PAINT MOJO PAPAMOA 11-12 MAY 2013

After a long week, that included a bad migraine on Tuesday, and two half-days at work, Friday was flat-tack. On Friday evening we had a lovely evening at Beth Melek with the Brown’s and other friends. Came home, packed the last bits and pieces into the car, and headed for Katikati.

Rain. Not a little bit of rain. Lots and lots and lots of rain. Horizontal rain, like spears, or lances (which are longer than spears, coz you carry them on a horse!) heading for the car windscreen. And lightning. Lots and lots of lightning. Lighting up the sky (funny that!) And nasty yellow road signs that threw the glare of the headlights back into my eyes, blinding me. It wasn’t long before I couldn’t actually focus on the dashboard – too much looking as far ahead as I could, watching out for danger. Not that I was driving fast. 40k thru the Karangahake Gorge, then even slower as the lightening got worse! And roadworks. Of course there’s going to be roadworks. After all, we’re going into winter – what better time to dig up the roads! And the big rigs – all dressed up with lots of pretty lights – some going my way, some going the opposite way. Yessir! You sure you got enough room sir?!

Arrived at the in-laws house in Katikati about midnight, with the rain still pouring down. Thank you Myrtle and Peter! Took ages to get to sleep, still hyped from the drive, the ticking of a clock, and an overwhelming smell of mothballs. It was lovely and fine in the morning – the storm had blown itself out, and the skies were clear and a beautiful blue. Myrtle knocked on the door just as the alarm was about to go off, lol.

Gotta love those 'tree walls':

I HATE tourist maps. While the drive down to Papamoa was only about 40 minutes, the map and instructions I had to get thru Tauranga weren’t wonderful. Of course, if I’d known I was supposed to be heading towards Welcome Bay, it might have gone better, but I did get to see the industrial side of Tauranga city, and the length of Papamoa beach, lol.

The venue was fantastic – and huge, light and airy space, an ideal ‘playhouse’! Saturday was a busy day, meeting new people, (there were 17 of us total) learning about our personal symbols, transferring those to canvas, playing with ink, fluid acrylics and spray bottles filled with water. Listening meditatively to a poem, while drawing images to transfer onto our canvases to deliberately mess them up.  I love Tracey’s teaching style – this is what we’re going to do, this is what we’ll be using, this is how I do it – now, go do it, and I’ll be round if you need help. Just honk like a goose!

Periods of confusion and bewilderment – well, what else is new? It would have been better if I’d drawn symbols (or at least something simpler) to illustrate the poem – so it was kind of hard to transfer those to the canvas. Oh – and did I say how much I dislike canvas? Never worked on such a big one before, and it bounces and wiggles and squiggles like it has a mind of its own!

Tracey's whiteboard of symbols!

There was a nice break at lunchtime when most of us walked down to the shopping mall – I found a Noodle Canteen where I could pick and choose what went into the stirfry! Oh Yay!

By the time we finished at 5.00pm I was totally exhausted. There had been talk of going to visit a scrapbook shop or get a drink at a local bar, but I’d had enough people time by then. As I walked to the car I started crying, and bawled my eyes out for the first 15 minutes of the drive back to Katikati. A truly cathartic release after a long week, migraine, and the tension of having a major essay due midnight Sunday 12 May. Stopped at the bottle shop in Bethlehem (no break, but a house of wine!) and got some vodka. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

I sat up till 10.30pm working on my essay, then went to bed and lay there wide awake. In the end I gave up and read till about 1230, when I buried the ticking clock in a pile of blankets, and finally fell asleep. Then I woke at just after 5.00am from the noise of a big tractor on the road outside. Gave up and went downstairs and got my laptop, crawled back into bed, and worked on the essay till 8.00.

Shrimps for breakfast!

7 attempts – or was it 6? If I go down the same road twice, but it’s when I’m leaving, does it count?

So – it took me 6 goes to get to Papamoa. Did I say how much I hated tourist maps? It all went well till I had to get off the motorway. There’s a darn great round-about with horrid signage. I went to Welcome Bay (twice), Pyes Pa, Maungatapu, Baypark Arena and at least one other place ... I wasn’t early any more ... Didn’t feel much like laughing either.

See all those different coloured lines? The black one was Saturday morning. The rainbow is Sunday morning. See the red and green one bottom left? That's the way to Hamilton - the Sunday evening route, hence #7.

Today was the day I was meant to be able to find a creature on my small plywood board ... and on my big canvas ... oh really?

Well, first one elephant, and then another one turned up on the big canvas – now there were 3 elephants in the room!

Tracey's elephant:

Mine ....

There were elephants - they just suddenly appeared on the Sunday morning - my reaction was - wt...?! I DON'T DO elephants - can't even remember the last time I saw a live one, but there they were! With trunks crossed. I also can't draw elephants - even looking at the one Tracy Verdugo had drawn, I couldn't get them to go right. I messed around with them, but they just seemed to get worse and worse, looking strangely alien. In the end I had to walk away – go and see what others were doing – and gosh there were some amazing images appearing!

