A dream 9 years in the making….

As our year unfurls its new rhythm Ollie has been able to realise a long held dream.  
At age 4 he became interested in the Army and has collected army gear to rival that of any quartermaster since.  Our dress-up box bristles with real NZ Army uniforms, he has bits of uniform from other countries, gear, kit, camo designed paraphenalia.  His herosl have one thing in common…they are all ex-SAS!
Even though his passion has meandered into off-shoots, up tributaries and back  as he has explored survival, bushcraft, disaster preparedness, first aid and politics there has always been the Army.  
He once said to me “Mum it is my dream to have an army to command.”  And so he would organise 5 or 6 friends into an army.

Now at 13yrs he is at last eligible to join Army Cadets!  Yeeehaaa!!

 

Today he was very excited about polishing his newly issued boots.  Which he did well.

What joy it brings me as a parent to have him tell me
-“Mum, I am so happy.”

 

Other creative stuff our kids like to do….

Ollie, Tilly and another friend decided to do a surprise treasure hunt type thing for Charlie, Henry and Walker.  They set up notes, codes, “clues” and then surprised the three boys, telling them they had to do a spy mission.  Unfortunately it was pouring with rain when they set out….

But they managed to collect everything and returned soaked to the skin!

They put together clues, got dried and then were hijacked, blindfolded etc and thown into the car.  I had to drive around to confuse them before depositing them at their next stop!

 

They did end up at the pool though and had a big swim.

The boys loved it as much as the older kids enjoyed making it all up I think…..

Meet Benji!

OH yes!  We have our new dog.  Benji is just 14 weeks old, his mum is a very gorgeous pure bred Beagle, his Dad a holiday romance of unknown breed (I am thinking Huntaway, he has big feet!)  This has been a dream of Charlie’s for a long time, so very exciting that finally after travelling, getting settled, getting a fence built and finding the right dog Benji is now part of our family. It feels like a big learning curve having a puppy!  But wow!  what love and cuddles already….. His favourite toy has been a lion dress-up mask, which he pulls into his bed to sleep with…mmm…may have to change that! We have been lucky to have Pilot staying with us this week, a friend’s wise old Jack Russel who has been invaluable in helping Benji settle in.  He will really miss him next week.  It has been so funny seeing Benji watch and copy Pilot, who has been extremely patient and long suffering.  We have managed to sneak him out for some decent walks though as a thanks for  all he has done!

A decade date

One of the things we do with our kids is when they turn ten years old they choose a date with both of us.  Then at 13 yrs it is a weekend away, just mum, dad and them, their choice of destination/activity…

So as Charlie turns 10 this weekend (!!) we have been organised and been out already, with Ollie away at Jamboree it seemed like  a good time…

We have had one part of the date…that is a movie….

 

Then dinner out…

 

There is also a part that involves a dog, the beach and a sunset…just waiting fot the weather gods to work with us on this and some dog training…

Amazing that my youngest is in double figures. What a ten years, and now he is all growing up.

Meet Benji

It has been a dream for ages of Charlie’ to own a dog, so very exciting to now have Benji as part of our family! Plenty of lovin’ going on and a huge learning curve too.

A gift from a lawn liberator

I love the gifts that arrive in my life.

We won a fruit tree in a raffle!
The woman who was delivering it made a time to come and plant it.  I thought that seemed like a lot of work, but she said that is what she does.  So last week Vanessa turned up with mulch, compost, companion plants, newspaper and a Cox’s Orange apple tree.

I really enjoyed chatting to her as she liberated a patch of our lawn for our prize.  As a busy owner of a garden centre, mother and initiator of a transition town Vanessa decided last year that she would like to donate 30 fruit trees each year.  It is very simple, you just need to ask and she will come and plant it.  (She is based in Taihape, NZ, so within reason!!)
She has an inspiring vision, a sort of spread-out community garden.  She knows that each year she is planting future food sources around the community.  Plus the tree, 30 people (this year) have had the benefit of Vanessa’s knowledge and gardening wisdom.  So in this way her acts of kindness aren’t random. They are well placed, well intentioned and go  a long way to ensure a future of food production and even act as an introduction to gardening.

