Category Archives: Life

Tastes of summer…. in winter….

In the middle of winter, a quick run through the rain brings the wind of summer – oranges, lemons, limes, sour oranges and lime leaves from the green house.

After a previous weekend in the mad weather of north England, it was great to get home and out to the Dorf for the weekend. The weather was great, and then descended into a very wet Sunday. Curry weather. A slow-cooked beef curry with coconut and lemon rice, to be precise. Obvs in this weather, thought I.

Unfortunately, this meant a short dash along a muddy path through the rain to the greenhouse – no pain, no gain, right? Or something like that.

I’ve to say that I was surprised at seeing the produce there. Alex had said we had some fruits, but we had enough for supper and a couple of vodka tonics, with some left over to bring back to the city.

Result, as they say!!

Sleepless in Vienna

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Ahhh – Insomnia…..

Or more like “In – waking_up_in_the_middle_of_the_night_and_can’t_get_back_to_sleep- ia”.

That’s a mouthful!

Sleep and I often have a fraught and fractious relationship, and this has been for many, many years. Over the last 2 years though this has changed, and I’m happy to say for the better (cue .GIF of dancing people – yada, yada, yada).

I’m not actually sure where sleep and I became a little estranged – certainly I can’t identify any trauma or anything dramatic. Let’s just say we had words… somewhere.

Sleep became an issue. Often on occasions I’d dread going to sleep – dread waking in the night, and of the multi-coloured, three dimensional, surround-sound dreams I tend to have! Meds, late nights, booze – nothing worked effectively.

And then we had a breakthrough – I say we since it was my Doc and a Neuro-therapist that teamed up. Through some talking, and some planned meds, I began to get ahead of the game an catch up on my by then chronic sleep debt.

So what next? A flash of inspiration. If I was going to sleep then I had to learn to accept that this was just maybe how I slept. No rights or wrongs. Just how it was. And that, dear readers, is how I learned to love sleep.

The rest has been much easier – making the bedroom into a sleep nest has also helped greatly!

And 5 things to learn….

Sometimes acceptance is the way forward when other routes hit obstacles
Ask for help – there’s no point in dealing with something you don’t know about alone
Don’t be afraid of what can’t harm you – I made sleep a friend, not the enemy
Try not to go to end the day with negativity. Tie up loose ends, make your peace, make your routine.
Making your sleep place is not just great fun, it also gives you a safe place to relax into

G’night!

Getting to Grips

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What a difference some time makes. Oft said, that’s true. In the space of a couple of years, things can change a lot. Heck – in the space of a couple of minutes, things can change forever.

We’re still here. I’m still here. You’re still here.

And first5things is seemingly back after a kick in the pants, and some help from a pal to get things moving!

First 5 things is fledgling in status, and long in the concept – I hope I can do it justice.

We’re in the winter here in the country. Winter that’s more like a spring or autumn, and in real need of some snow! Gray and damp is not my happy colour scheme, though of all the things I change weather is not one of them. I’ll sort through some pictures for inspiration.

So what’s been cooking this weekend? Some 5 things food for starters…. Beef curry (beef, onions, ginger, garam masala, tomatoes), a cracking spicy carrot and red lentil soup (carrots, chilli, garlic, red lentils, stock), and a Valentines night supper (garlic potato mash, steaks, caramelised onions). Comfort food, easy food, TASTY FOOD!!!

A New Start

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After years of saying that I’m going to start a blog…. I’m actually going to start a blog. I’ve no idea where this is going to go as my first thoughts were primarily to do a blog about the stuff I cook up in the kitchen out here in the country. That will be a big part of it, but I can see other stuff creeping into it too. So let’s see how it takes me.

It’s a new start in quite a few ways, but I’ll leave that for another time. The main thing is that I’ve started… and I’ve a few recipes already with pictures that I can make a start with.

Right now, it’s a play time with WordPress…. let’s go….