TWO LINKS .... BOTH INSPIRE IN DIFFERENT WAYS

CITY SCULPTURE
CANTERBURY WAS A MAJOR GRAIN GROWING AREA

PHOTOGRAPHS

I would love to have to skill to achieve my own bunnies, (beach grass heads). One day I will have a few lessons with Janet.

CEREAL KILLERS 

An interesting post on FatHead with a link to Kick Start a programme that gives interested people a chance to support a project that they like.

THE AVON RIVER
IS VERY SPECIAL TO CHRISTCHURCH PEOPLE.
LOOKING TOWARD THE BRIDGE OF REMEMBRANCE WHICH IS UNDERGOING REPAIRS
A CONSEQUENCE OF THE EARTHQUAKES MEANS THE AVON
WILL HAVE INCREASED PARKS ALONG THE BANKS

WARNING MANY PHOTOS ....MY 75TH BIRTHDAY .... HOW COME I AM SO OLD?

I woke up early, 5 am, just like an over excited child. More truthfully, I was disturbed when someone got up and although I was determined to stay in bed I never dozed off again.

Once we had worked out how to start our day it flowed long in a delightful way. I could not have orchestrated it so well. There were a couple of hiccups like our son waking with a stiff neck and needing to see his chiropractor. He is currently having treatment for a badly mis-aligned spine and today's pain was probably the result of yesterday's manipulation and being overtired from a long, tiring week at work.

We went to the Farmers Market at Dean's Bush, Riccarton. This is an up-market, Farmer's Market with some interesting vegetables like hot chilies, many types of cabbage, Japanese radish and everything it seemed except spinach, which I wanted.

There were several meat producers with sausages, smoked meats etc and the rest were loaded with delicious baking, cakes, breads, hot food stalls and a few specialty stalls. The day was chilly and grey or we would have spent a lot more time there. It was in a pretty setting beside the Avon River. A few hardy souls sat on the grassy banks enjoying their food.

It was a short walk from Dean's Bush to the Riccarton Mall but enough to give me a pain in the eye. John put gel drops in for me and once I could see again we wandered around until we came across the Chocolate Lounge, the most dangerous shop in the Mall. First treat coming up. Belgium Dark Chocolate Mochaccino.

EMPTY CUPS ... TOO DELICIOUS TO SHARE

Amanda, Wayne's wife, returned to pick us up, (she had been doing a couple of work related jobs). Next stop C1 Espresso in the central city.

This Cafè is in a stand alone building, once the High Street Post Office, a survivor of the earthquakes in a street of demolished buildings. There are beehives and a pointing man on the roof.

STATUE OF MAN ON ROOF POINTING OVER THE CITY

The lights are recycled from the Art Centre.

The pinball machines, old sewing machine and sliding bookcase were rescued from the original Cafè.

The owner has encouraged coffee growing in Samoa. There are too many stories to write here. We ordered at the counter and found a table. While waiting for our food I began to wander around, taking photos. The staff were so polite and stepped aside or waited for me to take my shot before moving through. Such patience surprised me.

Finally I returned to our table to find the others eating but no sign of my food. I was on the verge of asking if it had been overlooked when it arrived. The staff had been keeping an eye out for me and waited until I was sitting before bringing my meal which was delicious and fresh and hot. I had a courgette and bacon slice with fresh salsa and salad. It was just right.

THE SLIDING DOOR LEADING TO THE KITCHEN, TURN RIGHT TO THE BATHROOM

Wayne was feeling miserable so Amanda took him home while John and I strolled up High Street between the protective fences all the way to Cathedral Square.

CATHEDRAL SQUARE AND THE REMAINS OF THE CATHEDRAL

This street was opened to pedestrians recently, but not through traffic. I took many photos of the desolation and future expectations. Our walk ended in the Start-Up area where shipping containers have been arranged to make a funky shopping mall in Cashell Street.

IT WAS THE CHRISTCHURCH BRANCH OF THE BANK OF NEW ZEALAND BUILDING

It's only 14 months since the destructive 6.3 quake on February 22nd, 2011, which changed our second largest city forever. There are many people who still live in awful conditions and the city has lost so many historic and beautiful buildings it is unrecognisable.

