Wednesday already? wow!

This week seems to be flying by or maybe I have just been super busy..

So on Monday I told you about how I am starting detox and getting back into my Daniel Plan, well, when I am focused I become determined and so I am going along well, yes I have a “detox headache” but I am trying to ignore it and remind myself it’s just the crap escaping from my system.

Monday I spent the day in solitude which I LOVE and I got some art done.. oh boy did I ever..

So Monday was a busy day because I got the house work and all the laundry up to date also.

Tuesday- NO COFFEE!! and breakfast is always an issue for me, I’m always starving but I’m basically lazy, but I forced myself and so I had a Green Smoothie and Quinoa with a drizzle of maple syrup. For morning snack I had a banana and for lunch I had a salad and a small can of Tuna.. afternoon snack I had an orange and a few pieces of popcorn and I smashed my water requirement out of the park and because Squish and I had gone down town for a trip to the Post Office (We mailed a letter to Trisha Faye!!) to buy more stamps. So I also got my 10,000 steps done for that day too.

Squishy loved Grandma’s Green Smoothie

At the end of our street, sunshine and Birdsong!

The Lake at Rupertswoodd, we have to pass it to get to the shops and the Sun bounced off the water.. but I think God winked at me telling me it’s a good day to be out and about!

Last Night I had Bible study and normally I would make a plate of something to take but since I couldn’t eat anything anyways I brought a packet of chocolate biscuits to share.. I didn’t eat any I am proud of me, and only drank water! YAY! We are studying the Book of Proverbs, so as usual some great conversations.

Today I had Squish for the half day, Jasmin only works Wednesday mornings so Squishy and I had breakfast I made a fruit salad and sprinkled it with LSA (Linseed, Sunflower and Almond)  and more water.. I’m slowly getting the hang of the water thing. And then we went for a walk, I planned to do a LONG walk but my head was pounding so we did a “blocky” which was almost 2 kilometers so at least we did something.

And here I was thinking I was doing such a good job drinking my water, until I busted this cheeky monkey!! he had his own bottle but apparently mine tasted better!

Today I’ve drunk 2 liters of water and I’m almost up to my 10,000 steps I will have done that by bed time.

I’m tired today but I know it’s all part of the detox so I am not letting it worry me.. I need to go make my smoothies for today and tomorrow morning and take my vitamins, and this morning the scales tell me I’m down 2 kilos. I will recheck on Monday and confirm that, but it’s possible because when you eat bread and then drink water the bread absorbs the water… since I’ve had no bread but plenty of water, the water is actually flushing the crap out of my system! The vegetables help!!

Today I worked on this…

I am re-doing it on a board, since I love the one in my journal so much.

But there are many layers so it’s slower going than a journal page because it needs to dry properly.. This will be the first of 50. I am also working on one a “Secret” for my son’s 21st. That leaves one more board free.. I am trying to slow down a little I have too many ideas of things I want to do.. so I’ll finish these two and then get more done!

This afternoon when Jasmin picked up Squish we went for a drive to a shopping center called “Water gardens” Jasmin’s engagement ring was there being adjusted she has skinny fingers like me. So we went to collect that and had a quick look in some shops and spoke about preliminary “engagement” party stuff. There was also an invite to Jasmin’s and Brett’s next Wednesday night to meet the “in-laws to be” we met them briefly the day she got engaged but she wants us to get to know each other so, we are having dinner.. I fear that my healthy eating plan might go astray that day, but I offered to take some food and that way I can take something I can eat.. I’m going to make Mini Meatloaves and Zucchini chocolate chip muffins, both will be “Daniel Plan” approved.. Zucchini muffin recipe is there.

So that’s me up to date I hope everyone is having a great week..

Green thumb Thursday’s- Garden update!

I am so excited I just had to share.

It’s summer in Australia and the past few days while not super hot they have not had much moisture so we are watering each night to keep the “babies” happy and healthy. Remember in my last post https://kimlhine.wordpress.com/2014/12/11/green-thumb-thursday/ I told you about what was planted…

• Tomatoes,
• Rosemary
• Basil
• Corn,
• Broccoli
• Rockmelon
• Carrots
• Sweet Potato
• Mint
• Zucchini
• Cucumber

So up date.. the carrots all died, something ate most of the Zucchini, I have one loner left, we went away for a week to Bel Far Niente and come home to this explosion, I am so proud of my “babies” they’ve graduated to “Teenagers” Rockmelons are looking sickly, but we will watch them and see how they go.

I’m excited.. had to share.. even though..

It’s NOT green thumb Thursday..

Guess what I just brought?!

I’ll show you!

More vegetables and a FRUIT!! Dutch carrots, Sweet Potato (never even though to grow any kind of potato) and I went to buy Mint and herbs to create a wild place in the corner behind the pond where no one goes… I was going to let herbs run wild there but only got mint and then I found.. ROCK MELON!! my Star son loves Rock Melon!! not me so much but hey smoothies could be good!

