I am luck enough to be part of a fantastic group here in Kapiti Coast called Kapiti International Women's Group. Through this group I have grown, learnt, laughed and sometimes been close to tears!
Until a few years ago I had never been part of an all women's group, then while living in the UK away from family and with 2 small children I was invited along to Lichfield International Women's Group. It was great and something that I looked forward to every week. Getting together with women from all over the world, learning about their cultures and making great friends in the process. When we returned to New Zealand I felt strangely detached - I felt like I was home and at the same time, never having lived here with young children, felt that I was a new comer to this land.
Having searched for a group of International Women to join and finding nothing I begun our own group to provide friendship and support for women from any nationality living on the Kapiti Coast. It has definitely been an up and down journey however today would have to be one of the highlights of the ride. Motivated by the disaster in Japan one of our members decided to create a fund raiser by making and selling origami. We will be making washi eggs, boxes and stars to sell at a local market with money going to 'Save the Child' fund.
Today we came together from all walks of life and with children of varying ages to learn origami. It was fantastic to see us all there together working for a single cause, chatting happily and folding while the children played. Once strangers in New Zealand and to each other we are now becoming friends who can rely on each other and band together to help other women across the Pacific.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Five Happiness Tips
This is taken straight from Chet Day and I thought is was so good that I needed to put it on here for you all to read too.
The following tips on how to be happy are so simple-minded, you may be tempted to not try them. That would be a major mistake because these techniques were scientifically documented and verified by a British "happiness team" whose expertise spans philosophy, public policy and economics.
Here are five steps to happiness that the team identified:
•Plant something and nurture it.
•Count your blessings -- at least five -- at the end of each day.
•Take time to talk and have an hour-long conversation with a loved one each week.
•Phone a friend whom you have not spoken to for a while and arrange to meet up.
•Give yourself a treat every day and take the time to really enjoy it.
I don't care how busy you are, you can find a couple minutes in your day to try these five happiness tips.
So do it, by golly!
The following tips on how to be happy are so simple-minded, you may be tempted to not try them. That would be a major mistake because these techniques were scientifically documented and verified by a British "happiness team" whose expertise spans philosophy, public policy and economics.
Here are five steps to happiness that the team identified:
•Plant something and nurture it.
•Count your blessings -- at least five -- at the end of each day.
•Take time to talk and have an hour-long conversation with a loved one each week.
•Phone a friend whom you have not spoken to for a while and arrange to meet up.
•Give yourself a treat every day and take the time to really enjoy it.
I don't care how busy you are, you can find a couple minutes in your day to try these five happiness tips.
So do it, by golly!
Friday, February 18, 2011
The Chickens are here!
Finally after a lot planning, reading, designing, building and rebuilding (well a girl can change her mind can't she?) we have a wonderful chicken house, run and 4 hens.
It always amazes me just how fortunate my life is with many things just 'working out' and getting chickens was one of these times. A friend gave us all the materials for constructing the coop, some straw as well as grit and the first phone call I made about buying chickens resulted in us getting 4 free hens. Yes, you read correctly that was FREE!!! Now some of you reading this may think 'hmmm, free must equal knackered' and to be honest there was some doubt in our minds. However going with my friend's words of wisdom that 'a free chicken is a good chicken' we collected our little brood.
The kids had already picked names (Bony and Kapohutukawa), as had we under duress (Twistie and Daphne), and were desperate to get their chickens home and checked in. We had read as much as possible on the net and from the one book available at the library (seems everyone is getting hens at the same time) about care and food only to be left more confused that before. Back to plan A which is a diet of weeds, leftovers, grit and wheat (sprouted for maximum nutrition). This is still under scrutiny however and will undoubtedly be revised and revisited at regular intervals. After a flurry of feathers we popped them in the coop, filled the water and retreated to watch from the step.
They slowly emerged from the coop, drank and all seemed to settle in well. So far so good. Having been told that they would be off the lay while adjusting to the move we didn't expect any eggs and were quite happy to watch them scratching around. Our newly acquired friends had other ideas however and gifted us 3 eggs on their first day here! Another 3 the next 4 days and then 4 eggs on their 6th day here. Officially they have well and truly paid for their keep and are now under no pressure to produce. That is, until we run out of eggs.
