Niki’s campaign to raise $250 to buy winter clothing for a teenage boy whose mum is struggling fits so well with my latest post The Gift of Kindness At Christmas that I had to reblog it. Please help her achieve her goal of giving this family a much-needed boost this Christmas. All donations however small are gratefully received. Just click on the photo in her post to be taken to the GoFundMe website and leave your special message for this family.
I know there are many many people struggling this Christmas and we often feel overwhelmed and helpless, but this is one family you can help in a very practical way. Thank you for reading.
Tag: blogging
Long time, no see …
A quick post to apologise for lack of (hopefully) inspiring posts: we are metaphorically and literally running around like headless chickens trying to regain some sense of control over our living space so that we are prepared for a lovely surprise visit from the two family smalls tomorrow. We weren’t expecting them until Christmas Eve and have unwittingly turned their bedroom into something resembling a packing warehouse and their play room into Santa’s grotto, and so we have to try to clear it all away before they discover their presents a little on the early side!
Their bedroom is full of boxes, big and small, from all the parcels that have contrived to arrive all at once this week – some as part of a project we’re working on (can’t say more than that, walls have ears and all that), some awaiting returns labels, and some containing presents. The playroom has rolls of Christmas paper, cards in various stages of completion, wrapped up gifts strewn around and half-completed projects.
We are also in a quandary: is it too soon to put up the Christmas decorations for them, should we wait until Christmas so they get the full effect for their special visit (we don’t usually see them at Christmas and this year my mum will be meeting the youngest small for the first time too).
Then there’s food to prepare. Always a head-scratcher, this one. Littlest small won’t eat anything resembling a vegetable but will eat fruit and porridge till it comes out of his ears (sometimes literally!), older small will eat most things on her day but on others may decide she’s not in the mood and would rather be playing.
We spend a lot of time discussing what to have, trying to make sure we have their favourites only to discover those have moved over to the detested list and they’ve moved on to something else. Last time we were sure we were on to a winner with pizza, older small’s favourite, but neither of them ate any – older small actually preferred the salad! And younger small doesn’t like chips (fries)!! What child doesn’t like chips?? Husband makes them from scratch and is very proud of his oven chips, the older bigger ones gobble them up. Nope, smallest small only wants cheese and grapes, banana if you’re lucky – but he does love the Aduna Baobab bars* (and I happen to have just had a delivery), and they like my raw treats, so not all is lost.
It’s so hard fitting in two meals into such a short 6 hour visit, we end up spending most of the time preparing food, eating food, clearing away food, washing up and then there’s just enough time to read a story or two and we’re onto the next meal and then they have a bath and it’s into the car and off they go!
We spend such a lot of time and energy trying to get it right, but never really succeed. The teenage ones much prefer takeaway and so that is what we usually do for them and I cringe at what my followers would think of me, a vegan health and well-being blogger paying money for some of the most disgusting ‘food’ on this earth, which they wolf down with big grins on their faces while all I can think about is how many chemicals and processed unmentionables are being stored up for future health catastrophes! They, of course, think it’s hilarious and enjoy watching me squirm. (They eat healthily at home but regard visits here as opportunities to cut loose and have ‘treats’!)
Anyway, that’s our week so far. I am so tempted to put up all the lights etc. because I love to see the little ones’ faces, but I think HB will put his foot down and since he is the one who has to do it all, I have to acquiesce. Besides, there are only so many hours left before their visit and the grotto still isn’t sorted, we don’t yet know what food to prepare, the house needs cleaning and toddlerising, my back is shouting for mercy, oh, and I’m in the middle of a soup and juice plan!
I can’t wait to see them.
Wish us luck!
PS Here’s a link to a Guardian newspaper article on Aduna and the impact on local African economies of their market for baobab fruit, traditionally picked by women.
Copyright: Chris McGowan
Happy Anniversary To Me – & A Big ‘Thank You’ To You!
Today, we are 1.
I’ve just received a message from WordPress, it seems it’s a whole year since I registered and tentatively, nervously began blogging. I had no idea what I was doing or if I was doing the right thing. It had been suggested a couple of times some time before that I write a blog, but I couldn’t imagine what I would have to say that was of any interest to anyone else.
Two things changed. I had been contributing recipes to The Raw Chocolate Company blog for a few months when my son suggested I set up my own blog and I had also completed a couple of courses in raw nutrition and naturopathic nutrition. Now I felt I had something to say! I hoped I could pass on the knowledge and experience I had gained through decades of researching food and health. So many people are struggling with lifestyle health issues, perhaps I could help in some small way?
I have always needed to write, even if it was just a letter or a journal entry. I loved the old days of Compuserve where I was a regular contributor and in some instances Section Leader of various forums. I loved writing amusing anecdotes about our family as well as helping people with problems of one sort or another. Perhaps a blog could be an amalgamation of all that.
