cupping

Today at school we were doing our elective subject of Cupping.

Using glass cups and flame methods we were doing theory for the first 5 hours and then the later part of the day we were cupping anyone lying on the tables. Every cup that we could find would go on and off the back whilst trying all different methods.  My back is an amazing picture of circles and marks.  My practitioners were a little disappointed that the really dark marks were not appearing, I put that down to the juice and water and the improvement of diet and lifestyle.

Whilst the marks look quite painful, they are not at all.  They are just the toxins being drawn out of the body.  Each colour means something.  Sometimes the skin is left cold, sometimes warm and sometimes moist.

I have never had cupping prior to this and never seen it done before so I was able to go in with an open mind and quite fascinated by the whole experience.  I immediately purchased cups after the end of the day today.  I am not quite keen to try them out again and I will be incorporating them into the massage if anyone is happy to have them done, or at least try them. I think it is well worth trying if you haven't experienced it.  I would start with the glass ones and find someone capable of doing the flame method.

Earth hour has come and gone it was lovely having the house, peaceful and dark.

more savings and things.

We have always enjoyed our take away fish and chips on Friday.  There are the odd occasion that we don't have it but mainly this is tradition.  What has changed is that we are actually REALLY enjoying it again as we are a buying fresh fish to cook ourselves.  We have noticed the immediate change firstly in the price that we pay which is much more reasonable and secondly in the quality.  We were ordering fish and getting Basa which they were selling as a Butter fish.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  In fact Basa is much cheaper retailing for about $5.00 a kilo and I imagine that fish shops would be paying a lot less.  We don't really like it, so this is the improvement for a start.  We were being charged about $6.50 a piece (this is a conservative estimate) and then the chips as they were wrapped up and steamed in the paper until they were home are also an improvement.  We get oven chips from Aldi's for about $1.99 or less and they give us more than we did at the fish and chip shop for about $5.00.  We also include a salad or peas or something lovely as well. We are cutting down on the fat content and not having potato cakes as well.  Who knew our substitute fish and chips would be much better!

I am happy to say that some of the surveys are starting to pay off.  I have been spending a few minutes each day doing surveys and the awards are starting to add up.  First you have a choice, I tend to avoid the other rewards and go for the cash in the accounts. I have a $20 one coming through and almost have a $100.  I miss doing the taste testings however I don't have the time to do that now.  Taste testings pay more quite a bit more and sometimes you have the enjoyment of trying something really good. My assignments and homework and massages are already devouring most of my time.   I think every little bit helps and I can make that go quite far these days.

Our actual expenses have been reduced to very little each week. We pay the bills, we go to the farmers market and we eat all our meals at home. I take lunch to school and snacks and my lovely friends occasionally shout me a chai (Soy of course) for having them over and feeding them meals and helping with practice.  We deal with cash only now. If we don't have the cash on us then we don't buy it.  It makes spontaneous splurging very difficult especially when you go out with the right about to get what you have to.  An enforced budget does make a difference. Also writing down what you spend makes a difference as you have to be accountable for all those "little purchases that add up very quickly".    As we are not just spending on things that we see and we would like we have to find ways to either include it in our budget or find another way to get something the same or similar for less if possible.  What do I have to sell to afford this, what do I have to do in regards to hours of work and massaging, surveys or other way to find income to afford this item/good.

I listen to my friends and share ideas for cheap meals, I share ideas and do research on buying clothing and other items and I watch prices in supermarkets and shops, sales are great if the item of clothing that you want suddenly goes on sale and you save 40 or 50%.   Lasoo is great for looking up catalogues and seeing what is on special or on sale.

I think the most important thing that I have learnt is:
- you can probably do it better yourself.
- good fresh food does not take that long to prepare.
- baked goods are great treats for kids and grown ups alike.
- you can almost always find it cheaper if you do a bit of research.
-  do you really need it?

Still working on the assignment for trigger points so off to finish this off and do some housework whilst everything is quiet.  

more savings.

Our children had their sports day today and I had tears and sadness from my Hurricane and my Petal was just accepting of the fact that she will NEVER win any of the races no matter how hard she tries. I find this fact very difficult to accept and wonder if something different could be done to make the sports day a bit more fun and not just competitive.  That we watch the same children year after year winning and returning home with lots of fabulous stories of triumph.  Lots of cuddles and a few treats seemed to help make things feel a little less problematic.

We have now changed the health insurance policy and managed to save nearly $80 a month without making any sacrifices to our cover, in fact we found that we could claim more.  Next on the list is the electricity and gas. We have searched on I Select again and found that we could save with our own provider so the next step is to either contact them or Energy Watch and let them do the talking. Either way this will help with our finances.  Any reductions for nothing more than a few clicks on the web and a phone call has to be good. After that insurances for the car will be checked.  I have to say that I was very surprised but pleased with the outcome to date.

I have a few massages booked in for next week and it is looking like the school holidays will fly by.  I am busy everyday next week with either school, assignment or massages.  I am wondering when things will not be so hectic. I feel the sense of guilt creeping in again, especially when my other half suggested that we do a day trip and I looked at each and every day and wondered when I would be able to squeeze this in. The reality is that I will not be able to go!   I think a trip to the movies will be my only change to spend lots of fun family moments together and dinner of course.

I am about to do a cupping course on the weekend and I know that I will have a few willing clients only to happy to help me with my assignment and practice. Yes, another assignment!

dehydrating continues

So I had a thought that more things needed to be dehydrated before I was sure that this large gadget was staying. A few lovely apples was just not earning it's keep yet.

So after the apples, came strawberries, banana's and we are about to do kiwi fruit and oranges.  A lovely fruit salad of dehydrated fruit.  I also have been told about beetroot and I was thrilled with this idea. Beetroot chips sound wonderful. I am going to make sure that fresh beetroot is on the list for the farmers market this weekend.  Fruit leathers has been requested and so that will following soon.  I do like looking at all the little pieces lined up in the dehydrator.  I love the low hum coming from the kitchen each night too.

