Allotment Adventures: The threat of development.

Posted on September 7, 2016 by nicdempsey

I was going to write about the raised beds and the cucumber plant and the gift that keeps on giving, the courgette plants but on the 31 August, Pathways, the charity that owns the land my allotment is on announced their intention of developing 10% of the allotment land to build houses.img_4773Pathways also provides rented sheltered housing in Ealing (in other boroughs as well) and has 54 flats across the road from the allotments. Their plan is to redevelop that site to double the housing and build 18 homes for social rent and 4 for sale on the allotment site. They estimate that this is take up about 10% of the allotment site, they have since confirmed that they don’t know if that’s a correct estimate because they haven’t surveyed the site. The full scope of the plan, so far can be seen here.

I’m keen on social housing, I’m really keen on social housing for older people as I’m going to be in the position of needing it in about 20 years time and I’ve seen the difference that having a secure place to live has made for Ma.

So it’s really difficult to look at the proposals and say ‘this is wrong’. It’s only 10%, its for old people and they’ve promised not to do anything else for 20 years, it doesn’t even directly affect my plot, there are just a couple of things that are niggling at me.

  1. The consultation for plot holders is tomorrow, 8 days after this was all announced and are at 12pm and 4pm on a Thursday afternoon. Each session will hold 15 people. There are 141 plots on the allotment site and lots of us will be at work.
  2. The allotments are a haven for wildlife (some of it much to my annoyance, I’m looking at you, spinach eating pigeons!). The hedgerow is a designated SINC (Site of Importance for Nature Conservation), there are stag beetles on the site too. Heavy development at the top of the site is going to effect that.
  3. The proposals also put a new road and cars coming to the top of Loveday Road and Mattock Lane an area that already gets pretty congested because of St John’s, the St John’s Ambulance Building, the Hindu temple and the parade of shops. Which isn’t good for existing residents or the entrance to Radbourne Walk.
  4. Pathways feels that it won’t be a problem to find new plots for people that lose theirs in the development because there is a high turnover of plot holders. EDAS got the waiting list down from five years to two by monitoring plots and ensuring that plots got used, but there is still a 2 year waiting list. Presumably all the people on the waiting list will have to wait until after the guys losing their plots get new ones, not really fair. And even so, it’s a wrench to leave a plot you’ve worked on and improved for years to go to a plot that is probably overgrown, it’s disheartening and all the help with moving and new sheds in the world isn’t going to change that.
  5. I’m most concerned about further development, 20 years is not very long in the scheme of things. 40 odd years ago, the site was cut in half to build Sherwood Close because it wasn’t being used, now the site is being used and loved they’re planning on taking away 10% ish of it and in 20 years time?
  6. One of the main arguments that Pathways seems to be making is that they need the site to ensure that they keep the community of seniors at Dean Close together. This is a good aim but in doing that they are fracturing the community at EDAS, and it is a community. I’ve never been on site without someone saying hello, being given plants, rhubarb, advice and sometimes compliments on how I’m doing! We have volunteer days to improve the whole site and Radbourne Walk, which isn’t a dangerous dumping ground anymore, a community day to show Ealing what we’re up to and it all seems a bit pointless if our plots can be taken away just like that.

Allotments are under threat because the land doesn’t need cleaning up as a brownfield site would. I’ve always been appreciative of them but this year I’ve reaped the benefits in community, exercise, mental health and food production. I did have to wait for it and I know that a lot of people who started this year won’t continue because they didn’t realise how much work or time it took up but that frees the resource for someone else to try and if we limit the resource we’re cutting people off from the chance. img_4562But it seems shortsighted and wrong to do this, because in a city like London, once we lose the green space it’s gone. If you are local to Ealing, you can contact Pathways about this via email. More information on EDAS and the campaign to head this off, can be found here. img_4121

 

 

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Food and Budget Update: 27/08 to 02/09/2016

Posted on September 6, 2016 by nicdempsey

Last week did not start off well on the food front, the major lesson I learned this week is not to shop when I’m tired, hungry and I don’t have a list. I was £6.15 over the £15 limit and although it’s not a problem for me over the month because I’ll just spend less in the next couple of weeks, it’s demonstrative of how and why it’s sometimes so difficult to stick to a budget. I know better, I’ve been doing this for 8 months now and sometimes I overspend. There is a lot of stuff in this week’s shop that I could have done without this week but it’ll all get used, but sometimes you want a liver sausage and coleslaw sandwich and the £2 you spend on buying the ingredients are the best £2 you’ll spend.


