalent of 1.25mL of syrup and a 2-4year old dose is 1.25 - 1.75mL) and given it to her in some golden syrup.

I need to lean to be stronger and say no, but at only 1 week in I am sick of being the bad guy already. The one who says no to sauce and chocolate and cake and chips. The one who has to tell my husband's Mum that no, the girls can't have sausages or pasta salad or juice - so when she made us a special meal I couldn't tell her that we aren't meant to have the BBQ chicken.

It is frustrating that every day has to be so planned out because we can't really eat out at all. Dinner at the MIL's place was a spur of the moment decision and could have stuffed everything up.

Emily has a birthday party tomorrow afternoon and I have to take Z too (no car so we are walking) but I am already dreading having to say no when she wants everything. I'm bringing fairy bread, a packet of chips and a cupcake for each of the girls but I know that there will be other things there that they are going to want.

So overwhelmed at the moment that it is just ridiculous!

Day 2 - 3

2011-05-05T14:06:00.004+10:00

Abby is already looking so much better! It is hard to believe that only a couple of days ago she was in so much pain. That said, when nappy free she will still scratch her bottom until she bleeds, but the rest are almost dried out now :D

The first night we had potato and leek soup - which was a bit bland (edible, but wouldn't want to very often lol) but last night we had the chicken and cabbage alfredo and it was YUM!! Even if it turns out that we can tolerate all other foods, I can see us going back to this one. Even Shannon went back for seconds!

We have already come up against hurdles. Yesterday a girl in Em's class brought in cupcakes for her birthday, so straight home I went and now have a batch of iced cupcakes both at home and in the freezer in the classroom for the next birthday which comes around. Em has also received a party invitation for another friends birthday next week, so I have spoken to her Mum and have arrange to bring a cupcake, some failsafe fairy bread and some plain kettle chips. I'll also make sure EM has her drink bottle.

There are so many little things that I hadn't thought of before, like my friend watching the girls while I have my market stall tomorrow night asked what they can eat for dinner. I don't want to put other people out, but don't want the girls to miss out either :( So they are having a roast chicken (they already do no seasoning or stuffing) and roast veges (the girls will have potato only). I will provide some bread and homemade mayo if they'd like a 'sauce' with it.

As a plus, I have since discovered that the bakery made bread at Coles is Failsafe - yay!!

Day 1

2011-05-03T16:05:00.006+10:00

We are finally here! The last week has had me nervous but more than anything just wanting to get to it.

So far so good, although I have had a cracking headache since about 1pm (damn you caffiene!!) Zoe is her 'normal' tantruming self, and Em is being sooky - so nothing new really!

I have undertaken the Great Pantry Cleanout today, removing everything not suitaly for the elimination diet. I have kept most of it for when we start challenges but the difference is a bit depressing really!

I look at what is left and start to wonder how the heck we are going to get through it. Is it all really worth the huge effort? And then i look at Abby, who is covered head to toe in a horrible rash (worse in the nappy area) which has mainly come out since I went a bit crazy on the Sunkist and had several cans over the period of a few days (when I am normally a Coke girl).

This is something real. You can't put this down to "having a bad day" or "it's an age thing" It is breaking her sleep and the poor little bugger is scratching until she bleeds. I need to fix this!

Week 1 Menu

2011-04-28T11:04:00.002+10:00

My new shopping and cooking day will be Friday, so this is for 3 nights and 4 days only.

Breakfasts:

- Weetbix

- Ricebubbles

- Toast (bakers delight) with butter, pear jam (homemade - no peel), magic spread (like lemon curd - recipe in Fed Up) or golden syrup

Lunches/snacks

- Sandwiches (Baker's Delight Bread) or Original Sunrice rice cakes with any of the above toast options or phili cream cheese

- Marshmallow slice (like LCMs - 120g Pascall's white marshmallows, 60g butter microwaved together at 50% power until melted and then stirred into 6 cups ricebubbles, pressed into a slice tin and set in the fridge - yum)

- Pears in syrup (snack packs if I can find them) These will be for Em's 'fruit break' at school. It is normally a piece of fruit brought to combine in a share-a-plate but I have discussed this with her teacher already.

- Pikelets or lemonade scones (2cups and 2tbsp SR Flour, 2/3 cup cream, 2/3 cup Schwepps bottled lemonade (the rest and cans have preservatives))

- Parkers pretzels

- plain kettle chips

Dinners

This is my major downfall!!

- Failsafe sausages (from Rode Meats at Chermside - $12.99/kg made fresh 4 times a week and REALLY yum!) with mashed potato, green beans and swede

- Chicken Cabbage Alfredo minus pepper and with pasta

- Sizzle steak sandwiches - Baker's Delight bread, garlic salt*, iceberg lettuce and homemade mayo if needed

- Chicken wraps - Golden chicken from 'The Failsafe Cookbook' with iceberg lettuce, mayo (if needed) in either Mountain Bread or homemade tortillas

* I phoned Masterfoods about their Garlic Salt as going by the ingredients list, it should have been okay. The only questionable thing was 'vegetable oil'. While it is an allowable oil (canola) is contains unlisted antioxidant 319 so is not failsafe and is used in all of their spices. I have been told that Woolworths Garlic Salt is failsafe, but I had since made my own with straight garlic granuals and salt in a 1:5 ratio.

Drinks:

- water

- milk

- magic cordial

Wish me luck!!

Our 'Failsafe' Journey

2011-04-28T10:26:00.005+10:00

Tuesday is D-Day. Diet Day. Failsafe Diet Day. For those not familiar with the Failsafe Diet, it basically means that you undertake a strict elimination diet until you reach a baseline and then re-introduce types of foods to see what causes a reaction and in what levels. See the Fed Up website for more information.

In the front of the Fed Up book, it has a list of symptoms that can be attributed to food sensitivities. As a family, many of these relate to us:

Me:
Eczema/hives/rashes
Hayfever, blocked or runny nose (constantly!)
Snoring (shh don't tell anyone!)
Sinusitis
Frequent tonsillitis, colds, flu (more as a child)
Frequent ear infections (more as a child)
Joint pain
Heart palpitations
Headaches and migraines
Tinnitus
Tiredness (although I do have a 3 month old lol)
Anxiety
Depression (previous history - doing okay over the past few years)
Vague or forgetful
Unable to concentrate
Unmotivated
Disorganised
Easily distracted (oh look - a butterfly . . .)
Poor coordination
Frequent accidents
Insomnia (at times)

Emily (Nearly 5):
Snoring
Frequent ear infections
Bad breath
Growing Pains
Headaches
Unexplained tiredness
Easily distracted
Vague or forgetful
Difficulty falling asleep
Frequent night waking
Nightmares/night terrors
Mood swings
Uncooporative, argumentative
Overreacts to small incidents
Temper tantrums and outbursts
Constantly says 'NO'
Break rules
Blames others
Deliberately annoys others
Angry, resentful, defiant
Spiteful

Zoe (3 yrs):
Eczema and other rashes
Headaches
Unexplained tiredness
Mood swings
Uncooporative, argumentative
Overreacts to small incidents
Temper tantrums and outbursts
Constantly says 'NO'
Break rules
Blames others
Deliberately annoys others
Angry, resentful, defiant

Abby (3 months):
Eczema and rashes

Of course I am not saying that they will become little angels after this - they are still 3 and (nearly) 5 - but lately I am feeling totally overwhelmed with their behaviour If by changing what we eat we can get them to a managable level I will be happy!

I think that Abby's most recent and awful rashes were caused by me drinking Sunkist, which has colour 110 in it as it is the only thing that I had really changed and we bought a carton of it while on special and hd drunk several cans before I put it together.

Menu planning for the first week now . . .

Quick update before the main event!

2011-04-28T10:19:00.004+10:00

Wow! Okay so it has been over a year and a half since my last blog. Hmmm. I was about to start a new blog mainly for my own sake to track our failsafe journey, but figured why not pull out this old one. Some things have changed in our family in the past year and a half, many have not.

Firstly, we've had a new baby :D Abby Elizabeth joined us on 12th January in the middle of the Brisbane floods. I thought we'd never get to meet her after my induction was put off for 3 days due to the flooding - but we got there in the end.

