What I’ve Read – December 2016

Posted on January 4, 2017 by nicdempsey

I didn’t read much in December. Nine books might seem like a lot but I took most of the month to read Gentleman Bastards book and A Darker Shade of Magic. Most of the rest were read in the last week of December after Christmas!

Once Upon a Christmas – Sarah Morgan (Kindle TBR list)

I love Sarah Morgan, this one is a category Mills and Boon which I’m guessing has been re-packaged. The men are steely and determined, the woman virginial but at least they have a career. As I get older, I get less tolerant of the ‘alpha-hole’ in romance and the hero verged on that in this. Having said that, snowy Cotswold setting and I’m happy.

Managed – Kristen Callihan (bought)

I liked this so much better than the first one. Read it in a day, it had all the usual NA ridiculousness that I know and love.

A Darker Shade of Magic – V. E. Schwab (Kindle TBR list)

I really enjoyed this one and read it at the right time, I have the next on the TBR list AND the third is due out either this or next month!  I loved the concept of the different London’s and loved that there’s still more to learn.

The Lies of Locke Lamora: The Gentleman Bastards – Scott Lynch (Kindle TBR list)

This was recommended to me ages ago and has been sitting on the TBR list forever, I think I bought it as Kindle deal before I started to limit my book buying in 2015! It was clever and detailed and I was always waiting for the other shoe to drop. I will read the others at some point.

Bittersweet (True North Book 1) – Sarina Bowen (borrowed)

Fast and easy reading which I really enjoyed. One of my issues with NA is that the settings are so unrealistic. A theme through all three of the books is about things not working out as you planned and how you come back from that. This was the least dramatic. I know nothing about Vermont or apple growing or cider making. If the hero was making calvados with his apples (or maybe even gin a la Chase) I would have been more invested!  But I liked that both the hero and the heroine still had things to learn and that neither of them was sure about their lives all the time. Also that the hero worried about doing the right thing by his family and farm and employees.

Steadfast (True North Book 2) – Sarina Bowen (borrowed)

I wasn’t sure about this. The whole thing looks pretty hopeless and was quite NA in that both hero and heroine had horrible parents AND the hero was an addict. I liked that her chapters started with a song (and that I recognised some of them!) and his with a craving scale. I really liked that it dealt with addiction head on and had some stuff about chemical help for that. It was a bit melodrama-rama but there’s a scene near the end of the book where the heroine’s mother wakes the hell up, which I cheered at! I also really liked the realistic way the heroine described her career choice and not choosing to sing for a career. Like I said the books seem to reflect some of the growing up that happens in your 20’s..

Keepsake  (True North Book 1) – Sarina Bowen (borrowed)

I liked this one least, because the heroine really annoyed me but I still read the book in a day, I liked that the hero wasn’t pushy and that he did the right thing, even though he wasn’t sure. I also liked the theme of family that ran through all the books but really played up in this one.

Archangel’s Heart (Guild Hunters Book 1) – Nalini Singh (borrowed)

More Singh book crack. Although I got that this was about the change that Ellie had on Raphael, I really, really could have done without the repetition. I get it, they have a love for all the ages but show me, don’t tell me. Also and this is something I’ve noticed in all of her books, she tries to have the characters make jokes but they aren’t funny!  Still read the hell out of it though!

Magnus Chase and the Hammer of Thor – Rick Riordan (library book)

One of the things I really like about Rick Riordan is how he’s introducing diversity to his books. I don’t know if someone talked to him about it or he’s always wanted to do it and can because the books are so sucessful. However, Magnus has a Muslim character (who has to work out how to be Muslim and work for Odin) and her brother/sister, Alex is gender fluid (which makes perfect sense given who his/her father is). This book didn’t question the right of the character to be who the hell they wanted but did deal with the confusion of other characters (Magnus) about how to understand and be appropriate. I don’t know how a trans person would view it but I liked that Magnus notes that he’s never felt like that and the closest he’s come is being made to right with the wrong hand, which he knows isn’t the same but is the best he can come up with to try and understand the sense of wrongness a transgender person might feel. I’m all for diversity in books and for explaining and then getting on with it. I also really liked that Alex is better than Sami at some stuff because Alex knows who she/he is (and I’m using he/she because the character specifies that using ‘they’ doesn’t work for him/her, although it may work for others). Other than that, it’s a typical Riordan romp through the Viking deities and in the next book, Percy Jackson. Fun times…

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New Year, New Goals – 2017

Posted on January 3, 2017 by nicdempsey

This post has been sitting half written since before Christmas. The run up to Christmas was trying in a way I didn’t expect, it was fine, I was fine but I was tired and just trying to get to Christmas and a rest. I didn’t write any Christmas cards and did most of my Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve! I was really not ready for Christmas.

