Some of you may be wondering where I disappeared to for so long…it all began with Canadian Thanksgiving which is a week before my birthday. Thanksgiving kicked off an eating binge that lasted about three weeks and left me in a state of indigestion that has lasted another month! Prior to Thanksgiving we had been eating a mostly flour (and other refined items) free diet, the three week eating binge wasn’t so much a binge but just ended up being way more gluten than my sensitive digestive system could handle–it ended up knocking me right out.

In the meantime I did get some new handmade goodies made for my online stores at ArtFire and Dewanda which include soapnut laundry pouches and yarrow stalks for I Ching divination so all was not lost. I still have a couple more projects to work on one of which is rune stones and the other recycled hot-pots, but it may be a while before I get those done. In the meantime I have gotten way behind on emails and posting and photo organizing so please bear with me if this all seems like old news.

Birthday fun lasted about a week this year and I managed to do a few things that we had been wanting to do for a while. We got the loan of a car so we took a drive up Cypress Hill in Vancouver and got a little bit of a nature hike in as well as a fabulous view of Stanley Park, even though it was a bit foggy and rainy, my Aunt also got us a gift certificate to White Spot which is a famous Canadian restaurant, so we are really feeling like we are starting to be “in the know” here in Canada finally!

The next day we took a trip down to Chinatown, I have been looking for an Asian clay cooking vessel, but I couldn’t find one in Chinatown, I’ll have to go back to Asia to get what I want in that department! I just love the way roasted eggplant tastes after being grilled over an open fire like that…I also finally got to stop by the Town Hall community garden, which I have been wanting to see for a while, it was late in the season, but we got to see it, quite a nice spot.

Later in the week my cousin took us out for a tasty treat at Sha Lin Noodle House which makes fresh noodles in the traditional Chinese style. All in all great times, although I am not sure if the agony I later suffered was all worth it.

I haven’t previously been sensitive to gluten as far as I know, but it does seem that if you stop eating something that isn’t very good for you and then suddenly start eating it again it seems that it is easier to become sensitized to it. At any rate, it is good to know what exactly it is that I need to avoid.