SHOPPING 

img_4848This is what happens when I shop when I’m tired and don’t have a list. I spend £14.20 at Lidl and £6.95 at Sainsburys. A total of £21.15.

COOKING AND EATING 

Saturday.

On Saturday I was underslept and overtired, I’d had eggs and a courgette and onion saute for breakfast/lunch. Then spent the afternoon with two small children, I walked our legs off and then walked up to Hanwell to do my shopping because that was the time that I had to do it.  So by the time I get home I was done, and liver sausage and coleslaw rolls where all I had the energy for.img_4849

Sunday.

I had some melon and a tortilla for breakfast and then went to Kingston to meet Ma and return some sandals that had fallen apart. Ma was staying at mine on Sunday night and we’d picked some salad and some plum tomatoes that were finally ready! So dinner was pasta with fresh tomato sauce with salad and garlic cheese bread.img_4855

Monday.

In an attempt not to feed Ma cake for breakfast, I made a potato and courgette hash which we ate with a poached egg.img_4861Monday dinner was bacon and courgette saute with salad which I put into a tortilla.img_4867

Tuesday.

Back to work. I got a grip on Monday afternoon and did some food prep. This was the food I took to work on Tuesday morning; a small pot of melon, a roasted veg wrap, egg and pickled courgette salad, a piece of blackberry yoghurt cake. As usual this was repeated for the rest of the week.img_4869Tuesday night dinner was salad, with grilled courgette, feta and balsamic seeds.

Wednesday.

More salad. This time with eggs and feta. I chopped a courgette sauted it and then added the seeds and the balsamic vinegar! 
Thursday.

On Thursday I left work at 3.30 with the beginnings of a migraine, so no dinner!

Friday.

Oli and I made pizza, it was a basic cheese and ham but Oli was very proud to have had a hand in it and he ate a lot of it. As he said ‘when it comes to food, I’m not kidding around!’

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Life Happened: Family

Posted on September 5, 2016 by nicdempsey

This week’s highlights:

Tube chaosimg_4876

The rest of the week was focused on the weekend on Friday afternoon I headed up to Watford for some nephew time. It was nice to spend a long stretch of time with them and to chill. They are both lovely, I would say that because they are my nephews but it’s true. Joe is the happiest baby in the world and Oli is just full of questions, you can see him working the world out. Oli and I made pizza, we spent a lot of time in the park and playing games and generally hanging out. img_4886img_4905

We went home on Sunday afternoon and I popped over to the plot, 4 days I’ve been away and the courgettes got massive.img_4910

Not pictured. My freezing cold office, a migraine, blackfly on my runner beans, not being able to use the BBC iplayer anymore and catching a cold.

How was your week?

 

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Little Goals – September 2016

Posted on September 3, 2016 by nicdempsey

Having an August break was really good for me, I’m more aware of the patterns of how I live and where I need to make a concerted effort. So here we are in September and heading into autumn. Here are the tasks I want to get off the list this month.

FINANCE

No specific tasks, just staying on track and being mindful.

HOME

Chest of drawers clear out. The big clothes one in the bedroom and the little ‘junk’ drawers in the living room. They just need attending to and de-cluttering.IMG_3150

Clean the oven. I haven’t been using it much in August but it needs some attention.

BODY AND MIND

Stretching. Every day

Yoga. Reducing the limit might make this easier to do, twice a week.

ALLOTMENT

Clear the water filled tank at that top of the allotment, move it next to the other one.

Burn one of the piles of weeds and organise the compost area (yes I have an area, it’s a mess!)

Clear the peas and sweetpeas.

Put the other raised bed in. Fill. Decide what to do with them.

Get shallot sets and garlic bulbs for planting in October.

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Friday Links

Posted on September 2, 2016 by nicdempsey

Happy Friday! I’m off today to spend some time in Watford, Ma and I are going up to help B out while Laura goes on a hen weekend, has fun without the children and with adult beverages and hopefully gets a much deserved lie in. We have pizza making, football, Strictly and general mayhem with the Dempsey boys who are all trouble (even or should that be especially, my brother!). It’s going to be fun.

Here are this week’s links…

Gut Reaction: the surprising power of microbes. This is fascinating…

Why the Syrian war will only get worse.

A ‘would you rather’ with some of the cast of Brotherhood. I don’t claim at all to get Noel Clarke or where he’s from ’cause Dad was from White City not me and culturally (and generationally) we are poles apart but this reminded me of being at school. Guys just talking ridiculous shit! The whole thing about nail guys for arms or hammers for legs..

