Slow Living - Doing It Old Style!

leftatthetrafficlights

@KajiKita - it will be an interesting experiment if nothing else! 😉 

@mrs_slapshot - I created the diary/planner based on what I want to achieve. My intentions for the next 12 months are consistency and living seasonally so I've listed all of the things I need to do daily to achieve my aims. It is also a record of my daily expenditure on electricity and other items as I want to keep a tighter rein on my finances. It's a way for me to have a reminder of what I need to do daily to help keep me focused and monitor my progress. 

It covers exercise, garden work, housework, food, grocery shopping, food inventory use, moon phases, weight, body measurements, to do lists etc. 

It's very comprehensive as I find that I have all of these things that I want to achieve then I forget certain ones and feel that I've failed when I remember them 🤦‍♀️ I'm really hoping that this new 'road map' diary will stop that happening and propel me into success!! 😉😁

mrs_slapshot

That sounds absolutely amazing!! Did you create it digitally?

I’ve just been setting up a cruise planning document in Excel for my cruise at the end of this month - listing out by day where we are, likely weather, excursions I’ve booked, other events and the clothes I plan to wear. I love that kind of stuff!!

leftatthetrafficlights

@mrs_slapshot - yep, it's a word document that has lots of tables in it! 😁 your cruise (and associated spreadsheet!) sounds exciting, I hope you have a lovely time!! 🥳 

Happy new years eve!! 😁🥳 I've got lots to do today - I need to clean the house and do my usual 'first of the month' jobs as I had visitors on Friday so didn't get them done. I'm picking my grandbaby up from school later so am on limited time so need to make a start in half an hour. Once the house is sorted I'll have a shower and do a yoga nidra practice before I go out. 

I've just done my weight and measurements so that I know my end point for this year and starting point for my new journey  - suffice to say that the numbers are not pretty! 😳 I've put on just over a pound this week (I'm 9st 9lb now - too many Halloween sweeties! 🙄) and as I am 31 days sober today, thats a disappointment! 

I'm not going to dwell though - ultimately, this is the heaviest and biggest I will be and from tonight when my new year starts at 10.20pm I will not be putting any more rubbish into myself - I'm putting this fat person aside and allowing my leaner, healthier self to have control 😉 

I love the feeling of excitement I get at the promise of a new year - it feels like there are boundless opportunities and I can set off on a new path.... I'm one of the only people I know who genuinely loves change so it's a fabulous time for me 😁 I love slow living, it's been a wonderful experience which has really emphasised finding true joy in the mundane and appreciating nature. Continuing on this path is a no-brainer for me but taking control of my health and environment is vital for me to get the most out of my life.

This isn't news to me - I intended to improve things over the last year but the last twelve months have been tricky at times. My wrist injury put me out of certain actions for several months and emotional traumas with a family member really impacted me negatively - alongside awful weather preventing a lot of garden work and flooding earlier in the year preventing daily walking, it's been fraught with obstacles. However, I am guilty of not actively seeking alternative options and just accepting inertia as a viable solution! 🤦‍♀️ That's the main reason that the pivotal intention for the new year is consistency - if things go awry, I can adapt and introduce other manageable options and if they don't, then I'm onto a winner as the consistency will take me to where I want to be 😁 

Right, time to get on! 

Have a fab slow day!! 🐌 😁

leftatthetrafficlights

I've had an excellent day - I've cleaned my house and done the monthly jobs; I don't think my tumble dryer and dishwasher have been this clean since I bought them!! 😂 

I've made lentil pastichio for dinner - my grandbaby will love it but I've made enough to sink a battle ship! 🙄 leftovers tomorrow I think!! I did want to have a special new years meal tomorrow but I'm not wasting food so pastichio it is!! 😁 

I'm currently outside my grandbaby's school ready to pick him up - I'm really looking forward to seeing him but I hope he doesn't want to do too much floor play - I'm aching like a loony!! 🙄 

I'm not exercising today - I think five and a half solid hours of cleaning will suffice!! 🤪😂😂😂

leftatthetrafficlights

Happy new year!! 🥳😁  

I've had a really good day achievement wise - I've done everything on my lists other than the more relaxing stuff which I'll be doing while dh watches footie 🙌

It certainly hasn't been an easy day though - my ability to convince myself that it doesn't matter if I don't complete everything has been on overdrive but I've managed to fight it thankfully! I think it's been harder than it would have been because I'm aching so much from yesterday's exertions 🙄🤦‍♀️ hopefully after the first few days my body will protest a little less!🤞

The major achievement today was doing a downward dog again in my asana practice!! I haven't been able to do one since I had the wrist injury months ago so I'm really impressed with that 😁 I may need to do rest days from that particular pose but I had honestly begun to think that I would never be able to do it again!

