A super weekend

I can't believe it's Monday already. The weekend just flew by. Saturday I got up early so that I could visit my allotment before the heat of the day got too much. Everything is growing really well. I bought home some baby spinach and more strawberries.

Dear Heart and I headed into London early afternoon togged out in our best rock gear. We were booed into a charming hotel in Richmond. We weren't there for long enough to do more than drop off our bags and head out again. We were both a bit peckish by this point so we had lunch at The Orange Tree before boarding the bus to Twickenham.

I couldn't believe the crowds of people or the queues for the ladies toilets! We totally lucked out with our seats as we were at the very top of some stairs and didn't need to squeeze past anyone. then it was several hours of dancing, singing along and getting totally caught up in the atmosphere. As Bon Jovi only decide on their set list shortly before the gig we just didn't know what we were going to get. What we got was totally amazing with a few surprises.

The is was back to the hotel for a few hours sleep before getting the train home. Sunday was spent in best 'rock star' style pottering around the house, sipping wine and topping up my hair colour with more henna.

I've got really busy ten days coming up so I'll have to make sure that I'm super organised so that I eat well, exercise, stay calm and don't collapse at the end.

Living on a prayer

Such excitement. Tomorrow I'm going to see Bon Jovi in concert. I've been listening to their Cd's recently and discovering albums that I missed (How did Bounce manage to pass me by completely?) and rediscovering old favourites (slippery when wet, anyone?).

Dear Heart and I have been speculating what might be on the set list (bonjovionline lists previous set lists should anyone be interested) and how often Jon will forget the lyrics.

I find myself rather amused by what I consider to be appropriate wear and rather freaked out by my need to dress appropriately to see a band, by which I mean that I should dress like some version of them. For example, to see Alice Cooper I wore my goth princess dress with fishnet tights and long lace-up boots. But I'd consider that totally wrong for BJ. So I'll be dressing like the girl next door with a slight rock accent (jeans, Harley-Davidson vest and khaki shirt dress).

I'm looking forward to this evening where Deart Heart and I will get ourselves in the mood (just incase we weren't already) by watching BJ on You tube while supping beer or wine (although I do think Bon jovi wine would be going a step too far).

The five a day diet

Back in 2005 the Guardian did a focus on healthy living (although I have no doubt that they've looked at the subject since). One piece challenged 3 volunteers to eat nine a day and see how they got on. Amit's comment really sums it up for me

"To fit in nine portions, you have to have breakfast, otherwise you end up with too much to eat later in the day. You have to drop the junk snacks, which I am fond of. You can't even think about a nice bag of crisps when you've still got an apple or a banana to eat on top of your lunchtime sandwich. "

Fitting in five a day has been on my mind recently. I was really very keen on a few years back when I looked at my (then vegetarian) diet and realised that I wasn't consuming much in the way of fruit and veg. After a few months I had gotten into the habit and stopped worrying abut it. However, I recently purchased Glamour (just for the Benefit lip gloss - this was before the days of The make up diet) and it had an article about five a day.

I realised to my horror that I had slipped. This was mainly due to eating more than five on some days and rather less on others. I got to work on making a few alterations to my diet and discovered that if you are eating your quota you don't have room for much else.

The problems of what a portion was has continued to plague me. I have a handy portion guide on the side of my fridge. However what do you do when you have a bunch of 18 radishes and (according to the chart) a portion in 10? Do you eat 9 on each occasion? Or 10 in one go and 8 later? Eat all 18? Buy more radishes? What exactly does a bowl of salad look like and how does a bowl translate into the square, deep container that I am putting my lunch in?

After faffing around with bowls and the like a simple solution presented itself. I would just weigh the stuff. My 8 radishes that I prepared as a snack for today turned out to be well over the required 80g. I rather suspect that yesterday's carrots were a great deal more than 80g.

So I'll carry on using the scales, work at that 5 a day and maybe (very unsure about this) try 6 a day at some point in the future. I do agree with Helen in the article though - eating this takes some planning! But do Iahve anything that much better to do???

Chinese food

For some reason I have a real craving for Chinese food. I can almost taste the noodles and bean sprouts. I'm wondering if this has been bought on by reading not one, but two books set in Hong Kong. Although now i come to think of it a recent post on veganlunchbox featuring noodles and portabello mushrooms seems to have been featuring in my food daydreams as well.

Maybe I can work some noodles into my dinner experiment tonight.

Our lunchbox share starts tomorrow otherwise I might gives serious thought to visiting a Chinese buffet for lunch!

Twas a cough that carried her off

I really do have the most frightful sounding cough. I'm really uncertain as to what the best remedy is. A hot toddy? Enchinacea? One of the homeopathic remedies that have seemed to do the trick in the past? Some kind of mustard poultice (one of my ancient household management type books must cover how to whip one up)?

