Things I love Thursday

Having amazing friends and family – I’ve enjoyed the company of so many wonderful people recently and am looking forward to spending time with more over the next week or so.

Second hand clothes – Dear Heart’s sister was having a clear out and was kind enough to let me have a rummage through. I really have no excuse for buying any new clothes now (with the exception of a French connection LBD from Oxfam).

Live music – Dear Heart and one his pals have organised a series of jam nights at a local snooker club. The first one was on Sunday so I helped them set up and have a little play myself. Then I sat back and listened to some amazing sounds. Those boys rock!

Other stuff -The possibility of cover grey hair with emerald dye, locally grown tomatoes, an emptier fridge, only buying what I had on my list in Ikea, charity shops, the wonders of public transport, wonderful neighbours, the difference smiling makes.

To do list

Buy peanut butter (vital for the vegan on the move)
Keep drinking lots of water
Reorganise food in freezer, move older items to front and come up with plan for their consumption
Consider dyeing grey hairs emerald green
Get some sleep

What's in my lunchbox this week? and UK Lady Bloggers

Okay first off this week I'm eating a whole variety of different things in an attempt to make room in the fridge. I did intend to take pictures each day and make a lovely post illustrating the variety. Alas I wolfed down my lunch on Monday and then realised the lack of picture taking. So instead let me share with you some of the 'lunch' related activities of the UK Lady Bloggers meet up on Friday. We stood on Victoria station trying to decide what to do when Natzini sensibly suggested that we all pop up to Wetherspoons and enjoy a jug of cocktails.

So here is a jug of Frilly Tutu which definitely had some fruit in although I'm not certain it would count towards 5 a day.

This is the debris of the other half of lunch - cupcakes from the hummingbird bakery consumed in a pub across the road. Alas as they don't sell vegan cupcakes I was unable to partake in the sugar rush.

Then we all got a bit peckish and ordered some platters of meze and nachos. No one took the single slice of red pepper in a very polite British sort of way. Instead we carried on chatting as we had been all day about everything under the sun except blogging. It was a interesting day. A bit like 8 people who all live in the same street getting together. We knew stuff about each other's lives but needed to search for common ground. It really made me think about the boxes of getting to know you games for reading groups and made me wonder if we (I?) could adapt one of those for next time.

I'm certainly in for the next one anyway and propose starting with lunch (an excellent way to break the ice) and following up with a browse of a handful of charity shops. Also must remember to take more photographs.

Thanks to Aimee Marie and Vixel for sorting it out and everyone for being so lovely and braving various types of public transport in order to be there.

Things I Love Thursday

A bit short this week but it's the thought that counts, right?

UK Lady bloggers meet up – Both nervous and excited about meeting up with some other bloggers. I’m also trying out Easybus for the first time to get me there.

Being busy – it is good and beats boredom

Dear Heart doing the cooking, crazy Sundays with friends, getting through job lists, sleep, courgettes

What's in my lunchbox this week?

This week's contents came together more by luck than anything else. I made a big pan of roasted veg at the weekend. Then a friend offered me a tub of vegan cream cheese that she wouldn't be using. then I saw some reduced price bagels that said vegan on the label.

Clockwise from top right:

Vegan chocolate and summer fruit cupcake - leftovers from some I made for a lunch party. Still getting to grips with glace icing. Used my new silicon cases and they worked really well.

Bagel filled with vegan cream cheese and roasted veg, surrounded by shredded lettuce and spinach with a dollop of vegan mayo.

Compote of cherries and raspberries.

What's in my lunchbox this week?

Clockwise from top right:

Potatoes - from my allotment. I poured a little vinegar over them while still hot to enhance the flavour.

Peas - I cooked them with mint from the garden. Alas they failed to pick up the taste but were quite tasty anyway.

Courgette tart - Made with a mix of home grown and 'end of day' market courgettes. Added a bit of salt and chilli to enhance the taste.

Cherry, raspberry and strawberry compote - with the last of the alltoment strawberries.

Things I love Thursday

Exercise – I finally started doing morning walks again. Feels good and the route has a novelty once again. Also made a real effort this week and managed Pilates, Yoga and belly dancing classes.

Not feeling I have to pick up the pieces other people can’t – and the world didn’t fall apart so why have I wasted so much time, effort and energy in the past.

Hot soup with raw green leaves - I added some raw shredded spinach from my allotment to the tomato and red pepper soup I was eating on Monday night. It was a kind of last minute thing one I’d heated the sup and had it I the bowl. A kind of garnish. Totally delicious. In fact I had the last of the sup for breakfast Tuesday morning because it all tasted so good. This time I had spinach and watercress.

Other good stuff - BBQs in the rain, silicon cupcakes cases, giggly, gossipy lunches with the girls, reading trashy stuff, black Harley Davidson vests, great neighbours, being unable to decide what to buy so buying nothing.

To do list

Find good dessert recipe (Definitely vegan, wheat free if possible)

Collect up clothing repairs and alterations and begin to work through them

Sort through stack of old magazines, cut (or rip) out bits of interest and recycle the rest.

