'There's a Woman in My Mirror ...'

 

Art by Lisa Asiata

There’s a woman in my mirror

And she looks a lot like me,

Though there’s lines around her eyes,

And her hair is wild and free.

She is plumper than myself,

And she is definitely grey.

Did I miss the day this happened

Has she always been this way?

And this woman in the mirror

Has an air of something calm,

Like a tide that’s going out,

And a beach that’s soft and warm.

She has seen the world in colour,

She has learned to know the truth.

There’s a wisdom in her wrinkles,

There’s a knowledge brought from youth.

And she seems to move more freely,

As though released from earthly binds.

Is she made of something lighter?

Perhaps the weight she left behind.

Like the press of expectation,

And the need to yield and bend.

I like this woman in the mirror,

She’s fast becoming my best friend.

Donna Ashworth

From ‘to the women’:

https://amzn.eu/d/0j4xR15k

Tomato Ketchup Jackpot ... and Books

 

Alan hit the tomato ketchup jackpot today when we went to Booths for breakfast.

The guys that are rendering the outside of our bungalow couldn't come and do anymore today due to the heavy rain that we currently have.  So Alan said he fancied a later more leisurely start to the day, and a bacon butty and a coffee in Booths while we had a catch up on all things renovation related, before he headed to the bungalow to continue stripping the wallpaper off the ceilings.

He ordered his usual bacon bun and was given two tomato ketchup sachets without asking, and as I have him so well trained he just accepted them without question.

They were added to my little stash as soon as I got home.  I haven't had to buy ketchup for a long time now.    

Yes, they are all lined up in date order ... I am that organised. 😁

On the way out of Booths we have to pass the charity book table, and after weeks and weeks of me being very good and not buying anything, suddenly there were four books that looked well worth a read.  So they came home with me too.  It was only when I got home that I remembered I was being so good so that we would have less books to move house with.

Oh well, at least I have my reading mojo back at the moment, so I will continue to donate all the books that I read that are deemed not really worth keeping.

The book I am currently reading, which also came from the book table a while ago.

What are you reading at the moment?

Sue xx

This Weeks Shopping ... and Right Door, Wrong Furniture

 

6th - Aldi  £11.42

This weeks shopping was from Aldi at the weekend, again I was just buying the things that I either really needed or really wanted.  I'm just keeping it simple while I slowly eat my way through the things in the freezer, buying just the few  fresh things that I need to compliment what I already have.

The receipt for posterity.  

I wonder if one day I will look back on this and marvel at how cheap everything was.  😄

6th - Booths £6.65

While we were in Booths having some breakfast I bought a couple of things that I needed.  I bought two cartons of milk as it was on special offer again. One carton lasts me about ten days as I only have it on my Weetabix.

9th Booths - £6.65

That confused me briefly looking at the photos, as the total for these two small shops was exactly the same.

I called into Booths yesterday as Alan asked me to get him some bread, and also a sandwich and drink for his lunch while he was at the bungalow.  He takes a flask of coffee and a banana every day, but as he was staying longer he wanted something else.  

The new front door had been installed the day before so this was the first time I was seeing it.

Sadly although it is the right front door, it has all the wrong door furniture on it.  It was supposed to be in black so that it ties in with the anthracite grey window frames a bit better.  It looked relatively okay on the photos Alan had shown me the day before, but in person the chrome was a bit insipid.

The French doors in the main room look fantastic though.

The room is now flooded with light, which is exactly what you what you need when it's the main living area in such a small property.  These door handles are right as they need to match the chrome and steel elements of the kitchen.

The main jobs of this week are having the outside of the bungalow rendered in brilliant white, and Alan is indoors stripping off remnants of wallpaper from the walls and the ceilings, ready for the plasterers to come in later this month.

Sue xx

A Case for Slow Living

 

I never thought I would say this but already I am missing the warmer weather.  

I usually find sunny days far too hot, I like being cool. But here in the north of England the last couple of weeks have been cold ...and I mean cold. The central heating has clicked on a few times and it is set to only do that when temperature falls below 15 degrees.   I even added another thin quilt onto my bed last night to keep me a bit cosier.

I love this meme, but in my head I sort of adapted it as I read it to suit our current weather conditions.  Today for instance is the first day for two weeks that I have been able to get the washing out of the line to dry.  I haven't been able to do much in the garden other than remove the decimated lupins from their pots.  I fear there was no way to rescue them, the greenfly have won for the second year running.

The poem that Joy mentions in the comment section.  I Googled it.

But I am revelling in slowness, and the light lingers longer and longer as we head towards the 21st and the longest day of the year.  I lay in bed last night watching the light slowly fade from below and above the curtains, remembering that as a child I hated being sent to bed when it was still 'daytime'.

I rescued the crusts from my toast, along with half a slice of toast that Alan couldn't finish when we went out for breakfast last weekend and I am currently turning them into some oniony, garlicky croutons to have with my homemade soup for tea. 

It will be a nice simple, frugal and tasty evening meal on a day that is already turning just a little bit chiller.

Time to go and get the now dry washing in now I think.

Sue xx

Rice, Tiles ... and a Padded Cell?

 

I find something really satisfying about using up the last of the things that I have in my big jars.  Yesterday I used the last of the rice, so the jar was washed and I refilled it after leaving it to thoroughly dry overnight.  It holds two kilos of rice so a full jar lasts me quite a long time.

There were just two cups of rice left in the jar before it was washed out, so I cooked it all up at once and then I had some for my tea with a portion of chickpea and potato curry from the freezer and left the rest to cool down in my freezer blocks.

So if two cups of rice does me five meals, that refilled jar is going to last me quite a while. 😁

I took Alan's lunch round to him at the bungalow yesterday and discovered him just finishing off doing this in my bedroom ... I think he is making me a padded cell.  I know I can be a bit wacky at times, but am I really that bad?  😄

This weekend we are out to choose the floor tiles for the bungalow, yes we go to all the exciting places!!

  We have been deliberating for a long time on which ones we want as they are covering the main room, the hallway, my bedroom and both bathroom floors, and as is usually the way with me I have come full circle and we are going for the ones that I chose way back at the start of the kitchen design process.  Sometimes you have to trust your gut instinct and just go with it.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend.  💖

Sue xx