One more thing

Thought I'd upload a picture of the milk pudding I'm making, just so you know it's real

 

I'm thinking a little brown sugar and some nutmeg might go nice on top

Alan

Approaching the end

I'm getting to the end of my time in Norway now. I'm going to stay in Alta for two nights after this one and don't know if I'll be able to get online to post there so I'll put as much as I can think of into this post.

It was intensely cold here yesterday, under minus 30C with the windchill. It hurt to be outside after just a few minutes so I worked on Jons dogs in the outhouse but still found I had to come in by the fire after each dog as my hands were hurting. Quite an experience feeling that level of cold and I'm amazed that some of these mushers may experience such conditions and worse for many hours at a time when competing in the Finnmarkslopet race at the start of March. We all have our own ideas of fun I guess.

Great sky today

 

with some great cloud formations.

The sun is only just below the horizon now which makes the sky look like it's the evening most of the short day.

I was feeling pretty stiff last night after being dragged along by the dogs the day before but a good nights sleep has loosened me up a lot. I'm feeling wary of the ankle that cracked as I twisted it though as it feels a bit unstable and cracked again when I twisted it the other way this morning, maybe I twisted it back where it wants to be.

Last thing to mention is the bubbling pot I have on the cooker next to me.

Arne had two calves born last night, they're not in the pot, and I was told this morning all about the health giving properties of the second and third lots of milk taken from the mothers. It is full of enzymes and natural antibiotic qualities they have said. I've been given a litre or so which I was told I should place in a ban marie of boiling water for a half hour or so. It's gradually setting and will make a great pudding later this evening. I'm expecting to be very healthy by morning obviously.I suspect that you'd never be allowed to do such a thing as take raw milk from a farm in Britain these days in case it was bad for you. I'll try anything once.

One more picture before I go, this is the view from a little behind Jon and Pam's house

there are worse views. I took that picture about 4 hours ago while walking the back way to Arne's farm.

Alan

Dog sledding fun.

A lovely clear day here in Finmark,

as you can see.

That was late in the light part of the day, about 1.30PM.

I met a vet today who came out from Alta to meet me as she's training to be an animal Chiropractor at the moment. Nice chat, nice lady,  and we looked at some of Arnes dogs at the same time.

I'm getting used to the extended lunches here. Everyone sits down to breads, cheeses, hams and salamis with glasses of milk or juice. Then out comes multiple cups of coffee and, today, some homemade waffles made with milk straight from the cows outside. Lovely blueberry and rhubarb conserve on top too. I had about 8.

If that wasn't enough reward for my dog work I then got to go dog sledding for about three hours. Very much fun and I was better than last year, though still fell, and a new experience was sledding through the woods in the dark on the way back to the farm for the last hour.

Only injury for me was a loud crack from my left ankle which I actually did getting on to a 4wd quad bike of all things.

Tomorrow a little cross country skiing and some eccles cake and bread making.

Alan

Teaching the body to move better

I've been working on my website definition of Chiropractic since getting back from dog work today.

I'm going back to teach Chorley cake making later at the same centre. Multitalented or what.

It's a very positive centre where up to 10 people with substance abuse problems get to work towards improving themselves long-term. I'm looking forward to going back later.

Here's what I've written on my website regarding my main profession:

There is a model of learning that makes great sense in explaining how Chiropractic, or at least how I see it, works for you. I think Chiropractic works through a combination of neurological and physiological change, both of which work together for your best well-being.

The model comes in four parts or stages and I've given examples that may make sense to you.

1. Unconscious competence. That's when you're not even aware of not being able to do something or not do something. What this means is, you're unaware of what you are doing which may be causing problems such as a sore back or stiffness or pain.

2. Conscious incompetence. Here you're aware of some of the areas that may be contributing to the problem and you're avoiding them where you see them though you're probably not aware of all of the areas that you could be improving still. You avoid doing things that you think aggravate a problem or at least modify or compensate around them.

3. Conscious competence. Here you're able to modify your movements at the times that you consciously attend to what you do. You'll have experienced some of this when learning  skills such as exercises that help to support and improve your condition. An example might be improving your posture while sitting at a PC or desk or while reading a book.

4. Unconscious competence. Here you're moving easily at movements without being aware of how you're doing it and, when we get it right, painlessly. Here you've learnt to move or hold postures that allow your body to express the movements you desire easily.

The reality is that we're all in all four places all the time as we can always get better than we have been. The reason you have little pain during some things is that you've learnt to do those things in a way that isn't generally causing any movement in the pain zone.

Our job is to work together to help you, through my skills and your ability to learn, to move more easily and to do the things you want to do with your body.

Weather change

Just had breakfast. No snow came apart from an hours worth followed later by drizzle. Trouble with drizzle is that it hits the ground and turns to ice. I have some studded straps on my walking boots so that I spend less time on my rear than upright.
Ice means no dog sledding for today so I'm off to a local centre to work with more of their dogs.
Just in case I don't get out on a sled this week here's a picture of last years fun.

 It's probably like that in the mountains but difficult to get there due to the ice down lower.

I didn't get round to finishing those notes on good and bad pain yet, made bread here instead.

Alan

Norway and the darkness

It's a bit dark here in Norway tonight. It started about 3PM and left me feeling like it was bedtime by 5 though maybe it was the day looking at 40 huskies that has tired me.
Talking to Jon, Arne and Ben has led me to thinking about pain and the idea of good and bad pain, something I'm going to write up an article on for my professional website at www.eynshamchiro.co.uk

The storm we were waiting for hasn't arrived here, just a little snow so far. I think the dog mushers would like quite a bit more snow as much of the lower levels are just full of compacted ice which is difficult to walk on let alone easily negotiate with a dog sled.

Talking of dog sledding, I'm off for a go myself if the weather is right tomorrow which is going to be fun. Not sure how far we'll be going or if I'll be enjoying getting dragged on my front down the side of a mountain like last year. I understand it that's not compulsory.

I'll add my initial thoughts on good and bad pain in a while if I stay awake long enough.

Alan

First post

Well, I'm starting my blog from here in Norway, a good a place as ever. I'll be filling the blog out rather more with thoughts and, hopefully, interesting things as the weeks unfold.
An intro' from Norway first though.
I'm staying here in Finmark with Jon and Pam and their two daughters. It was minus 8c when I landed at 4pm and it's dropped to rather lower now.
Jon just called me out to look at an impressive, though short lived, display of the northern lights.

More tomorrow and that might be interesting as I'm informed that there is the biggest storm in quite a few years will be hitting us at midday. 30mph winds with heavy snow at the same time. Should be fun and might mean an afternoon of eccles cake making.