Back to basics

 

I've spent my 3 days of half term getting back to basics.  Looking at what needs used up in the fridge and making sure nothing is wasted.  I had a couple of Portabello mushrooms that were going a bit dry so chopped them into a big pan of bolagnais sauce.

I also had a few bendy carrots that I grated and chucked into the pan too!  Then simmered it all for about an hour.

I had a couple of soft apples that actually weren't all that nice to begin with so chopped them up and turned them into a sort of toffee apple crumble.

Tasty with ice cream!

I made a pot of chicken and broccoli soup (blue tubs at the top of the fridge) using a chicken carcass to make stock.  I used broccoli as it was the only green veg I had in the freezer.  Tasty experiment that worked and gives me lunches for the coming week back at school.  Everything is safely in the freezer now.

There are some signs that Spring is coming!  The first wee primrose opened up.

And the first snowdrops appeared.

I managed to get to my late uncle's house for the first time in 2 months, saw my lovely mum and long lost cousin and wallpapered the chimney breast wall.  The house is finally ready to go on the market.  The lawyer wasn't joking when he told me it could take up to a year to get everything sorted out. 8 months and counting!! It would be good if we could get it all sorted out before Spring.

Starting to plan

Thanks for all the lovely comments on my last post 😊 I am really happy and feeling very loved and appreciated in many areas of my life just now.  Even today's news that all Scottish children from Nursery to P3 are going back to school on the 22nd hasn't dampened my mood.  I teach P3 (6 and 7yos).  We'd more or less planned for that to happen.  It's definitely the best thing for the kids but there are still some concerns about the safety of staff working in schools.  I have my home testing kit now but still need to wait for the vaccine go ahead.  As I'm over 50 I'll get it sooner than many of my colleagues.  Hopefully by the end of April.

I'm now on half term holiday so my thoughts are turning to planning my garden and allotment.  It's all looking a bit soggy and sorry thanks to that snow last week!  But I know it will recover quickly.  These are the new vegetable seeds I ordered (I have some flowers too) to add to my leftover and saved seeds from last year.  A few favourites and a few new ones to try.  My fruit bushes all seem to have survived the Winter so hopefully they'll keep on producing this year.  I should have lots of lovely produce to preserve in some way.

I also have some seed potatoes, they're already chitting!  Casablanca (extra earlies), Charlotte (second earlies) and Cara (late maincrop).  I was successful last year with Cara on the plot but not tried the other two.  Even though I ordered them at the start of January I couldn't get my favourite early potato Epicure.  They'd already sold out.  And I've heard of a lot of the smaller seed companies can't cope with the demand for seeds and their websites have been crashing!

At the end of my last post I said I hadn't really thought about my plans/goals for this year.  After I posted it I realised the 3 things that I mentioned actually made perfect goals.  So I've posted them on the right! Short, simple and achievable 😊

The Road Less Travelled

 

Well here we are halfway through February and my first post of 2021!  How did that happen? Since the move back to home learning for schools here in Scotland I've just been spending all my time online, trying to make learning accessible for my parents and kids.  Being on the laptop at night used to be my relaxation so I've been spending my evenings and weekends doing other stuff. Mostly Netflix and reading!

I received this book for Christmas from a very special friend 💕

It's not an easy book to read and throws up a LOT of issues that need to be dealt with.  It's a book I almost read 8 years ago when I was studying for my counselling qualification.  I'm not sure why I didn't read it at the time but serendipity and all that meant the time was now.  I'm still not quite finished reading it but have read and re read most of it since December.  It's completely changed my outlook on life.  It's changed my thinking on a lot of areas.  Worth a read if you're interested in personal and spiritual growth.  I think given this past year of pandemic shit, family deaths and the complete breakdown of a relationship/friendship meant I was simply ready for change. And for the first time in ages I am both happy and content with my life.  Photo taken yesterday.

I still haven't set any goals for this year, maybe I won't do any at all.  But I'm still trying to be frugal, not waste resources and have huge plans for my garden and allotment.  😊