Our newly planted apple tree.  Thick wet newspaper was put down first, then thick barley straw, tucked around 5 different herbs that will spread out.
I have since surrounded the mini garden with bricks.

Each tree Vanessa plants has its own painted stone identifying it.
Trees for Homes is the  wonderful movement she has begun and you can find her at
GREENHAUS.CO.NZ   and  treesforhomes.org.nz

Vanessa calls herself a “Lawn Liberator” and has inspired me to finally mulch around my other apple trees.  I have surrounded them with borage, calendulas, comfrey, nasturtiums and other bits from my garden.  They are mulched heavily and have a new border which affords them the importance they deserve in the garden…….

My two apple trees in the front garden, with their new companion flower bed, the outdoor bath behind and fire circle on the left….

Thank you!

Bread

All through Turkey and of course in Switzerland and France I ate bread.  It is pretty hard not to and as I don’t usually eat bread I was dreading the consequences…..but it was fine.  I know so many people that either have intolerances or think they do.  Maybe if you haven’t already  tried sour dough you may be interested in this article?

Can Sourdough Change the Gluten-Free Diet?
~ Donna Schwenk’s Cultured Food Life

About ten years ago I went to a class on “How to Make Sourdough Bread.” My daughter had gluten intolerance and we found that she could eat sprouted bread without the side effects created by regular bread. I had heard that sourdough bread achieved similar results to the sprouted bread, and I wanted to try it. What I learned shocked me. The man teaching the class explained that the process of making sourdough was an ancient art and one that had many benefits that we are unaware of today. Why do so many of us struggle with gluten today? There are all kinds of books and websites dedicated to gluten-free living, and rightfully so, because the bread we have today is very different from the bread we ate for hundreds of years. But why is gluten intolerance an epidemic in this day and age? What has changed?

Before the 1950’s, most bread bakeries ran two shifts of workers because the dough was fermented throughout the night with a long and slow process using a culture that contained the lactobacillus bacteria. This slow process was necessary for bread to be properly digested. In the process of making sourdough bread, the bran in the flour is broken down during the long rising time, releasing nutrients into the dough. Only when wheat gluten is properly fermented or sprouted (to learn more about sprouted breads click here) is it healthy for human consumption. When not, it is potentially one of the most highly allergenic foods we eat. The phytic acid in grain needs to be 90% neutralized in order for the minerals to be absorbed by the human body. When you naturally ferment or sprout bread, you eliminate all phytic acid. About 90% of the phytic acid remains in breads made with instant yeasts, unless it is sprouted bread.

In their efforts to increase profits and speed up the the bread making process, bakers began using new techniques that took only three hours to make a loaf of bread – and now can even take only one hour. They used the new instant yeasts, which made the old way of making bread (using cultures and fermentation that not only help to preserve food, but also increase the nutrients available for our bodies) unnecessary.

During the making of sourdough bread, complex carbohydrates are broken down into more digestible simple sugars, and protein is broken down into amino acids. Enzymes develop during rising. These enzymes are not lost while baking since the center of the loaf remains at a lower temperature than the crust. This fermentation, partly from lactobacillus, also allows for a bread that is lower on the glycemic index, thus making it better for those with blood sugar issues. The fermentation also helps restore the functioning of the digestive tract, resulting in proper assimilation and elimination.

These changes in our bread have had devastating effects on our gut. I believe that along with the overly processed foods, soil depletion, and the loss of fermentation and probiotic foods that heal and protect our bodies, our diets are wreaking havoc on our guts. This, in turn, is causing the rise in all kinds of food allergies. Our diets are a dim reflection of the nutrient-dense whole foods we used to eat years ago. Someone at a recent class asked why we are living longer if our diets are so bad. But this is actually not the case any more; we are not living longer, this trend has stopped. Not only that, the quality of our lives is in sad shape. How often do you see someone living vibrantly and without sickness or ailments? It is increasingly becoming the exception and not the norm. Pharmaceuticals are the norm and not the exception, and food allergies and gut issues are rampant along with a host of other health issues. The average consumer is unaware of these changes in our food supply and then labels gluten and breads as the enemy, when they don’t realize the culprit is the dramatic changes in the actual process of making bread today.

