Slow Living - Doing It Old Style!

leftatthetrafficlights

Had a lovely evening with my grandbaby yesterday- he is such a charmer and very funny 🥰😁

Last night's dinner was dark speckled lentils, buckwheat, quinoa and millet, rocket, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, black grapes and a dollop of hommous. The salad was dressed with a fig and date balsamic which is beautiful 😍 


Today I have taken my grandbaby to school, cleared up the chaos that remained from his visit and put some peppers and tomatoes in to roast for tonight's dinner. I'm out this afternoon with dh for an appointment so I'm just going to get a shower and do a yoga nidra practice before I leave. I'm planning on an early night tonight and I have absolutely nothing to do tomorrow so I'm going to have a 'spa' day 😁 

Weather is beautiful here - sunny and fairly warm - the leaves are changing quickly now and we have a neighbour with a horse chestnut tree that I can see from my front room window. It's a spectacular mix of green, orange and red at the moment and makes me smile every time I look up ❤️ 

This weekend we're planning on harvesting all the winter squash and clearing the greenhouse out so that we can store them in there - they're one of the few things that have done well this year so I can see a lot of squash dishes being cooked over the next few months 😁 

Have a fab slow day!! 🐌😁

Wednesday2000

I love doing Yoga Nidra.

leftatthetrafficlights

Me too @Wednesday2000 😁 

Today will be less relaxing than I'd hoped - I ordered the new bathroom towel rail radiator yesterday and it's being delivered today so I'm awaiting contact from the courier to give me a time frame...I really can't relax totally when I'm waiting for things/information so I had an early shower and am just hanging on before I can get on with my day 🙄🤦‍♀️ It's one of the things I need to work on really - my impatience affects me far too much! 😂 

Other than that, today has been fairly chilled- I've done some reading, some writing and listened to some meditation music and I'm going to get some food shortly - I've got some cooked chickpeas in the fridge so I may make some falafel for lunch 🤔 

Weather was wet and windy overnight but the rain had stopped by 8ish this morning - I'm hoping that tomorrow is relatively dry so that we can get the harvesting sorted still 🤞 

Hope everyone is having a lovely slow Friday! 😁🐌

Brie

The gardener who was supposed to be here on Wednesday had rearranged for late this afternoon.  When she showed up she asked if I'd mind she reschedule again for next week.  All due to her ex moving out and their sons being upset.  Granted it was raining when she got here so I don't blame her on that score for not wanting to get soaked while working.  Sigh.  I get that a woman running a small business gets more to deal with in life than a bloke in the same situation so I'm hoping this is just a blip.

leftatthetrafficlights

Fingers crossed the gardener works out @Brie! 🤞My dd is leaving her job in a week so I'm re-employing her until she gets something else but as a gardener this time instead of as a cleaner - I've been very lax in keeping on top of it this year (mainly because its been so hot and I just can't deal with that level of heat) so I'm looking forward to having it sorted and cleared before the spring 😁 

I'm listening to meditation music and watching the trees being blown around through my front room window - it's sunny out there at the moment so it looks beautiful 😍 

The radiator was delivered about 12.45pm yesterday- no phone call prior to that though so I spent the morning hanging about waiting 🙄 I am just not good with not being able to get on with stuff or waiting for others before I can - I was the same at work which is why the majority of my working life I worked independently from my teams 🙄😂 In all fairness, I don't really need to address it but it would be interesting to look at why I'm like that 🤔😉 

Last night we didn't feel like having any real dinner as such so I air fried the dark speckled lentil burmese tofu I made during the week and just snacked on that. I think that I need to get an inventory sorted in the next couple of weeks ready for the start of winter in November - I had a very expensive ten months away from the forum (new car for dh, 3 new radiators, new cooker, new fridge,new jug for my vitamix, lots of stuff for the grandbabies, several trips away etc) and need to replenish funds and get back to more frugal ways.

