Slow Living - Doing It Old Style!

sunshineli

bluenose1 said:

Loving this thread, very relaxing and gentle, like others I don’t follow the news as depresses me too much and as they say journalists deliberately concentrate on what with well sell the most papers and give them the greatest clicks, which can all be very divisive.

@zcrat41 - not sure if any good for you but I love dipping in and out of the free Ryan Holiday Stoic podcasts.- The Daily Stoic.  He has written some good books as well, though  I have decided I also like the philosophy of Epicurus as like my pleasures in life
Could do with some other recommendations myself as found  other Stoic books I have read too heavy going. Thinking Meditations and Marcus Aurelius  

i have been retired 6 weeks now and loving the freedom and lack of stress, though need to slow down more as feel my life can be a bit too organised and regimental.
Today was polishing the lounge, now a walk in woods with dog followed by Aqua Aerobics, a sauna then  lying on sun bed by pool in gym to relax while I dry off. Not a bad life….
My only issue with retirement is how quick the days go…..

I agree about not watching the news. I don’t think it’s healthy for human beings to have so much constant access to news about all the suffering in the world. It’s important to be informed about what’s going on, but it can feel really overwhelming and no wonder there is a mental health crisis. Another stressful thing about the news is that it feels so beyond what you can control. I try to deal with this by focussing on what I can do in my local community to help people. I feel lucky I get to work for a local charity supporting vulnerable people. 

I would also be interested in learning more about stoicism as I think it would be really beneficial for me especially when dealing with pain and fatigue.

I haven’t had a very slow day today as it was an office day at work. However I’m looking forward to slowing down tonight with a ginger tea and watching a bit of the great pottery throw down on catch up.

Florafauna

I do follow the news, I read news online once a day. It worries me to not know what is going on in the world more. But I don't constantly scroll. 
So we have put in an offer in a house, waiting till tomorrow to see if it has been accepted. Let's see what happens..... 

mrs_slapshot

@Wednesday2000 that YouTube channel came up in my algorithm too in the last week - I would say strange coincidence, but then it is about early retirement!! I’ve enjoyed watching the videos so far but the ones I’ve seen are quite random. Looking forward to watching more!!

Not a slow time for me still, it’s very busy at work and difficult to find time to breathe sometimes. I keep thinking (hoping) I may not be in this job much longer, that cheers me up in one way and terrifies me in another!! I’m looking forward to my chat with Pensionwise in a couple of weeks as I hope that will answer some of my questions and put my mind at ease. 

I did notice some of my bulbs in the garden starting to push through, and I love that it’s lighter for longer in the evening now!! 

Moorviews

🤞for the house @Florafauna

We managed a good walk on the moor before the weather has changed for the worse again. Spectacular views to enjoy from being up so high. It was a good reminder that it doesn’t take that long to get ourselves out and up there. Making the most of an afternoon instead of it just drifting by with this and that. 

leftatthetrafficlights

Another block response I'm afraid - thankfully DD is recovering well so it's back to normal service today! 😉

@Wednesday2000 – I love the mug!! 

@florafauna- I love the variety of people on here too – it’s nice to know that there are many of us who have similar views on living regardless of our personal circumstances!  I’m glad you managed to get some more of your cupboard sorted and that you are enjoying your lido swims. I’m looking forward to seeing this scarf! 

@moorviews – I’m really pleased that you are enjoying this thread, although my past week or so has been anything but slow for the majority of the time I am still managing to get a bit of me time here and there. It sounds like you are getting the timing right with your crafting – I think that having an opportunity in the morning to do something which gives you pleasure is a great way to start your day and put your mind at ease. For me, its my morning walk – I can just breathe, feel the elements and quieten my mind. Admittedly, this year has been tricky due to flooding so I haven’t done anywhere near as many walks as I would like but I’ve been able to get out in the garden for 5 minutes on the days where the water has made it very difficult! Well done on being so organised with your food – I’m glad you don’t have allergies (it really makes life incredibly difficult for those who do) but dealing with intolerances can be draining. I also need a large quantity of veg to feel good – February is an unusual month for me for food as due to anniversaries and birthdays, we tend to eat out a massive amount more that we normally do and although I aim at vegan restaurants when it’s my choice, I go with the flow when it’s not. This tends to lead to the consumption of a lot of UPF’s and feeling pretty rubbish for a couple of weeks – I end up really craving greens!! Thankfully my celebrations have come to an end now so I started eating properly again yesterday and I already feel lighter as a result. 

