My uni semester finished 2 weeks ago.  I finished the semester early as I had no exams, all my assessments were written assignments. Some of my friends are still studying for exams and will be doing them over the next week.  I've filled my time ensuring that all my notes are up to date, that I have downloaded all the learning materials and readings, just in case I've missed the odd thing here and there in the business of the semester. I'm usually pretty good but had missed some updated notes that were put up on Blackboard after our workshops.  In addition to this I did a lot of sleeping in the first week of the holidays.  My body needed rest.  This has been my best semester so far as far as my health and energy goes.  I've been on low-dose Naltrexone for 6 months now and it has definitely helped with my ability to cope physically as well as assisting my cognition.  I'll write a post specifically about Naltrexone over the next few days.

As I've mentioned previously, taking care of myself, in addition to taking all of my medication, is vital to me being able to be independent and to cope with uni. With that in mind I regularly prep food so that I always have healthy, nutritious food on hand so it takes little to no effort to throw together a healthy meal or snack for myself. I've been gifted some food this week. An abundance of oranges from Mum's tree, lemons, limes, mandarins, lettuce, English spinach, an avocado and a custard apple.  I cut the oranges into pieces and store them in old jam jars in the fridge as a ready snack or to add to Sophie's dinner - yes she eats well too which is why she is in such good shape at 13.5 years old. There is a 9 year old lab called Sally who lives near my parents and she looks considerably older than Sophie, can barely walk and has lived on dry food all her life.  I really think nutrition makes a huge difference.  I've always raw fed my dogs.  Anyway, back to the food prep.  In the fridge I have a salad made up (blue bowl), carrot sticks and cut up cucumber stored in water in jars at the back, orange slices cut up and stored in jam jars at the front and a bottle of homemade hummus made with my friend Tiia's recipe.  I also have a container of berries washed and ready for when I feel like a sweet snack or to sprinkle over my porridge of a morning.

 

It makes it so easy to throw together a healthy meal.  To the salad below I added some parsley and tomatoes from my garden. My tomato plants here grow with wild abandon and I am rarely without cherry tomatoes.  As I'd been gifted so much food I splurged and picked up some smoked salmon which I added to the salad.

Sophie and I take our regular walks most days.  Some days she's a bit wobbly and stiff so I keep her at home but we both love getting out. It keeps us healthy too. That and doing yoga and pilates here at home.  Sophie joins in to these at times which makes some sessions more of a wrestle and giggle fest than an exercise session.

Another aspect of my lifestyle is to reduce my carbon footprint further and I'm very happy to be able to recycle my coffee pods.  I have a Nespresso machine as I knew that Nespresso provided a recycling program.  As there is no collection centre for the pods close to me I can use the Nespresso postal service by putting my pods in their postal bag and simply popping it in the post box.  Very convenient.

Catching up with friends in person has been on the agenda too which seemed odd after being so isolated during the Covid lockdown.  Everyone's lives have been so different, each with their unique challenges.  Today I am visiting my friend Susanna who is one of my friends from uni. Susanna and her husband moved to Australia this year.  Sadly she lost her father during Covid and was unable to return home to his funeral due to the restrictions.  I felt so deeply for her so far away in a new country, in lockdown, navigating her grief.

While I'm out today I'll call into the bulk food store and get the ingredients that I need to make gluten free flour.  Far cheaper than purchasing the same mix at a local health food store and containing far more nutrients than the regular gluten free flours commonly found in our supermarkets.  I'll share some more about being gluten free and the flour mix I use when I write about low-dose Naltrexone.

Blessings of the day to you my friends. xxx

Busy days

I love this time of year.  The weather is generally spectacular, my garden looks wonderful and for some reason the days seem long and lazy.  We've been very busy of late getting ourselves ready for the school holidays, dealing with jobs around the house, getting out and about and the like.  Last week I went to see my niece and nephew in their school concert and it was a blast.  Prep to year 6 is involved and it was so much fun.  So pleased that I went.  We also had sports day for the littlies at the school that my other nephews attend (the ones who live with me). 

The rain stayed away for most of it.  Master R threw a shoe in both races he ran in and never missed a beat.

It's mulberry time and my tree is simply laden with fruit this year.  We've just had a day of rain and then a day of wind so I have to go down and see if this is still the case.  I'll be bitterly disappointed if the fruit has all dropped.

 Not the greatest photo, taken from under the tree and looking up.  The dogs are spending most of their waking hours here snuffling in the garden beneath the tree and picking low hanging fruit straight from the branches.

I love how healthy the tree looks this year.  It had a severe pruning a number of years ago and has taken awhile to bounce back.

