Highlights from my Sanctuary

Posted in Life of Olive by Olive on Blonde

Last week I decided I needed some R&R… and sometimes the one thing you need to truly relax is to be near your family. So I (largely) switched off from the social media world, got on me wellies and headed to my parents beautiful hobby farm for a mini-holiday. Here are some highlights!

This is my parents cottage. It is in a very small town in South West Australia called Boyup Brook. It is made of granite and is encased in vines which change from green to red throughout the year. Staring out the windows is always magic.

The perfect reading chair!

Every morning started like this…

The wonder in Lucy’s eyes when I would part the curtain and reveal this leafy world with crazy guinea fowl running around, was amazing.

Then we would go and get breakfast…

From my Instagram profile – @oliveonblonde

Mum and Dad truly love their animals and have unintentionally created their own farm sanctuary. Every sheep and goat that they have on their farm was rescued by them; from the countless lambs that were found alone and shivering to death in a paddock to the ‘dud’ goat that they bought after seeing it chained, unwanted and about 2 days away from a stove top. They now have a hilarious and mismatched collection of 6 goats, 13 alpacas and about 30 sheep – each has a name and most come when they are called. Here is a photo from 3 years ago… the start of their mad family. All but one of these sheepy’s is still around and Dufus is the leader of the flock.

What happened when I took Lucy to introduce her to the them all is one of the most beautiful things I have ever experienced. I walked into the paddock and sat on top of the hill looking down on all the goats and sheep. They turned and looked at me and then from every direction started walking towards us – such a funny sight to see over 30 animals all making an executive decision to come say hello. Then when they arrived they almost lined up and took turns coming up and very gently sniffing on Lucy’s face and mouthing her nose. She could not stop giggling and they had no problems at all with her reaching out and running her hands over their wool. It was amazing. Later when I told mum about it she said that that is what they do when they are introducing a new lamb into their flock. Heart officially melted.

What a funny face

These are not pictures of that exact experience, but they reacted much the same. Especially my darling Charlie who is everyone’s favourite sheep. My dad cannot count the number of times that he has been gardening or fixing a fence and felt something fuzzy on his face to find Charlie giving him smooches. He will happily sit with you for hours asking for a face tickle.

This is Sherman.

He is the ‘dud’ I mentioned before. He has mixed up man bits and is technically known as a Cryptorchid. Basically – commercially speaking – he is useless. He is lucky he met mum and dad who scooped him up for a life of wandering paddocks. He is also without a doubt the strangest animal I have ever met. He is slightly vacant but is also really funny. He has bulbous eyes that aren’t a regular characteristic of his breed. His horns grow like a mohawk down the centre of his head. And he stinks. He stinks to high heaven. Lucy and I were sitting alone in a paddock and all of a sudden this ungodly stench punched me in the nose. I was looking around to try and figure out what was causing this smell which is when I spied Sherman plodding across the paddock to say hello. Strange, lovely, stinky little man.

And here are some of the other cheeky buggers…

Lady Fallon

Springer… a spoilt but delightful lad!

Fallon welcoming Lucy Goosey

A very self-satisfied Stompy

Gorgeous Elsabee

Photo-bombing goat…

Allen being cheeky!

And of course no trip would be complete without the disobedient little arsehole…

My parents are amazing. My mum is a feeder. If anything is wrong in life the solution starts with a meal… the bigger, the better. So when I asked for a very light, very small plant-based meal I couldn’t help but laugh when she produced this…

You may not be able to tell from the photo … that veggies stacked weighed about 4 kilos! It was absolutely delicious even though I could barely finish a quarter of it.

I also found this little book in my Dad’s bookshelves.

Made my heart burst a bit when I remember how nervous he was before giving the speech at my wedding. What cute little muffins they are.

I came back feeling loved, rested and content. Must be true that home is where the heart is.

Where is your special place?

