February

I can't believe that I did not manage to get one post done in February, it was busy, but still. I think it is the first time that an entire month has passed without anything at all...

So, I have just spent a couple of hours updating February, and as you shall see the last of January. Some things that don't make the camera:

We have continued with Wednesday Co-op though this will be our last session. We all feel a little sad about finishing up but it has been a little over 2 years now and I am starting to feel like I need to do something else with the time I spend preparing for my classes there. I guess about a day a week in preparation and then a day at the co-op is what I spend each week. There are some things I want to achieve with our children this year and something had to give. Also we have alot of travel planned and I don't like to miss the classes I teach.

We started a Tuesday Co-op here and at my friends house in January and that went really well, I have posted a little about that and hope to do a few more weeks in April and May (though we will be very busy in May and will be away too).

I have started Brewing Kombucha Tea - "Kombucha is a catalyist. An Elixir. It makes things happen" it is a fermented drink made with a SCOBY which is a Serendipitous Colony of Bacteria and Yeast(also called a mushroom) and Tea. Currently we are usuing a strong black tea but you can also use red or greed tea. We have decided to use a continuous brew method so that we make tea each day and draw off what we need and replace with the new tea. So far, two batches have come off and it is yummy. You can buy the mushrooms and kits in Australia. It has lots of health properties but like most non-pharmeceutical products the results are annecdotal rather than clinical (cos who is going to spend the money on the clinical trials? not the Pharmaceutical companies). I am new to this and D and I are only just learning about the beneficial properties, I'll keep you posted. D and I have decided to take a little more agressive approach to the prevention of cancer as we get closer to the age of our parents/grandparents experience with the disease and this is one of the steps we are taking. Those who have had the unfortunate experience of disussing it with me will know of my anger at orthodox oncology and their stubborn reliance on Chemical and Neuclear medicine which has not really changed in 50 years and which has not improved the chances of surviving cancer in all of that time either. The thing that has improved is early detection and treatment of early (operable) cancers. If they can't operate your chance of survival is the same as it was 50 years ago! scary hey! So we need to take our health into our own hands, take it back from the medical and pharmaceutical world and make the changes we can in our lives.

What else have we been up to? J has continued with her Piano lessons, we have celebrated a couple of birthdays with friends and J and I went to Riverdale to see her friend in a prodcution of Alice in Wonderland and had a lovely dinner together before the show.

D and I went to dinner with some new friends and left J home to babysit for the first time at night time EVER....It was a big step for all of us, they had a fine time and were sound asleep in bed when we got home. We had a good time too. More of that to come, so hard to believe that the time of paying a babysitter might actually be behind us after 12 years. I'd like to give her as much opporuntiy to do it for us as we can so she is more experienced when she is asked to babysit for others.

And of course we just spent a week skiing at Smugglers Notch in Vermont. It was our 3rd trip to Smuggs and once again we had a fantastic week. We shared again with E and her 2 boys (her husband had to work unfortunately). There are lots of photos and a post to come about it though, so I'll stop there.

I brought home a head cold and have been taking some Eldebery Tincture since yesterday afternoon - trying a natural approach, so we'll see how that goes. Otherwise we are all well and whole. D took a tumble and thinks he repaired his sholder after damaging it last year skiing....how funny, he deicded to see a doctor again but put off the appointment until after we had been skiing in case he injured himself again, but it seems he fixed the problem himself.

Tonight we are heading to West Point to do some Night Skiing, so the Smuggs post might have to wait. Not too long I hope becasue I am almost up to date...again!!