But you know, Christmas happened anyway and it was fine.img_56482017 started as well and I’m not really prepared for that either but here it is.

I hit 2016 feeling that there were things in me that needed to change and 2016 changed them, ok I did some of that work too but 2016 happened and overall it was pretty damn good. I know, the narrative is that it was a terrible year, but I’m going to say it, 2016 was a good year for me. So now we’re in 2017 and the question is what do I do with this new and shiny year?

I’ve been thinking about goals and setting specific goals like I did last year but that didn’t quite fit. I still have most of the same aims, work on paying off my debt, stay employed, keep in control of the house, work on the allotment, be healthy. Life will change in 2017, it always does, but my needs and aims are pretty much the same.

The thing that keeps coming to me is focus…

So that’s the word for 2017.

Focus. I want to focus on the things that are important to me. I’ll set monthly goals as usual but they will be in the same vein as last year.

So ready or not, here it goes!

 

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2016 Goals – How it went

Posted on December 28, 2016 by nicdempsey

Time for the recap of my 2016. The current opinion is that (unless you are Donald Trump or Nigel Farrage) 2016 has not been a good year for the world. Honestly, I think that there have been worse years and I’m not terribly optimistic for 2017, however, I had a pretty good year. Most of it was down to the allotment, I was honestly not expecting to be allocated a plot so soon and it derailed quite a few of my goals, because it ate all my time and most of my money but I love it and the responsibililty I have to maintain it. I’ve also gained more oportunities to exercise and socialise and I feel I have a mental calm that I didn’t have before. I am emotionally fairly self sufficient and pretty good about being on my own but if there is a negative side effect to being so self sufficient it’s not having a focus outside of myself. The allotment has provided another focus, I’ve joked about it being like having a baby, which of course it isn’t, but it is something that needs attending too and that had been good for me.img_5283

HOME

I had three things that were all about focussing on the flat..

  • Decoration. In 2016, I need to paint the bathroom, bedroom and living room again. I’d like to tackle the bathroom before June but the other rooms will have to wait until I have full use of my foot again!
  • De-clutter. I want to have another clear out of the cupboard of doom and have a serious look at what’s in the kitchen.
  • Deep cleaning. I will assign a weekend every three months to deep clean the flat. In this weekend I will scrub the floors, clean the oven and windows and all that stuff I’m not good at remembering to do!

I think I did really well in the first half of 2016; January was a mouse fuelled whirlwind of cleaning, mopping and generally being worried about the vermin. That lead to a natural declutter of the kitchen and I did have another clear out the bedroom in September time. The other work on the flat was held off because May to October was mostly all about the allotment and Winter is not a good time to paint the flat. I do really need to get to it in 2017, all the rooms, so if I have to take a week of work to get it done next year, so be it. I have done more deep cleaning but not as much as I planned, but the daily things are all done and 2016 raised the bar for what I consider tidy. Generally, when I look around and think that the flat is really messy most normal people point out that it isn’t (that’s everyone except my mother!).

DSCF5044FINANCE

My major goal this year with money was to face it head on and the goals were all about that. Here were the goals…

  • Tracking. I’ve been using a spreadsheet, that Ma (the queen of the spreadsheets!) helped me set up. It tracks what goes in and out of my bank account and what’s left. It also helps me plan for the year. In 2016, I will be consistent about using it.
  • Food Budget. This one is already in play, in 2016 I will set a food budget of £15 a week and I will record my spending and eating on this blog each Tuesday. Any money I don’t spend each week will go into the change jar, which is sealed and won’t be opened until 1st December 2016.
  • Overdraft. I have one and I want it gone, so I will pay it off in 2016.
  • Credit Cards. I won’t use them in 2016. I reserve the right to use them in an emergency but I can’t plan for those…

So generally, it’s been good which is not to say that it’s been easy or that I met those targets. My big successes were the food budget and the tracking, which are ingrained now, ask me about last week, when I misread or mistyped a 3 as a 2 and my determination to work out where the hell the missing penny was! The penny wasn’t the issue, the money was. There have been some things that have thrown me off track with the targets for the overdraft and credit card spending. They came down to the allotment (yep that again), work mucking up my travel loan not once but twice and have left me paying them back more money that I planned and me not being as disciplined as I could be. So I’ve paid off half the overdraft (and it’s costing me less than £4 a year) and I’ve worked out that I’ve spend less than a quarter of a months salary (net) on my credit cards this year. This is a huge improvement on 2015. It’s not perfect, I’m not perfect but it’s a huge leap in the right direction.

