Jane's Motivational Video - Be Nice!

Do you know, that small bunch of flowers, handed to me as a kind gesture, had a most profound effect. All it takes to make someone's day is to be nice. A smile, a few words of genuine interest and a little gift that begs no return of favour, just the satisfaction of giving. Some people find it difficult to be nice, I bet if they tried it they would be so much happier. Try it next time you feel the urge to say something nasty about someone, think nice and feel better for it. You know what they say, "If you look for the worst in someone you will surely find it." So look for the good, you will find that too.

So, the New Democrats won the election! How will effect my life? We shall see. A loaf of bread is still one euro, a tin of Heinz beans is 1.40 in the supermarket in Neapolis, sugar is 1.09 e for a kilo bag, let's watch those three things. (Of course sugar is only 1.05 e at Liddle supermarket but the petrol from Vrahassi to there and back has to be taken into account) Petrol, by the way is more or less 1.900 a litre and 30 e doesn't quite half fill the tank in my car.

Tomorrow David and I shall attend the funeral of Steve who used to live near Sissi. I haven't seen the notices yet so I don't have a time. If you are on Facebook and want to find out, then as soon as I know I shall post it.

Thursday is coming round quickly, and I have not practiced my scales this week. Maybe tonight. Next is dog walking, then my 7 minute workout, and then, (hallelujah) it will be tea time.

Have a nice time being nice!
Love Jane x

Get Fit For Foggies - 7 Minute Workout

So, now my lovely visitors have gone, I have to work off all that good food and drink. It is back to the exercise! And back to my diet!

I have to say, I am feeling strong, and strong is good when the country you are living in is on the verge of catastrophe. Will the euro survive? Will the drachma return? It is the question on the lips of most people these days. The general election will be held next Sunday 17th June, and we await the results and the decisions of the Greek people. The advice we have been given, is plan for the worst and hope for the best, though what to plan for is a difficult question. Whichever way things go, there will be a future of hardship. Thank God the sun is shining and we can laugh about things. By the way, I am stocking up on porridge.

Hope you are laughing too, this video might help bring a smile.

Love Jane x

New Super Health Food!

As I am getting very health conscious, I find this article very interesting. If I combine chia with my 7 minute workout, Superwoman better watch out!

The chia craze

By Lauren Everitt BBC News Magazine

Continue reading the main story

In today's Magazine

• Are thin women the enemy?
• The Spanish link in cracking the Enigma code
• In pictures: Russian Empire in colour photos
• 'Hanging out' with One Direction in the US

Many people in the UK won't have heard of the chia seed, but if regulators give their backing this US superfood craze could be on the way.

Goji berries, kombucha, wheatgrass, acai berries. It seems rarely a year passes without at least one new health-food frenzy.
Everything from handfuls of strange seeds to bacteria-infested yoghurts to espresso-style shots of odd-tasting green juices are touted as a shortcut to wellbeing.
Chia will soon be joining the list. So what exactly is it?
Chia, or Salvia hispanica L, is a member of the mint family from Mexico and South America. The flowering plant can sprout in a matter of days, but chia's appeal is in the nutritional punch of its tiny seeds.
With more omega-3 fatty acids than salmon, a wealth of antioxidants and minerals, a complete source of protein and more fibre than flax seed, the seeds have been dubbed a "dieter's dream", "the running food", "a miracle", and "the ultimate super food", by advocates and athletes.

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What's in 100g of chia?

• Protein: 20.7g
• Fat: 32.8g
• Carbohydrate: 41.8g
• (of which fibre is 41.2g)
• Calcium: 714mg
• Iron: 16.4mg
• Niacin (B3): 613mg
• Thiamine (B1): 0.18mg
• Riboflavin (B2): 0.04mg

Source: Nutritional Science Research Institute

To some the seeds taste utterly bland, but to others there is a slight nutty flavour. It also can seem expensive compared with other seeds and nuts.

In the UK, the seeds are only currently allowed for sale as a bread ingredient, but over the next few weeks, the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes is poised to allow chia seeds in a wide variety of products including baked goods, breakfast cereals and nut and seed mixes.
Elsewhere in the world, chia-seed products have been springing up over the past few years. In 2011, 72 new chia products hit the market and 28 new chia foods are already out this year, according to research group Mintel. Compare that with only seven new chia products for all of 2006 and you get a sense of its growing popularity.
The US is particularly infatuated with the seed, introducing 21 new chia items in 2011 and 13 in 2012. It's in sweets, snack foods, seasonings, yogurt and even baby food.
To chia cheerleaders the seeds do no wrong. They claim chia reduces inflammation, improves heart health, and stabilises blood sugar levels. A few tablespoons are touted as remedying just about anything - without any ill effects

Continue reading the main story

Health food crazes

• Goji berries: The Himalayan fruit is hyped as a "fruit Viagra" and "cellulite-busting" superfood
• Kombucha: The fermented tea is touted as a tonic for digestion problems, hair loss and other ailments
• Acai berries: Advocates claim the palm tree fruit cleanses the colon, prevents cancer and boosts weight loss
• Wheatgrass shots: The concentrated juice made of young wheat plant shoots is purported to have curative properties, particularly for digestion

So is this new superfood all it's cracked up to be?