Knowing what I'm working with will definitely help to keep the grocery bill down especially as much of our home grown produce has been disappointing this year and we've had to get rid of the majority of our usual winter staples due to a mealy cabbage aphid infestation 🤦‍♀️ the winter squash, onions, garlic and tomato plants have done really well though so we've got plenty of sauce in the freezer and lots of spaghetti squash to get through 😁 

Right, I need another chamomile tea - have a fab slow weekend! 😁🐌

leftatthetrafficlights

Morning! 😁 

I've got a busy day ahead but I'm looking forward to it 😁 The weather is much nicer today so we will be clearing out the greenhouse and harvesting the squash and storing it in there. Dh wants to do other stuff out there but he'll do that alone as I want to get the grout cleaned in the hallway, cook some stuff for dd and do a few cleaning bits in the house. This afternoon while the football is on I'm planning on having a long hot shower and then doing a yoga nidra practice. I'll do an asana practice this evening and probably have an epsom salt bath before I go to bed 😁 

This week will be the last of my transport services for my grandbaby that will be needed for a while and I'm looking forward to having my afternoons clear again - I'm planning on doing a deep clean of the house once they are, then it will be ready for the winter season. Over the last 10 months I've started to spend the week or so before the season changes doing a deep clean of each room - I decided that it was better to do it quarterly than weekly with just dh and I here most of the time. I still do daily cleaning and monthly jobs (grout cleaning, kettle descaling etc) but realised that cleaning the inside of window frames, washing down walls etc every week was a tad excessive! 😂 

I've been out this morning to pick up my prescription (I do love the flexibility of 'hole in the wall' collection) and the fields looked gorgeous - beautiful sunshine and a few deer wandering around the trees at the perimeter 😍 I'm so lucky to live where I do - the wildlife is wonderful and at this time of year the beach is almost empty so I can spend a lot of uninterrupted time just watching and listening to the waves ❤️ 

Anyway, time to get on, have a lovely slow Sunday! 😁🐌

leftatthetrafficlights

Squash haul! 😁 

Brie

leftatthetrafficlights said:

Squash haul! 😁 

show off!!! 

My total harvest so far is 3 courgettes (2 conjoined) and 5 tomatoes 3 of which are on the window sill in hopes they will ripen.    

leftatthetrafficlights

Brie said:

leftatthetrafficlights said:

Squash haul! 😁 

show off!!! 

My total harvest so far is 3 courgettes (2 conjoined) and 5 tomatoes 3 of which are on the window sill in hopes they will ripen.    

😂😂😂 in all fairness the squash, potatoes and tomatoes are the only decent harvests we've had 🤦‍♀️ our courgettes have been very disappointing this year, as have the beetroot, carrots, brassicas, fennel, beans etc 🙄😔 I'm doing as much as I can to improve the soil this year so that we can start afresh in spring 😉😁

leftatthetrafficlights

Yesterday did not go according to plan - I got a phone call early in the morning to ask if I could look after my grandbaby as he was poorly so spent the day at my dd's house. He's a lot better today thankfully, so he's gone back to school 🙌 

Last night I took a hibiscus and lemon verbena tea outside and spent half an hour just looking at the full moon - it was a very grounding experience and one which I will repeat as often as I can - I've decided that, weather permitting, having one evening in the garden every week, either stargazing or moon watching, would be a lovely thing to do. I used to spend a lot of evenings outside but for some reason have fallen out of the habit - time to change that I think! 😉 

This morning, I sat in the garden and had a chamomile tea while listening to and watching the birds - it was a beautiful sunrise and a very peaceful start to my day.

Since then, I have cleaned the house and cooked a squash and aduki bean sautè along with some mixed beans, a courgette and tomato sauce, mixed grains and have made a mixed bean salad - dd will be taking the grains, the bean salad and some of the sautè and I'll make dinner from whatever remains (I'll need to make more grains possibly- depends on what I decide to make with it all!) I've been cooking for my dd since the beginning of September as she was unwell over the summer and I decided that a few weeks of a wholefood diet would help her - it has, but she's had so many events to attend over the last 5-6 weeks, it's been a bit hit and miss with her food so she's decided she will wait until she's got a clear run before she commits herself fully to it. It takes the pressure off me to produce lots of food so I'm relieved in some ways - she knows the basics now and will carry on in a way that suits her lifestyle until we start again - I've provided her with instructions on her 'favourite so far' meals and some ingredients to keep her going. 

Tomorrow I'm having my grandbaby for a sleepover so chaos will reign again 😂 I will need to get some shopping and cooking done for him tomorrow but I can sort that once I've walked the dog. 

Next week will be lovely- no transport to provide, no additional meals to cook and an opportunity to focus on some self-care 🙌😁 I'm going to make the most of it but also do a house deep clean as winter is fast approaching - having the days to myself will feel quite novel after so long so I'm looking forward to it! 

Anyway, time to get showered and changed before I pick up my grandbaby! 

Have a fab slow day! 😁🐌