Ran out of time (and enthusiasm) to do the small collage assignment, and couldn’t find a creature on my small ink-covered board ...

By 4.00pm I was ready to hit the road – it was going to be a long drive home! Of course, I didn’t get out of Tauranga scott-free. Remember #7? Well, that’s turned out to be the way to Hamilton, over the Kaimai Ranges (with a short visit to Greerton – which is NOT on the main road!). Missed the ideal photo op coming down the western side of the range – cars right up my backside! But managed to stop further down, and took a couple of photos of the rising moon – beautiful!

Matamata. Loo break. Dinner. Should have said NO to the gravy, (as I did to the peas, corn and spuds). 3 mouthfuls – if that! Made it round the end of the town, before I had to stop the first time. About 500m for the second time. Less than that for the third time. Ugh. It wasn’t so much gravy as concentrated onion puree! Drove home on a bottle of pure OJ.

Got my essay done by just after midnight – no mark yet, as of 24/05/2013.

... and then there were none ....

The painting has been hanging on the living room wall since Sunday night, irritating me more and more. So Thursday night (16 May) I got the gesso out and got rid of the bits that were being rude to me. Friday morning when I looked at it in daylight, all sorts of colours and shapes have come thru - particularly (lol) purple! Next step is to do some doodling on the white bits while I wait for my inks to come from Dick Blick in the US. Then create an ink/fluid acrylic layer. Then I'll do an image transfer of elephants over that, and paint them in. After that, who knows.... 

Oh, and I’ve found a creature on my ink board – I think it’s a dragonfly or butterfly – just need time to draw it in!

It was a wonderful weekend, and one I'd love to repeat ... come on Jenny Grant!

And going home, there was an amazing sunset ... can you see the moon? And Venus was hanging there too.

Jenny’s blog

Tracey’s blog

Paleo/primal

I've been reading an interesting review of Mark Sisson's new book, The Primal Connection, by Alison Golden at Paleononpaleo.

I've looked at this online at Amazon, and it's one of those I'm tempted to buy, because it extends the whole idea of Paleo/Primal as a lifestyle, not just as a diet.

To quote Alison:
"Here was someone who had a sensible idea, backed it up with science, was moderate and reflective in his thinking and responses, didn’t rant and rarely judged, and affirmed, all in one place, thoughts I’d gathered over years of reading about nutrition and health."

Sue:)

 

"Angel" Mixed Media Art Workshop with Monika Welch

I left work early on Friday afternoon to drive to Kerikeri to take part in Mon's art workshop.

It’s definitely longer than 2 ½ hours to get to Kerikeri – left at about 1500: The drive from Henderson to Wellsford went quickly - 1 hour to Wellsford (1600) (packed full of traffic – rush hour!), then 1.20 to get to Whangarei (1720), and then nearly another hour to get to Kerikeri (1800). The last part seemed to take for ever. Vast swathes of open countryside, and no towns. Alternating between overcast and sunshine.

The most spectacular sight was a giant sculpture on top of a hill ridge, standing like the rib cage of a giant whale or dinosaur. Stopped and got a photo.

Stopped in Whangarei to have a pee, but no shops were open, so never got a chance to get a snack. By the time I got to Kerikeri I was starving – over 6 hours since I’d last eaten. MacDonalds and Subway, a restaurant called ‘Fishbone’, and a takeaway bar that only sold greasies. Had to drive round the one way system twice to find anything open! 1 piece of fish and two scallops. Nom/yuck. Ate it as I drove the final part of the journey.

Sights and smells – Auckland area is really dry – lots of brown paddocks, while Northland is fairly green. Dry paddocks, green paddocks, pine trees, fragrant flowering exotic plants, diesel and petrol and hot tar. Fields being irrigated. Llamas, dairy cows, sheep. 1 Hawk. Where have all the hawks gone? Maybe too early in the afternoon for them to be hunting? Nice smells, some not nice smells. Usual traffic – some going too fast, some too slow. But not an awful lot. I suspect it will be busier going home Sunday afternoon – all the holiday traffic going back to Auckland.

Arrived at the Staples’ house just as they were about to leave to go have a drink and get dinner. Got a quick tour, and invited to join them. They have a black dog called Tank, who’s only 4, but acts really old. This is the view from the back patio - quite literally right on the waters' edge.

Phoned David first, but then ran out of credit! Got myself organised. Drove back to KK to the Stone Store, and found the Pear Restaurant. That was when my stress levels skyrocketed. Damned if I could remember what Lynda (or her husband) looked like. Wandered thru, looking (I suspect), like a lost soul, about to burst into tears. Finally found them out the back – yes, she had been wearing a blue top! They were with two friends – I was the 5^th wheel. Too nervous to say much, and just so not fitting in. Had one glass of wine – a Riesling (Shaggy Ridge?), and headed back, while they went to find curry. Sat in the car and cried first – while the wine loosened my tongue, it didn’t help much. Too overwhelming.

