As always, time is flying, and life is being good to us..

Kveta and I have been for a couple of nice walks together recently, that hasn't happened enough in the past, and I'm hoping that we may make a regular thing of it..

I'm still getting out most mornings of the week, either in search of the golf balls, or to do a spot of gardening.

Kveta and I, out for a stroll along Congwong beach

Kveta will soon be leaving me for a couple of months, as her planned vacation in the Czech Republic draws closer. I'll be home alone, and just enjoying my time doing what I do, and will no doubt be hugging the hotwater bottle again as the temperature is dropping slowly.

I'm still hanging out with a neighbour called Denni. I wouldn't exactly call him a friend as he is very needy, and clearly has mental health issues from long term alcohol abuse.. He's also on the worst diet I've witnessed for some time, and seems to eat little other than chicken wings, chicken liver and bread with salami..

He's the guy that introduced me to the golf ball thing, as he has been selling balls for many many years already..

We go looking for golf balls together sometimes.

A view of Kveta from the sea (I enjoyed a quick swim)

It's Amelia's birthday tomorrow. I made her a short video of myself as a present.. Honestly, I think I've been a pretty lousy uncle so far.. My brother has so many children I've lost count of them and would have trouble remembering their names, although I might succeed... I've had little to do with him, or his kids (most of who are adults already, and one at least has children of her own) for many years already. I sometimes wonder if we will ever really see each other again.

I'd certainly like to keep in touch with my sister and her family, and see them again soon, but this whole present, birthday, card thing I am not at all good at.

In fact the only people I keep in touch with on a pretty regular basis are my parents who I try to call once a week..

Zoomed in on Kveta

The pictures above were all taken yesterday.

Peace and hugs,
Mango.

This is just a quick shout out to let you all know that Kveta has opened another blog where she intends to post regularly photographs from the 2 of us..

Her blog can be found here:

http://fruitariankvetasphotoblog.blogspot.com

Enjoy!
Peace,
Mango.

Life's treating me well as always, and the days are still flying past incredibly quickly.

Kveta has decided to head back to the Czech Republic again this year.. She'll be visiting her parents, sister and other family and friends, plus possibly meet up with some of the czech raw food crew.

She leaves at the end of May, and gets back end of July.. So 2 months all up.. and then, before we know it, I should, if all goes to plan, have my permanent residency visa within just a few short weeks of her getting back.

Meanwhile, I'll be staying put and minding the fort.. I have no problem to keep myself occupied, and have no doubts that time will continue moving at the same pace it always does.

Yesterday, I was contacted by my friend Zalan in Victoria. He informed me that ABC radio were looking for a fruitarian to interview live, yesterday afternoon.

So, a phone call or 2 later, and I'd signed myself up for a live interview.. First time I've been interviewed on Radio since the day before I left Norway.. Seems like another lifetime ago..

Anyhow, 16:20 yesterday afternoon, Richard Glover rang me directly from his radio show, and we chatted on air for 7 or 8 minutes..

It was short and sweet, and needless to say, I only got to say a fraction of what needs to be said, but it all went pretty smoothly, and hopefully I managed to get the idea across in a level-headed enough manner to make some people think..

If you want to listen to the interview, the ABC website has made it available for anyone to play or even download.

Just click on the image below, taken directly from the Australian ABC website:



I'm still occasionally interviewing different fruitarians that I stumble upon online, and posting the interviews on my main blog... Rudolf from Germany/Spain has also interviewed me too, and I'll be posting that interview when I'm done with it, too..

I'm still selling the golf balls when I find them, here are a couple of pictures from the place where I sit and wait for golfing customers..





peace,
Mango.

As many know already, Kveta and I have plans to leave Sydney, and to head north into the tropics.. What's holding us back is still the ongoing processing of paperwork surrounding my permanent visa application, which, touch wood, all appears to be running smoothly.. Should it continue to do so, then I should be all legally set to stay indefinitely down under, hopefully before the end of August.. Which means, that we'll be free to travel in about 7 months from now.. - or less!!

Of course, it's not quite as simple as that, as there will be more paper work needed after the visa comes through (my government health insurance papers, ozzy driving license and the like), cancelling bills, figuring out what to do about changes of address etc, and then there's the packing and weeding through the things we'll either take with us, store somehow, somewhere, or discard.. I suspect that that last thing could keep us occupied for a while, but feel quite sure that whatever happens that in 2010 we'll be somewhere completely else.. The tropical unknown..

The recent chinese new year saw the commencement of the year of the ox, the year I was born, I believe, so I definitely feel that things are looking good..

Funny, a while ago, Kveta was reading tarot cards for me, and it came out that she said this lifetime was sort of like a holiday life, for me.. Now the strange thing is, that way back, when I used to be an IBM scientist, I used to often tell one of my best friends of the time, Sigve Zachariassen, that this is my holiday life.



Anyhow, while the days, weeks and months flow silently past, I am indeed enjoying my life as always..