My spending generally is more considered and less spontaneous although I’m a nightmare in a garden centre nowadays. The £15 food budget has been mostly met and I’ll talk about that in more detail tomorrow.

IMG_3249BODY AND MIND

Physically my major issue was recovering from the osteotomy and feeling good. Here were the targets…

  •  Walking. Walking more was a game changer for me in 2015 and I want to get back to that, obviously that will depend on how my foot recovery goes. So I need to have small, long term goals for this, a) by the end of March 2016, I would like to be walking either to work from Paddington Station OR from work to Paddington Station, that’s about 35 minutes a day. b) by the end of June 2016 I would like to be walking both ways and getting my 10,000 steps a day.
  • Body Balance. I love doing this when I do and my work gym membership resumes in July. So I’d like to go to one class a week in July and August and then resume 2 classes a week from September.
  • Yoga. The evening routine is good for me so by the end of February, I want to be doing this at least twice a week.
  • Volunteering. I want to start attending the volunteer allotment days in June and this year use the two CSR days work gives me. I’m sure that my Mum can find a use for me either at the foodbank or the homeless project!
  • Books. The 12 book target was good but restrictive last year, I’m going to give myself a bit more leeway and have 24 books this year.
  • Work Uniform. This year I want to have a work uniform, but not use it as an excuse for buying more stuff. I need to wear office clothes 4 days a week so I will create 6 outfits for work make sure that 4 of them are clean and ready to go for Monday morning.

Some of these were really successful. The work uniform was a genuis idea and has made mornings so much easier. The book target – I bought 23 books this year. I got lots of books free or borrowed from the library, I also did really well at Barter Books in April because I bought books to trade and got a £20 credit. I have a different mindset about when I need a book now and am deferring gratification a bit but I still have a ridiculous TBR pile and I need to work on that next year. I did more volunteering in 2016, the Ealing Half Marathon, the allotments, I also did less formal volunteering with my various babysitting duties (which worked well for me, weekend in Paris, Match of the Day watching and so on!). I want more of that next year. The walking and the body balance got abandoned because my foot wasn’t up to it and my breathing wasn’t up to the polution, the yoga was more sucessful but not as regular as I could have been. Other than the goals, there were two other things that had a real impact on my heath and wellbeing. First was the the allotment (it really did effect everything in my life!) there was a point last month where I was shovelling woodchip into a wheelbarrow realised that this wasn’t nearly as tiring as it had been in May, so physically it’s good for me and mentally, I don’t know if it’s the happy microbes, the community, being out in the ‘fresh’ air or eating so many courgettes but it makes me a more cheerful balanced person and that is a good thing. The second thing was finally getting a confirmation of asthma. Not a cough, not acid reflux, asthma. I have had some awful colds this year and all but one triggered horrible coughing hell, I thought I had asthma, everything I read suggested I had mile adult onset asthma and I also am in the perfect group for it; history of family with ENT issues, check; live in a city with bad air quality, check; perimenopausal, check; coughing when I catch a cold, check; hayfever, check. It was frustrating and scary but the best news is that it’s fixed! Hopefully, I’ll be healthier in 2017.

20140521-092208.jpgWord for the year

I chose authentic because I wanted to work on being honest about who I was and valuing myself and my interactions with others. Which I believe I did, and it was easy to do because for lots of reasons, I really like myself and my life and it’s mess and imperfection and ability to cope with 36 courgettes in one week and not throw any of them away!

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The Night Before Christmas

Posted on December 24, 2016 by nicdempsey

If you’ve been around for a couple of years, you’ll know that this goes up on Christmas Eve.

I’ll add my wishes for a happy Christmas to all the boys and girls from Satchmo..

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Friday Links

Posted on December 23, 2016 by nicdempsey

Happy Friday! and Happy Christmas Eve Eve! I’m so glad to finally get to Christmas and a couple of days off work and routine!

There probably won’t be links next week, unless something else truly dreadful happens, so I’m going to be optimistic and say see you next year!

On the genuis of Stevie Wonder.

Trump can’t protect the US from foreign enemies because he’s too busy targeting domestic ones. Interesting…

Homeless and working. This is wrong. It’s wrong.

Why “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” became an annual controversy about date rape and consent. I totally get why people find it problematic, I still love it and it’s a song.

This was interesting. Working-Class Parents’ Investment in “Self-Reliance” Is Working Against Their Best Interests. I wonder if that translates to the UK, given that we have better maternity leave provisions. But mostly, what the hell is up with Americans and their fear of government?

Honest Christmas cards.