Went for a walk up the road, and by the time I got back, they had too, and the four of them were sitting round the table eating. Had a shower, felt much better. Arrgh – the house is shut up like a drum because of the mozzies! I can’t have the window or door open! Only a fan on – and it must be about 26 deg! So hot.

This was the view out of my bedroom door:

As an aside - I'd tried to buy an e-reader before Christmas, but the seller didn't reply for 11 days, then had to complain to Trademe to get her to actually send it - 21 days all up. In the meantime, I'd bought another one (brand new), which arrived on Friday (phew). My intention was to use it to read the books I'd bought on Amazon. 

E-reader frustration! It won’t recognise the Kindle books! Just doesn’t see the damn things – must be proprietary software! – so although I managed to load them, the reader can’t see them to read. Such a bummer. I can only read them off the laptop!!! The wireless code Lynda gave me also doesn’t work, so no interwebz! The Acer software says it needs to be a certain number of digits!

I had a good cry – too much frustration, and being on the outside.

Woke about 0300 to go to the loo. The temperature had definitely dropped, and the sky was full of stars – the overcast had finally cleared. Managed to get back to sleep fairly quickly, which was good. Woke at 7.30 – the house faces east, and the sun comes streaming in – quite pretty. It’s an old weatherboard cottage that’s been done up – refaced with board and batten, and tidied up inside. The shower is creepy – only about maybe 6’ high, if that.

The view from the deck, looking north:

The place is long and sprawling, right on the edge of the water. There’s strange plopping sounds coming from the water – I think some of it may be mangrove seed pods falling in, others might be fish, and others might be birds diving – but I never see exactly what makes the noise. I can see a fish fin directly in front of me, just beside a little stump! Going to stand up and see if I can see its owner. It’s a ‘big-as’ parore! How cool! Yes, the main plopping sounds are the mangroves. And the splashing out in the channel are jumping mullets! Stoopid fish! Here's the parore:

And then the tide went out ...

Tummy isn’t too bad, but smells of dead things – the first time in ages – is that the wheat flour?

One of the things I learn last week is that Metformin, that I take for glucose control is known to cause panic/anxiety attacks, depression, mood swings and diahrrea. I’m not sure whether knowing this is a good thing or not. I kind of feel that at least I have a reason, and maybe an excuse for not coping. Class starts at 9.30, so I’ve got over an hour to go. 

Lynda’s just come in and asked about breakfast – pears, apples, bananas, pawpaw – argh. I think I’ll just have some protein. It’s so hard to explain, and I feel like I’m being ungrateful, and being perceived as such. Ok, I suppose I’d better go think about breakfast. Or maybe wait till the ‘noises off’ have died down. TV is back on. Background noise-o-vision? No radio. It’s lovely and quiet otherwise.

I’m wearing my brown ¾ pants, and the yellow turtle t-shirt – I’m almost certainly underdressed, but I’m a mucky child, and if I’m going to be playing with paint, I know I’m going to get it everywhere.

Breakfast – 3 fried egg yolks – fed the whites to Tank – nom he says. Lynda has just showed me the art she’s done with Mon. Washes, stencils, lace, tissue, serviette images, PVA glue to make raised stems. I can do that! Quite bright colours – that will be a change from my usual. I’ll try and take some photos of her work.

These were my favourites of Lynda's work:

I seriously need some veges, but except for a (sealed) bag of lettuce in the fridge, there’s NOTHING! Well, unless you can’t onions, which I don’t. Hope there’s some greenery at Mon’s. I’m sitting in the shade - the sun is too hot already. Dear Lord, I’m nervous, and just a little teary.

1645 Saturday: class finished at 1600. Had a shower, feel better. Bit disappointing. As usual, there’s one ‘needy’ one, who hogs the teacher’s attention, and is alternatively LOUD and then WHISPERS! 

My small canvas is very ‘grunge’. I think it’s looking better – no sign of any angels tho! The original image was of a girl in a red dress, climbing between two trees - very dark. I'm not sure about the wolf. Needs a lot more work. It's sort of 'Little Red Riding Hood' ...

Monika has a great paint, fabric and paper selection, and a HUGE magazine collection. Everything gets photocopied. Then we did image transfers, then paint. I’d like to do some stenciling on the little one, but Needy keeps interfering. The big canvas hasn’t got far – 3 image transfers which still need cleaning up, and a b/g painted. I didn’t get too mucky. The other two ladies are quite nice – both poms. The other woman is French, I think.

Ok, going to do some digital art, since I can’t make the interwebz work, and can’t read my kindle books on the e-reader. Shit that’s annoying! Still can’t connect to the internet either, it wants a longer password than the one Lynda has provided.

Digital art turned out quite well. I’m quite pleased with these.

Had to give up on the offer of fresh fish for dinner about 9.00 and had some chicken, lettuce and cucumber, with the meat juices poured on it – yum! Lynda’s husband and his friend eventually got back from their fishing trip at 2200! They didn’t eat till nearly 2230 – far too late for me – I went to bed!