@florafauna – I love hearing about your lido swims even though I would never partake myself!! I always find my mind wandering to the description you gave previously about the surroundings and it makes me feel very serene! 

@brie – are the natural springs you have been in located in the UK? The only natural spring I went I was in Malaysia and it was like getting in a bath! 

@cherryfudge - I’m intrigued now with the dinosaur stomp and will be looking it up on YouTube later today!! My peppers have germinated but my coriander is yet to make an appearance .  I don’t see any reason that you couldn’t use spice rack seeds – it’s definitely worth a go but to save compost, I’d pop some onto some wet paper towel and see if they sprout Well done on getting the train ticket refund – that’s a lot of money to get back – I hope your DH’s health is improving. It’s always nice when you get an unexpected financial surprise  There is a place locally that does cryotherapy – I hate being cold though and can’t imagine paying someone for the privilege!! 

@Wednesday 2000, @cherryfudge, @florafauna, @carolbee, @floss, @moorviews – the discussion around water quality is both sad and interesting. I live a mile away from the beach and about 4 miles from the nearest part (to me) of the Norfolk Broads and I know that pollution is a major issue here. 

@florafauna – I’m glad you like your new swimsuit!  Well done on getting more clearing done! 

@smudgeismydog – your sculpture and snowdrop walk sounds lovely! It’s nice to know there are local groups available that you may be interested in being involved with once you’ve finished work 

@Kajikita – thank you for your good wishes for my DD – she is finally recovering but is still very tired. Thankfully my grandbaby and I remain flu free and we had a fabulous time!! 

@sunshineli – Congratulations on the house purchase and sale!! It sounds very exciting and I hope it all goes smoothly for you 

@Wednesday2000 – I’m glad you remembered the cattery booking eventually!! Do share the salad recipe I hope your facial went well 

@florafauna – I’m glad you enjoyed the pottery decorating! Well done on the tip trip and charity shop drop off – it’s such a cathartic feeling getting rid of stuff! We definitely need a piccie of your fancy scarf! 

@mrs_slapshot – I’m glad the blind date went okay and hope that the dinner date went well too! He does sound a bit keen so well done for managing his expectations from the start! Thank you for the good wishes for my DD – she is recovering now – and I hope that your cough is improving – the cough does seem to be a lingering one for most people who have had colds/flu this year. Congratulations on deciding to hand your notice in!! Enjoy the few months off that you have before rejoining the workforce in a slower, less stressful way – hopefully we will have a good summer and you can make the most of it! 

@moorviews – thank you for the good wishes for my DD – she is definitely on the mend now  She is rarely ill and on the odd occasion she is, she is very much a ‘get on with it’ type so to see her so poorly was a real shock to me. It’s lovely that I am in a position to be able to help her out and it’s always a joy to look after my grandbaby  Your moorland walk sounds fabulous – one of my favourite things on the planet are waterfalls! Your description of it all is incredibly evocative – I can close my eyes and imagine myself there! I’m so pleased that you are getting more pleasures in your day and thinking more about how many nice things you can do – shifting focus is liberating. Enjoy your painting outside when the weather improves – I think that’s something I want to do more of in the summer (although I am running out of walls to hang things on!!)

@slowdown – I’m glad you are still enjoying your walks and your reading  It sounds like you are getting a lot of benefit from both of those things. I can completely empathise with avoiding the news – I do watch it once a day most of the time but I have decided that I will entirely skip it on my home spa days (which I am hoping to start doing again from next week!)

@mrs_motivated – I hope that you have recovered from your surgery – make sure that you don’t try to do too much too soon! The book swap sounds like a great idea – I used to do a similar thing with my sister but our tastes are very similar so we were never venturing into different genres!! I hope that your bath was lovely – I’m a shower girl myself and although I try to do an epsom salt bath every so often, I find it difficult to relax properly in them so never end up prune-like!!

@florafauna – 90 days left is so exciting!! Hopefully it will fly by and the stress will soon be in the rear view mirror! Fingers crossed for the house!!