Then I went out to the back yard and happened to spy “Bella” she is a Totem Ballerina Apple tree, which simple means she is tall and thin for smaller gardens and she has babies!! LOOK!

The Bloke stands 5 ft 10 in and she is way taller than him!

So I apologise to anyone who is not enjoying my Gardening tales.. I’ll be back later to post something else but I was “excited” is that the same as “joy”?

Excitement (ɪkˈsaɪtmənt)

n- 1. the state of being excited

2. a person or thing that excites; stimulation or thrill

joy (dʒɔɪ)

n- 1. a deep feeling or condition of happiness or contentment

2. something causing such a feeling; a source of happiness

3. an outward show of pleasure or delight; rejoicing

4. Brit success; satisfaction: I went to the bank for a loan, but got no joy.

vb- 5. (intr) to feel joy

6. (tr) to make joyful; gladden

[C13: from Old French joie, from Latin gaudium joy, from gaudēre to be glad]

Alright..not the same but let me say I feel “Joy Filled” at the excitement of these new plants, tonight I will plant them in the cool of the evening!

Salad Challenge… Last day! Recap!

I DID NOT make the above salad I found the image on Google..

So today brings us to thirtieth of November 2014, which means the end of the #SWR30daysofsaladchallenge

I have really enjoyed this challenge, and found myself eager to make my daily salad and thanks to the gorgeous weather, sometimes two a day! It also brought up the challenge of finding a salad I could eat (Due to my The Daniel Plan) while out shopping or out of the house. KFC and McDonald’s helped there.

So here’s a pictorial recap on some of the Salads I made, (I printed off recipes to make some ‘exotic’ ones but never ended up doing that!)

Hmm, for whatever reason I only have 24 photos… Friday lunch I was so hungry I ate half of the chicken salad wrap before remembering to take the photo, so no pic for that the others I must have deleted.. but rest assured I’ve checked in each and every day!!

So Have I learnt any lessons?

• Challenges are fun, and keep me on track.
• Most people were interested in what I was doing.
• New Viewers came to my blog and instagram it’s all in the #
• I enjoyed the challenge of finding a salad in places I would not normally have thought to look.
• I lost at least 3 kilos I’ll check into tomorrow, (Monday) with my official weight loss for #The Daniel Plan

Would I do it again?

• Absolutely!!

You can read the original post here: https://kimlhine.wordpress.com/2014/10/27/blogtoberfest-2014-day-27-wedding-plans-10000-steps-and-salads-galore/

So from now on it’s

• Spiritual Sundays (I just made that up) This is when I will update y Bible reading plans and my lessons from studies I am doing, makes sense since it’s Sunday and we go to Church on Sundays.
• Motivational Mondays– Because let’s face it no one likes Monday.. I wonder if we would like Monday more if the weekend started on Tuesday and Wednesday?! Poor Monday.. support for Monday please! Personally I like Mondays because it means all the family piss off and leave me alone.. off to school off to work off to their lives and leave me with mine AND ” The Daniel Plan catch-up”
• Tuesdays of texture It’s on day a week.. might help my blog become more readable. We get to mess around with photos of texture.. I can do this like Bricks, or dirt, or bark or beach sand or beach shells or my favorite tree! Hey I’m giving away all my good ideas!  This Lady can’t go past a patch of Moss without taking a gazillion photos of it.. and here I was thinking I was the Only ONE!! Find out more here: http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_event/tuesdays-of-texture/
• Weight-loss Wednesday (I just made that up) I’m going to tell you all about how my weight-loss, Daniel Plan and recipes etc are going.

Okay, so that leaves Thursday, Friday and Saturday.. does anyone want to suggest topics for those days?

 

 

 

Gardening Update…

I am still at it.. some how I have this burst of inspired energy. I am growing food. I don’t know if it actually works out any cheaper to grow your own on a small-scale like mine, but gee, my front yard looks pretty. So this weekend I did some more planting, I planted purple capsicum, broccoli and corn, to go with the tomatoes, parsley and rosemary I planted last week. So now three garden beds are complete and I have started working on the fourth one.

I had to remove the black weed matting again and so I decided to cheat and cut it away from under the Agapanthus, remembering the fight I had with it last week and the three days of sore muscles (yes I am that unfit!) I had the following days. But you know what? I was NOT going to let it beat me so I started digging, by this time it was 7.45 pm and starting to get dark, so I was just going to “start” digging it.. but then the Bloke came along and remembering my sore back last week he took over and within a few minutes it was all done. So now it’s time to flood the bed with water and add the horse poo and the sugar cane mulch and let it stew for a few days, next weekend we will plant something else… I’m thinking maybe some more herbs or celery or something.

Do you garden? and if so what vegetables or herbs are you growing?

 

 

NaBloPoMo 2014- Gardening and shaking with exhaustion…

Did you know, have you read yesterdays post… I hate Gardening… let me just repeat it in case you missed it I-HATE-GARDENING… but I do like the end result I am sure there’s a witty saying some where let me go google that… well there was this one..

