Slow Living - Doing It Old Style!

leftatthetrafficlights

@Valli - well done on your sales and I'm glad you managed to get your hedge sorted 👍 I dislike conifer hedges immensely! 

@Wednesday2000 - I hope you enjoyed your pedicure and have started your book 😁 

I haven't updated for a few days as I had developed a bit of a cold (I had more contact with humans in the week following my fall than I've had for months so no surprise!🙄😂) and felt a bit rough.

The house has been a bit upside down too - we had a new carpet fitted and the others cleaned so there has been furniture in places it doesn't normally live and carpet offcuts strewn around. I was unable to move stuff so had to wait for dh to have the time to do it - thankfully he managed to finish off sorting it last night 🙌 It really brought home how much a messy environment affects my sense of well-being and peace - I just can't deal with chaos anymore and being unable to do anything about it has been very jarring 🤦‍♀️ 

Anyway, now that the debris has been cleared, I can clean again so I'm going to sort that this morning - it's a meditative practice for me now and I enjoy the sense of calm it brings 😊 I will also have a quick mooch around the veggie beds and pull out any weeds that have popped up - it was raining heavily yesterday so they should be easy to remove one handed 😉 The veg is starting to do pretty well - we've had difficulty getting things to germinate this year but where it has, it's thriving. There is lots of growth in the greenhouse too - I'm hoping for plenty of tomatoes this year! 

Cooking wise it's been pretty simple - I've had little appetite with the cold so dh has used up leftovers and fended for himself. I finally used up a cashew and cranberry nut roast that has been lurking in my cupboard for a considerable period of time so was happy with that 😊 

Dd is bringing my grandbaby over to visit after school today - I can't wait!! 🥳 I have really missed him and video chats are just not the same at all 😔 I'm not sure that we'll be able to play the usual stuff as I'm probably not able to kneel on the floor yet but we'll still have fun 😍 

I'm hoping to start walking again tomorrow now that the body pain is starting to calm down, I've also found a few chair yoga videos on YouTube so I'll give one of those a try tomorrow too. I'm very keen on getting back on the healthy wagon as soon as I can - the injuries have been a setback but they have made me appreciate how much I miss having the physical ability to do stuff and how important it is to take advantage of it when you can! 

Have a wonderful slow day! 😁

Brie

Pleased to report that the little robin is back dipping into a leafy shelf in the carport with wiggly things in it's beak.  So there are chick/fledglings in there.  I've tried to look but I think they're all still too tiddly to be visible.  Another week and I might get a glimpse.  

leftatthetrafficlights

@Brie - that's lovely news! 😁 Hopefully you'll get to have a sneak peak before they leave the nest 🤞 

We've got a pair of muntjac deer visiting our garden numerous times a day at the moment 😍 They stay for around 20 minutes at a time hoovering up the peanuts and seeds that we put on the floor for the creatures - it's just beautiful to watch. We try not to do anything in the kitchen when they're out there as they are very skittish but they're back and forth so often at the moment it's starting to get tricky!! 😂 

Yesterday was good, I got everything done that I wanted to do but I'm feeling a bit sore as a result! I keep forgetting that I hurt my whole body in the fall and it all needs recovery time 🤦‍♀️ I've decided that I'll just rest today and see how I feel tomorrow - if it's all good then I can go for a walk and do my chair yoga then 😉 

Food wise, I did well yesterday. I had a smoothie for breakfast- watermelon, strawberries, raspberries, barberries, mixed seeds (hemp, sunflower and pumpkin), flaxseed and amla powder. I was going to put spinach in it but totally forgot so I'll put that into my blender first today! 😂

Last night's dinner was dark speckled lentils and mixed grains (oats, barley, rye) with a rocket, black grape, pomegranate and watermelon salad - very tasty indeed 😋 




Tonight I haven't quite decided on what we're having but it will include kidney beans in some form and purple sweet potatoes! 💜 

Hope everyone has a fab slow day! 😁 

Brie

@leftatthetrafficlights
had to get some water for the pots flanking the front door and the water butt is right by where the nest is so I sneaked a peak and could see 2 little yellow beaks!!  Might be more behind them but I didn't want to pry.  Parent(s) are very attentive and give us a beady eye if we're inside the house looking out the window a few feet away so trying to be very careful.  

nannygladys

Leftatthetrafficlights - your meals always look lovely

leftatthetrafficlights

@Brie - that's so exciting!! 😍 I'd love to be able to see a nest so close up! 

@nannygladys - thank you, that's really kind! 😁

We were planning on doing a few garden bits today but it's been raining since about 3am so that's not happening!! 🤦‍♀️ Dh is going to harvest a couple of cabbages though as we are starting some sauerkraut today - he'll need to do most of the work and I'll supervise! We need to go to the shop to get a few bits so I'm going to go too - other than my two hospy visits I haven't left the house since my fall - normally it wouldn't bother me at all but not being able to drive and therefore not having a choice makes it feel very restrictive for some reason 🙄🤦‍♀️😂 

Anyway  last night we had purple sweet potatoes, butternut squash, carrots, peas, sweetcorn, kidney beans, hommous, beetroot and apple 'rice' and a salad of homegrown lettuce and curly leafed parsley. Leftovers will be had for lunch 😋 




Have a lovely slow day! 😁

Brie

leftatthetrafficlights said:

@Brie - that's so exciting!! 😍 I'd love to be able to see a nest so close up! 

here you go!!!

Floss

Aww, how cute!

leftatthetrafficlights

@Brie - they are so adorable!! 😍 Thank you so much for posting the piccie, it really made me smile! 😁 

Yesterday was a lovely slow day, dh and I went to the shop - it was absolutely packed but we got round without a problem and found everything we needed. We came home and he harvested a few cabbages and started the sauerkraut off before we sat down to watch the cup final. He was very happy (not to mention stunned!) by the result 😁 He made dinner (cabbage, beans and rice) then we listened to music on YouTube for a while before I got an early night - all in all a quiet and relaxing day! 

It's still raining here - literally hasn't stopped at all since 3am yesterday - so it's unlikely that we'll do much in the garden today. We do need to put some supports in the greenhouse for the cucumbers so will get that done but I think that we'll wait until the rain stops before we do any direct sowing. 

I'll probably spend most of the day reading and sorting the meal plan for next week - I'm going to make a banana blossom chilli today and possibly have it as enchiladas but I'm not sure yet 🤔 

Anyway, that's enough rambling from me - have a fab slow day 😁

Cherryfudge

We had a few days away in sunny Rome - I'm exhausted! However, the actual holiday was very relaxing: lots of art galleries and beautiful parks. We didn't eat out as much as usual (budget needs care, and I'm pleased to say we came home with some of our euros intact) but I always like a mooch around a different supermarket so we got groceries from Carrefour. We met so many friendly, helpful people, had lots of worthwhile advice and took our time to enjoy in depth.

There's a particular pleasure to Italian parkland: stone pines and Italian cyprus, fountains, shade and sunshine. The metro is another matter but it's very cheap and easy to get from one place to another. 

We seem to have missed a lot of rain while we were away: the garden is green and growing apace so I hope to be out there again this week.