Emily has now started prep and is going great guns with her learning. At home she is a completely different child though - more on that in the next post! Zoe is at kindy 2 days a week while I work on my little home based business - PuggleBunz

Okay that is the catch up, now onto the next post!

A blog giveaway!!

2009-10-20T07:28:00.004+10:00

And it's not mine!! Although in my haste to get an extra entry in the draw by linking it to my blog I did manage to spill and entire (large) cup of apple juice all over my desk, assignment notes and keyboard - crap crap crap.

Anyway . . . lol

Cathy from Cherry Blossom (and my friend from nappycino.com.au) is holding a giveaway on her blog The Barbarian Hoarde Go and check it out and post a comment to be in the draw :D

Can I just say, I know I'm not on here much but I somehow doubt that in between my last visit and today that I have had an additional 10 000 visitors lol Spambot anyone??

Okay back to try and salvage my assignment notes now :(

When the husband is away . . .

2009-10-09T17:28:00.005+10:00

I will play!!

Shan has gone away on a houseboat for a couple of nights, so I don't have to be quite so concerned about keeping the house clean which in turn means SEWING TIME!!!! It has been quite a while since I have been able to have some creative time and from 7pm onwards I am back to assignment writing, but I have had a pretty productive day.

I whipped up a quick shirt for Em first thing (no pics of it yet) and then cut up an ill fated attempt of a dress for myself and used this tute to make a pretty summer dress for Em. If I were to make it again I'd make both the bodice and skirt a little longer, but I am fairly happy with it :) I could not get the crazy chicken to stand still, so I got a crazy dance photo!! LOL

I also found a tute on one of my fave blogs Blueprints for a cute little toddler bag. My girls are always walking around with backpacks full of goodies going to the shops/school/on a treasure hunt and I thought that these would make cute gifts for some of my neices so I rummaged through some of my bits and pieces and found a pillow case and an old pair of jeans I could donate to the cause and made one up to see how easy it would be. I don't have a need for one in those colours, so I'm putting it up on madeit.com.au.

I find I have so many ideas but I never get around to them because I spend any free time I have thinking of even more ideas or procrastinating!!! Today has been so great because there is no pressure to be cleaned up by a certain time and I have achieved so much !! I LOVE SEWING!!!

Who you callin' Dummy???

2009-08-13T07:55:00.006+10:00

I have a hard time making clothes for me that actually fit. Lets just say my 1920's Ese Jane Dressmaker's Dummy has never had children!! So what is a girl to do?? Make a lifesize version of herself of course!! So by following this tute and purchasing gummed paper tape from here I enlisted the help of my sister and we got to it.

In all it took about 3hrs, but we also had to include about half an hour extra after I passed out. Oops! (Note to anyone trying this, you don't have to remain perfectly still, make sure you move your arms and legs as much as possible or you too will come crashing down and bust open your hard work!!)

In the early pics you'll also see that I did originally have little capped sleeves to see where my shoulder actually sits, but the pain got too much after not moving them that we had to cut them off VERY quickly!! But I think this will be fine.
I must say, it is very confronting to see yourself in 3D for the first time. All those little (or not so little now that you can see them properly!) things that you thought "That looks alright" don't neccessarily look alright!! Although my sister didn't see anything out of the ordinary, obviously, because that is how I actually look!! My brother in law kept telling me "stop playing with your tits!" and " Would you like some alone time??" because once it was off I couldn't stop looking at it and playing with it to try and get it smooth.

It now lives over my ese jane and is currently wearing one of my bras, which strangely enough, it fills out perfectly!! Now off to spotlight for some grown up fabric . . . :D

I got a job!

2009-08-11T15:11:00.004+10:00

I went for an interview today and they offered me the job :D Nothing major, but very suitable for me. It is in a bakery which sells preservative free, some organic and some gluten free. They are very excited to have someone studying naturopathy and nutrition join them and I hope that I live up to their expectations.

The best bit is that it is on a casual basis and fits in nicely around Nn's work, mainly on weekends and Thursday nights, so when the kindy eventually opens in early next year, the time the girls are there I can actually study!! I have my first training next Monday :) Very excited :D :D :D

Flowergirls' dresses

2009-07-23T08:03:00.004+10:00

Just thought i'd update and put up the pics of Em 'practicing' in her flowergirls dress (ie; me making sure that the sockings wouldn't show through the open back, that the jacket was the right size over the dress etc) I am so stoked with how they turned out :)

Deleted Post

2009-07-22T07:28:00.001+10:00

Thanks to those who responded, I have now deleted that post . . .

Change to Diet: 3 week round up

2009-07-14T08:40:00.002+10:00

Well the 3 week challenge is up. To be honest I find it hard to tell if the things that have changed are due to the diet change or the seasons, or the ages of the kids . . . or a combo of all three!!

Positive health/health related results:

* Z's rash on her face has cleared away and most of mine have gone, besides the contact dermatitis on my hands
* Emily is now (mostly) sleeping in her own bed all night and also not needing to get up to go to the toilet during the night
* Z has slept through a couple of times
* I haven't noticed my tinnitus nearly as much as normal
* Pre Menstral Symptoms non existant (normally I am ripping heads off in the few days before my period arrived, but it snuck up on me this month!!)

Things Unchanged:

* Sinuses are still stuffed (including with my lactose free trial week)
* One migraine (that absolutely knocked me for six) and a few headaches
* Foggy head (but more often when tired)
* Lack of concentration/motivation - trying to study but just can't get into I like I used to

Regardless of whether it was food related or not, there are some permanent changes that I am going to be making.

As often as practical artificial colours will be out. There is no need for them and alternatives are available. It does no alter the taste of the food in any way so is unneccessary in my book. That said, if there are lollies at a party, I wont say no to the girls eating a couple(but will likely provide a naturally coloured option as well).

I will be ruling out as many preservatives as possible, mainly done by making food from scratch. I was dissapointed that the one type of wine I drink is preserved with 220. We found some on the shelf wich didn't have 220, but it stated that it were preserved with sulphates - same thing different name! Since I drink so rarely, I am going to allow that to slip through. I now have frozen squeezed lemon juice in the freezer so I won't use the preserved stuff again.

MSG and other Glutamates (flavour enhancers, yeast extract) are gone from my house. I have found a few pre-mix jars that do not have any for easy meals and have a stockpile of, well, stock in my freezer so I don't have to rely on the store bought variety. I am missing vegemite though :( And having a hard time finding a suitable BBQ sauce. Anyone have any ideas??

Naughty things that will be making their way back are pork products (nitrates), Coke (yes I know I deserve a slap on the wrist for that one) and 'flavour' although I will be looking for natural flavours over random unknowns.

I am disappointed that my sinuses showed no improvement to be honest. It is my one health issue that bothers me the most and since I am still breastfeeding I can't take my previous medication for it - quite frankly though I am sick of NEEDING medication for it!! I guess it is something I need to keep exploring to find my solution!

Other things I have been up to!

2009-07-06T09:30:00.005+10:00

Goodness! Three posts in one day!

We are still waiting for our no-dig garden to be delivered (grr) after 7 weeks when it should have been a 3-4 week delivery time . . . apparently they will call us today . . . I won't hold my breath! They were quick enough to take our money though . . . hmmm

But I do have a whole heap of seedlings ready to go in though!! The only thing that hasn't sprouted is my ox heart tomatoes. I might try thm direct in the garden when it is up.

I have also been doing some other sewing with the hopes of earning a little play money. I haven't sold anything yet, but I am using up my quite large stash of material, so I'm not outlaying anything to give it a go.

You can find my stuff at madeit.com.au

Other things I have been up to: Wedding Sewing

2009-07-06T08:45:00.009+10:00

I have promised a couple of times to update this with other things I have been doing, but have been a bit slack - sorry!!

Namely, I have been sewing!! With BIL and SILs wedding in 4 weeks, I was put in charge of making the flower girls dresses. The first attempts was HORRIBLE and is here forth known as the potato sack dress. It was FAR too wide and didn't sit right at all.
So that one was out (might fit her as a swing top when she is 12?? lol) so on we went. A blog I follow (and adore) has a corset dress tute. I have made a top from it before for Ashlyn's 5th Birthday but hadn't done a dress. I managed to score some cathedral satin on clearance from Spotlight and whipped up a practice one. I used an existing top as guidance for the top and a circle skirt for the bottom. We have a winner!!! After showing the bride-to-be she was hooked too, so we now have 2 of those dresses in red with ivory straps that I made up on the weekend.