It always amazes me just how fortunate my life is with many things just 'working out' and getting chickens was one of these times. A friend gave us all the materials for constructing the coop, some straw as well as grit and the first phone call I made about buying chickens resulted in us getting 4 free hens. Yes, you read correctly that was FREE!!! Now some of you reading this may think 'hmmm, free must equal knackered' and to be honest there was some doubt in our minds. However going with my friend's words of wisdom that 'a free chicken is a good chicken' we collected our little brood.
The kids had already picked names (Bony and Kapohutukawa), as had we under duress (Twistie and Daphne), and were desperate to get their chickens home and checked in. We had read as much as possible on the net and from the one book available at the library (seems everyone is getting hens at the same time) about care and food only to be left more confused that before. Back to plan A which is a diet of weeds, leftovers, grit and wheat (sprouted for maximum nutrition). This is still under scrutiny however and will undoubtedly be revised and revisited at regular intervals. After a flurry of feathers we popped them in the coop, filled the water and retreated to watch from the step.
They slowly emerged from the coop, drank and all seemed to settle in well. So far so good. Having been told that they would be off the lay while adjusting to the move we didn't expect any eggs and were quite happy to watch them scratching around. Our newly acquired friends had other ideas however and gifted us 3 eggs on their first day here! Another 3 the next 4 days and then 4 eggs on their 6th day here. Officially they have well and truly paid for their keep and are now under no pressure to produce. That is, until we run out of eggs.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
What's in a name
Being a vegetarian who eats fish I often get questions (actually more like drilled) about why I don't eat normally - that is meat and three veg type meals. I'm not really one for labels and mostly either don't mention it or just say I don't eat meat. People are always quick to find out whether I'm vegan, vegetarian or have some allergies and now I have found the answers!
Couldn't resist putting this on here. They made me laugh at how far people will go just to have a label to be able to pigeon hole you with.
Vegan: A person who doesn't eat meat, poultry, fish, seafood, eggs, or dairy. They usually avoid honey and foods processed with animal products like gelatin, lanolin. Often, vegans avoid wearing animal products like leather, silk, down feathers, and wool. Vegans are sometimes called "strict vegetarians."
Vegetarian: A person who doesn't eat meat, poultry, or fish, but does eat dairy products and/or eggs.
Pescatarian: A person who doesn't eat meat or poultry, but does eat fish; they may or may not eat dairy products and/or eggs.
Pollotarian: A person who doesn't eat red meat or fish, but does eat chicken; they may or may not eat dairy products and/or eggs.
Lacto-ovo Vegetarian: Someone who eats eggs and milk products, but is otherwise a vegan.
Lacto Vegetarian: Someone who eats milk products, but not eggs, and is otherwise a vegan.
Beegan: A vegan who eats honey. Sometimes this is because they don't truly believe it to be an animal product.
Dietary vegan: Someone whose diet is vegan, but who doesn't avoid all non-food animal products, like for clothing and toiletries.
Flexitarian: Someone who primarily eats vegetarian food, but allows for exceptions occasionally.
Lessetarian: A person who tries to reduce their consumption of animal products, but doesn't necessarily eliminate them.
Hopefully that gave you a smile for the day too!
Couldn't resist putting this on here. They made me laugh at how far people will go just to have a label to be able to pigeon hole you with.
Vegan: A person who doesn't eat meat, poultry, fish, seafood, eggs, or dairy. They usually avoid honey and foods processed with animal products like gelatin, lanolin. Often, vegans avoid wearing animal products like leather, silk, down feathers, and wool. Vegans are sometimes called "strict vegetarians."
Vegetarian: A person who doesn't eat meat, poultry, or fish, but does eat dairy products and/or eggs.
Pescatarian: A person who doesn't eat meat or poultry, but does eat fish; they may or may not eat dairy products and/or eggs.
Pollotarian: A person who doesn't eat red meat or fish, but does eat chicken; they may or may not eat dairy products and/or eggs.
Lacto-ovo Vegetarian: Someone who eats eggs and milk products, but is otherwise a vegan.
Lacto Vegetarian: Someone who eats milk products, but not eggs, and is otherwise a vegan.
Beegan: A vegan who eats honey. Sometimes this is because they don't truly believe it to be an animal product.
Dietary vegan: Someone whose diet is vegan, but who doesn't avoid all non-food animal products, like for clothing and toiletries.
Flexitarian: Someone who primarily eats vegetarian food, but allows for exceptions occasionally.