26Mar2013

My Journey Continues to Detoxville

Posted in Life of Olive, Wellness by Olive on Blonde

Just in case you have missed my last 5 million posts, tweets or instagram pics … I am on a massive journey of personal transformation. God that sounds wanky… but it’s true! I said I will always be honest and transparent on my blog and I meant it! For some background on my journey so far see my last post here but in short I am renovating my life and removing everything I don’t need: bad food, thoughts, people and practices. If it doesn’t serve me well I don’t want it in my life. It feels so good to finally be walking my talk. It has been (and continues to be) surprising, confronting, empowering, consuming and energising. There have been setbacks and touchdowns. In fact this past fortnight I have hit my fair share of speed bumps…

What the pHuck?

I have been eating around 80% organic. I have been drinking plenty of water. I have been moving my body. I have been eating a largely plant-based diet. No grains. So I bought myself some pH sticks** and was not-so-quietly confident about the bright purple result I was about to witness. You should have seen me approaching the counter – I had swagger (which is particularly impressive considering I was pushing a pram). So, imagine my surprise when my pH reading came up as fairly bright orange 5.5. How on earth was I so acidic? Where could I have gone wrong? I have been a saint, dangnammit!!! Or had I?

** I spoke about pH in this post about Wellness and Green Smoothies but to summarise; an acidic body is a breeding ground for illness and disease, the goal is to stay alkaline.

Time to get real

The great thing about paring every part of your soul back is that you tend to reveal some overlooked home truths. Things that you may not have wanted to admit or habits that were so ingrained that you were truly unaware you were even doing them. So I looked hard in the mirror and realised there were some hurdles I needed to hurdle before I see the purple.

Acidic Behavior #1: Stress and Alcohol

The Real Deal: Even though I have been working hard on overcoming my anxiety it still rears its ugly head. If I am going to conquer it I need to pull out all stops and work a bit harder. And while the Cortisol (stress hormone) pulsing through my veins is enough to send me into the red I then self-medicate with a glass of red which is extremely counterproductive.

Action Step: Time to count anxiety butt-kicking as my full time profession and shelf the wine for special occasions only. And no Em… Thursday is not a special occasion.

Acidic Behavior #2: Too Much Superstuff

The Real Deal: I have realised that I a woman of excess. I tend to overload myself in virtually every aspect of my life (which includes the good bits). So when I discover a Superfood I tend to assume the more the better. Not so. Nuts are great… in moderation. Raw treats are fun to make… not every day. Coconuts are great… but it is possible to have a meal without one… put the goddamn coconut down woman!!!

Action Step: I am on the right track… I just need a little fine tuning. I have all the right ingredients I just need to get the proportions right to make this cake rise!

Raw Caramel Slice – NOT a healthy breakfast food
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Time For A Cleanse

Master Cleanse goodness!
Follow me on Instagram @oliveonblonde

So I decided to approach my life detox differently. I have been slowly removing all the bad elements of my life which is a great introduction to healthy changes but it seems I have stagnated. Time to splash some cold water on me and kick this thing up a notch. So I have embarked on a juice cleanse. Now this is midday of Day 2 and considering I have so far written a page of semi-lucid thoughts and have not started hallucinating I must be doing alright. Pineapple Zanzibar.

Body

I have created my own tailored detox which is a mishmash of the many I have read about. I have combined ideas from The Blue Print Cleanse (which I heard about from ex-pat blogger Willy B Mum) with the Master Cleanse and a few cheeky recipes from Vegie Head. After I finish the cleanse I will write a whole post about it and include exactly what I did and include the recipes and results. I may even be brave enough to post pictures – Eeep. Well nothing like a bit of pressure to motivate you.

Even hubby is getting in on the cleanse action. What an easy packed lunch!
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Mind

On top of the juice cleanse I am also mentally detoxing… considering this is a large contributor to my acidic reading. I have started myself on a magnesium supplement as well as taking Australian Bushflower Essences morning and night. I am halfway through the Oprah and Deepak Chopra 21-day Meditation Challenge and my goodness is this making a difference! Throw in the good bits like journalling, sleeping,Vitamin D and letting my feet touch the ocean every day.

