Getting juicy!

Day three of a juice cleanse and I feel oddly fine. No detox symptoms to date other than tiredness and a bit of a light head late on day 1 and part of day 2 – I am not remotely convinced it is because I am so pure and clean. No complaints from me though. On day 2 my tummy was flatter, today my skin looks smoother, eyes brighter and I feel bouncier!

We did ease into it a week before we started filling our days and our tummies with more juices and smoothies than usual….and being on holiday in Scotland there were also some glorious pub meals and local produce – we haven’t been tempted by the whisky yet though!

We have also been doing loads of walking in the amazing countryside and powering up the crags and crevices.Keeping our spirits up, and having a lot of conversations that start with “Do you really think this is a good idea”, “We are on holiday….:(“, “Look at those people eating their picnic/ in the cafe/ eating fish and chips, looking all healthy and happy…..”.

We are doing this cleanse for us and also to be able to share our experiences with others who come to us at Recombobulate. We have done quite a few over the years and each one is different. People like to know others have experienced what they are experiencing. That they understand how they feel, the frustration, hunger pangs (mostly imagined it has to be said) and the need for motivation and to be reminded that it is only a few days and you will feel good and have had a whopping boost of nutrients in the mean time.

If you decide to do something similar from a book, a blog or an online/app lead version, listen to your body, ask advice, be prepared, be careful!

We once went to a juice fast centre, which was lovely, but Robin, who was doing way more exercise than me in high heat, was given exactly the same juices, quantities and ingredients as me. By the end of the week he was totally depleted in electrolytes. We would probably go again but I would take some supplements along and would include some Himalayan salt.

Fasting of any kind can be very beneficial and it can also be dangerous in certain circumstances. Be aware.

Not only your body detoxs, your mind and emotions can do to. Not a bad thing although it can be uncomfortable to go through; again be aware, be prepared, have support and have a plan before you start – of exit as much as during. Keep a note book and pen and write everything you feel down. Let it out. Be kind to yourself.

If you said I want to come to you and do a juice fast/fest/cleanse firstly I would talk to you and ask  “Why just juice? What do you want from it, what will you do afterwards, what are your expectations?”.

If you said you wanted to kick start a weight loss program, change your way of eating, knock cravings on the head, deal with a health problem, almost anything actually, I would probably advise a different route. If after discussion you still wanted a juice cleanse that is fine. It is important to know what you are doing, why, what to expect and what alternatives there are – in everything.

If you could only take a few days out of your life I would probably advise a cleanse of a different kind.

Juices yes, green and lots of them plus some good supplements such as Wheatgrass, Spirulina, Chlorella, probably some bee pollen and some Maca, maybe something else. We would look at YOU and decide what you need.

I would suggest adding in some delicious, clean, raw plant based meals, smoothies and snacks. Yep, all of that!

Food to nourish and to delight and that are still clean. Sorry, I can’t describe anything, I’m on day 3 of a juice cleanse remember? Too cruel !

We would work on your mindset, why whatever problem has arisen and how we can help you change it.

However recent, however trivial you think it sounds, if it is causing you suffering or holding you back or leading to negative ways of living (over-eating, self criticism, hormone imbalance, bad habits, negativity, stress) it needs dealing with.

However old, deep seated or profound it is, however you feel nothing can change it and maybe you are not even sure what it is or don’t want to tell anyone what it is, it seriously needs dealing with and there is hope.

We will fill a virtual kit bag with tools to assist you to deal with hurt, negative thoughts, mood swings, anger, cravings, depression, stress whatever is your trigger or whatever you are living with.

There would be some deep work with you and your subsconcious to really make some changes. There would be some movement, lots of it (depending on your ability), to help flush the bad stuff out and increase the good stuff, the endorphins, the metabolism, the spring in your step.

There will be some physical tools to use (and take home of course) to facilitate cleansing, lymph movement, change of thought and more.