I didn't soak the banana's and strawberries in the lemon juice like I did with the apples.  The apples  have kept a lovely colour that is appealing to look at.  After a day or two they are softening up a little. The strawberries are my favourite as they are so small but packed with flavour. Everything tastes so lovely and makes a yummy snack for brain food for the children at school.   I am sure that we will be using them on our muesli too.

I had school today and so didn't have my juice as we have had every other day. I really felt the difference and missed the energy levels and the feeling of wellness. I am not sure if it's in my head or  I actually feel that way.  i have been enjoying the juice and even had some yesterday instead of breakfast and went out and did a massage.  I wanted to see if I could happily keep up my energy levels when exercising for a long period of time. No problems in fact I felt very happy afterwards.

We have been talking about alternative health options and benefits at school quite a bit. ( I have been continuing with my no milk choice substitute soy or rice milk.  In saying this I have not had rice milk yet and I have already had a couple of people waiting for a report on what it tastes like. )  Each time our teacher gives us something else to think about. "how can we talk to people about fitness and health if we don't have this ourselves"  So that is something else to think about. I am walking and juicing tomorrow and considering what else I can do to improve my health and wellbeing.  I am not looking to do sport messages however I will do whatever the client wants and I need to be taken seriously. I need to pass on information and knowledge that I am accumulating and answer question relevant questions and predict outcomes.

I have an assignment calling to me, I just realised today that instead of having another weekend to complete it, as it's due next Tuesday. I don't as I have classes all weekend so that is makes things a little bit more complicated. Thank goodness I have been working on it.





 

A lovely blue bowl full of capsicums

I forgot that we also got some lovely flowers from the Market yesterday. One bunch for me and a pink bunch for my petal.  She felt that she wasn't going to miss out and the lovely man at the market gave us a great price for 2 bunches instead of one.  Any excuse to use my lovely green vase.   A present from my mum so all the more important for me.

We managed to do the apples last night and they were dehydrated over night in the Fowlers dehydrator.  We bought it years and years ago at the Royal Melbourne show.  We did use it originally and then somehow it had been forgotten.  After using again last night I am thinking about the next thing to dehydrate? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  The children both have the apples with a bit of cinnamon on them in their snack box today. So we will have to wait for the verdict.  We used about 1 kilo (just over) and filled up the trays.

A little veggie garden has been renovated. We did leave one tomato plant as it has quite a few little ones on it nearly ready for picking.  After they are removed we will be planting the broad beans.    Still looking for an apricot and lime tree. I am also hoping to get another garden bed just like this one and put it in the garden as well as one bed is not enough for us to produce the food we require and not really utilising our garden to the best of it's ability.

This is our lovely blue bowl and this time full of capsicums. I am going to turn some into roasted capsicum chutney with ginger and the rest I am probably going to stuff again as this is great for dinner and for lunches.  I love all the colours of the capsicums in the bowl and use it as a decoration.  A constantly changing one.  It's just lovely having all the beautiful colours from nature in the house at the moment.

I did my massage today (my first paid one) which was great. The client is such a beautiful lady and I felt very energised after doing this. I can also use this lovely lady as part of my logbook assignment.  I hope that I will get another appointment in the near future with her. I also have to say that the best part was afterwards when I sat down for a cup of tea and cake.  Beautiful china was bought out and fresh baked cake.  I felt like royalty and the conversation was lovely. I have to dash off and collect the children from school and ring a dear friend who is not feeling well (poor love).

I have an assignment on trigger points due in 9 days.   I am working on it. slowly, there is so much information and amazing the things that can be achieved with trigger point.  I was thinking before that I would not be able to use on children however that was a mistake.  this technique from what I have read now can be used on children in fact it is best to get rid of the trigger as soon as you discover it. I found a couple today however I thought I would wait until the next appointment before we ventured into this territory.

caramel popcorn

Last night we made salty caramel popcorn for dessert whilst watching a movie with the children.  So good and we have decided this is a new favourite. So much cheaper than buying the bags of popcorn and even as good as our lovely organic popcorn, which we make sure everyone is addicted to.   We found the recipe on google, although I did see an amazing recipe for salty caramel on The Circle this week. Unfortunately we didn't have glucose so we were unable to do this. Time was slipping away as well and we need something quick and easy.

Our very dear and lovely friend lent us a few dvd's to watch and we have been enjoying them immensely.  We watched some of Julie and Julia and cooked the whole time whilst watching.  I think we would have been starving if we hadn't it was grand and I am looking forward to watching the rest whilst ironing.

We decided to try a farmers market today as we were running low on a couple of things that we need. Normally we only go on a Saturday to one of the four favourites that we like. Given that there are five  Saturdays this month we will need to find another one so today we went to Templestowe Farmers Market and was so surprised at all the wonderful things there. The kiddies made friends with some lovely new stalls especially Ursula at the baked goods stall. We made juice before we went to starve off the hunger pains and then the children found the Breakfast Doughnuts and scoffed 2 each.  Ursula was happy to make a fresh hot batch for us whilst we waited and the Red Headed Hurricane told her how beautiful her goods were and he would be happy to come and help her make things.  He was free during the school holidays and would visit her then.

We all had a lovely time there and enjoyed this one so much we are definitely putting it on our schedule.  We bought tomatoes, a passionfruit tree, spinach plants and peas.  (snow peas and shell peas).  Some ham, bacon, beans, apples (yes some more can believe that!) and oranges. A lovely big box full for $10 picked fresh, eggs, pumpkin, onions and some herbs, sages was given to us 2 lovely bunches, so we I am finding some recipes for these and some coriander.    The children walked around eating and drinking the whole time for gifts that they collected along the way.

