A comfort from the past: Vegemite Soup

One outcome of my journey to and from lapbanding is that I have made some decisions/resolutions to implement even as the New Year progresses. I am having minimal fat - have had nothing cooked in fat for a month so the only fat I eat is that included in food. I have not had any red meat - and that contains a fair bit of fat. So I plan to do without fat and red meat. I have also had no caffeine of any sort for five weeks. For a girl for whom caffeine was the drug of choice this is no mean feat. My favourite method of ingestion of the substance was Pepsi Max and Diet Coke. Now I have that out of my system, I intend to do without. For something cool and sweet there is diet cordial (yeah I know about aspartame). But I have reverted to comfort food from my childhood - Vegemite soup by the cupful. For those of you outside Australia who are not aware of Vegemite as an Australian icon and national food since 1923, Vegemite is a concentrated yeast extract of a black, thick, muddy consistency. It is an acquired taste so Aussies don't hold it against you if you hate it. We acquire our taste as babies when our mums mix it in with our pureed potato and pumpkin. Mums love this too and tend to put on weight eating the leftovers. We have Vegemite soldiers - vegemite spread on thick butter on thick toast cut into strips. For Vegemite soup you put a teaspoon or a dessertspoon (I prefer the dessertspoon) of vegemite in a cup or mug of hot water and stir to dissolve. If it doesn't quite dissolve, when you get to the bottom of your cup there is a nice little bit to scoop out and lick with your spoon. Vegemite is one of the world's richest known sources of Vitamin B. Aussies have always known this but now Kraft skite about it and put it on the label. The calories are low, there is little protein, virtually no carbs, and even less fat. However, if you are on a salt free diet, you had better pass this buy since it is salty. You can read all about this vital part of Australia's heritage here. And don't be surprised if you invite me for a cuppa and I turn up with my bottle of Vege.

Christmas finery

FootFoot bespangled in his diamonds

Trixie in her Christmas jewels

They wish you a merry christmas,

they wish you a merry chistmas,

they wish you a merry christmas,

and a happy new year.

Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth to those of goodwill

I wish you all that which the angels breathed at the first Christmas

Peace and Goodwill to one and all

Haven't baked the cake, haven't boiled the pud?

There's always Rotary

To all those affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita...

...a happy and blessed Cajun Christmas
Hope you are on your feet soon!

For good cheer, pop over to Refreshment in Refuge
for an hilarious Cajun 12 days of Christmas
and for the Cajun 'Twas the night before Christmas go here.

Remembering last Christmastide

As we remember the events of last Christmastide
we hope that this Christmastide 2005 brings hope for the future.
God's richest blessings on all survivors of the tsunami.

William Morris - for Sharon

This picture is for Sharon
over at Beyond the Blank Page
She has been dreaming of
William Morris stitchery lately.
published in The English Home December 2005

Avec Amour and the Christmas Angel

Herself has a beautiful shop at Knoxfield
- Avec Amour -
The Christmas Angel lives there

Rose - and the one that got away

We have a masculine feline called Rose.
He's a Russell Crowe sort of cat.
Yesterday he brought in a bird.
It sought shelter behind the sideboard.
I locked Rose in my bedroom until the bird flew away.
I then let him out.
This is the record of his fruitless search for his prey.

Ferntree Gully National Park

Went for a walk this morning in Ferntree Gully National Park

which is only five minutes away from The Trad Pad.

It was a beautiful sunshiney day.
The park is not pristine as can be seen by the invasion of agapanthus and sweet peas

among a host of weed species.

There are native species to admire and enjoy....

...like gumnuts...

-

...and banks of fine maidenhair fern

...and native blossom.

There are mighty eucalypts

...and young saplings.

I walked along Belview Terrace.

I left the path seeking a short cut. I took a tumble.

I hadn't read Sharon's post at that stage in which she said

"May your path continue to get smoother..."

I didn't think that I could do the Lotus Position but found I could

if my feet ended up a few cms below my derriere.

This was the upward view from my tumbling spot.

Along my way, a shy wallaby went deeper into the bush

and a pair of red parrots hid in the tree branches

so that I couldn't photograph them.

It was a beautiful time and took sixty-five minutes.

Based on my recent condition, I felt that was a great effort.

The Journey after Lapbanding - 4

There's a smile on my dial this morning. I have got out of bed this morning feeling really great - how long since I felt like this? The bed's made, the washing is on. Will pop over to the National Park soon for a morning walk. How 'bout that? Thank you for the good wishes. I needed them.

The Journey after Lapbanding - 3

Have been pretty darn ill. Was freezing cold for three and a half days and eventually warmed up on Sunday afternoon! Have been into the surgeon to-day. The cephalin seems to be working and the infected site is shrinking but to be on the safe side he has - to this time - written prescriptions for three courses of cephalin. He also prescribed Dia-Gesic this afternoon and this has made a bit of difference. As I write at 9pm, I am feeling much better and much clearer.

Sean the surgeon seems to think that it is a combination of factors: the inadequate caloric intake (this is what this is all about); the impact of the infection in such a situation; and he says that sometimes people do bounce out of hospital like me only to be struck low some days later. He says they don't understand why this happens. I have another ten days on the liquid phase and then I move on to the pureed phase which I am then on for a month. Then the day before Australia Day on 25/1, I have my first "adjustment" which is adding/withdrawal of liquid to/from the port that is connected to the lapband. This governs how much and what can be eaten. Of course, in all this I am losing weight. 15kg in about the last six weeks.