Action Steps

So while my post at the end of this will be more detailed this is what I am doing to cleanse myself…

3 days of 70% juice then 7 days of 100% juice
Oil pulling every morning
Dry brushing every morning
Apple Cider Vinegar every morning
Australia Bush Flower Essences and Magnesium Supplement every night
Regular exercise and sunshine
More sleep (if my 4 month old little goose allows!)
No alcohol!

Oh yeah… and I got rid of my microwave!!!

A Final Word

When I have told a few of my loved ones that I am doing a juice cleanse they had a bit of a chuckle at me. They mentioned that I have just about tried everything health fad under the sun and getting rid of my microwave is proof that I am insane! I think it was meant as a snipe but surely there can’t be a better compliment? It shows that instead of accepting a body and mind that I am unhappy with, I will never stop working towards my perfect self. People always say that you should never quit but then sometimes when you put that into practice you are met with skepticism. I say that as long as you never quit quitting you are on the right track. As long as you never stop striving to be the best person you can then you are always improving. Even if every day I only move one step forward it is better than just standing still.

So if you are one of those people too – that is working towards that ultimate goal and trying everything that you can… bloody good on ya! I think you are amazing.

12Mar2013

Pics from Less Is More Festival 2013

Posted in Eco Bub, Life of Olive, Perth by Olive on Blonde

Back in February I was a presenter at what is fast becoming a stalwart of the Perth Sustainable Calendar: the Less Is More Festival. I ended last years (see the round-up here) and had no idea that a year later I would be asked to give a talk at the next one – to say I was flattered is an understatement. My topic of choice was indeed topical given the recent events of my life; Eco Babies! The presentation was an hour long and was chock-a-clock full of information and links so instead of creating one gigantic blog article I am going to post them over the next few weeks… I spoke about a whole range of things from nappies, to designing your nursery, homemade baby products and toys.

For now though I will just share some snapshots of the day. It was really amazing… such a fun variety of workshops and activities all focused around the idea that less can be more. Less waste, more fun. Less shallow, more fulfilling. Less materialistic, more creative. The way it should be.

The gorgeous setting – The Grove library in Peppermint Grove.

Right this way.

Beautifully apt quote to have in front of the library.

What a fun schedule of workshops!

Me with my tables of goodies!

Talking about the moment I lost my head and bought some useless baby merch… a shower cap. What all babies need right?

Talking with some of the people afterwards… showing my DIY products.

A mending station was set up, where people could mend and sew to their hearts content!

Great old sewing machine

We need to replace Spending with Mending!

Funky old upcycled jeans

There was also a movie lounge screening eco documentaries. Love these denim jean bean bags!

REALLY cool junk mail art by local artist Rob

More cool art and sculptures!

The busy foyer.

Info about Living Smart

The main mode of transport for the day. Love that even the bike has been yarn bombed!

And ended the day with a big ol’ love heart leaf. Doesn’t get better than that! :)

11Mar2013

My Journey to Wellness

Posted in Life of Olive, Wellness by Olive on Blonde

illustration by Olive on Blonde

I have been on a truly amazing journey of self discovery over the past year. About this time last year I was working full time, partying a lot (code for “drinking too much”) and while I has really good intentions about health I wasn’t really walking the walk. Skip forward I am now a mother to an absolutely gorgeous 3 month old girl and she has given me such motivation to be truly healthy. And now that I am actually doing it right it is amazing how good I am feeling. I heard a quote once that said something along the lines of “most of us go through lives unaware of how amazing our bodies are designed to feel”. I am starting to realise this is true. My new interest in wellness is changing my life and, therefore, also changing my blog and career path! I thought I would share some of the discoveries and decisions I have made…

New Career Path

I am a jack of all trades, master of none. It is actually an in-joke that my close friends and family direct at me at virtually every meet up. I have started studies in Journalism, Architecture, Graphic Design and Sustainable Development but not completed any of those degrees. But… I don’t regret any of it! I have learnt a lot and loved every bit of those studies but they have not made my heart sing and grabbed my passion by the proverbial balls. It was then I realised that there has been one recurring interest and challenge since I was a teenager – Nutrition. Since my teenage years I have had a completely tortured relationship with my body and confidence: I have spoken previously on this blog about my struggles with anxiety (see here). And while I am still wading through a lot of those issues (with the help of the Wellness Warrior… read on) I am getting better every day. So the bizarre little cocktail of my past experiences, how I used to feel, how I feel now and the people that have helped me have motivated me to change my course… and I ended up here.