@floss – Love the idea of a payday countdown!! 

@zcrat41 – I hope the half term went well – it’s incredibly difficult keeping children entertained when the weather is so awful!! 

@bluenose1 – Welcome to the thread!  Congratulations on your recent retirement – I’m so pleased that you are enjoying it, it takes time to change from the frantic ‘must do’ mindset so be gentle on yourself - I must admit that there are days when I think that the hours are slipping by far too quickly.......

@~FlowerPot~ – I’m glad you are enjoying the thread. I’m sorry that you suffer from low energy and I think that you are right that you are doing too much on your energetic days. I used to find that making a list of jobs that genuinely need doing and doing one a day or week (depending on how involved they were) was a good way for me to achieve things without feeling overwhelmed – the reality is that we frequently try to take on massive jobs and leave ourselves feeling exhausted. For instance, I need to get my kitchen repainted so I’ve decided that I will do a wall a day until it’s done – if on any given day I feel up to it, I may do more but there is no pressure. Small bits add up and are easier to deal with. I love the fact that you become more conscious of your breathing when you read about slowing down – it’s certainly not silly, it’s a good form of mindfulness! 

@florafauna – I’m glad you find that you also slow your breathing! I know that I find reading posts a gentle reminder of what makes me happy.

@moorviews – I’m really pleased that you find this thread calming - there is such a lot of good advice and experiences on here that it really brings me joy. 

@wednesday2000 – that is a beautiful piccie – I love seeing swathes of spring flowers. 

@brie – it’s a shame that there is too much traffic for you to really enjoy the patch of crocuses, you need to get a lift from someone so that you can have a good mooch!!

@sunshineli – I’ve worked for a number of charities helping vulnerable people in my time, both national and local, and I must admit that I found it helped me feel that while I couldn’t change the world, I could change the world of some people. Although it was draining mentally (and physically at times) it was very uplifting too. I hope you enjoyed the great pottery throw down! 

@florafauna – fingers crossed for the house!!! 

@mrs_slapshot – I hope work calms down a bit soon!! Make sure you are taking the breaks that you should take (I always used to work through my lunch breaks so I know how easy it is to ignore them) – it’s a good opportunity to take yourself somewhere quiet and just clear your head. I hope you get the answers that you need from pensionwise and you can make some decisions. I’m loving the lighter mornings and evenings too – if only it would stop raining and I could make more of them!! 

@moorviews – feel free to take some piccies on your moor walks and post them here – I think that seeing open spaces is calming even if it’s second hand!

leftatthetrafficlights

Thank you everyone for your contributions to this thread - I love hearing about what everyone is getting up to and hopefully, I won't have to be away for a while now!! 🤞

DD being ill has reminded me that I really need to get myself back on the straight and narrow health and food wise. February is always a difficult month for me as we have an anniversary and several birthday celebrations in the first three weeks which means that I drink too much and eat too much rubbish. I decided that I really need to concentrate on building my microbiome so last week, prior to my DD becoming ill, I made a job lot of kimchi which we started eating yesterday - it's really lovely (although I may have overdone the spice!!) so that will be a daily dose of good gut bacteria heading my way 🙂 For dinner last night I made a 'tart' - the base was cooked mixed grains with black bean puree mixed in and then baked for 20 minutes then I filled it with artichokes, roasted red peppers, sun dried tomatoes, red onions and black olives and baked it again for about another 20 minutes. I served it with broccoli (and some kimchi) and it was lovely!! 😍 We'll have the leftovers tonight with a rocket and black grape salad on the side. I'll take a piccie tonight and post it tomorrow. I've made a menu plan for the rest of the week - I'm doing an aduki bean and banana blossom chilli tomorrow, a bolognese on Friday (I've got my grandbaby for the weekend so need to accommodate his tastes), a 'shepherds pie' with repurposed bolognese and sweet potato topping on Saturday and then I'm using the remaining chilli to make a buckwheat pancake 'enchilada' pie on Sunday. 

I will restart my asana practice and walking from tomorrow - today I am having a relaxation day as I cleaned the house and caught up on all the laundry yesterday as well as doing cooking so decided that today would be catching up with this thread and chillaxing time. I'm planning on having a few hours of watching rubbish on TV and having a little snooze then will have a long hot shower, a meditation session, dinner and an early night with some sleep music in the background.