I must say I'm feeling rather wobbly although less feverish than last week. My colleagues are suggesting that an afternoon nap would do me the world of good so I suppose I should go home before my barking gets me mistaken for a seal or a large dog and I get sent to the zoo/Battersea/Outer Hebrides.

Recovery

I must start by apologising if I've sounded grumpy or negative over the past few days. I've got a rather nasty summer cold and it's making me feel very tired.

My colleagues have assured me that now my symptoms are full blown I am on the road to recovery. I do feel somewhat improved. I can concentrate again. I don't feel as if everything is too much effort. I found lunchtime Pilates energizing (instead of dozing off in class as I did last week). My sense of smell and taste has returned. I had a lovely light lunch of baby carrots, strawberries and speedy peanut dipping sauce.

My working day is proving to be pleasant rather than a chore. I must be careful not to overdo it though. Yesterday I slipped along to my allotment to pick some strawberries and ended up weeding the carrots and onions in the heat of the day.

Oh and this cold has lead me to make the more pleasant discovery of how delicious Gin and Grapefruit Juice are when combined together.

I'm feeling optimistic about the week ahead and actually smiling!

the make-up diet

Yesterday I had an appointment at the Benefit counter in Boots. I was looking forward to half an hour of hearing about the latest products, oohing and aahing over colours and packaging and just generally feeling pampered. I've been watching my money with the thought of buying a few items.

Anyway I got there on time and both the assistants were engaged with other people. So I hung around and examined all the products. Then I examined the again. Both assistants were showing no sign of lifting their heads. So I wandered around a bit more. It was 20 minutes after my appointment was due to start by this point. I was feeling very self concious and thinking that even if they did finally acknowledge me I was going to be cutting things a bit fine to make my bus. So I left.

And as I walked away I felt a sense of relief and puzzlement. Why had buying expensive make-up been so important to me? I've got so much make-up and quite a bit of it is Benefit anyway. I really don't need anymore eyeshadow, foundation or lipstick. I wasn't going to be there to buy something I needed, I was there because I felt the need to find something to buy. So I decided no more make-up until I've used up what I have. If I want to be pampered I'll book in somewhere for a massage or a pedicure.

Here's to using what we have before buying more.

It's a good day...

For sitting in the park at lunchtime. The sunshine feeling extremely welcome on any patches of bare skin. Alas it also caused me to notice the smears of fake tan around my ankles. I initally thought that it was some kind of bruising (possibly bought on by yesterday's rather intense yoga session).

I'm not really a fake tan type but I have on occasion purchased Holiday Skin only for it to then sit in the bathroom cabinet unused. I do hate to see things go to waste so useing it up seemed a great idea as it would clear a small space in the bathroom cupboard, make my legs less dry and make them slightly less pale.

I have been wondering if its tendancy to leave smears of brown and orange is because it'sthe formulation for pale skin. I assumed that this would be less intense that the regular formula. However, the manufacturers obviously consider that the paler you are the more colour you need!

I've only got quarter of bottle to finish up but I'm having to use it in very small amount to avoid looking like I've been tangoed. Believe me it's back to being pale and interesting at the end of the bottle.

What shape am I then?

I've always found Trinny and Suzannah a bit of an inspiration so I decided it was about time I read their book about body shapes. However, I found it very difficult to decide what shape I was. Then I thought that maybe I had a skewed idea of my assets and faults and that was causing me to fail to fit into any of the ten different body types.

So I asked Dear Heart to have look. He was very good when I was undecided over my face shape. He immediately told me that it was obviously square. So we went through the book and he kept saying 'no' every time I asked if I was this shape or that shape. Eventually we got the end with no decision reached. the best we could come up with was that I was some kind of mix between a skittle and an hourglass.

I am now tying to feel good about having a unique body shape and thinking may be this is why I used to have such problems getting clothes to fit (which was what inspired me to start making my own in the first place).

Rather sad that I'm not actually an hourglass (sounds so glamorous), but I am the same shape as before I read the book so I am still divinely glamorous ( inn my mind anyway).

Recent web wanderings

I thought I'd share with you a couple of websites I've wandered across recently.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/thread/ I'm not quite certain about this effort from the BBC. It looks interesting but I find the video format rather annoying. Still it's good to know that the BBC are taking an interest in such things. Guess this is a watch this space.

I've suggested this one http://www.mealopedia.com/ to friend who wants to shift (quite) a few pounds, isn't terribly experienced in the kitchen and is cooking for one. I'm disappointed by the lack of vegan options. However, I thin it could provide real inspiration via the random menu selection.

