Mint Jelly

Christmas is coming and in an attempt to make it a little more special and hopefully a little less spendy, I am trying to plan ahead with some hand made gifts. I am feeling terribly organised to already have even thought of Christmas presents because I am usually a very last minute girl and this usually means expensive!

Anyway…being so proud of myself is one thing…saving money and having fun and giving a personal gift is another so check this out!

I made Mint Jelly! All by my own self. Sorry to anyone who ends up receiving one of these gifts because it will now not be a surprise.

It was so easy and affordable considering I have mint overtaking our front flower bed thingy. And fun too. We’ll have to taste test one jar to make sure it’s edible and all, but looks great to me! (Just hope it sets)

Check this amazing design feature

Am I the last person on earth to know that a baby can find the breast all by itself? Or is it a little known fact. How far has modern birth practise come from the natural and brilliantly designed way? I remember when I had my first and second children, there was such a rush for the midwifes and doctors to check them (they were pink and breathing and crying so i have no idea why the hurry for a medical examination!?) that by the time I got to really hold and bond with them they were fully dressed and swaddled tightly in a blanket. I didn’t get to marvel at their perfect little bodies until the next day.

For this my fourth baby I am determined to do things on my terms. I want to hold my baby until we are ready for him to be dressed. Nothing is warmer than skin on skin anyway, so why the rush?? I want to feed my baby when and for as long as I want to. And not celebrating the first feed with my newborn while having my nether regions stitched up by a midwife in a hurry to get on with her day.

I will let nature expel the placenta when my body is ready and will not have the cord pulled on so that it feels like my insides are going to come out. Flip….why does medicine make birth so flipping complicated! No wonder people are nervous about birth!

I have so much more to say on this subject. I’ll probably be back.

Yaaaawwwwnnnnn.

Oh my I am so tired today. I can’t stop yawning and feel a craving like desire to lay down my head and sleep. Not an option right now really and besides, I slept until 8:30 this am so really…..

Some of it might be due to the fact that as always seems to happen in my pregnancies, my feretin (iron stores) have dropped from 28 at the beginning of the pregnancy to just 4 at 28 weeks. (Normal range 20-250) Technically this alone shouldn’t make me tired because my haemoglobin (oxygen carrying component) is normal.

Maybe it has something to do with the weird dreams I’ve been having. D said I was moving around a lot in my sleep last night. If I tell you my dreams you might appreciate why.

I dreamed that I was out for a night on the town with a friend when we offered a ride to a drunk lady who was about to get into a car with a rather suspect character. We thought she lived near us but later found out she lived a long way out of our way. I was stressed out because at this point I remembered that I had given birth the day before and left the baby at home with D and hadn’t fed him yet. It was about 24 hours since he’d been born and the poor child hadn’t had a single feed.

I put my foot down and remember looking at the speedo and we were driving at about 130km/hr in a 50 zone when I saw flashing police lights behind us. I pulled over absolutely stressing about my child and could hear a baby crying in my head. The police drove straight past.

Sadly I can’t remember the rest of the dream. Only that stressed out feeling of not being able to get to where I needed to be. Anyone skilled dream interpreters out there? Or psychoanalysts?

In the real world our baby is growing well. He’s gonna be another big one by the looks of it. I look full term and have another 8 weeks to go. He’s moving around a lot. And now that I have recovered from the cold/flu/whatever it was I had, I am keeping pretty well. My back is so much better this time round. All my other pregnancies have been complicated with nasty pelvic and back pain and it makes the world of difference to be free of pain.

 

Updated Armistice day post

For those of you who use a feed reader and might have missed it, I have updated the last post with some family history if you’re at all interested.

Armistice Day

18,050 Kiwi’s and 61,928 Aussies lost their lives in WWI. Staggering numbers but they don’t compare really to the massive losses experienced in some other nations especially when the numbers are expressed as a percentage of the population. For example The Ottoman empire (now known as Turkey) lost 13% of it’s population, a staggering 2.9 million people. (2.1 million of those were civilians.) And the Serbs suffered the loss of 16% of their population.

These numbers blow my mind and it’s scary to consider a world gone mad, and not so very long ago.  Today marks the signing of the Armistice to bring an end to the hostilities at the Western Front.