Woke at 0300 and 0730 again. Went for a short walk in the neighbouring paddock – the high tide has all sorts of mank in it. Thanked everybody and left about 0915.

Sunday was a much better day. ‘Needy’ had a series of tasks, so was kept occupied, which meant the other lady and I got a look-in. One of the ladies was too ill to come, unfortunately. 

Worked on the skirt – layers of tissue, pattern and fibre papers, but later realised it was too far over her back, to the right, and had to tear some off and shift it to her front. Used lace from a wedding dress for the bodice and the top left corner. Feathers for her hand, various fabrics ... lots of fun. I just want to do more work on the hair, and add some text in the ‘industrial’ image on the bottom left.

This is it:

Mon has a fantastic collection of fabrics, papers, lace, feathers, paints, crayons and anything else you can think of. I’m inspired to collect fabrics again – she goes to the op shops and buys fantastic pieces thinly disguised as clothes – I can do that! And, she stops and pulls the feathers off road-kill too! Phew, it’s not just me! We stopped at about 1700, and I was certainly feeling pretty burnt-out by then.

I stopped to have a look at the Hot Ginger gallery, but it was down a long driveway, and I wasn’t feeling brave enough to venture down. Got to Whangarei at 1820 – finally found somewhere that was open for dinner – Dickens’ Inn. Steak, mushroom sauce, salad with a knob of garlic butter! Nom nom nom – oooh, and a vodka – just a wee one! Back on the road at 1920. It was good to stop and stop thinking – just process the weekend. Wee break at Wellsford, and a petrol stop at Lincoln road – home at 2130!

Stopped and took another picture of the sculpture: 

And this is the real thing:

Despite nervousness, shyness and insecurity, I did enjoy myself, and would like to do another workshop.

The Intermittent Paleo Blog and other stuff

9 weeks Paleo.

Friday night was ‘family night out’. Only Nando’s was open at Westcity. So we had chicken. And chips. Then we got tickets for Skyfall, with orange chocolate-chip, chocolate dipped icecream in a waffle cone. The only healthy food item in there was the chicken – barely. And yes, there were the expected results, in northerly and southerly directions. But SKYFALL WAS AWESOME!! With lots of shooting and explosions and fire and bloodshed, and semi-naked Daniel Craig. Ok, initially, I was pretty meh about him, as compared to Pierce Brosnan. But, then, upon reflection ... considerable reflection ... what’s to complain about.

Saturday was another sleep in. Oh yeah. Till 1100. Love those sleep-in’s! Then paddling. 

I had forgotten how much being on the water feeds my soul. Despite the rain during the week, the stream level had fallen, as can be seen on a couple of the photos, where there are lines of blossoms on the banks. 

I went in off Fitzwater place in Henderson, down the Oponuku stream past Pak N Save, and around past Westwave, to where it meets the Oratia stream. Then I went up as far as Westcity. I was out about 4 hours, which was lovely. I didn’t really want to come home. This last photo shows the rail bridge at the Great North Road/Henderson Valley Road intersection.

I had to get out about 6 times, to either drag the boat thru deadfalls, or over shallows. No deeper than my knees, thank goodness. While there are some fairly deep pools – maybe 4-5 feet, most of it is very shallow. It doesn't pay to get distracted, there are too many deadfalls just under the water. You’ll be cruising along quite happily, then THUMP, as you hit ... something ...

But then my shin got bumped as I balanced on a slab of concrete below the Great North Road bridge. The council, at some stage, thought it a good idea to dump slabs of concrete into the rivers, under the bridges. When one stands on these, they move. Oh yes, they do. If one’s other leg is UNDER the edge of said moving piece of concrete, it can really hurt. As it did. There was a visible dent in my shin. Fortunately the water was pretty cool, so it took a while before it hurt. Now there is a visible graze, and a not so visible bruise. I decided it was probably time to go home at that point.

I really needed a decent paddle, as well as playing about in the shallows, hence the extra distance. The water and stream bottom were an interesting green/orange. This is from the exudates from old landfills further upstream. Not sure how toxic it is, but don’t really want to be drinking or swimming in it. There are lots of shopping trolleys, street cones and signs, cans and bottles, and so many BALLS! This is where every ball in West Auckland goes to die! I tell you. I brought a gold Christmas ball back (which I unfortunately crushed when I emptied the water from the kayak), and an orange ball. Tara popped it on the first game. Sigh.

This is my first outing for a couple of years. A wonderful day.

I was trying to explain it to David later, why I had needed to do this. I’m going away next weekend on an Art Workshop in Kerikeri, staying with strangers, to meet a bunch of people I don’t know, in an unfamiliar place, and learn how to do something new. A lot of the stuff we do, we do together. Yes, I go to work by myself, and shopping, but that’s all familiar territory. When we go out socialising together, it takes me a while to integrate, even with people I know well. I just feel too far on the outside.

