My January tradition is to attempt (note: not complete!) Apartment Therapy’sJanuary Cure. I wasn’t going to attempt it again this year. Then I saw “decluttering” in the blurb and thought maybe they are changing it up. This provoked in me an irrational need 1) to know and 2) not to miss out. So needless to say I’m signed up.
Then I got an email about Courtney Carver’sThe Busy Boycott 21 Day Challenge. Oooh that sounds good.
It’s Friday – Food Waste Friday. I need to report in and account for my food waste, but first I must share – well a new way to share!
Introducing Social Pantry
This week I tried out a new service linking up people with food to share with those in need of food. It is called Social Pantry and it’s a network of community food sharing Facebook pages. The pages connect people who have more than enough food, with people who know someone, or are themselves, in need of a little extra.
It is Friday – Food Waste Friday – so it’s time for me to account for my food waste over the past week. Today, I also want to talk about meal planning – specifically how to make meal planning work when you don’t like to stick to a meal plan!
Twenty seconds of watching a clip on YouTube took me to a place I never thought I’d go – I read a book about about tidying and I enjoyed it.
I have just put down Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. I am almost pathologically messy – books on housekeeping aren’t my thing. Four or five months ago I stumbled on a YouTube clip of a Japanese woman demonstrating how to fold your socks right. “Ummm, no thanks,” I thought and clicked onto something else. Soon the KonMari method (Kondo’s approach outlined in her book) was popping up everywhere – word was that it was as much about living more with less than housekeeping. I was intrigued, so I signed up as number 28 in the queue to loan a copy from the local library. It was worth the wait.
It’s Food Waste Friday and I have some bad news to report.
For the last month our household has been plagued by illness. My son has recently started kindy (preschool) and has brought home all manner of winter bugs along with his very cute paintings. Needless to say our house is a bit of a disaster zone, as we limp through waiting for this to pass.
Food wasted in the three weeks to 28 August 2015
The disaster extends to our food waste. Over the last three weeks I’ve thrown away:
3/4 cup of leftover vindaloo (usually I’d say “yum, breakfast” but not with a tummy bug!)
a cup of tinned tomatoes
1 1/2 cups of quinoa
1 lemon
4 mandarins
2 kiwifruit
1 carrot
1 egg
I am still suffering with a head cold, so I will keep it short for today.
I have one tip to pass along – don’t take the “best before” date on your egg carton as gospel. Often eggs are good for many days beyond this.
How do you know? The simple sink or float test. Put the egg into a glass of water – if it sinks it is good. If it floats to the top, it has gone bad. Sometimes the egg kind of hovers in the middle, bobbing like it wants to float, but with it’s nose still touching the bottom – it is still good, but not for long!
Floating to the top of the glass – this egg has gone bad
I am parked up at the table in our sunroom/dining room. The sun is shining and there’s not a cloud in the sky. It feels like spring is on its way. I’m very exciting as winter seems to have dragged on forever.
A lovely day – the view hanging out the washing
It is fitting that today I am talking sunshine – the Sunshine Award to be specific.
A big thank you to Simple Is The New Green for the nomination. If you haven’t already, head over and check out Simple Is The New Green. She writes about “Finding WELL-th: Purpose, Prosperity and the Pursuit of Happiness”. There is lots of thought provoking and topical stuff, written in a down-to-earth manner and with a dose of humour. I like it.
My ideal day would start with waking gently in my own time as the sun floods the room with light. We’d go on a fun family outing (beach, river, estuary, riding trains or anything involving animals) in the morning, and laze around home for the afternoon. I’d squeeze in some reading, writing and knitting. Our extended family would join us for a causal dinner, dessert would involve lots of chocolate and they’d be a great selection of craft beer. I’d have an early night with crisp, clean sheets on the bed.
How do you find instant gratification that doesn’t cost anything?
Feeling the sun on my face, smelling the sea, hearing the waves hit the beach and seeing my son smile.
If you knew a disaster was coming and you have 10 minutes to evacuate your house, what would you take?
Such a Mum answer for this one – my son, his two favourite stuffed animals, his jacket, PJs, blanket, nappies, drink and snacks, plus my wallet, keys, phone and laptop, my husband and the back up hard drive.
And now to share some of the sunshine, I’d like to nominate the following bloggers for a Sunshine Award. Love what you do – thoughtful, wise but not too serious.
What is one book that you wish everyone would read?
What is your go-to way to relax?
If you could give one piece of advice to yourself 15 years ago, what would it be?
Is it sunny at your place? Feel free to join in, share your answers to the questions, share links to blogs you love and want to everyone else to discover too (that includes your own!)