Off to plant some spinach and peas which we were told would get 2 years out of it. When the seeds come up we pick them off and the leaves would re shoot. (the spinach that is)  We need lime to help the soil. We are taking the tomatoes out now and then preparing the soil for the peas as well.  One of the compost bins is full and full of worms, they fall out there is so many when we take the lid off so we will use some of that plus transfer some of the worms to work in the other compost bin.

apples

We have been buying and juicing apples lately however I am hoping to do a lot more so the next idea is actually getting out our dehydrator and using it, it has been a while. I have made a promise to myself that if something is not being utilised in the house then it has to go (there are a few exceptions to this rule of course but kitchen gadgets especially large ones are not exempt)  Of course I haven't a clue how to do this so I decided to find someone else to tell me. Thus I went to this lovely blog and read about it sounded simple and I have no problem with leaving this on overnight.   Even though we have a few lovely apples trees we have no apples at the moment. The parrots took care of them and we forgot to put the nets on.  Next time they will be getting the ones that I cut and give to them and not the entire tree.  I am happy to share however not all of them.  

Which leads me to think about the trees we have planted. I realise that we are missing a lovely apricot tree and a lime tree.  One of the lovely ladies that I massage gives me a regular supply of lemons and we use them all the time. So our next purchase is going to be at least one tree or more.

We dashed off to St Andrews market again for lunch this time as we had an open day at the children's school.   I booked in a lovely lady from the market for a massage on Monday morning so that will be a great start to the week, what I like is that she wouldn't let me do it for nothing and now is only happy to do it when payment is involved. I will do a special rate for her as she is just so lovely and I am still starting up. I think it is a good idea to reward those that start with you and stay with you along the way.

 We had our beautiful curry on the balcony at the market watching the forest and the kookaburra's in the tree.  I promised to take photo's and this time I actually have one.  We take our own bowls and yes the kiddies are bigger than ours. They love thai food and give the lovely ladies making it big cuddles every time they see them.

Now for some juice today we decided to add fresh ginger (last time we had none except for the jar so we added that) and pineapple to the mix, just a bit.   Made it lovely and not too sweet.  The juicer is wonderful and is getting used on a daily basis, it is a lovely addition to our kitchen gadgets.

I love kitchen gadgets. We have a rice cooker that we bought in Singapore and carefully packed it in our suitcase well the one we bought to hold it with pillows and lots of padding to get it home. It is used so very much. I also have a lovely Kenwood mixer that i was using a lot and then packed it away in the back of the cupboard for a while, now with my lovely vintage bowl, I love it and use it quite a bit. I will have to start using the other attachments as well.   We also have a pasta machine to do the pasta. I have not used it yet so I had better start thinking very carefully about making some pasta or it goes!  I think it is easy to get gadgets and then put them away in the cupboard and forget about them or let them take up space as they were expensive and cannot just be got rid of.   Sometimes you need to be inspired to use these items.  I know we will be shortly.

Our children have been busy and especially the Hurricane. He loves making, baking and cooking in the kitchen. As a treat he made us dip this afternoon which was lovely snack before dinner.

Off to do Movie night, we are making some lovely pop corn with caramel.  Might be dessert at this stage. Veggie dinner of zucchini fritters.

Trigger Points, Pain and Transverse Friction plus Milk?

Yesterday at school we did our usual classes, lots of massage work however they have really started to get into the nitty gritty of the subject. We miss our massages in the evening but we are getting a lot of relief from the trigger points that we are working on.  Referred pain is a amazing experience, you press on the scapula (shoulder blade) and your head hurts, your legs jump up and you have intense pain which goes away quite quickly only to be set off again and again then the area is pain free.  Triggers need to be relieved as they don't go away by themselves just build up and cause more problems (who knew?).  Transverse pressure is interesting too however goes against what we have learnt to date.  We find a problem area and work on that area for quite some time, no oil is used and pressure is applied to the problem spot over and over until it goes numb and then you keep working on that area. Prior to this we have learnt to not aggravate a problem area but gently work around it breaking down the knot or tight spot.

I am wondering how I will be using this on children and if it's necessary at all.  I don't think that trigger point would be good to use somehow however I don't just massage children.  So I have to look at the big picture.

Reminder to self, I get a lot of people asking about growing pains with children and if massage can help especially with leg pains (Yes) I am going to write about this soon, showing a simple routine that might help stay tuned.

 The teacher is extremely dynamic and amazing. We learn so much and not just on the subject also overall health and wellbeing.  The boom factor is discussed quite frequently.  This is where all the stress of daily life a put on a star point, family, work, money etc and you see in the centre the Boom.  This is when they all add up and finally something drastic happens generally to your health, maybe a small heart attack or something more serious.  This then lends itself to a drastic change in lifestyle, a weak up call. We learn about identifying the signs and stopping the boom happening.

Our teacher doesn't drink milk we were told that calcium cannot be obtained from milk (dairy) as the molecules are too large to be absorbed, I wish I could remember exactly what he said however it basically meant that we need to wean ourselves off milk.  I am lactose intolerant and milk is very problematic for me. I do like having lactose free now however most people don't have that. Why on earth should we drink milk.  We are one of the 3 countries that have the highest incident of osteoporosis problems, American and Canada are the other 2, yet these countries have the highest consumption of milk and milk products. Japan which has one of the lowest has the lowest incident although that is changing as they adopt a more Western diet. So if they are not drinking milk and milk products then what are they doing that is working, eating more greens especially dark green leafy vegetables and more importantly what are we doing that is so very wrong!  So all the things that we have been feed over the years about having milk and milk products is not true?

