Slow Living - Doing It Old Style!

Wednesday2000

leftatthetrafficlights said:

Last night's dinner was 'lamb' kebabs

Did you make them? That reminded me that I went to Southend vegan fayre recently and I bought a "lamb" kebab stick and put it in the freezer. 

leftatthetrafficlights

Wednesday2000 said:

leftatthetrafficlights said:

Last night's dinner was 'lamb' kebabs

Did you make them? That reminded me that I went to Southend vegan fayre recently and I bought a "lamb" kebab stick and put it in the freezer. 

I didn't - they are the 'This Isn't' brand that I bought in the summer when the supermarket was doing a 3 for 2 offer. They are very nice though - I have another pack in the freezer still but will probably experiment with making something similar myself in the future. After doing the grated tofu this week, I think I could probably replicate the texture using that as the main base for them 🤔 If/when I get them sorted, I'll post a recipe for them 😁

Nelliegrace

We went to the amateur theatre production of Spirit Level by Pam Valentine last night. It was very good indeed, the audience left afterwards looking so cheerful.

We used to put on plays and entertainments in the village hall when I was young, and there would be country dances, the Christmas fair, and the fur and feather whist drive. There was an over 60s club, and the Women’s Institute, Brownies and Girl Guides. 
 
We have an adventure film starring Tom Cruise, at the local Memorial Hall next week, with tea and biscuits in the intermission. 
We go to short mat bowls in another village hall.

I am going to see what groups the local U3A has available. We went to the monthly lectures in town before Covid, and joined in Maths for Fun. I went to Poetry Appreciation, and DH joined the Chess Group and Bridge for Beginners. Warm places, a cup of tea, and some company at not much cost. 
There is always the library, I take some time to sit and work on the jigsaw puzzle there when I go to change my books

Brie

Art class today.  The focus was special techniques with watercolours so using texture paste (gives the paper texture that can be used as part of the painting construct), masking fluid (plastic liquid to paint, sketch on the paper which provides a removable barrier to the paint), creating effects with crayons or wax (resistance) as well as plastic wrap or salt (changes the way the paint dries, making patterns.)

I did a second attempt on a landscape painting done a week back with much better results.  I like that it was quite abstract and showed off how I had played with the texture paste.  Second painting was colourful mess that became really bizarre with the addition of rock salt while still very wet.  And the 3rd was a purple thistle painted over streaks of masking fluid and with the additional fun of blowing the paint into position with a straw and finishing with a strategic sprinkling of table salt to create a more mottled finish.  All quite different and all very fun to do - I like to work quickly and know that if I'm left with too much time I'll fiddle with details that can then go wrong.  

In any case it was great fun - it's a nice bunch of people.  There was lots of swapping of equipment, I had a pad of watercolour paper I find too light so someone was happy to take that off my hands, someone else had ordered some weird finger caps with sponge tips and hadn't realised she'd get about 30 so she gave me some of those.  A new comer was struggling with some of the basic techniques so I helped her turn a dull green field into one with poppies by splattering red paint on it.  A good way to spend a few hours on a Saturday and well worth the £25 for the instructions and cheerleading.  

leftatthetrafficlights

@Nelliegrace - its lovely to have so many entertainment opportunities locally, especially when it's amateur/community based 😁 

Today has been lovely - played trains and hotels this morning before going out to feed the ducks, have lunch and head to the toy shop 😁 When we returned we played with the new train, played a couple of games and I'm currently cooking dinner (mixed grains - buckwheat, millet and quinoa along with dark speckled lentils) - I must admit that none of us are hungry as we ate so much at lunchtime but at least if we decide to eat it will just be a case of heating stuff up quickly 😉 

Right, time to get my grandbaby in the bath - have a lovely slow day 😁🐌

Brie

Off to try and make my pumpkin pie.  It will be a nice thing to have following an easy supper of soup and sandwiches.  

And I have a phone call with my brothers later.  Not wild about the idea but until the farm gets sold it's an occasional necessity.

Wednesday2000

I’m having a slow day at home. I’m watching a Jessie Stone film I recorded. I’m going to make dinner later as I have a craving for crispy roast potatoes.💕 It is raining here and I have the fairy lights on and the candles with the curtains pulled. Hygge.

leftatthetrafficlights

@Brie - art class sounds great! I hope you managed to get your pumpkin pie sorted and your phone call went well🤞 

@Wednesday2000 - your slow day and description of your room sounds very cosy! 🥰 I love the rain - summer thunderstorms are my favourite to be outside in but autumn/winter rain when it's warm and lovely inside is my favourite to watch 😁 

My dh has left this morning for a couple of days in Italy for work (hence the ridiculous hour I'm writing this!😂) so I'm on my own until I pick up my grandbaby tomorrow for a sleepover 😁
It's reasonably rare to have entire days and nights alone and I love the solitude so I'm making the most of it! 

New Moon is at 1.25pm today and it's the beginning of a month of concentrating on self-care and wellbeing; I'm eating wholefoods, drinking only water and herbal teas, doing daily yogic practices, strength training at least three times a week and starting a daily body care routine. There have been a lot of tricky periods this year and I feel a bit disconnected from what is important so it's time to rejoin the dots with a holistic reset....

Yesterday, I cleaned the house, reorganised my yoga room and did the laundry so that I have absolutely nothing to do today other than prepare my food.

Last night's dinner was a 'use it up' affair - salad of rocket, pomegranate, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries and black grapes; dark speckled lentils; mixed grains (rye berries, barley groats, oat groats, short grain brown rice) with barberries, sunflower seeds and hemp seeds; scarlett runner beans, cannellini 'hommous' and fig and date balsamic 😋 
 


Chamomile tea is calling then hopefully a couple of hours sleep! 🙄😂 

Have a fab slow day! 😁🐌

Brie

Pumpkin pie was adequate.  Which is disappointing considering how much it cost for ingredients.  Just the tin of pumpkin was £2.90!! 

And I was right in that it was such a simple recipe it wouldn't be like it should. (basically the recipe was ready roll pastry blind baked and then filled with a mixture of tinned pumpkin mash and Tesco finest custard and then baked.  It didn't set well and wasn't the right texture). 

I have half a pie left but think that will be going in the bin.  OH wasn't impressed and neither was I after having a second slice of it last evening.  Lesson learned. Next time I'll do it properly.

Off to investigate what's in the fridge for a snack and for dinner tonight.....and to get a cuppa tea.

amber03

I baked some ginger biscuits the other day, realised when they were in the oven I had used the wrong recipe, then I left them too long in the too long and they burnt. So after one bite they went into the bin.