Now to my gripe (I'm sure you knew there was one coming!!) The wedding is in 4 weeks. I have met the other flower girl once (not a big deal) and have asked for her measurements for the past 3 weeks! I was sent through some measurements and I had to ask for some others. I called sent her a message saying I need these measurements today (Saturday) or I might not have time to do the dresses . . . it got to 6pm and I still hadn't heard from her, so I messaged again and they were about to be going out to her Dad's place (where the other flower girl lives) which was an hour away. I asked if she could please just call ahead and get the measurements because I really needed them. Heard nothing and she was not answering her phone. It got to 8pm and I had still heard nothing! So I called again and apparently she was just about to call me. I asked for the little girls height . . . they gave me shoulder to floor, waist to 'just below the knee', no back measurements or anything else and she had since gone out - GRR!! So I have pretty much winged it! At lease with the back being lace up it is adjustable. I have made it about 3cm longer than what I think it should be, because it is easy to make it shorter - but longer - not likely!!!

I'll leave you with one final image . . . me telling Em it was time to take the dress off. . . not a happy camper!!

Change to Diet: Week 2 review

2009-07-06T08:24:00.002+10:00

There have been a few slip ups this week. I discovered that the lemon juice that I had in the fridge has preservatives 211 and 223 plus flavour . . . after I used it to make cupcakes(on Friday), I've been drinking coke again :( and on Friday night I had some bacon in my (home made)fried rice. I have remained snuffly all week, Z's rashed on her face have flared up again and on Saturday night I had a horrible migraine, complete from being blinded to throwing up - lucky me. other things that may bave contributed to my migraine was that I was ovulating (hromones?) adn very tired after only 4hrs sleep the night before.

This week I am going to try going lactose free to see if that changes my sinuses.

This is a list of somethings I have been eating (brands included) that have none of the excluded ingredients:

Sauces and Condiments:

Masterfoods or Rosella Tomato Sauces
Woolworths select Mayo 97% fat free
Heinz Capsicum and Chilli Sauce
Trident Sweet Chilli

Spreads:

Woolworths Homebrand Peanut Butter
Woolworths homebrand Nut Spread (their Nuttella)
Woolworths Select Strawberry Jam
Honey
Golden Syrup
YLC Dairy Blend

Biscuits etc:

Arnotts Milk Arrowroot
Arnotts Saladas
Quite a few of the red rock deli chips

Jars/packet Mixes:

Woolworths Home Brand Taco Mix
Chicken Tonight Lite butter Chicken
Maggi Cottage Pie Packet

Maccas: (needed to find something I could eat while out - still waiting to hear back from subway about the ingredients in their products)
Chicken Nuggets
Ketchup
Garden Salad
Apple Slices
Water (obviously!)
Nudie Drinks

So that is a few things that I found I just had to change brands to still be able to eat the same foods :)

Failed

2009-06-30T16:00:00.001+10:00

Yet again I have failed . . . had 2 cokes today . . . I guess everyone has to have a vice?? At least it's baddie is 'flavour' rather than colours or preservatives.

Not having a good day today :(

Change to Diet: First week review

2009-06-29T07:57:00.003+10:00

One week down, two to go!!

I don't know if this is helping, but I am determined to see out the 3 weeks. Most probably I have a cold which is what is making me feel a bit yuk this morning but geez I could go a coke right now . . .

The rash on my eye has cleared up, but now my fingers are covered. but I think that is from now wearing gloves when washing up a few days ago. I haven't had a migraine this week, which is good, but I certainly am not breathing any better :( At the end of these three weeks, if my sinuses are not any better I might try Lactose free for a week or two and see where that gets me.

Emily has had some ups and downs this week. She had her first sleep through in a VERY long time - a whole night in her bed!! It was great! Although Z has been waking once or twice a night and feeding for about an hour at a time!! ARGH!! So still very little sleep going on. At about 5am this morning Em found her way into our bed again though . . .

We have had numerous meltdowns from Em this week, one of the biggest being because I couldn't get her some water from the magic fountain in the Barbie 12 Dancing Princesses movie. Yep, that will do it - over an hour of screaming . . . nice. Also simple things like not being in the same room as her when a song came on to dance to would set her off. Time out has been used MANY times this week, mainly for hitting :( Both Z and I have copped it from Em this week :( At times she can be a little angel, but at others . . .

I am learning very quickly not to assume things. For instance we had a BBQ at my Dad's place yesterday for a combined birthday get together (mine and my SIL to be Laura) We took Plain Doritos and Spicy Bean Salsa dip, Natural Confectionary Fruity Chews and a pack of Australian Gold International cheeses. After getting into the cheeses, I had another look at the packet and while some of the cheeses were preservative free, others were not :( Also, according to the book Friendly Food, potato flour and arrowroot are amongst the foods listed as okay, and many of the recipes call for them. But when I got them home both had preservatives :( I also seem to be missing the word "flavour" when I am reading labels, but out of everything it is probably the best to miss!

Shan is not impressed with my change of eating habits. I have tried to explain that the trial is only temporary and that I am doing it to try and get to the bottom of my ongoing list of problems, but he just isn't listening. I think he thinks I am doing it to be difficult. I made a cake to take to the BBQ because someone was just going to pick one up at woolies on the way and I didn't want the girls to miss out. He spent most of the trip there cranky at me (even though I made it while he was still asleep so didn't affect him at all) and then made fun of me and said that my cakes taste like crap in front of everyone . . . happy birthday to me.

I also got NOTHING from my siblings, not even a card. We normally do a card and scratchy for birthdays and I just feel like no-one could even bother to do anything for mine even though I have never missed one. It was Laura's 21st and we all got her a gift voucher and she gave everyone else a hug except me and Shan . . .

Anyway, I will try and post later a bit of a more upbeat post about other things I have gotten up to this week, but right now I am feeling kind of invisible.

Change to diet: Day 4

2009-06-25T09:12:00.004+10:00

Great day life wise, BAD day food wise . .. oops!! But hey, it was my bithday, and if Nn decides to surprise me with a Cheesecake Shop white chocolate mudcake (drool) I'm hardly going to blow out the candles and then not have any . . . and if he has already made a booking for Hogs Breath Cafe, I'm not going to turn that down either (he also bought me 2 bottles of wine preserved with 220 - but I haven't opened them yet!)

I was spoilt rotton for my birthday. Cake, flowers, subscription to Organic Gardener Magazine and an IOU on a bracelet that he wants to buy me on the weekend - PLUS a $100 dinner at Hogs Breath - good ness me! Add this to the Twilight Harcover Boxset which came with a $40 bookshop gift voucher 'the girls' got me for Mother's Day and he has set the standards pretty darn high for Father's Day and his birthday. I haven't given (nor been asked for) any hints either!!

Okay, so the damage for yesterday was:

Ricebubbles and A2 milk for breakfast, Natural cupcakes for morning tea, steak and salad sandwich on baker's delight bread for lunch (with Masterfoods tomato sauce), a crunchie (which I did look at the label but didn't notice 'flavours' listed) for afternoon tea (first oops of the day), Cheesecake shop white chocolate mudcake (whcih I found out after calling them today contains 'flavour', preservative 220, Antixidants 320, 319, also 322 and 307 but they are not on my list to avoid. I imagine that the writing on the icing would also have artificial colours). I did only have a tiny slice (and so did the girls) but there is more in the fridge . . .

As I have already said, we went to Hogs Breath Cafe for dinner - YUM!!! I am waiting for an email back about what is actually in their food, but we shared a jug of orange juice, a finger food combo and I had a Hickory Sauce Steak with vegies and fries.

This morning I woke up sluggish - food related or just tired after being up with Z twice last night?? I have a slight headache, sinus-y and feel foggy headed. Em has been screaming a lot for no reason again today too - not a fan.

