Menu Planning Monday 31st May 2021

 

It has been a gorgeous Bank Holiday here and the weather has been perfect. We have had a couple of days out and a new addition to the family in the form of a great niece who arrived on the 27th. I don't know when we will get to actually meet her but we did call round to the proud grandparents to drop a few gifts off as Mum and baby were still in hospital and they don't live locally.

The Weather

 

Much improved on the previous weeks. A chance to sit in the garden after work and enjoy the birdsong and the sound of children playing.

Looking around the house and garden

I have managed to get the weeds pulled up from the front garden and the gardener has been to mow the lawn and turn the soil over in the back garden. Craig has pulled up a couple of bushes that died and I have got some plants to replace them which I just need to put in the ground once it has cooled down in the evening.

The house is looking in good shape as I have caught up with housework after two days out. Just a huge pile of ironing to do.

On the Menu

With the weather getting warmer the meals are going to be lighter this week.

Monday - picnic at home

Tuesday- turkey fajitas with either a tortilla or lettuce wrap

Wednesday - Parma pork with squash mash

Thursday - Pan fried fish with Mediterranean vegetables

Friday -  Chicken, pepper and chorizo bake

Saturday -Ramen (which we didn't have last week)

Sunday - Meal out with father and stepmother in law

On my to do list this week.

Book appointments for hair and eyebrows

Cut out fabric for circle skirt

Do another square for my knitted blanket.

From the camera

As I can't really share a photo of my great niece then I thought I would share some photos of new animals I have seen whilst out on walks this last few weeks.

Wishing you all a wonderful week.

Checking out Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom and  Katy to see what they have planned for future inspiration.

Planners and Planning

 I am quite an organized person by nature and I like to see everything I need easily and find things quickly. Having things written down also frees up my mind and I don’t have to worry about remembering appointments or birthdays. Having some things written down is also easy for reference in the future such as Christmas presents so I don’t duplicate or buy similar the following year. 

I have used planners for many years and keep changing my mind about how I want to use them. For most of the time I was looking for a planner that I could keep everything in and was small enough to carry around in my handbag. I tried different sizes of Filofax, bullet journals and travellers notebooks before realizing that it was going to be an impossible task. I now know that I don’t need to carry all the information I thought I needed around every day. I narrowed it down to just having appointments, to do list, menu plan/shopping list, reminders and a few blank pages in my daily planner and everything else is in planners that stay at home.

Currently I am using a Filofax A4 planner as my home management planner.

This contains all the names and addresses I need for birthdays and Christmas, information sent from school (not that there is much as it is now all emailed, I just print out important ones like School trip and new uniform details), cleaning routines, Christmas planning, information about each room in the house (size, paint colour, curtain sizes) basically information that will be easy to have to hand but doesn't need to be carried around all the time.

Having to go through everything to find information following my Brother-in-Laws death a few years ago also spurred me on to making sure I have account details for all services, banks, insurances etc. in one place so that whoever has to sort these things out when I die will be able to find the information easily

An A5 ring bound planner for more creative ideas and lists.

                                                 

An A5 customized spiral bound planner from personalplanner.com  is my everyday planner. Until recently I was using a Filofax personal size planner but decided that I wanted to see everything on one page which I could not do in the Filofax as the pages were not wide enough.

I had used these planners a few years ago and I liked decorating them but as I was still looking to have everything in one place at the time, I only used it for about a year. I found my old ones when I was clearing out the garage and realised that the style suits my needs (at the moment) so went online and ordered one.

You are able to customize everything from the cover, headers, ruler colour and layout

 In this planner I chose a horizontal layout which I divide into 3 sections. The top section is for appointments or visits which I colour code for each family member.

The middle section relates more to cleaning / to do regarding the house and the bottom section is for reminder and blog posts.

                                            

Also included on the week per page is a to do list, weather tracking, motivational quote and a menu plan. You can chose different things in each section, these were my choices.

There is also a monthly layout on which I record school holidays, birthdays and future events like theatre trips, parties etc.

                                             

At the back of the planner you have again choices to make. I went for lined pages, dot pages and a book and movie tracker.

Another good feature of this planner is you can choose when you want it to start so you are not tied to January or July. I ordered mine to start in April and it will last for 12 months. I will order a new one to start in January if I continue to use it just because I prefer to see a whole year in one place.

