End of this Chapter

After much thought I've decided that I will no longer be continuing this blog. I started this blog when I was a lot younger and so many things have changed since then, I've grown up and my views have changed a lot. I've found it harder to express myself on here (hence the radio slience) and now it's time to close this chapter and move on...
I will still be writing but we'll see where and how that works out...so watch this space

A Christmas post

Hi everyone I'm back!
Exams are all over and done and now I'm looking forward to Christmas and relaxing... yeah this is going to be a kind of Christmasy post, only because I thought I'd share with you this speech I did on Christmas characters. It's more of a an expose, but I really enjoyed researching it so I hope you enjoy it as well! (Note: I am not implying that you should stop doing Christmas or anything, this is just purely for interest)

Christmas Characters

When you think of Christmas what comes to mind?...
Santa Claus or Father Christmas is what we might think of but for children and adults across the centuries, many other Christmas characters come to mind...
In this post I'm going to cover a few characters from different countries and ages. For each one we're going to look at their Christmas legend, their origins and also how they compare to Santa Claus.

The first character is Odin. Odin was a old Norse god, often depicted as having a long beard, a broad floppy hat and a dark cloak. He carries a spear and has only one eye (as the other was lost in some battle)

(Wikipedia)

Odin's link to Christmas is that every year during the Winter Solstice (21st of December) he would lead a ghostly procession of the dead across the sky, on his eight legged horse Sleipnir. During this time children would leave hay and carrots in their boots by the chimney, as food for Sleipnir and in return Odin would leave a present by their boots. 

Apart from this Odin is known as someone who searches for and gives wisdom, yet has no regard for 

laws or justice. He is a complex character, both a 'war god' and a 'poetry god', and generally is a bit sinister.

Similarly to Santa he leaves presents in footwear and rides an animal through the night sky. An interesting thing to note is that Odin's stead has eight legs and Santa has eight reindeer. But other than that Odin seems and interesting choice for a children's hero.

La Befana

La Befana is the Italian gift giver who holds a place equal to Santa for many Italians. She is a good witch who is seen flying on her broomstick on Epiphany eve (January 5th) with her sack full of presents and candy for good children, and she also carries lumps of coal for the bad ones.

(Historyandwomen.com)

As popular legend has it Befana was visited by the three wise men on their way to see baby Jesus. She invited them to stay the night at her house as she was the only housekeeper in the village. In return the Magi invited her to come with them on their journey, but Befana declined saying she had too much cleaning to do and so the wise men left. Later on Befana changed her mind and after gathering some presents she went after them, but the star disappeared and she got lost. And ever since then, she has been giving present to children in the hopes of getting baby Jesus.

But, however, the origins of Befana seem much older than Christianity...Many believe she is based on the Roman goddess Strina who gave gifts at New Year. Befana may also be the older state of the Celtic mother nature who's figure used to be burnt on a bonfire at the end of each year. Interestingly enough a figure of Befana is still sometimes burnt on a bonfire. 

Befana is similar to Santa in the way that she flies through the air and carries gifts in a sack. Befana is also known to slip down the chimney to deliver her gifts. However she said to be poorer than Santa and so Italian children ask Santa for the expensive presents and Befana for the lighter, more inexpensive presents that Santa didn't bring.

Julenisse

The Julenisse, as you can see here, looks a lot like Santa. He is about the size of a child and is rather slim. He wear a red cap and traditional Scandinavian farmers clothes.

On Christmas eve the Julenisse travels around Scandinavia with his sack full of presents, knocking on doors and asking if there are "any good children inside."

(Johannasdeckarhorna)

The Julenisse is a blend of several characters, but he is mostly based on the Nisse, a figure from Scandinavian folklore. The Nisse were solitary, temperamental barn sprites that loved playing practical jokes. They were only found on farms, where they would help the farm prosper by doing farm work and taking care of the animals. In return all they asked for was respect and Christmas porridge with butter on top on Christmas eve. There is one story about a Nisse flying into a rage and killing a cow because the farmer had accidentally put the butter on the bottom of the porridge instead of the top. When the Nisse came back and ate the porridge he realized what a terrible mistake he'd made and so to patch things up, he went an stole a cow from another farm.

The Nisse however have origins in ancestor worship as the present farmer would try and appease the spirit of the original farmer (the Nisse) to gain his favor.

The modern Julenisse (Julenisse = Christmas Nisse) unlike Santa lives in a nearby country or forest. He doesn't slide down the chimney, instead he walks right up to the door. However he has now been more 'santafied' as he now rides in a sleigh drawn by reindeer, although these reindeer can't fly.

Santa

Most of us know that Santa came from St Nicholas, and was popularized by the Coca Cola ad in 1930. What is not so well known is that Santa was heavily influenced by the Holly King.