I will be commencing studies with the Institute of Integrative Nutrition to start my career as a health and wellness coach! This is a college that boasts such luminaries as Jessica Ainscough (The Wellness Warrior), Sarah Wilson (of I Quit Sugar fame among other things) and OF COURSE raw food guru David Wolfe. Beyond that one of my all time favorite bloggers and friends Vegan Sparkles will be completing the course also. I am so excited about this new direction and for once feel completely confident that it is the right choice for me. As I move along with my studies and keep going with my own journey I will blog about all the new things I learn. I am still going to be very focused on sustainability and DIY but with the added focus of wellness… in all seriousness they go hand in hand anyway!

The Lifestyle Transformation Guide

This has been the vehicle I have used to change my life. I always talk about Jess (she was one of my Wonderful Women of Wellness in this last post) and the amazing work she does on her website The Wellness Warrior and have also mentioned that I was lucky enough to win a Lifestyle Transformation Health Scholarship. The Lifestyle Transformation Guide is a 12 step course that leads you to your dream life. There are no deadlines and you work your way through at your own pace – though an end date is recommended. My end date is April 13 (not so coincidentally my 27^th birthday)!

I will go into this in more detail in another blog post but the crux of it is practicing a serious amount of self-love as shifting your priorities so that your health sits above everything else. I have learnt the power of affirmations, believing in myself, setting your day up to achieve your goals and truly healthy eating. Before starting the LTG I used to eat well but still had unbelievably unhealthy habits. For example, I would still think of bad food as a treat, I still grappled with a bit of an eating disorder which I have never been able to quite crush and if I had a stressful day I would drown it in wine. I never really thought I could get rid of these down right shitty habits but slowly and surely they are melting away. It is feeling amazing. As part of the course you are also granted access to a private Facebook group where all of Jess’ scholars can share ideas, milestones, setbacks and everything else in between – it is an amazing support network. Not to mention the coaching calls from Jess. If you are struggling with anything in your life or even if you are not but just want to feel better then I sincerely recommend signing up for the course!

Next stop is conquering stillness and this is bound to be my biggest hurdle yet. Can’t wait.

It’s all about visualising your perfect self!
illustration by Olive on Blonde

New Diet

As part of the course I am not only retraining my mind but also my taste buds I have adapted to a life free of gluten, most grains (I very occasionally have a bit of rice or Quinoa), refined sugar, caffeine (apart from the amount found in raw cacao) and anything packaged at all. My big challenge started yesterday and that is cutting out my 2 glasses of wine every evening. I realised that I have been eating this amazing alkaline diet that is free of preservatives and additives and then dosing up on an acidic glass of nasties every evening. It is going to be difficult as wine is my way of coping with my anxiety (not so healthy) so I am under no illusion that this will be my hardest task yet.

I have switched to an all organic diet. I previously would incorporate a lot of organic foods but not entirely: I always found the cost prohibitive (especially now on a single income). But having a baby changed it all because I want to ensure that she only ever consumes organic food (within reason – I will let her experience the wonder that is a choc-dipped soft serve icecream one day!). I seem to managed to get the formula down for how to live organically within fairly tight budgetary constraints. (I will blog about this this week!).

Exercise

illustration by Olive on Blonde

Starting to exercise again after a year off and with a new post baby body to get used to was terrifying. But if I didn’t throw myself in the deep end it was going to keep getting scarier. So I have signed up for a 2 month intense training program which ends in a 10km obstacle race. *GULP*. Throw in some calming yoga and I am definitely moving again.