So today I decided to start a bit of a better health routine.  I have also decided to include my other half in that routine, so we made juice for our breakfast to try to improve our energy levels/health.  We did, lemon, apple, a pear/apple cross (not nashi's but I am not so sure) and ginger. Tasted very good, plus I feel quite full.  I am not sure if we did enough but this is early stages about 800ml's between us.  Then we went for a walk around our area.  It was a great start to the day.   Lunchtime so dashing off to have some food now.

A beautiful blue bowl full of ripe banana's

I have a beautiful blue bowl (that lovely bright, bright blue) full of banana's, 8 in total.  As they were ripe and ready to be used. I decided to get a couple of recipes and turn them into Banana Muffins (Although I did add vanilla extract and lactose free milk as I had no soy) and Banana Bread.  I was very tempted to get my other half to make a beautiful and decedent brandied banana dessert however we needed things for school snacks.  Now that banana's are back to being a very reasonable price this might have to be done in the near future.  In the meantime we needed more than just one decedent dessert and cooked banana's in butter and vanilla sugar.

The bowl is empty now waiting for more banana's or something equally as good.

So we made some lovely baked goodies and the house smells lovely and then more muesli and some juice apple and pear, with our lovely gifted juicer, thank you my beautiful friend, it has a permanent place on our bench and is being used.  So good. I have lots of juice recipes that I am keen to try and hopefully start on a juice diet. i am very convinced after talking to my good friend, who has been juicing on a daily basis for a few weeks now, also I saw some of fat, sick and nearly dead. I felt very convinced that this would be an amazing journey for myself and my other half.

Some of the organic products that we were very uncompromising on have been let go sometimes the budget doesn't stretch that far this is not a permanent thing just for the time being.  I think that buying organic is extremely important and not something that I want to dismiss or stop.

 On the positive side after checking with I Select today.  We found that we could save at least $50 a month on our health insurance, plus claim a few items that we have receipts for so this is a bonus.  I will be checking the comparisons prices for the rest of the insurances later this week.

Budgets and Money?

Today I have been considering our expenses and wondering how we can continue like this after my other half returns to work or is working as a contractor.  I wonder how we will afford things and if I can actually start a wish list and realistically budget to get these items. I am not talking about silk dresses or first class tickets to Japan. I am talking about necessary items that would improve our quality of life or something that would help with house things.

I know that at the moment we are running very simply. We make everything just about, food wise and we are planting the veggie patch or about to with onions and beans (not together as they are not very compatible.)  We turn off all the electrical things when not in use. I am non compromising on not switching on lights until absolutely necessary.  I don't leave things on stand by and I am trying to find other ways to cut down or improve on things. I am selling off things that are taking up space around the house, I give away to Charity shops as well as I believe that others need things more than me. There is always someone worse of or who will get happy finding a wonderful bargain or fabulous find in these shops like I do. 

I have found other little ways to bring in other sources of income and thank goodness for that. Yet it continues to be very difficult. I know that we are not going to restaurants, movies or shows. That I don't even use a dryer to dry clothes. That we have a fan instead of the air conditioner where possible.  What more can I do to cut down and yet the costs are still there, the money still keeps going out at high levels.   

So I have decided to start tracking how much we are spending on things.  

I know that Petrol is very expensive especially with it jumping up yesterday to $158.9 cents per litre.  So that takes a huge cut of the weekly allowance. I do car share with another study buddy which helps keep costs down. One week I drive and one week my study buddy does. I might have to investigate to see if anyone else lives around this way and if they would like to be included in the car sharing.

Going to the supermarket is mainly Aldi's visits now. A couple of items are bought at Coles or Safeway or even Iga but mainly Aldi's . For a couple of reasons, they are located very conveniently.  They do seem to have a lot less additives and preservatives in their food and they are much cheaper.  Even with a very large shop we are only spending $40 - $45.  This would be more than double at one of the other supermarkets. 

I do buy in bulk where possible. Flour is one that I am going to start buying in larger quantities. I use quite a bit and buying just the 1 or 2kg packets are too expensive. I buy the larger size of washing powder, yes I use BioZet  (they are great and good for the environment so I haven't been able to switch just yet). I buy the 6kg from Big W which lasts me about a year. I am not sure it will this time but I am trying to make it last.   I also get the Costco toilet paper when one of my lovely friends or family (who have membership) do a shop.  I am happy to shop around and get the cheapest deals. I look for offers in the paper, found a lovely free yoghurt with a coupon and took it in and the kiddies had a mango and peach after school snack which they considered a lovely treat.

I am looking into the cheaper hair cuts and colours at the academies, rather than our lovely hairdresser.  Don't get me wrong I would rather stay with the hairdresser however sometimes we have to make necessary reductions. I know that we need things around the house, that we need to have money for the school fees and that this expense which we don't use very often is a luxury for me and the children. Maybe I can limit it just me.  The children I will carefully consider what i am going to do.  Not easy to just pop into the city with them after school.

Amazing how many hidden costs that you have to consider very carefully. I am going to look at all the costs of insurances and other things and change. i have no loyality to companies now if they are charging more than others, I want to know why or I will change.

So the plan is, increase incoming and decrease outgoings!  

i will let you know how I am going.... later.

another job!

I had school today and I am feeling a little or a lot overwhelmed by what we should know and what I don't know.  A half day and then study buddies came home to do some study. We had burgers veggie and meat, then straight into stretches. Facilitate stretches that we need to know and use all the time.    You get to see how flexible you are and what muscles are problematic.  A little nicer than trigger point work but not as beneficial by itself.  We were all discussing how much we miss just having massages and giving them to each other.  

We were also discussing how hard it is to get people to pay for a massage. People are happy to line up for a free massage, not so keen to give a small donation and definitely not happy to pay for the time and energy given.  As soon as you mention payment they are not available. As a student I try not to request payment as I am still learning and studying although I have some qualifications now and this enables me to ask for payment. I don't do little massages I give thorough and long massages and try to make it feel as good as I can using all my knowledge and skills.  I use good oils and essential oils. I provide good and clean linen and well I am not sure what more I can do?

