Photo shoot in the rain

I was intervued a few months ago for an article on the effect of grandparent's divorce on their grandchildren. Rachel and Chloe and Alison were also interviewed. Today The Times sent a photographer (Tom)up from London to take our pictures. He seemed to think it was very important to have outdoor shots so we had to go to Bury Knowle Park and pose under a tree. Trouble was, it was raining. We had Rosie with us as well as Charlie and Adam. After about half an hour posing in the rain, Tom decided it was now time for indoor shots so we came back to the house and he set up the living room with lots of special lights. Then he took most of the pictures off the walls and posed us on the stairs. This was the start of phase two. He was snapping away and pretty soon Rosie started yelling for a top up. Adam cruised into the room in his homemade cardboard 'vertible. This was fine until he fell out of the 'vertible and cut his chin open on the radiator. That pretty much brought the photo shoot to an end. Not a moment too soon as far as we were concerned. I think the article is coming out next Saturday.

Detox Complete

I finished the two weeks of the elimination diet last week and then had to decide what to add back first. What a tough decision! Was it to be bread; was it to be milk; or maybe a Mars bar? I gave in and chose alcohol. A bunch of friends came round on Monday evening and we opened a bottle of white wine - yeah! Alison and Sian sent me a case of wine as a thank you for helping them move. We only drank one bottle. I am very pleased to report that the two week diet has left me feeling very much better. I have more energy and a greater sense of well being. I don't particularly miss any of the restricted foods so I'm going to keep on eating this way except if I'm out or at someone's house. I don't want to be a food bore.

I'm just back from three days in Eastbourne with Alison and Sian. Alison is doing very well. She has about six or seven weeks to go but she hasn't gained a whole lot of weight, only 20 lbs. She has a bump in the front but it is neat and compact. Pat and John came for dinner on Saturday evening and Alison made an absolutely delicious coq au vin. She decided not to flame the brandy (they are in a rented apartment) but it caught fire anyway when she poured it in the hot pan. Flames shot up but didn't do any damage. The smoke alarm had a blast, literally. Sian taught me how to fill my tyres with air. Not a moment too soon. They were very low. Forgot my camera so no pictures.

Birthday pics

Rachel's Birthday

On the 11th October, 1965, Rachel Hacking Gee was born in Vancouver, Canada. This means that yesterday was her birthday. We had a grand tea party. Charles and I made the cake on Wednesday and Adam and I shopped for prezzies. This is plural because we decided to have a treasure hunt for her and this required several small presents. I picked Adam up from school at lunchtime on Thursday and we wrapped the presents and wrote clues. He helped me hide them and then got bored and went off to help his dad fix the tractor. As soon as Chloe and Charles were home from school, we gave Rachel the first clue and the hunt began. Only problem was, Adam was so excited that he couldn't help himself rushing to the spot and finding the present first. Funny thing, his mother didn't mind at all. She was carrying Rosie in her baby sling. Chloe tried to get Adam to hold back at one point but he cried piteously and we all gave in. We marked off the top of the cake in thirds and each child decorated their bit. Chloe's was beautiful, Charlie's was excellent. Adam thought it was wasteful to put sweeties on the cake so he ate them and squirted a huge blob of pink icing on his section. He helped his mother blow out the candles.

Funeral, writing and detoxing

I went to a funeral yesterday morning - the sister of a friend of mine. I hadn't known her very well but sitting in a crematorium with a coffin made me think of how I would like to be "seen off". I used to think I wanted to be buried. That comes from my Irish Catholic childhood. Yesterday I thought cremation would be fine and I would bring in the ethnic bit with an Irish wake. Actually I think I will have the Irish wake before I die so I can enjoy it. Speaking of which, I can start the add back part of the elimination diet on Monday and I have pretty much decided that it will be alcohol. Alison and Sian sent me a case of wine a couple of weeks ago and 12 bottles are calling out in unison for my attention. I'm going to see how many friends I can round up and have a little party. I've been doing fine with the food part. Today Charlie and I made Bushman's bread out of rye flour and it was great. Okay, great is an exaggeration but it was very edible. I don't miss the coffee and tea any more. I had the second class in my Writing Course this morning. I'm loving it. We had an assignment last week which I very much enjoyed doing. In fact I did two versions. I might blog one of them.

Continuing to Eliminate

Last week was quite hard but I was determined to see it through. By Saturday evening I was feeling better. I went to London with EmiKO to see Roddy Williams (our neighbour's son) in the Magic Flute at the Colliseum. It was a wonderful production and he was brilliant. He played Pappageno and he is a born comic actor. He sings real good as well. EmiKO is a friend of the conductor so we had two people to watch. I realized that I was turning a corner in the diet thing because I did not crave other diner's chips when we ate dinner and I had no interest in dessert. On Sunday I woke up feeling like a new person - toxins begone. I don't have a headache any more and my itchy spots are dying down. Best of all, my mood and energy are up. Now to the comments: Okay JF - 3 guesses and the first two don't count. Alison - I have just made your veggie chili and it is delicious (I might not have said than 10 days ago!) Anonymous -I eat porridge and nuts and oat crackers and some meat and fish and of course the inevitable fruit and vegetable bonanza. I drink herbal tea and water. Who are you?

Elimination Diet

I didn't finish blogging about the retreat. Suffice to say it was all good. They gave me a diet plan which involves two weeks of no wheat, no dairy, no sugar, no caffeine and no alcohol. After two weeks I can start adding back things one at a time to see what bothers me. All I can say right now is that I'm bothered by no bread, no milk, no sweets or added sugar and no caffeine (headache). But I'm sticking with it as long as I can.