Author: Fee Writes

Fee Writes

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A Change of Scenery

The cat survived! And, her mum was so pleased to see her. In fact, she even commented on how her darling looked sooooo good. ….. Well Done Me!

Leaving the suburb of Pyes Pa I had a night free, so off I went to Katikati to stay with my dearest friend Caitlin. How great that was! Chilling out with great conversation and good food with her and her darling hubby – nothing could be sweeter.

But it came to an end the next afternoon when I left to get back to Tauranga and to start the next house-sit.

So, where am I? Geez it sounds like a Where’s Wally book! I’m now in Devonport road about two blocks from my favourite restaurant, Grindz – a cafe that serves my kinda food!! Definitely within walking distance. I can see that on my days off I’ll be trotting along there, with laptop underarm, to get my coffee fix and work on my book.

For those who don’t know Devonport road … this is the road that goes through the CBD shopping – kind of Tauranga’s version of The High Street. Although, nowadays, because of the malls that have been built, Devonport road is not as bustling as it once was.

The house has a beautiful outlook over the water, seems to get the winter sun nicely during the day, but sure is cold in the morning as the night air circulates around a fairly open plan living area. Still, it has such a lovely feel to it, there are no animals to look after and the owners are away for 10 weeks.

Finally, I have been able to unpack properly. The lady of the house kindly provided an empty closet in the room and empty scotch dresser … although, as you can see by the photo of my packed wagon above, I don’t have enough to fill it all. She thoughtfully also cleared a couple of shelves in the pantry so I don’t have to keep my “pantry” boxes in the kitchen as I normally do.

It probably all sounds very mundane to you, but trust me, it’s the little things that make my life easier!

Now it’s all hands on the computer. I really must get this next book finished. I’ve been asked to speak or do a cooking demo at a “Vegan Vibes” expo being held here in September and it would be excellent if I could have this book ready for sale. Might be pushing it a bit, but we can live in hope.

Haven’t totally committed to the cover of the book yet … your comments will be appreciated.

On that note – I will say adieu and get my focus reset.

Fee Writes

Getting Ready To Leave

Wow! – 5 weeks goes by so fast. Now there’s a bit of a countdown going on here at the moment as I move out tomorrow.

The kitty cat is, I’m sure, looking forward to “mum” coming home – hahaha, just kidding….little kitty cat has no idea at all. I thought she would suspect when brought out the suitcase for the clothes and start dismantling the gear in the kitchen and bathroom, but she just went off to her favourite chair, curled up and has been asleep most of the day. She did wake up and lift her head for about 30 seconds when I got the vacuum cleaner close to her, but didn’t see it as a threat so just went back to sleep.

“Dismantling the kitchen…” Now that sounds like I have a lot of stuff. I really don’t. Although, living at Pyes Pa with Greerton so close and all those Op Shops, I have to admit it’s been difficult to stay away from them. So there has been occasions that I have relented and spent a few hours mooching about and trying to ferret out the good stuff.
Found an excellent winter coat – excellent winter shoes and a pretty decent jersey.

Now let me tell you a little story ….

The little kitty cat that I’m looking after is now 18. Her mum had told me that if anything went wrong to take her to the vet and he would make the call.
Well – it happened. Little miss stopped eating and just spent the entire time on the bed sleeping. She managed to drink a wee bit of water, but that was all. So worried was I that at one stage during the night I kept waking up and checking to see if she was still alive. By morning the decision was made that we were off to the vet.

The vet turned out to be a locum (temp) – a lovely lady locum vet and both she and the nurse decided that it wasn’t too cool an idea for me to have to take on such a responsibility.

The upshot was that the vet thought the kitty cat’s kidneys were probably packing in and that other organs were slowly shutting down, however, without taking blood tests she wouldn’t know for sure. Puddy was pretty dehydrated as well which was what I had thought, so… in went a couple of liquid, slow release patches, a shot of anit-biotics (or something like that), a bit of cleaning of the teeth which could have started the whole thing and to top it off, a shot of steroid (which the vet reckoned would give her a new lease of life and should last for about four weeks, plenty of time till mum came home).

Back into the car cage, into the car and a quick 10 minute trip home …. out of the car, out of the cage and guess what the little princess did? Yup, straight to the food bowl and into the tucker. From then on there’s been no looking back.

Moral of the story is: When I’ve gone out to pasture, remind me to get into the steroids so that I can see out the end of my days full of beans, eating well and sleeping when I want.

I still have about 24 hours to go before I leave, but I’m hoping nothing will happen on my watch!

Fee Writes

Food | Health | WTF

Really? Bacon is Good For You?

Now I’m probably going to upset a few people … I know many of my friends love bacon. But there’s a difference between saying you like eating bacon to saying that it’s healthy.

So here’s the deal:

I came across a post the other day which declared that bacon was good for you, in fact it said it was a “Miracle” Food

8 Reasons were given.

With the World Health Organisation coming out last year saying that processed meats rank alongside smoking as a cancer cause, I thought this wee article on the bacon interesting enough to have a read.

So what are the 8 reasons?