7 things to know about the winter solstice.

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Ginvent Pop Up

Posted on December 21, 2016 by nicdempsey

Every year for the last 5 the Gin Foundry has put together a ginvent calendar. 24 different gins to taste from the 1st to the 24th December. It’s a marvellous idea, one year I’m going to get one for December.

For those of us not able to drop £120-ish on the calendar, last weekend there was a Ginvent pop-up at Vinyl Records in Poland Street. They had lots of stuff going on but the thing that caught my eye was the speed tasting. 2 hours, six gins from the calendar, with each of the brands given 7 minutes to tell you about their gin and the best way to drink it. As they said, you won’t find love but you might find a new favourite gin!

On getting there we were given a gin and tonic. This was actually one of the gins we were tasting, the ginvent gin. They make a new one for the calendar each year. The serve was fever tree tonic with orange and clove. I didn’t mind it (Ma was not that keen!)When Olivier came to tell us about his baby, he talked about Christmas and the chocolate, cherry and licorice tastes. It’s cold distilled, the botanicals (amongst others) are star anise, kaffir lime leaves, elderberry, black cherry, cinnamon, clove, and chocolate. Straight up, the chocolate really came through, with water the licorice really stood out. We also tried it as a negroni with additional chocolate distillate that was left over from making the gin. I could see how it might work with a bitter less bitter than Campari (I habitually make mine with Aperol) but the chocolate didn’t quite work for me, although part of me wonders if its a use for the cocoa eau de vie that I bought back from Cote d’Ivoire ages ago! I like strong junipery gins, so this isn’t one that I’ll rush out to buy but it was very interesting.img_5579Strane is a Swedish gin. Made about 130km north of Gothenberg, it’s a London Dry that comes in three expressions, Merchant Strength (47.4%), Navy (57.1%) and Uncut (75.3%). img_5587It’s made by whiskey producers, so they make three gins, junipery, citrusy and herbal and blend them to get the taste they want. This means that each of it’s expressions has a different botanical profile. We tried the Merchant Strength. It was fine on it’s own but I really liked it with tonic.

Makar Gin was a gin I had never heard of before. It’s made in Glasgow (Makar is Scots for poet) and we tried the Old Tom. img_5589Old Tom is getting more popular nowadays, it’s an old style gin, sweeter and easier to drink straight. I liked it. It was quite floral which I often struggle with but I could have quite happily drunk this straight or, given it’s 43% ABV, cut with water. The Makar suggested serve was with fever tree elderflower tonic and an orange garnish and I could se that working but I also liked this one with the straight tonic.

I had at least heard about Tarquin’s gin before Saturday. It’s Cornish, made in small batches (220 bottles a time), using really old fashioned methods (hello heating the still with a naked flame!). img_5590The tonquin (42%) is more floral at the end but the Seadog which is navy strength (57%) is much warmer and spicy. I liked them both but would go for the Seadog if I had to pick. I had a Seadog gin and tonic later and it was marvellous!

I was less impressed with the other two gins The Pinkster and the Bishops Gin. I love gin but I accept that it’s a marmite spirit, you like the juniper and botanicals or you drink vodka. I think that these two are towards the more neutral end of the spectrum for those vodka drinkers. The Pinkster is a straight London Dry gin made with five botanicals, that has a maceration of raspberries and another three botanicals added afterwards. Which makes it pink. I didn’t get that much of anything off it served straight and found it too sweet with tonic. The suggested serve is with ‘slapped’ mint and it made it better to drink but this is something I’ll suggest for people who aren’t keen on gin.  They also bottle and sell the raspberries after they’re done and I did have the thought that this gin with some mint would probably make a good (and pink) fizz cocktail – perfect for Valentines Day and weddings – with the raspberry at the bottom.img_5583The Bishops Gin has nasturtium as one of it’s nine botanicials but but I didn’t taste that. We started with the guy who made it, telling us that he didn’t like gin, which is not really anyway to sell it to a bunch of gin obsessives but onto the gin. It’s a very smooth London Dry bottled at 40.9% ABV and is clearly designed for ‘gin and….’ people. It smelt like petrol (I wasn’t the only person who reached for that as a descriptor) and was shown to best advantage when mixed with fever tree mediterrean tonic.

This was such a brilliant afternoon, I’m really hoping that they do it again next year because it was educational and a great way to taste and learn about some new gins..

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Food and Budget Update: 10/12 to 16/12/2016

Posted on December 20, 2016 by nicdempsey

This is the penultimate food and budget update for the year, I’m not going to monitor the last week of the year which includes Christmas because rules relax for Christmas!

