January 18, 2024
Bah blah resolutions smevolutions
I guess in the interests of being honest and getting support from y’all, I should share my goals and aims and motivations for 2024. I don’t like resolutions or the word because it implies so much pressure and forced standards. Maybe the word could be removed from society and instead everyone just says ‘I’m going to be a better human being this year by not doing this or trying to do more of that’
So my targets for this year are fairly standard.
* Spend as little as possible so I’m not cluttering my surroundings.
* Sort out what I’ve already got (clothes/books/crafting stuff) and make the most of them.
* See a real life mole.
* Keep losing weight until the diabetic nurse is happy.
* Craft more with what resources I have. Sell or gift the stuff I make. No new hobbies!
* Stop being upset about being on my own so much, learn to love my own company and be content with doing free stuff like reading, crafting, housework, sorting the boxes of doom, gardening, litter-picking, writing happy post and notes.
* Get off social media (specifically facebook but keep twitter) blog more instead.
* Stop worrying about others’ opinions or lifestyles. I am me, I cannot be anyone else and start recognising my physical capabilities rather than being upset by what I ‘can’t do’ in comparison.
* I want to be less dependent upon hubby to have a social life, I need to find things I can do on my own or have friends be willing to do ’em with me or be happier to hermit.
* I’d like to go to a live rugby match again as I miss it massively.
* I’d like a cheeky win at Cheltenham Race Week.
* I want more solo theatre.
Making more of Olio has been fun. I made butter out of cream which went in the freezer and I’ve processed veg for freezing too. It all helps
Last week I had my carpal tunnel jabs (as you know) and it didn’t quite go to plan. Unfortunately, between wrists, the doctor went to put the cap on the syringe and the needle stuck him through the cap. Cue much paperwork and drama and me needing to go back for blood tests to ensure I hadn’t poisoned him and all sorts. Not fun. He’s since rung me to say I don’t have any blood based nasties that I was tested for which is a relief. He is also referring me to the hand surgeons at Worcester to see if they’ll actually operate on the CP rather than just surviving on jabs.
But we are half way through the month finally. Only another 800 or so days to go until February!
January 8, 2024
A whole week in.
After the drama that was NYEve, I really needed January to be smooth and gentle with me. I forgot though that January has eleventy billion days in it.
I have survived one week of 2024 without any personal shopping. Yey me. I did have to buy batteries for the office though and that was tough because the website had so many lovely things to look at and it <winge> wasn’t fair and ebay keep sending me offers of 15% off and Emma Bridgewater have a 70% off selected items and I absolutely NEED to buy things I didn’t get for Yule.
However. I have resisted.
I don’t feel happy or smug though. I’m just miserable that the reason I’m having to do this is not for personal challenge or a big fat reward but for the scary car fixing issue. Hey ho. Maybe I’ll find a biscuit tin in a cupboard stuffed full of notes that I’ve forgotten about – even though I would absolutely not be rummaging cupboards looking for biscuits. No.
There was a question from my previous post about burning stuff, so I need to elaborate on that and just clarify that I am not a dodgy pyromaniac. We have three open fireplaces in the house, one is used almost every day, one used occasionally and the third is just used by stupid pigeons when they fall down.
Every bin point in the house has two bags one brown paper and one bread bag usually b’cs why pay for bin bags?! Everything that cannot be eaten, reheated as left overs, composted, fed to the chickens, recycled via the council or reused as quiz night scrap paper somehow will fall into those two categories – burnable or not. Not burnable is usually food packaging or vomit filled tissues b’cs we have learnt that cat vomit stinks when burnt. Everything else – thin cardboard, tissues, wipes, ice cream sticks, receipts, old shopping lists, post appointment wax strips, quiz night notes etc etc goes into the brown bag and is forming what we call ‘burnable bags’ and these are laid in the bottom of the open fire grate as starters. Through the summer we build up a stash alongside the wood and in the winter we get through them. Simples. It means we put out very little in terms of black rubbish to landfill. On bin night we would put out maybe half a bag and this is usually 3/4 cat litter and 1/4 plastic food wrapping.
