Larnsnewlife: Where did January go?

Hello to my beautiful family and friends xxx Talk about blink and you'll miss it! Can anyone please tell me where January went? Wow how the time has flown, no sooner have we put away all the Christmas decorations it seems that in the shops, the little Easter bunny is trying to poke his nose out, as if there weren't enough goodies still sitting in the cupboards :) I have enjoyed far too many treats over Christmas when Cate and Simon were with me, now the cupboards are void of anything that resembles chocolate, sweet = sugar or fat or any combination of them both!

I have made a few personal new year resolutions for myself, one was to get my health back on track and that means treating and following my gut feelings about what I feel my body needs to eat in order to be healthier. A few of you know that I have been unwell with my diabetes and IBS the last few months, nothing I have done has helped, diet, exercise, omitting sugar and fat. I have had a dreadful cold that hung on, the infection took weeks to go. But ... Finally I have to say, things are turning around for me I think :) after more tablets, new regime with food and I have stepped up my exercise, have been walking most days, for a good 40 mins, come rain, hail or shine. I have to tell you, that walking in the middle do winter is far more invigorating than walking anywhere in Australia on a hot summers day :( I never thought I would still feel cold, even after having my maxi coat on, my beenie, my gloves, my scarf and my Switzerland boots :) the only part of me though that gets cold is really my face and yes Deb WebsterI need one of those things you have for running :)

To Start Feb off, I just want to a very big Happy Birthday to two very special people, Sue McGrath in Sydney xx and Suzy Ivankovich, two beautiful friends that share the same birthday :) that sounds like Angela and I, a friend I met whilst over here :) I have decided that Feb and March is all about love, as not only on Feb 14 where all declarations of love are given (well to those who have been blessed with a loving partner :) but it's also my gorgeous girl's birthday as well in Feb xxx Not too far behind we have a whole family (including my Rob) whos birthday' are in March! Making sure I don't forget my dear friend Lita and several other lovely friends who's names are in the grey matter at the moment and your birthdays will spring to mind, come a couple of days before :) Hard to believe that my Rob is 29 this March and Helen 26, god where did those years go! Rob is the age I was when I fell pregnant with him. that seems a life time ago now, but sometimes when I look at their beautiful faces and it just takes me back instantly to when they were babies when I held them in my arms :) I couldn't be prouder of my kids more then I am right now, seeing the beautiful adults they have become and the lives they want for themselves and the journey's they are about to take. I see now their independent lives and am thankful that they are experiencing life and travelling a little and broadening their outlook on life. Taking some pointers from their "Gypsy" Mother about believing in their dream and going for it. I need to take a leaf out of their book's and value my work that I do and know what my worth is and allow abundance into my life :) I am also truly truly grateful xxxxx

Now to my week :) it has been a long one, lots of work, deadlines etc but I managed to get through hump day and suddenly it was Friday yayyyy I had a meeting with my Line Manager, so it seems there maybe an extended contract for me into April, but I still haven't had the confirmation from the Council or Agency yet. I will be very happy when I do get it, as it means I will have my holiday to Paris and Venice and then come home to a job :) Keep everything crossed.

This weekend's adventure for me included a day out in Glastonbury :) (hippy town) haha I was going to go to Wells Markets, but went to Glastonbury to the organic markets instead with Rani, we got swept along the Main Street with the rain and ducked in and out of a few of the great crystal type spiritual shops, did our usual inspection of items and compared prices. decided I wasn't bringing my purse out for anyone! Blinker's Alana, remember Paris and Venice! We did find this cute little cafe which was hidden down the back of a shop, think it was called End of The Rainbow Cafe or something like that, it was a typical vegan style caf's lots of mung beans, lentils and alph alpha sprouts. I was happy as they had Gluten free options which I seem to go for these days :) we both had an awesome broccoli and cheese quiche with a side salad and a coffee for two which was strong enough to stand the spoon up in. OMG was it strong! After our look around it was time to head to Wells for some grocery items, which we decided today was going to be at Lidl, which I have to say is truly amazing value :) I'm afraid Tesco's you are too expensive and Lidl has one the comparison test out of Tesco's, Aldi and Lidl. I quite liked Aldi as well, after all they are both German Companies. You can definitately save half your grocery bill by taking a "Lidl" (enjoy the pun?) care in the choice of your shopping vendor.

Woke up early Sunday morning, can you believe it! Stomach ache, no chance of getting back to bed now! So I make myself a Chai tea and decided to try a recipe of my new regime (Paleo) caveman diet. I am not aloud any grains, so I have an alternative, which is coconut flour, (never heard of it, I hear you say!) eggs and I used Almond milk and some agave syrup and some Cocunut oil. They weren't bad, considering I didn't have any baking powder, that might have made them rise a bit more. Very cocunutty! Then I made a fish pie, but without any pastry or top, looks like something the cat just dragged in, but tasted unbelievable!

Doesn't look fancy, but this could be my new curried fish recipe :) adding more curry paste next time!

I quickly decide that it's a beautiful day outside and not as it was meant to be, so I quickly get dressed and off I go on a nice long country drive, I just turn on the Gps and go fill up the petrol, water, apple, check, I'm good to go :) I have no idea where I will end up haha but the countryside is beautiful today, it's actually very mild today, sun is out, I half expect that I will run into the flooding soon enough as they are not far from us, 30 mins, down to the Somerset flats, I took a wrong road somewhere, all of a sudden all I could see was a blanket of water, yep that's the flooded area! I realised I was heading towards Longport but I had a few diverted roads and I ended up in a place called Long Sutton and saw Sutton's Farm, kind of felt like I was back in Mandurah for a minute. Wow what a mess the water has made down here. I saw a sign saying that the bridge was closed, so I started to walk the main road towards it.

The road towards the bridge or Martock that is flooded.

No, this is not the ocean! It is Farmland.

Moments after taking this, another Fireman walked out of a tent, wearing the exact same suit, of course the words slipped out of my mouth before I could retrench them, "The suit definately looks better on :)" and it did believe me :)

Hello Mr Fireman :)

Can you spot the two white swans out in the middle, having a swim :)

I love looking at these beautiful trees, they look a bit naked in winter, stripped of all there comfort (leaves) but they are still awesome!

Well it's time to finish up for another blog, but just before I go, must show you my first sighting of SNOW this week, couldn't believe my eyes when I walked outsid, unfortunately the rain had started to melt it, but on my car it was still about 3 inches thick on the roof and windscreen!