Lessetarian: A person who tries to reduce their consumption of animal products, but doesn't necessarily eliminate them.
Hopefully that gave you a smile for the day too!
Friday, January 21, 2011
Worn out
Well the sugar free challenge had been going great guns - until yesterday that is when I ate some chocolate! Today I feel hungover, tired and generally worn out. Can it just be a coincidence? I think not.
Part of the reason for going sugar free was to improve my general well being - removing stimulants so that my body would regulate itself and hopefully become slimmer in the process. It has been a good exercise and while the cravings for sugar saw me eating more bread which then caused pain (a normal occurrence for me when I eat too much wheat) I did feel and look fresher and healthier. The running was easier and the moods were calmer. Going sugar free was duly inflicted on my family (why suffer alone I say) with the same positive results in my daughter as her itching and scratching reduced and her skin has healed up.
The trouble with being this 'healthy' is that I have had to cook everything we eat, often modifying recipes, and generally avoiding any processed food. This flows into avoiding eating other people's food as it is hardly the most polite thing to ask to read their labels or interrogate them on what is in their food! Today we went to a regular group and the treats were galore - too much for a 4 year old to resist. I relaxed and let it go. Then watched in sorrow as a few hours later she began itching madly!
I find it so hard to combine the two well (healthy eating and going out with others) without sounding like the food police. I guess for now I've be doing a little bit of grin and bear it while out and a lot of policing why at home.
Part of the reason for going sugar free was to improve my general well being - removing stimulants so that my body would regulate itself and hopefully become slimmer in the process. It has been a good exercise and while the cravings for sugar saw me eating more bread which then caused pain (a normal occurrence for me when I eat too much wheat) I did feel and look fresher and healthier. The running was easier and the moods were calmer. Going sugar free was duly inflicted on my family (why suffer alone I say) with the same positive results in my daughter as her itching and scratching reduced and her skin has healed up.
The trouble with being this 'healthy' is that I have had to cook everything we eat, often modifying recipes, and generally avoiding any processed food. This flows into avoiding eating other people's food as it is hardly the most polite thing to ask to read their labels or interrogate them on what is in their food! Today we went to a regular group and the treats were galore - too much for a 4 year old to resist. I relaxed and let it go. Then watched in sorrow as a few hours later she began itching madly!
I find it so hard to combine the two well (healthy eating and going out with others) without sounding like the food police. I guess for now I've be doing a little bit of grin and bear it while out and a lot of policing why at home.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
New Year's Resolutions?
Stolen straight out of the paper! Thought this was an article too good to summarize or forget.
Life's too short to chase perfection
By Mary Ann Sieghart
Most men are astounded by the amount of time some women put into their appearance and many prefer a more natural look anyway. NewYear, new you? Don't you just hate those articles that breed and fester in the newspapers at the beginning of January? They're usually illustrated with a tape measure held loosely round an impossibly small waist and diagrams of sit-ups and squats. All they succeed in doing is making you feel bad about your flaws.
Insidiously, over the past decade or so, a new cult of physical perfectibility has crossed the Atlantic, and it has been greedily sucking us in. We're now told we have to have perfect nails and perfect hair, at all times, and perfect teeth. Our bodies have to be the perfect shape. And we are supposed to invest time, money and physical discomfort into trying, Canute-like, to resist the natural effects that age and gravity have on the human body.
The more we sign up to this cult, the more depressed and discontented we feel. We are indoctrinated to believe we'll be happier if our faces are smoother, our teeth whiter or our handbags blingier, when in fact we'll end up more miserable and impoverished. Who wins? Only the companies selling us the products.
So let's all make a New Year's resolution that will leave us richer, happier and more comfortable in our skins. Let's resist the pressure to follow expensive beauty-maintenance regimes, to inject our skin with poisons or to buy anything with the toxic prefix "must-have". Repeat after me: "No one's going to tell me what I must have, least of all the fashion department of a newspaper or magazine."
It's not just money we're expected to spend these days. It's also time, effort and pain. I can't think who, apart from a banker's wife, has the time or energy for a weekly manicure and a daily blow-dry. If we women were to follow the dictates of the beauty editors, we could fill most hours of the day buffing, cleansing, toning, conditioning, exfoliating and, for all I know, defibrillating, to get our bodies, faces and hair to the perfect pitch of shininess and polished beauty. But would anyone but ourselves notice?