New Health Habits

It is funny that embracing organic produce and raw foods is considered an ‘alternative lifestyle’. You often hear it in the media being described as ‘extreme’ but could anything make more sense? Ancient practices are often scoffed at these days – remember this Pete Evans fiasco regarding activating his almonds? I would have been one of those people a year or two again. Eating clay in the morning? Pull the other one. But I guess I should not have judged it before trying. I will blog about these new habits in further details but some of the quirky new habits I incorporate in my life include;

Dry Body Brushing – every morning I use this Ayurvedic cleansing method to kickstart my bodies system from the outside.
Oil Pulling – borrowing from Ayurveda again I also practice this cleansing method every morning.
Activating my food – Nuts, seeds and the occasional grain gets activated. (See my post about activating foods here).
Meditation – I am still practicing this… it is very hard. Who would have thought that just concentrating on your breath could be so difficult?
Affirmations – sometimes if you say something enough (even if you don’t believe it at first) you can change your own mind. Case in point saying into the mirror “You are beautiful and I love you”. Sounds insane… but try it first.
Gratitude journal – Write something that you are grateful for every day. This can turn your worst day around when you realise how lucky you are. I have a Gratitude Jar and I also write one on behalf of my daughter (its a nice way to remember her milestones i.e. “I am grateful that I learned how to laugh today!”)

Onward and Upward!

So I hope that wasn’t too boring or self-indulgent. I just wanted to share my revelations and also mention where I am going with my life. I am so excited and can’t wait to blog all the way along.

What about you? Have you made any major changes in your life? Any crazy, quirky health habits?

8Mar2013

IWD 2013 – Wonderful Wellness Women!

Posted in Life of Olive, Perth, Uncategorized, Wellness by Olive on Blonde

Happy International Women’s Day! To tell you the truth I never really got on the whole IWD train… practically every day of the year is ‘Something Day’ and I just thought they were created willy nilly. But I looked into it and found out that IWD has actually been around since 1910, is on the agenda at the UN and is an official holiday in a whole range of countries (including Afghanistan which surprised me). So according to our trusty Wikipedia International Women’s Day is;

A celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women.
A celebration for women’s economic, political and social achievements.

That is something I can totally get on board with! And I’ve decided that in keeping with this blog I wanted to share with you 5 of my wellness heroes. When you have special women inspiring and motivating you they need to be shared…

My Mum

Having become a mum recently myself the love and respect I have for my mum transcended to a whole new level. Mind you, I was also hit with a massive pang of guilt (see years 16 through 21). Back to my mum though, she has been a career mum (and a damn good one at that) and has devoted her life to me and my brother.

Recently, she stepped right out of her comfort zone and embarked on a career of her own (a reasonably scary one involving needles!) and despite some jitters about getting back into the workforce is doing amazingly! She has also assured me for as long as I can remember that the only time I will ever see her running is if a mass murderer is on her tail. Which is why it is particularly impressive that she has recently purchased a treadmill and is training herself on it every morning. She has decided to take her health seriously and is making some major changes accordingly. My mum has always been impressive but seeing her face some pretty major fears has been ultra motivational as well as incredibly satisfying.

I am so proud of you Mother Goose!

Dads pretty awesome too but it isn’t International Man’s Day!
photo courtesy of White Tulip Photography

Jessica Ainscough: Wellness Warrior (Surprise, surprise)

Stuck record much? I can’t sing this girls praises enough. Jessica is a gorgeous young lady who survived a pretty grim cancer prognosis through a natural therapy that focuses on the unlimited potential of our bodies, and their abilities to heal themselves. Since this she has gone on to create The Wellness Warrior website (check it out here) which has achieved a cult like following from people around the world (including moi!).

She has also created the Lifestyle Transformation Guide (see that here) which I was lucky enough to win a scholarship to! This scholarship is slowly but surely leading me towards the life I have always wanted – where I am well, calm and following my dreams with a bit of self love thrown in there too! I will talk more about my journey on Monday… but imagine knowing that you are giving countless numbers of people the key to living life the way they were always meant to. That deserves a round of applause I reckon.

