Simple Days and Simple Pleasures

I am sure that you, like myself, have been very reflective during this period of enforced lockdown and isolation and the varying degrees in between which we have all faced during these very surreal and often frightening times.  

I have to admit that I have a bit of a careless side to myself,  to the point of actual sabotage, c'est la vie and all that and fate will decide.  

Well that's all well and good for me when it's just my life and effects no one else; however as I now care for my Dad full time and I value his health and well being very highly,  I find myself these days and very naturally putting someone else's wellbeing before my own and I also find myself getting scared unlike I never did.  

As such I have instinctively abided and exceeded Government advice regarding the health and wellbeing and isolation of those of his age (86 years old) and who have like him a myriad of health issues.  

So for the past 4 months (before Government dictated) myself and Dad have been in lockdown and we have now both got a little stir crazy; we seriously haven't been anywhere, well I have been out in the car about once a fortnight to pick up a click and collect food shop from Tescos, but apart from that the outside has literally another planet that we have yet to discover!!!  Dad however has been in complete lockdown.

Things however have now changed as this week Dad became very low, to the point of depression.  Sometimes you have to weigh up physical versus mental health,  he told me that he's 86 years old, that he has lived his life and there is no point him living any longer if he can't see and hug his children and grandchildren.  It was for me a bit of a reality check I was so focussed on protecting him from this awful virus that I lost sight of the point of living,  and he's absolutely right, you really have to balance mental and physical health and determine what is most important; context being everything.

 So this week I decided to relax a little and took Dad out onto the sea front for an ice cream which was completely socially distanced.  

I also had my sister and her son (his daughter / grandchild) over for the day in the garden this week and today my brother and his daughter (son and grandchild) came for a couple of hours to see him.  

The result at the end of this week is that he is so much brighter and healthier and he feels life is worth living.  

So what I would say in the final analysis is that we all have to navigate these very unsure waters as best we can, we can take onboard the best advice,  but ultimately we need to do what is best for ourselves and our own. 

Life is ultimately short and especially if you don't feel you have that many more years to come, you must do what is best for your own mental and physical well being without compromising the health of others.  Please stay safe and do what is ultimately best for you and your loved ones.  Love to all xxx

Love your Library

Dad and I have just got back from our weekly trip to the library, it’s a recent thing we do.  Dad loves reading; my siblings and I a few years ago all clubbed together and bought him an Ipad.  

He’s got a very active mind, thank god and has always had a passion for politics and history.  Via his Ipad he reads all the major newspapers each day as well as Reuters the news agency.  He’s a great person to have at a dinner table because he is so well read, he literally will know something about whatever any guest talks about. 

I love my kindle, which is my must have when we go on holiday as in a week on holiday I can easily read a book a day.  However it can get expensive and I did get into the bad habit of buying about 3 books month, as via your kindle it is so easy, literally just a click but it totted up to easily £18 per month. 

In Lancashire our County Council was in the process of closing all local library's to save money, it ended up losing the Labour Administration the election as the uproar was unprecedented with the new Conservative Council promising they will protect them and they remain open.

It really did give me food for thought, as its one of those things that we just take for granted and one of those things that unless we use it, we really do risk losing it.  I decided that we would support our local library as best we can and at the same time save me oodles of cash.  So each week Dad and I go and browse through the shelves and pick up a new book.

It really does amaze me that (and I know we all pay taxes etc) that we get the opportunity to get books and enjoy what is a great hobby, for free.  So love your library, use it, cherish it and enjoy a free hobby.

Days without agenda

I love days like these, free days, days when I am committed to no-one but me, a day to do exactly as I please (well kind of).  I started the day early, cut hubbies hair, now I am no hairdresser but he is, shall we say, folically challenged ha hum J and all it takes is a number 3 over his barnett once every 4 weeks, it looks grand after and saves an easy £70 - £80 per year. 

Whilst hubby was in the shower I whipped through the downstairs with the hoover, tidied the house, loaded the dishwasher, made the bed and generally put everything in order.  I then showered and got ready before we went to mass.

Returning home I decided to do some batch cooking, I made cottage pie and sausage and bean hot pot to stock up the freezer, along with making hubbies couscous salad for this week’s lunches (only 4 this week as he’s taking his kids on a field trip on Friday so I will be making him butties for ease), before tackling the ironing. 

Now all of this may not be everyone’s choice of a free day, but whilst I have been as busy as the busiest bee it has been completely my choice, I could have just curled up with a book – something I plan to do after posting this, it was the choice that is the liberating thing.

Cooking master class – well more amateur class

Cottage Pie

There are a million different tweaks to this recipe, this is just mine, I love cottage/shepherd’s pie, its filling, hearty and nourishing, real soul food and considering we seem to be still in winter, is a suitable recipe for this time of year.

So I start by gently sweating one large chopped onion

I then chop 10 carrots and half a swede, but just add whatever amount you want

Add a pack of mince; this one is 800g and brown

Add a dollop of tomato ketchup; this really gives the mix a kick and mix through

Sprinkle a large tablespoon of plain flour and mix and cook out

Slowly add 800ml of stock (2 beef stock cubes with boiling water) mixing all the time

Add seasoning and some mixed herbs, pop the lid on and simmer on a low heat for 30 mins before portioning out into dishes

Now you can make a batch of mash, but I really couldn’t be bothered and decided to top the pies with thinly sliced (half a cm) potatoes, bake in the oven for 25 mins, quick, low fat and easy.  This batch has made 7 hearty portions.

