Turning a gloomy day orange

Phew, I have not had time to post for ages as I have been rather busy with work,  craft fairs and life in general. Family life as been tricky as Cheese is currently wading through a sea of tweenage hormones and causing arguments and rifts. There have been end of term activities such as sports days and dress up days and Sausage has had his starting school introductory sessions.

I have been feeling utterly exhausted due to a combination of the littlies' night time waking shenanigans and associated musical beds, plus a new episode of anaemia.  I have had some long, tiring days at work and I think, even though I only work part time, I really 'feel' the generalised increased irritability and fatigue that comes towards the end of term.  Having a husband who works in education seems to amplify the end of term feeling as he gets busier, then suddenly  there is a lovely lull.

Things have been feeling rather gloomy of late due to health niggles,  the things mentioned above and some awkward friendship moments. So, as ever, I am trying to be positive and appreciate life's simple pleasures.

Today I am thinking about orange!  Orange is a lovely bright colour and it was my favourite as a child. Orange is (sort of) the colour of my lovely dog Wobble and of foxes who have today received a temporary reprieve with the government's decision not to repeal the fox hunting ban (hooray - for now!).

It is a very drizzly, gloomy day here in Cornwall so I have raided the fridge and have turned a pile of slightly wobbly carrots into carrot and lentil soup and carrot and orange cake. Yum. I love soup and cake and they will both be ready soon to warm and cheer. Sausage helped to make the cake and that made him happy as we haven't baked for ages. In case you are interested here are my recipes:

Carrot and lentil soup:

I am not giving exact quantities here as I am a 'bung it all in' kind of soup maker but I used, approximately, 100g red lentils, 3 medium carrots,  one onion,  one clove of garlic,  a slice of ginger,  a teaspoon each of ground coriander and cumin seed. This makes approximately 3 portions.

Cook the onion in a glug of olive oil until soft, add the spices, ginger and garlic and cook for another minute or so. Add the rinsed lentils with enough hot stock to cover plus a bit more. Bring to the boil then simmer until soft, adding the carrots after about ten minutes. Add more stock as necessary.  When cooked allow to cool a little then puree, taste, reheat and season to your liking.  Serve as it is or with chunky bread and butter, cheese scones oe similar.  I like it with a topping of toasted sunflower seeds and some grated cheese.  You may want to experiment with more garlic or some chili.

Carrot and orange cake:

175g each of sugar (I use brown), selfraising flour and sunflower oil
3 eggs
140g carrots,  finely grated
Grated zest of one orange
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 170 degrees C. Whisk all ingredients except carrots together unit smooth and well mixed. Fold in the carrots.  Add a splash of orange juice to loosen if necessary.  Pour into a prepared tin (I make this in a 7" round tin but it works in a loaf tin). Bake for approximately 45 minutes until well risen,  golden and a skewer comes out clean. Top with a simple orange icing or buttercream. Enjoy with a cuppa whilst waiting for the sun to come back out.

Since starting this post I have prepared and eaten lunch with Sausage,  taken a phone call from the school nurse, been used as a ladder and resting place by a small kitten and taken the cake out of the oven. I was going to photograph the soup but, erm...I was too hungry.  I will try to photograph the cake in between icing and eating it!

It is still raining and grey outside but my tummy is full and warm and I am snuggling up with my littlest. I need to make the most of these times before he starts school. But that is another story.

What do you do to brighten up gloomy days? Until next time,

Green x

Brown paper packages tied up with string...

It seems to be party season for the children at the moment, with a party each to go to for the next few weekends. This is lovely for them but with it comes the inevitable gift giving.

 

I love presents and genuinely love the feeling of giving somebody a gift. I also enjoy receiving presents - who doesn't? But...I tend to suffer from 'present angst', in that I so desperately wants to give a present that is just right that I sometimes end up not giving one at all. Then I feel terrible. But, that is another story. For now we are dealing with birthday gifts for children we barely know.

 

There are several issues for me and one is of consumerism. If my child is attending a party with between ten and thirty children then the party boy / girl will be receiving presents from ten to thirty children, as well as from parents, grandparents etc. The thought of that big pile of 'stuff', half of which may not be wanted, fills me with horror. I would never turn up empty handed but our gifts of choice tend to be books, partly because we are a family of book lovers and want to share the joy, and partly because it is usually appreciated and used or at least re-gifted. If we know the child well we will buy something relevant for them that we know or hope they will like. My children have only ever had small parties but even so the pile of gifts has seemed huge.

