Things I’ve been loving and a general catch up

With a few days spare at the end of the holidays, I got into sorting out/ early spring cleaning mode. The cupboard under the stairs has not been properly sorted since we moved house- we store the bags for life in there, and random things like an old heater, wrapping paper, kindling and extension leads have also ended up there. It’s hard to get to because the door is at one end, so there is a long shelf which you have to reach around the corner to get to, so it isn’t easy to store things neatly. I was tidying up downstairs and decided to get everything out and sort through it- we definitely don’t need to buy any more bags for life!

I sorted the bags into sizes and wrote on the bags so I knew what was inside each one, although we are going to get some big boxes next time we go to IKEA.

I then sorted out the cupboard under the kitchen sink and the cupboard where the boiler used to be.

During the afternoon I’d been looking through Netflix (watching Nailed it- I am still confused as to who would actually go on a baking show designed for people who make rubbish versions of cakes??) and first of all came across Instant Hotel, which is basically the Aussie version of Four in a Bed (which is Come Dine with Me for B&B owners), and then to my excitement, Tidying Up, which is where Marie Kondo visits people and they sort through their houses and tidy them up. OK, it sounds a bit weird, but I love it.

After/before

I was going to sort through my clothes drawers anyway, and now I have started going through them and folding them so that you can see each one (instead of having them in little piles which is what I’ve done before).

I’ve been steadily working my way through all the drawers, and it is so therapeutic. I just have to tackle my office drawers and then I’ll be done!

A few photos from last week:

Christmas treats of Snow Fairy and Cinders (smells like marzipan) shower gel in the sale, plus Christmas tiffin (a slight addiction although I tend to leave it in a drawer so one is there just in case) and Pret chocolate almonds.

I finally finished my delicious Red Velvet tea- I am hoping that Bird&Blend bring it back for Valentine’s day this year. I enjoyed it with one piece of Christmas tiffin from the emergency drawer.

More Netflix, this time Ellen doing stand up, and making the most of the  Christmas tree before we had to take the decorations down.

I went for a back and shoulder massage at the end of the holidays and seriously needed it (as always). It makes such a difference though- I can look over my left shoulder when reversing onto the driveway afterwards.

My new t-shirt/ a Gail’s scone with jam and Oatly creme fraiche (needed using up)/ another favourite snack of dates filled with peanut butter (Pip and Nut Hazelnut) and then a little melted chocolate on top.

Stollen.  This went a bit wrong as I usually make 3- one for us, one for my parents and one for Andy’s parents. I merrily set about making the dough, soaking the fruit and so on, and could not work out why it was so hard to fit in the mixer. The loaves were mammoth, and it was only when I re-read the recipe that I realised it said “Makes 2 loaves”. Yup, I normally make one batch and make it into 3 not 2. A mistake I hopefully won’t make again!

More baked French toast. We had one random pain au chocolate, so I sliced it, spread it with peanut butter and then put it in a dish with a mixture of egg and milk (plus blueberries) while I went out for a run, and then baked it while I had a shower. Pretty delicious.

Running wise, following on from the NYDD, I had a rest day on Wednesday with a couple of walks (I’m managing to keep to 10,000 or more steps per day and am now on 173 days in a row), a 5.5 mile run on Thursday morning, more walking on Friday, parkrun on Saturday and then a longer run on Sunday. My knee was feeling weird on my run (and it had felt this way on the walk into town on Saturday afternoon- when I put my leg out in front it felt like the joint was bending the wrong way, which of course it wasn’t, but it was just strange) so I walked for a bit and stretched it. I kept trying to run, as it felt fine when walking, but each time I tried it just felt wrong. I was going to call it off and head home as after a mile I can cut back through the park to home, but I attempted a little run in the park and it felt OK, so I went gently but ran 7 miles, feeling OK. I’m not sure what it was, but I’ll be keeping an eye on it and at least Monday was a rest day so I could give it a break, and I swapped a run for a walk on Tuesday.

Do you love having a big clear up?