"In a sense, clutter is the end result of procrastination"

The title is a quote by Jeff Campbell. I've been doing a bit of decluttering. Here are some more ideas:

Do it now - don't procrastinate, a little at a time and you will be able to declutter.

Remember - you are making room in your life, for the life you want. Don't get stuck in the past.

If you aren't sure of something, hide it in a box for a few months. See how you feel then.

If your stuff doesn't fit your space, you have too much stuff.

Pick a small time frame that you will spend on decluttering every day. It doesn't have to be a long time, even 5 minutes can be enough to declutter one drawer.

Is it worth the space it is taking up?

Does it fit? Does it work? Is it helpful for this stage of your life?

Do you love it, use it or need it?

Tired

Well the weekend is nearly over and I feel quite tired. We were up early this morning as we had to work. Once that was done we came home and had morning tea. I decided to get out into the garden and get some seeds planted out. (or should that be sown?) First I had to remove some old sprouting broccoli, I had cut it back previously but it was badly infested with aphids and it was nearly 3 years old. Once that was out, I replanted some chives into a pot and then dug over the garden bed. The soil is a lot better than when I started, although there are still a lot of stones in it, but now I see worms and there never used to be any there. I also dug in some compost from my compost bin. I have this clever spiral device which you can use to aerate the compost and also I use it to take out compost from the bottom of the bin through the side vents, then the compost falls down and I use it to mix it all up, a bit of effort but the compost seems to compost quicker, than if I leave it to sit.

After I tidied up the 2 garden beds, I sorted out my seeds, and worked out what to plant. I planted climbing snow peas, arugula, 5 coloured silverbeet, kale, mesclun, pak choy and some spring onions. I planted a lot of the arugula, mesclun and pak choy as I intend to use it as "cut and come again" greens for us. I only planted a few of the silverbeet and kale, and one row of the snow peas. I need to do something about the french tarragon as it will start to die down now that it is getting colder.

Now I feel quite tired, luckily I have some red chicken curry already made up from another meal, and I just have to do some vegetables and some rice in the microwave and tea will be ready. Apple crumble and custard for dessert, yum. I think it will be a fairly early night for me.

An unproductive week

The post title says it all really. I have done very little apart from the usual cleaning, cooking housework and things that must be done. Although I have finished reading a book so you could say that is productive. The book called Out, is by Natsuo Kirino, a Japanese writer and has been translated from Japanese. It is a mystery novel, a story of random violence in the staid Tokyo suburbs, about a young mother who strangles her husband and then seeks the help of her co-workers to dispose of the body and cover up her crime. I really enjoyed it, some parts are quite humorous in a dark sort of way. Today I'm going to make a start on Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry.

The weather forecast is for fine weather this weekend, so a good chance for me to get out into the garden and plant a few seeds. I'm having a freezer cleanout as well so we are eating all the frozen casseroles and bits of soup that are lurking in there.

Boondoggling

I've been playing around with things on my blog and seem to have messed it up. Never mind, when I have time I'll have another play around and fix it up. Today is one of those day's, don't seem to have enough time, truth be told I am wasting time here on the computer.

Raining

It rained quite a bit yesterday, before we left for work we had 20mm, in less than 4 hours. My DH emptied out the raingauge and I have yet to venture outside to check it this morning. I don't have much planned for today other than the usual you know, housework, cooking etc. When the weather is like this the only thing I really feel like doing is reading or pottering around and not doing much at all. But, there are things that need doing and I got up early so I could get them done and then have the rest of the day free.

I can hear the rain on the roof, quite gentle at the moment, yesterday it came down so hard and fast that the gutters couldn't cope and overflowed (they had been cleaned out 2 days ago). the creek running through the Botanic Gardens was nearly overflowing when we were there yesterday afternoon and I couldn't help thinking that it was such a waste, all the water was just going into the Torrens river and then out to sea. The State government really need to do something about harvesting this water, after all we keep getting told that South Australia is the driest state in the driest country, and instead they are going to build a desalination plant which will use more energy than a plant that will recycle (I don't know if that is the right word) storm water and sewage. Apparently Singapore drinks a large proportion of recycled water, I never noticed any difference in the water quality or taste when I was living there.

This blogging isn't getting any work done, so I'm off.

Cold Mornings

It was 8°C this morning, which while not really cold was cold enough to make me think that my normal breakfast of rolled oats, apple and yoghurt, served cold was not really what I wanted today. so I had porridge, or rather my variation of it:

Put in a largish bowl, (the bowl you will eat it from, I'm currently using a pasta bowl)

1/3 c rolled oats 1/2 c milk
then add 1 chopped apple (skin and all) and 1 tb craisins or sultanas, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and then microwave for 2-3 mins (depending on your microwave) You can stir it halfway through if you like, but I usually don't bother. Top with yoghurt or whatever you want (runny cream and some brown sugar can be quite nice) and enjoy.

I make other variations depending on what is available or what I feel like, the basic recipe of oats and milk stays the same, it's just the extras that change, for example,

1 tb almonds, chopped or slivered and 1 tb maple syrup/or golden syrup

1 tb chopped walnuts 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 chopped banana 2-3 chopped dates

If you like your porridge runnier, just add a bit more milk. I think it works better if the bowl is wider rather than deeper. If you want to make a larger quantity (say for 2 people) it is better to make 2 bowls and cook separately rather than 1 larger bowl.

Be warned it is usually quite hot when it comes from the microwave, so it's best to leave it to stand for a minute or so. Don't forget to soak the bowl once you have finished, otherwise it is murder to clean.

What to have for lunch

I haven't cooked this Alison Holst recipe for ages, I remembered it yesterday when I was racking my brains trying to think of something quick to have for lunch. Originally I had planned to have some leftovers from the day before, but we had been a bit greedy and there wasn't quite enough. I had potatoes, frozen peas and eggs, and I had some sour cream that was close to it's use by date, so half an hour later we were eating. I served it with some steamed broccoli which went well with the curried sauce. Delicious. It is still really nice without the peas, sour cream and hardboiled eggs, and if you don't have new potatoes it works ok too. Next time I think I will try adding some cooked chick peas to the mixture as well.

Curried New Potatoes

Serves 4 or 2 really hungry people

2 Tbsp butter
1 tsp curry powder
1 onion, chopped
6 medium new potatoes (600g)
1 tsp instant chicken stock
1 tsp sugar
1 cup hot water

Optional ingredients:
1/2 cup peas
1/4 cup sour cream
4-6 hardboiled eggs

In a medium sized frypan, melt the butter, add curry powder and chopped onion and cook gently while you wash and scrape the potatoes (if necessary) Cut the potatoes into halves or quarters for quicker cooking. Add to the curry and onion mixture, stir then add the hot water, instant stock and sugar. Stir again, cover pan and simmer gently for 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender and liquid is thick. (watch liquid and add extra or raise heat, so you finish up with a thickish sauce. Serve as it is or:

Add peas and cook until peas are tender, then serve.
Or add sour cream, mixture will thin when sour cream is added, just cook uncovered for about 5 minutes until sauce thickens, then serve.
Or add 4-6 hardboiled eggs, shelled and cut into halves or quarters, arrange eggs on top of mixture and heat gently until they are warm. Sprinkle with paprika if desired, then serve.
You can use half hot water and half coconut cream or milk, if you use the coconut cream/milk then don't use sour cream, as it will be too rich.
I have made it without using the instant chicken stock, you may need to add some salt if you omit that.