All I can do is get back to it today and go from there :)

Change to diet: Day 3

2009-06-24T08:18:00.003+10:00

It has occured to me that although I write Day 3, in reality I am talking about day 2, but meh! I'm sure you can all handle that okay lol

Well yesterday I can certainly say I did not go hungry lol

Rice bubbles with A2 milk for breakfast, homemade hamburgers (organic mince) on baker's delight country grain rolls with heinz capsicum and chilli sauce and woolies homebrand light chips (as in hot ones) with masterfoods tomato sauce for lunch, cupcakes made my a beautiful girlfriend of mine with natural sprinkles and strawberries and creamy chicken pasta from here made with homemade pasta made with the pasta machine that said gf brought me as a pressie for my birthday (which is today!). I also drank 3 glasses of magic cordial with sparkling mineral water and a couple of glasses of plain water to boot.

No headache last night, but my rashes are flaring up a bit (the one on my eyelid is driving me nuts!!) and Z has one on the side of her face which has flared up again and she has scratched it until it bled :( Since she is still breastfed, maybe something that I had been eating was going through my milk and affecting her too??

Hopefully this eating change will benefit my girls too!

Change to Diet: Day 2

2009-06-23T07:44:00.005+10:00

I have to confess, anytime I start on a new way of eating (be it weight watchers before my wedding and post babies, or just this) I find that I eat very poorly in the first couple of days because it all seems too hard. I KNOW I have suitable food in the house, but the whole thinking aout it gets to me.

So in this theme, yesterday I ate:

4 Arnotts Milk Arrowroot biscuits
1/2 a pack of Woolworths light potato chips (less than 10% fat, but also less than 10% taste! YUK - The girls ate most of them!)
2 x toad in a hole
2 small glasses of 'Magic Cordial' from the book Fed Up mixed with sparkling mineral water
1 small glass A2 milk
and Potato and Leek soup for dinner (made with homemade chicken stock I did over the weekend) with 2 slices baker's Delight Country Grain Bread (yum!)

Not the best start to the week and I must make an effort to try harder and eat more regularly and not just graze during the day.

I also had a shocking headache last night, which could be from lack of caffine and/or sugar (remember I have dropped from a 2-3 can of soft drink a day habit + juice to none!) or even just lack of fluids in general.

Off to see what day 2 has in store!!

Change to diet: Day 1

2009-06-22T09:33:00.004+10:00

Starting today I am eliminating all artificial colours, flavours and preservatives from my diet. I was looking at going completely Failsafe (see here)but thought that I'll start with this as a baby step and see if it makes a difference.

The reason I am doing this is that I am never really 'healthy'. I suffer from excema, dermatitis, tinnitis, mood swings, migraines, constant rhinitis and sinus problems (to the degree where I have had surgery which helped a bit but not enough!) and gyno problems as well. I am hoping that by changing what I eat I might be able to feeling good not just okay.

I am going to trial this for 3 weeks, if there is no difference then I'll move onto the very strict elimination diet outlined on that website and through Sue Dengate's book "Fed Up" and I will record my journey on here. :)

So what am I cutting out?? A LOT!!

Colours:
102 tartrazine
104 quinoline yellow
107 yellow 2g
110 sunset yellow
122 azorubine, carmoisine
123 amaranth
124 ponceau, brilliant scarlett
127 erythrozine
128 red 2g
129 allure red
132 indigotine, indigo carmine
133 brilliant blue
142 green s, food green, acid brilliant green
151 brilliant black
155 brown, chocolate brown
160b annato, bixin, norbixin (a natural colour that causes reactions in some people_

Preservatives:
200-203 Sorbic Acid, all sorbates
210-219 benzoic acid, all benzoates
220-228 sulphur dioxide, all sulphites, bi sulphites, metabisulphates
249-283 all nitrates and nitrites
280-283 propionic acid, all propionates

Synthetic Antioxidants:
310-312 all gallates
319-321 TBHQ, BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole), BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene)

Flavour Enhancers:
620-625 glutamic acid and all glutamates, MSG (monosodium glutamate)
627 disodium guanylate
631 disodium inosinate
635 ribonuleotides
Yeast Extract, HVP, HPP

Flavours:
Anything listed as just "flavour" because who knows what they are!!

also, 951 aspartame, not included in the list in the book but something I personally won't consume.

All those things put in foods to make it look better, taste better or last longer . . . what about eating just good quality, fresh ingredients?? I tell you what, since reading labels carefully I know that there is a lot snuck into everyday products - I must be consuming a LOT of this junk! YUK!

And what does any person about to embark on a major diet change do the night before?? Eat EVERYTHING they aren't meant to . . . STUPID!! So I have started today feeling rather worse for wear!

I think drinks will be my big downfall. I have been building up my home cooking but I normally drink far too much coke and some fanta, which are now both out . . . you never know I might lose some weight out of this too!!

Wish me luck!!

Getting ready to garden

2009-06-18T12:26:00.004+10:00

For convenience and to allow me to get something done NOW rather than in six months time, we have ordered a no dig garden. One of those ones made out of a cut down water tank - 2.2m x .9m. It should be arriving here in the next few days and I am REALLY excited!!! I am finally going to have a REAL garden to plant things in, not just pots!! WOOT!!!

In preparation, I have just spent the morning planting seeds so we'll hopefully have something to plant in it when it arrives (and after we get around to filling it and then letting it sit for a week or so!) I have planted 72 punnets with about 1/3 of those destined for my sister who is also getting one delivered.

Today I have planted:

8 x Green Migeonette Lettuce
4 x Rocket (Bec)
4 x Snow Pes (Bec)
8 x Greenfeast Pea
4 x Cucumber
8 x Rainbow Silverbeet (4 for Bec)
8 x Winter Giant Spinach (4 for Bec)
4 x Green Sprouting Broccoli (2 for Bec)
2 x Capsicum
3 x Black Russian Tomato (1 for Bec)
6 x Ox Heart Tomato (3 for Bec)
3 Cherry Tomato (1 for Bec)
2 x Coriander
4 x Calendula
4 x Black Beauty Zucchini (2 for Bec)

I really hope that they grow well!!! I have a few other things that I'll plant around these while they are still growing - quick growing things that will be gone long before these are matured! I also plan on putting in onions and garlic when the bed is here, so I dont have to move them around. I do have carrot seeds, but not sure if they are worth the space!! I'll figure that out a bit later I think!!

We ended up having to postpone Emily's party afterall because the birthday girl was sick herself!! But we ended up having it the following week and she had a blast!! There were a few family dramas with SIL bringing her brand new baby (wub!!) but she still hadn't told her Dad (who was also there) that she was even pregnant!! Everyone was civil but the fallout is still being felt now. I just don't get some people!!!

Mixed bag - birthdays and swine flu

2009-05-29T10:14:00.004+10:00

I can't believe that my beautiful girl is going to be 3 on Sunday!! It have been a very full on 3 years and Emily is growing into a real little person more and more every day!

We have had to postpone her birthday party which was supposed to be tomorrow because we are all sick :( Last thing we want is to pass our germs around to all our closest friends and family lol Fairly sure it is just the garden variety cold but Em did have a fever last nigh so we are keeping an eye on things.

GMIL will be able to come now too because she wasn't going to b off quarantine for this Saturday. Yep she was on the cruise that had swine flu on board!! After havong to go to the hospital for further testing (only a cold!) she is now back at home on quarantine until Monday.

I'm in two minds about this whole swine flu thing. In one way, it freaks me out, but in another isn't it just another strain of flu?? The 'normal' flu kills up to 3000 Australians every year . . . yes that is a horrible statistic, but people don't freak out hugely about it?? I have also read that swine flu has a much higher contamination rate, which I guess is cause for concern in itself.

But what degree do you take it to?? I know that prior to postponing Em's party because WE are all sick, we were excluding anyone who had first or secondhand contact with GMIL just to be safe . . . but MIL continued working (what else could she do) and I guess things like this are going on all over the country. For example, the schools that are being closed because of one student with swine flu . . . all those children are kept on home quarantine, but what about their families that are still working, and then their co-workers . . . 6 degrees of separation and all that???

One figure I read said that 'experts' are predicting 1 in 5 will have swine flu this season!!! 1 in 5!! In that case do you just go on business as usual?? Or crack out the antibacterial hand sanitiser (which I have mixed feelings about)? Or hibernate all winter, never leaving the house unless absolutely neccessary??

One thing is for sure, I can see the Brisbane Ekka being a flop this year!

Blog Giveaway

2009-05-14T06:45:00.004+10:00

Yay - my first blog giveaway!!

