I’ve come to the end of my first calendar year as an allotmenteer and it’s been life changing, I expected to enjoy growing my own food, but it turned out that there were lots of benefits that I really didn’t expect to get from the allotment: the wonderful sense of...
I spent my first afternoon at the allotment yesterday and it surprised me, in ways that I didn’t expect. I expected a patch of bare earth, in the midst of lots of other patches to be perhaps the definition of unsurprising, but I was wrong. It proved to be really...
I’ve always loved eating animal products, although when I found out about the inhumane conditions in which some of them were raised I immediately switched to free range eggs and more recently organic diary. For meat though for many years the best I could afford was the RSPCA’s Freedom Food,...
This the outline plan for my fruit and veg garden at home, if I manage to get an allotment in time then I will be expanding on the berries, root vegetables and beans. As it is this selection should keep me and Debbie well fed through much of the year....
Today was my first real strength training session and although it started late, it went well. I enjoy pushing myself in exercise and I like it even more when I’m getting encouragement and support from someone else. I’ve noticed yet another benefit of having a personal trainer, he run’s around...
Well the summer holidays are over, my lazy afternoons lounging in the garden are coming to an end, Debbie and the twins are back at school/college and Jennie is back at work (Steph started last week). It’s been fun, but I’m looking forward to doing more stuff again, DIY, hiking,...
One of the things that I love about St Annes is the view of distant hills that keep tempting me to explore them. To the North the Lakeland fells, to the south Snowdonia and to the east Rivingon and the West Pennine moors, today was one of the better days...
Debbie and I are going to Nottingham today via Cleveleys where we will take a walk along the beach before brunch at my favourite sea-front cafe. Nottingham is a particular favourite of ours for a city break. It’s big enough that there’s lots to see and do, it’s got that...
For most of my life I’ve subscribed to the low fat, high carbohydrate philosophy of eating, what I’ve actually eaten has varied quite a lot but it’s safe to say that it’s been dominated by wheat and oats, in all it’s forms, but mostly bread. Fresh foods have mostly been...
Slightly overlapping with my 30 cafes in 30 days challenge, I’m starting up a new 28 day challenge, the overlap and slightly shorter duration is necessitated by the logistical impossibility of eating garden grown food while on holiday in London with Steph. Since I’ve only just started growing my own...