"In terms of nutritional content, a tablespoon of chia is like a smoothie made from salmon, spinach and human growth hormone," writes Christopher McDougall in Born to Run, the bestselling book about an ultra-distance running tribe in Mexico who fuel their epic jaunts with the seeds. The book is credited with shining the spotlight on chia as food for athletes.
"If you had to pick just one desert-island food, you couldn't do much better than chia, at least if you were interested in building muscle, lowering cholesterol, and reducing your risk of heart disease; after a few months on the chia diet, you could probably swim home," McDougall adds.
Wayne Coates, co-author of Chia: Rediscovering a Forgotten Crop of the Aztecs, agrees. The University of Arizona professor started experimenting with the seeds in South America more than 20 years ago as part of a project to identify alternative crops for farmers in Argentina. He then started cultivating the seeds commercially.

Wheatgrass juice is not a craze enjoyed by everybody

"I hate to call it a miracle food because there are too many miracles that turn out not to be, but it almost is. Literally, you could live on this stuff because it's pretty much everything you need," Coates says.
Elisabeth Weichselbaum of the British Nutrition Foundation admits she had not heard of chia, but she says the foundation doesn't buy into the idea of a single superfood.
"It is true that some foods are higher in vitamins and minerals, but no single food provides us with everything we need. So the best way to be healthy is to eat a variety of foods," she says.
As an avid runner, Coates relies on the seeds to power his way through 50 and 100-mile races.
"I actually carry it in a film canister on my runs, I down a half a canister and wash it down with water."
Jeffrey Walters of the chia producer Omega 3 Chia is also a firm believer. He says the company has received inquiries from the United Nations World Food Programme to bump up the nutrient content of their rice dole.

Continue reading the main story

How chia is eaten

• Mixed in couscous
• Added to bread or muffin mix
• Sprinkled over salad
• Chia gel - seeds are soaked in water to form a gel-like substance added to jelly, jam, yoghurt or salad dressing
• Agua fresca de chia - seeds are stirred with water, lime juice and sugar to make a cold drink

Source: AZChia

Walters says he has also been contacted by schools looking to sneak nutritional value into canteen fare and doomsdayers searching for a nutrient-dense food to stockpile in the event of a catastrophe.

David Nieman, director of the Human Performance Labs at Appalachian State University, has analysed the nutritional content of chia and its impact on health in a series of studies. Nieman says the seeds "as a nutritional package are wonderful", but they're no "magic pill".
"If you grind it up and sprinkle it on cereal and put it in yogurt, or put it in juice then you are giving yourself a nutritional boost. You're definitely adding to your mineral, fibre, protein, and omega-3 intake, but will it magically cure disease or take away risk factors? It's almost like a cult following for some of these chia people, they claim everything under the sun.
"But after 10 to 12 weeks we don't see anything happening to disease risk factors in free-living people."
Walters says business has doubled each year for the past four years.
In the UK, chia is permitted in bread products at concentrations up to 5%, according to the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes.

"Chia pets" are used as decorative items

But that's set to change. The ACNFP recently released a largely positive draft opinion on the expanded use of chia seeds in other foodstuffs.
Walters has already seen a drive toward the UK market. One of his clients requested a huge quantity of chia for UK products for 2013.
Health food chain Holland & Barrett already offers whole and milled chia seeds online, ostensibly as a bread ingredient.
"Interest in chia has been building for the last two years, but it is only in the last six months that the product has been readily available in the UK," according to Holland & Barrett's nuts and seeds manager Douglas Thompson.
Although the hype may be new in the UK, the seeds have been around for hundreds of years. The Aztecs relied on chia as a staple food and revered it enough to use for religious ceremonies and medicinal purposes, according to Coates.
"It disappeared for 500 years and the only place you could find it is in a few little villages in Mexico and Guatemala," Coates says.
But even before Coates and his team picked up on the seeds, chia had something of a cult following in the US.

