Nic Dempsey

Sunday Music

Posted on November 17, 2013 by nicdempsey

Pokey LaFarge – We Drinkin’ Whiskey Tonight

What I pretty much want to be doing every night…

Posted in Music | Tagged Pokey LaFarge, sunday music, We Drinkin' Whiskey Tonight | Leave a comment

50 Days Update

Posted on November 16, 2013 by nicdempsey

This week has been a better week, I’ve been well and at work everyday. So how is it going?

Spirit

I’ve signed up to Thankful in November with Krissie.

Week One – The emails have been coming every day and I’ve spent 10 minutes or so thinking about them and so far it has been good for me and helped to get my head in the right place, in fact see the post this morning as an example.

Week Two – No real change here. I am practising being thankful and I think it makes me a happier person. The 10 minutes or so that I spend thinking about all the good things in my life are great for grounding me, so that when stuff does go wrong (this week it was mostly public transport related!) I can put it in the place it belongs, rather than get all ‘this is the end of the world and my life is rubbish’.

Mind

8.30pm cut of for laptop/ipad/iphone usage on school nights.

Week One – I’ve been doing this with bells on. Last week, I knew I was proper ill because I didn’t want to be anywhere near a screen, so it was accidental rather than deliberate. Yesterday, I found the 8.30pm cut off really useful, it was good to put the laptop down and go and do something else, yesterday that was tidying the kitchen, making today’s lunch and taking my makeup off. I would normally do those things before bed but at 10pm, when I should be in bed!

Week Two – I’m finding it easier to get to sleep on the nights that I enforce the cut off, so that’s a good reminder of why I need to do it but on Thursday night I failed and was watching something while knitting!

Bed by 10pm on 30 of the 50 days. Getting up by 6.30am on workdays and 8.30am on weekends.

Week One – So I did this Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and then pretty much didn’t get out of bed until Saturday. So being in bed by 10pm not a problem, I was lights out at about 8.30pm but getting up times, that just didn’t happen at all! Sunday night I started again so I can’t tell you anything about it based on 2 mornings this week. What I have noticed is that I have the to have the wake up light set for 6am and the radio alarm set for 5.45am, to make 6.30am out of bed work. That’s ok, I’m quite keen on Farming Today.

Week Two – Now than I’m not sick, I’m finding that imposing the bedtime is harder than the forcing myself to get out of bed in the morning. I knew that Wednesday would be a late night because I was out. On Thursday, I just lost track of time, I was knitting and watching something and before I knew it, it was 10:30pm and I hadn’t taken my make-up off! However, I got up earlier than 6:30am on Thursday and Friday! We’ll see if that carries on but I’m making no promises…

Body

Sit-ups/push-ups/squats 10 a day, adding one each day

Week One – Started fine, didn’t do anything Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun or Mon. Started again today with 19 of each. Not pleasant but done.

Week Two – I’ve swapped my time for doing this, at the weekend it happens in the morning, during the week in the evening. As it takes more time to do as I add to the total, I just don’t have time on weekday mornings. I don’t really feel any stronger for doing it but I’m hoping that it will form a good base to push off from after Christmas!

Stretches

Week One – Missed Wed, Thurs, Fri completely but started again on Sat, needed to as 3 days pretty much lying down, does nothing for your mobility!

Week Two – I get one set in everyday, before I go to bed, I really need to work on being consistent with the second set. Not sure how to make that happen right how, may it’s something I’ll start to do after I do the squats etc.

So there you have it. Not spectacular but not terrible either!

Posted in Christmas, Goals | Tagged 50 Days Challenge, 50 Days update, small goals | Leave a comment

Weekend Tasks

Posted on November 16, 2013 by nicdempsey

The weekend task list. This weekend is all about catching up and sorting out. There’s a lots of stuff on this list that should have been done last weekend. Most of this needs to be done on Saturday, so it’s going to be a bit action packed.

Kitchen

Clean the oven. Again.
General clean (sort out the recycling and rubbish, mopping the floor and general cleaning)

Cooking

Food prep for the week, breakfasts and lunches
Test cake for Oli’s birthday

Bathroom

General clean (mop floor, change towels, empty bin, clean bath, sink and toilet)
Sort out and clean bathroom cabinet

Bedroom

General clean (mop floor, change bed, dust, general tidy)
Sort out jewellery drawer

Living Room

General clean (sweep floor, dust, tidy sofa, put things away etc)

Hall

Hoover

General House things

Washing (clothes wash, white wash, towel wash)
Ironing
Wash make up brushes
Water plants
Shopping
Back up laptop
Charge kindle and camera batteries
Paint frames for the kitchen wall
Put pictures in frames and hang on wall
Send out Christmas CD’s (it’s not too late to shout if you want one, think of it as my gift to you for reading the blog!)