So, to cleanse, to me, is to clean everything in a way that suits the person. We are not all the same. For example, by mid afternoon on the first day it was clear Robin needed solid food. So, we dealt with the obvious and automatic “Am I just wimping out?” thought and he eat something and we carried on with our juices.

People have had a amazing results from juicing, me included, and with some raw meals added in and some really good education of what to do next and some significant work on other elements of self while you are at it is a wonderful combination.

Do all that and you will walk away from your cleanse lighter and brighter on all levels and ready to feel better and better. Super boost your life, you deserve it!

Oh and by the way, this is not an advert but we are taking bookings for next year now and working on phase two of our retreat this winter with a newly renovated building so that we will have three more spacious and super comfortable ensuite bedrooms. I’m am so excited.

It’s going to look gorgeous.

Oh, yes, that’s another thing cleansing does, gives you energy to put your clearer, more focused thoughts into action.

Cheers!

 

 

 

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I am so excited!

I’m just going to blurt it out.

You are in for a treat and so are our friends and visitors and clients because… drum roll… I am enrolled on a course! It is going to be busy because actually I am enrolled on two! As anyone who knows me could have told you actually, why do one thing when you can do more?

In my last post I said I am not a chef and it is true, but now I AM GOING TO BE ONE!

A real raw food certified chef from ‘the’ top school. So I may not post much for the next 4-8 weeks, or it could go the other way and you could be treated to my high achievements – and the lower points.

That reminds me of being asked to make chocolate fudge cakes for The Damn Yankee, where I was trainee manager once upon a time. They thought I could do it without problem especially as it was using a mix. Well, you did add a lot of things so I don’t think its giving away any trade secrets and I didn’t sign anything.

Anyway, I added the things, whisked and mixed, became VERY confused over the instructions which were talking about different altitudes needing different oven temperatures but I did it. I made them. I was so pleased and happy because they worked and didn’t look too bad at all. And relieved to have finished because it took three times longer than they said it would.

I was pretty splattered but that was to be expected wasn’t it? I still wear food a lot, you will rarely see me in white where food or drinks are available.

Off I went home to get changed for my evening shift feeling satisfied and excited to hear what they would say when I arrived and they (bosses, colleagues etc) saw the wonderful gooey chocolatey cakes in the upstairs kitchen. I think it was only used for making those cakes each week as it was in the newly refurbished and empty flat above the restaurant.

When I came back all smiles and awaiting praise I couldn’t understand the stoney glare that greeted me – “Desri, lets go upstairs shall we….” I knew it wasn’t good, maybe they weren’t as springy as I had thought.

Sean opened the kitchen door and said “Just look at it!”. I looked at the stark white kitchen, bare other than the mixer and the cakes, then I looked again. Oh deary me , there was chocolate splattered on the walls, on the Mixer, on the floor and even hahaha, now I can laugh, on the ceiling!!!

I hated cooking, I was rubbish at school and as you know I still rarely bake a real cake and hardly ever a decent one.

They never asked me to do it again. Yey!

FOOTNOTE – Do not use that as a reference for your own experience! A very similar thing happened when I had to clean out the ice cream machine, but it didn’t have the same result, I was made to clean it every time until I could do it with less mess.

Runs in the family –  Joel wearing Ice cream and Aimee wearing chocolate, thing is, they were only little 😉

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Save me with savoury and when is a problem not a problem.

I just neeeeeed something savoury. I am so distracted by it I couldn’t even decide on my title.

I don’t want juice or smoothies or chocolate or ice cream or anything other than something mouth-wateringly savoury!

So that is salty, deeply flavoured, oily, maybe a hint of sweet to push those flavours even deeper.

I’m thinking Indian takeaway, Cantonese sizzling beef with all those bits and sweet and sour prawns, BBQ spare ribs, full English breakfast…

So what do I do about that then? Not only do I not want to have those because I am being ‘good’ and even if I wasn’t I never feel good after eating any of those things so I rarely do. Also I am in the middle of very rural France and the nearest place to find anything near something on that list is not local (lucky for us and one of the reasons why it is the perfect place for a retreat, no temptation!).