The Journey after Lapbanding - 2

A hiccup in proceedings. Woke up this morning feeling lousy and a lot of redness about one of my five keyhole wounds. A phone call to the clinic's Nurse Practitioner, Pam. This was followed by a call from Desley at the surgeon's office at the Epworth at Box Hill to come in straightaway. Infection - but thought to be only superficial. Big hitting 500mg antibiotics and back to the surgeon's Fitzroy office on Monday. So that's why the sad face.

The Journey after Lapbanding - 1

This will be brief. I came home from hospital last night - a little early because my progress was so good. I had no pain - just some discomfort in my tummy. Everyone was amazed that I had requested no pain killers since some women have morphine drips! My little Chinese nurse Mae checked my patient notes when she came on yesterday afternoon and quizzed me through a list of pain killers which I had been allowed - none of which I requested. There is still some discomfort. I believe this is mainly due to my innards being swollen because of the interference with them during the laproscopic surgery. The operation was straight forward. The recovery has been straight forward. I am on fluids now for the next two weeks. Then for the four weeks after that I will eat only pureed food. The purpose of such an extended time is to give things time to heal before putting solid food in which might stretch the tiny new stomach. The major surprise is with my diabetes. The surgeon said it would resolve itself within 12 months. But I have not had a Diabex tablet since Tuesday night and my reading a few moments ago was 4.6 (I'm usually somewhere between the high sixes and mid sevens). I had checked last week with my GP about what would happen with the diabetes medication. It was decided to play it by ear - so by ear and the seat of my pants I'm playing it.

The journey to Lapbanding - 6

Zero hour is nigh. The suitcase is packed and I am all but out the door en route to John Fawkner Hospital at Coburg. What will happen to my tummy is pictured at right. I have lost 8kg. Only 1kg in the last week. The 7kg were shed in quite dramatic fashion in the first week. This makes approximately 12kg since I first went to the clinic. Since Saturday I kept strictly to the fast. So hopefully there will be that little extra room in the tummy for the surgeon to do his stuff. People, hopefully, will see a little less of me in the future.

Foucault's Pendulum resolved

Some years ago I read Umberto Eco's book, Foucault's Pendulum. This is a 600 page tour de force. Focault's Pendulum is about three editors who cook up a hoax involving the Knights Templar, Stonehenge, the Kabbalah, the Rosicruicians and Brazilian voodoo -among other things - that suddenly becomes all too real. I got to the end and wondered what it was all about. The only conclusion I could come to was that it was a satire about the occult and the conspiracy-type theories they breed. But after all these years, I think I may have Eco's own answer to my question of what it is all about. It is here in a simple article which speaks to our current spiritual condition. And in all this, Eco still builds the Christmas crib with his grandson.

As a postscript, I should add that I have not bothered to read the Da Vinci Code. Having read Focault's Pendulum and Holy Blood Holy Grail (whose authors are suing Dan Brown) and having a theological understanding of gnosticism I didn't feel so inclined.

A memory of food

Watching Out of Africa has reminded me of the other film of one of Karen Blixen's works - Babette's Feast. This is one of my all time favourite movies. And what a time to be talking about it when I am on limited rations! Babette's Feast is a short story written under her pen name of Isak Dineson. If you want an outline on the story read here. It is a beautiful story from beginning to end - a satisfying story as all short stories must be. Its central characters are women - including the unlikely character of Babette, formerly the head chef at a leading Paris restaurant. The feast for twelve people is a tour de force. When the movie was made, every country in which the movie opened enacted the feast. In Sydney, the chef who prepared the menu refused to include turtle soup - because turtles are endangered. In Chicago, a theatre staged the feast as a regular production. The difficulty for re-enactment is that Blixen gave no recipes and researchers have not been able to establish the historicity of the dishes named. This has meant quite a bit of creative licence for many of the dishes, particularly the extraordinary sarcophagi. But if you want to see what the Theater Oobleck came up with go here.

I had a farm in Africa...

This afternoon, I have been watching Out of Africa on the telly. Twenty years old - but still wonderful. Magnificent cast! And oh that scene in the Kenyan bush with Robert Redford washing Meryl Streep's hair. I love Klaus Maria Brandauer. And that house. Now there's a trad pad if ever there was one. And then there is the beautiful Kenyan landscape. What a pity it's various governments aren't of the same quality. You might not get to Kenya but take a look at the museum which is the Karen Blixen House.

The Journey to Lapbanding - 5

To-day I really broke harness. Lunchtime was a binge. I was ravenous. Lunch comprised a grilled chicken breast with lemon juice(the single breast, not the double), two tomatoes, sliced and grilled, and onion rings grilled. Previously I have spread that equivalent of chicken over two days. But as if this was not enough, I had entree. A 220g tin of SPC Baked Beans!

Never have baked beans tasted so sweet. Putting them on to heat, I spilled one and picked it up and put it in my mouth. Heaven!

Altogether, lunch was quite delicious and quite satisfying. I have made a resolution. While I will be eating far less in the future, I want to make every mouthful delivious and beautiful.

The Journey to Lapbanding - 4

The weight continues to drop. A further 4kg. Have now lost 11 kg.