Put one item eBay (or more than one)

Drink more water

The art of camouflage

We’re often told that people don’t really pay very much attention to us. They’re too busy thinking about themselves. Although we like the idea of this we tend to not believe it because if we did we’d have to admit that we’re not the centre of the universe.

This week has had some excellent examples of this.

First I managed to tuck my skirt into my knickers and then proceeded to walk around like this for abut three hours before anyone told me. This means that either they thought my skirt was supposed to look like that or they simply didn’t notice me or my skirt.

Yesterday I wore my very bright neon ballet pumps to the office. I thought they stood out and actually began to think what I might say if anyone commented on their vividness. Not a single soul commented all day.

Today a friend came in and asked if I was wearing the shoes as she had read about them on my blog. A few other colleages then passed comment. But they had all been here yesterday and hadn’t even noticed.

I then read Doe Deer’s Blogazine where she tackles the issue of people being treated negatively or even physically attacked because they dress in a way that is not perceived to be the ‘norm’.

It’s clear that there are some people out there paying very careful attention.

I don’t like the thought of being invisible or of being attacked. It does make me think that people really do make up their minds within seconds of meeting you for the first time.

I’ve realised that I tend to play down bright and more eccentric elements when I first start a job or meet people. Then I decide how much of me to let out. It makes me sad to realise I do this and I suppose it’s a survival technique learnt at school.

I know did this last week. I can feel myself leaning towards doing the same thing at the UK Lady bloggers meet up. I’m thinking about what they will wear and how I can fit in.

Maybe I need to work at being me a bit harder and spend less time on camouflage.

As a further morsel of food for thought there’s been some discussion on Academichic recently about who you dress for, if you dress as the real you and whether the way you dress has an impact on how people treat you.

Things I Love Thursday

My neon green ballet pumps – They’re green, comfortable and make people stare. What more can I say?

Our new decking area – Renamed ‘the terrace’ almost instantly. I think it looks like a stage in the corner of the garden and I either want to put on a play or get a drum kit and some guitars up there and have a mini music festival.

Other stuff: forgotten keys that turn into neighbourhood parties, meeting someone twice but feeling like you’ve known them forever, cupcake baking plans, home brewing, the sound of silence, last.fm, dancing ‘til 3am, stoning cherries and shelling peas.

To do list

Take cloth napkins to work for post lunch clean up

File nails (points?)

Refill fountain pens with green ink

Buy corks

Choose new weighty tome for lunchtime reading (War and peace?)

What's in my lunchbox this week?

After a few weeks of simple (uninspiring?) lunches consisting mainly of raw fruit and vegetables I one again felt the urge to make something more interesting. I guess the slightly lower temperature don't hurt either. For the first time in a few weeks not much grown at home produce in the box, but lots of local produce in the market and shops here.

Clockwise from top left:

Buckwheat - got to eat more of this stuff it's so easy to cook and so good for you

Peas - I used to hate peas as a child because they were too sweet but I am very fond of them now and I find shelling them a very calming thing to do

TLT salad - my take on a vegan BLT without the bread. Little gem lettuce, tempeh rashers and sun dried tomatoes in oil. Very tasty.

Red fruits compote - I love cherries but they like me better if I cook them first. So here we have gently cooked cherries, strawberries and raspberries. I got to use my cherry stoner for the first time too.

By the way I was interested to hear about version 2.0 of the Bento lunch system from laptop lunchboxes. I have no plans to upgrade but I always love to hear about new lunchboxes.

And the living is easy

It all seems so much easier when the weather is warm. Normal rules are suspended or so it seems. The weather might not last so don’t waste time doing non essential things.

Wake up and roll out of bed. Throw on minimal, simple clothing. Chuck a bit of fruit and veg in a box for lunch because you imagine even wanting to eat again (although drinking is another matter). Consider applying make up and them wonder what the point is when it will only melt. Eat lunch in park and do a spot of people watching.

Evening rolls around. You leave work and sit in the garden. Change your clothes for something more comfortable (and less hot). You opt for water rather than vodka because it’s so hot. You wash some clothes (because you only have three garments that are actually suitable for this weather) and they dry in a flash. You leave the rest of the housework because you’re too busy sitting in the garden.

You eat something snack like for dinner because it’s too hot to eat a proper meal. You drift off to bed earlier than usual just so that you have an excuse to lie down and shed some more clothes. Listen to the voices coming through the open window from nearby gardens. You sleep badly but that doesn’t matter because nothing happening the next day seems urgent.

A hot summer is like a dream to be wandered through and carry to the winter.

Things I Love thursday

The heat is making it hard for me to think straight. I feel like everything could be put off until tomorrow. Maybe this is why everyone in places with with traditionally warmer summer are so laid back!

Anyway here's my TILT:

Doing an excellent darning repair on our ripped parasol, Chickenfoot - a great classic rock sound, Ultralight and nights in for toes from Lush, easy dinners, lunch in the park, pre dinner drinks in the garden, great music jams in our attic, not leaving the house without sunglasses, sun dresses, when in doubt wear black and green, being inspired online.