Mango Bliss

It is a beautiful blue sky day today......and finally warming up a bit. I let my kitty out this morning (he only gets to go out a couple of days a week) with a stern reminder that he is not to fight. Yesterday I had to bring him back in, plucking him all growling and hissing off of the top of the fence as he was going after Lily. He and Lily seem to love to fight with each other, I once found them in the garden, Desert Sky standing over Lily, he had her fur in his mouth and she had his fur in her mouth and there was fur all over the ground. She will come over on the days he doesn't get to go out and sit on the deck in front of the glass (we have a sunroom with large glass windows and entire side of floor to ceiling glass), just to taunt him. I chase her away when I am around, which isn't as easy as it might be. Lily is one of those white cats with blue/green and yellow eyes who are deaf. She is a beautiful cat, reminds me of a ballerina, but she is also a brat. So, I sometimes throw soft handfuls of dirt at her, as yelling at her doesn't work. Desert Sky was in love with her when they first met, but she is a true ice queen and doesn't hang out with other cats of any kind. She lives with other cats, but does not hang out with them nor allow them to hang out with her. So, when I saw them yesterday at a stand off in the yard, I went out and luckily was able to get Desert Sky before he went all of the way over the fence and into the neighbor's yard. Even though he was quite worked up, he is my cat, and we have an understanding. I know how to handle him. I put my hand firmly on the scruff of his neck, letting him know I had no intentions of letting him go, he growled and hissed, not so much at me, but just letting off steam, then I picked him up and held him with his claws away from me, and carried him into the house. Where he was sweet as pie. He is a great cat, but being a Siamese breed (you could call him a long haired Siamese (chocolate point) but he is actually truly known as a Traditional Balinese. Not those strange looking modern Balinese that you will find in cat books, he is a large cat, with soft soft fur, not unlike a Himalayan, but his fur isn't quite as dense or easily matted and his face isn't like theirs. Himalayans faces range from Siamese looking to Persian looking. As I was saying, being a Siamese breed he is not afraid of very much (except for strangers luckily), and thinks, even though he has been neutered, that he is king of the neighborhood. He has beautiful blue eyes, a very friendly and intelligent personality. I named him Desert Sky because I love the Sonoran desert, because he is brown and cream, and has beautiful blue eyes like the sky.
Today is the 4th day of my juice feasting. Yesterday went well, and I treated myself to a yummy orange, carrot, lemon and ginger juice while we were out, then came home and made a juice of all fruit. It was one large mango, 4 large green pears, 4 valencia oranges, 4 tangelos, fresh ginger and some carrots. I strained it twice to get out excess pulp and it was so so so good. However, I have that lovely candida in my kidneys and this woke it up, so I had aching kidneys in the night and when I woke up. sigh. Not as bad as sometimes, but still bad enough. My loving husband, in an amorous mood, gave me a wonderful massage of my back and kidney area before moving on to more interesting spots. It definitely helped quite a bit, then later on when I got up I took 4 Primal Defense and 6 Yeast Fighters (twinlabs) to make sure everything stayed calmed down. It is strange how candida works as it behaves differently with different sugars. I once went through a phase where I couldn't eat honey, as it turned me into a "Momster" really and truly. I was irritable and crabby and mean and couldn't be nice no matter how aware I was of it. Until, I put a teaspoon of regular sugar in my mouth, which would act like a chemical switch and turn it off. And this, with my kidneys. Raisins also cause the kidneys to ache. Didn't used to, but they do now. And now, I can eat honey just fine, doesn't bother my kidneys or turn me into a "Momster". Luckily that phase didn't last too long. It is just typical of candida...acting in unbelievable ways, unless they happen to you. This morning's juice is parsley, asparagus, a whole head of red leaf lettuce, a smallish head of celery, some dandelion greens, a valencia orange and a tangelo, 6 small pink lady apples and lots of carrots. It is quite tasty, with the bitterness of the dandelion greens providing a nice background note to the sweetness of the carrots and fruit. I can never drink green juices without some apple in them. Makes them ever so much more palatable. I shudder when I think of others enduring the green taste without something to ameliorate their flavor. If you have wheatgrass in your green juice, then maybe it's better, but ugh. Plain greens are hard to swallow for me. I had a very successful day yesterday and expect to be fine from here on out. However, that doesn't mean that I didn't still have the desire to eat. I love to eat, I love the tastes and textures of food, so yes, I had that desire. But it was much easier to ignore. The key is to be drinking enough juice so that you aren't so hungry you can't stand it. I was definitely well sated yesterday, especially with the fruit juice. I don't know what I will do for my juice treat today, but will have to probably keep it more balanced. My body seemed to find yesterday's fruit juice too sweet for it....besides the kidney aches I just felt overall like it was too much. So today, I will have my treat but I may have greens with it. Need to get some more cucumbers and kale. Oh, just remembered that I bought some collards. Collards are amazing light and sweet to eat. Not heavy like dandelion or mustard greens. Looking forward to lambs quarter in the spring. Very good for the liver etc.
Also thinking about gardening, producing food to eat or just for pleasure. There is a wonderful family who has an organic farm that we'd love to do a CSA with, this being the first year we can afford to do so. I am also wanting to speak with them about the coming crash. I want to prepare for it. I would much rather prepare for it and find it not to be as bad as I fear, than for it to happen, and find ourselves brought down by it completely. I wish I didn't have to think like this, feel like this. It makes me very angry to think that those in 'power' have not cared to protect the planet or it's people. That they only care for themselves. I would like not to be angry, but I don't know how else to feel about this. I care. I care deeply. But I have not done much to show it. I have not fought or worked or lobbied against their callous lack of caring. I still don't know if I will, at least not in the sense of going up against them. What I am choosing to do is to withdraw from them. To get solar panels for my house, a bio-diesel car, stop shopping at their stores, buying their products, acting locally, supporting local actions and businesses and community. That seems much more productive to me. Meanwhile, I mourn the ruin of the oceans, the loss of all wildlife, wolves, tigers, field mice, all of it. Need to buy land with a large group to make a place for at least some of these......
so....light....love......beauty.....happiness.......may peace and beauty be upon you as you go through your day.
Alessandra