The food wrapping comes from Olio, we have no control over that unfortunately. But avoiding food waste is a huge positive in our eyes. Last week we scored an absolute major Olio haul – a WHOLE DUCK from Tesco, formerly £37 and not purchased even when reduced to £16. It lasted us three nights combined with Olio egg noodles and veggies. Three nights of free food and blinking delicious it was too. Oh my days, it’s a high bar to ever match in the future.
Last night we had out of date Angel Delight made with Olio unclaimed milk. Not quite as amazing as a whole duck but pretty good in the grand scheme of food satisfaction. And so far this year, the pantry challenge has required us to only buy milk and cat food – the authorised things.
How is your experience with Olio going? Have you signed up yet? Found you need to never buy bread again but do need a second freezer for all this veg and fruit that pops up? Do share peeps.
December 29, 2023
January blah blah challenges
Do you remember two years ago I did a thing called ‘pantry challenge’ where we didn’t go shopping for a month? If I can work out how, I’ll link to the blog where I described it previously. It probably won’t hyperlink as that is far too technical for me.
https://wordpress.com/post/viewfromthisdesk.wordpress.com/1139
I’ve kinda kept to the principles of no shopping rules since then, we would do a ‘big shop’ maybe once every other month and between that would be cat food, milk and mushrooms really. What has totally changed my view on shopping and food storing/preservation is Olio. Preventing food going into a skip and trying to make the most of what isn’t claimed has absolutely revolutionised our shopping. As in, we don’t. Fruit and veg and bread products are the main Olio products but occasionally there will be meat or cheese or dairy products. A very sad challenge I enjoy hitting is a totally free meal – Olio or homegrown or home laid (when the chickens play ball) or leftovers. I dislike cooking immensely so a teeny bonus is if it’s free.
So, tomorrow I’ll do a pantry audit and get organised over meals. With Olio though, I know I can’t plan seven nights out of seven as sometimes Olio throws something mad into the mix. And sometimes a meal can be just a bowl of soup or a board covered in cheese.
I appreciate that not everyone is okay with yellow stickered food. That not everyone is happy with going beyond dates printed on things. So Olio isn’t something that all people will be willing to join in with. But with the price of food as it is and the wealth of information out there too, preserving and storing has never been easier. Plus, it’s been super useful when the garden has a glut of something.
Food is something I’ve gotten pretty well in control of these last few years. Shopping has been less easy as I’m very much an emotional shopper. I won’t leave the house to go to actual shops but I am a sucker for ebay/Amazon/etsy/temu at 3am when I’m sore or sad or lonely. This is something I need to address in the new year. The easy shopping experience and joy of a parcel is that triggers those neurotransmitters, like dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins, these all play a role in motivation, reward, and gives pleasure boosts when I’m feeling low. Except it’s short lived isn’t it? I really need January to be a no shopping challenge month on more than just food. I almost need an accountability buddy, someone I check in with on a daily basis, who is willing to do this with me. But I don’t know anyone who is as crazy as me to do these sorts of things!
In one of my insomnia fuelled 3am moments I was on YouTube for challenge videos for January 2024. I wanted something more than the pantry challenge and I found a vlogger (is that the right terminology?) that was talking about 50 things they aren’t buying in the new year. So less of a single month challenge and more of an attempt at a life change I suppose. Turns out, they post this video each year and just add a few bits to it which was a disappointment when I started watching previous years.
The first thing they announced they weren’t buying was water bottles. I mean who buys single use water anymore anyway? I was under the impression that no-one bought these, we all have reusable bottles or jugs or whatever receptacle you prefer. I certainly have a stash of various sizes – and travel mugs!
If I can urge you to do one new thing this year then let it be a dabble with Olio. Food waste prevention through food sharing generates new food adventures, right?!
viewfromthisdesk 