American footballer Ray Rice is one of the athletes advocating chia

Until recently, most Americans would recognise it as the cheesy Christmas gift of choice circa 1990. Chia Pets, terracotta figurines which sprout chia in place of hair, grow from the same seeds.
As with any other "miracle food", it's important not to see chia as a panacea, says Dr Catherine Ulbricht, founder of the Natural Standard Research Collaboration.
"People think with natural therapies that they can take as much as they want because it's natural, but they do have potential side effects just like any therapy," she says.
"Anything that can have an action in your body can also have a reaction. Nothing is 100% spot-on all benefit."

Heated Discussion at Vrahassi Council Meeting

People listen to a list of works read by Michaelis Petselakis

The meeting begins in a civilized manner.

David and I attended the Council Meeting in Vrahassi, last night, along with friend Lydia, and a good representation of people from Sissi, Milatos, and Vrahassi. It was chaired by the Mayor of Agios Nikolaos, and representatives from each village. Mr Michaelis Petselakis opened the discussion with a financial report and list of works to be done. Things discussed were, the neglect of repair of the roads in the area, the terrible state of the water supply, the absence of street cleaners, the irregulare collection of rubbish and the bad state of street lighting. I heard something about a football ground but couldn't understand exactly what.There were many grievences and few solutions. Hopefully the bad state of local government will be sorted out, and our villages will be improved. The discussion was loud and often vituperative, in one instance almost coming to fisticuffs. There was a distinct clash of personalities. Mr Dimitri Kiriakakis did talk about the company who have first permissions to erect wind turbines in the mountains across from Vrahassi and towards Krasi, but he got very little support for his objection to the destruction of what should be designated a National Park, from what I could make out.

Then all hell breaks loose

And it almost ends in a fight!

There are many angry people about at the moment, nerves are frayed with the economic situation, and the frustrations of inadequate services are adding to their grievence. Let's hope their voices have been heard, and the needs of the community looked to. 

And now it's time for my 7 minute workout before a healthy bowl of porrige oats, then a couple of hours cello practice, and an evening writing a bit more to my new novel. 

Bye for now,

Love Jane x

 

In the Mountains of Crete (across from Vrahassi)

Yesterday David and I took a trip into the mountains, up past the Monastery of St George and on towards the lower slope of Selena. A French company has been given the first permissions to build a wind farm up there. What a shame if that beautiful, natural countryside is scarred by the errection of wind turbines. Personally, I think the area should be designated a National Park, and that should include Vrahassi and Anavlohos. The abundence of wild flowers, the natural habitat of the Griffon Vulture and other wild birds, the fact of being able to visit a piece of this planet where it is possible to be at one with nature, are all reasons why this area should be protected. I know I am not alone in thinking this, and I only hope that we can find some way of stopping the proposed scheme.
Sorry about the shake on the video, but the road is very bad. It's a thought, but, isn't there any European money to help make that road better so that more people can enjoy the mountains. If it were a tourist attraction (and I don't mean to make it into a main road) then that may be another reason to make it a National Park, with proper signs, and regulations. It works in England where there are Park Rangers to help control things like litter, protection of species etc.
Selena is a beautiful mountain, a very beautiful mountain, go there if you can, and see for yourself.

Love Jane x

By the way, the lovely music is Rachmaninoff Cello Sonata, and I am going to listen to the whole thing while I do my 7 minute workout. Got to get fit to walk in the mountains.

7 Minute Workout Really Works

And this is what we were really up to yesterday. We enjoyed making this little video about the 7 minute workout. If you want to get fit for summer, start now. Take a look at David's site by clicking here >>http://DavidSharp-Online.com/7-minute-workout , it will show you how and anyone has time to do this and improve their health and well being, and that of their loved ones.

Watch out for our next month progress report. Bye for now,
Love Jane x

Pinterest

I've just joined Pinterest, the social site for photo postings etc. So I'm going to try and get my head around it today. After cello practice that is.

Well, it's raining in Vrahassi, the mountain is covered in thick cloud, very reminescent of Wherenside on a good day. That is every good day that David and I climbed up there. Yesterday though was wonderful, so we took a little time out and headed for Sissi. We drank a couple of glasses of wine at the Orange Bar, which was very pleasant. We even got talking to a few locals. It was good to be out and about. Then we popped in to The Water Mill, for a snack before heading back to Vrahassi.

It is exercise day today, hoorah! I am really feeling the benefit of the 7 minute workout now. I'm getting stronger and building up to some energetic days ahead.

I'll post pictures later. So ta, ta, for now.
Love Jane x

Get Fit For Fogies January 2012

Just to show that I am still fighting the flab with the 7 minute workout. It's no big deal, just 3 times a week.

I'M STRONGER THAN I THOUGHT!

