Simplifying Life - Mark II

Gigervamp

My results have been pretty poor. Only one runner bean germinated and that got eaten before the second leaves grew. 2 butternut squashes germinated, but also got eaten. Tomatoes in my mini greenhouse only have a few flowers and nothing seems to be coming of those. Salad leaves bolted, but the flowers are pretty. Cos lettuces got eaten before they grew much, perpetual spinach turned yellow and unhealthy looking (and bits got eaten-I see a pattern forming here!). A few radishes were ok, strawberries did pretty well and my chillis are doing ok, but I discovered this morning that something had snipped several of them off the plant. I'm hoping they'll still ripen.
I was quite late getting potatoes in, so they're now just flowering.

All in all, it's been pretty dismal here.

Lula-Hula

Hello to all,

I havent been here for ages mainly due to having comnplicated my life somewhat for some unexplicable reason :rolleyes:.

I am now back on track & over the last couple of weeks have continued with simplifying my living space. This involved pulling up carpet, sanding & then painting floorboards which now gleam A couple of cosy rugs provide warmth & insulation against noise. I also removed the extra shelving around the pc which, as it turns out just served to provide more space for unnecessary clutter :mad:. I have halved the filing & intend to halve it again. All utility bills are now dealt with online .

I have been severe about any form of ornament & am on the way to a more minimalist living space :j

Next stop the bedroom :eek:

As to outdoor ventures I confess to not having been near my garden for weeks other than to hang out washing ...

Interestingly, I have completed the personality profile that ceridwen linked - thank you - it turns out that I am an ENTP Originator which now completely explains why I start off on some 'brilliant' project only to whizz off at a tangent a short time later :rotfl:and always have a cunning plan to improve on something which is then usurped by another equally cunning plan :rolleyes:

bye for now
lula

mary-op

Hello all - good to hear how everyone's doing.........as far as our veg in pots goes..........well, potatoes get the thumbs down at the minute - they're there but just not many of them. French beans -brilliant, runner beans just looking like they need picking. Tomatos..............well, what can I say..........the odd one or two cherry ones from the hanging baskets but other than that.......well a lot of fruit but as green as can be. One courgette useless but the other one has more than made up for it. Carrots we're leaving in the hope they grow bigger than my finger nail (last years experience !)
So Gigervamp and Charis -don't worry, you're not on you're on in the veg dept.

Lula - you sound as if you're doing very well -could use you to sort my house out.....................lol There's always so much that needs doing (or seems to be) and having just come back from a totally 'uncluttered' place (sons girlfriends parents) my house looked a bit on the dismal side. Having said that............well, it just reflects a part of me doesn't it and it is a sort of 'organised chaos' (in a way).
Just been to visit my youngest son in sussex - well he's worse than me for 'stuff' - he'll not be able to get inside his flat if he keeps on ! He's sentimental and hangs on to everything -letters I write he keeps, comics from years and years ago................all this and he's trying to do art work around it all....................lol Still, he's happy and it doesn't seem to bother him a bit and thats the main thing really I suppose.
Lovely to go away but even better to get back home, get unpacked and try and work out where everything I've brought back will go..................son gave me a lovely wicker basket -picnic style -perfect for storage so that might solve a few problems.
Plus side with mums affairs...............solicitor has sent a bit of whats due to us while we wait on the pensions dept. so I can get my windows double glazed at last -much needed before they rot and fall out..................lol
Looking around me at the minute methinks tomorrow will be 'tidy up the den' day at least so I can see my desk, plus find a place for boxes that new laptop/printer/video recorder came in -always feel I should keep them till the warranty runs out...........just in case !

ceridwen

Well Lula and Mary - progress is being made anyway by you two - and aint that the darndest thing about making any sort of headway on anything "two steps forward - one back"...