So this trip to Kerikeri has been causing me some anxiety. A heck of a lot less since going back on the happy pills. (I stopped at the beginning of December, possibly the most stressful time of the year. I lasted till 20 December. The anxiety/panic attacks were becoming overwhelming!) Yes, I know, it’s all in my head, but I needed to do something relatively challenging, by myself, to prove to myself I could. Maybe it could be classed as ‘brave’ as one of my fb friends commented. And yes, I could do it, and have a whole heap of fun, all by myself. So now, I’m (almost) looking forward to next weekend!

I've had a lovely afternoon pottering. Yes, afternoon, because I had another big sleep in. Admittedly with the help of paracetamol. But I don't ache as much as I thought I might. There are some interesting bruises tho, lol.

David was out role-playing last night – GM of his own Traveller Game. Becca, her friend Eli and I made chocolate cupcakes (how much mess can two girls make????), then watched Bond movies – Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. This was because we’d gone to see Skyfall on Friday night. Oh yeah! Bond. James Bond. Becca is now hooked. It was a very late night. With lots of shooting, and explosions, and bloodshed, and fire. Oh yeah!

And suddenly, it was Sunday. So we slept in. Yes. Yes we did.

I've made a couple of loaves of Paleo bread. I think the best you can say for them is they will be edible. Darn husbands who want sandwiches for work. Oh, and expensive. 2 loaves for $25-ish. Because I used a whole packet of almond flour. Expensive almond flour. And it’s no different to the stuff in the bulk bin at Pak n Save.

I was working off Sarah Paleo Mom's recipe, which is for a breadmaker, but we know how that turned out. This lady has some great recipes!

So I looked at a couple of cookbooks for breadmaking hints. Edmonds (our constant friend), and a 1950's 'Everyday Cooking'. They, of course, are working with nice, gluten-rich white flour.

My concoction looked like a runny brown mess, so I added more flour (almond and tapioca that is). Then it became a windowless building.

So I walked away. Google is my friend, and a bit of research showed that bread made with non-gluten flours is just not going to do the 'elasticity' thing. 

Oh, I hear you say, you could add guar or xanthan gum, that will help. Oh no, I say. Xanthan is made from fermented corn syrup and husks (off the Paleo food list); Guar is made from a legume, and is a known gut irritant and has been indicated as a trigger of colon cancer. Nope, not going near that.

Evidently, according to pictures, it SHOULD look like a gooey mess. So I added more fluid. It spent some quality time outside, 'proving'. Yes, it has risen, so into the oven it went. Photo's to follow.

In the course of my googling, I found a ‘Gluten-Free’ bread recipe, (which is where I got the picture showing what mine should look like) that was more like a toxic soup recipe.

The basic flour mix contains: brown rice flour, potato starch, tapioca flour, chickpea or soy flour, xanthan or guar gum. Then in the actual bread recipe, egg replacement powder, agar powder, instant mashed potato flakes, sugar, soy or rice milk flour and more xanthan/guar gum. There were some golden flax seeds and olive oil. All in all, while it actually looked like ‘real’ bread, it’s not something I want to be eating. I've been reading Dr ? Davis' Wheat Belly book, and his blog, and this is the sort of crap he says people shouldn't be eating - I couldn't agree more.

So, in between bashing ‘bread dough’, I’ve tidied and typed up some of my new recipes, trying to turn them from American into English.

I now have a bread recipe, a couple of stock recipes (and about 5 litres of chicken/pig stock in the freezer), a  home-made coconut milk recipe, and the one for Chocolate cupcakes from Saturday night.

And it’s already 5.00pm on Sunday night. The bread is out of the oven, and it TASTES GOOD!!!!!!

As well as Sarah Balantyne's blog, George, the Civilized Caveman - an about to be ex-Marine, is a rather cute guy who makes some really awesome dishes, and a great read.

ARTWISE:

Amelia Earhart ATC's.

The Intermittent Paleo Diary, and Occasional Artist

Well, it's been 43 days, as of 13 December! Weight is down below 72kg (hooray), but more importantly, my clothes are fitting better. A reminder arrived from the doctor's surgery yesterday, wanting me to go get a blood test (HbA1c) - I'll go do that next week - see how things are going.

I think my blood sugars have settled down. I know for sure that it only takes a small amount (read, less than a fist-sized piece of kumara) of carbohydrate to shoot my bloods up to 14!!!!

But I'm enjoying LOTS of protein (especially shrimps - nom nom!), and the whole leafy vege thing. Not really missing carbs, tho I have an occasional craving for sweets - satisfied with a (very small) handful of dried fruit, or a small munch of a "Primal Bar" that I found at Nosh - lots of nuts and seeds with a bit of dried fruit - no soy or wheat!

I attended a Paleo Seminar last week, run by Julianne Taylor, of ZoneDiet - I actually learned some new stuff, and it was really good to be able to talk to an expert. Only 6 women attended, so it was an almost 1-1 experience. Almost enough geek-science-nerd stuff to satisfy me! COFFEEEEEEEEE - no more coffee - it's a bean whose proteins mimic gluten! Yep, that's why I would have stomach cramps and the runs 30 minutes (yes, that quick!) after a cup of coffee. And I even managed to get a paleo dinner - at the roast shop next door to the venue. Pork, carrots, kumara. Yum.