(ashsilverlock.com)

The Holly King was the Celtic winter god who would battle with the Oak King (the summer god) during the winter and summer solstices to figure out who would reign. And funnily enough the Holly King won every winter solstice (21st of December). The Holly King is documented to have worn red, and ridden in a sleigh pulled by eight deer. Interestingly Santa nowadays has a sprig of holly in his hat.

Santa is also linked to Odin as before mentioned, with his night-riding and gift giving. 

His jolly character, flying vehicle and red clothes may also come from the Norse god Thor (yes that's the god of thunder and lightning)

(http://jefffsbeardboard.yuku.com)

Others trace aspects of his legend to Freyr (lord of the elves) La Befana and the Nisse.

So when it comes to Christmas who are we really celebrating?

Making tea

A little adventure to making awesome tea...

So for the last couple of days I've been craving chai tea (no I'm not pregnant :P) just the smell, of its warm cinnamony spices reminds me of cozy fires and warmth, the perfect stuff for a freezing winter.
 Unfortunately I'm a bit of a coffee drinker and I always seemed to reach for the coffee jar as it seems a much more practical drink (seeing as I'm in the habit of being a night owl, I've not caught that love of sleep that most adults have) I've also heard too many stories about drinking loads of caffeine, so I've kind of put my craving off.
Not that that works for long... so this morning I decided to forgo my usual ritual and make a cup of nice warm chai tea, so I put the tea bag in and left it, and left it. five minutes past, ten minutes past but the colour in the cup hadn't really changed. I was a bit disappointed as I really like a good strong brew, but decided to put the milk in anyway as it might taste alright after all. However it was not so, the colour became a horrid milky white and when I took a sip, I was disgusted. There was no flavour, no taste, and it wasn't even warm anymore. So much for nice hot chai.
However I was still determined to have some chai tea so I went on pinterest and looked up a few recipes, and then I came on this one. It didn't look impossible and we didn't have any cardamon but I was desperate... so in went the spices and water (I put a little more spice in, just in case).. and the whole recipe was easy, just boil and steep for ten minutes, so not much watching either. One batch gives you enough for four drinks and you can refrigerate the liquid which is really handy. But what topped that was the taste, it was nice and warm and spicy, and if you fluffed up the milk it tasted *amazing* -waaay better than the brought stuff!
So if you're feeling like a flippin' amazing tea, just pop over to Live Simply and treat yourself :)

Avoir du Style

Avoir du Style:  to have style

There's something I've been thinking out for a while; I haven't ever written about one of the loves of my life- Style and fashion. I've written about Modesty and Sewing, which are kind of related but I guess every time I thought what can I say, but then I guess I can just share a love rather than give advice. So here goes...

The art of wearing clothes is something that's always intrigued me…

Colour, pattern, texture, shape, all swirled into a mix, that can completely change a person’s mood, ‘age’ and how other people will respond and judge them.

Its like music, it’s so individual, to each person, the blending of material to express a unique soul, a flavour and taste that is so beautiful. I guess this is why I have so much of a problem with ‘fashion’, it doesn’t say anything about the person, it doesn’t speak; whereas a woman in a feminine dress with a cardigan and loads of tats does. And that’s not something I’d ever do but it doesn’t mean it’s still not beautiful.

                                                                  (pinterest)

And the pursuit of this beauty is something that intrigues me; working with the body, with its unique colourings, not against them. And sure the style world has lots of tricks on how to make your hips look bigger or smaller or whatever -there isn’t essentially anything wrong with that.

This is why I guess I’m so into modesty too, and against it at the same time. Because you learn of all the motivations for dressing, the fact that dressing sexy isn’t fishnets and corsets (wow did I just say that) some men find girls in oversize jackets hot. But men and clothes is a whole nuther topic.

So here is a little introduction to style. It was actually pretty hard to write because it’s such a diverse controversial topic. But how about you? What do you think about clothing and style?

Whistful dreaming

Imagine setting off for distant lands. To where the wind howls sharply, and snow ices the ground for months. Where no food tastes the same. Where languages are different.
Where you can walk right over the border and be in a different world.

Imagine that...

I mean New Zealand is alright in itself, it's all I've ever known. But what's over that mountain? What's across that sea? Ah, wanderlust...just wait and see

Being DF

Week three. Yes it's been three weeks since I started the no milk, no butter life (no cheese or cream either) And I haven't even blogged any of it. Naughty me. Oh well here it is, the trials of being DF

I guess having a food allergy is like being Introverted, you are more comfortable eating at home (read you EAT at home) and aren't comfortable eating out.

Our culture just doesn't cater for people with allergies, and finally I've got to see this from both sides of the fence - the cook and the intolerant.