Foodwise: -
perpetual spinach did pretty well
/nasturtiums did reasonably
/fruit trees - nowt yet - but I gather not to expect anything from them in Year 1 anyway
/onions - coulda done better. Will do better spacing between them next year.
/lettuce - pretty good
/tomatoes - seeing some progress at last (have taken off a lot of leaves with black patches on them - not sure what this is) and will get a few tomatoes - not sure how many
/lemon balm and Spanish mint - doing well
/beetroot - sorta - got some
/strawberries - hoping - I can see the start of some. I found summat had eaten a bit of the first one I was watching:mad: - but hoping the rest will be okay
/courgettes, aubergines and peppers - waste of space time again. Dont think I'll be trying them again somehow. Tried them before and no go then either ....must be my destiny not to get anywhere with them.

Have come to the conclusion that assorted salad leaves are the quickest/easiest/most prolific thing one can grow - at least here chez ceridwen.

Have heard about someone who goes round locally in my "circle" giving advice about intensive organic foodgrowing in small spaces. Yay! Thats for me - I'll get the kettle on and invite them round for a looksee.

This year has been just a try-see year basically. Next year - I'll knuckle down to it a bit more. 'Tis all useful experience and I'll get this worked out properly yet....:rolleyes::D

Must...must...must get some more stuff planted up - I'm working towards growing a decent amount of stuff year round under cover - I've got an assortment of cover-up type things - coupla mini greenhouses, etc.

mary-op

ceridwen - forward planning ..........I like that (something I'm always going to do and don't!)
Courgettes -we always have two plants and OH says one of ours is male and one female bit beyong me I'm afraid as veg in pots is really his domain........I just eat what he grows and make notes in gardening journal..........lol
We never do any good with peppers but I did come across a little pot with peppers for indoor growing (charity shop find) so he'll have a go with that next year........who knows, just might work.
Our strawberries have all gone I think..........they were lovely (think I told you no-one eats them except me...........lol:j
Now pouring with rain and from what I've heard there's more tomorrow -so definite 'sort out' day !

mary-op

hello all - quick update
Courgette we'd given up on has found new lease of life and looks like producing something (shows OH doesn't know everything.........lol)
Runner beans struggling and I'm beginning to wonder if some of the tomatoes will ever be anything but green !
Little cherry ones are ripening one or two at a time !

Had my 'tidy up/sort out'.........re-arranged folders using new ones I got.............thinned out filing cabinet so now we can actually get things in easily without a mighty shove that was needed before.
Desk top was cleared and is now full again with little christmas bits..............:rolleyes: will it never stop?
Lady at the bank bombarded us with all sorts this morning -another appt. in 2 weeks -need time to clear my head and get more prepared for it I think.
Quote for double glazing front and back window much cheaper than I thought so now contemplating the front door as well.
Nothing in the charity shops today so at least I didn't spend much and avoided adding more 'stuff' to the every exploding pile !
Tomorrow is 'clear letter rack' day - papers need filing or replying to, and I've letters to write to a few people. Quite got into that when I was off line and people do like to receive the actual written word I've found.
Fingers crossed I remain on line - lost connection a bit ago.............much browsing of the 'user manual' that I think I need a degree to understand got me nowhere. Quick look around things and I found under 'file' the little 'work offline' box seemed to have ticked itself ! Unticked it and it was system restored.............:rotfl:
Hope you're all ok and not to despondent about the wet Monday we've had.

ceridwen

Well - I've just noticed a thread started on another Board (one I dont frequent - the Praise/vent and Warnings Board on MSE)....and I guess that was one way of attracting attention....anyways....I went off and watched the tv programme under discussion - ie "The Future of Food" - the first of a mini-series on BBC - duly shown on Monday of this week.

The thread seems to have focused on the 11 minute segment (out of the 59 minute programme) that focussed on junk food eating - but I sorta came to the conclusion that this was a "wind-up" to get people watching the programme. You could say it worked - but hey I was planning on watching it anyways and its well worth it. Very clearly presented/well-researched first of that mini-series:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00m9xjc

I think the plus side of just how clear this programme basically makes things is the one point that the programme hasnt made (to date anyway) - ie that if one is aware that our food security is at risk (as I am - and I'm sure many others reading this thread are) then actually the benefits of seeing this/adapting to this are that it creates a whole different way of looking at how one gets ones food.