I've received three fantastically awesome packages in the mail this past fortnight. The first was from Jean Parker, a talented artist from Tennessee. I'd admired some encaustic pieces she'd done, and commented about how hard it is to get the little boards from R&F down here.

This is what she sent me:

There are some fantastic ATC specific paper embellishments, a half-dozen ATC sized encaustic boards, a big board, brochures, Santa ATC's, napkins, and some other bits and bobs! In particular was an encaustic piece (end of the centre row on the right) of a pot sherd - just beautiful. I actually had to wait a day before I had time to open it.

The second package was from Ruth Rothberg, and were my 4 Carousel Animal ATC swap cards: a llama, a horse, a giraffe, and a lady, with a handmade Carousel stamped card from Ruth:

And then, today, this magnificent collection arrived from my friend Emma Gessel, who lives in Utah:

I'd ordered the 3 textbooks thru Amazon, and had them sent to Emma, so I could pay her for the real postage cost, rather than Amazon's gouge. Volumes 1 and 2 of 'The Story of Christianity'. 'Biblical Interpretation' is for a course in exactly that, which I'm attending on campus next year - really looking forward to that, and it will involve learning some Greek and Hebrew! There's also a book on Digital image techniques - a play/text book! There are a bottle each of Citrasolv and Purell, which I want to use for image transfer techniques. There's a half-dozen rolodex cards - gonna have to be patient for package two to arrive with the rolodex machines! - and - wait for it ... MY VERY OWN PHASER! How cool is that! It looks a bit like the Starship Enterprise too. And it comes with a couple of rounds of ammunition - black tape! Yeah, I know, it's actually an 'original' Dymo labeller - but it's still darn cool! Happy happy dance time!

Also in the mail today - my Academic Record arrived from Laidlaw - I passed Theology with a B! Thank goodness I had good marks for the internal assessments. The exam itself had a B, C, C+ and C-. I got an A- for Introduction to the New Testament. I really don't do well on the 'softer' subjects!

Also included was someone else's exam paper - their student number is 1 digit different from mine - and they did EVEN WORSE!!!! I'll phone Laidlaw tomorrow and see what needs to happen to it to get it back to its real owner.

It's been a busy month, and I haven't really got much done in the way of art. WIP's are:

Fabric ATC 'Valentine' - I added the flower lace and 'hearts and dots' to the background of purple fabric with metallic stitching and red bias. It goes off to player #3 in the round robin for completion.

I've started my 'Christmas' themed fabric ATC's - but they need more work - hate sewing with metallic thread!

Also started - and it's very time consuming - is an altered book for another round robin - the pages are all gessoed, and I plan to stick a door inside, that opens onto my 'theme' instructions - doors, gates and trees. Here's the image I intend to use:

I'm hoping to get these completed on the weekend, and out on Monday!

Monday is 'screw-tops' on the posts day - oral surgery for the dental implants - ugh. Thank goodness for credit cards!

Kama - Mr Bear - black dog. Got a fluid filled ear last week. Lancing it didn't help - it just filled back up again. Took him to the vet. Two options: leave it, and have it turn into a 'rugby-cauliflower-ear' or ... have the layers stitched together. Of course, he's over 7 now - so requires a bit more tlc than a younger dog (not that he acts like an adult yet!) So, $800 ish later, I have a dog with a quilted ear:

We're going to take him to get his stitches out tomorrow afternoon after work. Oh,what fun!

Now, you know how I keep saying I'm stressed out, and don't have enough time to do the things I want to do, and wasn't going to volunteer for anything else ... and honestly, I did delete the remark almost immediately after I'd made it ...but it was too late ... I wasn't quick enough, and it had already been seen ...

Anyway, the upshot is, that I'm going to be doing copy editing for an organisation called New Urban World/ISUM (International Society for Urban Mission). I met Ash Barker and Dave Timms earlier this year at a Misseo Dei workshop, and while I didn't find my mission in life, I met some amazing, dedicated (and possibly crazy) people. I'll be very proud and pleased if I can make even a small contribution to their work.

It would be really neat if this is a new direction for me - I've gone from editing Traveller Rule sets, to two books for Alistair Brown, and now this! Tomorrow, I will conquer the world! Mwahahahaha!

This is kind of ironic, actually, since I was suffering from severe anxiety attacks at the end of last week/beginning of this week. Non-stop, uncontrollable crying, rapid heart beat, nausea, the works. Part of the problem is that I associate Christmas with bad stuff happening (marriages ending, losing children, losing friends), and partly my increasing problems coping with groups of people. Sunday last week was a bad day people-wise, and both Saturday (work function) and Sunday - Church and church function - will be challenging for me. It doesn't seem to matter whether it's people I know, or strangers (tho strangers are much much worse - [strange as in - not people I willingly associate with - yeah, like work colleagues]) Hopefully I can successfully fake it!