But that is not what I saw and felt. I found life, a city rising out of the ashes. People with vision and excited about the future. People, proud of what they have and are and will achieve.

This is the most exciting city in the world. Words like resilience, innovation, inventiveness, creativity and determination all come to mind.

We did a little business, sorting out a minor banking problem in one of the Banks in a container. We walked across the road to one of the schools John attended as a youngster.

We walked around the church where he sang in the choir. It was a High Anglican Church and that means the services were more like Roman Catholic services with swinging incense burner and procession of altar boys.

It seems that St Michael's school continues in a new block of classrooms but the church is meeting elsewhere while repairs are being made. St Michael's is one of the few churches to survive.

After all that walking and photo taking it was time for another cappuccino. We chose Taste Of Coffee in the red container and opposite the Humming Bird Cafè in the brown container.

A text to Amanda and she met us by the Bridge of Remembrance which is also closed and under repair. We thought that was the end of our day out and John changed into track pants and we put our outside clothes in the cupboard. We were just getting cosy in front of the fire when we were asked if we would like to be taken out to dinner. Silly question!

Half an hour later and in our glad rags we set off for GOR:LLA and had a delicious fun meal of shared plates, some small and one large. Pork crackling with chilli dipping sauce, smoked ricotta and pickled vegetable salad made a satisfying starter. Shoulder of lamb with a light sauce based on aioli, pear, arugula and parmesan salad, crispy potato cubes done in dripping, (fat), beetroot, almond and feta salad made our main course memorable. The lamb was roasted to perfection and it was so tender you could pull it apart with a spoon. The meat melted in your mouth and the accompaniments were perfect. The food was so delicious we had to finish with dessert. We all ordered salty caramel icecream. Someone mentioned to the waitress it was my birthday, and when I complained that no-one had baked me a cake with candles she returned with a fine taper already lit. The staff joked with me over the pathetic singing and I blew out the candle with one puff.

MORE CREATIVE USE OF SHIPPING CONTAINERS

John and I are now sitting in front of the fire. Amanda and Wayne are out and the rugby is On. A test match with All Blacks and French. I'm not at all interested except to know the All Blacks are winning 23 to nil with the game three quarters gone. Final score 30 - 0

Now it's time to add in the photos. I hope you enjoy them. I have so many it was a job to limit them to 28, but who's counting? I believe it is polite to limit photos to 8 or 9. OOPS!

CHRISTCHURCH ..... SOMEWHAT STRESSFUL...BEWARE, PHOTO OVERLOAD!

THIS PICTURE SHOULD BE WAITING FOR US WHEN WE ARRIVE HOME

It seems a little pathetic to say I'm finding this trip to Christchurch a little stressful. We are comfortable staying with our son and his wife. The house is warm and we have few responsibilities and no long "To Do" list.

The prison visits have gone smoothly so not sure what's up with me. The novelty of visiting a prison has completely worn off and it is becoming a chore. The thought of continuing these visits for several more years is one I don't want to think about.

When I do not Blog you can be sure it's because I feel stressed for some reason or another.

I am generally eating my kind of food so it's not that. Of course everything is easier in our own home but things are being made so easy for me here I have nothing to complain about.

This afternoon we stopped at the Hub, the Shopping Mall in Hornby, S. Christchurch. After being at the prison there's a desire to treat ourselves, well that's what I think anyway. I had a cappuccino, and a sweet slice made from nuts, seeds and dried fruit glued together with honey. It was sweet and I expected to have food cravings but here it is, 7 hours later and I still am not hungry.

Amanda had bought some coupons for PixelPaint and asked if I'd like to use them. They make those wrap around pictures from your own photos. I wanted to give Amanda's sister a photo of the Blue Hawaiian cocktail we drank on one of our last days in Honolulu, since it was her request we get one and take a photo for her. It looks so good I wish I had one done for myself but I can't justify the full price. The second coupon I had already used to get a photo of a branch of plumeria flowers, (frangipani). Top photo.

