Channelling Creative Energy

Casting my mind back to high school science I am reminded of the Law of Conservation of Energy.

Energy may neither created nor destroyed.

Humans can't make energy. We can't conjure it, fashion it, build it, construct it or formulate it. And much unlike a vast number of other naturally occurring phenomena, we can't destroy it either. Though I'm sure the human race would give it a red hot go given half a chance.

But what does this mean for all the negative, nervous, anxious energy I carry around with me on a daily basis? When I get tired of carrying it, but can't destroy it or put it down, what can I do with it?

The answer is channelling.

I'm having a particularly difficult time with the First Mate at the moment and I am one big walking, talking ball of tightly knotted negative energy. And it's heavy. And I'm getting tired of lugging it around with me.

Then this afternoon, in a stroke of luck/ coincidence/ blessing from the universe, I stumbled across the most stunningly beautiful magazine. I mean, without a word of a lie, spying the cover caused me to let out a little gasp of pleasure right there in my local news agent.

Flow. Magazine for paper lovers. That's me. I'm a paper lover. For as long as I can remember, the sight, touch and smell of gorgeous papers, pretty ribbons and various adhesive products has caused somewhat of a Pavlovian response in me.

Walking into Kikki K or the Kaisercraft store fills me with far more excitement than I should probably admit to.

Sitting at my craft desk mulling over my latest work for PaperCuts Cards and Creations is probably the closest I will ever come to a divine experience.

As I reached over to caress this new gift from Magazine heaven, I felt a shift in energy.

As if this other worldly experience weren't enough, I came home to find baby, harp playing cherubs flitting charmingly around my letter box.

Could it be??  Oh my goodness!

Another gift from the heavens! (Or at least a very lovely friend who unknowingly had impeccable timing). The Stampin! Up 2013 catalogue. Yay!

Slowly, as I paw over these two splendid publications, my negative energy is being channelled into creative energy. I'm being inspired and oddly fulfilled in a way that only textured cardstock and clear acrylic stamps can do.

Tomorrow will still be there. As will all the stressors that feed my anxiety and make me feel that all is utterly futile. But tonight, at least for a few hours, I feel lighter. And maybe it will make tomorrows load of energy a little easier to carry.

The Captain.

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How do you like THEM apples?

How versatile is the humble apple.  I often buy them when they're on special and make up a batch of stewed apples. Nutritious, delicious, inexpensive and oh so many different uses!

Stewed Apples

1kg apples (any you like!)

1/3 cup caster sugar

1/2 cup water

1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp corn flour

Makes approx 900g of apple mix

This recipe is more art than science folks. Adjust any or all ingredients to your taste. It all works equally well.

Peel and chop apples. 

I like to finely dice them but you can chop them any way you like.

Add all ingredients except corn flour together in a saucepan.

Cover and simmer until apples are tender. This will take approximately 20 minutes.

Don't forget to stir regularly!

If desired, add the corn flour dissolved in water to the mix to thicken the syrup.

Voila! A delicious batch of stewed apples ready to use.

But what to do with it?

First Mate loves it with Golden Syrup on oats for breakfast.

Hoeing in. 

Note the piece of string sitting on the breakfast table. He carried that around with him all day.

With pikelets and cream for afternoon tea perhaps? 

Did someone say apple crumble cheesecake slice?

Oh, I think so!

Other uses-

• Apple crumble
• Apple and cinnamon muffins
• Omit the cinnamon from the recipe then blitz the final result up for apple sauce perfect for roast pork
• Omit the cinnamon and sugar from the recipe then blitz up for completely natural baby food
• Substitute apples for pears- they work just as well

I'd love to hear your suggestions!

And to sign off with a bit of gratuitous fun, here's one of my favourite clips from one of my favourite movies, Good Will Hunting.

How do you like them apples?

The Captain.

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United We Stand

In modern Australian society there  are a few topics that are guaranteed to split any group of people right down the centre.

In no particular order they are asylum seekers, Ford vs Holden, gay marriage, State of Origin football and ADHD.

Now, I have some pretty firm views on some of those topics but today, let's focus in on ADHD. 

As I've spoken about in previous posts, the First Mate and I have beaten a weary path together over the past few years, culminating in the suggestion he be assessed for ADHD.

There ensued a flurry of reports, anecdotal records, documentation, assessments and requests. I bounced incessantly between teachers, GP's, guidance officers, learning and behavioural specialists, optometrists and paediatricians to be finally spat out of the Whirling Dervish experience with a formal diagnosis of both Hyperactive and Inattentive ADHD. And a prescription for medication.

Now, I consider myself a fairly intelligent woman. I started my research long before we received the diagnosis. I've read books, consulted medical specialists, learning support teachers and most importantly, other mothers to try and arm myself with the necessary information to make educated choices for my son. Everyone has a different opinion. And everyone has a different interpretation of the scientific facts (somewhat like religion really).

I've discovered two things in this process. 

1) There is no single solution for managing children like the First Mate. It is a process of elimination. Two steps forward, one step back. Try, try again. It's taking snippets from all the sound advice you've read, heard and stumbled upon from various sources and piecing them together like the fabric in a shabby chic quilt. Individually the pieces are scraps, but when sewn together, those scraps are functional and comforting.

2) Be mindful of your audience. I'm a fairly open person. I've certainly been accused of being too open often enough. I tend to discuss my life with anyone who will listen if I think it will help either them or me (hence the blog!) but since entering the realm of ADHD I've had to learn to guard both myself and the First Mate. As I mentioned in my opening paragraph, ADHD can be a very divisive topic and there are more than enough people ready to shoot you down if you raise this in public.

I'm not here to prove its validity as a medical condition or give evidence towards the effectiveness of medication. That's not my role or my purpose. I believe it's important to seek out information from a variety of sources and challenge your views in order to feel confident in your choices. It's not helpful to blindly barrel ahead with single minded focus to the exclusion of new data, research, ideas and options.

HOWEVER, it is an equally futile use of precious emotional energy to invest too much in constantly justifying yourself and your choices to people who may not have your or your child's best interest at heart. People who will feel the need to use your 'poor parenting', 'bad diet', lack of discipline' (we are all familiar with these oft regurgitated stereotypes) to push their own agendas. To feed feverishly on your insecurities to feel better about themselves. You needn't look too hard for these jackals. There are plenty of them out there.

Perhaps it's the budding anthropologist in me, or perhaps it's purely out of my own personal necessity, but I believe in the old adage "It takes a whole village to raise a child".

For this single mum to a boy with special needs, my village is everything. Filled with an eclectic mix of people, my village provides me the benefit of differing values and opinions balanced with the strength and support to forge my own path. We provide a united front against the jackals.

Image source www.cps.regis.edu

United we stand, divided we fall. And let's face it, some days, to simply still be standing is an immense achievement in itself!

Keep on standing.

The Captain.

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Sharing the Designer Love

A few people have made comment to me about how 'pretty' my blog looks. In the interest of full disclosure, I'm afraid I have to admit that I can take absolutely zero credit for this.

A very quick 'free blog template' Google search led me to two awesome websites which helped me tremendously.

             

Both Leelou Blogs and Shabby Blogs have amazingly beautiful design work which they generously offer for free personal use AND provide very easy step by step instructions on how to use them. I have used design elements from both these websites in my blog template.

While we're at it, I also need to give a shout out to A Beautiful Mess.Their amazing ipad app turns my ordinary photos into something blog worthy!

I have absolutely no affiliation with any of these websites, I just wanted to share the designer love!

The Captain.

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