Is Spring on the horizon?

My photos are nowhere near as beautiful as those from Cornish Chickpea on Saturday, but I didn't have the beautiful Cornish coastline either ....

I don't know about you, but we've had some fabulous weather in the last few weeks. I went for a walk with Mr D on Sunday and it felt positively balmy in the sunshine. In fact I was almost wishing I'd had my sunglasses with me!

We saw a linnet and a greater spotted woodpecker in these trees. I don't think I've ever seen a linnet before, but I could tell it was a finch of some kind by it's beak and it had a rather striking orangey red stripe on its head and a reddish breast. I looked it up in my trusty Observer's Book of Birds when I got home. This book always makes me think of my dad because it still smells of his bookcases. 

We also walked around Horsell Common for a while. We both have fond memories of walking our much-loved, but sadly departed retriever - Woody - around the common. One day soon we will get another dog, but the timing isn't quite right at the moment unfortunately! It feels odd not having a dog on these kind of walks I must say, but I don't miss the hosing down, rubbing dry and subsequent wet dog whiff quite so much! 

A happy consequence!

I made a chocolate tart last Sunday for pudding. We don't often eat puddings, but it always seems appropriate on a Sunday! I had roll of pastry in the deep freeze that needed using.(yes it was ready made. I can make pastry, but it's so easy when ready made! Is that wrong?) The chocolate filling used 4 egg yolks and half a small tub of cream.

Ok so the pastry's not very neat, but it was ever so tasty!! 

(In case you're wondering, it is neither vegan nor gluten free as my eldest daughter was away for the weekend so she didn't miss out)

This left me four egg whites and the other half a tub of cream, plus a small quantity of dark chocolate.....
From my leftovers, I made chocolate dipped meringues with orange cream! A very happy consequence indeed!

Jackson Pollock eat your heart out! 

Two puddings for the price of one! Always worth celebrating in my view. 

Menu for the week

Firstly, thank you so much to everyone who has taken the time to visit my blog and read through any posts and comment too! I really appreciate the feedback. It's great to think that some of the things I say resonate with others out there in the blogging family.

According to Greg Wallace last night, the average spend for a family of six on their grocery shopping each week is £108. I'm not sure if that includes toilet rolls, shampoo etc etc? On his programme, it only seems to be food and drink.

As you know we are a family of six - five adults (OMG am I REALLY that old?!!) and one child who eats as much as an adult! There are specific dietary requirements (gluten free and dairy free) which bump up the price of things. We have two moggies expecting food too and of course my feathered beauties, although their food comes out of the sundries budget rather than my weekly shopping budget.

On the menu this week:-

Veggie chilli, guacamole, rice and tortilla chips
Vegan shepherds pie, peas and sweetcorn
Vegetable curry, poppadums, raita and red onion relish
Gammon and roasted vegetables (or GF vegan sausages) followed by apple crumble
Vegan mac 'n' cheese and green salad
Vegan burger and chips

(If you recognize any if these, I am giving Jamie Oliver a go this week .... So to speak!)

My GF and vegan bake this week is 'Peanut butter granola bars'. Daughter number one has a tough week ahead and may need an energy boost!

I know - perhaps not the best photo ever, but this is half the leftovers from last night's chilli. (I added an extra sweet potato to make it stretch further so it made 8 portions). Daughter number one took the other portion for her lunch. Note to self - only use one home grown chilli next time!!

This menu plan comes to a total of £71, including some toiletries and cat food. There will be absolutely no wastage either! I may possibly need to go and get some extra salad bits later in the week, but I won't spend more than a few pounds.

I know many of you have found the programme 'Eat well for less' very irritating and I can see why, but I have found it quite astounding to see what some people think is OK. I wonder if it would have been better bypassing Greg Wallace altogether by using families who can budget and feed their families well, to support those families who are in need of some advice and help? Perhaps I should send my idea in to the BBC? What do you think?

I had a rare visit from Freya this morning during my half hour 'quiet time' in bed. It was very nice to have a snuggle and she certainly appreciated it! 

Reflecting

I've been thinking ..... (A phrase, which would normally send shudders down my husbands spine!!) .....

When I was working, either full-time or part-time, I was always rushing around! There was constantly so much to get done in a very short time frame and I always had a mental list of guilt laden tasks I hadn't got done because I was so interminably busy chasing my tail ... It was never-ending, stressful, pressured and constrained. I felt bad if I hadn't achieved everything off my list each weekend because I knew that it would be at least another week before I had the time or energy to try again, by which time there were another ten items added to the bottom of the list. Think Gladiator's 'travelator' - I never reached the top!

When I first left paid employment, I was in the same frame of mind. I was still berating myself daily for not getting stuff done and trying to squeeze all those jobs I had previously put off doing because I'd been too busy or exhausted. I couldn't understand why, when I had all this time on my hands, I wasn't being more productive! BUT if you are always setting deadlines in life, that implies time constraints, which in turn implies needing to get a task completed or else there will be dire consequences. You might need to think that way in the world of work, but it shouldn't apply to your home life. This is where you should be feel safe and cared for; where you can take time out and relax.