I used to basically look at one of my recipe books and then head towards the supermarket to buy the missing ingredients from the recipes I'd chosen to try.

Now - I've sorta turned that on its head and tend to start with the outlook "what have I got in already - and what am I going to do with it?". This actually has a plus side -

- it leads to more sociability (with all the bartering/foraging/swopping hints/accepting donations of surplus produce/etc)

- the good feeling from wasting a lot less food than I used to (as I'm thinking of suitable ways to use up leftovers/donated food/etc)

- an outlet for creativity - as I'm busily trying to work out various ways to use an item of foodstuff that previously I might have only thought of using in one or two different ways.

How does everyone else feel about this? It's gotta be very "old-style" to follow this "waste not - want not" ethos...:D

westcoastscot

Ceridwen thankyou for the link - lots of really useful information, and more confirmation that the more we can do on a personal level to help ourself can only be good. I'm particularly interested in the families' shopping lists article, about families around the world and wonder how representative it really is, bearing in mind the UK family supposedly spend £100 - £120 per week on groceries, which amounts to 10 - 15% of their weekly income! That has to be an above-average income?
Off to read more
Pauline :-)

mary-op

Being brought up in the 'waste not-want not' period I think it's sort of rubbed off on me a bit. I salvage whatever I can, be it food or clothing............even the household furniture gets a facelift rather than be replaced and I'm a great one for the 'second hand' shops, charity or otherwise.
Must resolve not to get too much like my dad who couldn't go to the tip without bring something back if it looked 'useful'..................lol

On my home front, veg seems to have picked up -runner beans doing their bit, last lot of potatos much bigger yield but have to say the taste isn't as nice as some we've had. OH is resolved to planting somerfields own that go to see next year. Seem to have more look with those. Tomatos are doing well, pareticularly the little cherry ones............think we'll be eating tomatos for some months at this rate..............lol

Busy sorting out pressies for oncoming birthdays and christmas.............surprising what can be concocted for next to nothing. Does seem never ending though.,Maybe once sons partners birthdays out of the way in September then my friends in November I'll be able to see what I'm left with a bit better.
Still got shoe boxes to cover and sort out photos for Mums friend and put them in a scrapbook for her. Now things are settled I feel I can do that(I think). Strange feeling now its all over. Makes everything seem so 'final' and not sure how to deal with that.
Still, time moves on and us with it so maybe I have to close that chapter now and sort through the paperwork thats been drowning for such a long time.

Still can't see desk for half done christmas stuff - I did clear it but somehow its all crept back again:eek:
(I'll not mention the overflowing drawers..............lol:rotfl:)

sarahs999

Hello all, it's been a long time and I've slightly lost track of the path; though simplifying kind of goes hand in hand with paying off the debts, which I'm still doing well at. Our bedroom is being decorated by my DH and FIL, it's looking really nice though DH and I seem to have different ideas about the overall final look = he wants lots of colour and I want restful pale colours with no surprises! He calls it bland, I call it peaceful. We are destined never to agree on interiors; the only good thing is that he usually comes round to my way of thinking in the end when he actually sees the final result.

I also have a marginally successful garden given that it's all grown in pots. We have great carrots, good lettuce (nearly all gone now), a plethora of apples and useless strawberries (grand total: 2). Slugs also got mybroccoli very early on. Have a fantastic Indian chilli plant growing though that looks great and was thrilled to find a tomato plant, completely self seeded, poking out shyly from behind it. That's quite unusual;, isn't it? We grew tomatoes there last year but I didnt' bother planting any this year.

Anyway, to the point - does anyone have a really nice apple chutney recipe? I'm thinking Christmas presents, so it will need to last.

Thanks xxxx