My lovely Study buddy gave my girl a beautiful and relaxing session of Reiki.  I was listening to the meditation music and instructions and becoming so peaceful.  I could see her relaxing down and enjoying the attention.  It so lovely when someone works with my Petal and helps her feel good, of course it means so much to me too.

The most amazing part of the day was my other half got a job, a good job by the sounds of things as a contractor. So now we have to work out the details, he has never worked as a contractor before and well this will help our situation.  He won't be going in to an office in the city everyday, he will be travelling overseas and he will be able to do some work from home, which helps me.   He starts as soon as he sorts out the details or in a couple of weeks.  I was hoping that it wouldn't happen quite so soon thinking that we would find out by the middle of April however we need to start getting the funds.  It has been hard but great. I will be a lot more careful now especially as we have depleted at lot of our savings and the bills still keep coming.  It's always a catch when we have the time to do things (renovating) then we don't have the money to buy the supplies.  When we have the money we don't have the time to do anything.

I am thinking that a little holiday of a couple of days might be good start to working again.  I am considering where we might go. I know the children love going to the beach so that is high on the list, even if we cannot start for a couple of days a day visit might be in order.  Can we keep within a tight budget and still do the holiday?  I know that most of the entertainment that we love is Free there. The beach, the walks and fun even the wine tastings.  Something that I will have to consider very carefully.













 

Lovely Weekend

We had a busy weekend planned visiting our friends and catching up with cuddles. Friday night was quite good my poor very tired Petal found it emotionally exhausting and when we changed plans that was all too much for her.  She likes to know what is happening and what is happening next and all the details to feel secure and happy.  When things change even though they are beneficial it gets too much for her.  So when we changed to eating at home on Friday night for our traditional fish and chips nights tears happened and lots of protest.  We did manage to add a sweetener of a cup of Boost juice which helped.  My Petal loves Boost Juice, due to our limited funds we just avoid them and make our own juice.  Not quite the same appeal as the beautiful stand and colourful choices.

In saying this, our Petal has decided that she too would like to set up a stand and tests out combinations on any willing participants.

We also had a visitor or 2.  Our favourite friend Fill In Phil came to help out this weekend and to ask a favour. So off to Apple store we went. He had his new Ipad delivered that day he just wanted to see if his favourite staff member that he has a crush on was there unfortunately no luck.  So we will have to be making a few trips to Apple in the near future.  He likes the kiddies there to help him out. Our Hurricane has no hesitation in setting him up with someone that he thinks is nice, he askes straight out if they are married or if they would like a husband?

The other visitor was Pepper a school project.  She had to come everywhere and have photos taken of all her activities.  We had a weekend planned with lots of activities so that was great.  The first night we forgot her, which didn't help our tired kiddies mood and also cemented the decision to have dinner at home.

I made a dessert to help with not going out for dinner as it has been a while since we have eaten at the kiddies favourite little place. Grill'd the promise of Sunday some time between the Museum and picking up a relative from the Airport would be suitable.

Saturday was off to the Farmers Market. A lovely day and equally lovely outing.  Lots of fresh fruit and veggies were brought home.  Big smiles all round.   My other half had already made some fresh bread so we have a good supply for this week now.  All I have to do is some baking and try to find some larger sizes of flour and better quality wholemeal flour as well.  I tried the Coles own brand and wasn't really impressed.  We are now making pancakes with this instead of the white flour.  The children haven't even noticed the difference. Just lovely to have pancakes for breakfast and a couple left over for snackies at school although the wholemeal flour doesn't seem to make the same quantity as the others a bit strange maybe more are being eaten.

On Saturday night my other half and myself went out for a date night to see Avenue Q at Bayswater.  It was so funny and so politically incorrect.  Very good to get out and it didn't cost a fortune which was wonderful.  A great night and not too late either. (ohhh I sound old!).

Sunday was the museum and meeting some wonderful friends. I always enjoy activities that involve my friend and she ALWAYS comes up with things that I wish I had thought of.  A lovely inexpensive day. It cost $10 for entry for all of us. Only my other half had to pay as students and children are free. http://museumvictoria.com.au/melbournemuseum/
A couple of hours is not enough we discovered. Next time we are going to make a day of it and take a picnic to sit in the nearby park.  A lovely area that has been made just so good for families.

Grill'd was fitted in and then off to the airport.  We realised once there that would would have to either park the car in the super expensive car park or find an alternative. So I dashed off with the children to the viewing area just down the road. We were lucky enough to see the jet fighter plan do a low fly over whilst sitting there watching the planes land.  My Hurricane was so excited and talked all the way back to Nanny's place for dinner about the jet, how loud it was, how amazing, where it could land, what they do and on and on.   So we managed to not only save money but also find something very entertaining for the kiddies whilst waiting for the arrival.

A lovely dinner with Nanny, Pop and Uncle Kevin.  The children were happy about the weekend and the adventures that they have had recently.  Chatting away happily and recounting the favourite things whilst drawing and snacking on lovely pre-dinner treats that Nanny always has ready.

A busy evening for us getting Pepper's journal ready with all the photo's (far too many of course) and adding little comments to prompt our Hurricane with his presentation. I hope that Pepper is not missed too much.

Home

My Petal is home! After 3 days away from us... she is home and happy and asleep in her bed, in her room.  Lots of tears, lots of smiles and cuddles.  I am so relieved that she is home safe and sound.

We are now enjoying her adventures  as she remembers and shares something with us.  The journal that she kept of her feelings and what was happening is being read to us.  

Dinner was lovely again with everyone present.  Our Hurricane is happy that she is back too.  He has missed his pal far too much.

I think everyone will sleep well tonight.  I am so tired dashing off to bed now (after I check on my sleeping children).