Sausage and Bean Hotpot

I really enjoy this recipe, again hearty winter food; it’s healthy, nourishing, and low cost and tastes so good.  This makes 2 meals (4 portions) on the ratio of hubby has 3 sausages to my 2.  All you need to add is a wedge of bread and you have a cracking supper,

Select 10 sausages, try and make them quality sausages, I would rather eat less meat i.e. reduce the quantity of meat and have several veggie meals a week than reduce the quality.  Mine are finest pork and herb

Gently colour in a pan with 2 large onions sliced

Add 2 cans of chopped tomatoes, chicken stock (400ml made with one chicken stock cube), herbs, a good pinch of chilli flakes and seasoning

Rinse two tins of Cannellini Beans and add, stir, cook without lid on for 20 mins

And portion up

Now time to just curl up with a book, you will note that I don't advertise, no ad ons, no advertisements, if I recommend anything its just a genuine post I am not nor will I ever be paid to recommend anything, I see this as just two friends chatting over coffee J I am currently reading Emma Kennedy's The tent, The bucket and me - if you were a working class child of the 1970's it will completely resonate, it is a cracking read, I picked up a copy from the library yesterday and have struggled to put it down, its funny, real and warm, so if you are popping to the library I would recommend picking up a copy - Have a great week Cxx

Best Laid Plans ......

When I devised my meal plan last Sunday, I had predicted Saturday to be the usual affair, spend all day pottering around the house, tidying, cleaning, laundry, cooking and I had intended to make homemade pizza for tea.  That was then and due to very nice last minute invitations, a very different, very full, yet still very frugal day was the order of the day.

I got up at 6am and worked like a demon so that by 10am the house was scrubbed from top to bottom, 3 loads of washing done and drying in the beautiful sunshine, everything lovely and sparkly - perfect way to start the weekend.

We went for lunch with my very best friend, we struggle to see each other as whilst she is financially rich she regrettably is very time poor as she owns and runs two Italian restaurants.  We always meet once a week for coffee (as one of her restaurants is in the City I work, whilst the other is in the Country nearer to where I live) at her place, however she is always doing paperwork and the phone always interrupts us – so it was lovely to see her for a proper lunch (this was at her country restaurant where she had great staff who always look after us very well), it was just great to sit, eat and put the world to rights for a couple of hours uninterrupted (well apart from the odd customer coming over to say hello). 

After this we nipped to see hubbys nan – 92 years and still going strong, she has the most darling bichon Gigi (hubbys nan used to breed Bichons) so this snap is entitled “When DD met Gigi”

We then hot footed it over to my parents where my sister and her family had come up for the weekend, its was great to see them, full of chat and laughter.  Whilst we were still stuffed from lunch we still managed to squeeze in some of my mums homemade cake washed down with lots of tea and got home just in time to fall into bed, exhausted but happy. 

Postscript: I had bought the kids some chocolate and gave them both a tenner each, as I say we don’t see each other very much due to a 500 mile distance only perhaps twice a year, so when I do see them I owe them a few treats.  I still consider this a very frugal day, fed and watered by my beloved friends and family with their fabulous company all free of charge J

The Simple Things

Today has been a simply stunning day, the weather is glorious, a slight nip in the air but not a cloud in the sky with the sun beating down.  Just the simple pleasures in life seem to sparkle that little bit more.

The washing drying on the line

A walk with hubby and our gorgeous doggie

Half price chocolate as little treat for me and hubby yummm

Very simple pleasures I know but a very chilled and happy Sunday, a perfect way to prepare for the week ahead

Cx

Days Like These

Well the weatherman didn’t disappoint and today has been a cloud free, blue sky, glorious 20 degrees sunny day.  Myself and hubby have often talked of moving house to be closer to my work to reduce my commuting time and provide a greater work/ life balance in favour of life, but on days like these I realise more than ever exactly why we always dismiss it.

We are so lucky to live beside the seaside, a beautiful and usually sleepy seaside town, the clear skies, the smell of the sea, the lovely walks on the beach -  my commute seems a small price to pay ...... on days like these J  

Now where did I leave that Left Arm??

Talk Talk had a melt down yesterday and as such our land line and internet connection was down all evening.  I literally felt as though I had lost my left arm, which was a tad worrying…. Surely I am not that addicted to technology??  Having the time to think (always a dangerous activity in my case ;), I have concluded that perhaps I am.  After a long day at work,(where I spend pretty much all day on a computer) including my 3 (bet you’re envious J) hours commute , by the time I’ve got home, made tea, cleaned the kitchen, I am fit for nothing.  I find very little on telly that is of interest and as such spend what little is left of my evenings, blogging, reading other blogs, generally surfing the old net – does that make me sad? 

When I am working I struggle to switch off, so whilst I love nothing better than spending a day reading a book when I’m on hols, during normal life I do struggle to turn the old grey matter off and just indulge in such a simple pleasure.    One day perhaps I will be able to re-address the balance J

Cxx