Since my last post here which was more than a year ago, much has happened. I have been diagnosed with Bipolar affective disorder with a side order of PTSD and anxiety disorder. I have been put on new medication for these things and that appears to be working. I have discovered how to sleep, and how to go to bed at a 'normal' hour in the evening. I am slowly rebuilding my life and rediscovering how I want my life to look.

I am single, and sharing a house with a good friend and am studying counselling at a local college. I am happy if a little battle worn.

This is a slow process, and identifying the things I want to keep and those which don't serve me anymore and might be set aside is a large part of the process. I feel stable and almost sane, but I really have no desire to be completely sane, nor do I know if such a state even exists. It's fun to have a little bit of an edge after all!

I have been busy with all this, and my blogs have gone neglected, but I am still alive and still putting one foot in front of the other.

I have been gone from xanga for a long time, again. I find I need to do that for the sake of my sanity. Xanga can be so...xanga.

While I was away this time my relationship broke down. This happened in large part, due to my insanity. I have good reasons to believe I am actually undiagnosed bipolar. It is a long story and not one I feel inclined to tell here.

Soon, I will be moving in with my daughter. I will be starting over, again. I will be exploring my psyche. I will be better.

Doing all I can...

Have you ever had one of those days when from the moment you got up in the morning, until the sun went down in the afternoon you just felt like you did nothing but run around doing a whole bunch of things but not accomplishing a whole lot?

That was Friday at Hensington Palace! We've been having some quite warm weather here the past couple of days and this has meant that the chickens were all becoming a little bit heat stressed. Thursday, the mercury climbed to 32c and today, it was about 31c I think. We were caught very much unprepared as the average mean temperature in our area, even in the hight of Summer is around 30c which is still warm, but not the kind of baking heat we had the last two days! The chickens were quite stressed on Thursday and there was not much that I was able to do for them as I was at home alone, and I have disabilities which make it difficult for me to climb or lift things. All I could do was let the chickens out on free range and make sure they found some shade.

For the chicks, I had to make sure they had plenty of water and that they didn't get frightened or upset during the hottest part of the day. Thankfully, they all survived, but I knew that something would need to be done on Friday to keep them a bit cooler.

Enter my friends on Poultry Matters!

I posted in the forum asking for some advice on what to do to avoid heat stress and got some wonderful suggestions. Some, I couldn't implement, but others, such as providing the chickens with ice so they would have cool water, I could do, as well as placing shade cloth over their coops to keep the sun off the metal roofing.

Sandra and I got some lengths of shadecloth out of the storage sheds and draped these over the coops and the chick's growing pen. We weighted them with bricks for now, but will need to find a more permanent way to affix them before we get any major summer storms.

I had frozen some water in plastic tubs over night, and we also filled a couple of buckets with water and placed them around near the chooks' favourite shady spots in the yard. The chooks liked the idea of the water buckets, but having never seen ice before, were a little nonplussed about what to do with it! That problem was quickly solved though, when Sandra sprinkled a handful of their feed into the container with the ice. They soon got the idea that pecking the ice would either reward them with food, or with something cold and refreshing and they decided to camp next to the ice bucket for the afternoon!

It's just a basic Italian sauce but very tasty! We had some of it with Fetuccine and mushrooms for dinner and it worked a treat. We have enough leftover for three more dinners so that is in the freezer now and all those beautiful tomatoes will bless us with their wonderful flavour for a few weeks to come!

After I posted the Chicken Preschool video that I made of our chicks playing in the aviary, I received a note from a friend telling me she thought it was so cute that she had shared it on her webforum. Of course, I had to go and check that out and I am so glad I did!

I've found a wonderful new 'chook' community full of friendly people and interesting discussions of all things to do with backyard chickens, purebreed chickens and even gardening!

It is called Poultry Matters and I am really enjoying chatting there. I've even found out why my kiwi fruit vine might not be setting fruit! I never knew you needed both a male and a female kiwi vine in order to get fruit. I will have to go and check our vine tomorrow and see if it has any flowers on it, so I can identify whether it is a male or female plant and act accordingly!

I have a feeling, from memory, that it might be female.

Female Kiwi (photo via Google search )

The flower pictured above is of a female flower and from memory, this is what our vine gets in springtime.

We need to get a male plant with flowers like this...

Male Kiwi Plant (photo via Google search)

Now if I can just find out what the problem is with the rest of our fruit trees...the hardly ever fruitng mangoes, plums, etc...

I get about one mango every other year and one plum each spring from the plum trees. We have more than one of each of these, so we are thinking we have male and female--if that even matters! I just want something other than the millions of citrus we get each year to eat!

Sure hoping I find flowers on the kiwi vine tomorrow!

In other news, we seem to be overrun with Roma tomatoes right now!

They are all ripening at the same time, so we will be cooking up some pasta sauce, I think, or maybe pickles/chutney!

It seems like only yesterday that I was sitting in my study listening to soft little peeps coming from inside the eggs I had rescued from our broody hen, Bertha, and wondering how many of the seven rescued eggs would actually hatch. Can you believe that it is four weeks ago today since the three chicks chipped their way into the world from those eggs? It has just gone by so quickly and our little fluff balls now resemble something approaching small vultures! They're so adorably scruffy with feathers sprouting out all over, down falling off in clumps and little patches of bare, pink skin showing through underneath.

They think they are the big chicks on campus, too! They're swiftly outgrowing the brooder box, and we have had to set up an aviary in the back yard as a day run for them. This will also become their growing out pen once they've got enough feathers and can withstand the cooler, humid night air. Until then, they're playing in the aviary by day, and sleeping in the brooder by night.