So what is it actually like? I think it's quite fun and challenging, I mean for me one breakfast is not the same as the next, vegan pancakes to porridge, egg to smoothie -frankly that's just because I can't quite face the idea of having cereal and rice milk, maybe next week.

You get to try all sorts of things like Hot chocolate rice milk, and DF chocolate. You get quite good at reading labels, and refusing food (which is quite an art believe me)

The first week was pretty hard, I couldn't help thinking of cream cheese, and dairy full puddings, it didn't help that two days after I started we got give lots of yummy food, half of it had dairy in it -funny how these things happen. I have to admit I cheated once or twice, I just got so fed up with being restricted. 

The second week was easier, I didn't feel like I was missing out, I found ways of getting round stuff. I started drinking tea again (coffee and rice milk don't mix) In fact I got up to drinking 4 cups a day - which is no recommended by the way.  But it is fun trying all the different flavours, I've found some favourites -like strawberry tea. And the nice thing is most people have it.

So here I am at week three, feeling as though I could actually live like this (until the next cheesecake drifts past) I don't miss milk, I don't miss butter, cheese (non fancy stuff) doesn't get to me anymore.  I can eat a white sauce made up with water and not bat an eyelid... don't ask about the amount of flavourings though.  It's funny how quickly your taste buds adapt.

The only thing I don't like about it as that I'm eating a lot more gluten, cause that's easy to whip up. Oh well I have another week to play with, and then comes the biggest test of all - finding a balance

Alternative Cooking

Lately the famous 'THM diet' has taken our community by storm...
It's a primarily weight loss diet, in which you separate your carbs from your fats, eat mainly carbs at one meal, then mainly fats at another. It's also sugar free and has limited gluten.

Attracted by the sugar free idea, Mum and I looked into it. Not that we need to lose weight, but both of us have several allergies, that this 'plan' could accommodate.  Anyway a couple of 'E' meals and 'S' meals later, I decided that it wasn't so much for me, I had a lot of air in my stomach, and would always be burping. Mum burps a lot when she is reacting to something, so I tried to find out what was wrong. Turns out that I might have been a bit extremist with my eating, after eating a few wheat crackers when I wasn't mean to, my tummy stopped complaining.
Now this isn't a THM critic report, I like many of the ideas in it, and I'm sure it works for many people, it just doesn't work for me.

Anyway one of the things I learnt from it was how to cook without flour, by grinding up coconut flakes and rolled oats. So I began experimenting, next thing I was making almond milk and substituting constantly. We also have a Vegan staying at our place at the moment which is also stretching my cooking skills, but I'm loving it, I would never have found out how delicious cauliflower sauce is, or how scrumptious vegan pancakes are. It's so liberating going into the kitchen and being able to make delicious vegan food without even realising it!

Vegan Pancakes              
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup flour (use coconut or nut flour for GF)
2 tsp Baking p.
1 tsp Guar-gum (probably optional, it basically thickens)
1 banana, or any amount of fruit
cinnamon (optional)
vanilla
3 tspns sugar (or nativa)
1 tspn salt
1 Tbls margarine (optional)
Rice milk (or any nut milk, or regular milk)

Mix dry ingredients together, then add the wet ones. This mixture is meant to be quite thick, but you may need more liquid. Cook in a pan like regular pancakes.


This recipe is pretty flexible as you can see, I mean, I added my leftover smoothie the other day and it tasted really good. Also I've found if you add an egg or two it makes the thinnest, fastest cooking pancakes ever. This also tastes really good with whipped coconut cream and cooked apple.  It's also really filling, you only need three before you're stuffed -and I don't get full easily.

P.S I'm going to try DF soon, which will be an adventure for this white-sauce loving girl, I'll try post some of my recipes.
-Tiffany

Sewing patternless

Yup I'm doing it! I'm trying my hand at designing a jacket for the winter. A little scary, but awesome  -I can make whatever I like, with in the constraints of the material of course.
The jacket isn't completely patternless, I did start off with a 'base', remember this?

Well I'm basing it off this, because I want it to have some flair, not like an ordinary jacket. Plus it's the only jacket pattern we have (last I checked) So after lots of researching to decide just exactly what style I wanted, and lots of astronaut looking sketches

 I decided just to start, so I cut out the pattern in a large size (to leave room for draping etc) joined some of the pattern pieces together, as I didn't want the white biby thing that is in the above picture. I sewed a mock up in calico and spent ages in the mirror trying to pin it to fit. Then I decided to cut it in half so that I could add more length, cause as you can just see it didn't come down over my hips. So last night I added a strip and sewed it in between, like this (excuse the phone pictures)

(The right side is the top half by the way)

from the outside it looks more like this:

As you can see it's only half of it, and the bottom picture has the top on the left side instead.