As mentioned here I was the very lucky recipient of a whole stack of Grassroots and Earth Garden magazines. Upon going through them and adding them to the few that I already had, I have discovered a few double ups, so I want to pass them on to someone who reads my blog :)

The magazines on offer are:

Grass Roots #170 (Aug - Sept 2005) - Ex Library Edition
Grass Roots #168 (Jun - Jul 2005)
Earth Garden #81 (Sept - Nov 1992)

Simply place a comment in my blog under this post and they are all yours :D

Hooray for sewing mojo!!

2009-05-13T20:38:00.006+10:00

What is the best thing for getting your sewing mojo back?? Moving near your sister who only just been bitten by the sewing bug!!! Although a big chunk of my time was originally spent fixing things (if I never have to replace elastic in another itti I'll be a happy girl!!) but I have also made extra PJ pants and a nice warm fleece jacket for Em :D I used a sz 4 pattern but it was still quite short (and the arms were HUGE) I plan on making it again with a few modifications. It is See and Sew pattern # 3947
The pattern called for a 30cm separating zip, but the smallest I could find was 40cm so I used buttons instead.
I'll use a zipper on the next one.

Family news

2009-05-13T20:26:00.003+10:00

We are in for a doozy of a year this year!! We have recently found out that my BIL and SIL (Clive and Tellie) are expecting their 3rd baby at the end of the year. Their ID twin girls Jessica and Arabella will be turning 2 5 days after Tellie is due. Congratulations guys and I wish you the very best for an healthy and uneventful 6 and a bit months :D

We have also been let in on a little secret that I will share here since none of my ILs know this blog exists . . . BIL Kyle and his girlfriend, Ashleigh, are getting married!! They have it planned for the end of July when Ashleigh will be 7 months pregnant but they haven't told pretty much anybody yet. Kyle has asked Nn to be his best man, so we are in the loop . . . boy there are going to be fireworks when MIL finds out. One day she'll realise that he is a big boy now and he has to live his life how HE wants to, not how it will best please her!

So with these latest revelations we now have FOUR babies and TWO weddings before the end of this year!!! Babies due May, August, September and December and wedding in July and November (shame they aren't in the same season so we can save on outfits . . .lol)

I love seeing our family grow *wub*

Freecycle goodness, I am in heaven!!

2009-05-13T19:21:00.006+10:00

What does any self respecting simple living greenie do when they move house?? Sign up to their local FreeCycle as soon as possible of course!! :D After off loading our moving boxes and some other bits and pieces we found while unpacking that really shouldn't have wasted space in the truck, I posted a wanted ad for books or magzines on gardening/self sufficiency. I had a response from a lovely lady saying that she had some old mags that I was welcome to.

So off I toddle, hoping that the 25 minute journey wasn't going to be a waste and when I arrive she has 3 green bags FULL of mags and books for me!!

Included was 76 copies of Grass Roots, 32 copies of Earth Garden and 3 books on green living!!! She also included packet of snake beans for me :D I am so thankful to receive this lovely gift and can see myself spending hours ouring over these mags!

The earliest one is a Grass Roots (#27) that was printed in 1981 - before I was even born!

If you haven't already joined your local FreeCycle, give it a go! You never know - somebody's trash might be your treasure!!

I'm baaaaaaaaaack . . .

2009-05-13T19:16:00.002+10:00

Okay, I know it has been a while . . . life has a funny knack of getting in the way sometimes! Well we are, for the most part, moved in and settling in nicely. We have been here 3.5 weeks now and today is the first Emily free day I have had, I big change from her going to kindy twice a week!! She is at my MILs today so that I could get the first bit of study done in nearly 6 weeks!! Let me tell you, Anatomy and Physiology is not a good subject to stop for so long . . . I have pretty much had to go back over everything because I had forgotten so much!!

Since it has been so long, I think I'm better off breaking this post up into a couple for ease of reading . . .

We bought a house!!

2009-03-13T09:11:00.002+10:00

Woo hoo!! Very excited that we will soon be in our OWN home again!! 18 months renting and having to ask if we want to do anything (resulting in us NOT doing anything lol) and we can now put nails where we want, paint walls, plant gardens - BLISS!!!!

We'll be nice and close to my sister (hi Bec!) and I love the fact that my girls and her girls will grow up together! As well as having long nights of singstar, morgorgage culkin and froggin' it in skippo lol (in human-terms - playing monopoly and skip-bo lol)

Shan will still be travelling to work every day (35 minutes on a good run) and boy doesn't he like to tell me about it *sigh* If you didn't want to move there why did YOU suggest it?? Hmmm??

Trying to figure out what we can do in our backyard. I'm sure someone mentioned that a 13ft trampoline was rediculously large for any backyard besides what we are currently in . . . oh wait . . . that was ME!!!! If we keep the tramp we have, it will take up almost a full third of our backyard!! But it was a present from the jolly man, and of course 8ft is STILL too small . . . hmmm

Also trying to work out in my head how to do the vegie gardens (and there WILL be vegie gardens!!!) The backyard is approx 6m x 12m - so not incredibly big but luckily there are 4 parks within very easy walking distance. I have also been looking at these fruit salad trees as a way to get a good variety of fruit in a small space :) We have a water tank so I will actually be able to water at this place :D

Anyway, my text books are calling to me and since Em is at kindy today I had best make the most of it!!

Take care everybody :D

Bushfires

2009-02-09T14:09:00.015+10:00

Like most Aussies, my heart has been breaking watching the news coverage of the bushfires ravaging Victoria as we speak. At last count, 108 people have lost their lives, nearly 1000 houses destroyed, entire towns basically wiped off the map. Everytime I read another news report I get goosebumps.

Changes and a new start in 2009 . . .

2009-01-28T06:31:00.005+10:00

What a month or two!! Good things, bad things, surprising things all rolled into a very short period of time!!

DH and I hit a very bad patch and effectively hit rock bottom. It was either sort it out or move on :( After a lot of talking and figuring out where we are in life and where we actually want to be, we have decided to sort it out :) Things have been much better since (although there have been a few blow ups along the way) and I do really hope that things continue along this road. Fingers crossed. We have both made compromises and one of mine is to lay off him a bit about my "greenie shit" . . . oops.

So that aside, Chritsmas was, well, Christmas. As always we spent FAR too much money, got given gifts that we REALLY have no use for or just don't like, and spent the whole time running around and listening to other people whinge . . . sigh. Christmas Eve at my Dad's was by far my favourite time but was punctuated with Emily throwing up all over Nn while we were opening pressies! Nice.

We spent the week between Christmas and New Year at the Tweed Coast in a cabin which was really no bigger than a small caravan. Lets just say that the experience was . . . interesting . . . and I can't see us doing it again in a hurry. Maybe in something bigger but there really was no room to even turn around, which wasn't great with a 2 1/2 yo going through a defiant stage!! This was also just before our 'rebirth' of our relationship too, so being in such close confines while arguing constantly is never a good idea!!

Some exciting news from me is that 1: I have a new sewing machine . . . WOOT!! :D and 2: I am starting to study this year!! I am freaking out a bit because it has been nearly 10 years since I finished school (my reunion is coming up later this year!) but I am SUPER excited to get my teeth into it!! I am going to be studying an Advanced Diploma in Naturopathy, which also gives me an Advanced Diploma in Western Herbal Medicine and Advanced Diploma in Nutrition at the end of it :D I am doing it externally and have up to 6 years to complete it but hope to have it done in about 3. The plan is to get qualified by the time the girls are in school so that I have a 'real' job to go to, as well as using my brain a little more than "How many nappies do I need for today" or "How can I turn this toilet roll into a snake" lol

Now in surprising news, there are 2 new pregnancies in our (well nn's) family. My Step-brother-in-law and his girfriend are expecting baby #5 (following 4 boys!) and my bil is expecting bub #1 with his girlfriend. So come this time next year, there will be at least 3 new nieces/nephews running (well maybe laying) around!!

This is a huge post so I think I might end it there. Thanks to everyone for their well wishes over this trickytime. Things are looking brighter every day so I think I have made the right decision :)

More on my crap gifts . . . and a win!!