After a fast fridge rummage here’s what I have done about it –

I sliced up a couple of mushrooms and tossed them around in a mixture of olive oil, coconut amos, smoked paprika and maple syrup with some finely chopped rosemary (not sure that will add anything or not, it was a token green leaf though).

I had one mushroom left, which isn’t much use alone, so sliced and tossed that with oil, balsamic vinegar and fleur de sel for a good old salt and vinegar crisp flavour with a grown up twist.

After a while of tossing and leaving and tossing again I put them all in the dehydrater (if you don’t have one it doesn’t matter, see below) which is where they are now. I did eat a few on the way and they are so what I needed. It is amazing what will cut through a craving.

The sucre/salé flavour (the first marinade) was so divine I made some more and am waiting for sliced aubergines to absorb some of it whilst I write. Lets face it,  I am really writing to keep me occupied so I don’t keep pinching the warm mushrooms from the dehydrator!

I need to address something here. If you don’t have the ingredients or equipment that are used in a raw food recipe it is usually easy to adapt to what you do have. It is very different from making a cake which needs three eggs and you only have one, that wouldn’t work (I know, I’ve tried it).

Also, if you are wanting to be healthy and clean you do not have to be raw! No, you don’t. You can be and you can eat a lot of raw foods and you can eat things cooked or prepared in the best way you have available to you. I do not eat an all raw diet all the time by any means. I do have blips into all raw (and have spent a lot of time being all raw for reasons I’ll one day share). Mainly we eat a lot of raw foods, high vegetarian, little dairy (love cheese, you should see the cheese stall at our local market, drool) unprocessed and using the best ingredients I can find and afford to use.

Here are some tips on adaptation using the recipes above as an example:

If you don’t have coconut amos, it is the first time I have actually – I only discovered them last time I was in the UK, you could use Brags liquid amos, or light soy sauce, or plain old soy sauce.

No Maple syrup? Use Agave or date syrup or blend up some dates or dried figs would work. Really not a good idea to use general sugar or golden syrup obviously (I think that’s obvious given what we are doing  here, if not let me know below ;). I think at a push you could blend some sweet fruit, I’ll give it a go and report back on that one.

Smoked paprika is quite yummy for giving that deeply savoury almost barbequed flavour. If you don’t have it try a bit of chili, mustard would probably give a good result, something a bit punchy. Garlic would be great.

And of course, the dehydrator… so yesterday was very hot and I put some soaked almonds and some fresh lemon balm out to dry in the sun. My Man has been promising for years to make me a hanging cage with shelves that I can dehydrate things in outside but he keeps having to do stuff like re-point the back wall, mow the field, design a product, help a client etc and so it continues to be on the list. The point being that you could dehydrate outside if the weather was being helpful. You could also put the oven on low and leave the door open though somehow, when ever I hear that theory, I just shudder at how expensive it is to leave your oven on and the door open.

Anyway the other option, and probably what I would do in real life, is just put them in the oven on low with the door shut. They would be ‘a bit’ cooked, yes, but they will still be very good nutritionaly, healthwise and taste amazing! You could just heat them until they have softened and warmed. There would be a difference in that the juices would run a bit which isn’t a problem, it is just a difference.

So remember if you don’t have something in one of my recipes, adapt. Then it is not a problem it is merely a difference and we all like to be different don’t we?

I can’t think of anything else useful to say, I am just going to check out those mushrooms in the dehydrator…

 

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A bit of what you fancy actually does you good!

And we all know that is true don’t we?

So, we are doing our ‘especially lean and clean’ week and it is going, as MM would say, very well indeed. We are juicing first thing. Well, after our lemon water. Green smoothies around lunch time followed by more juice (one I made earlier with the first and put in the fridge). It’s hot here so we are also hydrating with cucumber and water melon juice, also juiced at the same time because washing the juicer is not my favourite pass time,  with half a lemon squeezed into it and cut half and half with water; so refreshing.

