The Docks, Gloucester

We are down in Gloucester.  We are staying in The Docks, Gloucester. It was only expensive for the three of us to stay here than to stay at a Travelodge! 

The apartment is a short walk from the centre of town, and it's in a major shopping and restaurant area.  There's a fridge, freezer, dish washer, washing machine, television and wifi. It is an incredibly comfortable place to stay. I'm loving the light, and being beside the water. 

Here's what it looks like. 

Like it so far?  Here's more:

Chicken and Lemon Tagine

Ingredients

1 tablespoon oil

3 large chicken breasts cut into large pieces

1 onion, slices

2 fat cloves garlic, minced

2 rounded teaspoons ginger (julienne)

300ml hot water

1 stock pot (concentrated stock)

dried mixed herbs

3 large carrots, cut into chunks

3 large potatoes, cut into chunks

1 large lemon, cut into wedges (1/8ths)

broccoli or olives

Method

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Sear the chicken in the oil for about 5 minutes, flip and sear the other side. Saute the onion. Put the chicken and onion in the tagine.

Sear the carrot and potatoes for a few minutes. Whilst they are cooking, distribute the garlic, ginger and dried herbs evenly over the chicken. Add the carrots and potatoes to the tagine. Arrange the lemon around the dish.

Use the hot water to deglaze the skillet, and then mix through the concentrated stock. Pour this into the tagine.

Put the lid on the tagine and cook at 200C for an hour.

In the last 10 minutes of cooking, add florets of broccoli to the top of the dish. It will cook in the steam. Or, if preferred, add a handful of olives and mix through.

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This meal is very popular amongst my family. It also freezes beautifully.

The stock transforms into a very thin gravy. This is perfect with the potatoes. Press on the potatoes to mash them slightly. The potatoes then soak up the gravy.

The flesh of the lemon disappears into the gravy, leaving the rind. It is beautifully mild and fragrant; eat a little of it with each mouthful.

Week 14: Garage

Monday: Read Organized Home Challenge #14: Garage

Tuesday: Declutter boxes, other stuff in garage

Wednesday: Continue to declutter garage

Thursday: Declutter and organize auto supplies and car care products

Friday: Declutter bicycles and gear, and then properly store what's left

Saturday: Declutter fitness and sports equipment

Sunday: Fill out garage storage inventory

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This is a very good set of missions to receive this week whilst I am ill. There is nothing to do! This week shall be a time of rest and recuperation instead.

Tissues

Today's product endorsement goes to Tesco Balm+ Tissues. They are most excellent for a drippy nose - able to do all the standard tissue-y things, but with a sprinkling of magic (possibly aloe vera) to help prevent a sore, red, roughed-up nose. It's little bit of love for a nose.  

I wonder what the equivalent for a throat would be?

Cough!

I've reached the stage where I am so sick of hearing myself cough that I want someone to smother me just so I don't have to listen to it any more.

My pelvic muscles are feeling the strain, and are also sick of having to compensate for the sudden differences in pressure. Thank goodness products like Tena Lady exist!

No decluttering, no reading, no writing, no craft, just coughing, and a big dollop of feeling pathetic.  It is to be hoped tomorrow will dawn a little brighter.  

More Boxes!

More boxes have been packed, 7 in total. These contain books, soft toys, CDs, CR-ROMs, DVDs and games. There's a large suitcase full of clothing, and a small one full of bags. In addition, there's a coffee table too. The Elder Offspring is going to have fun unpacking the boxes and deciding what to do with all of it.

The rest of the stuff will be put in crates and stored in the truckle under the bed in the guest room. Next time EO is over, she will decide on the contents of a box of stuff. When we next visit we will take over another batch. This process will repeat until almost all of her stuff is at her home.

I remember my parents did a similar thing with my belonging a good few years ago.  Sadly, they didn't look through boxes first, and a ballerina ornament that had belonged to my Grandma was smashed.  When we pack, we will be using bubble wrap for all fragile items!  

Priorities, priorities, priorities

The Elder Offspring now has her own apartment. We will be going over to visit soon. It's time to start transferring her belongings still in the family home to her new apartment. There is so much of it!

And so we set priorities.  These will be:

1. clothing
2. books
3. media (CDs, DVDs and games)

These items will be boxed up, labelled and packed into the car. The Noodle in the Noodle Bowl will be very happy about this. Tonight, it's clothes!

Decluttering whilst ill

Today I posted a joke on Facebook, there's 10 types of people in the world - those who understand binary, those who don't, and those who weren't expecting this joke to be in base 3.

I have come to realise there are often two approaches to standards. There's people who hold themselves to a far higher standard than others, and there's people who hold others to a standard, but supply excuses why they shouldn't be judged at that level. Normally, I expect more of myself than I do of others. This can lead to crazy situations, the sort of situations where people shake their heads and say 'Be kind to yourself!'

