The Restory Retreat Centre

Photo by Matilda Angus It must be more than a year already that we are following a food combination diet. Which simply put, means separating proteins and starches in meals and not having fruit with or soon after meals. This was brought on to see if it would help with George's low blood sugar problems and I knew from before that it helps me loose weight rather quickly and easily.  It did. George never comes in from the workshop anymore ready to devour the entire contents of the fridge, and I lost quite a few kg which made me feel great on our wedding day. Generally we feel much healthier and more energetic and we are now used to picking dishes carefully.  But George still was plagued by a spastic colon and we decided to take it one step further and eliminate all gluten. This is proving to be quite a challenge for me, and add to that our aiming to keep the GI count low on everything we eat, I often get anxious just thinking of what to serve at meal times.  I am const

Foto deur Matilda Angus ‘n Bakkie wat ek onlangs uit American Elm gedraai het. Ek leer aanhoudend nuwe name terwyl ek met hout werk. Die Engelse name van hout en bome is oor die algemeen meer bekend. Telkens weet ek nie wat dit in Afrikaans is nie en moet dit gaan opsoek. Dis woorde wat vir my mooi op die tong lê. American Elm is Amerikaanse iep of olm. Hickory is Amerikaanse okkerneuthout, Maple – esdoring, Yew - taksusboom, Ash – essehout, Holly – huls, Birch - berkeboom, Larch – lorkeboom, Spruce – denneboom (kan jy glo!), Beech – beukehout en ook boekenhout. Daar is egter ook name van Suid-Afrikaanse houtsoorte wat net nie hul lê in Engels kan kry nie – ysterhout, olienhout, hardepeer, stinkhout, kiaat (wat nie dieselfde as teak is nie), blinkblaar wag-'n-bietjie. Om nie eens van Afrika-, Asiatiese en Australiese houtsoorte te praat nie – Karri, Tatajuba, Panga-Panga, Masuranduba, Merbau, Jarrah, Cocobolo. Buitestaanders sien die stukke vorm aanneem op die draaibank.

Morrie Schwartz dancing Your life is not about you.                                                             Zen saying I’m usually 10 to 20 years late. If a book is on The New York Times bestsellers list in 1998, I’ll probably read it in 2015. Well, sometimes I get to it a little earlier, but Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom is a very good example. Published in 1997 I only read it last week. Retired sociology professor Morrie Schwartz, dying from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig's disease and his former student Mitch Albom had these conversations on Tuesdays in the months before his death. They covered a variety of subjects relating to the fundamentals of life. It was as if his imminent death made the wise Morrie see things even clearer than before. From one such a conversation Albom shares the following: “I heard a nice little story the other day”, Morrie says. He closes his eyes for a moment and I wait. “Okay. The story is abo

Photograph by Elliott Erwitt, New York City 1953 We cannot attain the presence of God because we're already totally in the presence of God. What's absent is awareness.                                                                                          David G. Benner In a previous post ( Klein Kaper ) Matilda wrote about the new arrival in the household, the kitten named Patat (Patat being Afrikaans for sweet potato and commonly used as a term of endearment especially where children are concerned). Lately he is often called Tappet as well (Tappet is an English word used in Afrikaans to describe a person somewhat rough around the edges. For some reason “tappet” just does not have a similar meaning in English). Since Matilda introduced him he has grown quite a bit and has become bolder to the point where you can even say that he has an attitude. It is absolutely clear that his ordeal in the engine compartment of the car has left no long lasting emotional scars

Photograph by Hanna Jacobs In our consumer society it might be a challenge writing an ad for contemplation*. I imagine it going something like this: Do not go the contemplative route if you want absolute control over your life and do not like surprises. We are not in a position to answer questions like “What is this going to ask from me?”; “Where will I eventually end up by practicing this?” This is definitely not for you if you are looking for a tame, predictable God and you do not like your boat to be rocked. Maybe you are a person loving life’s comforts in general and comfort zones in particular. In that regard you find a religion where your basic cultural values, ideals and yard sticks are maintained with a gospel layer laid on top of it ideal. If that is the case, steer clear from this. It is also not for you if you want to continue with business as usual. The contemplative life will change you. You are going to become you. Maybe that is exactly the one thing that yo