It's Only Words

Recently I have been most noticeable, I think, by my absence.

The past few months have been quite a struggle.

In the late part of 2015 I was dealing with severe symptoms of sinusitis; such as I’ve never experienced before.

In my despair I sought out a new GP who practises alternative medicines and found myself a nutritionist at a university where my daughter attends.

The exorbitant cost of alternative therapies in Australia has always infuriated me, not because of the cost but because the Australian government refuses, in the main, to subsidise these therapies and, for the chronically ill, who have tried conventional medicine to no avail, are the least able to afford them.

But all that aside, if the GP practises alternative medicine, I am subsidised to some extent, even though I still end up paying over 50% of the fee myself.

The university offers consultations with nutritionist in training at a very small fee but the supplements usually end up costing three or four times the cost of the consultation.

Despite all that, progress has been made.

First the GP ordered tests; to discover that I had a parasite infection in the large intestine -Dientamoeba fragilis. (Treated with a course of antibiotics).  So that taught me: A second opinion was worth it.  I had seen her way back in 2003 and she was curious to know why, after so long, I was still suffering from IBS symptoms even though I had taken various steps to treat the condition.  

Second the nutritionist recommended eliminating all dairy and gluten from the diet.  Which I did, to amazing results. For the first time in decades I can state that I’m free from sinusitis and hay fever symptoms. 

Thirdly, I have been struggling with weight gain for many years now, and while I may not look obese, or for that matter, even overweight, I know I am.  I have the physique that fills out nicely, and doesn’t necessarily bulge, but for someone that weighed just on fifty kilograms after her third baby, it certainly feels like a burden to carry around half of that weight again.  

Just cutting out the dairy, I believe, is a big factor in the weight loss I’ve experienced since late last year.  Not a huge amount…six kilograms or so…but also changing what I eat generally has also helped. 

I’ve increased the amount of protein at each meal by including more fish, quinoa, eggs and  buckwheat into my diet, and saving my main carbohydrate meal for the evening.  I’ve discovered chia puddings, almond milk (both which I make myself), coconut yogurt, seeds, and nuts.

My sugar intake has dropped dramatically and I haven’t had a cup of coffee (affogato – my downfall) for at least three months!

My next step in to up my regular exercise, at the moment I only do yoga once a week for around 60 minutes but my aim is to find a personal trainer willing to work with my resistance/weight bearing exercise from the aspect of someone who tires very easily.

My new GP gives me regular acupuncture and some alternative remedies and I continue my nutritionist’s consultations … I will endeavour a challenge at the end of the week, re-introducing dairy in the way of a 50g serve of hard cheese and note any reactions I may have. 

In the meantime I'm fighting a dose of summer flu!  I have been in bed since Sunday and missed out on a family lunch! Today I lay, languid, in bed writing these words.  I’ve done my fair share of reading too, but I want to be up, enjoying the world and I’m cursing the person that has shared this unwanted bug with me (Mr Honey Pie!).  (Well, perhaps I should be cursing the person who passed it on to him!)

In other news, I’m reading Geraldine Brooks People of The Book. I know one of my blog followers recommended this book to me, but I cannot remember who that may have been but I thank them for the recommendation.

The book spoke to me one hot afternoon, as I stood outside one of the two local used bookshops in Springwood, waiting for my Grand Daughter to meet me off her school bus. It sat in a pile of strategically placed books in the shop window.  I restrained myself from going into the book shop and the next afternoon, the shop was closed early so the temptation was taken away for the week.

But the next time I was there, and had some time to spare before the bus’ arrival, I slipped in and handed over the twelve dollars for the book.  I felt a bit rude as the book shop lady wanted to have an in-depth conversation with me and asked if I’d read any other of Geraldine Brooks’ books and I said ‘no’…only to discover, once I was home, that I had, because Brooks also wrote Years of Wonder.

Explaining that I was waiting for the bus, I had to slip out quickly.  I’m a bit wary of the fact that the bus stop is right out the front of a used book shop…this is a new thing for both my Grand Daughter and I - meeting at the bus stop...and throwing a book shop into the mix is a dangerous thing, both for myself and my Grand Daughter, as we are both book fiends and avid readers. 

Seems I owe a 'thank you' to Jayne M at Adventures At Tiny Toadstool Cottage for recommending the above text.  Thanks Jayne I'm enjoying the read!

Winter Hibernation ...

...means a good book or three to read as one snuggles on the couch, wrapped in a scarf and blanket.  
I've been coping with the cold by staying indoors as much as possible. 

As a result the garden has been neglected but I've managed to catch up on some reading.

Just like my post here I'm a little ashamed to admit that I've never read To Kill A Mocking Bird (Lee Harper).  I cannot explain why this is the case, except to say that I have been curious about the novel when it has come up in conversation in the past. 

But with all the hype about Lee Harper's new novel Go Set A Watchman my curiosity got the better of me and I became determined to read for myself what all the fuss was and is about.

Can you imagine my delight when, (on the 15th July) I happened upon a charity shop in Katoomba as I made my way to a function at the Paragon Cafe where I would meet with my Best Friend Ever. As I walked past the shop I made a mental note to pop in and a have a look after lunch.

