Eat, Drink and be Merry - but now what?

In the words of the old adage "eat, drink and be merry", we can safely say we have done that during our time off the paid job.  As I write this, today sees Steven return to work after his week off and I start my second week.  It's such a shame that it's harder for him to take 2 weeks off with the way his work is.  

After our somewhat indulgent week, this intention for this week is to make a steady start back on to the routines, with healthier meals and more efficient routines.

Monday needed to start by doing what had been getting put off, you know, the things that would sit in my head for the rest of the week otherwise.  The somewhat boring bits of being an adult and having your own home.  So the pots got washed, the dirty clothes went in to the washing machine, the fridge had a wipe out and the kitchen was ready to receive the goodies from the garden.  I didn't stretch to mopping the floor just yet, after all, teenagers are making up lamb feeds and the floor is often the receiver of some of that!

Thinking about the coming weeks ahead, a priority for me is to have future meals prepped and canned or frozen so that on those days when it's just needed, future Tracy gets a break.

I did manage to meal plan for the week of returning to work and it looked like this:

In addition to meal prepping and planning, I have an abundance of rhubarb to preserve, eggs get on the honesty stall and sell (not to mention eat ourselves), wild garlic to harvest and use plus a lovely and long list of things to do in the garden to keep our food coming for the year ahead.

Last week has been a frustrating one weather wise.  If it's not been raining, the wind has been taking your breath away.  We did have some sun dappled in between the showers but it was few and far between.  It has meant I haven't used the outdoor kitchen as I wanted to, as it's just been so cold.  The warmth and sun will come I know, but the waiting is getting harder.

That aside, let's get on with the day.  Right now, the rain has stopped for now and the sun is peeking through, though I can see the wind is still here, maybe not quite as bad as it has been.  I've already got a lot done this morning and I don't want to feel like I have been at the computer more than I need to (even though I have a list of things I need to achieve today that involve it).  So I'll do that when the rain starts again.  Let's get these eggs sorted and a loaf of bread on the go then see if it's dry enough to head out in to the garden as tomorrow is due to be rain all day.