Swimming to Tancook - not

quite honestly, dear readers, I haven't been working on Swimming to Tancook (working title). I have been working on feeling better with this diet and today, I do feel some equanimity with it. I didn't realize how much my life is focussed around food. I love cooking, I always have and my SP loves cooking and so does my step-dot. Our big night out is always some nice restaurant or a long yummy dinner with friends. I read cook books and visit cooking sites daily. A lot of that is pretty good food but not neccesarily what I can eat on this diet. Also, I love not so good food. I love chocolate bars and fish and chips and potato chips eaten with my pal Marion. I even like a nice cold coke from time to time and I certainly like a g&t in the summer and a scotch in the winter and wine all year round. So I'm recalibrating my entire system, both body and mind. The last few days I haven't felt aggrieved though. I've felt....hmmm...clean! Like what I'm putting in my body is really good - full of chi. This morning I had kamut cakes (like rice cakes only not allowed rice) with cashew butter I made from organic unprocessed cashews with slices of an apple on it. It was incrediably tasty. I just need to not eat twelve of them! Last night I had quinoi (sp) with steamed cauliflower and brocoli and lightly sauteed green onion, garlic and ginger root. Very good. I know! I'm a hippy again!I've lost about seven pounds so far which is pretty radical. I'll be able to fit into my old bell bottom jeans and tie dye shirt. And I feel my energy returning slowly. Tomorrow or the next day I am supposed to get what feels like the flu as the yeast dies off. I don't want it but I do so that I know something is happening. It is EASY to accidentally eat the wrong thing on this diet unknowingly so ...
Today I am working on the script for our upcoming murder mystery - The Sad Sad Story of Angel Pye. That will be fun actually. The mystery is a week from today so I best get at it!

A New Day

Today I begin my new special diet given to me by the doc - a very enlightened doc to be sure, an ear, nose and throat specialist and an allergist who owns a winery with his wife. I like his approach as it is more holistic than western medical but man this diet SUCKS. I will do it though because so does having asthma, sinus headaches and itchy everything. It is what I'd call a cave woman diet - all green vegetables and meat. In my case, it will be a lot of fish and eggs and greens. No bananas, no grapes, no peanuts or peanut butter, no mushrooms, no g&t's, no coffee, no chocolate, no bread, nothing yeasted or wheat or cheese or beer. Really no no no and more no. How long? FOUR expletive MONTHS! Yep, through Thanksgiving, two murder mysteries and the winter holiday as it is now known. Luckily, I do like an extreme measure so I will keep you abreast of how it goes though hopefully not go on and on about it. I promise heretofore not to complain past this entry. For I will be svelte and have the energy of a fourteen year old - watch out SP!

And I will not sneeze constantly. I will be feeling GOOOOD - except for the detoxing part where I will feel like I've got the farmyard flu but hey - better out than in, no?

For breakfast I had two scrambled eggs and a nectarine. Yay!

later, I'm off to walk the beasty boy.

The photo is 'rememberance of meals gone by' - one of the great put togethers we did at Mo-Fest.

to speak of many things...

Oh today will be complicated - I have many things to speak of. I will try and be orderly and I will be posting throughout the day as promised.

Today is the mostly last day of my revisions on The Rock Walker. I will be sending a copy electronically to my writing pal who is off to Banff tomorrow for a writing retreat! She will have six hours on planes and in airports and told me she is willing to do a line edit, a close edit, a language edit, a freaking anal obsessive compulsive edit for me. In turn about, I am going to do her query and synopsis for her YA that is ready to go. I'm good at that and she's good at the editing so I best make sure it is done today.

Also, I've taken an oath to eat local today. That is so arbitrary however, as I've had coffee this morning. It is obviously not locally grown but it is locally roasted so it will have to do. I cannot NOT have coffee today. I will eat a breakfast of our own eggs and cukes and green tomatoes and local peaches. hmm...sounds weird but I'll make it nice I'm sure. Then we'll just suss out the rest of the day. I wanted Sweet Patootie's bread but the wheat isn't grown here, the sugar isn't grown here, the yeast isn't and the salt is not found here so that's a bust.

Thirdly, last night we went to our friend Annie's for dinner and what a delightful treat it was! The conversation was scintillating, the mojitos delish and the food divine! A menu follows as it was so well thought out and scrumptious:

appetizers

bruchettas with fresh tomatoes and basil

bruchettas with horseradish bean pate

watermelon, feta and mint salad

main

grilled halibut

grilled potatoes and tiny eggplants

desert

grilled peaches with a plum yoghurt sauce

cafe latte

As well, Annie's sister told us about an elderly pal of hers in Florida (last known age - 103) who when asked what he attributed his longevity, said he wrote a letter or a note a day and mailed it!

So, some of us are going to start that practice.

Gwen is here and we're all set with coffee and connections so I must get to it! Talk to you later...