To make money for my daily fruit intake, which as those of you that follow kvetas blog must know already, frequently includes: avocados, durians, apricots, nectarines, tomatoes, oranges, cucumbers, chillies, melons, pineapples, mangoes and more, I have extended my job of finding and recycling scrap metal (which has now been downwardly prioritized), and have begun using my early mornings to search through the bushes of a local golf course, where I regularly find around 50 balls (sometimes nearly twice that many!) each morning.. It's a lucrative little business, as many of the balls I find, I am able to sell onward for $1 or more each.. Of course, things are never quite that simple, and there is a good deal of waiting involved between finding buyers, but I'm quite happy with how it's running so far..

The scrap metal thing, I still do, although I have stopped rifling through bins to find aluminum cans.. Especially since the onslaught of the collapse of the world economy, which has brought metal prices very very low, making the job really just not worth the effort anymore.. But, like I said, I haven't stopped with it completely, and should it happen that I come across piles of the stuff, then no doubt I will see it's value, and transport it to the right place..

Besides, searching for the scrap metal, is what has lead to many of the excellent bric-a-brac finds, and since the beginning of November, Kveta and I have been frequenting a local market, selling other peoples abandoned treasures.. We sell shoes, handbags, glasses, pictures, toys, some electrical goods, like kettles, rice cookers, radios, tvs.. the list goes on.. Not each week is as successful, but it's a fun way to spend our sundays, and anything we can put aside, moneywise, will be going toward helping us escape north to the tropics..

The downside to the market work, is that we only live in a very small one bedroom apartment, and all the stuff we have, is piled high in our small living room, which doesn't make the place look too inviting (to say the least!).. It gets to us both at times, but knowing that it's only temporary, and that every little helps, with those months at times seemingly ticking past like seconds on a clock, - now that makes it all bearable.

Yesterday, Kveta and I came off juices we'd been on for a week or so, and stocked up on boxes of fruit, as always.. We also scored a box of figs for $15.. very sweet and creamy!!

I heard from Harmonie recently. She's had a baby, a beautiful little girl called Indigo-Rose...I'm so happy to hear they are both doing well and making the most of each others company.

Australia is suffering in places at the moment.. There's fires in Victoria, supposedly the worst in recorded history, and much of Queensland is said to be under water.. floods everywhere.. Fortunately, NSW is relatively fairing well, and we've had a pretty good summer here in Sydney.. Overall, also, Australia seems to be coping better with the global economy crisis than most or many other countries.

So once more I count my lucky stars, and thank the great white spirit, that I'm here, and that my life is so blessed, that I have been granted insight enough to make the right choices and walk the right path. So few are able to do so, so few can see where fruitful choices have the potential to lead us.

Eat fruit.
Peace,
mango.

I realise I'm not recording my thoughts anywhere near as much as I once did, and I kind of miss doing that.. But having said that, this is by no means a statement of intention to change that.. My days just seem to be full with other things lately.

Preparing for our weekly market stall seems to take all week, and we have really been made aware of just how small our apartment is.. I'm out most mornings, finding things to sell..Treasures from other peoples rubbish.. And rarely does a day pass, where I don't find something of some value.

We've currently got 2 portable TVs in good working order, plus 3 electrical fans, a good computer chair, books, bags and bags of clothing, pots, pans, toys, pictures.. The list goes on and on and on, and we are really struggling to keep things in some degree of order.

In addition, I am still finding and recycling scrap metal, which too, takes up much of my time, as I have to separate things with my trusty tools of screwdrivers, pliers, mallet and scalpels. It's often a very slow process, and with current rates as they are, pays very poorly. I don't keep track of the hours I dedicate to the metal recycling thing, but I do know that I'm getting on average about $25 to $30 per week.. Which might make one question whether it was really worthwhile or not...Still my attitude is that every penny counts, and I'm happy to report that together with the money made at the market, I am just about able to cover my monthly expenses. (plus we are putting aside a little each week and hoping to travel around australia once we are finally free to leave sydney (after my permanent residency finally gets cleared - hopefully by september next year))



For several months, I was making our next door neighbour a juice daily. But a couple of months ago she got admitted in to hospital for about 6 weeks. When she came out, she was noticeably bigger than when she went in, and I guess I just gave up on her.. There is a limit to how much responsibility I want to take for other peoples problems, and really her health is clearly her issue, and if she has enough life in her to do her own cooking (which is the case), then she has enough to make her own juices. So I stopped asking her if she wanted a juice, and she's stopped telling me she wants one. Part of me feels a little guilty about not helping more, as I would so much like to see her heal herself, but being realistic, that's pretty unlikely at this stage... So I've stepped back.

I've also been helping out another neighbour lately. A Macedonian guy. He's been acting increasingly more paranoid recently, and suffering apparently from many different bodily pains and complaints. I've lost count of how many times I've repeated to him that his problems all stem from intoxication (decades of alcohol and tobacco substance abuse), and that he needs juices and fruit in his life, to cleanse him internally.. But again I am talking to a wall, and he would much rather be prescribed the multitude of pills he is now on.. The hospital want to keep him in the psych ward, and I think they probably would have if he did not have 2 bigs dogs that he hadn't insisted that no one else could look after them.