2008-12-11T08:08:00.012+10:00

The knob on my camera broke on Monday night while putting up the Christmas tree, so please forgive the dodgy photos, I seem to be stuck in 'sports' mode :O

Firstly one more Chritmas vent . . . I specifically hadn't taken Em to go see Santa until nn could come with us because I know that he likes to be there for those sort of things . . . we leave Em with my MIL for a couple of hours while we go to do some Christmas shopping and she has taken it upon herself to take Em down to the shops and get a photo with Santa :( It was the good Santa too, the one we had planned on taking her to . . . Emily didn't smile but MIL bought the photo anyway and we've put it in a frame next to Em's bed and every time Em looks at it she calls it her 'no smile' LOL Oh well, not like I can do anything about that now . . .

Okay, back to my 'crap' homemade presents . . .

Very Hungry Caterpillar - this is for one of my one year old twin nieces birthday which is a week before christmas. I did make a felt board for it too, but I'm not happy with it, so I'm trying to find one now.

A wall hanging for Z. The butterflies were made by my Grampa :) I haven't glued them down yet, so they might be a little off centre.

Felt food for my nearly 2 yo twin nieces :) You can pull all the toppings off the pizza and I will have a sandwich still on the way . . .

Hair clips and ties - a tonne of these still on the way . . . in a family with 8 girls under 8 and then friends too, these will never go astray!

Pencil rolls for some friends kids . . . I have made one for an older child that I no longer need, so I might put it up on buy4baby to try and cover some costs . . .

An upcycled purse for my 15yo SIL I love this pattern!! It was made with this online tutorial. I have a purse made with the same tute in a cherry print :D

And finally some knitted face washers. The rainbow one is bamboo and the purple one is corn fibre!!

I have also made body butter and lip balm for the female in laws with organic coconut oil, fairtrade organic cocoa butter, local beeswax and sweet almond oil, but haven't made a final decision on how to pretty up the jars/tubes yet lol

Now, to my win :D On the Aussies Living Simply site they held a raffle, where everyone who wanted to be included offered up a prize and then the prizes were split up between x people. And I won one of the prizes :D There is still some on the way, but so far I have received handmade goats milk soaps and handcream, books on herbs, bread making and a recipe index, a beautiful handmade bag, giftcards and wrap, a cd full of info on self sufficient living*, radish seeds*, a decorative butterfly* (*these not in the pic because they arrived today!) and another one which was a little . . . odd. A pair of candy panties/g-string . . . with a used by date of Dec 2006 . . . that was interesting to explain to Em who wanted to eat the lollies :O Gave me a giggle though.

Feeling defeated . . .

2008-12-08T07:00:00.004+10:00

Probably sounds melodramatic, but plans just aren't falling into place at the moment and it is making me a little depressed. I had visions of having a simple Christmas, with minimal fuss , homemade or simple presesnt for the kids, no presents for the adults (who need nothing anyway) but instead it is fast becoming a consumerist nightmare again - the only difference being that it is even more expensive this year because I have bough materials to make things (or have even completed some things) but my gifts aren't seen as good enough and nn doesn't want to give his family my "shit presents" :(

I have also 'bought' gifts from 3 charity organisations this year, TEAR Australia, World Vision Smiles and Oxfam Unwrapped but apparently they are 'crap gifts' too (well one of them is literally . . . hehe) We are at the stage that we get to every year when nn is sick of going to the shops and so our $20 per person budget gets stretched to $30+ per person because he *knows* that such and such would like something and so lets just get it . . . grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

My family does a Secret Santa that all of us girls had decided that it was unneccessary to buy for adults anymore - but then some of the boys got huffy and so now it is back on. At least that means we buy for 2 people and not the full 7 (not including ourselves).

The girls are another story again. Their budget is between $100 - 150 each (including Santa Pressies) They have each had about $50-60 spent on them from us and the Santa Pressie is meant to be a trampoline. We can get an 8' round tramp for $200 including the nets and padding but nn has decided that 8' isn't big enough for our 2.5y and 8mo . . . they need at least a 10' and it can't be the one available online so it is going to cost a MINIMUM of $360 . . . and hey if we are spending that much why not pay the extra $60 and get a 12' . . . ARGH!!! A 12' would take over most people's backyards . . . Yes we have a big yard now but if/when we move early/mid next year we may not have the same room. Everything has to be bigger and better than everyone else and it is driving me nuts!!!

Why can't Christmas be about enjoying each others' company rather than who can spend the most???

Long time no blog . . .

2008-11-24T12:06:00.003+10:00

Been having some personal problems lately, so not much blogging going on . . . hopefully getting back on the right track now . . .

I can't believe it is one month to go until Christmas!! My immediate family celebrates on Christmas Eve, Nn's mum's side Christmas day and his Dad's side Boxing Day!! What a run around!! And then we are going away for about a week in between Christmas and New year to arrive back in time for Bec's 30th!!

My plan was to make pretty much everyone's pressies this year but it just isn't going to happen :( Not enough hours in the day! I did have something in mind for Bec's older girls, but NN has gone and bought them MP3 players . . . so there goes that idae!! They will still gt some home made hair clips though . . . In a 4 week peroid, we have one set of twin nieces turning 1, another 1st b'day, Christmas, Bec's 30th and another set of twin nieces 2nd b'day!! EEK!!! There is 6 nieces, 4 nephews and 2 other friends little girls, plus our two!! Lots to do!!!

In other news, Zoe is now crawling!! Everything is going so quickly it is scary!!

On a totally different note, but before I go, we got our electricity bill and it is down 3 kw/day - and that was with only starting to pay attention halfway through the first month of the quarter (and being very bad in the first part!! oops!!) My goal this quarter is 15kw/day - hopefully better!!

Community Gardening . . .

2008-10-21T13:27:00.003+10:00

I have just found a great community garden located not too far from me :) I wish there was one closer, but there isn't so this will be fine for now. It is run but Disability Support and they meet up 3 times a week, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. At this stage I will only be going on the weekdays because nNn isn't too keen on interupting our weekend . . .

By just going the past 2 times it has opened my eyes to how much I still have to learn about, well, everything! Besides the food growing side of things, dealing with the centre's clients who range from non-verbal onwards. It is a very big learning curve!!

The people who run it are lovely too. They won't let you go home empty handed, so I am learning to cook with many new foods . . . I even made moussaka for the first time when they gave me several egg plants! On Wednesday I am going to officially join, which is a $10 fee for the whole year. I have received more than that amount in food and it feels really good to be among it all.

I have met Ellice from ALS and her gorgeous little girl Zahli and have arranged to regularly buy fresh eggs from her. I know that Em will love Zahli and she had a great time last Wednesday diggin in the dirt :)

I am really looking forward to tomorrow afternoon :)

Broken the Clothing challange . . . already :(

2008-10-08T13:44:00.003+10:00

But it wasn't intentional!!! Em threw up all over her skirt at the shops today (feeling much better now) so I had to buy her a pair of shorts . . . well I did't HAVE to, but it was either do that or have her walk around in just her knickers, and when the car was parked at the library, which is across a main road) I thought better of it . . .

But one small $4.19 hiccup is not going to deter me!! I will keep trying!

On an unrelated note, I sent my first letter to council today :O I have requested some books at the library via their online service and when the first book arrived, I received a letter. I have mde the suggestion that since you can make requests onlinne, perhaps they can advise you of it's arrival via email . . . no doubt I'll get a letter for each of the other 3 books I've requested lol

Blergh weekend . . .

2008-09-28T09:04:00.002+10:00

Everyone is sick here at the moment :( When I went to pick Em up form kindy on Friday they said that she hadn't been herself and she had coughed and sneezed at the same time at lunch covering her sandwich in strawberry flecked phlem . . . nice. She started throwing up overnight and we were still going at 4am this morning. No sleep happening here. And now it is the other end . . .

I think Nn has the same thing. Although he hasn't actualy thrown up he has felt like he has needed to all weekend and has spent most of his time in bed :( Z is okay (touchwood) but has just got her first tooth comig through so she is cranky anyway *sigh* And I have a cough I just can't shake. Z gets her 6 month needles tomorrow can't belive it has gone so quickly!