Day 2 and Day 3

Yesterday was day 2.  We were all still so sad that our girl is away. I realised without having any contact with her that I was saying the same things to my Hurricane as I did when mum died.   "It's alright, to be sad", "I know that you miss her."  "We will see her again!"  It had been a grieving process for all of us. I was going to spend time in her room sorting and culling a few things however I cannot possibly do that.   I have left it totally untouched, I walk in and stand there and walk out a few minutes later.

I was at school yesterday and struggling to keep up with what was happening. Transverse friction and Trigger points didn't see important,  I was cross and tired and over most things.  I had a misunderstanding with another student and sat down in tears.  I will be very happy when she is home later today.  I have lots of cuddles to catch up on.

I keep thinking what a wonderful school but goodness I hate this part. I am sure that I will feel very differently once she is home and telling us all about her adventures. When I see her clothes filthy and know that she has had a ball and she has formed some lovely close friendships however until then it just feels AWFUL.

day 1!

So today we packed our Petal off on the bus and waved goodbye. I watched her try to find someone to sit with on the bus and everyone else seemed to have someone. I stood back and smiled and tried to think positive thoughts, that soon she would find someone.  That a little buddy was just about to arrive or was standing in the groups of children.

I waved to her as she was sitting by herself on the bus.  I watched desperately waiting for a friend to come to her and say I wanted to sit with you. I watched her smiling and waving to me and died inside seeing that empty seat next to her. A very painful reminder that her twin is not here. The teachers popped someone next to her to fill up the seats.  So maybe next time she will have a little buddy that wants nothing more than to sit next to my Beautiful, Amazing and Wonderful Little Petal.

I went home and found it too hot to bake, although i think that is my excuse.  I cleaned out the linen cupboard instead. I found an amazing amount to sort and no thoughts of homework or baking or even juicing entered my thoughts.  The hours went slowly until it was time to collect my Hurricane from school. A sad little boy who is also missing his little Petal very much.  How many hours till Friday......?

off to Camp

My Petal goes to camp tomorrow. I am really anxious about things and trying hard not show it. I wish that she had a little friend that she had paired up with like most of her friends. She tries to but does not quite succeed.  Just when I thought she had someone to be with at camp, then I find out that is not the case.  We were lying down together having cuddles and talking about the 3 bears, the just right was the key to this conversation.  Then she told me that she was not to hang around with her friend for a few days.  She always takes it on board that she is at fault. That she can be a little too full on with friends.  I think that we will work with her on that. I try to tell her that sometimes her friends have the sillies and say silly things, that might be a little hurtful but not true.

How sad this makes me that she doesn't have her twin.  I so wish at times like this that things were different.  I would feel so much more confident about sending both of my girls.  My boy of course had a lovely little comment to make me feel good about things. "Mummy, she will love it and then she will be home to us!"  I must remember his dear little words and will just be happy that she is very happy about going.   Very excited and planning what to do when she needs her daily cuddles. I cannot say that I am happy about my daughter going however I have followed her lead and let her decide.  I have tried to think of positive things to say about camp and that she will have so much fun being with all her lovely friends.

So we are packing and labelling all the items. I am looking at the pink things in her pack.  We have so much pink! It makes me smile as I always thought my girl would not be a pink girl. I refused to buy pink or dress her in pink when she was young. She made that decision and still chooses it over EVERY other colour.

I got another assignment today at school, that makes 3 now. At least this one is not a big one or maybe it is, we can make it as big as we want, it is for our information we have been told. So it should prove to be interesting. Trigger points and pain is the topic.

We were given a lovely Juicer, when I visited my very dear friend on Monday afternoon.  I took her a small present and came away with heaps of things.  I am not sure how that works but that has been happening a bit lately.  I have had to wait until tomorrow when I have a moment to use it. I have a lovely bowl full of juicing apples waiting and calling to me to use them for this.  I cannot wait, I will be happily drinking juice tomorrow whilst making a cake for one of my study buddies birthday on Thursday.   I also need to make something for when my Petal returns on Friday.  I think it will be lovely for her to come home to freshly baked cake and a surprise outing to her favourite place for dinner with one of our favourite friends.

I have to go and decide on 2 cakes that will be appropriate to make tomorrow.

another day another dollar spent.

I am finding that familiar patterns develop when I take on school work on top of everything else. I get very stressed and worry about what I don't know and there is so much revision that is necessary. I feel guilty all the time, that I don't spend enough time with the children, the family, my fantastic friends, my work, my massages, the renovations on the house, the housework, my blog and the garden to mention a few.  I am stretched in all sorts of directions and sometimes I snap.

Today I received a lovely message from a friend that I should have contacted and when I read it I realised that I was doing the same thing again, not making time for other important things and people.  I was so sad that I had disappointed my friend and made her feel unloved. This is not the first message and not the first friend that I have made feel like this. I don't know how working mums do it, I am struggling all the time.  Single mums and working mums are very undervalued, they should be left to just rule the world and what an amazing and organised place it would be.

On Sunday I try very hard to make a lovely breakfast and family time that we all work together on. The children help with the chores and pitch in to make the big breakfast happen. I copied the lovely breakfast that we had had at a cafe in Anglesea.

 I decided that photo's were in order of course the one I had in mind didn't happen as we were all eating and then I remembered, lucky my Hurricane is a slow eater and had not started on the pot. So I jumped up and took one photo and then that was it, not staging, no adjustments, just a photo of a boy about to make a start on a meal.

It's kidney beans, diced tomatoes, and chorizo sausages with egg on top and parsley with a little bit of chili. Served with sour dough toast, although we had yeasted bread this time.  It's one of our favourites and makes a lovely start to the day.

Off to tackle the paperwork and packing for the girl.

Enjoying a long weekend.