Looking after myself, my home and my family, shouldn't be stressful. Obviously there are still plenty of jobs to be done, but I wanted to enjoy and savour time at home. It was time to rethink why I was doing the jobs I did and how I could make them more pleasurable. The first thing I did was to slow down. If I didn't get the floors mopped on Tuesday, I could do them on Wednesday or indeed Thursday (but I always did them). As long as my husband had a clean, ironed shirt in the cupboard for the following day, the ironing could wait until I wanted to do it. I employed choice in the things I did each day. The jobs would all get done but in my time frame.

Some mornings, I wake up driven with the desire to clean, clean, clean...so I plug in my iPod and off I go. I am in the mood and I enjoy the day and the fruits of my labours. Other days, I want to snuggle up on the settee and read, so I do. As long as there is food to eat and a warm welcome in my home, it doesn't really matter if the drawers are tidy or the washing baskets are empty!

I lead quite a solitary life now I'm not at work. Fortunately, I enjoy silence and my own company, but then there are times when I live to socialise, so I forget all the jobs and just go out and chat with no guilt at jobs left undone - I am nurturing my soul!
In amongst looking after my home and family, I take time out for me - I walk, I read, I create and I meditate. It is this acceptance that I need to take care of myself physically, mentally, spiritually andemotionally that  has helped me become a better, healthier person, which of course has had a positive impact on my home and family! Win, win!

I will never be a lazy person and I could never live in an unclean house. I love tidy surroundings, creating things and cooking, so my hands and mind will never be idle, but it's time to adopt a new approach to being at home. To slow the pace down, to enjoy what I do and take pride in this next stage of my life, living in a simple and fruitful manner.

“The chance you had is the life you've got. You can make complaints about what people, including you, make of their lives after they have got them, and about what people make of other people's lives, ...but you mustn't wish for another life. You mustn't want to be somebody else.” 
― Wendell Berry, Hannah Coulter

Make peace with yourself and your chosen lifestyle and live it in the best way you know how!

Mocha cookies

As it was cold and snowy outside yesterday, I baked some cookies. This week, I have tried the Mocha Cookies from my gluten free, vegan baking book.

I made double the recipe quantity, making 28 cookies in total. We have hungry people in the house at all times!!

115g GF plain flour

1/4tsp GF baking powder

15g cocoa powder

125g soft brown sugar

1 tbsp espresso powder

125g vegan margarine

50g GF porridge oats

• Preheat oven to 180c and line two baking sheets with parchment.
• Sift together flour, baking powder, cocoa powder together in a large bowl. 
• Add sugar and combine well.
• Dissolve the espresso powder in 1 tbsp hot water and add to dry ingredients.
• Add the margarine and oats and mix thoroughly to form a soft dough (I used my hands, but a wooden spoon would do too).
• Form the mixture into 14 balls, place on the prepared baking sheet and flatten slightly with a fork. Leave space in between each cookie as they expand.
• Bake in a preheated oven for 15mins. Leave to cool on the baking sheet for a little while, then once firm enough to handle, transfer to a tray to cool completely
• Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.......who am I kidding!!!

Obviously, if you are not needing to avoid gluten or animal products, just use normal flour etc in the above recipe! They taste more of coffee than chocolate, but they are crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle. Yummy with a cuppa! 

Just thought I'd add one more photo of my silly ladies from yesterday!! They do make me laugh so much. My windows are always filthy either from the cats or the chickens!! I think they fancied a mocha cookie .......

Chooks in the snow

I woke up this morning to a fine covering of snow. It had tried to snow on Saturday, but was a mere dusting, whereas this was a little bit more substantial. Not like the snow in America of course!!

Early morning light gives this photo an odd tint!

It's the first time my two little lovelies have seen the snow! Initially, they weren't at all sure, preferring to keep out of it or lifting one foot off the ground, but they've soon got used to it!

Rosemary was the bravest, but kept lifting one foot up warily.

Guess who escaped from her run?!!

I gave in and am letting them both have a good scratch around in what's left of the snow! 

Feeling satisfied!

I am feeling quite pleased with myself today! I have got the house all cleaned up again after the decorating in the hall - dust everywhere!!; the washing is all up to date; I've done all the ironing and I've also managed to get a few admin jobs completed.

It's so easy to get demoralised sometimes when I seem to be constantly cleaning and tidying up after people. Because all of my children are still at home (not for long now though), the amount of housework can sometimes feel rather daunting and I do find myself, from time to time, feeling like an under appreciated drudge! This can lead me into negative thinking patterns which I hate.

Yesterday though, I had the pleasure of reading Rhonda Hetzel's post on her blog - Down to Earth (link in my reading list) . She has a very common sense approach and it did me the world of good to be reminded that this is now my job and that it makes sense to out in 100% effort to nurturing my home and my family. After all, I always threw my all in to my paid employment, although that's one of the reasons I became so tired and stressed!! This is different though as this is my job, for me, by me. What I put in, is what I will get out.

Reading Rhonda's post on housework yesterday ensured that I woke up this morning reinvigorated and happy to spend time on my little home today. I am most of the way through my tasks for today and I now feel content and satisfied in every way!

I rather like this quote:-

 Everyone is a house with four rooms, a physical, a mental, an emotional and a spiritual. Most of us tend to live in one room most of the time, but unless we go into every room, every day, even if only to keep it aired, we are not a complete person.
- Indian Proverb -