Slow Living - Doing It Old Style!

leftatthetrafficlights

Had a lovely weekend so far; spent yesterday binge watching a series that dh and I found a couple of weeks ago and had dinner, today we popped into my dd's to drop a few bits off, picked up some shopping and then came home and had lunch. 😁

I've spent some time this afternoon finding new meditation practices and I've watched a couple of videos by Thích Nhất Hạnh after subscribing to the plum village channel. I really enjoyed them so will definitely be watching more 😁 

I'm starting some new morning and evening routines next week - since being off my technology hiatus I've noticed that I'm picking up my phone and watching rubbish on tv more often 🙄 I thought that I'd moved away from that but technology is insidious and I need to be much more mindful of the time I spend on it 🤦‍♀️I think I shall set timers when I use technology from now on so that I remain in control...

Anyway, tonight's dinner will be a repeat of yesterday's (minus the spaghetti squash) - it was so simple and delicious, just the type of food I adore 😋 



Have a fab slow evening!! 😁🐌

leftatthetrafficlights

I've had a lovely couple of days - yesterday I cleaned, cooked and did lots of reading, today I've watched lots of Plum Village videos, done lots of writing, completed one of my new favourite meditation practices and an asana practice. I'm going to have a 'spa' shower shortly and do a yoga nidra practice 😁 

One of the videos I watched today (not plum village, just a recommended video on YouTube) had a line in it that really made me think: 

'The past is nothing but a trail of memories, stories that exist only when you summon them'

As I'm moving further into mindfulness and exploring buddhist teachings, that line really resonated with me - it gives an interesting perspective on thoughts and feelings for me and definitely encourages living in the present moment 😁 

Onto other stuff - I added up all my grocery spends so far this winter and it's just under £114 which I'm really happy about as it includes household stuff, cupboard stuff and fresh fruit and veg. There will be more to add tomorrow as dh is going to the zero waste shop for laundry liquid etc but as a general figure its not bad at all 🙌 Now that we've got most of the household stuff we will need for the next month or so and dh has got his coffee for work, I think that we will be able to have a really good month in December on the grocery front 😁

Yesterday I cooked okara burgers for dinner and threw in some leftover lentils and grains along with a couple of 'bits' from the freezer - I've done really well at using up what we have in the house as opposed to shopping for other food so far and that's having a really positive effect on the grocery bill 😉 I've got a meal plan for the rest of the week so we shouldn't need anything else.. 

Right, time to get sorted - have a fab slow day! 😁🐌

Wednesday2000

I had a very slow day as we had the kitchen tiler here so I sat in the living room with my dog (to keep her from barking) and read a great book I got from the library. I then decided to switch over the living rooms as one is much colder than the other. I did a bit of vacuuming and cleaning after the workman left and decided to put up the artificial Xmas tree. I will decorate it tomorrow as my husband got the bits down from the attic. We might get a real tree too for the other room. I’m feeling quite tired as I did a lot of steps yesterday so I might just have a hot bath and have an early night tonight.😍

leftatthetrafficlights

I hope the tiling went well @Wednesday2000! 😁 

I had a very disjointed day yesterday- I'd done a yoga nidra in the morning and ended up falling to sleep so was late up and then I had to pick dh up after he'd been out for a meal last night which meant I didn't relax much 🙄 

Today I've taken dh to work as his car was still there, popped to the shops to pick up a few bits for the weekend and then came home and cooked dinner for tonight- we're having quinoa wraps with banana blossom chilli and a pineapple & sweetcorn salsa. I'm debating whether to make some harissa roasted cauliflower as an additional side but I'll make my mind up about that later 🤔 

I've got the rest of the day free now - I'm going to write, read and do a bit of snoozing!! 😁 

Have a fab slow day! 😁🐌

Wednesday2000

leftatthetrafficlights said:

were having quinoa wraps with banana blossom chilli and a pineapple & sweetcorn salsa. 

That sounds like an interesting combination. The tiling went well, thanks. It looks a lot better.

I’m having a very slow day at home again as I’m feeling under the weather slightly and I have two classes tomorrow that I really want to go to.

Brie

Friend took me out for a birthday lunch on Tuesday and yesterday I did this month's homework for my art group, due today.  (this is so me right back to school days....)  I was pleased with my result.  We were given mini canvases and needed to do something based on an iconic painting (like the Mona Lisa or something most people would identify) but make it with a Christmas theme.  I decided on Magritte's Treachery of Images aka "This is not a pipe" as being something I thought I could manage on something that was so tiddly. (4 inch square)

so this  

became this 


People thought it rather jolly but not good enough to win a prize.  Not surprising as 16 people (record number) submitted entries and many of them were exceedingly good.