But, yes, after a few days that can get boring, too sweet, too wet, too…..good!

So how to balance it? Sometimes it needs more time and preparation. Sometimes you can just add in a less ‘clean’ ingredient, as long as the balance is tipped more in the clean direction.

Here are a couple of examples:

For a really fast fix, say you are craving and leaning towards a cheese sandwich, burger, pizza or all three, or just getting really grumpy. Whatever, you need it NOW!

Get a few courgettes (which you will always have on standby as they are so versetile – courgette post needed) and spiralise them or use a vegetable peeler to peel them into ribbons. Splosh on some fruity olive oil, a good squeeze of lemon, sprinkle of salt and pepper, a crushed clove of garlic and toss it all together. Put into individual bowls (easier with this one than a serving bowl otherwise one person will get all the topping and another almost none). Now for the really good and a bit naughty (if you are doing an especially lean n clean week) bit – top each serving with a generous grating of delicious parmesan cheese, torn basil leaves and a sprinkle of chilli flakes or ground black pepper. Et voila!

The night before last we had Mexican – Tortillas piled high! I was so excited about them and the football that I forgot to take a photo.

I made and dehydrated my tortillas, from vegetables and flax, but lets face it, bought corn tortillas softened or crisped up in the oven (no fat!) depending on how you like them would not be a bad choice.

I warmed halved cherry tomatoes, thinly sliced red peppers and spring onions all sprinkled with spicy, smoked paprika outside in the sun; I put them on a tray and covered them in cling film, it worked a treat.

We put that mix on the tortillas and topped with the following:

Guacamole – I simply pulsed (you could chop and mix by hand, of course) an avocado, spring onion and tomatoe with the juice of a lime, a sprinkle of sea salt and scattered it with chopped coriander leaves.

Salsa – I blended a couple of tomatoes, 4 sundried tomatoes (my own from last year whoop, whoop!), 2 dates, a glug of apple cider vinegar, a dried chilli and a clove of garlic.

Sour cream – for this you could use natural yogurt or kefir (strain through a coffee filter resting in a sieve to make it nice and creamy). This time I made a cashew sour cream with-cheesy-on-top flavour by blending a handful (I have small hands so its cheaper 😉 of soaked natural cashews with some of their soak water (judge how much you need as you make it), a squirt of lemon juice (adjust to taste at the end), a tablespoon of lecithin (not necessary if unavailable) and the same of nutritional yeast (which gave it the cheesy flavour. It would have worked without as plain sour cream) plus a sprinkle of sea salt and a good few grinds of mixed pepper.

Yumaloo! It took about three hours for the bits in the sun though they would have been fine fresh or even warmed through and softened in the oven.

And it was still lean and clean and full of natural goodness. Perfect for watching the footy match.

Apart from my team lost. Oh, Wales, we love you!

 

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The great unmentionables!

I have had lots of conversations about my last post with people who related to various points. I am so glad we have had the many experiences we have had and can use them to help others!

I did wonder for a moment or two if was a good idea to post about dealing with anxiety.

Firstly on a personal basis, because it is ingrained in us almost from birth not to tell other people if we have problems and the post wasn’t only about me, it was about my husband too. ( To allay any fears, I would never betray a confidence to anybody, we follow a strict confidentiality code and that applies to each other too, so of course we were both in perfect harmony and agreement about my post).

Secondly from a professional perspective: “could it affect our business if people know ….” well, I had to get over that one quickly – we believe that having lived through various situations, problems, conflicts etc etc in our lives makes us very much more aware of how they effect people. Also, having overcome different things, we have the experience – the proof if you like, that it is possible.

Lets not perpetuate the belief that emotional problems are something to be ashamed of!

And lets face it, most good diet councillors have run the gauntlet of losing weight and are still working to keep it off. Drug and drink rehabilitation sponsors are themselves in recovery and so they know exactly what one is going through.