I know a lot of people use their phones as planners and calendars and that there are various apps that allow you to do this but for me personally paper is more convenient and easier to use. I have attempted them in the past but did not like them. I much prefer being able to just open up my planner at the right page and see the information right away without having to open an app and going through the menu choices to get to what I want to see and maybe having to open up another app to see related information.

Do you use planners and if so what and how do you use them?

Word of the Week -Routines

 

This week I have been trying to create some new routines and catch up with some ones that had dropped by the wayside. 

The first routine I have been working on is going to the gym. You have to book a place and last week I just kept forgetting to book. To overcome that I have downloaded the app and I can make multiple bookings for the week. I have booked 3 sessions for this week, Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Once I have completed my session on Sunday then I will book again for the same slots.

I have also spent an evening catching up with my daily journaling prompt. I hate having gaps and as the majority of the questions were pretty general I just answered them as though I had on the day. One of the questions asked was 'How many pairs of shoes do you own?' I am the proud owner of 42 but that is ALL footwear including boots, trainers, sandals and wellies.

I have also fallen behind with some daily readings. The two books that have the daily readings are 'The Daily Stoic' by Ryan Holiday and 'Simple Abundance'by Sarah Ban Breathnach. They are very different  but they are both looking at the art of living and being true to yourself.

My final routine that needs a lot of work is self maintenance. Although I shower and moisturise my skin every day, I have not had a haircut or my eyebrows waxed and tinted since December 2019. I used to go every 3 months to get my hair trimmed and about 8 weeks for my eyebrows. I had also planned to start having facials now that I am 50 to slow down the ageing process of my looks. I feel as well that I need to do more with my nails (fingers and toes) just so that I can look more groomed. I know the pandemic has meant that salons have been closed but even when they were open last year I just never got round to going. It also hasn't helped by my old hairdresser closing as she moved out of the area during the summer last year. I intend to make appointments for skin, eyes and hair at a salon that is just up the road and offers all of these services. My nails I will do myself as I don't want acrylic or long nails. I can shape and paint them myself as I have done in the past when I have been bothered.

I love routines for a lot of things but I am not ruled by them. Craig is more spontaneous so I have learnt over the years to be a bit flexible especially with cleaning routines and menu planning, 

What routines do you have and do you stick to them faithfully?

Linking up with Anne at Raisie Bay for her word of the week

Menu Planning Monday 24th May 2021

I cannot believe how quickly the last week went by. I had fully intended to do two blog posts but before I knew it Sunday had arrived. Last week was very busy both for work and personally. It made a change to how it has been the last few months whilst we have been in lockdown.

Saturday was Craig's birthday and we had his family and my parents, sister and brother in law came over as well. Luckily the weather was with us, unlike the rest of the week and we were able to sit in the garden and try out the new garden furniture. I hadn't realised until that time how much I had missed people coming over for food and chat.

The Weather

After last weeks washout it looks like things are improving especially for the Bank Holiday weekend

Looking forward to:

The bank holiday weekend and a visit to Haworth in Yorkshire, home of the Bronte sisters. Emma has her first Covid jab on Thursday. She is 21 and one of her friends who works for the NHS has arranged it for her.

On the Menu

Monday -Teriyaki Chicken and boiled rice

Tuesday - Spaghetti Carbonara

Wednesday Homemade soup and crusty bread

Thursday -Portobello stuffed mushrooms with spinach

Friday BLT or Club sandwiches

Saturday -Eat out in Haworth

Sunday Roast dinner

From the Camera

Now Emma has finished her apprenticeship and is waiting for 'Runner' jobs to come up she has decided to work on her photography skills and has been using Penny to practice on. She has offered to take photos of my Niece's daughter and their dog and wanted to scope out some places where she could go. So these photos are hers but who can resist dog photos.

Hope you all have a good week.

Linking with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom and Katy at Katy Kicker.