I did get a quick walk in yesterday morning but ended up in about 2 feet of water which overflowed my wellies and I had to come home earlier than planned!! 😳🤦😂 I really need to stop looking up when I'm walking!! It was a lovely walk though - even hearing the water splosh around my wellies was relaxing......

Hope you all have a fab slow day! 😊

Wednesday2000

The salad was tomatoes, cucumber, fresh parsley, mixed leaves and green olives with balsamic glaze and extra virgin olive oil. It was really tasty. I am going to make it again today, but use fresh basil instead. 

I made a vegan cauliflower cheese soup for lunch which was also nice. I have quite a lot of leftovers which I'm going to have to eat before Saturday as I'm going out to see my friends at a restaurant in London and then seeing Peter Kay. I might have to freeze some of the soup thinking about it!

I went out in the light rain to get my steps in as that is my new resolution to help me hit 10,000 a day. I think Martin Lewis said the same thing as it is easier to hit your target if you get steps in earlier in the day.

Brie

leftatthetrafficlights said:

@brie – are the natural springs you have been in located in the UK? The only natural spring I went I was in Malaysia and it was like getting in a bath! 

@brie – it’s a shame that there is too much traffic for you to really enjoy the patch of crocuses, you need to get a lift from someone so that you can have a good mooch!!

The natural springs have been in Austria.  There was one that OH suggested and we went expecting a hole surrounded by mud and discovered instead a series of ponds of various temperatures - from hot to lukewarm and sensibly arrayed with stone rims and piles of stones at the side so you could sit comfortably and an occasional nearby something to hang your towel or robe on.  Unusual for the Austrians people were wearing swimsuits but that was likely due to it being outside in a park and close to a touristy town.  (in the spas they were usually buck naked which is fine if everyone is doing that).  It was absolutely delightful!!

And we have not excuse for not enjoying the crocuses.  It's close enough to home we really should go for a stomp and have a good look before the weather blows them away.  

Elisheba

My goodness, so many posts to catch up on. 😁.  I echo everyone ones thanks @leftatthetrafficlights for the lovely personalised replies to everyone.

I had a very slow weekend - my plans had been cancelled due to a friend being poorly, and as I had nothing urgent to do I just chilled out, binge watched some River Cottage, and then Grandchester, and read a bit as well. It really did recharge my batteries.

I was reading a blog earlier talking about how romanticising life can be a slow living activity. I think it's an internet fad just now, but it's a lovely idea nonetheless. If you are doing things and imagine yourself as the main character in a story, or really just try to see the beauty in wherever you are, it can really help you be mindful and take pleasure in life. There are quite a few YT videos that discuss it - Darling Desi and The Cottage Fairy spring to mind. Anne Shirley of Anne of Green Gables and later books seems to be the main role model of the movement.

leftatthetrafficlights

@Wednesday2000 - the salad sounds nice 🙂 I hope you have a fab time at the Peter Kay gig!! I agree that exercising early is the key to hitting targets - when life is normal here I do my walk and asana practice before anything else, it sets me up for the day and gives me a chance to appreciate nature and connect my mind and body. 

@Brie - the springs sound lovely 😊 I'd have run a mile if they had been naked though!! 😳😂 hopefully the crocuses are still around for you to enjoy 😉 

@Elisheba - I'm sorry your friend was poorly but it sounds like your weekend was lovely, unexpected free time is always welcome and making the most of it by recharging your batteries is perfect 😊 I've seen a bit on the romanticising life - personally I couldn't do the story in my head thing but I certainly make an effort to see the beauty in everything 😍 

I had a lovely day yesterday- I decided to start re-watching a series that I really enjoyed previously and did very little. Unfortunately I seem to be coming down with a cold again but I'm hoping that it's just a head cold and not full on lurgy!! 🤞 I'll be taking it easy today and doing very little other than cooking, I've been awake for hours already due to the sneezing so I'm hoping to get a snooze in later too! 

Dinner last night was the grain tart, broccoli, kimchi, rocket and black grapes - very lovely but very filling! Piccie below....I hope everyone has a lovely slow day 😁