And what is THIS deliciousness I hear you ask. THIS is my own home made brand of paleo crackers, much cheaper than the supermarket bought ones and so easy to make. It’s all just seeds (including chia seeds which are the binding agent) and water, slowly baked in an oven. Put a bit of cheese on these, or avocado, and Bob’s your Uncle.

Today is the last day of my days at home working on my own projects before I head in to the university tomorrow to take up the reins of my two-day job there. I love this combined work/life balance, and enjoy the many activities I find to do on Mon-Wed, as well as the busy work as an admin for postgraduate students at the end of the week. Right now, it’s very lively at work. The Coronavirus has played some havoc not only at my workplace but even locally where I live. We have one case of it, well documented and followed, at hospital, but it has been enough to cause a surge of frantic shopping around parts of Auckland. We have a strategy in place at the university in case we need to work from home, but that’s not on the books right now. Many of my own students are international, and have paid large sums and left home countries, to come and study here. I feel for any who are struggling to make it here in the middle of their research, and who are unable to get back because they left during the end-of-year holidays.
Last Friday, my ankle screw was removed, and I am now in the final stages of 10 days of recovery and then I’ll be exercising fully on it. It looks a LOT better than it did five months ago. (The pink is wearing off).

Meanwhile, in my small house in the suburbs, I have been slowly getting smaller (Yay! Down 11.7kgs now since early January). I have occasional surges of sugar cravings but have averted them. Yesterday I made use of a gift voucher to try one of the ‘Hello Fresh’ food boxes and when it arrived I eagerly searched the contents and made plans for my dinner for the rest of the week. I’ll be taking out the carb content in the meals, but judging by last night’s Jerk Chicken, it will be a very pleasant tasty change from my usual. I bought the three meals for two people, and plan to have left overs every other night – so six night’s dinner is sorted!

Now, in the light of all the desperation and trauma happening in the world right now, I’m going to remind you to pull back a little and see the small hopeful signs of life and beauty around you. I have to do it for myself regularly. That cunning balance between staying informed and alert, and not becoming depressed or anxious. Here are the small things that I’m heartened by:

It’s almost feijoa time, and our trees are budding with lots of fruit:

The rain has finally started appearing – we need much more of it – but this week has been overcast with stray showers. Water is so essential to our wellbeing, right? I’m going to go and get another glass of it now.

When I check our local facebook page, I still see all those friendly posts offering free items, or putting food in the free food shelves, and lost items being found. I am so glad of the generosity of strangers in my own community.

I’m ready for our winter. I’ll have to face cycling to work in the dark and the rain, but at least I can still cycle! And OUR winter, means that the northern hemisphere will finally start to see the sun- it’s definitely their turn.
Until next time. . .  enjoy your week, relax, breathe, and be kind.