While I’m thinking about Shepherds Bush, the massive fire a couple of weeks ago was caused by a tumble dryer with a known fault. Wow…120 firefighters had their life put at risk, families need to be rehoused, the advice needs to change asap

Change of tone. John Green in voting, he’s talking about US elections but most of it is applicable to the UK too

The truth about superfoods.

This, a thousand times, this. If my headphones are on, I’m not interested.

Colin Kaepernick’s True Sin. I’ve been seeing stuff about this all week and I’m still a bit confused about the negative reaction because confession time, I don’t stand when they play ‘God Save the Queen’. The negative reaction seems to be mostly because Kaepernick is black although that’s been called into question as way to delegitimize him. You can’t really put that aside, but whatever the colour of your skin, exercising the right of free speech that your country grants you to protest about something that you believe is wrong, is the opposite of being unpatriotic. It’s doing what the right to free speech is supposed to do, namely protect citizens from tyranny and question the status quo. I’m always suspicious of people who wrap themselves in a flag when questioned or challenged, to quote G.K. Chesterton

“My country, right or wrong,” is a thing that no patriot would think of saying except in a desperate case. It is like saying, “My mother, drunk or sober.”

 

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Food and Budget Update: 20/08 to 26/08/2016

Posted on September 1, 2016 by nicdempsey

Instead of a ‘lessons learned’ section at the end of this post, I’m going to chat a bit about how the week went because I think that will give you a better idea of what’s going on with me than the lessons section. So this week was pretty much the week of the salad because it was too damn hot to cook. Also Cassie, started the week with 8 salad dressings to make at home, confession time, I didn’t make one of them this week because unlike Cassie, I love salad just as it is, I could and have eaten bags of it like a packet of crisps. For me, it’s not something to eat to be ‘healthy’ it’s good all by itself. That feeling has increased this summer we’re growing it and it tastes better, even Ma, is eating salad and asking to take some home!

Other food things this week, I ate and enjoyed a raw tomato although I still prefer them roasted!img_4808I also became obsessed with pickled courgette, it’s amazingly good and I made another double batch at the weekend.img_4817Finally, I discovered round cucumbers, Mo at the allotment is growing them and yes we do have plans to grow them next year!img_4805And I picked my first homegrown cucumberimg_4828

SHOPPING It was a simple shopping week, I had plans to bake as you can see from the insane amounts of sugar and flour in my shopping but it just got too hot. I spent £9.12 at the weekend and £2 on Thursday night to buy mackerel (not photographed!). There was more of the usual from the allotment. Check out the tiny baby carrots and spring onions from thinning those crops out!  In total this week, I picked 15 courgettes, 27 baby tomatoes, the last of the french beans (which Ma took home) and lots of saladimg_4818
COOKING AND EATING 

Saturday night dinner was totally made up on the spot, meatballs (mince from the freezer),  rice, garlic bread and salad. On Sunday night I ate leftover rice and meatballs.

On Monday I ate chana masala (freezer) with sauted mushrooms and salad.Tuesday was salad, this time with hard boiled eggs, feta and balsamic vinegar seeds.Wednesday was more salad, with roasted tomatoes, hard boiled eggs, feta and toasted pine nuts.Thursday was even more salad with mackerel, roasted tomatoes and fetaNo pizza on Friday night either so more salad!

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What I’ve Read – August 2016

Posted on August 31, 2016 by nicdempsey

Allegiance of Honour – Nalini Singh (library book)

Nalini Singh writes book crack, which while sometimes problematic, I just cannot quit. This book is basically a huge epilogue for the 14 books that have gone before it and I had zero problem with that. She is wrapping this up and there will be more psy-changeling books with a new focus, which was also set up in this book. This is a book for fans and while I enjoyed it, the things that annoy me through the series continue to annoy me and the thing that I love, I still love.

Secrets at Midnight – Nalini Singh (bought)

This is a novella and I told you I had a problem!

Wild Embrace – Nalini Singh (borrowed)

I refer you to my earlier comments, I liked this because I like the world and that’s about all I can say about it.

Rock Wedding – Nalini Singh (bought)

So having established that Nalini Singh writes book crack that I have to read. I read this. The Rock series has for me been the least compelling of Singh’s books. I’m slightly tired of damaged heroines and heros and I struggled with the portrayal of addiction in this, I don’t know if what research she did but referring to it as ‘demons’ made it distant from what is actually going on. Look, I get that what leads to addiction is different for every person but very rarely does the need to get totally out of your head come from no-where. I didn’t have a sense that Abe, understood why he took drugs or had a reason for stopping. I’m pretty convinced you need one or another to quit and be successful at it. I didn’t feel that there was a struggle to really overcome issues for either of the characters and I would have liked to see a bit more depth. Anyway, happy endings and babies all round.