What’s on your to-do list this weekend?

Posted in Home, How I Live | Tagged "being a grown up", chores, house, housework, how I live, things that have to be done, Weekend Task List | Leave a comment

Friday Night Cocktail Revisited

Posted on November 15, 2013 by nicdempsey

Something with vodka in it. And jam!

Posted in Booze | Tagged Friday Night Cocktail, Friday Night Cocktail revisited, jam, St Germain, vodka | Leave a comment

Friday Links

Posted on November 15, 2013 by nicdempsey

Happy Friday. Today is a lovely sunny day in London, it is chilly but that doesn’t matter when the sun is out!

Not many links this week, the 8.30pm computer cut off is really playing havoc with my ability find interesting stuff to read!

1) John Green on perspective. We all need the reminder.

2) The problem with care for the elderly and inheritance.

3) Review of the National Theatre’s 50th anniversary show. I caught it on iplayer and it was great. We are so lucky to have such great theatre.

4) Where to chill drinks before a party. At my 21st birthday party, Ma hid the champagne I was given in the washing machine because “no one looks there”, so this would put a dent in that habit!

5) Zoe Williams on energy supply and bills. I’ve had a much better understanding of how the electricity market works in the UK over the last 2 years and really, something needs to change.

Posted in Links | Tagged Friday Links, John Green, The National Theatre, vlog brothers, Zoe Williams | Leave a comment

Brain Dump

Posted on November 14, 2013 by nicdempsey

Today, I will be mostly fuelled by coffee and willpower. I had a late night and a busy day ahead, as of tomorrow I am covering for a colleague while she is in Vegas (yes, I am disgustingly jealous!) but I have to start doing some of that work today because it stretches across her leave. I am being incredibly grown up and even though I’m tired (I’m always tired but today I’m working on 5 and half hours sleep, low even for me!), I dragged myself out of bed early, washed my hair (work today is customer facing) and caught the train at 7:19. I got a seat at Northfields, which is the London example of ‘the early bird catches the worm’ and here I am.

However, if proof was even needed that I remain a child with issues, I rang my mother to tell her and get my required ‘mummy is proud of you for being a brave girl and getting to work early, even though you are tired’ praise. Although given the hour, the speech was considerably shorter than that!

The reason for the late night was Richard II. The RSC did it’s first ever live-to-cinema broadcast and as tickets for this production are like gold dust, we went to see it. I’ve seen Richard II a couple of times and this was a great production, the acting was amazing, standouts for me were Michael Pennington at John of Gaunt, Oliver Ford Davies as the Duke of York and Nigel Lindsay as Boilingbroke. David Tennant was good, but I’ve seen him better. Ma liked him but I must confess that I was distracted by his hair extensions, in fact it felt at times like I was watching a man in drag, he didn’t seem comfortable in his clothes, I’ve been thinking about how to describe it and the best I can come up with was that it was awkward. Later on, I as Richard unravels, I felt that he was Richard.

Anyway, I’m at work now so I’m going to finish this and start working!

Posted in How I Live | Tagged early mornings, how I live, morning, RSC. Richard II, theatre at the cinema, what I'm thinking | 2 Comments

Bread Pudding

Posted on November 13, 2013 by nicdempsey

The most popular post on this blog is the one about my Grandad and his recipe for bread pudding. I’m not surprised, it’s a good recipe!

I always think more about Grandad around Remembrance Day, partly because he’s the only person in my immediate family that fought in WWII and partly because Friday is his birthday, he would have been 99.

At the weekend, I had some leftover Milk Loaf, so I made some bread pudding, which is a good way to remember him.

I bake a lot and this weekend I made a carrot cake and 2 batches of bread pudding (one to take to Jane’s who is always asking if I’ve made bread pudding). Both are very different cakes, both are good. Bread pudding is easier to make though and more special. It is a sentimental thing, but I have a hard time believing that my grandparents would have eaten much carrot cake, but I know that they ate bread pudding and my granddad taught me how to make it.

When I was staying at Ma’s in October, a coffee cup caused me to wax lyrical about how special it could be to use things that were used by your parents an/or grandparents. This recipe provokes that same sentiment in me. This is a family recipe, handled down by my Granddad (which he probably got from his time in the army rather than his parents!) and I made it in my kitchen while talking to my mother with pictures of my grandparents and my great-grandmother on the kitchen wall.