Today, my body is weary, my mind can't find spoken words (but I can write), my throat is scratchy and I'm losing my voice. If someone came to me with a list like that I'd tell them to veg out on the sofa, watch a movie and have an early night. But, it's me, so I expect me to get on and do some decluttering. I have made the decision to be kind to myself, but I still have guilt about not decluttering!

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There was a little bit of decluttering done today. A friend was having a 'bring and share' meal at her house. The large potato au gratin I made yesterday was earmarked for the supper. We love Quorn mince, but not the faux chicken pieces. Somehow we ended up with three bags of the faux chicken in the freezer. The Quorn was cooked in a skillet, and mixed through with a tomato sauce. It will go very nicely with the potato au gratin. There was a cry of 'Ooooh, excellent, some protein.'

Sadly, when we arrived at my friend's house my temperature spiked and I felt really rather unwell. We handed over food, and made excuses to leave. I feel guilty about that too! However, it was so lovely to come home to a cooler, quiet house. It's exactly what I need this evening.

What been decluttered today?

The Beloved brought home a mighy stash of baked potatoes, 17 in total. Yesterday I cut some in half, scooped out the middles and mashed them together with butter, onions, garlic and Stilton. The potatoes were stuffed and popped in the oven for 40 minutes. This was a big hit with the Beloved, and he took the leftovers away for his lunch today.

The second use was to slice them and layer the slices in a dish with a jar of carbonara sauce. One large, and two small dishes were made and are currently in the fridge. Tomorrow they will be topped with cheese and cooked.

And there's still five potatoes left. I think it might be time to make more 'loaded potatoes'. This time it will be Cheddar and onion. These ones will be frozen.

In addition to potato decluttering, garden decluttering has begun. Weeds have been weeded, the path has been weeded and swept, and the meter box has been washed and topped with a lovely little pot of narcissus.

Week 13: Basement

Monday: Read Organized Home Challenge #13: Basement

Done.

Tuesday: Declutter boxes, other stuff in basement

No basement.

Wednesday: Continue to declutter basement

Continue to have no basement.

Thursday: Declutter and organize hardware (such as screws, nails, etc.)

We do have a toolbox! Everything is nicely contained with it. I'll ask the Beloved to have a look through and ditch anything he doesn't want.

Friday: Declutter tools and create an essential tool chest

As well as the tool box, we have a set of easy access plastic drawers. These contain things like light bulbs, batteries, candles, a couple of screw drivers and a measuring tape. These are my essentials.

Saturday: Fill out basement storage inventory

The lack of basement is starting to concern me.

Sunday: Declutter storage unit or locker

Something else I don't have!

A little bit of work in the Guest Room

Saturday's plan to have a little dining room tidy didn't happen until today (Sunday). Sunday's shed plan didn't work and instead we spent time in my craft room turning it into a place where a guest could stay overnight.  About a third of the room has been done, but more work is required.

Decluttering: Time for a clear out the shed?

Next week's decluttering missions are based around the basement. We don't have one of those. It is not a feature of housing  in my part of the world. It's time to branch out and tackle another area instead. I realised we have a shed in the garden, and it is easily a year since it was opened, and I have not idea when things in the shed were last used. This weekend is shed weeked!

It would be great if the Beloved could make a trip or two to the Civic Amenities Site to dump/recycle a load of shed-stuff. I don't know if this will happen this weekend as he has several commitments. This will not stop me from my decluttering missions. It might mean things disappear next weekend rather than this one, but they will disappear. 

The rest of the week will be spent sorting items to be taken to England for the Elder Offspring. She now has her first grown up apartment (ie non-student place to live). There's still quite a bit of her stuff in the Noodle Bowl.  This trip is going to be clothes, books and music. We take her creations (product design and ceramics) and school books down on another trip.

Today's task will be to remove items from the dining room destined for the rubbish bin, recycling and charity shops. This will give space to start assembling the items heading England-wards for the Elder Offspring.

What's a docket?!

At the start of the week, I said I was not going to be creating daily dockets for my tasks.  My understanding of 'docket' is from the legal system, and so much information is stored on dockets.  I could not see how this could possibly help in home organisation.

Well, it turns out this is not what Taylor was meaning.  She just wanted people to monitor what they were doing.  I can so do that!  I was thinking about getting some gold stars to reward myself for jobs well done.  :o) 

Yesterday and today, I have completed all of the tasks on my list.  I hereby award myself who shiny, gold stars. 

 

Daily To Do List

To keeps things simple, my daily to do is a concatenation of the morning, afternoon and evening routines. More items will be added in time.

