Sunday 17 May 2009

It's been a while since I last blogged. Life's been full and busy, and it's sometimes difficult for me to get my computer to hook up to the internet. It's a temperamental thing, but then you could say that about me. Do computers echo your personality the way dogs are said to resemble their owners ? Nah !!! Too twilight zone to consider !

I've had a few thoughts of what to blog about, but have little time today, and would you believe, they have all left my head and it's now empty. But, the crackers !! I've posted a recipe for crackers which I tried out last night and they are a complete success, even if I do say so myself. They are delicious with a little hummus and I will be trying some different pate recipes shortly. Their thickness varies slightly, but I think that is just something that practice will improve. My husband has tried them and I think he found them very moreish. I had to warn him that they are not low calorie, being full of nuts and seeds and their oil. But it's great that they are a success. The tomato ones are good, though I might put more tomato in next time, and the rosemary ones are delicious. I think the turmeric idea is a good one , or perhaps saffron, to give another colour, otherwise they can all look the same. They do have a lovely rustic appeal. I've put them in some pretty glass storage jars and I'm very proud of them.

I'm juicing in greater quantities again. The produce just seems juicier, and I'm using leaves from my garden. The chard is doing really well and acts like spinach or cucumber in that it makes a smoother milder juice when mixed with broccoli, cabbage, etc. and it looks really striking in the beds.

I've been sprouting lots of seeds, and I'm growing wheatgrass again, and I like the juice with an apple. It just tastes like apple juice to me now. Maybe too much apple, or could it be that my taste buds are changing and adapting ? I am a total convert to micro greens. I'm growing sunflower and peashoots outside in seed trays and I'm growing them quite thickly. Aconbury Sprouts seem to sell them like this in trays, so I thought I'd try and grow them myself. I had some disasters with the pea sprouts ( they rotted before I ate them ), so I'm going with the shoots till I get my inclination back ( They stank and there was a gooey residue that got into the drainage pipe for my seed sprouter, so be warned and be vigilant if you're trying them.). I brought a few trays into my gardening group to show everyone, and I'm managing to keep the excitement I feel going.

The next might be too much information, but I'm spilling the beans anyway. I've been increasingly tired lately - and hungry for that matter. I gained a little weight and it all frightened me. So I've upped my game and I've started doing coffee enemas. Now when I first started having colonics ( there were just too many references to their benefits in my researches to ignore, so I just got over myself. ) Janet, my therapist, encouraged me to do these, as did my good friend Rosey ( sorry if I've spelt it wrong ) I tried, but found it time consuming and difficult to schedule in. I made the coffee, then waited hours for it to cool, and then the whole palaver of getting everything organised in the bathroom seemed to take forever. And when people knew what I was doing they'd ask if it gave me more energy, and I had to say that "No, it didn't. " I couldn't feel any difference. And it was all very disappointing to think it made no difference when everyone expected it to. So I stopped . But I've recently started again and it's an entirely different story. I make the coffee on waking, when I make my Essiac tea. It's cool in 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or I can speed that up by putting the cafetiere in cold water. I have everything I need in the spare bedroom opposite the bathroom, including a pillow, and I make sure I bring my ipod ( I listen to the many interesting podcasts I can't resist downloading ) with me. Somehow it all seems painless and smooth and easy. What's more, I do get a burst of energy. Because I've noticed the difference in energy I feel it's worth the effort and I'm persevering with it. I don't have one every day, but who knows, perhaps that will come, after all I balked at first at all the juicing Gerson recommended and yet I made 1 3/4 litres yesterday ! I had a colonic recently and whilst in the past all has been well, this time Janet commented on my sluggish lymph. I know, I know, I know !!!!! Exercise !!!!! But I'm so very tired !! So I've tried to incorporate that again - Yes, I know I've said that before ! Perhaps this time I'll take it more seriously, after all I'm taking it seriously enough to give myself enemas and that's something I never ever considered - for half a century !!! As I say, too much information. But you never know who reads a blog and I know how frightening and appalling the idea of enemas and colonics was to me before all this happened. You lose your bashfulness when you get into some situations. It's a luxury you can't always afford, and it seems so silly looking back. ( If my daughter reads this she'll be mortified. Sorry ! ) But hopefully the enemas and the exercise will get my lymph going again.

I've also started taking Artemix. This is a capsule that contains artesunate, artemether, and artemisinin, all derivatives of the wormwood plant. It is used in the treatment of malaria, and experiments in laboratories show it to have an effect on some cancer cells. It's to do with the fact that cancer cells amass lots of iron ( It's essential for cell division and isn't that what cancer cells are all about. ) Artemisinin comes into contact with iron in the cell and the iron converts the drug into a toxic chemical, releasing an oxygen based free radical. This could destroy the cancer cell. I'm not saying that this is true , but I had a chemosensitivity test done when I finished my chemotherapy to find what alternative therapies might be harmful to my particular cancer cells and artesunate was flagged up as being of possible use to me. I never did anything about it because you can't just pop down to the chemist for it, but I recently read a book which clearly explained why it is effective against cancer and I think it is worth my while trying. The book I read which makes interesting reading if you have or fear breast cancer is called 'Breast Cancer A Cure At Last ' by Fred Harding. Quite a sensational title I think, but it is certainly an interesting book. Wormwood is used in the treatment of parasites, and I don't believe the capsules will do me any harm, so I'm giving them a try. The dose is 1 - 2 capsules and I dowse each night to see what my unconscious and body feel is the right dose. Am I kidding myself ? I don't know, but I don't think I'm doing any harm. I also visualise the capsules as magic bullets, ripping holes in the cancer cells membrane. Fingers crossed. Certainly this stuff has been used in the treatment of malaria without any known adverse effects. I've asked my doctor about how long people take it for malaria, so I don't see it as something I'll take for the rest of my life. My complimentary doctor in Bristol has recommended and supplied it to me, so I am under some supervision though it doesn't sound as if that's necessary. I'm just going to try it and see.

So that's my update so far. Hopefully I'll get my thinking brain back for next time and I'll remember what I really wanted to post about.