You wouldn’t expect your driving instructor not to be able to drive.
A person who has experienced and achieved what they are teaching is often a much better bet than a person who has just learnt through theory.

We believe that we are more credible because of what we have experienced, what we manage and what we have overcome and therefore have a greater understanding of the things our clients experience, need to deal with, manage and/or overcome.

We have seen people open up and well up with relief because, on hearing an experience of ours, they suddenly realise that someone really does understand. How often do people think they are the only ones who feel the way they do, or that nobody will understand them. You can bet your bottom dollar that if you are in a room full of people there will be someone else who feels just like you do. Who would totally get it if they only knew how you felt and who would be grateful to know you understand them too. People think they are in a little bubble all alone and can’t tell or ask for help – they often think there IS no help – but they can and there is!

We are proud of our life experiences, good and bad, they have helped make us who we are and are an added qualification from the great university of life. Whilst we don’t need to talk about them all the time none of us should need or want to hide them.

We are all human after all and that’s something to celebrate.

I say again PLEASE lets not perpetuate the belief that emotional problems, anxiety, depression, low self esteem, eating disorders and all the long list – often seen as the great unmentionables – are something to be ashamed of!

Head to our Online retreats page. Lets get you sorted!

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Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who was the spottiest girl of all?

We had dinner with old friends at the weekend, nothing quite like that relationship where you are accepted just the way you are however long it’s been.

I was going to say ‘spots and all’ which reminded me of a snippet of conversation when I mentioned having been the spottiest girl in class.
I was actually, I am sure, the spottiest girl in the school; In fact, quite possibly the spottiest girl St Aiden’s school ever had!
It was totally mortifying. I distinctly remember, with shame, being dragged across the concrete garden between the art and science blocks towards Andrew Southgate, who was also being dragged kicking and screaming. Everyone chanting kiss, kiss, kiss. I had fancied him for ages. He said he wouldn’t go out with me because I was too spotty.
Well the greasy skin then means I may not have as many wrinkles as I would have had otherwise but I wish I knew then what I know today – that what we eat and drink and the way we live can change our skin (and our whole body) dramatically. Never so needed as during the various hormone changes of our lives.
We didn’t eat particularly badly then, we didn’t have processed food other than the odd tin of beans or spaghetti hoops on toast. Ate lots of fruit and vegetables (I worked on the fruit stall at the market at the weekends and in holidays), and as a family we had ‘pop’ and cakes rarely. BUT I was stressed, even as a child, life was a string of places to be with no time to get there amongst other things. I am sure that had a huge effect.
I was asked for some ideas to help someone with eczema at the weekend too. I would give the same advice for most skin complaints –
Up your clean water intake.
Add a tablespoonful of apple cider vinegar once or twice a day.
Reduce the whites – sugar, bread, flour, pasta, rice, cakes, pastries etc you know which they are!
Reduce dairy – cows milk cheese (try goats or sheeps, there are some that will sub for lots of cows cheeses), cream, milk – except milk kefir which, I believe, is worth using.
Reduce bread, when you do eat it choose wholemeal, granary or sourdough. I work much better with sourdough than ‘normal’ bread.
STOP eating all processed foods. Even fruit yogurts – they may sound good but are loaded with sugar.
STOP drinking fizzy drinks, unless its Kombucha, preferably homemade.
Sugar feeds disease. And you may think bread has very little sugar in it but IT TURNS INTO SUGAR AS SOON AS YOU SWALLOW IT!
Add in fermented foods and drinks such as:
Sourkraut (raw from the health food shop or homemade – easy peasy and cheap, Ill post instructions asap).
Kefir (as above – so easy to make and quick) nut milk kefir is totally dairy free but cows milk is so pre-digested I think its the dairy exception. And its fun watching those little grains go forth and multiply!
Kombucha (again easy and cheap to make at home, flavour it with bits of chopped ginger and its like ginger beer).
Fermented veggies – can be made using a starter from health food shops or, much cheaper and more fun, use some whey from your milk Kefir (strain the Kefir and you have the basis of Kefir cheese and some clear whey which is the bit you use for the vegetables).

