spring at last

I have four posts jangling around my cranium. Back from NZ for 36 hours this is the first moment that I have had in front of the keyboard without work or domestics pulling me away. Though now I sit comfortably, the glorious warm spring air blowing through the open doors, I know that although I feign relaxation there are at least fifty other things I feel I should be doing right now.

But I’ll knock the top off the first post by saying this will not be the weekend that I start my spring detox.

Not just because I have a fresh source of Schoc.



Or because this was the first thing I bought at the market this morning



zucchini and carrot fritters straight out of the fryer, hot and crispy

Possibly not even because of the duty-free purchases.

But because there is a detox I need to do first on an entirely different level.

The relationship between what we eat and how we feel is not exactly rocket science. Although outwardly I am calm, somewhere near the intersection of sub and full consciousness there is an iceberg bobbing on the surface. The SE put it best when he said on the way to the airport last night (it’s his turn to go away this time) “If you knock off both bottles of brandy and all the chocolate this weekend I wouldn’t blame you after the week you’ve had”.

I’ve found there are a couple of things that determine whether my full on Spring Clean is going to flow freely. Firstly, timing is crucial. Last year's was cut short a day or two early with the unexpected arrival of a friend I hadn’t seen for over a year. The way you come out of a detox is as important as all the good organic fruits and vegetables that fuel it. This weekend was the perfect window to commence my annual ritual, I’m not sure now if I can find two weeks without major social distractions from here on in.

The second is preparation. For someone who is food oriented to switch off from oral gratification involves some psyching. Not best to start amidst the ravages of PMS, during exams or at a time of emotional lability. I’ve had a week with my family taking care of my mum who has slipped another notch into the dance with Alzheimer’s. It’s not fun. There were tears. But some laughter too. I need to sit with this latest experience for a while. Not starve myself of comfort.

I certainly hope I can find a space this spring to give my body a rest. While I am actually a little sceptical about claims that the so called toxins can be eliminated from a body of this age in a mere week or two on basic, unadulterated whole foods diet, I do know that by the end of the first week my energy picks up (even without the coffee) and my focus changes. I enjoy the detour from my usual daily diet of reading food blogs and being sedentary, to savouring the unexpected sweetness of vegetables and moving my body more.

The good news is the garden is providing the bulk of our green vegetables at the moment and you can’t get fresher than that. The season has taken a delightful shift. The air is scented with jasmine and the parrots were courting loudly this morning when I parked my car on the fringes of the CBD. This is such a sensual time of year so that if nothing else, I can at least indulge smell, sound, touch and sight with equal fervour as last winter's over reliance on taste.



The snow capped mountains of the South Island from across the Cook Straight

spring clean

Fresh peppermint from the garden, straight to the pot for tea.

Apples, about 5 or 6, thinly sliced and munched through the day.

A few pots of ginger, cinnamon and lemon tea.


This is not the most exciting tale to tell on a food blog but this is all I consumed yesterday. The previous weeks have been littered with celebrations – bottles of sparkling and cool sauv blancs on sunny days, seafood and salads, the morning hit of espresso to fuel the writing.

All this is gone for a short hiatus. So too is reading other peoples accounts of food or watching gastroporn on TV.

I documented my spring clean detox last September, so scroll back to the beginning of the month to catch up on the highlights. So as not to repeat myself, I’m taking this week off – til normal eating resumes!

My parting thoughts are – remember it is just food, nothing more, nothing less. It is always good to take a break from our obsessions.