Am back to drinking fruit juice this morning after a ten day water fast and feel much more energised & motivated now to sit down at this keyboard and document what's been going on for us. I did a pretty good job at ignoring this computer throughout the fast and much as one would expect, this led to a bunch of other interesting things...
Winter melon marmalade (with orange & bergamot)
I am a huge fan of thick cut orange marmalade and happened by chance to recently taste a locally produced winter melon marmalade which from my perspective tasted almost exactly the same as the marmalade of my childhood dreams! Also 'by chance' two seasons ago I found a huge winter melon growing on the outskirts of our garden and didn't know what to do with it till now.
Turns out that two years is too long and this melon was dry but the seeds were abundant and healthy.
This is what they are supposed to look like.
It took ages to remove all the pips as this fruit is much thicker than a regular melon.
With the oranges I squeezed out the juice first and then cut the rest up into chunks.
50/50 melon/orange mix.
After that you just add a bunch of sugar, put it on the stove and keep stirring for around 2-3 hours.
Here she is ready to serve up into my pots which have been sterilised with boiling water.
After filling the pots they go into a hot water bath for ten mins, before cooling on the side. Each lid makes a satisfying popping noise over the next few hours, letting me know it is good to go for long term storage.
In the end I did two versions of this marmalade because I was a bit suspicious of the bergamot (didn't know this fruit till now!)
So, this one is just winter melon/orange.
A beautiful colour don't you think?
The following day I made six pots of the bermagot/melon mix, which apparently also tasted great in the end. And there was no need to be suspicious!
During this same day I also separated all the red olives which were ready (after sitting in salt water for three months) and added some thyme & garlic to the top and bottom of the pots.
At this stage I add a hot brine and seal them off for two weeks to catch the flavours. The green olives are still hard and will need longer in the salt water.
The jams & marmalades all get labels before they go in the cupboard because we now have well over 100 pots with so many different variaties, all of them made in this house over the last two years. And things can quickly get confusing without labels!
Orgonite experiments
Orgonite is a substance made of resin, metals and quartz. Its function is to balance and harmonise bio-energy, otherwise known as orgone, chi or prana.
Sabrina learned about the healing & protective effects of orgonite recently and felt moved to buy four pyramids from a local producer, placing them around our home.
They are quite beautiful though probably rather different to the ones originally created by Wilhelm Reich in the early part of the last century.
I had heard it was possible to see the effects of orgonite in frozen water, so we set up a basic experiment in which two glasses of pure water went in the freezer overnight, with orgonite placed over the top of one. The pyramids are said to move energy through them, creating a vortex above & below, so we were excited to see evidence of this.
The orgonite was placed above the glass on the right and the effect is clear.
While they are both quite amazing to look at, the one on the right is more like an explosion of air bubbles, pushing their way out from the middle. So I think we can confirm with certainty there is something remarkable going on here. And our orgonite is working!
Perhaps it was the presence of orgonite in our home which led me to do the ten day fast? Certainly I feel a ton better for having done it and there have been a number of changes applied to my life as a consequence.
Real cat food
The trouble with the cat food industry is that it's rubbish. And 99% of what's on offer is bad for your cats, making them sick over time. Long have I understood that much like humans cats need their vegetables but struggled to find the right mix which was enjoyable for them. My cats are stubborn and they would rather go hungry than eat something they don't like the smell of.
So I am super grateful for @opidia and her guidance in this matter because finally I have found the right mix!
Lentils, tuna & raw carrot.
Mush together...
And feed to a grateful cat :)
In a month our pea season will begin so I will be sure to squish a few peas in there too and perhaps swap out the tuna with chicken from time to time.
It we are going to be honest with ourselves however, cats don't actually need feeding at all and would survive perfectly well without us. Every day I find dead birds, mice & rats in our courtyard, compliments of baby cat who would no doubt eat them if he were actually hungry ;)
Here are two I removed yesterday.
Regardless, I am very happy to finally know how to feed my cats in a healthy way. Am pretty sure Fifi is pregnant again, so I want to make sure she is getting the right nutrients. Yeah, it's that time of year and all the male cats have been lining up outside our house.
She likes to sit here in her sunset cage and survey the suitors from above.
On this occasion a witches cat sat below. In fact, I know this guy. His name is Simba.
Sun going down, time to go. I left them to it.
All in all this fast has been a magical experience with a surprising amount achieved, though it was very cold for me at times in our poorly heated home. So in future I will stick to the Summertime for such things.
Sabrina made a mushroom soup the other day which filled every room with the most wonderful mouth watering aromas and I have been dreaming about it since then. So tomorrow I will sit down with a hot steaming bowl and enjoy it in a way that only a person who hasn't eaten for ten days can understand.
Intensely focused, very slowly and with a huge amount of pleasure & gratitude :)
Love & Light everyone πΏ