I'm enjoying my 7 minute workout sessions. Seems I may need heavier weights. I must be stronger than I thought I was. It's probably due to heaving all those porridge pans about! My next session is on Monday (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) I hope you will join me to check my progress. Luckily my bathroom scales are out of action, but I guess that I weigh about 172 lbs. Of course it is too much! Let's see what a difference a month makes. I have a small problem of an underactive thyroid and a teeny weeny hernia in my stomach to contend with, but apart from that (oh and the torn ligament in my foot) I'm feeling fine. I am looking forward to feeling FIT.

Wait till you see me in action on the floor.

It is a bit warmer in Vrahassi today, at least I got the washing dry.
David had an 'it can only happen in Greece moment' yesterday, when he filled up with petrol. He told me that the woman who served him had a cigarette hanging out of her mouth while she poured petrol into his motor. We are going out to dinner tonight, I wonder how many people will be smoking in the restaurant?
Laws eh? Who'd have 'em? Have a good weekend everyone.
Love Jane x

REALITY JANE'S GET FIT FOR FOGIES!

Right! I have decided to take myself in hand and try to get fit, or at least fitter. This is the sort of thing I shall be doing - under supervision of course. I thought by sharing the experience it might encourage me to keep to my plan. The poor quality of the video is due to the dimmed light in our living room, it is a little kinder though. My first little workout was yesterday, so I shall be attempting another tomorrow. Bet you can't wait to see the next video.

As to my diet, it won't be anything fancy. I shall eat porridge for breakfast, a sandwich, or something on toast for lunch and whatever is in the pot for tea. In other words I shall cut down but not cut out. I WILL try to cut out alcohol Monday to Friday, and I will drink lots of water all the time.

You are allowed to laugh!
By the way, Yannis' cafeneo is still open, and so is Platanos. A neighbour passed by yesterday looking for her goat, it had done a runner, and David has begun to gather wood for the winter. That's life in Vrahassi for you.

To friends in Yorkshire - I have read the stories you sent with me, an e-mail will be on its way soon. Did you see how wonderful I looked at Jo's graduation?
To Eric on the boat - are you coming to Crete next year? Not fit? Join me in the 7minute workout.
Love to everyone,
Byeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Jane x

BACK FROM ENGLAND

Hello, I am back from England, motivated and ready to go. Our new phrase of the day is 'Just Do It'. Seeing our daughter graduate from Greenwich University was the most thrilling experience. She pushed all her boundaries to obtain her degree, what an achievement. The one thing that she told me was that she had learned that there is no such thing as bringing up children, the thing IS, parents should bring up adults. It is one to think about isn't it? Nobody told me that as I was struggling to do the right thing whilst bringing up my children, but I was always aware that I wanted them to be self confident, independent and thoughtful human beings. Well done Jo!

For the other 90 pictures that we took on that day please see my Face Book album.

So, now that David and I are back home, what next? First I have to thank all those people who looked after us so well in England. You know who you are. It was a hectic trip, full of train travel and shopping, but in between we sat with friends and family, enjoyed the warmth of people we love, soaking in all the love they gave to us. Leaving them so far behind was not easy and opened a terrible wound in my emotions. But knowing that they are after all only a few hours away, does help. We all have our own lives and choices. David and I have chosen to live in Crete because this is where we are most happy. I do however wish that we could afford to visit the kids more often than once a blue moon.

And that brings me to the 'what next' question again. Well, of course there is Valentino, my cello, but, good as I might be in the three years that I have studied, I'm certainly not ready to go solo. Remember the 1.90 euro that my friend and I made at our last busk effort. I would love Tears from the Sun to be in every bookshop in Crete for the next season, but unless I find a distributor, that looks unlikely. Work in Crete for a 60 year old Enlgish woman is pushing it a bit at the moment and there is no such thing as 'Benefit' here. So, I have decided to do something very positive and improve my health. At least I can be healthy on a warm rock, if not wealthy!

I am decidedly fat, don't walk very far because I've a ligament problem in my foot, and love chocolate - it's not a very good start, is it? Anyway I have found this 7 minute workout programme on the internet, well David found it really, and what is good for the goose, as they say...

And in between the 7 minute workout, which is only 3 times a week, I shall be keeping house, doing my Greek homework, trying to master Valentino ready for a splendid Christmas Busk, and recording for posterity my success at finding a strong, healthy, enjoyable life, free of pain.

A sort of 'before' picture! Just DO IT!

I hope you will join me on my journey, maybe even encourage me a little. Then next time I am in England I will not be hobbling around, looking longingly at people with sticks and crutches, and wondering how to highjack an abandoned zimmer frame.

I'll be back very soon, with news of how the workout is going, plus whatever else is happening in the world outside my front door in Vrahassi (and beyond).

Love Jane x