 

Menu Planning Monday 17th-23rd May 2021

 

It is going to be a  few busy evenings this week with an appointment with the Nurse, my second Covid vaccination, 2 Zoom meetings and my Husband's birthday so meals will have to be quick and easy,

On the Menu

Monday -Sausage, Egg and Chips

Tuesday - Chicken Schnitzel, Mash potato and green beans

Wednesday - Baked Salmon, Boiled potatoes and  peas

Thursday - Smothered pork chops, green beans and carrot & Swede mash

Friday -Chilli in a Giant Yorkshire Pudding

Saturday - Pizza

Sunday - Meatball subs

Despite the fact that we can now eat at restaurants we decided against going out for Hubby's birthday as he wanted to have the family around and there are more than six of them so it will be a pizza party in the garden. We may have to put up the party gazebo we bought a couple of years ago for his 50th looking at the weather forecast.

Weather

Looking around the house.

We had a new garden lounge set delivered at the weekend so we have now put that under the gazebo frame. Hopefully we will get a chance to use it properly soon. The gaps that have appeared in between the paving stones are full of weeds because of how the weather has been so will need to be cleared before the weekend.

I am looking forward to

Getting my second jab ( I never thought I would ever say that, I am not a big fan of needles), Craig's birthday and being able to have everyone around again in the garden.

On my crafting pile

I have not touched my cross stitch or quilt. Will hopefully make another square for my blanket and have bought some fabric to make a dress and a skirt. I seem to have lost my crafting mojo as the kids and Craig have been rather demanding of my attention these past few weeks. I need to make the time to get back into the swing of things.

Hope you all have a good week.

Linking up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom, Katy at Katy Kicker as I love to see what other people are doing.

Word of the Week -Exercise

 

Before I had kids (decades ago) I would often exercise 3 or 4 times a week. Since having kids that has become a little less regular as other things got in the way. I would have fits and spurts of exercise depending on my reasons (charity runs or hikes for example). Whilst I was exercising I did enjoy it, but a lot of the time it was finding the motivation, especially when training for the runs as I do not enjoy running on my own, but also don’t like running with any one else. I spent a few years going to the gym then my job changed and I was travelling a lot so I got out of the habit. Then we got the dog so my only exercise was walking her at lunchtimes and a few evenings a week (Hubby would do his share). Obviously last year the pandemic hit, and I changed jobs and have not exercised for a year. I am starting to feel it as like a lot of people I have gained weight (Age/perimenopause might also be a contributing factor).

I realise that especially given my stage in life that exercise is important not only for general health but also to reduce risks of osteoporosis and so I have decided that this week is the time to make a start. At the moment I don’t want to take out a gym membership, so my local council leisure centre allows you to pay as you go and book online. I took advantage of the fact that my job finishes earlier and booked a session for after work on Tuesday.

I downloaded the NHS Couch to 5k programme and did Day One of week one on the treadmill. I know I could have done this outside for free but I am definitely a fair weather runner.  I started well on the treadmill but after a couple of run cycles my shins really started getting painful. I decided to stop and they quickly stopped. I think I need to get a new pair of trainers. The ones I was wearing are not running trainers and I have had them for a few years (even though they haven’t been worn for a while). They were fine for the rest of the session as I went onto the elliptical machine for 10 mins before going on to use the dumbbells to do an arm workout.

I woke up next day rather surprised that I wasn’t sore but I found that I did have to get up and move more because if I didn’t I did feel a little stiff. I decided to book another session for Thursday. This time rather than the treadmill I went onto the rowing machine. I used the Couch to 5K programme as a guide on this so taking it slower when I should be walking and then faster when I was supposed to jog. I found it a good way to pace myself and I was able to do the full 30 minutes. I like the rowing machine as it does feel more like a full body workout and it has less impact on my legs, though I could tell they had done some work.

I find that as I have to book and pay for a slot I am more likely to go rather than just thinking I will turn up at that time. I am going to investigate whether I can book multiple sessions. I will also consider taking out the membership as if I stick to going 3 times a week then it will be a lot cheaper per month but I will see how long my enthusiasm lasts. I easily get bored doing the same type of exercise all the time and classes are not on at the time I want to go.

Linking up with Anne at Raisie Bay

Bottle light Decoupage Tutorial

 One thing that I noticed a lot when I went to various craft markets before the Pandemic hit was the number of decoupage bottles. Some were just for decoration and some had lights in. The price varied greatly. I thought (like most crafty people do) I can do that!

