It's been a rough five days

DH & I went visiting last week and I ate something I knew I shouldn't have even put in my mouth ~ let alone swallow it. I didn't want to offend our friend, who doesn't know about my condition. I need to be much stronger and even more hyper-vigilant when eating away from home. I knew I was doing the wrong thing and I've paid BIG TIME. My husband (who is very supportive) told me that I will continue to make mistakes and I must remember the lessons I learn along the way ... he's right. My daughter tells me that I must take food and drink with me wherever I go and be more in control of what I eat & drink ... she's also right.
I've been so sick since about an hour after this incident ... five days ago :(
I have absolutely no appetite and am finding it really difficult to eat anything due to severe, on-going nausea. Because I am not eating very much I have no energy; and doing anything is becoming quite a challenge. I feel a bit 'spaced out'. I made some chicken soup last night, with the very best intentions ... but the smell of it was even more nauseating. I ended up eating about half a cup plain, boiled, white rice - AGAIN! The only other thing I've been able to force down has been homemade LF egg custard in tiny amounts. Thank goodness some of my little chookies are laying organic eggs for me again. I can eat them the same day they are laid.
I've been in this headspace before and I so understand how people develop eating disorders. It would be so easy to just stop eating. I've had food phobia before. The really weird thing is that I hardly lose any weight when this happens ... 'famine mode' taking over, I guess.
I also bit the bullet and purchased a couple of medications which many other people in my position are having excellent success with. One of them is "Fructosin". This one comes from Austria and is pretty exxy - works out at around $1.65 per capsule. I have had a bottle of these for about 2 weeks now, but some of the ingredients (esp. the fillers) make me really twitchy. I'm not sure that I have the courage to try them.
The other one is "Digest Spectrum" from the U.S. which costs about the same amount. This one is a capsule which contains the digestive enzymes that people with my condition lack. I know that a number of people who use these two alternative medications are getting really good results. I'll continue to think about whether or not I risk it while I wait for the DS to get here. I've tried several different pre-biotics and pro-biotics in the past, but they only made things worse for me. I vowed I would not put anything with numbers attached to it in my mouth, but other peoples' results have me thinking hard ....

Sue Dengate's "Fedup" Roadshow, 2011

Sue is on the road!
You can read about the itinerary and buy tickets here:
https://www.events-made-easy.com/Client_Event_Sites/fin/2011-04-95/cgi-bin/php/home.php
I already have my ticket and am heading to Shepparton on the 17th August.
There's also a new Fedup website, which has just been launched here:
http://www.fedup.com.au/
Sue & Howard have been VERY busy. The new site is much more user-friendly & heaps easier to find specific things you might be looking for. Well done guys ... thank you!
You might also be interested in reading this blog:
http://evolutionarypsychiatry.blogspot.com/
There are many very interesting entries and links from Emily Deans M.D.
In the meantime, the Fructosin I ordered from Austria (yep, that's AUSTRIA!!) arrived today ~ unadulterated by our Customs, for once. Now I just have to decide whether or not I will actually try it ........

The Mean Machine

DH is off having an inspection of this beast today, with a view to buying it ... for meeeeee! I didn't want to see it until after it's had that initial inspection by the banker...JIC. It's a 1971 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray with a Daytona body kit fitted.
It's got a hot 350 ci motor that's had lots of work done to it to make it go harder.
I fell in love with these cars when I saw my first one ever in 1968. Of course, I would prefer a 68-69 model, but this one fits the bill too ... it's major attraction is that it's converted to right-hand drive. It should have chrome bumpers, but the body kit alters the shape and they had to come off. Everyone knows red cars go faster!!! LOL

What a handy little hot house

As well as the worm farm, I bought a 'mini growhouse' from Hume and Iser. It was reasonably priced ~ comes in a flat pack (which I hate!!), but it was dead easy to assemble. No tools required. It will be excellent to give seedlings a head start. I placed it against a brick wall where it will trap the late winter warmth. It has a good quality clear plastic cover; as well a second, heavier opaque cover to reduce the effects of a hot sun.
The front has two zips and a roll up section for easy access. The four shelves are made from light, square wire which will need to be treated with care as they will easily go out of shape & don't look as if they'd support heavy weights. They also need to be more securely connected to the primary frame IMO. The whole thing is heavy enough to withstand bad weather. I think it will be perfect for keeping small seedlings warm & healthy before they are transplanted into the bedding containers.
I don't do things by halves, do I?!! LOL

I haz wormz

I was out & about earlier than usual today - getting worms. The worm farm I've had for years needed replacing, so I bought a new one. It's the same brand & set-up as the one I've had for yonks, but the design has definitely been improved. The legs are stronger and angled outwards. When the old one's layers were full of worms, their wee & compost, the legs weren't strong enough to hold the weight and splayed outwards, making the whole thing very unstable. This is a much more stable model. I only bought a box of 500 worms as I think they'll breed up nicely. The poor things were not very lively when I first transferred them out of their travelling accommodation into their new home. A couple of hours later they were looking much improved. I think they'll be more than happy with the compost, coir, cardboard and the few veggie peelings I've placed them in. Once they've 'settled in' they can earn their keep by converting our kitchen scraps into lovely wormy fertiliser.

