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.

Weekend at the Retreat

On Saturday, we went out to the mountains to visit the big temple. Beautiful mosaics and lots of gold chandeliers. Archbishop Makarios is buried there so it is well kept and much visited. Here are five of the six goddesses feeling pleased with themselves. We were standing on the stone bridge which was unbelievably beautiful. The countryside was very reminiscent of inland California; quite dry and rocky. But the sea was a beautiful deep blue.

The Goddess gets off to a good start

Here we have a picture of Aphrodite's Rock. We had a trip to the beach on the first day. Some Goddesses swam out to the rock. I wasn't one of them. I did, however, take part in the ceremonies and the treatments. The retreat was held in a villa north of Paphos. There were four retreatants and two fully fledged Goddesses and one God (the partner of the woman who was running the retreat. I have to say right at the start that I had a wonderful week. They provided us with excellent healthy meals, treatments, love circles and plenty of time to relax and enjoy the sunshine. I was afraid before I went that they might be casting spells and burning witches but there was none of that. The sea was warm, the sun was hot, the food was good and there was wine to drink in the evenings. The only way in which I felt out of place was my age. Isolbel, the #1 Goddess was exactly half my age and the others were much closer to her than to me. But I could have been on a holiday with my daughters and I made a couple of good friends whom I will see again.

Off to the Sun

I'll be off on Wednesday for a week in Cyprus at my Goddess Retreat. A friend of Jane's had booked herself on this "event" and can't go so she offered it to me. It sounds very New Agey but I'll cope. We'll be having a love circle at Aphrodite's shrine so that pretty much sets the tone for the week. I won't be taking my computer so you will all have to wait until the 27th for a report. Even if I can't get into the complete spirit of the thing, it will be a much needed break after this very emotionally trying time. And who knows? Maybe I will find a whole new "path".

The Divorce Dinner

Just a few pictures from Saturday evening's dinner party. Everyone will recognize Chloe, the chief chef and server. She did a wonderful job. Everyone was most impressed. Then we have the antipasta plate as arranged by Chloe. Then we have me on my new sofa sitting in my new lounge. Finally, a few of the other guests. It was a great evening. Just the thing to help me through the weekend.

Anne's Dinner Party

Chloe is here today helping me prepare for my dinner party tonight. I've invited a few very close friends to help me get through the weekend. The divorce will be final tomorrow and I'm quite sad so I decided to do the thing I really love which is to have a dinner party. Chloe came over last night and slept here and then I took her to ballet this morning. Since then we have been slaving away with our dinner preparations. Those of you who have been in my house know that the very old front room with the fireplace has been the dining room and the new addition room at the back has been the sitting room. Not any more. I had a new sofa delivered on Friday and, after much heaving and grunting, the men managed to get it through the front door. They had to remove the front door before it would fit but they did succeed and then they moved the two dining room tables into the back room. I've reversed eating and sitting and so far, I like it. We are having an Italian meal - antipasta, Pasta with pesto (Chloe made the pesto from scratch) then chicken with rosemary and Caesar salad. Pudding will be tiramisu. We are going to start the evening with champagne and then take it from there. I'm planning on having a wonderful time. Tomorrow, we will have lunch at the farm. Shay promises to get in a selection of Marks & Spencer meals so no one has to cook. Rachel is still doing fine as is baby ?

Down on the Farm

Rachel was sprung from the JR Maternity hospital on Monday evening. She looks and feels a million times better since the baby is out instead of in. The baby too looks beautiful. She was three weeks early and weighed over 7 lbs so I can't imagine what she would be like had she gone to term. My camera was lost for the past few days but I found it yesterday so I'll be picture posting again. It seems like a nice day today so I will probably take ? for her first ride in the pram. It's my favourite time with babies. I like to get them all cosy in the pram and go walking along the river. Rachel is so lucky to live right beside the Thames and a stone's throw from Port Meadow. Unfortunately, Adam has reached the stage where if I say, "Let's go for a walk," he says in a very polite but definite voice, "No thank you." He and I and Charlie went to the St. Giles Fair yesterday. I think they had a good time. I found it pretty overwhelming. Charlie wanted to play games and we did win a couple of hideous stuffed creatures but none of the big prizes. Adam wanted to go on the rides. "Action" is his middle name. They all started back to school today.

Baby Pictures