Menu for the week

Food shopping today. Wasn't really in the mood, but it had to be done, so I galvanised myself and went. It cost £121.19, but I did have to stock up the toiletries cupboard and we were low on stocks too as it was the end of the month. I've divided the amount by the number of meals it will create (taking into account people being out etc) and it amounts to £1 per head per meal across the eight days, so although it falls well short of Sue's eat for £1 a day, I'm happy enough with it.

On the menu this week:-

Spicy chickpea and potato stew
Spiralised courgettes with tomato and basil sauce
Veggie chilli and rice
Butternut squash and tomato posole
Curried root vegetable soup and home made bread
Sweetcorn pakoras, red onion relish and raita
Carrot and butter bean burgers and chips
Sweet potato fritters with smoky pinto beans

Many of these recipes came from the website eatingwell.com, which I found when I googled "cheap vegetarian meals". I like to try and vary what we eat, especially as it almost entirely revolves around vegetables and pulses!! If I didn't have my spice collection, I'd be lost!

I'll try and remember to post some pictures!

What a simple life means to me

As you'll know if you read my post last week entitled 'My vision', I have a clear idea of where I want to be, but I'm not there yet and nor can I be. Circumstances aren't right yet. As of next September, I'll have one child back at Uni doing her second degree, another in America, one finishing his A levels and the youngest going into Year 8. My husband is nowhere near retirement age either, so we can't fully embrace the lifestyle I hanker after until at least summer 2016.
Nevertheless, I have already adopted a simpler lifestyle despite not being able to go 'the whole hog'. My interim simpler life consists of the following:-

• I save money for our future every month, by sticking to a cash budget and buying what I need rather than what I want.
• I eat healthily, making food from scratch and adopting a predominantly vegetarian diet.
• I have reduced the quantity of chemicals I expose my family to by making my own laundry liquid, handwash, soap and cleaning products.
• I try to use less of everything - turning the tap off when I brush my teeth, turning appliances off, turning lights off and also trying to use less product and re using when I can. 
• I take longer over doing jobs so I can do it better, but also be fully aware of what I'm doing.
• I go at a slower pace, allowing myself to stop and appreciate my surroundings.
• I try to spend more time outside, either working in the garden, walking or just sitting listening to the birds.
• I don't go shopping (except for the food shop). This way I avoid seeing items I might like. I haven't bought a single item of clothing for eight months now and plan on carrying this on for the whole year.  It's made a huge difference to how I view shops - it wasn't as if I particularly liked shopping before, but I can now be a targeted shopper, only picking up the exact item I need. 
• I'm trying to make as many gifts as possible across the year, which not only saves money, but also gives me a good reason to be creative.
• I'm attempting to grow some of our own fruit and veg to help bolster our diet and our savings.

There are probably other small ways in which I have simplified my life and I know that there are more I'd like to do in the future. Every little bit has an impact on my life and that of my family. I know I still have a lot of new skills to learn, but this is the start of the rest of my life so there's no great rush!

What aspects of a simpler life would you consider to have the most positive impact?

Lovely to go away, nice to be home

The weekend in France was absolutely lovely! Even though it was only two nights, it felt like a week - really relaxing. I'll post some photos when I've downloaded them.

Although I enjoyed going away, it's always lovely to come home again, isn't it? There something so special about slipping back into your normal routine.
The chickens had behaved themselves and we're all fine. It's the first time the younger children had looked after them, but they did an excellent job.
The veg are growing well in the garden, but I'm expecting a burst of activity in May. I had been thinking I was doing well, but seeing other people's blogs, I realise it's a bit behind. Still, allowing for various climatic differences, degrees of experience and access to greenhouses and polytunnels, I'm pleased with what's happening in my backyard!

A patch of onions in the flower bed next to the sweet peas  

Butternut and pattypan squashes in the new bed alongside the chicken run

Courgettes in a patch that was once part of the run, so is nice and fertile! 

Onions, shallots and broad beans in one of the two small raised beds 

Some of the six potato bags dotted about in spare corners

Garlic, some random potatoes and spinach just starting to appear in the second raised bed

Little lettuce seedlings waiting to be planted in gaps in the flower beds once big enough to transplant 

Romano peppers and chillies waiting to be potted on to be grow on the window ledge in the conservatory (praying for no white fly this year!) 

Tomatoes desperate to be planted out, but I'm just waiting for the bulbs which I had planted in my big pots to be over before putting the tomatoes in the Pots! It's a waiting game.

Cucumbers ready to go out and aubergines ready to be transplanted to grow in the conservatory too.

French farce at bedtime

I mentioned yesterday that my new ladies go through a ridiculous rigmarole when going to bed and the whole process can take quite some time. Mr D, having nothing better to do with his time, decided to video the French farce that is my ladies retiring last night, so here is the resulting video!

It's very silly and fairly pointless, but may make you smile :)

We're off to France for the weekend later with four good friends, so I've made a spiced pumpkin cake with cinnamon frosting, chocolate sponge with salted caramel sauce and a loaf of le Pain Montmatre. It seems criminal taking bread to France, but along with the home made jams and marmalade, it will make a nice breakfast tomorrow morning so we don't need to rush out to fetch croissant. I have also snuck in a bottle of limoncello, although I draw the line at taking wine to France!!

A la semaine prochaine - gros bisoux a tous xx

Cheeky chickens

I thought I'd do a little update on my new ladies. They have settled in very well and are already developing their own personalities!