I had to enlist Amanda's help to choose our picture. here are the possibles. Of course there were many others but when I had to choose only one, I had to think more carefully about what would bring back the memories and atmosphere and still look good on canvas.

ABANDONED HOUSE, PAHOA

HUGE POMPOM FLOWERS ON THE GOLDEN TREE

SUNSET AT THE LUAU FEAST NIGHT

BEACH LOCATION OF BLUE HAWAII STARRING ELVIS PRESLEY

ARRANGEMENT OF LOCALLY GROWN FLOWERS IN THE LADIES TOILET

PALM TREES AND MUSEUM, KING'S MANSION IN KONA

THE YELLOW HIBISCUS IS HAWAII'S NATIONAL FLOWER ...
NOT SURE WHETHER IT IS THIS PARTICULAR VARIETY THOUGH

FRUIT AND VEGIES FROM THE PAHOA FARMER'S MARKET

PARROT AT THE LUAU FEAST NIGHT

ROCK FORMED FROM LAVA FLOW

PALM TREES AT HOOKENA BEACH BEACH

PLACE OF REFUGE

TWO STEP BEACH NEAR THE PLACE OF REFUGE

TRAIL ACROSS THE KILAUEA IKI CRATER,
A SMALL SECTION OF THE KILAUEA CALDERA

A MOST PLEASANT WALK ON THE WAY TO THURSTON LAVA TUBE

THE EVIDENCE IS IN THE RESEARCH FOR LCHF BENEFITS

Here is a linked article from The Diet Doctor, Andreas Eenfeldt, Dr. Eenfeldt is a Swedish medical doctor who specialises in family medicine. He wants to find out how to get people as healthy as possible using natural methods. The article supports my reasons for eating low carb, high fat meals.

And here is a video documentary called My Big FatDiet. I think it's been around for a while but I only got to watch it this morning. All I can say is, every community needs someone with the courage and fortitude and of course finance to conduct such an experiment. It made me cry because I have met a few First Nations people and seen their struggle with obesity and alcoholism. Our own Maori and Pacific Islanders have similar problems. It seems to be that when you replace the normal diet/lifestyle of indigenous people with the typical western diet we develop serious health issues. This is something that is easily documented as it has occurred within living or anecdotal memory for some of us. Being comparatively recent history it is easily researched..

I keep thinking that I need to find the energy to begin a LCHF support group in my own community but first I need to find someone who will back me, preferably someone who has respect in medical circles.

I have been somewhat up and down regarding life in general lately. It could be the change in season. It could be stress trying to takeover my life. It could be simple anxiety over this and that. Whatever it is some days are a battle ground and I lose the attle to do anything productive toward Living Well.

I am not looking forward to June in Christchurch. I hope the weather is ind to us. It has been cold there lately. I am packing lots of warm underwear, something I rarely wear. Tights and a merino top or two should help.

Today is our last day at home for a couple of weeks. We are off to Christchurch again. Our car will not start. We think maybe it is the carburettor but there has not been enough time to get it into the mechanic. The Long Weekend, Queen's Birthday Holiday, meant our usual mechanic is away. Our flights are booked and we had to make some decisions in a hurry.

Do we continue with our plans to go to Christchurch or lose the money we have spent on non-refundable flights? We didn't want to disappoint our S.I. families.

Do we use public transport to get ourselves to and from Auckland Airport.? That was going to be a hassle. Every option meant getting to Whitianga first to catch the bus then up to two or three or more bus changes, not to mention the fares. I simply did not fancy struggling with our luggage and possible rain.

Do we call on our daughter to drive us? She is working everyday except Tuesday and we didn't want to commit her to a long day of driving. Her job involves a lot of driving and to work about 10 days in a row with in between days driving us around was not a sensible option. She already had one day off last week to take John to Waikato Hospital where he had some eyelashes lasered. That was a long day of about 8.5 hours driving time alone.

