the last few days have been generally positive. Although still tiring quickly, I am managing to do more, and do it with more enthusiasm and patience. On Saturday I was dancing around the house with the girls, doing painting and drawing with them and generally entertaining them whilst hubby was working. It was so liberating and encouraging to be enjoying having a morning with them, and not feeling like I am just doing my duty as a Mum. It was a beautiful day, like summer, despite still being officially winter, so when Ross got home we took the girls to the plaza on our way to spend the afternoon with some good friends. Having put all my energy into the girls for the morning, I was pretty pooped by the time we set out of the house. But we still had a lovely time. The girls, as always, made friends as soon as we arrived at the plaza, and I sat on a bench in the slight shade and enjoyed listening to the orchestra that had set up as we arrived. We were then treated to a lovely afternoon with our friends, an ex pat family from Australia, who have a boy and a girl similar ages to our girls. They have so much fun playing together and now that they are that much older, we can mostly sit and enjoy adult conversation whilst the kids entertain themselves. The food was great. Lamb chops on the bbq, sausage, provoleta cheese - a special kind of cheese from South America which goes particularly soft and gooey when heated. It was particularly good on the fresh bread I had made and taken along.

On Sunday, we had a hire car arranged and were going off to Laguna Aculeo to ride bikes around the lake with a Chilean friend. As we were getting ready to set off he called to say his son was sick and couldn't make it. As it turned out, it was probably a good thing! We set out with bikes strapped to the boot, still with the intention of cycling ourselves. But the warm sunshine which was predicted, was notably absent, and its replacement was cold drizzle and mist. As we drove we questioned how much fun it would be to cycle on a gravel road in such conditions and with no change of clothing! Then we spotted the signs to Buin Zoo, somewhere we have never been, but have heard many good reports. So we decided that the zoo would be far more appealing on such a day. There was no disappointment in our decision. The zoo was large and clean, with a great range of animals all well cared for, and there was a farmyard which the girls loved where you could pet the sheep and goat, as well as an aquarium, a reptile house and a nocturnal barn where Jude got to see her beloved owls. From the zoo we continued on to Pomaire, a small artisan village where all the famous Chilean pottery is made. In 3 years we have not visited here and I am sad that we never went when my parents or inlaws visited. I was totally charmed by the place. It is quite a visitor trap, but I only heard english being spoken a couple of times and there were literally hundreds of people grazing the shops down the narrow street. What amazed me was that every shop was different. One thing I love about Chile is that you don't get hassled about buying, not like in Africa were they constantly tout for your custom. Here we were free to leisurely browse, feeling no pressure whatsoever. I felt very relaxed, the girls were behaving really well and I felt well. Needless to say I bought a range of dinner ware to take back with us. It was hard to limit myself as it is all so practical and so cheap, but I had to be mindful that we have to get it all back to the UK sometime. Hidden down a small alleyway I spied a man sat at a potting wheel. I took the girls over to see what he was doing and before we knew it Jude had been coerced to the wheel and was making a pot! Next, it was Mary's turn and they each came away with a small vase as a momento. There were also a huge number of restaurants to eat at, so we found a small, popular establishment to rest our feet and fill our tummies. We chose well. The food was excellent. Between us we shared a chicken cazuela (broth with chicken leg and large chunks of veggies with rice in the bottom), pastel de choclo (corn pie with mince and chicken) and costillar de cerdo (pork ribs). The ribs had to be the best we have ever had in Chile. They were slightly crispy around the edges, fell off the bone as you bit into them and had a wonderfully unique flavour. The girls were particularly happy with their ice cream tower they had for pudding. There must have been 5 scoops of ice cream all piled up on top of each other! I was feeling so good that I had a smile on my face the whole day.

Monday I felt a bit tired and less enthusiastic about life. I went to the women's bible study and found myself mostly listening rather than actively participating. It may not have been helped that Mary was sick in the night, so we were up changing her bed and helping her get clean. It probably also wasn't helped by my eating habits of the previous few days. I have been exceedingly naughty about my diet and I am seemingly paying a consequence. I have let too much sugar pass my lips and now I am coming down with a sore throat and a stuffy nose. A sure sign that I haven't been eating well. Hopefully if I can drag myself away to the healthy food again I will escape the full works of a cold. Otherwise my legs are holding up and I am still functioning well.

Yesterday I started a course of yoga. I am hoping that it will help me learn to relax and meditate more, as well as helping my general fitness and flexibility. I really enjoyed it, but wow, I am no longer supple! The nutritionist had warned me about the release of toxins through exercise and I definitely experienced that yesterday after the class. I hope that each time I go it will get easier. A while ago I went to see a lady who practices Yoga and Ayurveda. I was intrigued by an Ayurvedic approach having seen a case study of a lady with transverse myelitis who felt Ayurveda was very helpful to her. It's origins are in ancient Indian medicine and it is based on body types. Some of what she told me about my type seemed to be spot on and fitted well with many of my problems. I would like to take on board some of the concepts of Ayurvedic eating once I am done with the candida diet, but the 2 were not compatible. I think the Ayurveda would have been a much easier option, but I didn't feel it was right for me at the time. Having had such success previously with a candida approach I felt that I had to go with it again this time. I am very encouraged that in just a few months I have reintroduced successfully into my diet so many of the forbidden items. Now it seems that just peppers and potatoes are left on my "can't eat it" list. Once I have finished the candida programme and strengthened my adrenal glands I will be free to eat almost anything again! I can't tell you what level of anticipation I have of that, having been restricted in so many foods for the last 10 years. Of course, I will always have to be careful with how much sugar I eat, but that is a small exchange...