My friend Jodi and I meet once a week to walk somewhere away from our usual walking routes.  We head further afield generally and so far have selected coastal walks.  This week was no exception and we had the wonderful good fortune to see whales off shore (no photos sorry). These photographs are taken on the walk from Mooloolaba Beach around to the rock wall and river.  The path meanders on raised walkways over sand dunes, through parks, and always follows the beautiful ocean.  That's the Pacific Ocean for those who like to get their bearings.

The water was exquisite.  The most beautiful mix of clear aqua, turqoise, pthalo greens and blues.  We are SO, SO lucky to live in such a beautiful area.  When the summer heat hits and the snakes stop waking up and moving around so much, we will head inland and do some bush walks and enjoy the shade of the trees.  There are snakes everywhere at present yet I've seen none in my wild, tangled bush garden.

Making tracks

Life has slowed down somewhat for me of late.  I've been nurturing myself through another flare of  health issues that set me back a bit.  Jeff took me for a walk in a new spot to give me a change of scenery and blow some cobwebs out.  We were only 10 minutes from home and it wasn't a challenging walk but I was spent by the end of it.  Loved it though.  I took my camera for you and saw the following things....

A leaf that looked like fish bones.

 New views of the mountains.  I live at the base of this mountain, hidden in the trees.

 Coonowrin Peeks through. It was hard to take photos as the area is thick with bush and quite wild. I had nose and ears switched on for wild pigs.  They are pretty prevalent around our parts and they make me very shifty.

Mama mountain, Beerwah, standing tall against the skyline (we are walking up on the range and she is still towering above us),  Not that our mountains are really mountains in the real sense. They are volcanic plugs from a mega volcano of old.

Snake track.

Kangaroo track.

I've been slowly making progress in the studio.  Spending time working on the many unfinished canvases left over from last year.  Finishing off my Flora Bowley course.  Making changes to the studio with a new storage unit and moving all of my sewing, embroidery, crochet, and knitting bits and bobs into the studio along with my paints.  All my creativity in one place.  The back burners in my brain are currently trying to work out how to incorporate all of these interests into one piece - possibly a portrait or animal portrait.  Not quite sure how to go about it at this stage so will have a play I think.  I have some artwork to show you tomorrow.

Miss R's visit

Miss R popped over from Sunshine Smiles for a change of scenery and a sleep-over this week. She rather took to this palm stump and spent quite a lot of time sitting happily and chattering away. It's amazing how kids make us see the world in a different way. We walked down to the creek together for a bit of an adventure and I saw things that I'd never noticed before. Now I walk this particular path most days, and suddenly I was looking closely at the different bark on all of the trees and filling my pockets with leaves, gumnuts and other natural treasures. I think the slower pace and the eyes of a child helped me to see my familiar world in a new way and it was a pleasant surprise. I'm going to try to look at the world with the eyes and heart of a child a bit more often.


We made a contact picture with the treasures we brought home from the walk and added some bling in the form of glitter. Everything becomes a masterpiece with glitter! Sorry about the rubbish photo. This was the best of a bad bunch.

To make contact pictures simply cut 2 pieces of contact the same size. Place the first one down on the table adhesive side up and cover with leaves, cellophane, glitter etc. When done cover with the second piece of contact and sandwich your masterpiece between. Finito!

Scribbly Gum

I pass this tree each day that I go for a walk and it takes me back to my childhood. I remember walking with my Grandma in the bush around our farm and seeing these trees. Grandma would tell me it is the bush newspaper and this idea took further root when I read "Snugglepot and Cuddlepie" by May Gibbs.
Here you see the bush newspaper being updated and little Snugglepot and Cuddlepie riding on Mr Lizard's back in the background. Gorgeous illustrations, cruddy photo.


The scribbly gum is an attractive eucalyptus with the most enchantingly smooth and pale bark (I always have to touch it and say hello). Upon this lovely surface intriguing brown squiggles or 'scribbles' meander haphazardly over the trunk. May Gibbs wrote of the scribbles being messages left by the bush creatures and gumnut babies. Science however says it is the work of none other than this native moth. I prefer the thought of gumnuts, flower fairies and Mr Lizard meeting there at the tree daily to catch up on the news. I wonder what things have happened in their world as I slept and rather like the fanciful thought of them being out there living in my garden and in the bush beyond my fence. Happy thought.

Finally, a beginning

I've been hovering on the fringes of Blog Land for quite some time now and have decided it's time to make a start on my own. I thought that a blog would be a lovely and convenient way to share my life with loved ones who live too far away to participate in our everyday life. I'll be able to share all the everyday happenings, the simple pleasures and heart-skippy-happy things that make up my hearts landscapes. I hope you enjoy the journey.

The above photo was taken earlier this week on the walk that passes by my house. I love it. It always feels cool and secretive. It reminds me of England.