What I am realising is the less that people have the more generous that they are.  I watch people with very little (in this day it's not hard to find them) and they share it out. People who are just keeping their head above water and managing bills quite happily share their produce, goods or whatever they have.   I feel very humbled at what I am experiencing, all the help and support that we have received since being retrenched.  Things that we are given go a very long way and are greatly appreciated.  We spend so much time reflecting and realising what is really important.  Much more time making things and being so much more creative. That our kitchen is very busy most times.  The sewing machine is also finally getting used and the garden is a wonderful resource.

We have new people moving into the street, Not nice people unfortunately extremely rude and like the Nasty people across the road self absorbed.  They are happy to block the street and make it impossible for anyone to get through, not to let people know but argue with them and say that their stuff is much more important than anyone else.  That access to the street and their homes is not important to them. Threatening to call the police and they say who cares I am moving in, the truck is staying in the middle of the road and you have to do another way or wait half an hour until we move!  Given that it's a dead end dirt road with single access that is just not possible.   I wish that common courtesy would occur, at the start we would wave to them as we drove past, slow down and not create too much dust. Not expecting a response, but a simple wave back would have been nice or some acknowledgement, however that didn't happen. We are neighbours in the same street it is common courtesy to acknowledge newcomers and most for that matter.   I wish that these people would move to another street or another state or further for that matter. I am so sad that the neighbour is changing and evolving.  At least we still have some lovely neighbours that are helpful, considerate and wonderful.   As for the new ones, if you move tomorrow it won't be too soon.

Gourmet Girl has a fantastic recipe on her website so I thought I would borrow it and make the same for dinner tonight.  We had planned to make pizza but changed our minds. So this with a bit of chili, I know its not necessary but its my variation and of course a great salad will be great too.

http://gourmetgirl-friend.blogspot.com.au/2011/03/lucky-lucky-me.html

As we are visiting Nanny and Pop tomorrow for dinner tomorrow the pizza will just have to wait until Monday.

Our impulse purchase today was a lovely wooden spoon that we needed from our favourite vintage stall at St Andrews Market. I promise I will take photo's as it's just so lovely to look at.  I wish I would remember whilst I was there, in saying that I know that the goods change quite regularly as they are snapped up very quickly.

My Hurricane is realising that we are trying hard to come up with things to sell, create a business and thinks of ideas in general. So he has started being creative too and was coming up with Food ideas last night.  He loves, hot chips, he loves wedges and he loves the crinkle cut things. My mum (when she was alive) would make the yumiest and was well known for this, fish and chips and peas night on Fridays for us. She would cut the potatoes, after my dad peeled them or he helped her cut (it was a real team effort.)  Always put in a vintage tupperware bowl in water in the fridge whilst preparing the fish and getting the oil hot. They were mostly crinkle cut done with a lovely vintage cutter.  The fish was always King George Whiting and she would order that in especially, a standing order with her local fish shop and if we could not get that, it was deep fried egg. I miss those nights, of standing talking to my dad whilst drying the dishes and putting them away afterwards sharing our ideas. I miss my mum talking about the price of fish but goodness the whole meal was grand.  Anyhow my boy loves crinkle cut and decided that Hurricane Crinkle Cut Wedges would be a great invention and a thermos to carry them in so he could have them hot at school would also be a wonderful invention we agreed with him too.

Donation

Today I did a couple of massages and for the first time I asked for a small donation. I was wondering how this would work and if this is acceptable whilst I am a student. I asked myself over and over if I was good enough.  I took a big breath and well it worked perfectly. I received at the end of the massages a donation. It made me very happy. I was able to bring home a contribution today for the first time in a while. Now don't get me wrong it wasn't big or anything although they did offer more. I was happy to have exactly the amount I received and I have another appointment booked for Monday.

We are having a long weekend and then my Petal is off to camp next week for 3 days. I am trying not to hyperventilate just thinking about this. I struggled so much with her being gone last year overnight. This time it will be 2 nights and 3 days. Our whole family will miss her so much.  We will be packing for camp tomorrow and getting things organised although it has been a little reluctantly.

I keep thinking how I am going to cope, I like to check on her and look at my children when they are sleeping and so beautiful. I like to make sure she is tucked in and comfortable.  That her favourite toy is within reach or back in her arms and a drink is handy. That she is sleeping peacefully and warm and happy. How will I do this when she is so far away!

full week

This week for both myself and my boy we have our first full week at school.  I think we are both feeling it,  although it's my Petal who is really struggling this week. I have seen tears and naughtiness like never before. Today the teacher had to take her into class first thing in the morning crying as she refused to let us go, she is not feeling really well and she just wanted us to stay.

I am surprised at how I am being argued with and tested all the time. I have to wonder if this is because of me being back at study?  I know that the children are not happy about this however I thought with having Daddy at home that things might be a bit different.  I feel that we will all have to get used to the changes that are happening with our family and it's a big adjustment at the moment so we need to breath and take things a bit quieter and let go of some of the stress and start to enjoy all our wonderful things that we have.  

We had our parent teacher interview this week and nothing was a surprise about our Red Headed Hurricane, that he is very strong willed, that he talks a lot and stops when he is good and finished saying what he needs to say and not before.  That he is great with vocabulary and that he does what he want when he wants and nothing more. Our boy that skips everywhere explained to his lovely teacher that he CANNOT skip.  That he doesn't know why school is giving him readers to bring home he CANNOT read.  That he loves maths numbers and does again what he wants and refuses to answer if he is not in the mood in spite of knowing the answer.

He has now bought home his first readers and delights in reading them to us and laughs and tells us the extended story versions.  Our baby is reading!  Now my email will not be safe from him either!

I NEED A MASSAGE BAG!  Yes that is yelling, i hope I can be heard for miles and that someone takes pity on me and helps me make it.   i have struggled each day for my first week and a bit of school and I am over trying to carry a basket up hills and down whilst walking to school and back to the car.  I have all the material, the pattern is coming together with a bit of help from the Engineer and i have a bit of time with the long weekend to hopefully sew it and get one together.

