The latest in solar and wind technology being used to dry our washing. It’s so important to keep up with this stuff for the sake of the planet.
Environmental
Author: Ffiftypluses
Human being.
Next…
Yep, there’s another trip coming up. Not so far this time. I’m packing light.
Mine the craft
I know it’s ridiculous to play video games in your retirement, but hey, I like ’em. What you forget is that the first generation of gamers is well into their 60 now. Sir Clive Sinclair and the mighty ZX and ZX spectrum. Cassette tapes to load a game… maybe 15 minutes… then it crashes and you have to start over. Oh, the humanity! For those who have a 5 minute PS update or the tedious load screen that’s on for 30 seconds let me tell you back in the day games didn’t even have graphics!
My 8 year old niece was fascinated to see my house in minecraft. For officionados it’s a mixture of cobblestone and glazed terracotta in a right old mix of colours and texture. Even the carpet tiles don’t match. I keep a number of virtual cows, sheep and clucks (half chicken half duck no one really knows) but no pigs, llama or horses (yet). I’m one of those irritating players who transport all manner of trees and flowers from every biome and just plant bamboo next to oak next to tulips next to acacia…. just like a Victorian really. Obviously, being game rich means you can build several homes. Usually a day’s travel apart so the zombies don’t get you … or the skeletons, spiders, illagers (in-game baddies).
But I digress. The thing about this ‘useless’ pastime is that it’s not useless. This is how to train a surgeon or send in an airstrike or calm an autistic child. There are more products associated with games than films or music these days. In face many films (movies for my Amercan chums), and much music is now released based on games. Even TV! TV is dying in its traditional episodic form. Binge watching The Last of Us on Amazon Prime is how it’s done these days. Fortunes have been mad on ‘video games’ even the social media moguls are losing their pull but the games go on. Sorry Mr Z, your Mehtaverse is not going to replace playing Mario Kart and laughing IRL (That’s ‘in real life’) with my friends and family. I can play my own D’n’D adventure alone with an RPG (role playing game … think Tomb Raider) too.
Maybe I should tell you about the board game collection, which fills six small IKEA crates, sometime. Play, in all its glorious forms, is a basic human need. Have fun.
Spring Into Action
Well the clocks change tonight. Tomorrow we will be a)up late or b)up on time and grumpy. Twas ever thus. Today, however, is the planting of the food crops. To be fair the rhubarb stays out all year and garlic gets planted in November but all those delicate veg need to go outside now. Today we plant onions and broccoli and peas and beans, beetroot and carrot but only for the tiny shelter/greenhouse (only it’s not a glasshouse) with just a few things directly into the earth. Lettuce, this year, is going in the chest height herb bed to attempt to avoid slugs.
Last years food crop was amazing considering we only completed the raised beds in late April, so this year we have organised a bit better and hope to have more food available. We also took the opportunity to put some fruit bushes in February, though I doubt those will fruit this year. A gooseberry and a blackcurrant. Hopefully the last frost has been and gone but in the UK who knows.
The compost has been fed through the winter. We have a vermicompost system buried into the raised bed thanks to Subpod (no money has changed hands) a New Zealand based company. The nice thing about worm based compost is that it doesn’t smell. You don’t need to spread it either because this system has holes for the little fellows to wriggle in and out taking the nutrients with them.
I’m not a garden expert, I’ve just realised that we can make more from what we’ve got… cost of living… pension.. blah. Between last years jam, sell by date boxes from the supermarket for soup and pickles, even marmalade. We compost anything that’s too far gone and use ash from the wood burner to add carbon to the soil. It’s all going rather well.
Washing your watch
Not something that I can recommend. This week, however, I managed to do just that. I’m a big fan of Casio watches and have one or two. The F-91W is my go-to, don’t cate if it gets damaged dirty jobs watch. They cost next to nothing. I mean, like 10 or 15 quid. (That’s pounds sterling). Not even the price of two fancy cappuccinos or bubble teas. Yep, the only splash proof don’t shower in it watch went through the full cycle (I don’t tumble dry, save the planet, cut your energy bills etc.) And I dried the outside and slapped it back on my wrist. Would I like a Rolex? No. Really, no. Would I like to be able to afford a Rolex? Yep, I can think of loads I could do with the money. Travel, probably.
Bye-bye Bullet Journal
Yeah. I took this up to support my wife, who has ADHD. It works for my wife. I have tried. For a year or more. It is not working for me. Here is the thing. I forget to use it. Then I get frustrated cos I missed a day or a week. I tend not to carry it cos it’s a bit big, but a smaller one would be too small. So I’ve made a decision that scheduling is going digital ( I’m gonna use my phone again) since I pretty much always have my phone with me.
I have several beautiful notebooks. More precisely, I have some beautiful leather notebook covers that I use to contain my notebooks. I have a new pocket size one that I can carry around, and I do. I also have the big one I’ve been trying to bullet journal in. That I’m gonna keep and just use it as a regular notebook or, as my American chums might say, journal. That works better for me. The whole BuJo thing is great for people with ADHD brain. Can’t knock it, but for me, it does not work.
