Slow Living - Doing It Old Style!

leftatthetrafficlights

@weenancyinAmerica - they are shortening the years too!! 🙄😂 It's quite shocking to me now how quickly the months and years pass by!! 😳 

I haven't posted for a couple of days as I've needed to deal with a bit of family drama which was unpleasant. As a result, I turned to old habits for comfort and have felt disengaged for a bit. However, decisions have been made and it's time to get back to the life I want to live - thankfully I've dealt with the turmoil much more quickly than I would have were I not on the slow living path, so that has been an unexpected but very welcome benefit! 

Yesterday was a lovely slow day, I went out for lunch with my dd then came back home and read a book..today I've had a lovely lie in and have another book to read later while dh watches the sports finals. 

I checked the garden yesterday- we have several heads of calabrese to harvest over the next week along with potatoes and I think that we may be close to harvesting some broad beans and more courgettes 🙌 I'll do a menu plan later today as I still have quite a few things to use up that we didn't get round to past week. 

Today's food will be a use up of any leftovers in the fridge - there are quite a few bits and pieces in there so it should be interesting!! 

I'm really hoping that we'll have some days next week where getting some gardening done is an option - although I love rain I'm getting a bit tired of it now!! 🤦‍♀️ 

Have a lovely slow Sunday! 😁

leftatthetrafficlights

Well the rain still hasn't abated (although it's not raining at the moment! 🙌) so I've been making the most of it by rewatching some old films that I love 😁 I'm not a film person as a general rule but I have a handful of them which I really enjoy and have them all on dvd so, other than cleaning, it's been a bit of a film fest over the past couple of days! I probably won't watch any of them again for several months but I've enjoyed them and it's made the persistent downpours more tolerable! 🙄 

I've got my grandbaby after school today for a sleepover - I may take him to feed the ducks before we come home if the weather holds 🤞 

I have to do a bit of shopping today but have no other plans so may have a couple of hours reading when I get back - I might pop into a cs while I'm out and see what their book offerings can provide! 😁

Have a lovely slow day 😁 

leftatthetrafficlights

Lovely day yesterday - ended up venturing into asda in the city to pick something up for dd and found a big bag of peppers for £3! Came back and went to the cs and bought 3 books for £2 then managed to find a place locally that do eyebrow waxing and had an available appointment so got those done too 🙌 

Decided not to feed the ducks once I'd picked up my grandbaby so we played in the sandpit with his diggers then came in and built a huge track 😁 he had loads of fun 🥰 

We needed to harvest a chinese cabbage so had cabbage, red beans and rice for dinner which was lush.



We also had a few courgettes to harvest so I chopped the big bag of peppers, roasted the green ones with black olives, courgettes and red onions and the red ones with basil. We'll have those tonight with grains and chickpeas. 

Today I've taken my grandbaby to school, cleaned the house and I'm going to spend the rest of the day reading my new books 😁 

Have a lovely slow day! 😁

leftatthetrafficlights

Spent the rest of yesterday reading - I'm currently on the last of the three books I bought on Wednesday and I'll finish that today - I may venture out once it's finished and get some more but I have no plans other than that 😁 I'll be gardening tomorrow - the weather forecast suggests it may be slightly cooler then so it will be much more pleasant to do physical work- I'll water everywhere tonight so that it's easier to weed tomorrow though!

Last night's dinner was roasted red peppers with basil; roasted green peppers with red onion and black olives; lemon chickpeas; steamed hg broccoli; mixed grains and barberries (oats, rye, barley, short grain brown rice) cooked with lemon verbena and thyme; broccoli sprouts salad with strawberries, blueberries, black grapes and papaya. Lots of leftovers so having a repeat performance tonight 🙌 

leftatthetrafficlights

I had a wonderful weekend! 😁 

Friday night was truly magical - I was sat in the garden when a deer came in! Although they are regular visitors, they are normally pretty timid and we watch them through the patio doors, so I was absolutely stunned by his arrival while I was out there!! He was joined about 5 minutes later by two squirrels and our hedgehog - I spent 20 minutes out there with them just watching them all eat and potter around before they wandered off 😍 words cannot describe how captivating it was - my heart still soars when I recall it! 🥰

Saturday dh and I made a quick visit to town and I bought another couple of garden chairs and a couple of books from the cs - we came home and sat in the garden for the rest of the day just reading, cloud watching and talking. We were going to do some gardening but decided just to make the most of the beautiful weather- it's been such a rare sight recently! 