Really, I am feeling so impatient to get out in the bush somewhere, and open up some kind of healing retreat centre with Kveta.. We still have no idea how we will find, finance or manifest this place yet, but I am sure it will happen. Magic does. I really think that for many people, the only way they will pull themselves out of their destructive life threatening habits, is to get back to nature.. If they can make that step, then there is definitely more of a chance that they will make positive changes..

Actually, the vast majority of people that have any desire at all, to move to a fruit based diet, would probably need some support at some point in time.. Even myself, I know that I went for some longer periods of months at a time, eating solely fruit, but once I found myself in a lesser state of mind, or environment, I soon found myself eating lettuce, carrots and the occasional slip up of a boiled potato or 2 (all well documented in previous journal entries).. So I guess I can honestly say, that since moving here with Kveta, this has been the longest consecutive period of time that I have been pretty much all fruit. (thankyou kveta!).

This world is just full of so much sickness and suffering.. Probably especially noticeable here as we are living in government housing surrounded by a lot of people that are no doubt sicker than average.

Kveta and I are on a short digital camera course..

I'm not sure how much we'll really get out of it, as after the first lesson it's easy to see that most of the participants don't really have much experience using them..

There is of course, heaps more that we could learn about photography, as neither of us have much know how beyond point and shoot.



It's a 2 hour session, once a week, one month course (4 lessons in all) and we've all been given some cheap pentax cameras from woolworths to use and learn from..

we own a sony cybershot camera ourselves, which pretty much suits our needs, but I guess I wouldn't mind one of those more long range things, - maybe later in the movie..

Otherwise things are going well, days are continuing to fly past and seem to be over before they've begun.

We're eating strawberries from the garden, loads of mangoes, mostly blended with orange juice...  and tomatoes, avos and cucumbers most days.

I'm still collecting scrap metal, but due to the global recession nonsense, I'm getting only 50% of the price that I was just 3 weeks ago.. If I had somewhere to store it, I would just squirrel it away on some corner until the prices become fairer again..

Anyhow.Life's good.

Peace,
Mango.

I guess any of you that follow kvetas blog know that she arrived back safe and well, and that we have been enjoying some hot beach days, braving it into the cold sea..

The sudden change in seasons, accompanied by some brief rain showers has really added some zest to our little garden, everything is growing so fast, and if things go to plan, I'm hoping that we'll be well stocked with tomatoes throughout the coming months..

I need to get some cucumbers started too, and maybe a few capsicums as well..

I'm so looking forward to moving north to the tropics, and getting an abundance of pawpaw and passion fruit growing.. both grow fast in the tropics, and should be yielding quite easily within 2 years.. sooner if they are well cared for.

I know summer has not officially started here yet, but we've already had several 30 degree plus days, and the forecast is that it will be a hot one this year.. which reminds me that I mustn't forget to get some melons in the ground too.. I think I'm going to just go for rock melons this year.. we had a fair few watermelon last year, but they weren't the sweetest, whereas the one or 2 rockies we had were very tasty.

I'm doing a lot less on the computer these days, decided to stop concentrating on my blogs, and be outside more. A good decision.

The one thing that I do need to get done, and that has taken me far too long already, is that darned book I'm always postponing. The truth is I started on it again in August, and worked on it some up until the laptop crashed on me, but I've not looked at it since then.. I think I'm still floating around 100 pages so far.

my sort of job , recycling scrap metal yields all kinds of treasures.. It's amazing what people throw out, it really is.. I may have already said, I found a TV discarded that's big and would have cost several hundred dollars new, that we are using now, that woks just fine.. I've found several mobile phones, at least one of which works as the recharger was discarded with it.. Of course, they are lacking functional sim cards, but if ever I decide to get a mobile, one of the ones I've found will probably do me just fine..

Yeah, there's all kinds of good stuff to be had from the bins, I'm just hanging out to find a bag full of money we can use to buy prime tropical land in Far North Queensland for fruit tree growing. I'm sure that that happens every now and again..

peace,
mango.

I really have to say, that today is such a wonderful day!

The sun is shining, the air is clean here, and the garden is green with seedlings.. The strawberries are flowering, and the tomatoes are looking healthy..

I have so much to be thankful for in this life of mine..

I know I might complain sometimes, that I don't have this or that, but the truth is, I really have it all.

I have a woman who loves me despite my many faults.

I'm living in Australia with every chance of being able to relocate to the tropics here, (once the political immigration side of things is fully done and dusted) and find a good rich soil place to settle and focus my life on fruit tree growing and other positive aspects in a world otherwise laden with crazinesses.

I have a fantastic job, if one can even call it that.. Checking the bins, for scrap metal.. Sitting in the sunshine with a screwdriver and pair of pliers. No one to tell me what hours, or what uniform. If it's raining and cold I can sit inside with a hot water bottle, but summer is in the air, and those days are mostly over..

I've traveled lots, seen lots, learned lots, and give thanks to all those things.

I believe in the power of manifestation, and the principles behind "The Secret", that positive thoughts materialise in positivity! I have proved this to myself countless times, even before I had even heard of the "the secret"..

Life is good, and getting better for each day, and I thank you all for being part of it.

Hugs,
Mango.
PS Kveta gets back home tomorrow!!