Day 43

The aromas from FourthChild were tantalising this morning. One of our high street's most popular eateries, this gorgeous little café inspires the imagination with bespoke cuisine freshly prepared from locally sourced, organic ingredients. Everyday is a new culinary adventure with a chalkboard menu and glass cabinet brimming with treats to entice. But it's more than just the food and funky, modern aesthetic, spend enough time there and you'll be greeted by name, treated like family, you'll bump into friends (new and old) and your coffee order will become 'your usual' as you get imbibed into the FourthChild family. Since meeting Amanda through Ipswich Women in Business  two years ago she has been making my dairy & gluten free birthday cakes - I love surprises so the order is left to her imagination and she never fails to delight me - the first year was chocolate beetroot cake and last year she made a decadent french hazelnut torte with champagne poached pears which we had with tea at mid-week Pink Princess & Mad Hatters mini-party at the office (both cakes pre-raw of course). I spent the morning at Cultiver filling my little space with new pieces from my mid-season range so Très Chic is now brimming with autumnul colours, vintage inspired jackets, silks, linens and knits. I also decided to share the love with a Valentines Day Sale which will continue to the end of the month and more pieces added daily. My Valentines Day inspiration was delayed due to weather so fingers crossed for good weather tomorrow arvo! I also got a strength training session in today and had the room mostly to myself! Whilst it was very relaxing and peaceful, it's indicative of the fact that women often neglect to include resistance work in their fitness program. The benefits however are wonderful and so worth the investment - just three half hour sessions per week and a yoga class is all it takes to get started. I have been incorporating resistance training into my schedule since 2005 and highly recommend it - if you'd like to join me for a session please get in touch!

Day 25

This rain is making everything sleepy and I decided today would be a rest day from gym. It is possible to overtrain without allowing rest and recovery time for muscles, cells and tissues to repair. I do find however that eating raw allows my body to recover much more quickly than in did in the past and I was reading an article by a lady training for a marathon who found the same thing. I want to introiduce you to our friends from Livewell Farm. Lisa, Brian, their three girls and numerous furry friends live on a beautiful forty acre parcel with views over Marburg. They raise their own livestock and teach their children to care for the animals and the land. A thriving organic veggie patch provides food for local café FourthChild and delicious homecooked gourmet meals the McKay's prepare for themselves and welcomed guests. We did have a dinner date set in January (which had to be rescheduled due to 'In the Raw') but which I am looking forward to later in the year! Brian makes his own sourdough and Lisa teaches piano, sews gorgeous Australian stuffed toys, sumptuous linen table settings and her bright and friendly sunflowers are now available for purchase at Cutliver. The McKays's approach to life is simple - care for the land and animals, enjoi wholesome home-grown, homemade meals with friends and family and livewell! I think we will take our nephews to visit on our next outing. Come on Brian - time to experiment with some raw cuisine, it's easy!!

Day 6

Summer sure did remind us of it's grandeur today. Friends dropped in for around lunch time and after that I decided to retreat to the library for the afternoon, found some great raw food books and had some me time reading the latest edition of Vogue. We have a wonderful library here in Ipswich - libraries in my view are the cities second most valuable resource after the people that inhabit them. Treasure troves full of knowledge and information and one of my goals this year is to spend more time there! Later in the afternoon I cycled down to pop some new stock on the shelves before the shop re-opens tomorrow. For those of you who don't know I run a little fashion 'outfit' called BoutiqueTrès Chic. I love all things pre-loved, recycled, upcycled and vintage! I started online and now have a space in the amazing Cultiver in the Top of Town. I am there on Tuesday mornings so come and visit if you're around. I wanted to share with you guys about Brisbane based Raw and Peace which was established by the lovely Ames. They provide recipes, classes and breakfast each Sunday morning at the Northey Street Organic Markets. I adore the Northey Street markets so another visit is definately penciled in! Lastly we've started a social walking group Tuesday evenings, 5:15pm - all welcome! It's so important to schedule in time to exercise - combined with wise food choices - it's the best health insurance policy you can invest in! See you all tomorrow!