That's the thing. Men don't notice, for sure. As long as we don't smell, have a beard or ooze grossly out of our clothes, men are much more tolerant of what we look like than we are. They have no idea whether our clothes and bags are designer or M&S. They might prefer us in high heels, but to them, Jimmy Choos are no more seductive than Office.
Of course, it's important to do basic grooming. No one likes dirty fingernails, BO, bad breath or sprouting nose hair. You should always buy clothes that fit well and flatter you, but they don't have to be expensive. And it's good to be able to brush up now and then to look stunning for a party. But it's the regular day-in-day-out pressure to be immaculate that's worth resisting. Life's too short.
A beauty journalist wrote over the weekend about the agony of going for a week without wearing make-up. Yet both her friends and her boyfriend said afterwards they preferred her au naturel. Still, she fell upon her make-up bag at the end of the week like a box of chocolates at the end of Lent.
Women are famously insecure about their bodies. Even those of a perfect size tend to think of themselves as "fat". Now, with the advent of Botox and fillers, we're also supposed to hate the natural process of ageing. Wrinkles are to be dreaded and driven away, not celebrated as characterful. Some middle-aged men have succumbed to this insecurity, too: you can recognise them by their polyester-white teeth and frozen foreheads.
But it doesn't work. It just doesn't. The more you fixate on your appearance, the more you notice your flaws. If you Botox your forehead, you'll start to care about your crow's feet or your smile lines. Once your face is as smooth as an Ikea table-top, you'll start to notice that your neck is going crepey. And so on.
It's the same with clothes and shoes and bags. You can be spending thousands of dollars a year and still you'll be craving the next fashion fix and lamenting that your bag is so "last season". Meanwhile, you'll be run ragged by the "need" to squeeze a manicure or a blow-dry into your frantic timetable. You won't be any happier. And you certainly won't be content.
Contentment is what we should be striving for - and then we can stop striving. To be content with our looks, to accept our flaws, to realise that we can be attractive enough without having to resemble an airbrushed Angelina Jolie or George Clooney. To understand that a ravishing smile or the set of our shoulders can improve our looks far more effectively than a $200 face cream.
With contentment comes confidence. And with confidence comes beauty. If you feel good about yourself, you start to look good - even if you are 80 years old, wrinkly and wise. Get a decent haircut by all means: unlike clothes, you wear the same hair every day. But otherwise, let's celebrate the New Year by sticking two fingers up at the beauty police.
You'll feel better inside. You'll look better outside. You'll save loads of money and you'll be happier than your friends who are still on the treadmill. So rise up and drink a toast with me to 2011 and the end of tyranny! New Year, new you.
- INDEPENDENT
Life's too short to chase perfection
By Mary Ann Sieghart
Most men are astounded by the amount of time some women put into their appearance and many prefer a more natural look anyway. NewYear, new you? Don't you just hate those articles that breed and fester in the newspapers at the beginning of January? They're usually illustrated with a tape measure held loosely round an impossibly small waist and diagrams of sit-ups and squats. All they succeed in doing is making you feel bad about your flaws.
Insidiously, over the past decade or so, a new cult of physical perfectibility has crossed the Atlantic, and it has been greedily sucking us in. We're now told we have to have perfect nails and perfect hair, at all times, and perfect teeth. Our bodies have to be the perfect shape. And we are supposed to invest time, money and physical discomfort into trying, Canute-like, to resist the natural effects that age and gravity have on the human body.
The more we sign up to this cult, the more depressed and discontented we feel. We are indoctrinated to believe we'll be happier if our faces are smoother, our teeth whiter or our handbags blingier, when in fact we'll end up more miserable and impoverished. Who wins? Only the companies selling us the products.
So let's all make a New Year's resolution that will leave us richer, happier and more comfortable in our skins. Let's resist the pressure to follow expensive beauty-maintenance regimes, to inject our skin with poisons or to buy anything with the toxic prefix "must-have". Repeat after me: "No one's going to tell me what I must have, least of all the fashion department of a newspaper or magazine."
It's not just money we're expected to spend these days. It's also time, effort and pain. I can't think who, apart from a banker's wife, has the time or energy for a weekly manicure and a daily blow-dry. If we women were to follow the dictates of the beauty editors, we could fill most hours of the day buffing, cleansing, toning, conditioning, exfoliating and, for all I know, defibrillating, to get our bodies, faces and hair to the perfect pitch of shininess and polished beauty. But would anyone but ourselves notice?