Now I am starting to unpick the vertical seam so that I can cut it out on in the material (hence the lifeless half pictures) 

The material

And that's as far as I've gotten, I'm hoping to have finished unpicking today and get onto the real thing, and eventually the decorating (really looking forward to that part :D )

But I still have to design the hood, collar, and sleeves yet so hopefully it all goes smoothly :)
It'll probably be dystopian/post apocalyptic in style, using lots of zippers and old buttons for character :) This blog is definitely turning into a sewing/writing one.

-Tiffany 

Updating the last update

Oh wow! Excuse my terrible blog posting - the last real post was a new years one!! Oh dear, so much for wanting to post more :/

So what have I done lately? Got my licence, school work and contemplated sewing again :) My favourite place to haunt at the moment is the dreamstress (she runs a challenge to make a historical costume once a fortnight ) dreaming about getting some costume done in a fortnight so that I can make something. Well it's only been dreaming as I haven't got the patterns or material to pretend to start :/
Although I have started fixing a bodice of on my Regency dress that I made years ago -the bodice length is way too short, and on a Regency dress that looks hideous. Got so far but don't know if I have any material left -lol.
But even if I had a costume I don't know where I would wear it -Costumer problem #1. So I was thinking of making some undergarments, something that would go underneath the stuff I have. But corsets are kinda out of the question as I don't have half the material, although I have drafted a elizabethan pattern :P
Today we went through the linen cupboards and Mum gave me a few sheets, so now I have lots of ideas buzzing round my head, mostly including part silk table cloths. Ah oh well.

Anyway I have to have lunch, hopefully I get round to posting again soon :/

Bits and bobs

I'm just writing down some interesting ponderings about stuff I learnt to day.

In search of truth.

Wouldn't it be nice if we knew somethings were absolutely true. I don't mean things like did God create the universe. But things like is being doggedly positive about everything Christian/Buddhism, Christian or Buddhism ;) get your head around that one. Ok I'll ease it up... Do you think "pain free births" are for Christians or is it an influence from an Eastern Religion? hmmm... I don't actually know... sounds Buddhist to me (as in everything is an illusion type stuff) but at the end of the day it isn't important (well definitely not for me ;D ) *

But it would be really nice if Jesus just said" Missy you're doing real well there.... and well this needs fixing." A kind of Rev 2 & 3 re-enactment. Well that might actually be kinda painful in the end... but a least you'd have some sense of direction!
(just paused to read an article about Buddhism and pain free births, wasn't that helpful in a philosophical sense but I gleaned one thing; *don't freak out* about labour pains and I have to admit that that's gotta help)

Anyway all that blah di blah was just a baby question of mine (pun not intended) and I guess everyone has questions about everything. Soo helpful. So last month I decided to go to a counsellor (someone fall over and die/scream or gasp) just to see what it was like -as it was free. It was like having a conversation, we didn't discuss anything big and it was a lady btw. We talked about fairly controversial topics like music and conflicting word views that you agree with (WHAT! somebody explain! ;) when someone on one side of the fence says blah di blah about singing and the other person on the other side of the the fence says blah di blah opposing their neighbours view... but when you analyse them they both make sense. Small problem) anyway we talked about stuff and one thing that I really got out of it was... don't worry if you don't get it right! well duh common knowledge... but for some reason I couldn't quite get into my head that you didn't have to know everything about God right away... I mean all he asks for is you to believe and receive that he loved you enough to die for you**... really? Is it that simple?! well apparently... But then life crashes in on you (btw I tend to be slightly pessimistic naturally) and you watch riveting videos about the promises in Revelation that are panning out in modern day Israel that urge you to study God's word (out of fear, I mean honestly who doesn't want to avoid bad stuff) but the problem is your bible isn't at all interesting and you want it to be interesting plus you've been raised on the book so you kinda know a bit. Ok a *bit*.
Anyway you go down the same old track of getting other peoples opinions and some say get to know God first then read his book and others say take a concrete pill/ build a bridge and get over it. Then you get really confused and round it goes again. Brilliant!
But life goes on... and you keep on struggling through it with highs and lows. So hopefully God will reveal himself more and somethings will fall into place before we're on our deathbed. ;D So I guess this is my little corner of rebellion. I hope it made sense. Probably didn't help one bit. But anyway it's a slice of a real teenagers life
-Tiffany

(and I manage to cover my favourite topics; midwifery and deep thoughts in one post and it's 11:10pm)





*Another unimportant, wanna be a midwife find;  apparently Vaginal Birth after C-section (VBAC) is safer than continued c-sections statistics for maternal death of VBAC mothers 3.8 out of 100.000 v.s the American populace of 13.4 out 100.000 (for non VBAC) also apparently Amish women have a lower c-section rate etc. read more here
**btw I only just realised that was all God asks for