Then we had a brainwave. Why not ask our son from Rotorua to run us around. He agreed. Today he will drive up and stay with Jane because her house is more wheelchair friendly. Tomorrow he will pick us up and take us into Whitianga to do a few quick chores before driving us to Auckland and dropping us off at our Hotel. Wednesday we have a fairly early flight. It would have meat getting up at 4.30 am to be sure of arriving at the airport on time and I'm not interested in early morning starts in winter. Greg will probably pick us up again when we come home on June 20th. So that is sorted and we will of course give him petrol money.

I will pack my suitcase shortly and we are eating up all the perishable food left in the fridge.

I have maintained the weight I lost doing the Fat Fast but no more progress this month. I'm a bit disappointed with my lack of weight loss, particularly as the next two weeks are full of challenges. I guess I will need to be happy to maintain again this month.

Next post will be from Christchurch.

THE VICIOUS CYCLE

THIS DOOR HAS BEEN A BLANK CANVAS FOR MONTHS

Hi all. I'm still feeling lazy about writing but here's a must see video if you still have doubts about LCHF or Low Carbohydrate and High Fat eating.

I'm right in the middle of getting my body back into nutritional ketosis. I'm learning that every time I diverge, as I did on our recent 3-4 days away from home, it takes 4 or 5 days to get those blood ketones back to where I want them. That should tell me I need to be a lot more thoughtful about what I eat when away. We all know how hard it is to stay within our personal guidelines when out of normal routines. I enjoy Café and restaurant meals too. Thinking about next month when we have two weeks staying with our son and his wife I need to get my head fully around the challenges I will face while there. I don't want to freak them out with the high fat component of my diet right now.  As the saying goes, 'the proof is in the pudding.' I want to have results that are worth boasting about before I shock them.

For years I called my weight/fat/health/food situation a vicious cycle. In the above video those are the words Tom Naughton uses. I could say I regret all the wasted years but it's all been a process of learning and development. I realise now that I also had a fat phobia. I have denied this in the past but recent months have revealed just how ingrained the fear of fatty foods has been. This was possibly because I had gall stones, or to be more accurate, my gallbladder had become one large calcified mass, before my 20th birthday. These days I wonder how much my high starch, moderate fat diet contributed to this.

Watch out too for the comment on fat burning contributing to raised body temperature. In the past I have been reasonably successful eating what is termed a low carb diet with moderate protein and low fats. Once I began to lose a significant amount of weight I would feel chilled from the inside out. It made me miserable on cold days as I tried to warm up. In fact some days only a soak in a hot bath worked. This time I have lost more weight than ever before and yet I feel warm, sometime uncomfortably so. I even wondered if I was experiencing the occasional hot flush ... at 74 yrs. That seemed rather odd.

More recently I have decided it is because I have more fat in my diet than I have ever dared to eat previously. I still feel cold on a chilly day but I am more likely to be in tune with where John is. That is a remarkable change in how my body is functioning and suggests to me my hormones are likely to be in better balance than forever. It still seems weird to add coconut oil to my coffee since I have always preferred black except for the occasional Café style cappuccino. I work hard to get my fat content around 70%. The only fruit I eat regularly are the few berries I put in my smoothie. I am eating fewer and fewer non-leafy veggies. I am doing the very thing I vowed I would never do. I count calories. This is made easy by using an online diet tracker. There  seem to be a few around but the only one I am comfortable with is The Perfect Diet Tracker which cost a few dollars to download but all updates are free. I cannot recommend it to others, just saying it works for me.

THE EXTRAORDINARY IS BECOMING NORMAL - FAT COFFEE WITH COCONUT OIL

ORCHIDS GALORE AT THE AKATSUKA ORCHID GARDENS
NEAR VOLCANO VILLAGE, HAWAII ISLAND

I haven't done much writing lately. We had a busy weekend and today I'm having some quietness .. maybe I'll get into the garden as I've been promising myself for the last month. My excuse now is that the ground is wet and soggy. Isn't it all to easy to find an excuse not to do something.

This morning I watched this video on TED. What can I say. I wish I could embed the video but please take the time to go to the link. It's well wrth the effort and time it takes to watch.