That's it for tonight. More next week maybe! If I have time ... after I've done some art, and read some more paleo sites, and looked at my Biblical Interpretation textbook, and my Digital Impressions text/play book .... and edited some copy ... and and and ....

Oh, and I almost forgot:

My beautiful Becca - wearing her Christmas present!

xxx

The (Not quite) Daily Paleo - DAY 31!!!!

Good grief - time has flown. I've lost over 2kg (4lbs) so far, and a couple of centimeters. I'm thinking about putting a new hole in my belt, because my jeans keep slipping down! My blood sugars are starting to settle down, though it will take an HbA1c test to actually confirm that.

I've had two bad experiences - one with a 'chinese steam custard bun' which spiked my sugars sky high, and gave me stomach cramps and aching all over. The other was on Monday this week, with 'octopus balls' - I suspect also made with white flour. Up at 1.30 in the morning with severe stomach cramps and the runs - it was an hour before I was able to get back to bed, and even then I spent the night sitting up, so I didn't drown in my own body fluids - eck! The following day I ached all over too.

So it seems I have a reasonably severe inflammatory response to white flour.

I've also been doing a lot of reading.

I don't know whether I told you what books I'd already bought (and I can't be bothered going back to check). So, books read/being read, and websites that I've found are listed below. My favourite has to be Robb Woolf - he's cool. Mark Sisson is a bit of a 'Greek-God/All American Hero' type - so not my type.

* The Paleo Solution: The Original Human Solution - Robb Woolf

# Robb Woolf's Website

* The Paleo Diet Cookbook - Loren Cordain, Nell Stephenson & Lorrie Cordain

# Loren Cordain's Website

* Primal Body, Primal Mind: Beyond the Paleo Diet for  Total health and a Longer Life - Nora T Gedgaudas

# Nora T Gedgaudas' Website

* The Diet Delusion - Gary Taubes

* The Cholesterol Myths: Exposing the Fallacy That Saturated Fat and Cholesterol Cause Heart Disease - Uffe Ravnskov

Other interesting sites:

Cavegirl Cuisine

The Daily Apple - Mark Sisson (from what I've read, his book isn't worth buying, as it keeps referring to the website as the place to find information.

There's an awful lot of Paleo sites out there - go google it!

ART FOR THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER

Yes, I have done some:

"Tattooed Owls"

'Steampunk - Dancing women'

'Carnival animals'

'Alice in Wonderland - Cheshire Cat'

And I think that will do for now.

The Daily Paleo - musings on cholesterol - Day 15

Wow - 15 days already! No cravings, hardly ever hungry. We even had lunch at the food hall at Henderson's Westfield Mall on Sunday. Chinese buffet: chicken and veges, with a bit of sweet and sour pork. No onion. No bad after effects. "I'm loving it!"

Cholesterol has been bothering me. Well, the contradictory information I’ve been reading has, really.

My last lipid tests were done on 4 October: (non fasting)

Cholesterol mmol/L = 3.5

Triglycerides mmol/L = 2.7
HDL = 0.90
LDL = 1.4
Chol/HDL ratio = 3.9

"For established CHD risk (including diabetes) NZGG optimal levels are:
Cholesterol: less than 4 [less than 5]

Triglycerides: less than 2
HDL: greater than 3
LDL: less than 2.0 [less than 3]
Chol/HDL ratio:  less than 4

LDL calculation will be inaccurate if patient was not fasting."

* Triglycerides - 2.7 - well, that's a bit high, isn't it.
* HDL ('good cholesterol') 0.90 - that's not high enough!* Why didn't they require a fasting blood test - "oh, it's not necessary" - but then the LDL (the 'bad cholesterol') figure is inaccurate - so, it may be higher or lower than 1.4. It’s also recommended that Triglycerides be tested in a fasting state too, as levels remain high after eating. So, 2.7 may or not be accurate as well.

Total Cholesterol – there are actually several blood lipid fractions that are partly proteins used to shuttle fats and cholesterol around the body, but they’re lumped together under the general term cholesterol. They include VLDL’s (very low-density lipoproteins), LDL’s (low-density lipoproteins – the ‘bad’ guys) and HDL’s (high-density lipoproteins – the ‘good’ guys).

So, where did that cholesterol come from? Conventional sources say it comes from your diet – the saturated fat in meat, eggs, some seafood, etc. The more fatty stuff you eat, they say, the more cholesterol you’ll have. But hang on a minute. Those same (conventional) sources also say: “However, most ingested cholesterol is esterified and esterified cholesterol is poorly absorbed. The body also compensates for any absorption of additional cholesterol by reducing cholesterol synthesis.^[7] For these reasons, cholesterol intake in food has little, if any, effect on total body cholesterol content or concentrations of cholesterol in the blood. Biosynthesis of cholesterol is directly regulated by the cholesterol levels present, though the homeostatic mechanisms involved are only partly understood. A higher intake from food leads to a net decrease in endogenous production, whereas lower intake from food has the opposite effect. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cholesterol

Let’s move on to the Triglycerides. This is what http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triglyceride has to say:

“There is evidence that carbohydrate consumption causing a high glycemic index can cause insulin overproduction and increase triglyceride levels in women.” So: Triglycerides are a measure of circulating blood fats that indicate dietary carbohydrate and insulin sensitivity. High carbs + poor insulin sensitivity = high triglycerides. Eat less carbs?! Triglyceride levels are also reduced by exercise and by consuming omega-3 fatty acids from fish, flax seed oil, and other sources.

