INTERNATIONAL BOOK WEEK

Apparently it's International  Book Week so let's try this:

Grab the book you are currently reading,

 turn to page 52,

 comment with the 5th sentence.

 Then tell us the title and the author. 

My turn first:

 "Just as it had been last night but now exposed as truth in the light of day."

 The Snow Child by  Eowyn Ivey

Cheers.

TIME FOR AN OUTING

It's ages since I've taken you on an outing. Life has been so busy with family commitments.

Last night we decided to go into the city for the Laser Light Show that is a part of the River Festival that happens every year at this time.
As usual we traveled by City Cat into town and were greeted by the lanterns all along the river shore.

 

They looked so pretty

 

just floating there above our heads.

There were lots of people there for a mid-week, school night



possibly because the weather was perfect although there was a cool breeze blowing off the water.

Of course we were there for the light show..... and so were an ever increasing number of families.

Tony set up his tripod and it wasn't long before the show began.




Set to music

 

 

 Sadly the display only lasted for about 10 minutes so we wandered off along the river looking for a nice spot to have dinner.

We finally settled on this one.

 

A glass of red wine, a lovely wood fired pizza, pleasant surroundings...

and good friends. What more could you ask for?
( sorry about the poor photo quality - via phone and Facebook )

Then it was back to the River Cat

past this unusual " sculpture".

A lovely night out.


Cheers. 

FINDING A NEW CHALLENGE

  
Here's Sally facing her latest challenge - hiking through the mountains in Switzerland !
 

This photo was taken yesterday at Hörnlihütte "pinch" at 3260m and that is the Matterhorn behind her.

A couple of days before that it was the Hohtürli high pass.

from (http://aussiepaul.com/2003/07/hoehtuerli_hike.html)

 

Seeing these mountains is on my Bucket List.

 

Hiking up  them is not !!

 

I plan to travel up them in the comfort of a gondola, funicular railway or cable car.

 

 

 

 

Can't wait to see the rest of her photos.

 

Cheers.

 

STATS

When I signed in today I had a look at my Stats

.

Do you ever do that?

 

Just wondering how many people had been dropping by to visit my blog lately.

I was quite surprised to see that I have had over 100 000 visitors reading about what goes on here at Chez Helsie.

 

Many thanks to those of you who visit regularly and leave a message. It has been fantastic to get to know you all.

Of course there are obviously many who visit and don't comment to get to such a big number and I thank you for your visits too and hope that some day you will stop to chat.

 

The next thing that always interests me is to look and see which post has earned the most visits.

One of my posts unfailingly tops the viewing stats and it is this one :

 

What's a Wattle

http://helsieshappenings.blogspot.com.au/2010/09/whats-wattle.html

 

It's possible that it comes up in searches when folks ( students ) are researching wattle trees or even the building style wattle and daub and that could result in its popularity.

 

The second most popular one is a post entitled :

 

Weird Flowers

http://helsieshappenings.blogspot.com.au/2010/09/wierd-flowers.html

 

Now this one stumps me but I think the word weird in the title must have something to do with its popularity.

 

Old Queenslanders

http://helsieshappenings.blogspot.com.au/2010/01/on-my-way-home-from-visiting-mum-and.html

 

attracts attention perhaps from people looking for activities for pensioners !

 

 

But the one that really brings a smile to my face is :

 

Depressed

http://helsieshappenings.blogspot.com.au/2010/09/depressed.html

 

It's always high on the viewing list and if you were googling the word "depression " and found yourself looking at this post you might get a bit of a surprise.

 

 

Does anybody else out there look at their Stats?

 

Cheers.

 

SO PROUD

Recently I told you the story of my daughter Sally and her patient/friend Nathan who had undergone a full lung transplant  here.

Today we were greeted with this news headline in the Gold Coast newspaper.

 

Gold Coast physio wins national award

 

It was accompanied by this photo.

 

 

‘I ♥ my Physio’ competition

 

 This brave young man had nominated Sally to enter this first time award by the Australian Physiotherapy Association and she has won it !!!

 

Woo Hooo!

 

 

 

This is what he wrote in his entry.