As a plus though, I got outside yesterday while everyone was in bed and pulled a tonne of weeds out of the lawn (before they flowered too, so hopefully that should stop so many coming up again)

Our first tomato is nearly ready, just going red now, and we have another 6 in formation and ANOTHER 8 flowers on it at the moment too!! Love it! Our tiny capsicum is just starting to bub up again - I counted 8 buds - on a plant no higher than 15cm?? Weird! We have chillis flowering too :) I pulled out the last of the broccoli yesterday - didn't really eat much of it! Z didn't like the florrets, but would eat the stems pureed (after scraping away all the woody bits) so at least it wasn't all wasted! I don't think I'll plant them again in a hurry.

Three of the 5 lettuce seeds have sprouted and I am going to do another sowing this week. Our last lot of lettuce have bolted, so I am waiting for the seeds to finally be ready to plant because I don't want to buy any more seedlings and I really likes those lettuce.

We have 2 strawberry plants. One has 1 berry a few days away from picking and about 14 more flowers . . . the other has nothing!! Not sure what to do with it. In Jackie French's book, Backyard Self Sufficiency, it says that she hits hers with the whipper snipper after their first fruiting . . . maybe I should clip this one right back and hope it produces next round??

My loofa is coming along :) going a lot slower than I had expected though?? I was hoping that the actual 'fruit' would be ready for Christmas pressies, but I can't see it happening. Oh well, there is always Mother's Day and birthdays . . .

Better go and wash Em's sheets yet again . . . I hope she i better again soon - it is horrible to see them sick :(

Going to be an Auntie again :)

2008-09-17T11:58:00.002+10:00

Hooray!! We found out that my SIL is pregnant with her first bub :D Due the day before Em's 3rd birthday.

I am estatic for them (they had been trying for a bit) but I'm feeling, well, a bit jealous. Not neccessarily jealous that they are having a baby (sure there is a bit of that :P - even though Z is not even 6m old yet!!) but also jealous that she'll share her pregnancy with her Mum . . .

My Mum wasn't well when I was pregnant with Emily, and she was pushing us all out of her life, so even though she was 'excited' for us, it didn't seem real if that makes sense. And when Em was just 10 wks old, she took her own life. I was a brand new mother , breastfeeding still hadn't been established (and that dried me right up) and I needed her support. Just before she died we were taking and she said that she was disappointed that she had changed hundred's of kids nappies (she was a daycare provider for 12 years) but hadn't yet changed one of Emily's. Less than a week later she was gone, that still makes me . . . angry? sad? frustrated? I really don't know if I can pigeon hole it . . .

I went all through Z's pregnancy with no-one . . . I mean yes, I do have Bec(and not discounting her great advice and help) but I needed my Mum and she wasn't there . . .

I just think over how many things in Em and Z's lives that she has missed out on and it hurts so bad.

Jade is incredibly close with her Mum, the way I was before Mum's sickness took over . . . I just hope she appreciates how lucky she is . . .

I wish her all the best and hope she has a very calm, uneventful next 8 months.

The little things . . .

2008-09-11T21:37:00.003+10:00

. . . can make you feel so good :) I went to our local fruit and vege shop (well not the most local, but it is near Dad and they grow a lot of their own produce) and took along some home made f+v bags. Nothing special, just tule bags with a drawstring, figuring that even if I save 5 plastic bages a week with my f+v that it saves 260 plastic bags a year. I paid for my purchase and as I walked out I heard the person who served me say to teh other person working there (perhaps the owner??) "Did you see those bags she had? What a great idea!!" and the other person agreed with her and said that they are surprised more people don't do that!!

That put a smile on my face for the rest of the day . . . :)

Swapping goodness :)

2008-09-09T15:24:00.002+10:00

I received my swap from an "Upcycle Swap" I participated in on Nappycino today . . . a copy of Backyard Self Sufficiency by Jackie French :D:D:D I have been looking for a copy of this book for MONTHS!!! It is out of stock at the publishers and I haven;t had any luck finding one secondhand either.

A HUGE thankyou to my swap buddy Amy for such a thoughful gift . . .you stalked me well lol

Garden notes

2008-09-08T16:21:00.003+10:00

This post is more a diary entry for me to remind me when I planted things lol

Today I planted:

4 garlic cloves (don't know how these will go, they are meant to be a winter crop up here . . .)

1 tomato sprout (only popped up a couple of days ago!)

5 lettuce seeds

2 rockmelon seeds which I found sprouting in the worm farm!!

I removed the pak choy - which had gone to seed, harvested 3 carrots (very small!!), moved the capsicum from the top tier to the second . . . um I think that is it!

I have quite a few tomatoes coming up and have harvested 3 (small) capsicums from that plant but no other flowers in sight. My loofa seeds have also sprouted and I am quite excited to see how that grows! I have visions of giving the female in laws home grown loofas and ho,e made beauty products for Christmas . . . who knows if that will happen though!!

Clothing Challange . . .

2008-08-28T08:13:00.002+10:00

I have set myself a clothing challange. I will not buy any new clothes for myself and the girls for ONE YEAR - hopefully not too ambitious, but I have been doing it for probably 2 months now with only a few minor hiccups along the way. There are a few exclusions . . . underwear, socks . . . and I won't stop people from buying clothes as a gift (many of the in laws buy a few items for Christmas etc).

I *may* buy fabric to make clothes, but I will try my best to source it second hand first but lets face it, I have enough fabric to last quite a while I just need to bite the bullet and use it!!

I have discovered that I am in love with my local Endevour Foundation OP shop. Every 4 weeks they clear their *older* stock (ie it has been on the shelf for 2 months without selling) in a "fill a bag" for $10 . . . but it isn't just fill a bag, it is basically grab anything you'd like with a x coloured tag for $10. I have got SO much stuff their recently - generally between 10-15 items each time!! I got nn some great stuff last week (and he isn't usually into secondhand clothes) but a denim jacket and a ripcurl button up collered shirt - they ended up being 76c ea!! :O

I also recently go myself a dressmakers mannequin :D It ended up being just under $55 from ebay and it is a perfect condition 1920s "Ese Jane" I LOVE it!! Her breasts are a bit too perky for my liking though - obviously SHE never breastfed lol I can't wait to make something for ME!!

A time for reflection . . .

2008-08-12T10:13:00.004+10:00

08.08.08 - for most people, they will remember this day as the day the Olympics started. For my family it is when we commemerate the 2nd anniversary of my Mum's suicide. In some ways it feels like just yesterday I was talking to her, in others it feels like a lifetime has passed. So many things have happened in the past two years - so much she has missed out on. She would have seen 5 more grandaughters born, two sets of twins and my own beautiful Zoe, seen my brother get engaged to a wonderful girl, shared her 30th wedding anniversary to my Dad and celebrated his 50th birthday. She has missed so many happy times, and caused so many sad . . .

Shannon, the girls and I invited Dad up to the Sunshine Coast for a few days and were joined my Tim, Laura and Warren (my Uncle) on the Friday as Shelly Beach, the place where we scattered her ashes last year. I didn't go to the actual spot where we scattered them - I have so many fantastic memories of that place growing up I don't want to always be reminded of the sad - and we had our best Cowrie haul in years :) It was a shame that Bec had 3 sick girls and couldn't come too.

After lunch, when everyone else had left, we went for a walk along Kings Beach. Having a look at the shells as we went by, I said to Dad "I wonder why we never find Cowrie shells along here?" and right in front of us, all by itself, was a large, perfectly intact Cowrie - almost as if Mum was letting us know she was there . . .

We had a beautiful few days up there and I think it will be a continuing tradition from here on. I have still to go and see her plaque which has now been put up at the place where we held her funeral, I am hoping to o this week . . .

RIP Mum, you will be missed forever.

My sewing mojo has returned!!

2008-07-16T13:06:00.004+10:00

Helped along by the fact that I have found that you can buy a separate bobbin winder - mine on the machine had broken and they wanted a fortune just to LOOK at it!!I went to spotlight for something quite particular yesterday (which they didn't have) and came away with some really nice material :)

I also picked up some really cheap patterns on Oztion this morning - so I am looking forward to getting started :D Today I am re-sorting my material so that it is easier to access and tomorrow I should be underway!