That's the thing. Men don't notice, for sure. As long as we don't smell, have a beard or ooze grossly out of our clothes, men are much more tolerant of what we look like than we are. They have no idea whether our clothes and bags are designer or M&S. They might prefer us in high heels, but to them, Jimmy Choos are no more seductive than Office.
Of course, it's important to do basic grooming. No one likes dirty fingernails, BO, bad breath or sprouting nose hair. You should always buy clothes that fit well and flatter you, but they don't have to be expensive. And it's good to be able to brush up now and then to look stunning for a party. But it's the regular day-in-day-out pressure to be immaculate that's worth resisting. Life's too short.
A beauty journalist wrote over the weekend about the agony of going for a week without wearing make-up. Yet both her friends and her boyfriend said afterwards they preferred her au naturel. Still, she fell upon her make-up bag at the end of the week like a box of chocolates at the end of Lent.
Women are famously insecure about their bodies. Even those of a perfect size tend to think of themselves as "fat". Now, with the advent of Botox and fillers, we're also supposed to hate the natural process of ageing. Wrinkles are to be dreaded and driven away, not celebrated as characterful. Some middle-aged men have succumbed to this insecurity, too: you can recognise them by their polyester-white teeth and frozen foreheads.
But it doesn't work. It just doesn't. The more you fixate on your appearance, the more you notice your flaws. If you Botox your forehead, you'll start to care about your crow's feet or your smile lines. Once your face is as smooth as an Ikea table-top, you'll start to notice that your neck is going crepey. And so on.
It's the same with clothes and shoes and bags. You can be spending thousands of dollars a year and still you'll be craving the next fashion fix and lamenting that your bag is so "last season". Meanwhile, you'll be run ragged by the "need" to squeeze a manicure or a blow-dry into your frantic timetable. You won't be any happier. And you certainly won't be content.
Contentment is what we should be striving for - and then we can stop striving. To be content with our looks, to accept our flaws, to realise that we can be attractive enough without having to resemble an airbrushed Angelina Jolie or George Clooney. To understand that a ravishing smile or the set of our shoulders can improve our looks far more effectively than a $200 face cream.
With contentment comes confidence. And with confidence comes beauty. If you feel good about yourself, you start to look good - even if you are 80 years old, wrinkly and wise. Get a decent haircut by all means: unlike clothes, you wear the same hair every day. But otherwise, let's celebrate the New Year by sticking two fingers up at the beauty police.
You'll feel better inside. You'll look better outside. You'll save loads of money and you'll be happier than your friends who are still on the treadmill. So rise up and drink a toast with me to 2011 and the end of tyranny! New Year, new you.
- INDEPENDENT
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Into the third
Well almost at the end of day three without sugar. Less honey consumed today and no dates scoffed. I did however have a bit of fruit juice (no sugar or additives), due to a BBQ, which I won't normally do and 3 bread rolls (healthy homemade ones that is). Yes the bread craving has increased a bit. :(
One great thing that I have noticed is my complexion appears a bit 'fresher', if that is even a way of describing it! Really it is just that my face, on passing the mirror, just seems a bit less drawn and aged than before I cut out the sugar. Ultimately though when you decide to eliminate sugar from your diet you are opting for much healthier food options while water (aside from today) is the mainstay liquid. That has to impact on the body in a good way. I'm looking forward to my run tomorrow to see if it has any impact.
My initial challenge was to go for 3 days without sugar and since I have managed to do this I am going to keep going a bit longer. I'm the kind of person that the starting is the hardest bit and if I stop now it will be a feeding frenzy! Better to wait till the sugar craving stop completely I think before I indulge again.
One great thing that I have noticed is my complexion appears a bit 'fresher', if that is even a way of describing it! Really it is just that my face, on passing the mirror, just seems a bit less drawn and aged than before I cut out the sugar. Ultimately though when you decide to eliminate sugar from your diet you are opting for much healthier food options while water (aside from today) is the mainstay liquid. That has to impact on the body in a good way. I'm looking forward to my run tomorrow to see if it has any impact.
My initial challenge was to go for 3 days without sugar and since I have managed to do this I am going to keep going a bit longer. I'm the kind of person that the starting is the hardest bit and if I stop now it will be a feeding frenzy! Better to wait till the sugar craving stop completely I think before I indulge again.
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