“My name is Nathan and I suffer from cystic fibrosis. At the end of 2011 my disease had progressed to the terminal stage. My only option was to receive the gift of life, a double lung transplant. I received that gift on 13 of March 2012. None of this would have happened if it wasn't for my dedicated physiotherapist, Sally .

She never gave up on me, even at my worst and always kept my hopes high. Sally would be beside my bed, day after day, giving me at times painful treatments to get me across the line. And that she did, and for that I thank her. My life has now changed dramatically.

With the continuing persistence of Sally, I have now found a new love for exercise without oxygen and severe coughing fits; and recently I completed my first ever 5.7km fun run at the Gold Coast Marathon in June with Sally by my side.

The past few years have been a financial struggle as well, as I have not been able to work. If I win this competition, I would put the proceeds towards a new bike to complete my first ever triathlon.”

 

The organisers of this competition had this to say:

World Physiotherapy Day is an opportunity to recognise the work that physiotherapists do for their patients and community.

This year the panel had its work cut out, with more than 250 impressive entries from around the country and across many different fields of physiotherapy,’ APA President and judging panelist Melissa said. “Nathan’s story is inspiring for us all; it was really touching to see this young man overcome a terminal diagnosis and develop a new love for exercise and life.

We were very impressed by the professional and personal  commitment demonstrated by his physiotherapist. Sally went above and beyond her normal daily duties to support Nathan during his illness and recovery and is now competing with him in fun runs - that is dedication! Nathan’s story highlights the benefit of clinical excellence, a positive attitude and the right support.’

Isn't that great?

 

As I said,

 

So Proud !!!

 

Edited to add:

Both Sally and Nathan have won an iPad and $1000 prize money.

 

INCABERRIES

 

Yesterday, as we were going about our daily business, I purchased a packet of " healthy snack mix "

 

You know the type - almonds, pistachios, dried paw paw, hazelnuts, cranberries and what I took at first glance ( without my glasses !! ) as sultanas.

 

 

But when I tasted the "sultanas" I knew I had made a mistake so I put on my glasses and had a good look at them.

 

Here's a close up of one.

See, it has lots of little seeds inside it and the taste starts off sweet and ends on a tart taste.

 

 

I looked on the contents of the packet ( with my glasses on !!) and saw that the mystery ingredient was an Incaberry.

 

Never heard of them !

 

 

 

I took this photo so you can see the size of them.

 

I wondered if they might have been some type of gooseberry because of all the seeds and the tart taste so I looked them up.

 

This is what I found:

 

 

"Similar to a Cape Gooseberry, the Incaberry is a small fruit with a glossy orange-yellow skin that is surrounded by papery leaves. Once the fruit is dried it has a distinctive bronze orange colour. Organic Incaberries are an amazing taste sensation - sweet with a fine and delicate sour finish. The taste is so unique, you just have to try them.

 

 

"Organic Incaberries are more commonly consumed as a dried fruit. Incaberries can be enjoyed alone or mixed with other fruits in salads. Try them in muesli and cereals for an antioxidant boost.

Or simply add this South American twist to the classic cheese platter.

 

 

 ( hey , that looks good! )

"Incaberries to have an antioxidant capacity higher than Gojiberries and other major dried fruits.
Dried Incaberries are very high in fibre with 19g fibre per 100g or 8g in a ¼ cup (45g). This is more fibre than 1 cup of a high fibre breakfast cereal or a salad sandwich on wholegrain bread.

But more importantly Incaberries contain soluble fibre necessary for controlling appetite and reducing cholesterol re-absorption in the intestine....."

 

So it seems I have stumbled onto a new wonder food that has not had much publicity here.... or at least not in the circles I move around in.

.

Heck, I've only just heard of goji berries !

 

I have to say I liked them and can see that I could find ways to include them in our diet.

 I especially like the look  ( and taste ) of them in a cheese platter.

 

Now I'll keep a look out for them. Perhaps a Health Food store.

 

Have you heard of them?

 

Cheers.

TAKING PRECAUTIONS

 

 

This should solve the problem in the future !

 

 

Automatically saves everything from your computer as you go.

 

Cheers.