What’s next? HDL – not enough of those babies floating around. Trans-fats and lack of exercise can result in low levels. Where are the trans-fats coming from?

“By far the largest amount of trans fat consumed today is created by the processed food industry as a side effect of partially hydrogenating unsaturated plant fats (generally vegetable oils). These partially hydrogenated fats have displaced natural solid fats and liquid oils in many areas, the most notable ones being in the fast food, snack food, fried food, and baked goods industries. They can only be made by cooking with a very high heat, at temperatures impossible in a household kitchen.”

Ok. Let’s stay away from processed foods, and hydrogenated vegetable oils – not that I have ever eaten much of that anyway. And do some more exercise!

LDL – well, depending who you read ... it may or may not be a bad guy. Let’s agree that you probably don’t want too much of it, but what causes it to rise? Well, for one thing, high insulin levels. What causes high insulin levels? Oh, hang on, too many carbs. So, if I eat less carbs, will my insulin levels go down? And if my insulin levels go down, will my LDL readings go down? Also, turns out that there’s two types of LDL’s. Type A – big fat fluffy particles, and Type B – small, dense LDL’s. It’s those small, dense guys that have been linked to being artheogenic (plaque causing), not the type A’s.

WHAT AM I DOING/GOING TO DO?

* Avoid simple and refined carbohydrates. In fact, let’s avoid most carbohydrates, for at least 30 days. (Carbs increase insulin levels)

* Avoid cereal grains, legumes etc. Partly a FODMAPS thing, partly a Paleo thing.

* Eat lots of vegetables. Avoid fruit, fruit juices, stuff that contains sugars. (sugars in fruit increase insulin levels)

* Eat lots of fresh meat and seafood. (no carbs, so no effect on insulin levels, however, may affect cholesterol levels) Also try and drink stuff like pro-biotic rich kefir, and take digestive enzymes to aid my crappy digestive process.

* Exercise more. Trying to take a ‘bike ride’ – 15 minutes on the exercycle – every night, plus walking. As things settle down, I’ll start doing Interval training. I should probably be doing it already, but there’s only a certain number of hours in the day. (Exercise increases HDL levels, and insulin sensitivity – a good thing)

* Stop taking Statins. What? Why? I hear you say. Don’t you need those to control your cholesterol?

Statins common, less serious side effects: Muscle and joint aches (most common) – all the time!!!; Nausea (not often); Diarrhea – yeah, when I’m not ... Constipated!

Potentially serious side effects: Liver damage; muscle problems (pain and tenderness – see above!); Increased blood sugar or type 2 diabetes. (hey, hang on – don’t I now have a problem with increased blood sugars?); Neurological side effects – ie memory loss or confusion.

* Stop taking blood pressure tablets (Zapril 0.5mg). My blood pressure is great – 110/90.

Side effects: may decrease your body’s supply of potassium, leading to symptoms such as weakness, leg cramps, tiredness; gout; People with diabetes may find that diuretic drugs increase their blood sugar level. A change in medication, diet, insulin or oral anti-diabetic dosage corrects this in most cases.

Hang on again – what was that last one?! May increase blood sugar level!

* Stop taking Omeprazol - that was the gastric reflux proton-pump inhibitor. Why: Taking a proton pump inhibitor such as omeprazole may increase your risk of bone fracture in the hip, wrist, or spine. This effect has occurred mostly in people who have taken the medication long term or at high doses, and in those who are age 50 and older. It has some other cool side effects too, like nausea!

* Keep taking the Gliclazide: Gliclazide is used for control of hyperglycemia in gliclazide-responsive diabetes mellitus of stable, mild, non-ketosis prone, type 2 diabetes. It is used when diabetes cannot be controlled by proper dietary management and exercise or when insulin therapy is not appropriate

* Keep taking the Metformin: Metformin works by suppressing glucose production by the liver. It is the only antidiabetic drug that has been conclusively shown to prevent the cardiovascular complications of diabetes. It helps reduce LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and is not associated with weight gain. When prescribed appropriately, metformin causes few adverse effects (the most common is gastrointestinal upset) and is associated with a low risk of hypoglycemia.

Now, I’m not saying anyone else should do this – especially not you, my wonderful reader. But, this is what I’m going to try. I’ll go back for a FASTING blood test in, probably, mid-December, or maybe January, when the Paleo lifestyle has had a chance to take effect.

Already, after only a fortnight, I’m seeing my weight drop, my body-shape improve, my blood sugars leveling out. I am less tired and achy, and seem to have a little more energy.

And if it doesn’t work? Well, then we’ll have to look at Plan C ... but not for a wee while yet.