I've spent the last few days trying to find a cannelloni recipe that doesn't include spinach or mushrooms as Dear Heart isn't keen on either of them. I'm not terribly keen on simply pumping pasta tubes full of cream cheese (vegan or otherwise) so this has been a bit of struggle. I finally decided to just make a really thick tomato and soya mince sauce to stuff the tubes and to top it off with white sauce. I hope it comes out OK.

Colour therapy

This is what I simply love about the Internet. Yesterday I mentioned that was feeling drawn towards the colour red and I was going to do some research on colour therapy to see what it meant. then I checked my emails this morning and discovered that I had a comment from a colour therapist. She explains what feeling drawn towards red means and has her own blog http://rainbowrevolution.blogspot.com/ It's totally gorgeous and just the thing to look at on grey UK days. Thank you Leanne.

I extended my salad experiences today. I sliced some fennel yesterday, tossed it in a tiny bit of oil and popped in the oven for a bit while some bread was baking. Today I had it mixed with spinach, walnuts and raspberry vinegar. total yummy.

Random thing - I keep typing 'missed' when I mean 'mixed'. Is this something Freudian? Or just my brain being a bit rebellious?

What to wear this week

I’m still getting into my stride as regards summer clothing. I really like to plan in advance what I am going to wear so that I don’t have to waste time in the morning. Last week I had a few days where I was very uncertain so I am going to lay it out here. I’ve checked the weather for the week and it doesn’t look very good. I may however utilise a tip I read somewhere about wearing a summer dress but carrying tights and a cardigan in your bag.

Monday – Black and white floral skirt, green top, linen jacket and green shoes

Tuesday – Jeans with red dress and white sandals

Wednesday – Black linen skirt and red sleeveless t shirt and thongs

Thursday – Jeans with white blouse (this is one of my home made, pattern free efforts) and black velvet jacket in case the temperature plummets

Friday – I will be at an exhibition so I will wear a linen skirt and jacket with a scarf. My DM sandals broke last week (I have had them for years) so if I haven’t managed some kind of repair I’ll need to think of something else to wear.

Saturday – Usually I wouldn’t worry about what to wear on a Saturday but I will be at work doing a summer reading promotion. This will require me to dress like a holiday rep/travel agent. I think I need some extra research for this

I‘m intrigued that I mentioned red several times here and that I am wearing red today (my red ‘in cahoots with the sun’ dress – Yeah I made it myself by Eithne Farry). What does a craving to wear red, when green is my colour of choice mean? I think I need to browse a few colour therapy websites

I do hope the week turns out warmer than predicted. I really crave a few lunch times in the park and dinner consumed ‘al fresco’.

Right said Fred

I spent Saturday helping my sister move into her new flat. She hired a van which Dear Heart drove. Dear Heart and I are rather experienced when it comes to moving house and we always relieve any boredom (or worries about the crashing, breaking and grinding noises coming from the back of the van) by doing rather clichéd impressions of removal men. I always think of the song ‘Right said Fred’ about removal men attempting to move some unspecified item and drinking lots of tea.

You can enjoy this rendition of the song with an amusing lego animation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhIFfasz6Ec

Twitter

I have signed up to Twitter and you can find me at http://twitter.com/midorigreen

I have mixed feelings about whether this was actually a good idea. On the one hand it's a like the best bit of Facebook with any annoying applications. However, I'm rather uncertain as too why anyone would actually be interested in odd statements confirming that I'm eating lunch or listening to music or have just seen someone in a pink hat.

Is this the shape of things to come? Will we all sit in our houses in years to come (apart from some kind of service class who will be actually doing stuff like growing food and removing waste) just updating our activities moment by moment?

I do hope that doesn't sound too depressive. I iced the cupcakes last night and consumed quite a bit of icing while trying to get the correct consistency. I don't usually eat much sugar so I think it might have disturbed my equilibrium today. Note to self: do not consume cupcakes (even if vegan and homemade) for breakfast.

Lovely lunches

I've been having the most delicious lunches this week Yummy salads with lots of spinach. Then for dessert a tub with a layer of cooked rhubarb (from the allotment), sliced strawberries and topped off with shavings of home made melon sorbet.

Tomorrow I'm going out for lunch because our staff sports and social club has a new chef. I ran into him on the way to my yoga class on Wednesday and he told me about the yummy stuff on the menu including three meat free salads. I thought it would be rude not to give it a try.

Other exciting lunch based news is that I've joined force with a couple of the girls at work and we are going to take it in turns to make each other a packed lunch on a Thursday. Results will appear on our new blog http://librarylunches.blogspot.com/ No entries yet but do visit it in a few weeks once we've got going.