We also had our first home grown product in our dinner last night :D We had Mongolian Lamb Wraps, using shallots and lettuce from our pots - YAY!! Nn won and we pulled out the snow peas :( but planted capsicum and tomatoes in their place. The capsicum is already fruiting (3 at various stages of growth atm) and I noticed the first flower on the tomato yesterday. I did sneak one snow pea into a pot though, so hopefully it will keep going for me lol

Worms, worms, worms

2008-06-23T18:13:00.004+10:00

Every year when my birthday comes around, nn normally takes me to a shopping centre, we walk around for hours while he trues to make medrop hints about what I'd like then he plonks me in the food court while he goes and buys something . . . not my idea of fun AT ALL.

This year he has earnt himself brownie points :D He has bought me a worm farm - YAY!! Although my birthday isn't actually until tomorrow, we picked it up today and have settled our new friends into their new house :) We looked at compost bins, but given that we don't have an actual garden here, fugured that worms would be more suitable. For those who don't know and live in QLD, the QLD government is offering rebates on compost bins and worm farms - 50% of the purchase price up to $50 :)

We have a vegie garden (kinda)!!!

2008-06-05T13:21:00.005+10:00

What is the point of having a HUGE backyard if 1. there is NO shade for the kids to play in 2. It is swarming with Green ants (ouch!) and 3. you are not allowed to plant a garden. Grrr to renting!

So we decided that pots were the way to go. But not just any pots we got a "Jumbo Mini Garden" which is basically 4 pots that stack on top of each other. So now we finally can start planting the tiny seedlings that I have grown from seed myself - very proud of myself :D Although I did buy the Strawberry seedlings. In there I have a total of 3 snow peas, 10 carrots, 2 corriander, 2 chives, 4 strawberry, 3 pak choy, 4 lettuce, 3 broccoli and 2 chilli. The snow peas were really taking off in their little pots, I planted all the seeds at the same time (23/5) and some are still tiny little things, but they are going great guns!!

The pak choy said that they are ready to harvest in 30 days, but I can't see them being ready in 2 weeks?? Oh well, I'll have to wait and see. I'm just so excited to be growingsomething and can't wait to taste my home grown food :D

I also managed to score some passionfuit from the fence across the road from my MILs house. No idea what I have planned for it yet though!!

For Sale or Trade

2008-05-06T12:15:00.007+10:00

Okay, stage one of my de-cluttering.

Listed here is what I have on offer. Catagories are down the left hand side (thanks for pointing that out Lisa :) )If you click on a picture, it will have more information listed. If you are interested, email me at mel_heard @ hotmail.com (no spaces) or post on the forum where you found this post (if that is their guidelines).

There is a folder of "Sale Only" items. These are things that nn would kill me if I didn't get actual money for lol There is a "Sale or Trade" folder. The items in here will have a price listed against them but I am also happy to accept trades. The things I am looking for are listed on the right hand side of this blog, but if you have something else you think I might be interested in, just offer!! There is also a "Freebie" folder. These are things either that generous people have given me with the understanding that they would be passed on once I had finished with them or that I wish to pass on. Likewise, I'd like them passed on for free after you have finished with them. Share the love :)

Some items are too big/awkward to post, so pick up is available from Victoria Point, on Brisbane's Southside. Other than that, I can post (generally in pre-paid satchels) and prices (if you are paying $$) do NOT include postage. Once it leaves my hands, I accept no responsibilty if it is lost in transit, so if you would prefer registered post, please be sure to request it.

Most people I know . . .

2008-05-06T09:25:00.002+10:00

Well life as we know it is changing. Global warming, food, water and oil shortages, rising interest rates and less money to cover everything.I have made small changes in the past, using cloth nappies, switching to energy saving lightbulbs, recycling home waste, signing up for a % of greennenergy on my electricity bill and, just recently, converting to cloth for my own monthly needs. But it's not enough . . . now I've got the bug!!! And like Billy Thorpe once sang, Most people I know think that I'm crazy!! Or make that CRAAAAAAAAZY . . .

The biggest nay-sayer I have . . . my husband :( Shannon (hereon refered to as nn lol) thinks that it is all just a waste of time. When I first started to convert DD1 to clothat the age of 2m, if he changed her nappy he'd change from a mcn into a disposable (which we had there for nights and back up as I was building/sewing our stash) So after a while, I bought some terry flats as back up and went cold turkey on the disposables. He didn't change her nappies for quite a while, but eventually came around. DD2, I am proud to say, has NEVER had her beautiful little bottom in a disposable nappy. I know that they have their place in the world, but it isn't at my house.

Due to rising interest rates, an unsuitable house and an impending arrival (now known as Zoe hehe) we sold our house of six years and moved into a rental. Moving from a fairly small three bedroom highset house with air-con to a sprawling 4 bedroom lowset with 2 large living areas with no aircon just before Summer while pregnant was a big shock to the system - but so was the first electricity bill. Despite moving to a much larger house, the bill was down around $200 - our usage dropped from 38.3kwh to 15.8kwh!!! Mainly due to having good insulation and no airconditioning!!!

As it is, we are looking at moving on already. We were broken into less than a week after moving in and nn has never liked the place since. We have feral neighbours (grrrr!!) and while a huge yard would be great if we were allowed to do something with it, we have no shade and grass that could easily do with a mow every week if we had the time (as it is we hire someone else to do it!) so it is a huge waste.

I have been pestering nn about starting a vegie patch. Although I think he thinks I want to do it just as something fun to do, I really want to do it to ultimately cut costs both to our budget and to the environment. I have been doing a lot of reading lately (Aussies Living Simply is now one of my fave sites - and the food miles involved with our weekly groceries is just scary. If we grow it ourself, not only do we know that it isn't doused in chemicals, but we know that it hasn't come via the other side of the country. He was hesitant, recalling my previous black thumb (killing cacti and the like - oops) but I think he can see how serious I am about doing it and putting in the effort. We have decided that since we are wanting to move again soon that we'd be best off doing it in pots/planters. So I am now reading frantically about what will grow best both in pots and our climate. Wish me luck!!

My next step is de-cluttering. Nn is a hoarder. His whole family are. They are also mass consumers. I think (and no disrespect intended) that since they were not well off while growing up, they are trying to make up for it with material possessions now that they do have some money available. We bought singstar for the playstation a couple of weeks ago and we were trying to figure out which room it should go in - the carpeted lounge room or tiled family room. nn wanted to get a second playstation console because it was cheap 'and then we could have one in both rooms' Huh??? We hadn't used the playstation since we have lived in this house and now all of a sudden we have a great need for 2??? As it turns out we put it in the lounge room, an my Dad promptly spilt his beer on the carpet . . .

We also have old plates and coffee mugs from 3 previous sets, because they just HAD to be replaced, empty photo albums that have been given to us even though we have everything stored digitally now and a tonne of other stuff cluttering up our house. Slowly I am going to go through this and get rid of it. But not to just throw it into land fill, oh no, I have discovered the joy of trading!! The number of things that have been just taking up space here that I have been able to trade for things that I need is just fantastic!! There are a few things that i thing nn would kill me for if I trade rather than got actual money for (video camera, bird avairy) but other than that, I am open for offers!! Anything I can't get rid of that way, I'll eventually freecycle or donate to an op shop. Watch this space because I have a tonne of stuff I plan to be putting up.

Ultimately I want our next move to be away far away from where we are now . . . somewhere a bit rural would be great. I have told nn that I don't care how many times we move in the next few years (although it is a PITA!!) but I want us to be settled by the time Emily starts school. The big thing that is stopping us from doing the big shift is nn's work - but he hates that anyway!! He is up for long service leave at the end of this year, so we are trying to stick it out for that - even if it means a bit of a commute to work after our lease here expires in August. It will be a big move away from family, but it won't be that much further from my sister (probably about the same distance, but in a different direction) and MIL is always saying that she'll be on the move "soon." I think us moving will likely cause a chain reaction amongst our families, with everyone saying that they'll do it "one day" but no one taking that first step. if not, we might just have to make do on our own.

I am starting to crave the simple life . . . sick of nn working stupid hours so that we can afford to buy more junk that we either don't need, breaks well before it should, or is contributing to a dying world. I watched this a couple of days ago and it really opened my eyes up to what is going on around me. but I have decided that I'm not going to preach to nn about these things though. I'll make changes slowly and, like with the nappies, soon it will be the normal way of doing things and there won't be an alternative.

Sure I might end up being labelled the crazy hippy woman, but if I'm happy I don't care!