A study done experimenting with sourdough fermentation as a means for making wheat bread safe for people with celiac disease had great results. While the study was small, it did show that individuals with celiac disease who ate specially prepared sourdough wheat bread over the course of 60 days experienced no ill effects.

It was my daughter Maci’s inability to digest wheat that started me on a journey learning about foods that were transformed when they were sprouted or made with sourdough. People who came to my classes and website were experiencing the same results when eating bread that was made with sourdough cultures or sprouted. Even some with Celiac disease seemed to do really well. Now, not everybody who is gluten intolerant can handle it right away. They need to heal their guts first with cultured foods on a regular basis. After this occurs, I have seen so many people thrive when eating breads as long as these breads were fermented or sprouted.

Sourdough bread, fermented for at least 7 hours or longer, is the time it takes to transform the bread. Then it not only easily digested, but often can be handled by those who are gluten intolerant. Here is a recipe to make my sourdough bread. It is the best one for beginners and the one I think tastes the best. Well… that’s not entirely true. I love so many, but this one has a great flavor and is easy. I have devised a slower, longer fermentation method that is even more effective for those who have severe gluten problems. This is my refrigerator method of making sourdough bread. My Refrigerated Sourdough Bread video can be found on my Biotic Pro membership site. It is the method I use regularly because not only is it easy, but it allows the bread to slowly ferment in the fridge for a longer period. This makes the bread even more delicious, and more digestible, than just fermenting it on the counter. It also seems to be the method that most people with severe gluten issues tolerate the best.

I hope I can shed some light on this problem that is facing so many. As always, I want to share with you what has changed my life and so many others.

Can Sourdough Change the Gluten-Free Diet?

http://www.culturedfoodlife.com

Only when wheat gluten is properly fermented or sprouted, is it healthy for human consumption. When not, it is potentially one of the most highly allergenic foods

Home Sweet home

We have been home a month now and so many friends have asked me how It is being home….

Unsettling, yes it was for a while but mostly only because Hannah is so far away.

I felt quite overwhelmed by so much space, all to ourselves, rooms we may not even enter in a day  just sitting there…. Although  am getting used to spreading out again, it did seem very extravagant.

I have felt as though we have so much stuff.  After months of living out of small packs, there seemed suddenly like too much choice of clothes, of things to do, activites, games, kitchen equipment…..

It was strange to miss the whole winter so we enjoyed a couple of weeks of cold wet weather where we had a mini winter of sitting by the fire, eating soup and reading voraciously, real live books….

Then the sound of the NZ birds drifted into my consciousness and pulled me outisde to find spring everywhere.  Trees thick with blossoms, herbs uncovering themselves from  hibernation,  sweet scents on the air and the light so different.

I remembered the feelings I had had every other time I had returned from overseas…mostly just so glad and so very grateful to be living here in New Zealand.  The space, the peace and quiet, the freedom, the lack of cars and people.   The warm feeling of belonging, like a big hug from our friends here.

Yes all those things are still true.

The boys were quick to settle into rooms again, arranging new treasures….and they have been playing/hanging out (depending on who you are talking about!!) with friends non-stop.

Charlie spent ages putting up his newly enlarged teaspoon collection….

 

 

Rows of greens that Wayne planted whie we were away, such a delight to come home to!  The lavender hedge in full bloom and Charlie and Conal having a fire, cooking their lunch (they have been into chopping up wood alot and are expert axe users!)

The old pear tree loaded with blossoms…and now all set with fruit…..

I felt truly grounded when I made bread for the first time and then I started gardening and am so very happy to be home.  Our garden is going to be great this year, an abundance of food and colour.  Ollie is helping me and we are planting madly.  I am so enjoying the feeling of getting my hands in the earth.

Someone did suggest  I have “that out of my system now.”  For me it is the opposite.  After 15 years of intense parenting I am beginning to see more and more time opening up for me.  Times where I can choose what to do, chase my very own passions and pursue things uninterrupted for longer and longer periods of time.  And that is exciting!
Travel is pretty near the top of the list.

I thought I would be sitting at home, surrounding myself with our photos, trinkets and treasures and talking constantly about the trip.  Reliving it, keeping it all fresh so I didn’t forget it.  Yet instead I find that I am living in the moment more, each and every glorious moment.