Well the first 5 are plainly just “clutching at straws” type of reasons:

1. Good for a hangover
2. Has a “seducing smell”
3. Fights bad breath
4. Improves the taste of everything
5. It will make you feel good.

By this time I thought, perhaps the whole article was just a send-up. But then I read the next 3 reasons and realized that it was a genuine piece.

Here are the final three with my comments below each one.

6. It helps your memory.
In this it talks about bacon being rich in choline. Well, my dear reader, maybe it is, but so are collard greens, Brussels sprouts, Broccoli, Swiss chard, Cauliflower and Asparagus.

7. It’s healthy for your heart.
This one caused me to chuckle and say out loud “really? ya think?”. Their reasoning is that it has Omega-3 fatty acids, but the fact that bacon is considered a processed food and it contains so much animal fats along with preservatives, I beg to argue that it’s not a heart-healthy food at all.
Best source of Omega-3 in a plant based version is flaxseed. See my Nutritional Book for more.

8. It’s good for your muscles.
Really what this is saying is that it has protein and protein is a muscle builder. Hahaha – protein is in so many foods that are way healthier – try nuts and seeds, tofu and tempeh, quinoa and beans and legumes. You sure don’t need bacon to become a muscle iron man or woman!!!

Aside from the fact that it is totally cruel to animals – it is NOT healthy!!! And that’s the part that annoys me, when it is advertised as being a health food. Keep eating it if you want, but at least take the time to know exactly what you are eating. If it’s a home cure then maybe it’s okay (personally wouldn’t risk it), but if it’s store bought, then reconsider.

So how many of you agree …. disagree …. Please let me know below in the comments.

Source: 8 Reasons Bacon Is Miracle Food

Fee Writes

Quick Post | Rants

Brexist And What It Means

The Poms have done it …. they’ve left the European Union to stand alone. What does this mean?

Don’t ask me – I have no idea at all what is going to happen. And, nobody does.

What I do think is that people in Britain, like people in USA are just a little fed up with the status quo. There’s a bit of a hum here in N.Z. as well, can’t speak for Australia but I think the poorer European countries are also rattling the cage as in the case of Greece. Unfortunately for Greece the masters whipped the bars and they shrank back – for now anyway.

There is a bit of a revolution going on in the West and it’s going to be fascinating to watch.

The old order is just too top heavy and I reckon the imploding process has now started.

Just my quick thought for the day.

Fee Writes

Food | Rants | WTF

All I Want Is A Nice Glass Of Wine!

The other day I had yet another example of the Internet showing you that you can find anything to go along with what you believe.

It started when an article popped up in my FB newsfeed from a friend who shared Moms Across America. The article was about some research showing that Roundup’s toxic chemical, Glyphosate, has been found in 100 California wines – 100 tested and all showing Glyphosate. There were also Organic wines in this group as well.
Now, yes, my first reaction was one of horror as I love my wine and when in California will partake of the occasional red from the Mendocino region.

However, and this is where my cynical and curious mind-set took over, how much of this was true and how much was blown up and reported out of context?
Note: Please don’t construe that last sentence as the writer being a Monsanto supporter – Ed.

So into a bit of researching I went.

The first thing I came across was the blog Reason.com, who basically said that the Moms Against Monsanto were really stupid and just doing the big old scaremongering. They had looked into the research and happily reported that, yes it was true that Glyphosate was found in the 100 wines, however, the amount was so minuscule it would pose no health threat at all.

See …. you can find anything you want. So I made the choice not to “share” the scientific findings …… just yet! I would wait.

But then another thought struck. (I’m known to have the occasional thought, not that it does me much good!)

So if there is a minuscule amount of Roundup (let’s get real, that’s what it is), showing up in organic wine, then it must also be showing up in other organic produce. I am well aware of the fact that there is no place on this earth that is devoid of man made chemicals.

Now comes the argument. If that is the case, then every time we sit down to partake of food – be it organic or not – we ingest Glyphosate. Take that one step further – Wouldn’t that mean that each product on your plate and in your glass which has a minuscule amount that it would then equal more of a significant amount ????

Glyphosate is carcinogenic – the cancer rate is increasing. Here’s my next question ….

Do the shareholders of Monsanto also have shares in one of these companies:
Novartis, Amgen or Roche – the top three Chemotherapy drug makers. ????

Am I being too cynical here? – would love to know what you think in the comments below .. or give me a thumbs up.

Author: Fee Writes

A Change of Scenery

The cat survived! And, her mum was so pleased to see her. In fact, she even commented on how her darling looked sooooo good. ….. Well Done Me!

Getting Ready To Leave

Wow! – 5 weeks goes by so fast. Now there’s a bit of a countdown going on here at the moment as I move out tomorrow.

Really? Bacon is Good For You?

Now I’m probably going to upset a few people … I know many of my friends love bacon. But there’s a difference between saying you like eating bacon to saying that it’s healthy.

Brexist And What It Means

The Poms have done it …. they’ve left the European Union to stand alone. What does this mean?

All I Want Is A Nice Glass Of Wine!

The other day I had yet another example of the Internet showing you that you can find anything to go along with what you believe.

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