If you are interested in trying it, I’ll link to Ryder the guy who invented the BuJo (as the aficionados call it) so you can take a look. To each their own eh? I’ve noticed that “lifestyle” and “self improvement” bloggers and vloggers tend to get very “YOU NEED TO DO THIS” shouty about things that work for them and anyone who tries to convert me or sell something will very quickly know that it does not work. I have to find it useful or beautiful. Note to any salesperson. Don’t try to sell things. If I want help/information/advice I’ll ask. Try selling me something, I’ll leave. If that makes me seem nasty or anti social sorry folks. I never really got past my teens and if you try to make me do something you can bet its not gonna happen.
Manky veg soup
For those of you not from the north of England, ‘manky’ is a description of things not at their best. Frankly, past their sell by date. It applies to all things, not just food. It can apply to people.
You can make soup from pretty much any food…. not that I think ice cream soup sounds good, but.. our local supermarket has begun to sell boxes of the less attractive fruit and veg cheap. Sometimes, the bag split. Sometimes, it’s close to their sell by date. Food that would otherwise go to waste. Either way, it’s £1.50 for a box you might pay up to £10 for in the normal run of things. They are available most days but in limited numbers. Lots of people ignore them. Others are embarrassed to admit that cheap food may be exactly what they want. Now, I retired, and my monthly income was cut in half. I’m still doing OK, but I dont mind sorting through the veg boxes, and soup is always a simple,quick food option
Today, it’s root veg. Carrots and parsnips and a bit of onion mixed with the schmaltz from our last roast chicken. Pinch of salt, little bit of pepper. That’s four each servings for two people for a bit of time. Of course, some excellent bread with a thick slathering of butter.
I’m making myself hungry now.
Decorated (still no medal)
Well, more, in the process of decorating. Over the pandemic we began ‘project renovate’. one of the things people were still allowed to do here in the UK was have building work done. So the kitchen was refitted and a new garden scheme with raised beds to grow food became a reality. The log burner went in … then things kinda stalled. Between the holiday season and a sort of hibernation mode very little was happened over the last weeks but with the arrival of more spring like days and the utility bill came the realisation that something needed to happen to stop us heating the whole house and inhabiting easier to warm spaces. The kitchen table serves as an office and the living room as my den, which is nice because its south facing and catches even the slightest sunlight and warmth. I do have to say that once the curtains were removed it got a lot cooler in here.
We’ve gone mad and decided that this is not a cash cow but a home. Ignoring the current TV fads for flip and resale beige nightmares we decided we are living here so mad colours it is then. the living room will be purple. First coat applied and second on it’s way. This development has been somewhat slowed by my having sprained something in my wrist making holding a paintbrush a short term proposition at best. I’m good at the fiddly edging bits though so it can be done in short bursts. Certain parts of the room need to be finished first so the build in seating can be fitted. We’ve booked the carpenter so a line has been drawn.
Better get back up my ladder then.
Eurovision
Well… It’s 100 days away. My lovely wife is at the handover this evening being on the Pride board and more than a little bit responsible for the whole Pride thing. Long story. I’m just hoping for a sweatshirt!
Morning Routine
I’ve read a lot of motivation porn in my time, and I’ve concluded that, whilst fascinating, it’s mostly about young white guys making money. Not all young or white but 99% about money. OK, the retired person says, “Nah”. Yes, it’s lovely to have more than enough. However, my observation is that no one ever quite knows what “enough” is. I have a better question. What makes you happy?
I’m going to tell you about my morning routine since that’s a common productivity theme. I’m usually wakened by my cat. He lives a morning cuddles, and he’s released around 8 am by my other half, who then brings me tea in bed…. well in a mug. I might have 2 or 3 mugs full, which can make for a lot of washing up, but folks, that’s what a dishwasher is for… that and saving argument about who’s turn it is as the dishes pile up. Generally, whilst I’m taking on my morning caffeine, I’m streaming YouTube videos to the bedroom telly.
My video choices tend to be US politics. I’m fascinated by that car crash as with the current UK situation. There’s usually a music video or three. I watch stuff on how to do various creative things like drawing or music (like how to use my OP1, which I’m not good at), an occasional healthy recipe sneaks in there. So that’s about an hour or sometimes two. I keep out of the way whilst my wife sets up the office and heads to work that way, I’m not upsetting that routine. Working from home became a yhi g during the pandemic and has stayed. We really enjoy this as we can get lunch or do jobs around the house more easily.
I’m up and showered by 10 or before. Blanket on the bed for cat sleeping and allergy avoidance. I make breakfast. I like porridge. Chia seed and pistachio with some cardamom. Nice, my brother calls it pretentious. He’s an undertaker. (That’s a funeral director for my American chums)
Now, there’s nowt, as we say here, about motivation in any of that. I will say that at the weekend, when I get up at 8 am to go scuba diving, I’m not a happy bunny. I do love to dive, though, and it makes me very happy. Yes, even in the 4 degrees centigrade waters of a UK quarry.
So there you have it. A complete absence of exercise, supercool, meditation, or reading. There’s nothing about “monetizing” or productivity. Imagine a person just doing what feels good! Magic.
ffiftypluses 