Moving into my new home; Modified decluttering

If you follow my posts, you will know I have all my belongings from my 'old house' stored in various places.   It will all have to move into the 'new house', starting Monday.

Big problem.  Old house = BIG.  New house = small

I know it will not all fit.  I remember what I have packed and OMG!!!!

Not just clothes.  Vinyl records, books, videos, CD's with photos on them, big furniture, little furniture, glassware, dinner sets, towels, baby toys (my baby is 18!) etc, etc, etc.

I can't de-clutter like the experts suggest (tried once before) because it doesn't make me happier, it just makes me worry about what I am going to have to do without.

So, I am going to modify the accepted de-cluttering philosophy.  

Rule 1.  Decide what I absolutely have to keep.  For whatever reason.  These items are my number 1's.

Rule 2. Everything else is designted a rating 'number'; 2, 3, 4, etc to 10.  

Rule 3.  Give away/sell the 10 group.

Rule 4.  Wait a month and look over the rating 9 group.  No changes?  Give/sell etc. 

Rule 5.  Continue down every month to rating 5.  I reckon I could live with that.  That should be, in theory, half my belongings.  

I'll let you know how I go.

Spilling on my loved ones

My life in limbo is about to change.

I move into my new unit on Monday.  A place of my own again (if you don’t count sharing with daughter and dog!)   Lots of positives, such as close to work/lifestyle/beach etc.

In the last three months lots of long commutes, not having a grounded personal space (seachange being too far away for daily travel) or a steady routine lifestyle/hours has made me ...... hmmm, what is the phrase I am looking for????????

Sarah Wilson found it ... WOBBLY MINDED. 

This is what Sarah wrote on her blog (I have abridged it a bit).  I identify with what she wrote in almost every way.  (She is vata dosha too).

“...  living with a wobbly mind is akin to being charged with carrying around a large, shallow bowl filled to the brim with water. You have to tread carefully so as not to slosh it all out.

National Geographic

If you waiver and get unsteady, the water starts to slosh. And if you don’t bring yourself back quick enough, the sloshing gathers momentum and you lose it.

This means you have to return to the source and fill it back up again. Which is tiring. So tiring.

To carry the bowl steadily means walking a straight line. There will be scenarios and environments and people that simply are not conducive to your journey. They’re too bumpy or jarring or wobbly. Or crooked."

(My note: or just wrong at the time)

“(So I need to) build up more stability, bit by bit. So I can carry my bowl, full and unsloshy, so that I don’t spill on my loved ones too often. Yes, I’m tired of spilling on my loved ones”.

Big negative of moving? Leaving very, very dear and loved friend (who has housed me, daughter, dog and junk for three long months) who I have soaked from far too many sloshings.  

Today’s posting is for you.  Thank you.  And thank you to Sarah for the right words.  

I am grateful for ....

Here is your prompt ... what (or who) are you grateful for this week?

Me? 

I am grateful ....

... to four very important people in my life. I am grateful to know that I am an important part in each of your lives, and that you know you are important in mine.

.... for the people I have met at my new job, who have made me feel so welcome and who have already shaken me out of the work rut I was in.

.... for winter, because it means that I can eat soups puddings and other things I wouldn't normally eat if the weather is hot.  Also, being warm in bed when it is freezing and raining outside.  How good is that?  

Slowing down the sugar rush - My Baked Lemon Cheese Cake

I love eating sweet things but can get a really negative sugar rush.   I binge on sugary stuff (a party-sized bag of jelly snakes anyone?  sugar-holics anonymous) suffer the mood swings and actually wake up the next day with a 'hang over'!

I have given up on 'Stevia' and other natural, 'low calorie' sweeteners because they just don't taste good; and so they don't satisfy.  

Xylitol, Erithrytol, Mannitol and Sorbitol all have known side effects and aspartame and those other artificial sweeteners are pure poison!

I discovered that if I want to avoid the sugar rush,  I need to make sure my 'sweet thing' is not pure sugar, but balanced with a quality, low-ish GI food- the catch phrase is 'nutrient dense'.  

Examples:

Dark chocolate: two rows does the trick - Whittakers Dark Ghana or Dark Almond. 

Sugar-free jam* and peanut butter on fruit bread is a winner. (See my easy recipe for fruit bread under recipes posts).  

Honey on rice or barley pudding or porridge is up there with the best of comfort food (I add some raisins too).  

Last week I made a batch of my home-made cream cheese.  I use this cream cheese like 'philly' cheese, it has all the good yoghurt enzymes too!  (See my easy recipe for cream cheese under recipes posts).

While plain cream cheese is yummy I wanted to make something sweet as a treat.  

BAKED CHEESE CAKE 

No crust!

I grated the rind of two lemons and juiced them.  
Added the juice to the cream cheese with two eggs and a can of sweetened condensed milk.  (I used skim and it worked fine!). 
Stirred well and poured the whole lot into a pan lined with baking paper** and put it in an oven on 160 degrees C  for about half and hour.

Fantastic!  

It was a bit like baked custard or lemon pudding.  Next time I will add warmed up frozen berries or bake a banana or apples along with it for a really yummy addition.

I also want to experiment with non-cane sugar -  using a similar quantity of normal milk and use either rice malt syrup, maple syrup or honey.  

I cut the left over cheese cake up into wedges and froze them.  Instant Lemon Ice cream.  

Win win all round.   

*Dick Smith makes a good sugar-free jam - don't try the fig, but the strawberry, apricot and marmalade are great and Aussie made.

** I didn't bother cutting the paper to shape, just laid it over the pan and poured the mixture on top - it formed it's own shape!

Queens Birthday - or not?

This is a quote from Wikipedia

'The Queen's Official Birthday  is the selected day on which the birthday of the monarch (currently Queen Elizabeth II) is officially celebrated in those countries. The date varies as adopted by each Commonwealth country, but is generally around the end of May to the start of June, to coincide with a high probability of fine weather in the Northern Hemisphere for outdoor ceremonies'.

I love the thought of having a long weekend holiday.  But having recently celebrated reconciliation week in Australia has made me think about the relevance of the Queens Birthday.

Australia is a monarchy.  Until the time we are no longer part of the Commonwealth we have a day off in celebration of QEII's Birthday (not universities however - go figure).

Her real Birthday is the 21st April, not the 10th of June (today).

Having this holiday in June (the start of the Australian winter) makes little sense .... "high probability of fine weather in the Northern Hemisphere for outdoor ceremonies"  ?????**

From photos.exposay.com

In fact, I am not even sure of the ceremonies people actually attend in Australia, apart from the honours list events and a few BBQ's.

With our varied multicultural society, this day may mean little to many in our ethnic population. 

To our indigenous population, this day, like Australia Day, would not be one to celebrate.  

Not much of this makes sense in the bigger picture.  

Am I looking at this wrongly?


** Maybe it is this day so that we have the closest to an English summers day that we can get!