 

The next issue is financial. We are not well off and like many families we sometimes struggle to make ends meet. We don't want to disappoint the children by saying they can't go to a party but when the expectation is to turn up with a proper present, gift wrapped with a card it can be tricky. There have been times (now) when we are counting the days until payday so we can go food shopping, so to buy a present involves spending on the credit card. This ultimately makes things worse. So, do you turn up with nothing, buy on the credit card or... take something homemade?

 

The issue of homemade or even second hand presents is a tricky one. The word homemade is often synonymous with substandard, undesirable, even shoddy. It doesn't have to be that way though. Even if you are not a 'maker' there are things that can be made, repurposed or re-gifted. It still feels difficult or even slightly shameful though, but why? I make things that people are willing to pay money for, but I still feel a but awkward about giving homemade presents! There are prejudices, snobbery and the idea that people will think you are cheap. Also, just because some people like what you make it doesn't mean everyone will. As for second hand presents, I personally don't see a problem with this if the gift is something that you think the recipient will love. But what would you think if you opened a gift that was obviously second hand? There have been some positive developments in gift giving with the popularisation of charitable donations and poverty busting gifts such as those available through Oxfam. (other charities do this too).

 

There is a lot of emotion tied up with gift giving. I can remember feeling physically sick one Christmas when a scary relative gave me a nasty brown jumper and I could not say thank you. My mum was great at knowing what I would like, but again I felt a gut-wrenching sadness on a couple of rare occasions that she have me completely inappropriate presents. Maybe that's partly why I agonise so much about what to give people.

 

It can't just be me that has this problem, and I am sure parents everywhere struggle with birthdays. It would be great if we could all work together to change the focus of gift giving. Here are just a few of my ideas for non purchased gifts (there are loads online so I won't go on forever).

 

Homemade foodie gifts such as fudge, cookies, chocolate bark wrapped in cellophane or little treat bags. Penny sweets in a pretty/ decorated jar.

 

A simple notebook covered in pretty fabric or paper and a pencil decorated with washi tape, tied together with ribbon.

 

A favourite book of yours that you think the recipient would love, with a handwritten note attached.

 

Handwritten or printed vouchers for e.g. babysitting, cooked meals, cleaning, playdate or other 'services'.

 

Framed drawings / photos.

 

The most important thing is that the gift is given with love and not just for the sake of it. Obviously it's a bit different for Children's birthday party gifts but if your child knows them well enough then with a bit of thought you should be able to come up with something together that their friend might like. How about your child writing a poem or story about their friend and framing it? Or any of the above ideas would work if relevant and tailored to the child.

 

On a final note, we are going to a party tomorrow for a little girl we barely know. Will I be 'brave' and give her something homemade, or will I rush out and use the credit card? What would you do?

 

 

Striking a balance

My little world had been changing recently.  We had the big move to Cornwall back in December and that was a lot of upheaval but the good kind. Mr Green has his new job  which has already expanded and the children have their new schools and nursery.  I have a new part time job in which I get to indulge my foodie passion and experiment with new recipes.  I have the blog which is slowly coming together (I now have some pictures,  woohoo!) And I have my felting.  I have taken the plunge and launched a facebook page and etsy shop which feels both scary but exciting.  I am networking and trying to be proactive.  And finally,  we have a new addition to the family,  a gorgeous baby boy. Ok, no I haven't had a secret pregnancy - he is a gorgeous little kitten who is a furry bundle of love and mischief.  He is already enriching our lives and improving my mental health.  However,  it's very hard to get things done in between cuddles and playtime.

 

So, although things are going in the right direction I still feel a little like a headless chicken.  I seem to have lost the ability to prioritise and sequence.  It is tempting to keep checking page views on my blog, tweaking my layout, check likes on the facebook page or activity in the etsy shop or editing my listings. And it is tempting to keep cuddling the kitten. 

The house is a mess, Sausage is watching too much tv, we are going to bed too late and I'm not devoting enough time to actually making things.  I need to get organised and feel that I almost need a military precision schedule in order to accomplish all my daily tasks from the mundane to the more exciting.  I have a lot of balls in the air and I don't want to drop any. So I need to become more organised and productive and stop procrastinating.

It would be wonderful to hear tips and advice from my readers if you have any gems of wisdom.  Right,  I'm going to put down my phone and the kitten and start on my jobs. Maybe I'll just make a cuppa first...;-).