Sunday was much of the same - we stayed in the garden until mid afternoon when it became a lot cooler, cloudier and quite windy, dh harvested all of our calabrese which I prepared and froze then I made some ivy laundry liquid. Yesterday evening I read while dh watched a couple of films. 

Today I'm going to clean the house and prepare dinner - we're having roasted tomatoes, white bean puree, roasted beans and courgettes, garlic crushed new potatoes, courgette salad with lemon oil and tarragon and I'm going to make some bread to go with it. The courgettes, beans, potatoes and tarragon are all currently growing in the garden - this year may be a bit rubbish for hg produce but I'm very grateful to be getting some! 

I'll probably spend the afternoon catching up on the people I follow on YouTube, doing a meditation practice and listening to music but if the weather is nice I will sit in the garden and listen to the sounds of nature and the waterfalls.

I'm finding it a lot easier now to be really present in the moment and find real joy in the simplest things in life - I never thought at the beginning of this journey that I would feel so at peace the majority of the time or that I would revel in the mundane so I'm genuinely grateful for these outcomes. 

There are still tweaks to be made and there will be adaptations as life changes but I feel that the foundations that I've laid are strong enough to keep me on this path for a lifetime 😁 

Happy slow living!! 

vandanfc

Your Friday evening does indeed sound very magical. Lucky you that they trust you enough to still come whilst you are outside.

Wednesday2000

I had a very busy weekend so I am having a slow day today. We had a gig in Kent and we were house hunting and it was very hot and humid. I feel exhausted from all the walking around. We also spent time with 5 very boisterous dogs and I need a rest!😅

I am about to sit down with my library book and read until my pets are dropped home from the kennel. I went to a BBQ on Saturday and someone made me a very nice coleslaw so I might make that later to have with my lunch.

Floss

leftatthetrafficlights said:

I'm finding it a lot easier now to be really present in the moment and find real joy in the simplest things in life - I never thought at the beginning of this journey that I would feel so at peace the majority of the time or that I would revel in the mundane so I'm genuinely grateful for these outcomes. 

There are still tweaks to be made and there will be adaptations as life changes but I feel that the foundations that I've laid are strong enough to keep me on this path for a lifetime 😁 

I've found that I'm much more in tune with my garden & its visitors since I had BC last year - I was off work for 6 months and have just gone back after another 2 months off with chronic pain, so have spent lots of time reading, just sitting or doing jigsaws.

It has all helped to give me an idea of how my life will be when I finish work (which will be in 32 paydays!).

leftatthetrafficlights

@vandanfc - it really was! 😁 He was quite a young one so probably a bit braver than normal - we've had deer coming in for at least 20 years and this is the first time one has ventured in while anyone is out there.. I probably won't get a repeat performance but I'll certainly never forget it!! 

@Wednesday2000 - that's a lot to pile into a weekend, I'd need a week to recover!! 😳😂 I hope you manage to find the perfect property 🤞 

@Floss - I'm so sorry about your BC 😔 I hope all is going well and the pain has gone 🤞32 paydays really isn't that many! 😉😁 

I've had a peaceful few days, just reading and pottering as we have the grandbaby at the weekend so it will be hectic! 🥳 Today I have had a bit of a 'spa' day - an asana practice, meditation, defur, exfoliation, face mask, hair treatment, yoga nidra and relaxation music - it's been absolutely lovely and I feel at one with the universe 🥰 

I've made the decision today that I'm going to have a month off the internet/tv/forums/phone games etc. in August. I want to spend the month with no real external distractions and concentrate on my wellbeing. I have a birthday and anniversary in August so it seems like a good month to spend in reset mode 😉

I'll be using YouTube for asana practices/meditations/yoga nidra/relaxation music every day but other than that (which seems a lot when I'm reading it!! 😳😂 It's all part of my wellbeing routine though so it's fine! 😉) I'll be technology free. I'm really looking forward to the break to be honest! 

Dinner this evening is very simple - I've got mixed grains, some cannellini beans cooking in stock and herbs in the instant pot and I've made a cashew cream to which I've added dijon mustard. I'll cook some broccoli greens when dh gets home to go with it all. 

Have a lovely slow evening 😁

Floss

leftatthetrafficlights said:

@Floss - I'm so sorry about your BC 😔 I hope all is going well and the pain has gone 🤞32 paydays really isn't that many! 😉😁 

Unfortunately I have chronic pain as a result of the preventative meds, and my oncologist won't agree to stopping them for at least 2 years. However it is better managed now, with a better combination of other meds alongside the anti-cancer one.