Granddad died when he was 83, nearly 16 years ago but this is how he survives, in photos and family recipes and the left handedness my brother and I inherited from him.

What about you guys? Do you have family recipes that have been handed down? What’s the most popular post on your blog or the one that people ask for?

Posted in Cooking, Family, Food, How I Live, Thankful, Things I Like | Tagged baking, Bread Pudding, cooking, family recipe, Granddad, popular posts, what to do with stale bread | 3 Comments

50 Days Challenge – Update

Posted on November 12, 2013 by nicdempsey

I was supposed to write this update on Sunday, in case you’re wondering, this is the last post that will mention my being ill last week. However, it is fair to say that it put a dampener on my good intentions! This is how I did…

Spirit

I’ve signed up to Thankful in November with Krissie.

The emails have been coming every day and I’ve spent 10 minutes or so thinking about them and so far it has been good for me and helped to get my head in the right place, in fact see the post this morning as an example.

Mind

8.30pm cut of for laptop/ipad/iphone usage on school nights.

I’ve been doing this with bells on. Last week, I knew I was proper ill because I didn’t want to be anywhere near a screen, so it was accidental rather than deliberate. Yesterday, I found the 8.30pm cut off really useful, it was good to put the laptop down and go and do something else, yesterday that was tidying the kitchen, making today’s lunch and taking my makeup off. I would normally do those things before bed but at 10pm, when I should be in bed!

Bed by 10pm on 30 of the 50 days. Getting up by 6.30am on workdays and 8.30am on weekends.

So I did this Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and then pretty much didn’t get out of bed until Saturday. So being in bed by 10pm not a problem, I was lights out at about 8.30pm but getting up times, that just didn’t happen at all! Sunday night I started again so I can’t tell you anything about it based on 2 mornings this week. What I have noticed is that I have the to have the wake up light set for 6am and the radio alarm set for 5.45am, to make 6.30am out of bed work. That’s ok, I’m quite keen on Farming Today.

Body

Sit-ups/push-ups/squats 10 a day, adding one each day

Started fine, didn’t do anything Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun or Mon. Started again today with 19 of each. Not pleasant but done.

Stretches

Missed Wed, Thurs, Fri completely but started again on Sat, needed to as 3 days pretty much lying down, does nothing for your mobility!

Posted in How I Live | Tagged 50 Day Updates, 50 Days | Leave a comment

Four Things -Thankful

Posted on November 12, 2013 by nicdempsey

Last week, I was sick and I went back to work yesterday. I am mostly better, the only thing I’m struggling with is the dark mornings and waking up in the morning feeling rubbish. This morning, I have a headache, a stuffy nose, a sore throat and I feel a bit sick. Now, I know that after I drink some water, eat breakfast and have coffee, I’ll jump into the shower and I won’t feel so awful.

However, knowing that and understanding it are two different things. A part of why I feel rough is about not feeling 100% well and another part of it is about winter and dark mornings and how much I would like to hibernate. What I’m saying is that I struggle about this time of year and I’m really struggling this morning. Rather than give into my morning gloom and spend the rest of the day in a slough of despond, here are four things (in no particular order) that I’m grateful for and give me a reason to be happy…

Somewhere to live.

Having a roof, even a leaky and expensive roof is a good thing (two more weeks ’til it’s fixed!). I’ve written about it before but this place, my living here, how I live here is down to more people than just me.

Which leads directly to the people that I love.

We don’t really achieve anything but ourselves. The people in my life are the reason I have such a good life. They cheer me up, keep me sane and make my life meaningful in all the best ways. People are great, my people are amazing (and for the guys not in these pictures, doesn’t mean that I’m not grateful for you too!)

My ability to make cake

This weekend, I decided that the blessing I could give my friends was cake. It is hard to be miserable when there is cake!

My bed

There are lots of other things to be thankful for but right now, first thing in the morning, I’m thankful that however bad the day might be, tonight I will go to bed and sleep!

Of course there are lots of other things to be grateful for, these are just off the top of my head!

What are the things that get you through a bad morning? What are you thankful for?

Posted in Four Things, How I Live, Thankful | Tagged Four Things, good things in my life, lucky, practising not being grumpy, Thankful | Leave a comment

Weekend Task list update

Posted on November 11, 2013 by nicdempsey

So last week, I spent 3 days in bed, hackling up my lungs and sleeping a lot. Yes it was delightful, no I really don’t want it again! Being sick had two consequences, the first being that the house was pretty tidy as I wasn’t really using it much. The second was that I really didn’t do much housework on the weekend. So what did I get done?