My great great Uncle, James Alfred Heading served in the AIF 45th and 47th Battalions. See here for history of the 45th Batallion and the 47th Batallion. He received a DCM (Distinguished Conduct Medal) while serving with the 47th Btn. The following is his recommendation:

“At Passchendaele Ridge (NE of Zonnebeke) on 12th October 1917. Especially good work in leading his platoon and setting a splendid example in courage and determination. All Officers of three Companies became casualties and Sgt. Heading took charge, reorganised, placed outposts out and endeavoured to connect flanks and generally displayed initiative and ability in appreciating all situations. His work was of great value to the Battalion. He carried out his duty in a praisworthy manner. “

Stretcher Bearers Passchendaele August 1917

He was also awarded a Military Medal with the 47th Btn:

“At Dernancourt 5th April 1918, when his Officer was killed he took charge of the Platoon and showed exceptional ability in the handling of same. When his flank was in danger he immediately made dispositions to meet the occasion and showed utter disregard for danger in placing  his men. When all the platoon Lewis Gunners were casualtied, he manned the gun and crawling forward to dangerous position he continued to inflict heavy casualties on the enemy until the gun was blown out. By his scouting and patrolling he gained valuable information and established complete control of “No Man’s Land”. His work during the whole operations was of an exceptionally high order.”

Australian infantry wearing Small Box Respirators (SBR). The soldiers are from the 45th Battalion, Australian 4th Division at Garter Point near Zonnebeke, Ypres sector,

My brother shared this quote with me today:

‘An Australian soldier wandered about near the German lines after the battle of Fromelles. He had been hit in the forehead and skin hung over his eyes. He was blinded and out of his mind. He would blunder around in circles, hands outstretched, then fall down. Then he would get up and stumble around again. This went on for days. The Germans eventually killed him. It is unclear whether they did this out of cussedness or kindness. This was the Great War and men did terrible things and did not always understand why they did them.’

~Les Carlyon, ‘The Great War’

War. Awful beyond words.

Lest we forget.

WWI casualties per nation

Armistice Day in New Zealand

What is Armistice Day/Rememberence Day?

A little grumble

Argh…I have been sick for nearly a week, and I’m starting to get grumpy about it! It started with a cold last Monday, and it has slowly turned into a nasty cough., reminiscent of the bronchitis I had when I was pregnant with B4. And because of all the jolly coughing, I seem to have damaged a muscle in my tummy because I get a very sharp searing pain down my left side when I cough. It’s really starting to tick me off!

I hardly ever get sick and when I do I normally recover quite fast. I guess the pregnancy is taking it’s toll and I have less resistance than normal. I have rested and rested and rested and still coughing! I read a whole novel yesterday, which was nice, but I really wanna start living again! It makes me pity pregnant women who are placed on bed rest for long periods of time. They must go nearly insane.

It’s such a busy week coming up too…it’s E’s birthday tomorrow…she will be 7, and B’s birthday on Friday. He will be 5. We are having a party for them both on Saturday, so I’d better be better soon.  I forced myself to go out yesterday to buy E’s present and found myself hot and sweaty and short of breath just walking around the shop for 10 minutes. Grabbed the present and came home as soon as I could.

I’m supposed to be working today too. It was scheduled for yesterday but D made me do a shift swap with a colleague on account of E’s birthday. Fair enough, but now I feel like I can’t call in sick because I requested to work this shift! Arrrggghhh! It would have been easier to take tomorrow off because I could go to the doctor tomorrow and get a sick certificate. To get one today is a mission because it’s Sunday and expensive.

How do you like the timing of my carry on after yesterdays’ quote from Shaw? Appropriate huh? Hahhahaha

I like this…

“This is the true joy in life – being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; being a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.”

~George Bernard Shaw

My friend is moving away

I have a dear friend who is moving away to India with her husband and 6 children. They live fairly close to us and are also homeschooling. My children have become friends with their youngest and love to play together. As we don’t have family in this country I feel like they have become cousins.

I am so excited for them as they go to India because it’s something that’s been on their hearts for years and I know that it’s going to be amazing as they go and live the lives God has for them, but at the same time I’m feeling so sad. They have been such good friends to us. So kind and generous and have helped us with our marriage and parenting and I feel kind of mad at God for taking them away. I want to be selfish and have a nice cosy life with my friends around the corner!

