Kitchen coming together

 
We received a very enthusiastic email from our kitchen supplier last night along with some new pictures of the units as they are fitted together. As you can see from the picture above, it all seems to be coming together nicely!

Judging from the pictures, you'd never really guess that the kitchen is bespoke (the depth of the units is a little unusual in order to accomodate the floor heating manifold that's located under the sink... sorry... being a bit geeky there) and it actually looks like it's brand new... it certainly doesn't look like it's 50 years old!

Tom, the guy who's refurbishing and fitting it all together, seems to be very happy with his handywork, commenting that our kitchen is the best one he's made so far! He must have found himself a new supplier for the replacement parts (like the runners for the doors) since he commented that these new items are ten times better quality than the previous parts he'd been using.

So, it looks like there's no reason why this kitchen won't still be around in another 50 years time! 

Magic beans

Since fertility treatment is a whole-body event, we are trying to mostly eat wholesome and nutritious foods to make conception more possible. That means as much natural foods as possible, complex carbohydrates (wholemeal bread, potatoes and pulses), lots of fish and loads of fresh fruit and vegetables. And a long list of foods better to avoid... :-)

I firmly believe in organic food. Jonny and I both think that especially organic fruit and vegetables taste better, but that is of course subjective. However, organic food is relatively free of pesticides and additives. Pesticides are known to be 'hormone-disrupting' chemicals, while organic fruit and veg are believed to contain higher level of minerals. Pesticides have to be metabolized by the liver and so are an added burden to the system. So eating organic food also helps to reduce the stress on Jonny's liver, helping him to cope better with the effects of his Gilbert's syndrome.

Having said this, a lot of foods are hard to find organically grown. I am even forced to go into grim looking health shops where the people look miserable. Maybe not surprising since most of them seem to think that 'good' food means environmentally sound and nutritious food (think murky dishes like buckwheat and lentils), forgetting about flavour, looks and fun. Whilst I fully endorse the afore-mentioned qualities, I also believe that food is supposed to be tasty and fun. Jam without sugar is not funny and certainly not tasty.

Luckily we have a little vegetable stall on a square a few minutes from our house. It is a run by a middle-aged couple who drive around the Netherlands to get the best locally produced (mostly organic) fruit and veg. And they do a wonderful job, especially since I always seem to leave with a lot more than I originally came for! They sell seasonal products only, so lately we have been munching away on the sweetest cherries, the tastiest cherry tomatoes and the most delicious broad beans. Last week they proudly told me they had 'magic beans': dark purple beans that turn green once cooked. Of course I had to try them! They tasted a lot like green beans, but with a slightly different, and definitely a lot more, flavour. My five year old niece Dana can confirm this, since she kept asking for more when she was over for dinner last weekend. Let's hope they work magic in our bodies too!

What is Flo doing with her time?

I have now officially been a SAHW for a month and I am not bored yet. A bit of a shame, since I read yesterday that being bored and doing nothing sometimes is good. Apparently it gives the mind a chance to recuperate from the thousands of impressions that we get every day and helps to find the deeper purpose of life (link to the Dutch article here).

What I keep myself busy with? Things like meeting my friends for lunch, flogging the contents of my wardrobe on Marktplaats, amusing Jonny with my acrobatic skills, getting colour swatches for the new house and cooking natural meals. Basically I have three job titles at the moment: project manager 'building, moving and decorating', domestic goddess and part-time student brand management (and yes, the thesis is coming along fine thanks). Oh and we are preparing ourselves for the next round of IVF-ICSI.

The preparation involves healthy natural food and ridiculously expensive supplements. Good nutrition is vital in preparation for IVF to support the body's ability for developing and growing eggs, building the lining of the womb, helping with the healing after the retrieval of the eggs and for the implantation of the embryo. In order to get not too worked up about our food, we are following the 80/20 rule, being health-conscious about what we eat 80% of the time.

The possible stress that I get from finding all the right ingredients for our dinners I reduce by abdominal massage and acupuncture. Abdominal massage detoxifies and strengthens the lower abdomen and improves the blood flow. Acupuncture before and during the IVF-treatment helps to balance the body and grow follicles. A German study shows that acupuncture might increase the chances of a full term pregnancy.

So if (anything in) the treatment goes wrong, at least we know it's not in the preparation. And the healthy living makes us feel good, which is a major bonus!

We have an appointment in the hospital next Wednesday. This is a couple of days before we are supposed to start the treatment again, so they can check if my body is ready for another go. This appointment is at my request, since I felt I'd rather know that we cannot start yet, than psyching ourselves up for the treatment, start injections to only then be told that the best time has not come yet. Best spannend dus!

Career change

As some of you may be aware, Flo is currently taking a time out of her career to concentrate on other things. However, this doesn't mean that she's resting on her lorals, since as you can see from this short video above, she's been training hard on her auditioning act to join the Nederlandse Vrouwen Sociale Circus!

First pictures of kitchen

We've just received the first pictures of the kitchen units, fresh back from being powder coated in cream (the colour we finally decided on) with the red handles.

 
The kitchen was supposed to be delivered last weekend, but the supplier is having difficulties with his subcontractor to have some bespoke end pannels manufactured. The latest delivery date is now 12th August, although we may have to delay this further since we doubt the floor will be installed by then.

 
It's good to see it coming together... the plan is that the supplier will pre-assemble the kitchen in three parts so that once it's delivered it will just need putting in the right place and fixing to the wall.

 
As you can see from the picture above, the old units have been completely refurbished (remember, this kitchen was originally made in the 1950s!) with new/modern fittings, like these new drawer rollers.

We're both really looking forward to cooking in our new kitchen!