Photo courtesy of www.wellnesswarrior.com.au

Photo courtesy of http://www.wellnesswarrior.com.au

P.s. If you are living in Sydney, Jessica is going on tour with Earth Events and will be speaking with 3 other amazing girls (Amanda Rootsey, Tara Bliss and Mellissa Ambrosini) on Self Love and Sisterhood. I am so jealous it’s not coming to the west coast but if you are in the position to go, get your ticket here!

Vegan Sparkles

I dare you to read Bex blog without smiling… c’mon… just look at that face! Not only does she create absolutely delicious food but each post is full of health, happiness and (most importantly) sparkles. While some vegan sites can lean towards dogma, Miss Sparkles is a breath of fresh air who just inspires with her contagiously happy personality and her insanely delicious recipes. And the best is yet to come as she is currently studying at the Institute of Intergrative Nutrition. She also happens to now be a friend of mine and we are hoping to collaborate on some exciting projects this year.

You don’t have to be vegan (I’m not) to love Bex food! Some staples that now reside in my culinary repertoire include this AMAZING healthy, Mint Choc Chip Smoothie (see it here), the Good For Everything Tea (here) and this Quinoa and Mushroom Gravy Shepherds Pie (here). WOW. Must stop dribbling on the keyboard!

Tara Bliss: Such Different Skies

As a renowned (actually… maybe infamous) champagne guzzler, Tara is providing me so much inspiration to change my nasty habit. I have virtually conquered all the demons (sugar, grains, caffeine, dairy) but I still find myself very much craving my Friday night wine. Tara herself is a reformed party girl and she is trying to spread the word that has brought her so much peace. She motivates me with awesome blog posts that really drive home the fact that you don’t need alcohol to feel calm or have fun. And if you want to go further she has also created the aptly titled online program The Party Girl’s Guide To Peace.

She is also an awesome foodie who is very focused on raw and green too. Check out her awesome recipe that featured on The Wellness Warrior here (bit of cross-pollination never hurt anybody). If you want some sassy, spiritual vibes i really recommend giving this blog a read! (see Such Different Skies here).

Jodi Duval: Revital Health

Another Perth local! Jodi is a Naturopath with a list of qualifications as long as your arm included Natural Science, Hypnobirthing and even Colonic Hydro Therapy. She is also a raw chef and raw chocolate entrepreneur and is one of the four co-founders of Revital Health – a team of holistic health coaches. (You can read about all of them here).

Jodi (and the wider Revital team) have a Facebook page (here) which provides me constant inspiration for raw food and general health inspiration and is well worth a look if you are dipping your feet into the world of raw as I am! She also helps run affordable workshops like this upcoming event which i hope to attend (and give you all feedback afterwards). The world needs more people that are helping to inspire and guide them to be the healthiest versions of themselves.

Do you have any wonderful wellness women inspiring you?

15Feb2013

Less IS More

Posted in Life of Olive, Perth, Plastic-Free by Olive on Blonde

Well tomorrow is finally the day… The Less Is More Festival is back! A celebration of anti-consumerism!!!

It is an incredible day run by the Western Earth Carers which involves hands on DIY workshops that will show you how to buy less and live better! It is family friendly and of course in the spirit of anti-consumerism… is completely free.

I will be there running two workshops on Eco Babies (they run at 10am and 12pm) and there are so many more amazing workshops…

Make your own natural soap, toothpaste and deodorant (bring jars if you can!)
Fix your bike
Declutter your life
Live plastic free (with the amazing Simone)
Eat raw food (with one of my favorite Perth wellness goddesses A Foodly Affair)
Grow a native garden
Keep chooks and bees
Mosaic making
Make your own ginger beer, yogurt, preserves and sourdough

View the schedule here of the entire day here.

Saturday 16 February, 2013 from 9:30am until 5:00pm

The Grove Library, 1 Leake St, Peppermint Grove, WA 6011

If you decide to come along beware that parking will be very limited. BUT the good news is, the library and community centre have ample bike racks and lockers, and excellent public transport links! (See Public Transport Links here)

Would love to see you all there!

Olive on Blonde

Gorgeously Green

Category Archives: Life of Olive

Highlights from my Sanctuary

Where is your special place?

My Journey Continues to Detoxville