So, any or all of this will help. The more you do the better results. It beats antibiotic creams that sting and drinking cabbage water and the results will speak for themselves – not only in the look and feel of your skin but also in your mood, mind clarity, digestion, energy levels, eye brightness and more!

Want to change fast?
Learn to change and start the change with us at our Recombobulate retreat in rural France then go home feeling great and with the tools to LIVE the change.
 www.recombobulate.me
Come on, lets get you sorted!

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Who are we to judge?!

I would like to have a bit of chat about people who judge – does that mean I am judging them? Maybe, maybe – anyway here goes…

The way we live, the way we eat is often in question– we are what we eat, we hear that all the time.

Actually we are made of what we eat and do and think and say and experience.
That’s obvious isn’t it?

A LOT of people seem to think that their way is the best way and so they preach. I know, I know –  if someone asks me about health I tend to go on and on (sorry friends) and give advice freely when asked by anyone (I also charge, its my job). BUT I’m talking about those who insist “100% this” is the only right way or “100% that”, or “80/20% is the perfect way”.

We are all different. Not just in what we need but in what we want, what works with our life even our age and state of health.

Of course we can all change,  we could be flexible, change as needed, listen to our bodies and minds. I also believe that for me (the only example to use) 100% anything is not right.
Being a classic miss-matcher if I put a rule on myself (or if anyone else tries to) I usually break it. If I decide on Tuesday we will eat such and such on Friday – there is NO WAY we will be eating that on Friday. Its a bit of a standing joke in our house.

I must just say at this point that I believe eating fried foods, food with all the nutrients boiled out of them, dairy, sugar, white stuff,  lots of meat and alcohol as well as not exercising and leading a stressful and/or anger fuelled life  (and any combination of that little lot you choose) is going to end in tears – and health problems.

There are other ways to live and eat and some people don’t know them (some choose not to want to and they have that right – though when it effects others they could have the right to mention it!!) hence, when asked, I go on….and on.

Anyway. To state my point of view; I believe that a very high raw plant based diet, higher in veggies than fruit, is the best way for me and most people – if this choice is taken with knowledge and attention to advice. I believe that the more food and drink you take in that nourishes your body the better.
For me eating a plate of stodge, say pasta, is a wasted opportunity to a) enjoy something more delicious ( lets face it, its what you put on it that tastes good) and b) to notch up another “portion” of fantastic nutrients – so in place of the pasta I would probably use spiralised raw courgette for example. The sauce would be a divine blend of veggies, garlic, oils and herbs. If I wanted creamy (love creamy!) it would have nuts and maybe nutritional yeast and lecithin in there – so all the yumminess without guilt – ah, guilt thats another thing (another time).

I believe we need to use supplements, I do and I send them to my kids and check that they take them. I use spirulina, wheatgrass ( fresh when possible, frozen when not and powdered when neither are available), spray Vit. B12 and Vit D.
I take MSM, Maca and a mixed green powder with algea, acai, and allsorts of other great stuff in it sometimes (I swap and change and remember and forget with these).
At the moment I am taking Co-enzime Q 10, 5HTP and magnesium ( spray oil and tablets with B6) and a high dose of Vit C; because I am recovering from extensive stress and burnout.
I use frozen pollen when Im in France and so can get it.

I drink herbs as tea (plus lots of different red and green teas), drink lots of water and do not buy ready meals or anything really that I think is bad.  I drink green juices and green smoothies by the pint. Lemons, limes and apple cider vinegar are always to hand.

I eat out sometimes and don’t stress about it, I eat at friends houses and love the food they have prepared with kindness for their guests. I drink wine. I drink a tiny coffee most mornings ( OK I smell it a lot and sip it a little then throw it away having had what I want from it). I practice yoga sometimes, I meditate, I dance around the kitchen a lot, I feel huge love and happiness and, sometimes, have to wrestle myself from the clutches of sadness.
I do the best I can for me and my family and my friends and my clients.