The Paragon Cafe itself is a treasure trove of memorabilia.

 We indulged in a 50's themed Christmas in July Lunch on a bitterly cold day and as we were returning to my car My Friend, being a vintage clothes junkie, couldn't resist the Steven Walter Children Cancer Foundation - Op Shop (which has been described as a 'boutique-style charity shop') and as I'd already forgotten my mental note, I would not realise how appreciative of my friend I would be until my later find.

The store is a treasure trove...there is indeed a select array of the finest vintage items. Some may even be classed as antique but I'm not qualified to say.  We found room after room of nicely displayed collections of furniture, china, clothing, toys, and...books.

On spotting the books I began scanning the shelves for Lee Harper's first novel but quickly gave up as I couldn't really work the system employed by the staff to file their books (it definitely isn't the Dewey system!).

A staff member was stacking more books from a trolley so I approached her and asked if they happened to have To Kill A Mocking Bird and when I saw the look on her face I hoped she didn't think I was mocking her!  I could see her brain ticking over and I wondered to myself what retort she may be thinking up but after a few seconds her gaze, along with her mind I imagined, cleared and she uttered the words (or similar):  Yes we do, I've just put one up on the shelf here.

Then to my amazement she walked over to a rattan shelf and she reached up to the top most shelf and from atop the top most book, she took down a forlorn paperback copy of the book I had requested. (I would never have looked there.) Seek and ye shall find.  It is as simple as that.  I paid three dollars for it. 

Then two weeks or so later, at my local bookshop I paid $45 for a hardcover edition of Go Set a Watchman.  Oh well. (And no, it's not a first edition, as far as I can work out.)

To Kill A Mocking Bird

As a first time reader of the first novel written by Lee Harper I found myself drawn in by the character of Scout Finch and even though the setting is in a different continent and a different time to my own childhood the many similarities astounded me.  Perhaps both Scout and I commit, perhaps unconsciously, to existentialism.  

The most innocuous is what at times connects (for example) generations, or cultures. Besides, this narrative most certainly continues to relate to contemporary issues in my own homeland, and I imagine, many parts of the western world. 

Although reviews have described To Kill A Mocking Bird as a series of flashbacks in Jean Louise Finch’s life, I found them to be cohesive enough to not come across as a retelling of past events but rather, an unfolding of events in a troubling time as experienced by a young child, who perhaps is more open than most children to the impact of the behaviour of various adults and social groups in their life; as well as the conditions imposed on the children she associated  with (or didn’t)  as she grew up in Maycomb County, southern Alabama.
The questions it will trigger in the reader are as relevant today as they were back in the 1930s.   

Go Set A Watchman

This novel has a definite beginning, middle and end. It questions life issues more directly, I think, than To Kill A Mocking Bird.

The beginning was slow, reminisces a lot about Jean Louise/ Scout's childhood , and written in a much shriller voice than that of the deep and worrisome chesty tones of To Kill a Mocking Bird.  Perhaps it’s the inconsistent tone of the writing that left me feeling uneasy in the beginning. 

As a result, I found the start of the book sedate and irritating, especially since I read it immediately after Lee Harper’s first book. 

But it’s not long before Scout’s questioning of and refusal to accept the norms of her isolated and close knit community comes to the fore and once more I became enthralled and swept up by her thoughts and reasoning.

It’s been some years since Scout left Maycomb and this narrative is set during her annual visit to her childhood home. 

Go Set A Watchman, in the twenty first century, has just as much relevance as it would have in the 1950s, but perhaps we as humans have evolved enough to process the message more readily.  Whether we accept the challenge or not remains to be seen. 

 (I have read where a book seller has offered to refund buyers of the book, their money if they so wish, because they may have been led to believe it was a ‘nice summer novel’ but instead may find it to be an ‘academic insight’.  My response to that is: Hummpf. http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/aug/04/us-bookshop-offering-refunds-for-go-set-a-watchman-harper-lee.)

In the beginning this book made me laugh, in the end it brought me to tears but most importantly, in the middle, as I became absorbed by the conflicts experienced and betrayals perceived by Jean Louise, the words truly made me think and caused me to question my own views and beliefs towards people of other creeds, cultures, social standing and race.  It raises the question of the probability of how civil rights and liberties are interpreted depends on which group is doing the interpreting.  

Charging The Batteries

Mr HP, our Daughter and Grand Daughter and myself managed to get away for a few days to refresh our batteries before the school year is in full swing again.

It's been a tough start to 2015 and I've been feeling very tired.  It was a great few days of relaxing, walking, eating, and simply having fun. 

It's so hard to believe that our Grand Daughter is now in her third year in school.

Her favourite pastime is reading...a girl after my own heart!  We travelled everywhere with a small library of books!

Her preferred book at the moment is The Big, Big, Big Book of Tashi and it creates quite an impression tucked under the arm of a seven year old, let me tell you. Since it's a collection of Tashi's tales, Little Miss Seven allows herself little breaks between stories to read other books.  As you do.