We have been busy making breakfast bars, roast chicken for sandwiches and I am hoping for blueberry muffins on Friday (Children's request).  We used some of our lovely tomato pasta sauce.

I am exhausted after a full day of massaging and stretching and transverse friction.

Weekend

It started off with the promise of being a very busy and productive weekend and like most things changed along the way.  We normally go to a farmers market as a family however this Saturday my other half dashed there without his family.  I was feeling a bit unwell and decided to stay behind with the children. It was raining and no one was keen to go.  (Later that day we were heading off to a birthday party down the coast for our goods friend boy. He was 8.)  He returned from the farmers market with lots of goodies and the prospect of a bit of work for a project that will give us a small amount of income.  Every little bit counts.  It takes some of the pressure off the Chief financial controller, me!  Amazing how accomplished he is.  I like having those moments when you think goodness this man that I am with is very clever, resourceful and quite amazing.

The birthday party plans changed from swimming and playing in their local park to back to their house due to the rain.   Its a fair drive to visit my friend however always worth it and we always look forward to our next get together as it doesn't happen very often especially with my study and workload.  Sometimes we meet somewhere else and let the kids have time together as well.  I love her and her family they are amazing and it is always interesting to see her renovations on the house. We were greeted at the door by the amazing granite bench top, so lovely. Black with flecks and all we could think was WOW!  Her family were already eating and playing and we joined them. We were late but it was a slow day, I was slowing everyone down.  We stayed long after everyone left. I was talking and enjoying the day and I realised after a bit the pressure that I had been under was enormous. I was being packed a take home pack and she was being amazingly generous and wonderful and then made us dinner. It was all a bit much after the big week and the tears flowed.  My friend requested several times that I stop or she would start. She is so lovely.  So after a wonderful dinner, the recipe was provided we were packed off home with more things than we brought, tired, happy and full.  Then on the way home the stupid check engine light came on. Not far from where we left. We got out, swore heaps (I asked my other half to stop as the kiddies were getting upset and very anxious.  Then after a few checks water, oil and all the usual,  I mean what can you really do when that light comes on, on a Saturday night on the way home from down the coast.  We proceeded home a bit slower than usual.  The kids were sound asleep after a moment or two of distress that we might not get home.  I reminded them that we would be alright.

So Sundays plans were starting to unravel as well.  An early morning call, swimming cancelled, afternoon plans cancelled and due to a late night, two very tired children.  So we had a quiet day. We made golden syrup and date pudding (Thank you Sue) for a lovely new cookbook that we were given as a present. Actually when I say we, my Petal made most of it, I just supervised and helped with the pouring and oven bit.  The Red Headed hurricane made the decision of having Thai red curry for dinner with beans and sweet potato and spinach roti.  So that was dinner and dessert taken care of.  I cut up tomatoes, onions, herbs, garlic and anything else that I could find that would go with them.  My other half bought home, 8 kg's to make into sauce so that is brilliant.  I have a jar promised to my beautiful friend from the coast when we catch up at Moomba next weekend.

That was it for the weekend, no study done, that is reserved for today as I couldn't bear to tackle it.  Off to have breakfast and do homework and anything else that I need to catch up on.

Started today

I ran out of time, I had big plans for making my massage bag, my phone had even bigger plans to die and take out our carrier with it.  I spent most of yesterday running around trying desperately hard to get it fixed and ended up getting another one. Then most of the evening discussing with my carrier that I shouldn't need credit on my phone to receive a simple text message and that I had not signed any contracts when I purchased my sim at Safeway.  Also when I did put credit on my phone that it was sending me the same message and that I was still not receiving the text messages and no I wasn't trying to send any and no I didn't want to go on to a plan and no I didn't want to take my sim card out and reset my phone to factory settings and NO I didn't want to go to another department and spend another 15 minutes on hold and NO clearly it wasn't my new phone that was causing the problem as the messages were coming directly from them.   Why on earth would I need credit on my phone to receive a simple text message and would they come through once I had credit, Yes of course I was assured and No they didn't was what eventuated.

An SMS you tried to send or receive has failed as you are out of credit for that message type. Recharge now to allow future SMS messages to be sent or received. 


I did find some material in my stash and I did stare at it quite intently whilst I was on hold to my carrier but nothing eventuated.

I managed opps I mean we managed (as my Red Headed Hurricane helped) to make some lovely Thai Chicken sausage rolls for the children's lunchbox and muesli but that is where it ended. I am out of lovely baked treats until tomorrow.  I am trying to think of something for next weeks baked treats and for visitors.

I started school and have a mountain of homework as per usual. Including an amazing project that if I prove to be good enough will be submitted to another authority and see If a grant can be organised. This is of course very early days.  I will see where it goes. The pressure is on. I have the bare bones of what I want to do and I am going to start writing this week. I am purposing to do my 6000 words on the effects of remedial massage on the soft tissue of a child with mild CP.  I really think that I will do everything in my power to make sure it is good enough who knew what would unfold today?  So this takes me in another direction again or maybe this is the right direction now.

I have also organised 3 massages in the near future and a meeting with another mum who already has her own business doing yes Remedial Massage.  I am very determined to get on top of the assignments, log book and research project and not leave it to the last month or 2 like I did last time. Although in all fairness one assignment last time was given to us in the last 2 months to complete instead of the allocated time.  Part time evening courses is very different to full time.

My Petal did a lovely surprise for us and decorated the table in fairy dust, so pretty I love that she lives in a world where things are lovely and magical  I felt very privileged to share this world during dinner and see all the pretty sparkles.  Sometimes it is the simple things that mean the most.

Very tired and a little overwhelmed by today's events sulking off to bed now. Good night.