Detoxing

All mamas spend their Friday night cooking a weeks' worth of food for their son, don't they??

Don't fret.... I NORMALLY wouldn't be doing this but our eldest us following the Eczema Detox diet....and we are a week in.

So, its lentil patties, roast veges (potatoes, leeks, Brussel sprouts and garlic), sesame-free hummus, caramelized leeks and spelt pear muffins. Ok ok ok it may sound gross, but I've tasted it all and its quite yummy. And he's been on it for a week and there's been no complaints.

We have been working on eliminating amines, salicylates and glutamates that are found naturally in certain foods.

Once we've detoxed from them, we will introduce them back one by one to see how we get on.

Not a quick fix but a deep one. Here's hoping he'll last the distance

Family Ties

I firmly believe that its traditions that tie us to our past and to our future.

As a couple there are traditions that we brought into this marriage, there are things that we have created together as a family....and look out if you try to change it or skip it. The kids won't let you.... EVER!

They in turn will bring those into their own marriages and families and will create their own.

But sometimes it things too don't you think....

For me its Grandmas button tin which I have. Does anyone have button tins now? A myriad of colours, sizes and shapes. Some are new, most are cut from clothes that are ruined and discarded. I remember sewing on her Singer Pedal Sewing machine.

There is one thing that I so desperately wished I inherited...it was her flour bin. Actually, more a vessel...a large pottery urn shaped thing with a wooden lid that fitted snuggly onto the top. It could hold an entire 5kg bag of flour. I have no idea what happened to it which makes me so sad...as I remember burying my hands into and playing with the soft flour while she baked. Terribly unhygienic I know.

I've been on the lookout for a flour vessel that's not plastic and finally settled on a glass jar...not quite big enough to hold a 5kg bag of flour. But every time I look I fondly think of her.

Is there an item or two that ties you to a loved one or to the past?

Love, Love, Love

I love taking photos even though I don't have a camera apart from my phone. I love capturing memories, moments, expressions and emotions. I do wonder if I was on the other side of the camera what people would capture of me.... probably tears as I cry over EVERYTHING.

It's been quite the reflective day for me today. Wondering in this current climate have I done the right thing with going back to work. Have I done the right thing by my children? What will the little ones remember of me in these days?

As we look around the suffering of the world....it creates an uneasiness in our hearts. What are we to do? My answer.... LOVE!

In fact, it's actually my word for the year ...L'Amour. Love. Passion.

Love my husband well, love my children how they need in the moment with all of my being. Love my family, love my friends, love what I do, love the dear people who I serve, love my home, my work but most of all my God...who without Him I would have none of it. None of it at all.

"I am blessed. There is no doubt.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." - James 1:17

I encourage you all to stop looking at the goings on that surround us in the world but to Him who is the source of absolute peace and love.

Love who you've been blessed with to journey this life with, love where you are, what you have and who you are.

Nothing else really matter...does it?!

Silly Dog

I've never been a dog person. I don't like them sniffing, licking or jumping.

But this dog...this one has wriggled her way into my heart and claimed her place in our family. And I never knew how much so until she got lost hunting.

When Jamie came back to camp in the pouring rain after being away for hours and said...."I've lost the dog".... I fully felt my heart in my mouth beating so fast. I said, "you need to find her.... you need to". Memories came flooding back to the time when she was mauled by a dog off its leash and she nearly died. I knew members of my family would be devastated if she was gone.

Jamie collected my eldest son and went back out into the pouring rain to search the hilly bush knowing full well any scent she may have been able to track will have been washed away but the downpour.

Hours passed and all I could do was pray. Frankie cried ALOT and made Dixie a card while camped out in our tent saying she hoped she was ok. Finally, Casey came back without her and heartbroken. It hurts so bad to see your kids in that much heart pain. More family went out in vehicles looking for her too....it was still bucketing down. After six hours since she took off after a deer she spooked...Jamie found her soaked to the bone, shivering and tangled around a tree by her lead.

I've never been so pleased to see a silly dog in my life. They truly truly do become a part of your family.

The worst thing.... knowing she was lost and not knowing what had happened to her. Knowing that driving away and leaving the area without her really just wasn't an option I was willing to entertain.

God is good....and most certainly cares for those things we love.... even dogs.