Ginger

The last to go in at night and the last to eat out of my hand. She seems to be more of a loner and when the other four are all trotting around in a clump, she'll be off doing her own thing elsewhere. She was the first to make her way on to the coop roof, strutting about up there like she was queen of the castle! Mind you, she soon hopped down again when I strode down the path!

Maggie

In the middle. 

The most timid and, even though I'm quite sure I'm not supposed to have favourites, I've got a soft spot for her. She goes in well at night and stays in rather than the ridiculous French farce we have with the others of two in, one out again, another in, two more out etc etc!! She's extremely soft too and seems to really like attention despite me getting the feeling that she doesn't feel she deserves any - I think she may have issues from her childhood!

Hedwig

Sorry it's a bit blurry - she was too busy strutting her stuff!  

Bossy and does the most posturing, reminding everyone she's the most beautiful AND the tallest! She was the first to eat out of my hand. Despite all this showing off, she hasn't tried to flap her way up on to the sides of the run or the coop, so it's all about appearance for her.

Bluebell

"Gimme the food!!"

 The largest of the group and prefers to perch on the perimeter of the run rather than being below with the others. She's the most enthusiastic feeder. She is a nightmare at going to bed, in and out like a yo yo, fearing she might be missing something (probably food!).

Prim

"It wasn't me miss - it was her!"

 Well now, this one is trouble! She's the escape artist - I looked up from making a cup of tea, to find her strolling around the lawn. She squawks like a banshee when you pick her up too. She is regularly trying to tightrope walk along the perimeter of the run, but keeps an eye out for me because she knows she shouldn't be up there, so as soon as I appear, she flaps back down again before I've even said anything. I get the distinct impression that Prim would put mischief before food!! One to watch I think!

HavIng spent many years teaching and working in Secondary schools, I can't help but view them as I would a small, slightly disparate group of teenagers. Prim would certainly have had a visit to my Inclusion room to consider the impact of her actions by now and I think Ginger would have had a few detentions for defiance. Hedwig would be the girl who carries a pink padded Paul's Boutique handbag to school rather than a school bag. The PE department would be worrying about ringing home with regards to Bluebell's obsession with food and poor old Maggie would be the 'grey' kid in the classroom, who is generally overlooked despite doing her very best in class and being well behaved.

Gardening pinny

I had the most lovely day yesterday for my non-birthday celebration! We went to Wisley, strolled around in the sunshine admiring all of its beauty, had a very tasty and leisurely lunch, another slow stroll back through the gardens and then back to my little patch for a cuppa. It was wonderful!

I've started clearing out Mum's house ready for sale, now that we know she can never move home. It's an emotional process as you can no doubt imagine. I lived in that house from the age of about 14 and although I moved away to Uni at 18, I've celebrated my engagement, my wedding tea, two of my children's christenings and obviously numerous Christmases and Birthdays there. I will be sad to say goodbye.
However, it's been a real pleasure 'revisiting' photographs and items that have a strong pull to the past.
This is one of my favourite photos of me, aged about 2 with my brother, who is 8 years older. It never fails to make me smile!

Thank heavens my brother doesn't read blogs - he'd have a fit, I'd put this on the Internet!! 

My mother has a lovely friend who made her this gardening pinny for her Birthday. It has Mum's initial in and a pocket for her to carry her phone with her, as I always insisted that she had a phone with her EVERY time she went into the garden (the garden is a death trap with steps, lots of different levels, uneven surfaces etc etc!). I loved the fact that she had gone to the effort of making Mum this personalised apron, so as Mum is no longer going to be able to wear it, I have brought it home.

My initial is J, so I decided to 'embroider' (I have never even picked up an embroidery needle before, so I use that term loosely for fear of insulting all those of you who are skilled!) a simple Mrs above, so I now have my very own gardening pinny. I have worn it every day so far as you can see my the fact it already needs a wash and it's so useful to have a dedicated gardening pinny with a big pocket.

There is still a huge amount of sorting to do at the house, but I'm not going to rush at it. It's all part of the process of dealing with the loss of my mother despite her still being alive and I feel I owe it to her and to myself to remain very mindful of our relationship and who Mum was as I work through the clearance.

Following your advice

Thank you so much to everyone who popped by and left some tips to help me overcome my obsession with keeping my house perfect. It really is something that I want, and indeed need, to overcome. I was a LOT worse particularly when the children were little, but they have helped me at least 'soften the edges' of my mania. I'm not in the realms of those people on Obsessive Cleaners or whatever that programme was called, but it has prevented me from going out and stopped me from inviting people in over the years, so I would class it as a problem.
Today is my 'non-birthday-birthday outing' which a very good friend and despite coughing like someone with a 60 a day habit, I'm going to enjoy myself!! My Birthday was last month but we booked in the 21st of this month instead!

Your tips were:-
A) focus on what is really important. ....I'm going to focus on me and my relationship with the lovely L today.
B) just tackle small amounts each time rather than trying to control it all. ....I'm going to clean the upstairs bathroom before I go
C) turn your back on the rest and do something else. .....I'm going to keep the bedroom doors shut...yikes!!
D) decide which areas of the house are a priority and focus on those first. .......Obviously, I like to have visitors and I want them to feel comfortable, so I will do a very light tidy and sweep downstairs too (all hard flooring) before I leave, just in case!

Final piece of advice from Susan M? .....
Blow the dust
Hang the washing
Sod the lawns !!

Love it :)

So you see, your advice was welcome, listened to and actioned!! Now I just need to keep it going to avoid the stress moments! Thank you everyone and I hope you have a lovely non-birthday day too x