When I first wrote my About page, I was focused on juicing and raw food, providing health and nutrition advice, answering readers’ questions and so on. I categorically stated this wasn’t going to be a food blog as such and I wouldn’t be posting recipes other than juices!
Well, who knew!! Here I am a whole year later, and my blog is chock full of recipes! I quickly found they were the posts that garnered most views – people are obsessed with food photos, just take a glance at Instagram! – and I tried a different tack of including the health and nutritional information within these posts.
Therein lies the dilemma for many new bloggers: do I write what I want to write about or do I provide the content people want to read?
I also didn’t intend including any personal information – it took some time for me to pluck up the courage to even include a profile pic – however, after some months I was itching to return to family anecdotes, I really enjoy writing those, but I have to ration them and reign myself in because in the olden days of Compuserve, my family were either too young, too old or just not interested in forums so I was quite safe in the knowledge that no-one would ever read them. It’s all very different now! Every time I take a photo I hear a moan: Oh no, it’s not going on your blog is it?!
Today, twelve months down the line blogging takes up most of my thinking and writing time. I’ve also expanded to Instagram, Twitter and Facebook too, I am slowly taking over the world. You can’t get away fom me!
I want to say a big ‘thank you‘ to you all for giving me a reason to do this, for all your kind comments and encouragement, with a particular thank you to those of you who have been here since the beginning when it was all a bit clunky and earnest at times.
Here’s your opportunity to give some feedback and let me know if there’s anything in particular you want me to include or you want to ask me about. Any constructive criticism? Do I post too often, for instance? Are the topics too diverse or too similar? Too many smoothies?
I realised recently that I tend to assume people know what certain items and terms are, so if there is ever anything I mention that you don’t understand, please ask me to explain.
I thought it might be fun to revisit one of my earliest posts: Pears But No More Parsnips: In Which I Confront My Parsnip Phobia! It explains in a light-hearted manner the origins of my blog title. It might give you smile.
Enjoy the video!
Copyright: Chris McGowan
I Was On A Break, But I’m Back! I Feel Great! Here’s What I Did On My Holiday…
I’ve been on an Ebreak. No iPad or iPhone for 8 days. No blogging or blog-reading for 9 days. No Social Media for 10 days. I didn’t take one photo. No texts.
I needed the break because I was exhausted. I wasn’t sleeping, my mind was racing all the time, coming up with ideas for posts, getting up in the night to write them up.
Blogging was beginning to feel like a full-time job. I was constantly taking photos for the blog, for Instagram etc. Every mealtime, my husband would have to wait to eat while I took photos, ususally asking him to move something that was in the background, even the furniture!
My family and friends needed support, which I’m always happy to give. But the phone was always ringing. Messages kept pinging. I felt stressed, my digestion was shot and I felt on edge. My back, neck and shoulders were so painful, I felt permanently hunched over, all my muscles were in a spasm.
Action was needed. So I had osteopathy and my Ebreak.
The first two days were easy. I regularly have osteopathy and always take the opportunity to have a break from electronic devices and to rest afterwards. For one reason or another, I hadn’t been able to fit in an appointment for some time and that’s why everything had built up.
After treatment, I naturally don’t want to start typing and scrolling – I don’t want to undo all the benefits by immediately returning to behaviour that had got me to that state. But after a couple of days, I get bored and twitchy. I want to know what’s going on.
Fortunately, this time the weather was mostly good and I was able to spend time outside, just relaxing, contemplating, watching the birds etc. My husband did a tidy-up of the garden while I supervised as he has a tendency to dig up the plants and leave the weeds!
I began to unwind.
I found I was going to bed earlier. I listened to relaxation tapes and audiobooks.
Soon, I got out my craft box and began making cards. I hadn’t made any since the start of the year and I’d missed it, but I could never tear myself away from the iPad long enough to change focus and concentrate on something else. It felt good to do something creative again. I became engrossed and time passed more constructively.
I really began to feel calmer. I could feel myself slowing down, my muscles relaxing. I was giving full attention to everything and everyone instead of reluctantly giving half an ear to what was being said while I continued to write a blogpost. I was more patient. I was taking note.
So much more was attended to. All those little things you keep meaning to do but never get around to. I sorted out the drawers of my desk. Decluttered my wardrobe. My bookshelves. The (grown-up) kids’ books. Dvds. I sent a lot of things to the charity shop, others went on Ebay (I had to rely on my husband for that, I was on a break!). I sorted through the dreaded paperwork.
Most importantly, healthwise, I also did a Raw Island One Day Juice Cleanse – more on that next time.
