Simple Raw and Natural

Sunday, 11/27/11 Today was a 100% raw day except I had a glass of tea tonight at the nursing home. I took cooked sweet potatoes to church, but I didn't eat any of them.  I also took a beautiful green salad made with lettuce, mushrooms, and tomatoes,  a vinegar and oil salad dressing, some nuts in the shell, and a bag of apples. I made veggie cocktails with carrots, beets and celery juice for Travis and me to have at supper time. Travis stayed home from church today, because he is not feeling well.  I think breathing bleach fumes didn't help him any as he tried to clean the mildew out of a downstairs closet that got wet during the last rain.  Water seeped in through the wall of this basement closet. My pastor preached a beautiful sermon about David and Goliath at church as it relates to us serving the  Lord in the church.  Is there not a cause?  I went off on my own tangent and applied this lesson to natural law and living the simple natural l...

Tuesday, 11/15/11 Well, the family is all invited over on December 17th for lunch.  My step-mother and step-brother, David, will be here to celebrate Christmas with us.  My mom will be here also along with my siblings, all my children and grandchildren, all my nieces, and great nephews and nieces.  Should be fun.  I will serve salad and fruit and some cooked vegetarian soup and cornbread. It was pouring rain today.  Our newly fed fruit trees must be very happy.  I asked Dr. John Fielder about when to prune them.  He said we can prune them anytime.  There are conflicting opinions on when is the best time.  The traditional view is to prune them while they are dormant.  The latest thought, however, is to prune them while they are growing so they can better repair themselves.  John thinks the latest idea is valid. With all the rain outside today, my work for the day was domestic chores inside.  I got all three bathrooms clean...

Tuesday, 11/15/11 Well, the family is all invited over on December 17th for lunch.  My step-mother and step-brother, David, will be here to celebrate Christmas with us.  My mom will be here also along with my siblings, all my children and grandchildren, all my nieces, and great nephews and nieces.  Should be fun.  I will serve salad and fruit and some cooked vegetarian soup and cornbread. It was pouring rain today.  Our newly fed fruit trees must be very happy.  I asked Dr. John Fielder about when to prune them.  He said we can prune them anytime.  There are conflicting opinions on when is the best time.  The traditional view is to prune them while they are dormant.  The latest thought, however, is to prune them while they are growing so they can better repair themselves.  John thinks the latest idea is valid. With all the rain outside today, my work for the day was domestic chores inside.  I got all three bathrooms clean...

On Monday, Travis and I worked outside from 8:00 until 10:30.  We fed six of our fruit trees using the methods I learned at the Clohesy River Health Farm.  We mowed down to the dirt around each tree, then applied rock phosphate....the closest thing I could find in our little town to the ground lava rock that we used in Australia.  Next we applied fertilizer, compost, and cedar mulch.  We ran out of mulch before we did the last tree, so we will put the mulch on it later.  We watered each tree for about 30 minutes, but it looks like rain is coming soon, so hopefully they will get a really good watering soon. An apple tree after being fed. A view from the deck of the trees we fed. For lunch I got some kale out of the garden.  Green smoothies were made using the kale, bananas, dates, grapes and water.  This is my favorite green smoothie recipe.  Sometimes I will substitute a different fruit for the grapes.  We also had watermelon, pear, ...

I am back home in Arkansas.  My quest now is to see how much of the lifestyle of the simple, natural life I learned at the Clohesy River Health Farm can be incorporated into my life here in the United States. We will ignore the first week.  I was dealing with a bad case of jet lag with mixed up days and nights.  My ninety-year-old mother needed some love and attention after being very ill.  She is better now, but I visited with her daily for the first week I was home.  The first week was spent recuperating.  I cooked some soup to serve our friends Arthur and Karl, and I ate too much of it...and too many organic, gluten- free crackers to go with it.  I enjoyed lounging on my own bed and catching up on HGTV. My Mom - Recuperating from pneumonia with a bag of popcorn. Sunday was my first day to attend church in five months.  I took food for our potluck luncheon.  I made hummus from The Farm Recipe Book, tabouli, sliced cucumbers, and sl...

John, Ian and I left for Cairns at 4:00 a.m.  We went to Rusty's Market...my last time.  I said good-bye to a couple of the vendors we buy from.  Carol was there shopping, as usual, so we said our good-byes.  Carol is a former client of John's who follows the lifestyle to near perfection.  She is originally from New York but has lived in Cairns for 30 years or so.  She's beautiful and very stylish.  I wish I had a picture of her, but I never got one.  She left me with the words, "Practice well."  I hope to do that...practice well.   John had packed Ian a lunch for today, but Ian had to purchase his food for dinner on the plane.  He has been advised not to eat the airplane food.  He got cherry tomatoes, corn, avocado, cucumber, and a couple of apples.  Ian teared up at the market from the emotion of leaving.  He has had a full two weeks of learning how to look at things from a totally different perspective.  He h...

This morning Travis went to the hospital to visit Mom.  We used his iphone and let me Skype with him, Sheila, and Mom.  Mom is looking better which is great.  She is very excited that I am coming home. I cleaned the kitchen this morning.  The whey that Eddie brought us leaked all over the kitchen floor somehow.  He had it in a plastic milk jug.  There must have been a leak in the seam or something.  Talk about a mess.  After I finished the kitchen, I mowed grass until 11:30.  Today was my last work day on the farm.  It's been a wonderful experience to get to work like this.  Lunch today was papaya, avocado, banana, sapadilla, yellow sapote, mango, and grated coconut. I started packing my bags. Surely I can fit everything in.  My work clothes that I bought at the op shops will stay here...also my work shoes....my rain poncho.  I hope my terry wrap robe I bought at the op shop will fit in my suitcase.  I like...

There was no broadband connection this morning.  Mom is still in the hospital and having a rough time of it.  When I went over to meet up with John, about 8:00, he told me that if I needed to go home, it would work out fine for us.  While doing my morning mowing meditation it became clear that it is time for me to go home.  John is very supportive.  We will be continuing to work together, and I will be learning everything I can from him, via Skype consultations, the lessons from the course, and his visits to the United States. Lunch today was papaya, white sapote, avocado, sapadilla, mango, banana, and grated coconut. After lunch, John, Ian and I went to Mareeba.  John picked up his repaired lawn mower ($340) and whipper-snapper aka weed-eater ($105).  Seems expensive to me.  We went to Cole's for avocados and to IGA for more avocados and mushrooms. Consultation with Ian was at 2:30 today.  An acute condition is the body in action. ...

I woke up at 4:30 and read my Bible chapters.  The word from Mom wasn't as good as I hoped.  She is still in a regular room, but was too weak to do the therapy and sitting up they had planned for her.  Come on, Mom, you can do it!  Travis posted a video of a song being sung at Old Union on Sunday.  That made me feel better. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150343476142423 The kookaburra and I mowed grass from 8:00 until 10:30.  I checked under the yellow sapote tree, but nothing today.  I picked a little bowl of Brazilian cherries for our lunch.  They are really good.  We got a few tomatoes out of the garden.  We pick them when they first start to turn pink, else the rats will eat them. We prepared lunch, then everyone got cleaned up. Lunch was papaya, white sapote, yellow sapote, mango, banana with macadamia nut spread, avocado, Brazilian cherries, and grated coconut.  White sapote tastes like a soft pear. I tried to ...