Road Trip sans child - Jinkies!

Yes, you read that right.  I am fresh back from a three day, two-night road trip with my friend Anne.

For anyone with a diabetic child you will known what a BIG DEAL this is!

For myself it is doubly tricky as my lovely man has not been confident enough for me to leave home overnight for some years.  And then I, as with many parents let alone D-parents, have all kinds of control issues.  

Does anyone else do it as well as I do?  Well, no not really.  But well enough is fine.

I did have a short trip a couple of years ago but honestly didn't relax into it in the way I did last week.  

I knew my boys would be fine.  

I knew Andrew would do his best and that if anything went wrong he would sort it out just fine.

And all was well.

 ~ the beautiful church in the centre of Lyndhurst in the New Forest ~

 ~ my tipple overlooking the lawn at our hotel ~

 ~ strolling out onto the New Forest heathlands ~ I'm the one in the hat! ~

 ~ Montacute House ~ anyone recall it from the Ang Lee version of Sense & Sensibility?  It is stunning ~

 ~ dinner at The River Cottage Canteen ~

 ~ my main course ~ fresh garden veggies and udon noodles ~ yum! ~

~ me with my trio of hummus starter ~ I am camera shy at present but know that you'll all be looking at the food anyway! ~

And boy did I miss these guys.  And they me.  

The break did me good but it is good to be home where my heart belongs.

*******************************

Tomorrow is August and I am embarking on my own 30-Day Vegan as a kind of retreat.  

I followed this last summer as a student of Heather and it was such a wonderful, fulfilling, supportive experience.

My intention from August is to have a health focus each month as a way of bringing my own health into a more mindful place.

I'll keep you posted.

Eight and Fifty-six

What is going on?
August is speeding by and I can barely keep up!
Living with a lively five year old keeps me on my toes and we have been enjoying long days out and two big celebrations this past week, with more to come soon (my Mum turns 80 next weekend).



In no particular order we have celebrated our eighth wedding anniversary and Andrew's (56th) birthday.
He looks good on it, hey??
Our wedding anniversary was spent enjoying (vegan) pancakes for breakfast and a lazy family day just hanging out together.
For Andrew's special day we spent time at our friend's beach hut on Mersea Island. The photo above shows his (vegan) chocolate cake, which went down a storm and tasted so good with the sea air. But then doesn't everything taste better with sea air in it?
Frank decorated the top and took great care with the berries and candles.
I went to my first Knitting under the Willow at the Natural Dye Studio in Hollesley, Suffolk and bought some amazing yarn. My friend Jan and I both cast on an Ishbel shawl on the day but I am not convinced I am up to lace knitting yet.
I'll give it a go though.
And the 30 Day Vegan continues.
For a couple of days I had withdrawal symptoms for my strong English tea with milk and then my head cleared and I feel fine.
The course is one I would very highly recommend as it is very supportive and I have to say I have been blown away by how easy I have found the transition.
Heather is very generous with her information and I have learnt to "crowd out" my diet with all the good stuff.
So, rather than focus on what I am not eating I fill my tummy with loads of wholefood goodness!

The blueberry breakfast loaf has been a staple here and I love it with almond butter.
The quinoa tabbouleh is yummy too.
And I have even managed to complete Andrew's Christmas jumper (yes, last Christmas before anyone asks).
I don't think I will go back to tea with milk. I feel so well not eating dairy products that I might just have a little Greek yoghurt (we have a brand here called Total and it's just too yummy to not eat!) and a little cheese here and there. Fish I miss but not as much as I expected.
It is proving a really eye-opening experience and is definitely helping me with my mid-afternoon energy slumps.
The D is mostly behaving itself but it never lets up, does it? The nights are long but I have made my peace with that. It was, however, a bit of a shock to spend time on our wedding anniversary looking at the wedding photos. We each had years and years of good nights' sleep like regular folks and we looked great! Na ja ...
Tomorrow sees the fantabulous return of the Colchester Free Festival so we will be cycling into town to enjoy some kiddo crafts and stories and then some live music from local bands.

Love to you all for a happy and peaceful, and safe if you are on the East coast of the USA, weekend.

Getting the kitchen in order for 30 Day Vegan

OK, so I caved and have returned before the beginning of September!

It turns out I only needed a couple of weeks away from the computer to feel much restored and ready to share my little kitchen with you as I prepare for taking part in Heather's 30 Day vegan course/Summer camp.
I have been sprucing up the kitchen in preparation and have had a great time spending my evenings sorting and pottering.

This is my pantry door. It is more than 100 years old and I salvaged it from a friend.
She used it as the door for her dark room, hence the holes in the top!


And inside it is now tidy and clean.
The spuds from the garden are in the basket and I even harvested all the garlic the other day and strung it ready for use (just in case anyone saw that huge garlic string and thought we maybe had vampire problems here in Essex!)

And I even had a yummy vegan lunch today of corn tortilla chips and peach & apple salsa. This time of year we get about a three week window of tasty, juicy peaches and then they just don't do so well.
I love fresh peaches and intend to make this salsa a lot.
It was so tasty. The meal was finished off with a slice of Nigella's Apple Syrup upside down pie (not vegan but very tasty, though too sweet even for me, and I often cut the sugar in her recipes).
And tomorrow we begin. 30 days vegan. I have yet to 'fess up to the group that I have two big hurdles in this month: one is my Mum's 80th birthday and she loves cheesecake and the other is that we go on holiday about six days before the end of the course to Alkmaar in Holland.
Not only is Holland the land of cheese but Alkmaar has a famous cheese market and the holiday apartment we and our lovely friends are renting is called "At the Cheese Market".
Snowballs in hell spring to mind!

Happy August to all.
I will endeavour to catch up with all your posts very soon.