Slow Living - Doing It Old Style!

leftatthetrafficlights

@Floss - it is really helpful having a plan; years ago when I was working (and before I had a cleaner) I used have a quick swish round everywhere in the morning then after work I would do the bathroom on Monday, bedrooms on Tuesday, hall stairs and landing on Wednesday, living rooms on Thursday and the kitchen and utility on a Friday. It left my weekends free to do stuff I wanted except for the first weekend of the month when I would do all my regular maintenance stuff (cleaning td,wm & dw filters, descaling the kettle, washing the vacuum filters etc) on the Saturday morning 😉 

Tonight I finally had the meal I intended to have a couple of days ago - spicy tofu, sprouting broccoli, harissa roasted cauliflower, purple sweet potatoes, rocket, pomegranate and black grapes - absolutely lush!! 😋 

Cherryfudge

It's been a busy week: nice busy, but tiring. Next week I only have work on two days so I'm hoping to make progress in the garden. I'm fighting plantain at one side and ground elder at the other!

Tomorrow we might go to the car boot sale then we're having lunch out as our two older children, whose birthdays are close together, decided to do a family meal to celebrate. It will be lovely having that time with most of us there, apart from my son in law who unfortunately couldn't make it.

I've also got one of Duolingo's occasional free three days of the paid version so as and when I have the time I hope to push on with my Italian (I realise I won't be fluent between now and going to Rome in May, but perhaps I'll be a bit better).

I also discovered there's a compendium of three of L M Montgomery's lesser known books on Kindle for 45p, so guess what I just bought! In fact, on further investigation, there are the 'Anne' books and various others of hers on Kindle for less than a pound each. I have my Mum's copies from the thirties of forties, but I don't have every one so now I know where to look for more.

I did have a relaxed hour and a half with an old friend this afternoon, catching up and reminiscing. We used to work together and there are things that only work colleagues 'get', so we had a good laugh as well as agreeing to try to meet with someone else we knew but who I've not succeeded in contacting.

My busy week will slow over the weekend but not grind to a stop, but I'm looking forward to a couple of quiet evenings and maybe some more warmth and sunshine in the days.

Valli

Morning all

Loveing the cleaning comments lol.. (I am a Flylady)😉

Slow weekend planned here…but i MUST commit to a car insurance policy… I used to like it when there were brokers, and they’d do it for you.  *sigh*

Floss

@Valli I still use a broker for my insurances.

Florafauna

After our drive back home, I went for my SW and after drank coffee from my flask poolside. I was intrigued by a leg tattoo on a man sitting near me that said 'Ride fast, live slow' which made me think of this little group.
Now home and have noticed to my great joy that my radish and tomato seeds are growing, very pleased by that. 
Bath, facepack, knitting and a sourdough sandwich are tonight's plans.
Life is good

leftatthetrafficlights

@Cherryfudge - I hope you had a lovely family meal and enjoyed the car boot if you made it there 😁 I'm glad you had a nice catch up with your ex -colleague - I was meant to see one of mine on Saturday but unfortunately she was feeling poorly so we've done a rain check on that! 

@Valli - I hope you've sorted your insurance! 😉 I dip in and out of the flylady thread as it always felt a bit weird when I was only cleaning a few times a week but now I have to do it full time it's probably time for me to rejoin properly so I'll see you there! 😁 

@Florafauna - I'm glad you're back safe, that tattoo sounds very apt!! 😁 I hope you enjoyed your relaxing evening 😊 

Very busy weekend here but all garden stuff so very enjoyable 😁 my new wildlife pond is almost complete - just a few more stones to get and putting in the plants I've ordered when they arrive 🙌 



I pruned the area that the bench now lives so that I could have it in a recess in the surrounding shrubs then decided that I needed to get rid of a lot of debris from my very old rowan which has a rambling rose and honeysuckle through it. I went a bit mental with it but it's really opened up the area - trouble is, it's a bit too open for my liking now as ive pretty much put in a walkway where it used to be closed off!! 🙄🤦‍♀️ it won't take long for it to fill in but I need to put something there so I'm thinking that I'll make a framework and plant some clematis and sweet peas until the permanent stuff grows in 🤔 

Anyway, dinner was cooked - mashed purple sweet potatoes, sprouting broccoli and a tofu and puy lentil dish made with onions, carrots, red pepper, cabbage, preserved lemons, black olives and thyme 😁 totally scrumptious and there's enough for tomorrow 🙌 



I'm going to go sort the kitchen in a moment then I'm going for a quick shower to remove the mud and debris from my hair. After that, an epsom salt bath, moisturise and yoga nidra. I will probably be asleep by 8.30!! 😂 

Have a lovely slow evening 😁

Florafauna

@leftatthetrafficlights I love your wildlife pond. Me and the OH were discussing our new garden and are looking forward to making a wildlife pond and a big rockery there.
Have had an excellent slow day before my return to work tomorrow. Only one term left before I retire and also move house so it's gonna be busy before then. So today I walked, swam, read books in the garden and made my packed lunch for tomorrow. 
Hope everyone is OK and has a good evening x

Cherryfudge

Thank you, @leftatthetrafficlights , we did enjoy our meal. It was one of those places that makes pizza while you watch, and the pizzas were good. The wildlife are going to love that pond! And I'm in envy of your purple sweet potatoes. I don't know of anywhere round here where I can get them.

My 'slow' living has been a lot of fighting the lawn this afternoon. It had grown tufty in the last few wet weeks so the second mow of the year had to be delayed. It's done now, though, and looks a lot better, and I've cut back new growth on the ground elder and made further ingress into the places where it's got itself established. I've also taken a lot of the dead foliage off the male fern and it's bigger than I thought. I'm hoping to work out how to divide it up and give some away. It's a magnificent plant but rather on the massive side and from what little I've read, I think the problem is that I'm small and it's mighty!

It's so nice being out of doors though, and the hard work is paying off, though it seems to be a race between me and the greenery at this time of year.

I was so tired afterwards that I took myself to bed and read my book and dozed a bit, then watched some TV and finally did some language app (I have a few days of free premium) and was successful in getting near the top of the league for a few minutes! Just a few - people are keen at those rarefied heights!

Valli

excellent-looking pond Left,

Im having a mini break today and tomorrow, my friend and I are off to Liverpool.  Taxi will be here in an hour

Car insurance sorted, I did another set of quotes as the first cheapest was the same company i’m with now, so wasn’t sure it would be acceptable, and got an even cheaper one.  Through Quidco compare so £45 cash back to come

Moorviews

First cut of some of the grass was done yesterday. Unfortunately DH did it during my relaxing bath that I had planned for late afternoon. Not quite as tranquil as I had envisaged but I did do a deep conditioning treatment on my hair which was much needed. 

@leftatthetrafficlights - your pond looks great and I really like the use of old pieces of log around the edges. I am sure it will be a great asset to the wildlife in your garden.