A Right Honourable Gentleman – Courtney Milan (Free)

This is a tiny novella but I will read anything Courtney Milan writes and for the 15 minutes or so I was involved in this it was great.

 

The Unleashing (Call of Crows) – Shelly Laurenston (Kindle TBR – bought)

I tore through Laurenston’s Pride series and this has been sitting on my Kindle for a bit. I really enjoyed it. Light and fluffy but interesting world building.

The Undoing (Call of Crows) Shelly Laurenston (Library ebook)

Shelley Laurenston is also book crack and I read it in a day. I liked it better than the first one and I’m interested in where it’s going. The only problem I have with it is all the female characters calling other women names (whore, slut etc) which are unnecessary, there are other things to call people to convey that you don’t like them that aren’t insulting to all women…

Calling It – Jen Doyle (bought)

I was all set up to really enjoy this and I did, enough to get the next one!

Called Up  – Jen Doyle (bought)

Honestly, I enjoyed this more than the first one, because I liked couple more.

Twisted Up – Erin Nichols (bought)

The twins bought me an amazon gift card for my birthday so I bought this. I love American small town stories because they are so outside of my experience, there is nothing in them that sets me off and I liked Erin Nichols’ Sapphire Falls books enough to try this one. It was so nice to see a slightly closed off heroine especially one whose a fire fighter. I enjoyed it but like I said that’s mostly because it’s so outside of my experience.

Something Borrowed – Louisa George (bought)

I had a harder time with this one because it’s based in London. I enjoyed it but I struggled as it’s set in Notting Hill and while it’s not as weird as if it had been set in Ealing it’s pretty near me (Ma used to work in Notting Hill) and it didn’t quite ring true, what 20 something who grew up in the area could afford a mortgage for a flat so well located who didn’t have parents fund it (and the heroine’s mother couldn’t have done that as an Irish single parent who sewed a bit but was frequently depressed) and they were all more likely to have lived in Shepherds Bush than Notting Hill and then you know I’m off and it seemed like the author had seen Notting Hill the film and gone from there. I did check (because I am that annoying person) and Louisa George grew up in Yorkshire and now lives in New Zealand, so I gave it a pass but I had to make a real effort to ignore it, in a way I don’t have to with books set somewhere that isn’t London and isn’t West London in particular and I know that says a lot more about me than the book..

A Few Bloody Noses: The American War of Independence – Robert Harvey (library book)

It was inevitable that at some point I started reading about the War of Independence. This is written from a British point of view but is still pretty balanced.

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Life Happened: Hot

Posted on August 30, 2016 by nicdempsey

Last week I was mostly hot and and eating salad. Yesterday was the last bank holiday before Christmas and I was so confused I forgot to post this yesterday because I was still in weekend mode!

This week’s highlights.

I grew a cucumber:img_4828and plum tomatoes (which became amazing pasta sauce on Sunday night!)And a comedy tomato because there’s always one.
I baked a cake
Spent an afternoon with the Baxter babies and cleaned up sticky hands with a pair of (clean) pants, a sure sign that I am losing my childcare mojo as I get older because I’m normally never without baby wipes when out with small children.Finally Ma and I started work on the raised beds!

 

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2016 Goals Recap- August 2016

Posted on August 27, 2016 by nicdempsey

I had August off from setting new goals or writing about them. I didn’t have August off from sticking to them. In fact August has been a really good month, which is mostly about having a week off work and a birthday. So let’s recap the big goals and where we were.

HOME

  • 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! I haven’t done any of this, I think this is going to have to wait until after the summer because right now, the allotment is where most of my time and money will go.
  • 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. Kitchen was done in January and the cupboard of doom is more tidy than I thought my current plan is do this when I have a week off in August, because one of things I really need to do is sort out some more suitable storage for things like the spare duvets etc
  • 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! This is going well, the flat is tidy and at time of writing I have a clean oven, defrosted fridge, clean windows and floors!

At the end of August this is all as it was, I didn’t get to the cupboard on my week off and everything in the flat is pretty clean and organised. I did notice that because I am trying my very best not to buy new clothes and to use what I own that the chest of drawers in the bedroom is becoming more organised.  This I think will go into Sept’s Little Goals list.