A couple of months later at the W.I. craft club, the Member who organises the crafts brought in a couple of these bottle lights she had made to show everyone along with some other items as she was setting up her own business and was going to be selling them. A few of the other ladies asked her what she used and she said that she had just used acrylic paint and then I thought she said varnish. Ok, I thought, those are simple things to get hold of so I went out and bought the supplies I needed from The Range, with the exception of the lights which I bought from Amazon.

My first attempt was a disaster, I painted the bottles with a brush and when they had dried the brush lines were slightly noticeable.  The decoupage tissue went on without any problems and at least covered some of the lines. When I applied the acrylic varnish, the bottle was rather shiny and the brush lines were a lot more prominent. I thought that was going to be that, I had given it a go and I could not see how to not have the brush strokes showing. 

As luck would have it a few months into the lockdown, the W.I decided to get Hayley to do a demonstration of how she made her bottle lights over Zoom. It was then I found out about using a sponge.  I decided not to give up and gave it another go just before my Sister and Sister-in-Law's birthdays in October. This time it was a success and I gave them as presents which they both really liked. I made a few as presents for Christmas as well as a couple for myself.

I thought a few weeks ago it would be nice to have a couple which could be on display all year, not just at Christmas and I thought I would share how I make them in case anyone else fancied attempting them.

Supplies you will need

• Clear empty glass bottle or jar
• White acrylic paint. ( I got mine from The Works)
• A household sponge (you don't need to use all of it, I cut one into thirds)
• PVA or decoupage glue
• A napkin with a design you like
• A brush suitable for using with glue
• Fine glitter (I used white)
• Ribbon or string
• Lights which have a 'cork' style top and are battery operated.
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Actually making the bottles does not take a long time, it is the drying time that drags things out.

First use the sponge to dab the acrylic paint onto the bottle. You would be better with 2 coats so you will need to let the individual coats dry thoroughly.

Next you will need to separate the napkin layers. You only need the layer with the design on. I tore round the edges on my as I found unless you have a design with straight lines rough edges look better.

 You then paint the glue onto the bottle where the design will go and stick the napkin on, using the palm of your hand rather than your fingers to press everything down.

Once this has dried then you take your glue and add the glitter to the glue and mix in. This gives a shimmer to the white paint and acts as a varnish protecting the napkin and the paint.

Once your bottle has dried then you can decorate the top and feed the lights into the bottle. In this instance I just used some pink dotted ribbon as it fit in with the spring theme. I have used other ribbons, flowers and string on other bottles.

I hope I have inspired you to look at things that you might be able to do yourself and actually give it a go.

If you decide that you might like to sell them then you will need to check if the napkin design is subject to copyright. If you are making them for personal use then you can use any design.  

Menu Planning Monday 10th-16th May 2021

 

Last weeks menu plan went down well as Craig did not know in advance what we were having so he could not say anything to make me change it. I am going to do the same this week and see how we go.

On the Menu

Monday -Mushroom Bourguignon with mashed potato

Tuesday - Creamy Chicken pasta bake

Wednesday Salisbury Steak with green beans and roast potatoes

Thursday - Cajun Spicy Rice

Friday - Donner style kebab fakeaway

Saturday Lamb Rogan Josh

Sunday- Shredded Buffalo Chicken

The Weather

Not really the weather we would expect at this time of year. Not sure if I am going to be able to get out and do my garden project this weekend. I might be able to make a start but it will take a while to do.

On my to do list

 

As well as starting the garden project I am also going to finish off another craft project by the end of tomorrow. I also need to wash the curtains in the craft room and my bedroom as well as removing Penny's nose art from the craft room window. I am also looking for inspiration on a design that I can make on my Cricut for a clear phone case I have ordered.

Around the House

 

I managed to organise and clean the cupboards in the kitchen last week so this week the focus is my bedroom. I need to empty and clean my wardrobe, sort through my clothes and do a switch out. I will also need to get Matthew to try on his clothes. He is growing like a bean at the moment and I cannot keep up with buying jeans for him. I haven't even really looked at tops and t-shirts with being in lockdown he has lived in his pyjamas as he wasn't going out.

What I am creating

I am still working on my courthouse steps blanket but would also really like to get the Tigger part of the Disney Cross stitch sampler finished this month. I have recently received my latest issues which is issue 34. I am still working on issue 1. I have got a lot of catching up to do.

Wishing you all a good week.

Looking forward to seeing what Katy Kicker has on the menu this week.