SHOPPING

Shopping was mostly all done at Lidl with a short stop at Tescos and Sainsburys it came to £13.71. I got everything on the list, plus pasta, black pudding and pears.

FOOD

I was out early on Saturday, breakfast was coffee and an apricot pastry. Lunch was hummus and vegetables and dinner was chilli at Justin and Sarah’s.

Sunday was a lazy day, I ate eggs and black pudding for breakfast and again for dinner. I also cooked pulled pork in barbeque sauce but didn’t really eat much of it!img_5554Monday’s breakfast was fruit and lunch was pulled pork and mashed potatoes with some vegetables.img_5556Dinner was pulled pork in a tortilla, I feel it would giving it a far too elevated status to call it a taco! There was extra vegetables too.img_5558Tuesday’s breakfast and lunch were a repeat of Monday and dinner was pasta and mushroom sauce (the mushrooms were sautéed with balsamic and a splash of marsala)img_5559Wednesday’s breakfast was the usual fruit with the addition of a free yoghurt pouch being given out at Paddington Station.img_5562Lunch was leftovers from Tuesday. I didn’t get to dinner on Wednesday, Ma and I did some food shopping for Christmas and had a gin and tonic but I wasn’t up for eating. I did cook some rice for Thursday’s lunch though.

Thursday was fruit for breakfast and curry (defrosted from the freezer) and rice for lunch, I didn’t take a photo of it but it looked a bit like this!img_5485Dinner was a mishmash of vegetables with black eyed beans and an egg.Friday breakfast was fruit and lunch were leftovers from the night before. Dinner was pizza!

 

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Life Happened:

Posted on December 19, 2016 by nicdempsey

I’m feeling that the Monday posts are dull, less ‘Life Happened’ than, life is exactly the same every week and Nic has another cold.

Last week wasn’t all that different. I got up, I went to work, I focused on getting to work early which meant that I got to see a couple of pretty sunrises…I was bunged up and slept badly which meant that lost track of the days and I pretty much ignored the housework, though I did manage to make a batch of mincemeat.

I freaked out about Christmas, until I remembered not to and I played Christmas music in an attempt to cheer the hell up…

I did not go to the company work Christmas party because I’m over having to dress up to spend an evening with colleagues and because I was saving myself for the ginvert pop up on Saturday. The godchildren were round for a last minute change to the Christmas playlist.

Saturday was ginvent speed tasting. Which was fun, more on that later this week…Ryan came to dinnerI popped round the allotment for herbs, I know that it’s winter and it’s supposed to look bleak (that’s why they call it the bleak midwinter..) but it’s such a change compared to four months ago when we could barely keep up with the produce…On Sunday I finally cleaned the oven and then went to Kathy and Adam’s for Sunday lunch  and to hear all about the children’s Christmas concerts (with my own personal show!). They were (are) lovely and full of beans just in time for the school holidays! Poor Kathy and Adam…

I came home and mucked about a bit and got ready for work next week. It’s a four and a half day week but I’m on my own for a couple of days and it’s not at all a problem but I’m ready for the Christmas break, even if I haven’t done any of the Christmas things I need to do yet!

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Sunday Music: What Christmas Means to Me

Posted on December 18, 2016 by nicdempsey

Stevie Wonder – What Christmas Means to Me

Even Christmas needs some Stevie!

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Friday Links

Posted on December 16, 2016 by nicdempsey

Happy Friday. I am so pleased to see the back of this endless slog of a week! Here are this week’s links…

In this week’s ‘Oh sweet baby Jesus, what has he done now?’ segment

What happens when Trump attacks people via Tweet. This is the next leader of the free world, the mind boggles..

The Vanity Fair review of the Trump Grill(e) could not sum up the man better.

The people with Obamacare that voted for Trump. This is fascinating and scary and honestly, I’ve never been happier to live in the world of ‘socialised’ medicine.

Ivanka Trump’s Terrible Book helps explain the Trump Family Ethos

Other stuff

The man who would like to ban abortion in Ohio (and presumable elsewhere) has never considered why woman might have them. Christ on a bike. Here’s a few ideas as to why a woman might consider an abortion, I’m sure there are others.

The cult of compulsory happiness is ruining our workplaces. The more an employer talks about making their staff happy, the less happy their staff seem to be. As my friend Tina once said to me about being a good manager/employer, “treat people decently and let them get on with it”.

Hadley Freeman on Theresa May’s leather trousers and the resulting spat with Nicky Morgan.

Christmas at a Food Bank. I know it means more work for the volunteers (sorry Ma) but look up your local foodbank, see what they need and donate something. No one should have to live like that but as they do, we need to help.

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