I would have managed a longer holiday, but on the eighth day I had to contact a company and the only way was by email. Unfortunately, this meant that I also saw I had 125 emails waiting in my inbox and I began to panic about how I was going to cope if they kept on coming. So I started to scroll through, deleting those that were just notifications, telling myself I would only do so many and then stop. But you know how it goes, one or two were from people who really needed the support of a full reply and before you know it, you’re back! But I’m trying to be more disciplined.
All in all, I thoroughly recommend taking a break from all the electronic chatter. Everything and everyone will still be there when you come back. I feel refreshed. I feel like I can be a little more disciplined about my iPad use and not quite so obsessive about checking up on everything and everyone.
I was a little anxious that people might have moved on, that out of sight might mean out of mind, but not at all. I had some lovely messages and comments awaiting my return which are much-appreciated, thank you.
Oh, and if you see me here after midnight, tell me to go to bed! (I now have 10 minutes to log off and make tracks!)
Enjoy the Friends Clip! (You’ll need to click onto the blog if you’re reading this via email).
Copyright: Chris McGowan
In Which I Take A Shower & A Minor Miracle Occurs – Sort Of…
This is one of those inconsequential everyday-life kind of posts that talks about nothing of any importance, doesn’t pass on any useful information or set the world to rights. It doesn’t even have a video at the end (sorry) although it does have an interesting afterword. But it might make you smile. Just warning you before you commit valuable time to reading it.
Just now, something happened that changed my whole perspective on a so far gloomy, disappointing and frustrating day.
Last night my weather app had promised sun late morning and we had all sorts of plans for being outside. I wanted to take some photos and video for a friend who could do with some smiles. But I needed sun. And warmth. I can’t cope with the cold. Or the gloom. Or the wet.
For once, it was completely wrong: it was overcast when I got up, 14C and didn’t look like it was going to improve much any time soon.
As I drank my early (for me) morning cup of green tea with jasmine, I half-heartedly checked my blog, emails and social media. Nothing much going on there, everyone was going about their weekend thing with family and friends. Nothing to distract or keep me occupied.
The heavens opened.
I went in the shower. (The hot one where you wash your hair not the icy one outside!)
I was contemplating the next post I wanted to write and musing over the fact that a couple of months ago I was worried I would run out of things to write about but now, I can’t keep up with ideas and events.
I gradually became aware of something small and hard under my foot. I looked down but of course couldn’t see a thing because after decades of wearing contact lenses, I had only recently discovered you’re not supposed to wear them in the shower! This was all well and good, I wanted to protect my eyes from potential infection but it didn’t help me see spiders nesting in there or what was underfoot or tell the difference between shampoo and conditioner in identical bottles! Have you ever done that, put conditioner on instead of shampoo and had to wash your hair twice? Anyway, at least I knew it wasn’t a contact lens!
My next thought was to check my earrings. How many times had I knocked one off when pulling a t-shirt over my head or wrapping a towel around wet hair then discovering the fact long afterwards and initiating a housewide search for same and banning hoovering for a month? In fact, that had happened recently and for once the search proved futile and I’d had to accept the loss of a precious silver earring back. It was off my favourite everyday studs that I’d worn for many years and goodness knows how many of their backs have been lost and found over those years.
But no, they were both intact. I could only think it was a small cinder or stone, although I couldn’t think how it had got in the shower. I hadn’t walked barefoot outdoors.
So, I struggled to reach my glasses from my dressing-gown pocket, put them on with soapy wet hands and look down as quickly as possibly through quickly fogging lenses.
No, it couldn’t possibly be. We had both looked in the shower tray, my husband had inspected the plughole, I had had several showers since… but yes, there it was, the erstwhile missing silver earring back!
I couldn’t stop laughing. I still have a huge grin on my face. Such a small insignificant event on a miserable Saturday morning changed my whole perspective on the day.
But I should have known not to doubt the universe’s powers of discovery. The number of times I have ‘lost’ a contact lens and given it up for good, yet somehow we always find it – even on the gravel-strewn verge of a busy main road on our way to see my inlaws, even in a dark furniture-cluttered bedroom where my husband found it flicked right into the corner of the carpet by the skirting board, even on our first date when I looked down at my coffee and first one dropped out and then as I leant down to look for it, the other followed suit and we both ended up on our hands and knees looking for contact lenses – or at least, I was dying of embarrassment and wasn’t looking for anything, I couldn’t see! The one time we didn’t find one until it was too late was when I discovered I’d been walking around with it embedded in the sole of my slipper!
So, that was interesting wasn’t it? Did you smile or just sigh with disappointment in the knowledge that you just wasted a few minutes you’ll never get back?
I for one am still grinning. And it’s still raining.
Ps Just after I published this, I went on Instagram and instantly saw this thought for the day from The Secret:
Now, if the universe could just help me find my tweezers …
Copyright: Chris McGowan
pearsnotparsnipsdotcom 
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