Meanwhile the work I did today was disappointing.  2 attempts at something with daisies with the idea of having one in time for the anniversary of my mom's death.  Basically as a way of mourning really.  I've got another week to see if I can do something satisfactory.  Won't be as good as her paintings but she was a very good artist.  And by working in acrylic painting white flowers was much easier for her whereas it's a right pain in watercolours.  Might switch to coloured pencils as that's easier to control.  

leftatthetrafficlights

@Wednesday2000 - it was lovely! 😋😁 (piccie below) I'm glad the tiling went well - I've had some bad experiences with 'professionals' doing work so it's always a worry for me! 🙄 sorry to hear you're not feeling too well - hopefully you'll feel better soon 🤞 



@Brie - happy belated birthday! 🥳🎂 I hope your lunch was lovely and you had a great day 😁 I can empathise with leaving work until the last minute - when I was doing my OU courses, I had to post my assignments on a Monday (yep, it was that long ago!! 😳😂) which meant that the weekend before it I'd do all the reading and write the assignment (no computer at that point so all paper and pen based) - I was frequently burning the midnight oil!! 🤦‍♀️ Admittedly, my kids were very young then so I didn't have much free time anyway but the reality was that I worked better under pressure 😉 I couldn't do it now though - I can't do late nights anymore!! 😂 I like your painting and I think that completing some daisies is a lovely way to honour your mum's memory 🥰

I've got a busy few days ahead - I'm walking my ds's dog this morning then cleaning the house; this afternoon I'm picking my grandbaby up from school (I'm having him this weekend) then we're going to a chrimbo light switch on with him, tomorrow we're going to the local woods to build dens and then tomorrow evening we're going to a chrimbo event with my ds and his family. I'll be dropping my grandbaby off on Sunday afternoon and then sorting the chaos which will be my house after he's been here! 😂 I'm tired just thinking about it all!! 😂😂😂 

Have a fab slow day! 😁🐌

Brie

Having been living with a recent increase in neuralgia pain over the last few weeks.  Technically I'm to take 100mg of a drug in the morning and 200mg in the evening but the chemist confirmed about a year back that if I'm not experiencing any pain that it's best to cut back so for the last 12 months I've only been taking 100mg in the evening.  Recently I started switching between 100 & 200 alternate evenings.  Then 200 every evening.  Today I said bog that and took a 100mg tab this morning as well.  For the first time in about a month I don't feel aggravated by this.   

I'm pleased as I hope it means I can enjoy going on holiday in a couple of weeks.  I think being somewhere fun will counteract any drowsiness the tabs can produce!! 

@leftatthetrafficlights
actual birthday isn't till Monday so I'm spreading out the celebrations!!  another friend is taking me out tomorrow!!  Might need to loosen my belt a notch at this rate - I normally don't do lunch at all!!!  But tomorrow should be good as it's a local blueberry farm so lots of blueberry related things to eat.  I do love a blueberry!!  I might need to buy a pie or something to have as my birthday treat!

Wednesday2000

Happy Birthday for Monday Brie.

i just did a Christmas wreath making class. I finished in about an hour so I didn’t want to hang around for an hour for the Christmas light switch on so I just came home. I’m going to relax for a while until my taxi turns up to go to my evening class tonight.

I haven’t got anything planned for the weekend so will have a nice slow weekend at home.🙂

leftatthetrafficlights

@Brie - I do love a blueberry too!! 😁 I hope you have enjoyed/continue to enjoy your birthday celebrations!! 🙌🎂 

@Wednesday2000 - I hope your quiet weekend worked out well 😁 

My grandbaby has returned home now - I've decided that I'm far too tired to clean today after being up and about at 3amish for the past few days so have just cleared the obvious debris and decided to leave the rest until tomorrow 😉😁 

We had a lovely weekend - the lights 'switch on' on Friday was a bit of an anti-climax but absolutely heaving with people which I found really difficult; yesterday's event was disappointing but quiet in comparison so a lot more tolerable 🙄 my grandbaby enjoyed both though so that's the only thing that matters 😁😍 

Tonight I'm going to just cook food and then have an early night- my books arrived on Friday and I've read the first one (being up at ridiculous times was not wasted! 😉😁) so will continue with those while I'm still awake - I'll probably do a yoga nidra practice before I go to sleep tonight - after falling to sleep on Wednesday during one before I was meant to walk the dog I've decided that morning practices of it should not happen when I have things to do!! 🤦‍♀️😂 

We're having burmese tofu, broccoli and grains this evening and I'll be making a thai curry paste while it's cooking for tomorrow's dinner - I've moved my kaffir lime tree this weekend so it will hopefully not shed every leaf over the winter- I'm also intending to try to use the ends of the lemongrass to grow it on at home - I love citrus flavours so hopefully it will work but nothing lost if they don't 😉 

I'll post piccies of dinner either later tonight or tomorrow (depending on whether I'm semi-conscious or not!!) have a fab slow evening 😁🐌