Last night was their first full night without the brooder light turned on, and each time I went in to anxiously check on them, they would peer up at me, blinking drowsily and asking what was the problem. "Can't you see we're growed ups now? We don't need the light on at night anymore!"

They had no light on today either, and as I mentioned, spent a couple of hours out in the aviary enjoying the extra space and the warm sunshine on their little bodies.

Ah how soon they grow!

We shot some video of them romping and play fighting in the aviary as they tried out their wings and claws.

Enjoy!

Music in the video:

Caspar Babypants

"Free Like a Bird" (mp3)

from "Here I Am!"

(Aurora Elephant Music)

Buy at iTunes Music Store

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More On This Album

The two ladies pictured at left are Aggie McKenzie (left) and Kim Woodburn (right) from the BBC television series, How Clean is Your House? I love watching this show and am glad that it is on late at night on Tuesdays so I can indulge my guilty pleasure while my partner sleeps. I think Aggie is kind of sexy, and if Kim wasn't a dump dusting doyen, I think she would make the perfect Dominatrix! I love cringing my way through some of the absolutely 'minging' houses these two women manage to dredge up around the UK and then watching them scrub, buff and polish them until they gleam. I wish they'd come and do mine! There's noone like them when it comes to decluttering, degriming and polishing up a pestridden pig sty!

The funny thing is that after watching them on Tuesdays, Wednesdays inevitably turn into work days for me as I find something to clean up to their standards. Last week, it was the cook top, today, I focused on the indoor trash cans and the cat litter trays.

Next Wednesday, who knows what house cleaning adventures I will get up to?

Do you watch any television shows that inspire you to do something to better yourself?

I used to believe wholeheartedly in both heaven and hell, but over time, my belief in those concepts has fluctuated. Sometimes I think they are possibilities and other times not. More often these days, I lean towards the 'not' end of the scale.

What I believe is that we are placed on this planet to learn, to experience, to grow and to evolve and when we die I feel that we have a period to review that life and learning and to decide whether we have learned and absorbed all that we can. If we have, then I believe we join a collective consciousness--this would be something akin to the omniscient being which is described in some religious writings--and contribute our knowledge to the universe. If we feel there is more to be learned, or things we might have handled differently, I believe we have the chance to be reborn. Yes, that is reincarnation. We then have opportunities to repeat the lessons and try to do better the next time around.

I'm not intending to get into a debate about this. It's what I believe. Your mileage may vary.

   

I just answered this Featured Question; you can answer it too!

My lectures this week focused on Ayruvedic Medicine and the Dosha (peronality types) My overall dosha is Kapha (Kahf) and this is quite interestingly accurate! Try the quiz on the below site to discover your Dosha. I have highlighted in bold purple text the things that seem most relevant to me.

All About Kapha

Kapha-type people tend to have sturdy, heavy frames, providing a good reserve of physical strength and stamina. This strength gives Kaphas a natural resistance to disease and a generally positive outlook about life. The Kapha dosha is slow, and Kapha types tend to be slow eaters with slow digestion. They also speak slowly. They are calm and affectionate but, when out of balance, can become stubborn and lazy. They learn slowly, with a methodical approach, but also retain information well with a good understanding of it.

Kapha dosha controls the moist tissues of the body, so a Kapha imbalance may show up as a cold, allergies, or asthma. This is worse in Kapha season, March through June. Cold and wet weather aggravates Kapha. They should not dwell in the past or resist change. They need lots of exercise and need to be careful not to overeat. Kaphas need stimulation to bring out their vitality. Kapha dosha teaches us steadiness and a sense of well-being.

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Kapha & Stress

Ojas is an Ayurvedic word that refers to our life energy. Translated, it means "vigor." Stress greatly reduces ojas, which then weakens the immune system. When ojas is low, disease can follow.

To replenish ojas, follow the routine for your mind/body type. Some foods, such as milk and ghee, are especially good for increasing ojas. Meditation is the best thing you can to alleviate stress and thereby increase ojas.

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Kapha & Sleep

Kaphas need deep sleep, or they'll be groggy and ineffective, but they don't necessarily need a lot of sleep. Kaphas love to sleep, and often have a hard time waking up in the morning!

Ayurveda recommends that everyone keep a regular bedtime and morning routine. Bedtime should be at the same time each night, preferably at 10:00 P.M. The hours before bed should be spent with quiet activity, Yoga, and meditation. You should awaken at dawn, between 6:00 and 8:00 A.M., and proceed with your daily rituals.

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Kapha & Digestion

Ayurveda teaches that good digestion leads to good health and poor digestion can bring disease. Each mind/body type digests differently. It is important to understand your mind/body type and how it digests food when planning your meals.

Kapha digestion is slower and heavier. Kaphas should favor warm, light food. Food should be as dry as possible, cooked without much water. Tastes should be pungent, bitter, and astringent. Kaphas prefer spicy food, which promotes better digestion for them.

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Kapha & Colds

Kapha colds and flus are those with a lot of mucus, runny nose, congestion, headache, and mild fever. Follow the Kapha routine and drink warm Kapha tea to help bring the body back into balance.

I am also a doble-dosha Kaph-Vata

Kapha-Vata

This is a pretty rare type because Kapha and Vata seem to be opposites in so many ways.

If Vata is dominant in the body section of the test, then most likely you will be thin like a Vata, yet relaxed and kick-back like a Kapha. You can be quick like a Vata, yet procrastinate like a Kapha. Both Kaphas and Vatas dislike the cold.

If Kapha is dominant in the body, you are more solidly built, and may display Vata in your creativity and zest for life. Because of Vata's digestive sensitivity, watch your diet carefully.

Try the quiz to find out your dosha