Monday, December 31, 2018

2019 - A Happy Year

May God make your year a happy one!

Not by shielding you from all sorrows and pain,

But by strengthening you to bear it, as it comes.

Not by making your path easy,

But by making you sturdy to travel any path;

Not by taking hardships from you,

But by taking fear from your heart;

Not by granting you unbroken sunshine,

But by keeping your face bright, even in the shadows;

Not by making your life always pleasant,

But by showing you when people and their causes need you the most

and by making you anxious to be there to help.

God’s love, peace, hope, and joy to you for the year ahead!

Auld Lang Syne



Sunday, November 11, 2018

Is this too much?


While meandering in a second-hand store - which I do on a regular basis - picked up a book on the subject of aphrodisiacs. Hard-cover book, beautifully presented with a lot of meaningful illustrations - like Adam and Eve with fig-leaves - it looked brand new. As I'm researching the subject for a book on food for lovers, I handed over a $1 and left.

The book is  more general than detailed, as if the author was frightened to admit that it is possible that natural foods could  be more  helpful than tablets or potions - or whatever it is that pharmaceutical companies have created.

However, while I didn't find the way the subject was treated particularly interesting, it was another thing when it came to the inscription inside.

It appears that the book was a birthday present to her 'dearest' 'forty-year-old' 'son-in-law', hoping that it would give him a lot of 'pleasure' and 'good appetite'.

I don't know what your reaction would be, but I'm wondering how does a mother-in-law get involved in her son's-in-law bedroom activities. Is it possible that the daughter came to her mum and with tears streaming down her face, sobbing uncontrollably all the while, eventually stammered out pleadingly, 'Oh, mum, Earl (made up name so don't start searching your memory) 'is so hopeless in bed. Please help me. We just can't go on like this,' sob, sob, sob. And good old mum, always ready to lend a hand, eventually comes up with a brilliant idea. Of course. A book with a few  hints on how to become more 'manly' as Hippocrates would say, will be just the thing.

One can only imagine the look on the guy's face as he unwraps the gift and finds what's inside the wrapper; and the reaction of the fifty or so guests gathered expectantly around him.

I can see from the pristine condition of the book that it has not been read voraciously - or even at all. And as it ended in a charity shop it was obviously not the forty-year-old's treasured possession.

And whether the gift was genuinely trying to solve a problem, or just an embarrassing joke, I hope that if the marriage did have problems, the book wasn't the last straw.

But just as I'm wondering what was the mother-in-law thinking at giving such a gift to her son-in-law, I find she's not the only tasteless gift-giver.

Recently I've read that at one wedding the bride and groom were given

                (a) A book on aphrodisiacs (absolutely true)
                (b) a packet of nappies for the bride who was expecting (What a thrill!!!)

Anyway, for any wedding guests out there looking for that perfect wedding gift, CHOOSE WISELY and thoughtfully before you spend your cash. Better still. forget the gift. Cash will probably be more welcome.


PS: Before you go, have I mentioned that I'm researching a book on aphrodisiacs? If you have any favourite foods that you think might be helpful, let's hear from you.

Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Baby Naming Ceremony in 12 Easy Steps

Baby Naming Ceremony not being an official or legal Ceremony, you, as the parent, can use your imagination in planning it.

Some of the things you might like to consider is

1. Baby's Name. What meaning has the name? Does it mean something special to you or your family? Have you named your baby after someone you think a great deal of? Is the name based on your own cultural roots and you want the baby to carry on your heritage? Would you like to share that with those present?

2. Significant Relatives.
Is the baby lucky enough to have Grandparents, or even Great Grandparents, Great Grand Uncles? What role have they played in your life, and what role do you want them to play in the life of your baby?

3. Is yours an Adopted Baby?
Would you like to share some of your experiences while waiting for the arrival of your baby. If you already have other children, do they want to make a commitment to the new sibling? Is the child old enough to make a commitment to the new family he or she has become a member of. 

4. Parental Promises.
As parents, do you want to make a special promise to your child, or share with everyone your feelings or hopes for your baby?

5. Sibling's Role.
If you already have other children, would they like to participate by presenting the baby with a flower, a special toy, a drawing, a handmade gift, or just say a public 'hello'.

6. Grandparents' Promises.
Similarly with the Grandparent, or significant relatives. Would they like to read a poem, or make special promises to the baby?

7. Godparents and the Baby.
Whether you call them Godparents, Guideparents, Guardians, Sponsors, Lifeguardians or Mentors, you might like to tell everyone why you have chosen these particular people. What have they meant in your life, and what do you expect of them as the special adult in your baby's life.

8. Guests and the Baby.
Involve your guests by asking them as a group, or individually, to affirm their support to you as parents, and their support for helping to promote the welfare of the next generation.

9. Good Wishes for the Baby.
Encourage each guest to write a note of good wishes for the baby, or a way in which the guest intents to share his or her talent and time with your child as your baby grows.

10. Compiling Memories.
Start a Scrap Book for your baby and ask each guest to write a message in it. This might include a helpful hint, or a hope for the future, or a poem. Something the child will enjoy reading once he or she is able to do so.

11. Baby Naming Certificates. Give a Certificate to all the people who you feel are connected to the baby - Godparents, Grandparents, Significant Older Relatives, cousins who will make up your baby’s life.

12. Baby Naming Programs.
As part of building of memories create a program of the baby's Naming Ceremony. Make it personal by including a photograph of your baby, or some graphic you like, wording of the complete baby naming ceremony, and all the people taking part in it.




Monday, October 8, 2018

That's Amore


Speaking of food for lovers, which we weren't but we will, I've read recently that in Australia, with a population of around 24 million, Australians spend something like $3 billion on medication.

Although the medical profession harks back to Hippocrates as the father of medicine, there's a vast difference between his idea of how patients should be treated, and the modern practice. And there certainly weren't pharmaceutical companies making profits of $85 billion in the process.

Without the help of pharmacies, Hippocrates managed to live to be ninety years old. And when he talked about men continuing to be 'manly' into their old age, he was talking about food, and not viagra.

People seem to have forgotten that they are what they eat, and not what they get from the chemist shop.

Would you believe that Italy is considered a country of beautiful and healthy people because they still rely largely on natural foods - often growing in their backyards - as opposed to those countries where people look for their nutrition on the shelves of the supermarkets.

And so far their use of pharmacies is low on their list of needs.

Casanova, touted as the great Italian lover, liked his food. And not just oysters. Like all Italians he loved his pasta and what went with it. And he's not the only one. Sophia Loren - the Italian beauty suggests that all she is, she owes to pasta.



Compliments of