The 80/20 theory - Finding what's important.

I was reading an article recently in a health magazine and the writer suggested that if we ate and drank healthily for 80 per cent of the time, then we could allow ourselves to break out and indulge in the less healthy stuff for the other 20 per cent. Not a bad regime to follow I suppose.

It's easy to get complacent about diet and food, for most of us have so much available to us, and a huge amout of choice. Sadly, mountains of foodstuffs get thrown away on a regular basis. And lots of us eat to excess.

As I lay in bed early one morning listening to the radio, I listened with sadness as a correspondent from East Africa reported on the drought in Somalia, and told the terrible story of a mother trekking hundreds of miles to find her child some food, only for the child to die on arrival at a camp. I found it hard to believe that this could still happen in the world. Today. Under the same sky.

We have technology. We can send people to the moon. We can create the most advanced medical equipment in the western world. Why can't our knowledge be put to use in other lands when the needs are so very great?

A wiser person than I may  know the reasons why these catastrophic events occur with depressing regularity and why conditions never really improve for long. I am looking from afar and cannot begin to comprehend the reasons why innocent human beings should suffer as they do. But I can hope and pray that somehow a breakthrough can be made.

How lucky are we, who can actually have the choice of a 80/20 diet?

A Letter From Provence - (Are you hungry? If not now you will be soon!)

Sitting here in Provence looking out across the vines to Bonnieux, the welcome peace surrounds me. Every year for the last eleven years  we have come here and every bend in the road seems familiar. Here we slip in to old routines without really needing to question anything.
Coffee is often taken at Christine's, the big steaming bowls of creamy cafe au lait always a delight, the croissants baked to just the right side of 'doughy'. The omelette bar in Bouix is the place for lunch, the old 'lean to' shack slightly updated this year with new wooden tables and less rickety chairs. The food is the same however, huge, light fluffy omelettes bursting with local cheese, the salad is a work of art, tomatoes and leaves sprinkled with olives and sesame seeds, and glistening with herb dressing. The frites! My goodness they are the best, everyone says so and people come from far and wide to sample them. Monsieur serves us with polite formality and quietly walks backwards and forwards to his patient wife in the kitchen. We have never met Madame but they seem the perfect pair.
Days are often spent lounging by the pool, reading, writing or listening to music and contemplating the world. Dinners are spent with our friends discussing our favourite topics and finding new ways to solve the problems of life.

It seems that nothing really changes here.At home  we are used to 24hour opening at the shops, most things available at the touch of a button, which is great most of the time. But here in Provence life remains as it always was and the locals are reluctant to change. We get used to gearing the day around rigid opening times, the fact that if you arrive at your favoured restaurant at one minute past two you won't get in no matter how much you bat your eyelids, and we shop at markets where local seasonal produce is the order of the day - no forced, out of season vegetables sprayed and packaged within an inch of it's life here!
Yesterday, I re-read Peter Mayle's 'Encore Provence', and in one chapter he describes a meal at a Bistro in the nearest town to us- Apt. The meal sounded so mouthwateringly good, I insisted we try it that very night. 'But the book's eleven years old cry my companions, it may not be the same!' 'It will be,' I say. And guess what? It was! Hot, ripe melted cheese served in earthenware bowls with fresh bread, home made taglitelle topped with frois gras and morrells, and light sponge topped with luscious salty caramel sauce - need I say more!?
Have to go now, I'm off to the omelette bar again! Au Revoir.

The Scheme of Things

Daily life goes on no matter what happens in our own personal world, but sometimes it passes by in a bit of a blur. Spending time in the Accident and Emergency department recently with my elderly Mum, I saw things from a different perspective. I used to be a nurse too, but I had forgotten how easily peoples lives can be turned upside down in a matter of moments.
No one wants to spend time in these places or be in these situations, but I must admit, it made me realise it's pointless 'sweating the small stuff'.

   .......But if I cannot change the world,
          I can bend when the storm appears,
          Do great things in smaller ways,
          And dry another's tears........

Clouds

I lay upon the ground today
And look up to the sky,
Concentrating on the clouds
As they float on by.

Connecting with the earth beneath
As it shows a peaceful face,
I see the whole world turning,
In this quiet and peaceful place.

And can I see some reason
Shine through the clouded sky
For all the actions unexplained,
So many questions why?

Yet I see there is perfection here,
And beauty fills the air,
So I will trust lifes answers
Lie in wait, somewhere.

Reconnecting with childish things and why it's important to see the world like a child

I recently published my book 'Anton the Brave Viking'- an illustrated story of a little Viking boy who yearns to be tall. Here's how I gained my inspiration to put it together............
I have watched several childrens' television programmes with my granddchildren and recently whilst watching with little Ella, I realised how differently we see the world as a child. This may sound obvious, but is worth thinking about. Notice how much brighter the colours are in our childrens' favourite story. See how good prevails, magic is commonplace and anything can happen! Laughter comes easily, and rain or shine, the everyday world is fun. Problems are usually worked around and overcome.
Of course, we know that real life is often far from perfect, and sometimes bad things happen to good people, but if we can stop sometimes and look at the colours, believe in a bit of magic, and take time out to jump in a few puddles then maybe we will walk with a bit of a spring in our step!
Anton yearns to be tall but when he stops thinking about it and concentrates on helping others, he grows without noticing! Maybe we can all grow a bit by looking through the eyes of a child.