Often and for long periods I only eat a raw plant based diet which includes nuts and seeds, sea veggies and draws upon a lot of experience and knowledge (and relies on my super fast blender, food processor and dehydrater). I am happy with that – I just don’t make it a rule!!

Of course I could and should “do better” in someone’s eyes, on the other hand I’m probably a mad, hippy, health fanatic in someone else’s eyes too!

ONE OF OUR RAW FEASTS

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Smile!

Have you ever said, when I get this, (or that, or the other) I’ll be happy?

The other day, someone said to me “I am aiming for XXX by the end of the year so I have to keep going till I get it then everything will be better”.

Fair enough, its good to have an aim, know what you are going for, a target. Somewhere I read something about concentrating on where you are going, don’t stress on the how to get there every step of the way. Good advice.

I don’t really like buts, but there is a big but here… BUT what about now?

Whilst you are concentrating on where you are going, and lots of people (myself included previously) do this, you say I just need to keep going now, head down, work work work, then when I achieve XXX ( promotion/level of income/ fit into smaller jeans/ own a red Ferrari) I’ll be happy.

I hear that from my kids, sometimes sounding so tired, but they live in a competitive world, both in fast cities ( London and Paris) and feel they have to keep going and going or they will lose momentum….

Who’s that song by ‘Ill sleep when I’m dead”? Good song but not a motto to live by.

Without relaxation you will not have any energy, we need sleep and stillness to facilitate activity – mental and physical.

Without food you will not have any energy; your metabolism will drop, your cells will diminish, your health will suffer.

Without enjoyment your motivation will sink.

More on each of those coming up.

Give yourself a break!!!

For today, lets enjoy today. Even if you are working towards your aim, have today as a happy day, find something good in it, funny, profound. Smile at all the people you see, it’s infectious, really! Someone might think you are nuts and ignore you but I bet someone else gives you a twinkly smile back, and it feels good!

Happy Sunday x

 

photo credit: <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/stitch/1333373279/”>Stitch</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a href=”http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/”>cc</a>

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We are back in France and we seem

We are back in France and we seem to have brought the sun with us ( though where we picked it up I am not sure!).

We are here for three months, home sweet home, which is lovely. Lots to do of course but all very exciting. Contracts almost signed for the birth of Tatty Tot, more on that later but marketing and product ideas are coming thick and fast!

I LOVE new beginnings, start ups, building the picture, the story.

Its like making a new person with its own personality – I shall share Tatty Tots personality soon, I just need to get used to it myself a bit first. Its all there but I want to know it and understand it before I share too much, for now its mine, soon I will give it its willful head!

As we were driving back I mentioned that because we are back for ages we could actually grow some things in the garden again for the summer – tomatoes for instance. We agreed we would which was probably more difficult for Robin than me as he knows he will end up doing all the hard work. We used to have the garden bursting with fruit and vegetables and were amazed every day with what we eat from it but now we are back and forth we are not there to water it, never mind eat the produce. We really miss it.

People can be so thoughtful sadly that does not include the very noisy family who took command of the “quiet room” on the Brittany Ferries boat we traveled on and proceeded to keep everyone awake (most who had long onward journeys and needed a bit of shut eye) because – I heard said noisy Mum say in the loo – they wanted to keep the kids awake on the boat so that they had would sleep in the car and give them some peace. It didn’t help that ‘the Dad’ found it very funny that the sleeping people woke up and left the room.  Rant over.

As we pulled into the garden after a very long day the first thing we saw were two rows of tomatoes, perfectly planted (I think there was a point being made as anything we do is usually decidedly higglety pigglety), our lovely neighbours had realised the same thing we did and planted them for us, what a welcome!

Thanks neighbours, you restored our flagging faith.

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