Now I'm off to ice the lovely vegan cupcakes I made last night following (very loosely) the recipe from galadarling.com I think mine will be somewhat less colourful!

A state of constant change

I tend to forget that the Internet is changing all the time. That just because something isn't on the Internet doesn't mean it will never be. And just because something isn't there doesn't mean it will never be.

It's only when I look through and update the bookmarks on my Google homepage that I truly realise the state of change. I've deleted a number of blogs from the list because either they have disappeared themselves (ton of bricks on blogger - not updated for at least 18 months), the blog has vanished (sewing my shadow on - this was a terrific blog where they author recorded her impact on the environment day by day. She now writes Life in Elgin which I find a little too local to be of interest), or they have moved to new blog (Primary consumer).

I think it's inevitable that bloggers go through ups and downs just like any one else. They will have times when they blog three times a day but there will be times when other stuff comes first. I must remember this and then I won't be disappointed when blogger vanish!

Happily Vegan lunchbox is back for a few posts, Gala Darling is settled in NY and posting daily and even Cooking Cute have managed a few posts. Brocantehome, Little Sips of Tea and Wardrobe refashion are daily visits I'm still hoping Kenny at Vegan lunchcast will pick up again.

I'm sad to see that Everything Vegan is up for sale. I always found something useful when ever I visited. I'm intrigued to see that when I search for dead blogs I have visited in the past the names have often been picked up elsewhere and they are alive under new owners. So I'm optimistic for the future - who knows what great blogs or websites are waiting just over the horizon?

Am I there yet?

As my regular readers know(and my stats suggest there must be some of you) I try to walk a couple times a week for my health (physical and mental). One morning a week I usually get off the bus part of the way to work and walk the rest of the way. However I have been mystified by the distance recorded on my pedometer and how this compares to the time it takes me to walk.

So I decided that I needed to know exactly how far it was. I did consider finding a paper map and measuring the route with a piece of string, but I decided to try the Internet first. This lead me to discover an amazing site http://www.mapmyrun.com/ There is also a .co.uk version of the site but it doesn't seem to have quite the scope of the .com for some reason.

Basicallly you draw a line showing the route of your run (and you can add points of interest) the site will then calculate all kind things including the distance. The run can be stored against your profile (useful should you decide to make use of the training log). You can also search for runs other people have entered.

As it turned out my pedometer is not measuring the distance correctly. What's more puzzling is that it appears to be doing fine on my Saturday walk. Still with this new site I won't need to worry too much about using the pedometer to calculate my distance. Which also means I won't be buying a new pedometer every couple of years.

On the subject of exercise I see I haven't yet mentioned the amazing Pilates class I'm taking on Monday lunchtimes. Prior to this my only experience with pilates was trying an video version of it with a friend aged around 13. We got bored after 3 minutes. So either I've matured, require less demanding exercise or it's just the amazing instructor because I'm really enjoying the classes and I feel fabulous after.

However I've had to jiggle my exercise routine around a bit as a result. It would appear the Pilates and Yoga use the same muscles. Hence Yoga on Tuesday lunchtimes was a teeny bit painful. So I 've shifted my morning walk to Tuesday and Yoga to Wednesday and that means I can sit in the park and eat my lunch today.

Summer must be here

How do I know that summer must be here? Because last night I put my winter clothes away and got out my summer ones. I'm really thrilled (as usual) to discover that I own so many lovely things. however, I am slightly surprised at the vast quantities of shoes that I have unpacked.

Quite frankly the weather has been so changeable Iwas begining to think that I would just be in my winter clothes right through to October with the odd day here and there taken care of with a few pieces I have made. I am slightly nervous about the chilly temperature predicted for the end of the week but who knows wth weather. It's all chaos theory anyway and sometimes you just have to take a chance.

I am thinking that while delighting in my summer clothes I may plan in advance a few combinations for chillier days.

I'm also going to try and look after myself this week. I seem to have had a few very busy weeks with work and other things. I feel exhausted, am fretting over small things and just don't feel right. My puff pastry wouldn't puff. My eating habits are all over the place (either nothing or too much). I've missed a number of exercise opportunities. A friend suggested that I check my biorhythms and rather amusingly they do seem to be on a downward spiral at present.

Last week I purchased some delicious looking spinach at the market. Then on Saturday when I popped to the deli to do our grocery shopping I discovered raspberry cider vinegar and lemon infused olive oil. So I am planning lots of delicious salads. I simply can't decide which dressing to enjoy first.

So here's to a week with lots of salad, exercise and early nights followed up (hopefully) by lashings of blogging, creativity and cupboard clearouts.

I'm so looking forward to sharing my adventures with henna, updates on allotment and share the joy that having a study slowly emptying of clutter bring.