I know our kids are going to miss them so much too, and I’m already anticipating a big hole in our lives. I hope they can understand the bigger picture when it’s time to say goodbye and that knowing why they are leaving will help them adjust.

It is such a mixture of emotion because ever since my teens I kind of knew this kind of thing would happen. I have always felt passionate about the nations in the sense that I believe the Gospel is for every nation and over the past 15 years or more I have felt a growing compassion for the poor in other nations and also a dissatisfaction with first world suburbia. I remember growing up that I freaked out at the thought of settling down close to the family home and just having a house and a couple of kids. D and I started our own marriage and family by moving far away from both our families. (Not for the purpose of moving away from our families, which has been incredibly painful and hard, but because there was more for us in this big wide world than our local towns)  I knew that if I let this grow in my heart it would mean painful goodbyes and also, it has become natural that my closest friends also have a heart to go someday.

But it still sucks.

They are listing their home for sale today in anticipation of the big move and it’s really hitting home the reality that they are actually going. If I’m feeling emotional about it I daresay they feel like their hearts are tearing in two. I’m not looking forward to the day we do the same but at the same time part of me cannot wait! What a crazy conflict.

Secretly (and now in the most public of forums – on the internet hehehe) I hope that we will meet up with them again somewhere, somehow. I feel like it’s been a God given friendship and we are like minded in so many ways. We both have a heart for the motherless children and ….well who knows? I don’t know…I wish I did.

They have an amazing story actually of how it is all falling into place as they get ready to leave. You can read about it all on Jodi’s blog called Yatra to India. I recommend going back to the first posts as she shares how God has clearly spoken over the years. (Not in a ‘voices in my head‘ kinda way so don’t be freaked out.)

The Gurnsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society – Mary Ann Schaeffer and Annie Barrows

I recently finished reading this book, after seeing it reviewed online quite a bit. I liked the idea of it being entirely based on letters, and that it was a book lovers book being about a Literary Society. I also liked the title.

The story begins in London after the war and is about an writer, Juliet Ashton who is trying to come up with an idea for her next project. She is short on ideas, but around the same time starts to correspond quite by accident with some residents of the English channel Island of Guernsey. Their correspondence forms the plot of the book, and through it we learn about the little known German occupation of these British territories for 5 years during WW2. We learn about the struggles and horrors of the occupation but also the friendships and endurance of the Islanders during those years.

Eventually Juliet Ashton goes to Guernsey to meet these Islanders whose stories she becomes fascinated with as they are revealed through their letters. Her visit to Guernsey changes her life.

A surprisingly light story given the subject, there is plenty of humour, quirky characters, and even love. I really enjoyed this book.

Bono’s NAACP Speech

Bono’s NAACP* Speech

I saw this video on facebook the other day and I can’t get it out of my mind. I tried to comment on my friends page when I first saw it and typed about 17 responses but I’m always worried about coming across too strong, especially when it comes to things I’m passionate about.

It’s no secret here on my blog that I’m passionate about poverty and us in the west opening our eyes to how the rest of the world lives. I don’t think the comment space was big enough for my response to this video, and so I am going to go on about it here. Aren’t you lucky?

Also, I’m rather tired of not speaking my mind fully and here is a good place to practice. You see at least here this is my blog and I can say what I like!

Here are some of my initial unfiltered responses to this video:

1. I love this man!

2. Oh my gosh, he has a handle on our Christian faith better than most of the church.

3. Oh God help us! Change our hearts.

4. Aren’t you glad the religious church never got hold of this man?

5. This is a prophetic voice to our generation and so central to the Kingdom of  God and we really better not miss it! I get so frustrated with the church’s lack of concern for the poor.

6. I WANNA GO!

7. Let’s not just watch and applaud Bono’s inspirational, emotional, and crowd pleasing speech. I find it hard to understand that a person can be moved with compassion about a person’s suffering but then move on having done nothing about it.  Let’s stop and think (and/or pray) for a few minutes and then DO something about it. Even if it’s a small thing. It’s better than nothing. I wonder how many of those people who gave a standing ovation acutally went off and DID something about extreme poverty, the AIDS crisis in Africa, or helped save a child from dying of malaria? Hopefully many of them.

8. I absolutely love to see people who are themselves and doing what they are created to do.

9. Western Christianity has become far too theoretical and cerebral and far too little practical is done. Where are those who rage against injustice?

10. So what are we gonna DO about it?

*National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People.