No-dig, raised veggie garden beds

I've been busy as predicted! It's taken two full days of really hard work but stage 1 of my no-dig, raised veggie garden is completed. I slept very well last night & expect the same will happen tonight. I'm so tired I can barely walk .. and sore!! The big containers are filled with ... Layer 1: thick cardboard (re-cycled house moving cartons) with thick wadges of newspaper filling the spaces. Layer 2: 30 cms deep mix of horse & chook manure (you can see some of my little fertiliser machines in the first pic). Layer 3: I raked up all those bloody dead leaves that were lying about everywhere and threw them in with a handful of blood & bone; as well as some of the broken down ashes out of the wood heater. Layer 4: thick pads of straw. Layer 5: I found some old compost, left behind by the previous owners, and added that. Layer 6: thick pads of lucerne hay which I got cheap 'cos it's weather damaged ~ perfect. This was a lot of hard work by an old girl, all by herself! I hope it works & I am harvesting yummy veggies this coming season. Stage 2 will happen once all those layers start to break down and I'll add some worms. Then for Stage 3, I'll buy either good quality garden soil, compost or potting mix to top the containers up before planting seedlings. The final, top layer will be a mix of horse manure and straw used as mulch.

Those small, round containers in the second photo are potato planters, which I saw in the gardening suppliers and thought why not? They are made from the same stuff as those blue tarps everyone uses...kwim? There are holes in the bottom and a velcro sealed trap door on the side, so you can harvest the spuds easily. I put a layer of straw & compost in the bottom and placed the Kipfler seed potatoes on it before I carefully covered them with compost. The idea is that you cover the potatoes continually as they grow, until they reach the top of the container...20 weeks or so until harvest.

The round galvanised container I originally bought for a tomato plant, but I think it might get too hot in our vicious summers so it will probably work better for a few herbs.
I'm going to ask DH to cut the old 44-gallon drum in two and use the 2 halves as well. Come to think of it, there are a few of those lying about which I can re-cycle. That way I can do some staggered planting of the veggies we like best; and that I can eat the most of.

There are nine 20+ years old mixed fruit trees on the property which yield hundreds of kilos of the most delicious fruit. Last season was a disaster with all the rain we had. What the rain didn't kill the birds destroyed one morning at daylight, so we didn't get much for ourselves last year. Even though I can't eat a lot of fruit, I will be ready for those birds this coming season. Hear me birds?? I've got two words to say to 'ya ... white netting ...

Lots of hard work coming up!

Today I purchased three of these galvanised iron raised garden beds. Two of them are oval, the third is round (it's for potatoes). The range of vegs I am able to eat is fairly narrow and I am so sick of the crap from supermarkets. The soil on our property is clay and it's impossible to grow anything in it successfully.... believe me I've tried! So, I decided to go no-dig in raised beds and grow my own. I've been collecting cardboard and newspapers for some time now. There's no shortage of chook & horse manure - it will just take a lot of hard work to cart it to the containers, but the days are sunny so I'm looking forward to some exercise outside. I also have a good supply of straw and old hay. I've bought small square bales of lucerne. The recycle bin is full of kitchen scraps which are composting nicely. I kept all the leaves from the trees gathered (well, almost!) in one spot and they will form part of the mix. It will take several weeks to get all the components into the containers, but it should be magnificently ready for spring planting. I was going to use the 'old tyre' trick to grow spuds, but then my daughter reminded me about what they are made from! Instead, the local maunfacturer of the containers showed me their newest product which will be perfect. I think I'll buy a couple more of the round ones to grow tomatoes in. I can't eat much tomato, but my DH loves them and it will be fun to grow them for him.
At this stage I plan to grow some herbs, tomatoes, apple cucumber, zuchinni, green beans, potatoes, maybe some sweet corn, bush pumpkin, yellow squash and one Queensland Blue pumpkin. We have eleven fruit trees which are more than 20 years old. The fruit from them is so delicious. If I am careful, I am able to eat some of it each day. I think my next project will be to preserve some of that gorgeous fruit ... but summer is a long way off yet.
The appointment with my GP went far better than expected. When I explained why I was there, he was quite concerned & alarmed that it took me such a long time to realise what was happening with the reaction I had to the muesli bar (see below). He told me to get some Telfast or Zyrtec and to carry them at all times; and also warned me to be vigilant about nuts and seeds. He is convinced I had a 'classic' nut allergy reaction. I have a referral to a specialist ~ in Melbourne, of course! Today is 28th June. My appointment is on the 14th of November. I could be dead in the meantime ........... sigh!