• get dressed
• make bed
• put on a load of laundry
• quick tidy of the kitchen
• check the menu to see if action is needed for dinner
• quick tidy of the sitting room
• dry laundry
• fold laundry 
• put away laundry
• declutter/organise for 15 minutes
• prepare dinner
• take dirty mugs, plates and glasses through to the kitchen
• lay out clothes for the morning
• get in pjs
• put dirty clothes in laundry basket, and air clothes that can be worn again
• check my calendar for upcoming events
• sit in bed and craft whilst listening to an audio book

Chicken in Wine

The photograph and original recipe are from A Saucy Kitchen.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon oil

3 chicken breasts cut into quarters

8 slices  of bacon, chopped

2 fat cloves garlic, minced

300ml  wine

1 stock pot (concentrated stock)
1 bay leaf
dried mixed herbs

200g small or chopped carrots

200g broccoli

knob of butter
3 small leeks, sliced

Method
Heat the oil in a large skillet. Sear the chicken in the oil. Brown for about 5 minutes, flip and sear the other side. Push the chicken to the side and fry the chopped bacon. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes.

Deglaze the skillet with the white wine. Stir in the stock pot and dissolve. Bring to a simmer and cover. Simmer for about 20 minutes.

Add the carrots and broccoli and simmer for another 10 minutes. Check you have enough liquid in the skillet. If not, add water.

Saute the leeks in a frying pan with a knob of butter. Once softened and slightly caramelized, add the leeks to the chicken. Stir them in and leave the chicken uncovered for about 5 minutes.

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The dish was served with mashed potatoes, and was proclaimed to be excellent. The family would like this dish to appear on the menu frequently.

We shall try in next time with red wine instead of white.

Evening Routine

This is the part of the day when I need things to be simple and calm. A while back, I was having problems sleeping. Nights were broken, and I did not get restful sleep. A number of things changed; perhaps one of the biggest was that I stopped trying to go to sleep straight after using my computer for hours. Instead I would take time away from screens, and allow myself time to wind down and slow down.

My evening routine starts just over an hour and a half before I want to go to sleep.  It is:

• tidy the sitting room
• take dirty mugs, plates and glasses through to the kitchen
• tidy the kitchen
• put away laundry (if not already done)
• lay out clothes for the morning
• get in pjs
• put dirty clothes in laundry basket, and air clothes that can be worn again
• check my calendar for upcoming events
• sit in bed and craft whilst listening to an audio book

Written out, it looks like a lot, but flows, and is a gentle wind down. It gets me ready for bed and for sleep.

Afternoon Routine

How glorious would it be to have afternoon tea as part of your afternoon routine? It would all have to be gluten-free and low-dairy to be truly glorious (at least for me).

The afternoon routine required for this household is decidely less glamourous!  In involves laundry, decluttering and dinner:

• dry laundry
• fold laundry 
• put away laundry
• declutter/organise for 15 minutes
• prepare dinner

Morning Routine

I'd love to be that penguin. I am a morning person, but I am also a considerate morning person. No polar bears are rudely woken. However, I have realised I am not making use of my mornings as I could! This is going to change. The plan is to start small and do it every day for a month. Then another item can be added.

My morning routine is going to start small:

• get dressed
• make bed
• put on a load of laundry
• quick tidy of the kitchen
• check the menu to see if action is needed for dinner
• quick tidy of the sitting room

Once that lot has been done I can sit and fiddle with my computer.

Week 12: Morning and Evening Routines

Monday: Read Organized Home Challenge #12: Morning & Evening Routine
Done.

Tuesday: Create morning routine chart
Done.

Wednesday: Create evening routine chart
Done

Thursday: Create template for daily to do list
By combining the morning, afternoon and evening routines I have a daily to do list. Items will be added when I have these three routines down pat.

Friday: Create daily docket for habits and routines
I am not going to do this at this stage.

Saturday: Declutter vases and flower pots
I have two vases, and my flower pots are either in use, or just about to be used (onions, garlic, and sugarsnap peas).

Sunday: Declutter and clean crawlspace
Over here, a crawl space is literally a crawl space a trades person crawls through to access electrical cables, gas supply and plumbing. It is not used for storage, and as the floor is made of earth, I've no idea how to clean it.

Gluten-free Pizza

Ah, the joys of Facebook!  Four years ago I posted a recipe for gluten-free pizza. It's just popped up on my feed today. I'm going to post it here so it doesn't get lost.

2/3 cups of Dove Farm self-raising flour (gluten-free)

1/2 tsp xanthan gum

1/2 tsp chopped garlic

sprinkling of dried herbs

1/3 cup of warm water

Mix in a bowl to make a dough. Roll out (using some extra flour for dusting) to about 20-22cm. Place on an oiled baking sheet. Add your toppings and cook in the oven at 200C for 15-ish minutes.