It was a lovely walk this morning, despite it being later than I would like to go out there were very few cars around and I finally got to walk on some crunchy leaves 🙌 Lots of bird activity too so at some points it was pretty loud!! It's lovely to celebrate the beginning of the season by spending time in nature 😍

Right, footie about to start so I'm going in the yoga room to do a pranayama practice and a meditation then I'm going for a shower, getting into bed and doing a yoga nidra practice. 

Have a lovely slow evening!! 🐌 😁

Moorviews

Happy New Year 🥳 to you @leftatthetrafficlights! 

All your intentions and plans sound great. Hooray for being able to do a downward dog again 👏
Your planner/diary sounds amazing and I hope it works out well for you. I used to practice gardening by the moon and had a lot of success with it. There was a book but I don’t see one for next year. You have caused me to think that I might be able to work it out for myself. 

A yoga room would be wonderful but I have had to satisfy myself with making a space in the bedroom. This is working so well, especially as I have put a little heater there to use when it is very chilly. We don’t heat the bedroom as we like to sleep in the cool. 

Nelliegrace

Daisy Dog has had her cod liver oil for several months and is enjoying a gentle walk round the park again. The trees and berries have been beautiful, and the weather quite mild. It brings back happy memories to scrunch through the leaves, and to use the stepping stones across the duck pond.
A pot of tea, a slice of homemade cake, the rug covered sofa, and my library book, Daisy snoozing, a pleasant autumn afternoon. 

Have you seen the lovely paintings by Lucy Almey Bird? I am thinking of getting a jigsaw puzzle for DD. 
https://www.lucyalmeybird.com/

leftatthetrafficlights

@Moorviews - Happy new year to you too! 😁🥳 I used to have a moon diary for gardening - I haven't seen one for years now (not that I've really looked!) but I bought charles dowding's calendar this year and I'm sure that he gardens that way 🤔 I sleep in a cool room too - windows open all the time! 😁

@Nelliegrace - your afternoon sounds lovely! The paintings are nice, I'm sure they'd make good jigsaws 😁 

I've had a busy day following a VERY late night - picked up a rather inebriated dh after his night out and didn't get to bed until 2.30am!! 😵‍💫 I'm pretty tired to say the least but I am really pleased that I have done the majority of my daily list regardless - it adds to my confidence that I can build my health and fitness as intended 😁 

My walk and gardening today were lovely - it was so peaceful out there; no traffic, no people and no noise other than the birds - absolutely lush! 

I'm having a quiet afternoon - a bit of tv, perhaps some reading and then when dh watches the footie later I'll have a shower and do a yoga nidra then it's going to be a very early night!! 

Not sure what will happen food wise tonight, I made a pilaff for lunch - mixed grains, chestnuts, goji berries, barberries, golden raisins, black beans, chickpeas, carrots, peas, sweetcorn, sushi ginger - and served with hommous, rocket, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, pomegranate and watermelon salad with balsamic. 

leftatthetrafficlights

Nice slow afternoon ahead for me 😁 all my day list completed other than the cooking (shower and yoga nidra are done before bed) and I'll make a start on that in an hour or so - not much to do, I got the beetroot burgers out of the freezer so it's just preparing the cauliflower and dumping some veg in the steamer. Nice easy dinner 😉 

Dh came out with me on my walk today which felt very strange but it was nice to have a chat and talk about the changes in the trees etc. 

We went shopping too - as we walked out of the garden I checked the post and our tesco vouchers were in there so I bought a few bits for the freezer while we were at the shop - mainly stuff for my grandbabies which although I am not keen on them having, I don't mind them eating occasionally. I worry about their diets - they are both incredibly fussy eaters and my kids are not paticularly adventurous either so I'm sure they are much more reliant on processed and convenience food than they should be 🤦‍♀️ Not a lot I can do about it but I try to make sure that they get good stuff when they eat here as often as I can! Thankfully they both love fruit so I know they eat quite a bit of that 😉 

Anyway, I'm going to make a pot of lemon verbena and hibiscus tea and read for a little while before I go prepare dinner - have a fab slow day 🐌😁 

Brie

Have finished a painting started a couple of weeks back.  Might take another stab at doing it - we've discussed it in art class so that might be a good place to get proper guidance on it.  I like the result well enough but I doubt that anyone but me would know what it is (small birds in a nest) as I'm not very good on animals but better on abstract atmosphere.  Oh well - it's all learning.