DSCF5044FINANCE

  • 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. I’m totally on the tracking thing. Still there, I still don’t have any money but I know how much money I don’t have!
  • 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. I’m still doing well with this, the allotment has helped because there is loads of food (mainly courgettes) coming from it so it’ll be more of a challenge as we go into autumn.
  • Overdraft. I have one and I want it gone, so I will pay it off in 2016. My overdraft is still halfway gone and I’m ok with that. It’s been harder to get it down in the second half of the year because my rent went up. I’m going to start trying a bit harder in Sept but I’m not going to be devastated if it doesn’t happen this year.
  • 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… Less success with this target, they have been used, it was sort of a family emergency and I’m not saying anymore than that!

IMG_3249BODY AND MIND

Home and finance all contribute to how I feel about myself but the focus of this category is on health, exercise, mental well being and ease of living.

  •  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. I’m calling this one, it’s not happening (and I lost my fitbit at the allotment!). I will make an effort in the winter to walk to Paddington from work but at the moment, between the allotment and the pollution walking is not happening because I don’t have time and I can’t breathe.
  • 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. This isn’t going to happen. I don’t think my foot is at all up to it and the money for gym membership is for this year going to be used on the allotment. That’s how it goes but I’m shelving Balance and will look at it again in 2017.
  • 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. Funnily enough without the goal, I’ve achieved this in August. It might be because I put it out of my mind but I think it’s more because the increased time at the allotment has made my muscles tighten up and things hurt in a way they didn’t when I do yoga, so I started doing 10 minutes before bed, so that I could sleep and get up in the morning, without shuffling and staggering about!
  • 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! I’ve managed to miss July & August (I don’t know what I was doing in July but it was my birthday for the August one!) days and I’ll miss Sept because I’m in Watford to nephew-sit. However, I’ll be back in October, Ma will probably need assistance at the Food Bank after Harvest Festival and I’ve also volunteered to marshal at the Ealing Half Marathon at the end of Sept.
  • 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. I’ve bought 15 books so far this year (I went a bit crazy in August!)
  • 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. This is still one of the best ideas, I’ve ever had and it works brilliantly for me, although I’ve had to be a bit more creative over the summer as clothes I love (looking at you linen shirts) have got to the great clothes bin in the sky!

Word for the year

I picked the word authentic at the beginning of the year and although I’ve been working it into how I do things, I really haven’t unpacked that here, so I thought I’d do that now!

Do I feel that 2016 so far has been about being authentic? Yes.

The reality of being single in a world of couples and families is that sometimes, even if they don’t realise it, people in couples and families don’t consider the life and dreams of single people as valid. (Like the Christmas I was told that I was brave because I bought a Christmas tree, even though I didn’t have a family of my own!). It’s not intentional and it’s not malicious but it means that I have to define what it important to me and demonstrate to others that although I want to be a friend and support them when I can, I can’t, won’t and shouldn’t prioritise them over the life that I have.

My worry has always been that I’m not enough and that if I’m not supporting others then I have no value. That concern honestly fell away last year but some of the behaviour remained and this year has been about stripping some of that out and not being worried about it. It’s not that I don’t want to support the people in my life as I am supported by them, I do (I’m not a monster!) but I have put myself in the list of people that I need to support. So while I do still see and support my friends, I’m also honest about the capacity I have to do that, which means that if I say I’m going to do something I actually have the energy for it!

Being authentic has helped me be a better friend because I’m not flaky and resentful because I’m not doing anything I don’t have the emotional energy for. Equally, I’ve stopped stressing and trying so hard to be liked, I’m a good person (more or less) and it’s honestly not a problem if I’m not someone’s cup of tea, I like who I am, my family (mostly) like who I am and that’s enough.

So August is almost over and we’re heading into the last four months of 2016. Anything anyone wants to cross off a list between now and December?

 

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Friday Links

Posted on August 26, 2016 by nicdempsey

Happy Friday! And it’s a Bank Holiday weekend, hurrah for the three day weekend!

Be happier at work, get a hobby. This has basically been me this year. Find something outside of work to make me happy.

The tragic story of Sheffield Park Hill bridge.

The new science of single people.

Sara Benincasa explains to an internet troll why she’s fat. You should read this if you haven’t already

“Wine. Immediately.” The depressing reason so many woman drink. Could be.

The anti-tyranny case for the 2nd Amendment. It’s interesting but I’m still not convinced that British government of the colonies was actual tyranny!

The US Govt is buying $20 million worth of cheese. And all I can think is that it’s for a big block of cheese day…

I’m fascinated about the US reaction to the idea of health care and I look at their system and worry that this is what Jeremy Hunt wants here. Because it’s nuts that they don’t even have a way of controlling the cost of drugs.

Canada and The Tragically Hip. I know the name but I couldn’t name one song by them, and although this is about Canada and a moment. At some point in our lives we all have this, this sense that something is happened to the whole of the country. Lovely.

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