Running to stand still

I am busy! It has been over a week since my last post and I have things I should be doing right now instead of writing this.  It feels strange however not to write now I have become used to regularly airing my thoughts to the world (or the small corner of it that reads my blog).  When I first started blogging I was always nervous about hitting the publish button and it has taken a while to find my voice.  I am still a newbie and have a lot to learn but it feels more natural now.

I have had lots of drains on my time recently which have prevented me from writing.  I am always busy but can usually carve out little pockets of time to write.  The last couple of weeks have been pretty hectic however.  I have been away (see this post ) which was fun but also quite emotional. It has taken time to process my reaction to the visit - more on that soon. On my return I had to catch up with all the things I hadn't been around to do (although Mr Green did a great job while I was away). Since then I have had a poorly Apple home from school,  which was tricky because it coincided with Sausage's non nursery days and we had to contend with being stuck in the house for three days solid. Needless to say we all went a bit stir-crazy! Thankfully Apple is now better but Sausage is unwell. Oh the joys of sibling virus sharing!

On a productive note, I have a job! I am currently 'between careers' and trying to really think carefully what I might want to do when Sausage starts school.  Idle pondering does not pay the bills though so I have found a local part time job that fits into nursery days.  It will be busy and at times hectic as the job is a tearoom supervisor and we live by the sea! It is far removed from my previous career jobs but it is only a temporary measure to bring in some pennies.  Hopefully I will feel more useful and start to meet more people. I have already been asked to contribute some recipes to the menu so I will post some on here soon too.  I will continue to create things and attend craft fairs and hopefully improve my skills. I still feel tempted to pop back into education for a while too...

I have been busy preparing for a recent craft fair which I attended but didn't sell much. I am inspired to continue though having received some lovely feedback and some bespoke orders. I can be so self critical and really struggle to believe that I have any talents,  but when people want to buy my work it gives me a spark of hope that maybe my work is desirable.  Maybe my little hobby could turn into something more. I recently read a blog post that highlighted the battle between having big dreams and the regular bouts of self doubt. I will try to maintain a positive outlook.

Among all these things are the mundane realities of laundry,  cleaning, cooking,  admin, dog walking etc. And these jobs mount and grow when you add children into the mix. So, I started this post feeling that I was on a constant treadmill or running around aimlessly,  trying so hard to do everything that nothing was getting done. Clearly I was mistaken as reading through I see I have achieved things and will keep marching on. I must now return to my domestic drudgery after attending my poorly boy who is stirring from slumber.  In the meantime,  why not let me know what's going on in your lives x

Let it flow

I have always been a creative person but have often struggled to find the right outlet.  At school I loved English and Art and did very well in those subjects. When it came to choosing A levels I found it really hard because I wanted to pursue a science career but didn't want to let go of the Arts. Let go I did however as there wasn't space to fit in these other subjects and it wasn't seen as appropriate to mix the two disciplines.  

As I embarked on my studies through college and University I took delight in making careful drawings of cells, insects and fungi,  but that was the only drawing I did (apart from illustrating the letters I sent home). I continued to read novels but missed discussing them. Science was great though and I had no regrets.

Fast forward several (ahem) years and I find myself between careers. I have worked in science and healthcare and then decided to take time out to look after the children.  Over the last couple of years I have been feeling increasingly creative.  I have tried several things including starting a novel, blogging, making novelty cakes,  bento lunches,  loom bands (!), weaving and felting.  I have found a love for felting and really enjoy the magical process of turning a pile of fluffy wool into a beautiful creation. I am self taught and have recently taken the step of trying to sell my work at craft fairs. I have had a lot of positive feedback about my work and it's great.  I have struggled with perfectionism and low self esteem all my life and it took a lot for me to show my work in public.  The fact that people have bought things and ordered things has given me some positive affirmation.

 

I love the creative process and would continue regardless of possible sales. But I can't help dreaming and wondering whether I could turn my hobby into something more. And, furthermore,  what direction should my career head in next? Do I return to health / science,  or try something new? I have learned a lot about myself during this hiatus and I fully admit that I don't cope well with 9-5, 5 days a week and I do bring work worries home and take on board a lot emotionally. I also need to be around for the children. I will need to work when Sausage starts school as we need the money and I need to do something meaningful. But I need to fit in work around the family. I do genuinely experience a sense of flow and positive energy when creating, so it would be wonderful if I could incorporate this into a career.  Who knows what the future will hold. I'm ready for a new challenge.  Who's with me...?