Watching the sun rise in Bali on our last morning was beautiful and now becomes part of who I am.  Today though there is beauty all around me.  The sunshine, the birds, our own lovely home, a friend’s smile, picking spinach from our garden.

There is beauty, adventure and wonder everywhere and in every moment if you tilt your head the right way and for that I am truy grateful…

 

This tree loaded with evil eye medallions in Goreme, Turkey caught my eye.
I enjoyed it then and will enjoy having a photo of it.  A perfect balance to the pears perhaps?

Trip Tally

Whoops, yes we are home, in fact today the Turkish Kilim has been put up on the wall, invoking fond memories of Selcuk….

So here is the trip tally.
Nine years ago when we travelled in our house bus we should have kept one.  I only thought this after we were accidently caught up in not just one , but two Crime Scene Investigations.  It seemed a unique category. This time the trip started with two punctures….and no more after that.  Still it was the very first thing on the list….

Punctures – 2

Aeroplane trips – 10

Beds slept in – 37

Long distance bus trips – 12

Boat/ferry trips – 11

Ice creams eaten –  Turkey – 50
England – 49  (please remember there was mostly 4 of us….!)
Not a single ice cream passed our lips in Switzerland, Paris or in Bali – too much fresh mango juice there…

Palaces and Castles visited – 10

Churches, including Mosques and Temples, but mostly Christian churches, visited –  39

People we didn’t know who offered affection to Charlie in the form of head patting, cheek pinching, hair ruffling, back slapping, tickling and hugs.  This was all in Turkey.  – 103

Tours taken -13

Times Hannah was hit on/potential marriage proposals (Turkey) – 3

Items lost – 9 (not bad!)
– 2 soap dishes, with soap, 2 watches, sunglasses, lipbalm, computer charging cord – this was only temporarily lost as it was kindly put on a bus and caught up with us, Ollies new knife he accidently carried through customs, but we did replace it, one Turkish spinning top – a Topac – well used for months by Charlie.  We were delighted to find some brand new ones we had sent home with the kilim.

Bags purchased for myself – 7   (A record low number for me, in nearly 5 months of travel too)

Postcards sent – 30 (that I had a record of)

Blog posts written – 87

Have you read them all?

Worldschooling wisdom: Lost and found

In the back of my diary we keep a tally.
How many beds we have slept in, boat trips taken, ice creams eaten that sort of thing.
One list is ‘things we have lost’….which is mostly watches and soap dishes.
So today while  at the Science Museum (London), in what Ollie called unschooling heaven, I started a list headed –

 ‘Things we have found during our trip’.

New friends
New tastebuds
More patience with each other
Understanding of how different people live
An ability to communicate across cultures and language barriers
An ability and a chance  to learn new languages (Hannah especially)
A renewed sense of togetherness in our family relationships
Self confidence in new situations
That humans have so much more in common than we do differences
A passion for travel (Hannah and Ollie)
A taste for the exotic
That history happened to real people in a real place
That a shared language is not needed to communicate the really important stuff
That the world is a beautiful and awe inspiring place
People everywhere loving, kind, giving and striving for the very same things we are
A trip is about more than just doing.  It is also about BE-ing.
*being calm in the face of a challenge,
*being patient while everyone gets their needs met,
*being positive no matter how tired/hungry/in pain you are,                                          *being kind to everyone  you meet and all with whom  you are travelling .

A quote I saw this week…..
“travel is the only thing that you pay for that makes you richer.”

Oh and one more for the lost list…..
Our need for stuff.
We have all felt the lightness of travelling with very few possessions and really enjoyed it.  Out of sight, out of mind definitely for any “things” we left in NZ
Although I have piles of postcards and posters, Ollie has been manically collecting sew-on badges for every place we visited (he has over 50!)  and Charlie his usual souvenir teaspoons, with numbers being bolstered considerably by his Great Granny’s old collection he is gratefully carrying home.

As a post script to this….
I am editing this at Kuala Lumpur airport (we have a 6 hour wait….) and have to confess that we have just bought a suitcase to bring all our Bali purchases home, Mostly presents….of course!
Still one day of  travelling with a load is enough!