Beetroot power!

I think I might be the only person I know not to have sufferred a cold yet this year. That doesn't mean I don't feel on the cusp of a fluey breakdown mind you, but this year I have been working extra hard at staving off the effects of winter chills, so thought I would share the secrets of my so-far-success.

I suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a type of winter depression experienced by some 7% of the population in the UK between the months of September and April. I've had it since the age of about 8 years, usually around the time of the clocks changing, where for a few weeks my sleep patterns become upset, I can't rouse myself in the morning and I feel unbelievably lethargic and depressed. I used to nearly always end up having to take a week of school to hibernate. Basically, reduced levels of sunlight causes a chemical imbalance in the area of the brain responsible for producing hormones that regulate moods, sex drive and sleep patterns. Less sun also means we get less of all the great vitamins (namely D3) found in UV rays that aid the production and metabolism of key nutrients in the body.

This year I was determined to take action against SAD and had planned on borrowing my tortoises UVA/UVB sun lamp to sit under while in the house, btu at the last minute a rescue bearded dragon came in and took priority, so I hit the health food shop for some advice, and came away with a jar of vitamin D tablets, the "sunshine vitamin" as the helpful chap in there called them. Unfortunately I was already sufferring symptoms by the time I started on them, taking them in addition to my usual multi vit and mineral and addittional calcium tablet (I'm lactose intolerant and a veggie, so like to be sure I'm getting all the good stuff my body needs), and am pretty sure they are doing a great job! I also invested in some vitamin C effervescent tablets (it's more fun having it in a drink than having another pill to swallow and helps get more water in me!) to boost my immune system and stave of colds and that seems to be doing the trick too. Not to mention getting at least 5 a day in the form of juice and a piece of fruit for breakfast, salads or soup for lunch and stir fries for dinner including plentie of veggies.

Getting plenty of onions and garlic in your diet is important at this time of year (hence soups and stirfries- an easy way to sneak them in), as both have great antibacterial properties. Ginger is good too, and achinacea, which you can get in herbal teas or as a tablet, is great for boosting the immune system.

I also became aware of beetroot as a superfood, so have been getting lots of that in me too- look at what's in it and you'll see why:

• Nitrite, one of the key ingredients in beetroot, helps reduce blood pressure, heart disease and strokes
• Betanine, a compound that aids relaxation and reduces depression
• Vitamin A and C, calcium, iron, folic acid
• Betacyanin, the pigment that gives beetroot its colour, has powerful antioxidant properties
• Minerals including magnesium, sodium, potassium and silica, which aids the intake of calcium and acts as a useful antidote to a diet too high in salt.

How about that!! It has also been found to improve athletic performance, probably due to the high nitrate levels in it, so you can train for longer if you make it a part of your diet or drink a load of beetroot juice a half hour before you train!

I've also been reading about the benefits of a good nights sleep for keeping illness at bay, and this is the only area that I still have to work on to keep my body and mind super healthy. Did you know that statistics show that people who get less than 7 hours of sleep a night are more likely to get a cold than those who get 8 hours or more a night. At the moment I am working every hour God sends and only getting 7 hours sleep at most, and my mouth is testiment to this, having become full of  ulcers in the last week (a sign of the immune system being down) so it is time for me to take notice, and action! So I am now on an early night crusade to increase my sleep and help my body out and prolong my smugness at surviving the winter months ail-free. After all, you know what they say, look after your body and it will look after you...

the week has dealt me a poor hand

And by a poor hand I mean it in the most literal sense of the term. Let me talk you through a week in the life of my right hand; the following scrapes have occurred in this order on consecutive days up to today.

1. Bashed open knuckle between index and middle finger while using broom over zealously to scrape sand down from sloping raised floor in bat house, whacking said knuckle on rocks. Sand in wound, infection for 2 days.

2. Knuckle between index and middle finger slashed open by the talon of one "Lurch" eagle owl, who caught me while I was fitting him with new anklets. Decent sized slash wound, quite impressive.

3. Caught thumb knuckle in spring loaded rat trap. VERY painful, licky I didn't chip the bone but thankfully did not recieve full force of metal bar, which just caught me on it's way down. Still, much hugging of hand to chest, and one or two tears escaped down cheeks.

