WooOOoo January

Hello again! No, I have not gone into hibernation, I've just been busy. Really busy with boring stuff and things. The twofold result has been that (a) I haven't had time to blog and (b) I haven't had time to do anything worth writing about. Unless you are particularly interested in enhanced exam analysis or the cost of tree surgeons in West London. No, I didn't think so. But I have prevailed, and I am back, and I do hope to be blogging regularly now - maybe not actually often, or making any sense, but regularly.

Grand Union Canal houseboats in the snow.

So. January. What's that all about then? Not getting paid for ages, tax returns and feeling a bit bloated and unhealthy. Mmm not a fan. Neither do I do resolutions, I find them a bit reactive, like "Oh, there's this thing I'm failing at, and I know it all year but once a year I'll go and fix it in a manic way that stresses me out, then give up." Yeah, I know not everyone is as cynical or obsessively weird as me. The do it all the time or don't do it at all thing is, after all, what has caused me to be too busy to blog (or do any other hobbies) over Christmas.

But it is January and I am a blogger. In the general spirit of such things, I thought I would share with you some of the less arduous things I have started doing over the last year, and intend to continue doing:

1) Cooking 'meat free' meals.
Vegetables have vitamins in them and cost less than meat. The 'cost less than meat' is, if I'm honest, the main attraction of this within my day to day diet is not that sinful (mind you, since I moved in with His Lordship I gained half a stone and stayed steadily there - so I must have been pure as driven snow before hahaha. No. I think I was just young). He took some convincing over the last two years, however now we can go several days on a veggie diet quite happily. (Pats self on back for mentioning thrifty lifestyle for once, seeing as I claim to blog about it). Also, I don't feel so unhealthy when I come home from work Friday and "put some bacon on it".

Horsenden Hill - full of plants whatever the weather.

2) One In, One Out.
I've started bouncing my wardrobe, in the style of a provincial nightclub. This one is a very practical one; I don't hold truck with that first year undergraduate "I've found myself so will have only a few select possessions" nonsense (especially as most miss the point that their iPhone, trainers etc' are as one item incredible materialistic- which is not in itself a problem, unless it causes ignorance of ethical considerations).

I just don't have enough wardrobe.

Of course, everything I hoik out either goes to the Salvation Army or I sell on. Even ruined things (socks, old pants) become dusters or painting rags. My wardrobe is still incredibly full, but it shuts now. Just.

Up the hill...

3) Managing My Own Priorities
Got this one from work, and some good advice. I hate that feeling where I'm 'catching up', not ahead of the game. Hate it. In all seriousness it can trigger a serious bout of anxiety. A nightmare for me would be someone with very certain domestic expectations telling me my kitchen wasn't arranged correctly - then guiltily spending the next day sorting it - then realising on Monday morning that I had forgotten to draft an important document for work because I had been pfaffing around in the kitchen. My job impacts directly on children and the community. My house is perfectly reasonable in a 'lived in' kind of way. I have been working very hard on not knee-jerk correcting based on a raised eyebrow and accepting my own moral purpose. At the moment I feel it's important to work hard at work (especially with all the craziness and speculation regarding exams), and to keep my house tidy with a dust here and a wipe down there. During the half term- that's when I deep clean the oven and prune the roses m'kay? I know. It sound bleeding obvious doesn't it? Seriously, it took a whole year to embed this and I am still not perfect. Which is odd because when it comes to my personal appearance I am feisty as, and have even moved jobs because I felt their idea of what a 'successful person' looked like was reductive and inaccurate (it was Surrey, so it was white, wearing a mid price grey suit, conventional hair).

Right, well that was a bit of a serious post. I have added some pictures of snow because - well, there's lots of snow around. And don't worry, what I've got lined up for the rest of the month is a few pub reviews, some make up and a bargain from a local chazza...