Be the first in the field and the last to the couch. — Chinese (on work) not quiet the one I wanted.. hmmm…

this one is OK if I planted a Money Tree! Industry, perseverance & frugality make fortune yield.  — Ben Franklin (1706-1790)… I’ll find it bare with me…

OK moving right along I didn’t find the quote if you know of one, post it in the comments for me please!

I gave myself half an hour each night because there is something wrong with me (Some have said OCD not professionally diagnosed though) sometimes I get “fixated” on a thing and will do it and do it and do it until I am bloody sick of it.. and there is a lot of garden that needs doing, So I am trying to avoid that this time. In a half an hour I can get a lot done and see results. BUT tonight I was stubborn and so was the Agapanthus!

It all started because I wanted to remove the weed matting and if it had come away nicely the Aggies would have happily been there but NO!!

The black weed matting was hidden within the Aggies and I tried so hard I probably wasted the first half an hour trying to untangle and remove the black weed matting no luck, so then my temper kicked in and I got mad!  I pushed and I pulled and I strained and then I came inside for a drink, I was so worked up I broke into a sweat and my hair was plastered to my head (So NOT a good look!) and I was physically shaking, I even had a brief thought “I might faint” when I saw the black spots hovering in my eyes. But I went back out and I could have packed up and said “That’s my half hour” but NO Stubborn me and stubborn Aggie we went at it.. until finally I pulled that B*&^%h out of the ground with a roar of triumph.. I wonder if my neighbors were watching and having a giggle.

So by then I’m ready to fall on the ground my back is killing me my shoulders are killing me I’m all sweaty and all I could think of was… “I NEED to lay that horse poo down tonight, so I can water it in a few days and turn it all over and plant on Saturday” OK, so, the OCD has kicked in! I’ll tell you something though, I got it done! the Aggie is now in the garden waste bin, which sadly is now full for a week before it gets emptied.. the horse poo is laid and the garden bed is looking much better… so I feel proud of that little achievement!

 

So the overall gardening session for tonight was an hour, but that’s all good, I am off for a shower and I’ll sleep well tonight!

 

NaBloPoMo 2014- Day 16- Gardening

Anyone who knows me will tell you, “Kim hates gardening” and yet strangely enough I love my roses and I like the garden to look nice, I just hate going out there doing it.. hence the shrubs and the trees. We removed some close to dead old Gum trees when we first moved here and I’ve always believed that if you remove a tree plant another, so we removed two almost dead gum trees from the front and planted 9 more, a mixture of Silver Birch (One for each Child) and Weeping Cherry for my Father-in-law when he passed away and a weeping mulberry well, just because it weeps.

But since starting “The Daniel Plan” I realized that it made sense to grow some veggies at home. So I went out and brought a punnet of nine Roma tomatoes and some parsley, I also today got the Marigolds, Basil and Rosemary because they are commonly used as “companion planting” to help keep the bugs away from the tomatoes without using sprays because remember I am a “lazy gardener”

According to this website… http://www.sgaonline.org.au/companion-planting/

First column these are good neighbors to plant with tomatoes second Column is what each plant does… and the third column is bad neighbors.

Tomato

Asparagus, Basil, Celery, Borage, Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts, Cabbage, Carrot, Cauliflower, Chives, Dill, Gooseberry, Grape, Hyssop, Lovage, Marigold (French), Marjoram, Mint, Nasturtium, Onion, Parsley, Parsnip, Turnip

Marigolds said to repel white fly and root knot nematode. Bad Neighbours roots release substances reducing growth

Apricots, Beetroot,  Fennel, Kohl Rabi, Potato, Rosemary, Sweet Corn

So looks like I’ll be going shopping and buying a few more plants! Mint and cauliflower, Carrots and Broccoli, But I wonder if the neighbors would complain, because I am doing my Veggie garden in the front of my house away from my dogs. I have planted the Tomatoes, Basil and Parsley and Marigolds and now rosemary around my favorite rose-bush.. I would how that will re-act.

 

I have set myself a little challenge and I can hear YOU Terri Deiley out there groaning “Oh My GOSH NOT another one!!” I am inspired by Terri’s gardening and her love for it and so I have set myself this little challenge.. Half an hour each day to work on the garden, but doing small doses like that I can see what I’ve done but I’m not making myself sick of the garden.

Today we brought more horse poo.. I know I’m sorry too much information! but you need to know that because tomorrow I am starting the next section of the garden bed, I am ripping up the black weed matting which doesn’t work anyways and I am going to spread the horse poo and water it in for a few days, weeding and turn over the garden bed regularly until next weekend, and then I’ll go shopping for more companion plants. I was so tempted to buy a pumpkin today, but I just wonder.. “Do I love pumpkin that much?” I’d be better to get and grow the “Super greens” that everyone is talking about.. imagine how cool it would be to walk out the front of your house and pick your lunch salad!! Its my dream!

So if you are reading this please leave me a comment and let me know “what are you growing? or what can you suggest I give a try? talk to me and I’ll chat back!