4. Barn owl grabbed the end of my thumb in her beak by accident, sinking hook of beak right in. No infection, luckily.

5. Different barn owl gets me with her talons while I weighed her today, locked and clenched talons around the end of my middle finger, piercing very deeply. Very tender, typing is sore!

6. Multiple scratches all over hand from attampting to remove stubborn metal mesh heat lamp guard to change lamp in Amazon parrot roost.

It really is the wars! But also a fun illustration of some of the things I get up to at the zoo. Some of the most chuckle-worthy moments are those when we get injured!!

A reindeer shaped mini adventure

Oh dear, life is happenning faster than I can write about all the perculiar happenings that keep occurring in my world!

I have had a hectic week and weekend- I work at the zoo sunday-thursday every week, and when winter happens our hours get reduced (because it gets too dark to see the poo we have to pick up) so it becomes neccessary to get a "weekend" job in order to keep things running smoothly financially, and help out with the whole Christmas thing. Happily, I have secured a friday job at Burwash Manor Barns Christmas Marquee. Check it out http://www.burwashmanor.com/ or even better, if you're local, come visit me on a friday! My mum works on a more full time basis there in addition to living onsite with our ponies and we know the family pretty well (I used to run the toyshop on the weekends) so it's a nice little set up to be a part of, and I can take advantage of mums caravan to cook my lunch in (or even better, have her cater for me- she made a great stew this week that I traded for a slice of my homemade carrot cake). I had my first day this week and it was pretty alright, but a massive temptation being around mo many pretty sparkly things all day that I want to spend my money on!

Yesterday I was scheduled to fit in an early morning road trip to Ikea with my friend Alex but instead of getting on the London train that calls at Royston (just 25 mins up the line), I somehow managed to get on the direct London train, that only stops at London (some 50 minutes away). GREAT!! So that was an expensive mistake as had to pay 18 quid just to get back on a train to go back, setting us back surprisingly by only an hour. We made it and had a nice time, and got back in time for me to whizz to my next appointment, a snake job- photoshoot with Lottie Ettling, luckily at a location not far from my place. Went well, but having effectively done a 7 day week I am thinking I really need to work on getting some early nights in!

What I really wanted to fill you in on was last weeks adventure. Fyf is back in the country and needed some help with a reindeer job for posh department store harrods, in London. Fyfs family own the Cairngorm Reindeer herd you see, and at this time of year, tour all over with the reindeer for festive displays and such(inc visiting Burwash Manor next month). http://www.cairngormreindeer.co.uk/ Lucky for us the night she came to Cambridge it was Guy Fawkes night, so there was a big firework display in town, which we pottered along to, despite the hammering rain, and it was rather good, despite the hammering rain!

Basically, Harrods organise a huge xmas parade every year to mark the opening of the xmas section in their toy department, and this parade tours around the outside of the ginormous building (takes about 30 mins or so to do a lap), with fake snow confettii pouring down on everyone from the roof tops, loud music, entertainers, about 10 horse drawn carriages including one with santa riding, 6 reindeer in all their bells and stuff, and loads of people in big fluttery carnival costumes. Pretty good fun really, but an early start for us, we loaded the animals at 3.30am from Birds Farm in Barton (Cambs) where we'd stopped over the night, to get to harrods for a 6am call time (the lorry has a restrictor on it so does a maximum of 45mph).

It was too hot for the reindeer to stay in the lorry in the harrods loading bay (which is basement level) so we took them out and tied them to the railings of a house on Russel Square. Quite bizarre a sight really. And it was still dark! The animals behaved superbly, even the two 6 month old calves, who's first time it was to be off the mountains and wearing harnesses!! We got some amazing looks from passers by, we really made a lot of peoples day! We did the parade and then Fyf and Heather (the other reindeer girl) took the furry gang back up to the highlands, leaving me in London to make my own way home... I'd done a days work and it was only 9am!! Flaming knackered but managed to meet up with an old frind and do a bit of sight seeing, and the money I earned working was the exact amount I owed my sister Daisy for a sub she'd given me last weekend- easy come, easy go!!