Living on your own

Living on your own is... not lonely.
It is about independence, being free to decorate as you wish, make noise at any hour, have a series marathon in your PJs without anybody judging you.

Living on your own is ...  expensive.
The cost of living as a single dependant is so much higher than living with somebody.
You pay 100% of the rent, 100% of utilities and the fresh ingredients (which cannot be frozen) you buy usually goes off before you can use it all.

Living on your own is ... eating like a bachelor.
I need to look at a list of ingredients that can be used in multiple dishes so that they can be used on a daily basis without tasting the same - but I just cannot seem to focus to do this.
We all know I am not that enthusiastic when it comes to cooking & I am sure this is why I am procrastinating on the matter.

Living on your own is ... fattening.
The meals I do know how to make are all carbohydrate high and as tasty as they are, I cannot eat them every day.
Vodka Cream Pasta
Homemade garlic bread
Loaded baked potatoes
I feel myself gaining weight just thinking about these foods!

Living on your own is ... not good news for the poor chickens.
I have become very good at eating eggs a variety of different ways. I discovered the joy of making scrambled eggs in a microwave in 1 minute and all I need is a coffee mug!
Needless to say - my cholesterol test wasn't very good when Discovery Health hosted our recent wellness day.

Are you living on your own, or remember how it was to live on your own? How do you plan your meals?

Budmarsh Lodge Picnic

Budmarsh Lodge

I celebrated my 1st day of December leave with a picnic at a wonderful place in the Magaliesburg called Budmarsh Lodge.

Budmarsh Lodge is a 5 star venue who have won the 2014 Trip Advisor award for Excellence.

Upon arriving at the venue, we were personally greeted by a staff member (nice touch) and escorted to our little spot under the trees.

Our view

Complete with pillow and blankets, I could not wait to lie down and breathe in the smell of the freshly cut grass and just be at peace.

Wine on the grass

After bringing our bottle of wine, we were treated to a feast of goodies; scones with strawberry jam and cream (homemade), finger sandwiches. Delicious coleslaw and herb salad with micro-greens grown on the premises.

Fresh breadrolls & butter, cold meats and vegetable quiches. It all went down very quickly!

Fruit

To end off our meal, we ate some of the most delicious fruit I have ever tasted and we left the decadent chocolate tartlet for last. There was only 1 to share - but with the amount of food we had eaten, 1 was sufficient.

With full bellies, we took a walk around the grounds. 

Lakes alive with chattering ducks diving for snacks, little birds flittering back and forwards and a few butterflies made me feel as if I was in an animated Disney movie.

We came across this huge dandelion and I resisted all impulse to blow it apart. It was just too pretty to destroy.

HUGE!

Still waters

We were in heaven, it was a wonderful day to spend my first day on leave.

When you spend a day like this, you are reminded how much time you spend indoors. Imprisoned in an office clicking away on your keyboard.

It has made me more determined than ever to get out more and see what my city has to offer. Where do you like to spend outdoors?

To visit their website or book for a picnic, high tea or a Sunday Lunch , click here

{Travel Tuesday} Windsor - England

Windsor Castle

This was my 2nd trip back to London & this time I got to explore the city with my mom. It was her 1st overseas trip and I am happy to report that 6 months later, she is STILL talking about.

I planned the trip and made all the bookings myself instead of going through a travel agent. Virgin Atlantic had a great airfare special and we saved approximately R2000 per ticket to fly direct to London.

Every week I would sit down and open internet windows for Flight Centre, Travel Start, Booking.com and Trip Advisor.

Eventually everything was booked and we were on our way. In order to spend as much time in London and take a few days off to see Old Trafford in Manchester, we were on a super-tight budget.

I literally handed my mom her spending money every morning and put our food money in my purse & the balance in the safe. If we had no more money by the end of the day, we couldn't do anything else. Working with cash does allow a person to budget so much better - using a credit card is like "free money"

By being clever with food purchases, we managed to do every bit of sightseeing we wanted to do and still had about 20 Pounds left.

This is our time spent in Windsor, a short train ride from London.

I was as sick as a dog (not realising it was the pre-cursor to my bronchitis) but I pushed ahead and explored as much as I could. After all, how often does one get to sight see in such a beautiful little town?

Windsor is a quaint little town with a variety of assorted shops to browse; toy stores, department stores - all there.

Eton College is located in the town of Windsor. Windsor is also home to Windsor Castle, 1 of the official residences of the Royal Family.

The gardens surrounding the castle are simply magnificent - mom and I were speculating as to how much time the Queen actually gets to spend in her gardens...

Beautiful Gardens

I definitely recommend buying a London Pass - we used our Pass for this day trip and saved quite a bit of money on the train fare as well as the few souvenirs we bought.

My Dentist told me I needed a crown, I was like "I know right!?"

Go early in the morning as there is lots to explore around this little town, but if you are visiting London, definitely make Windsor a stop on the list - you won't regret it.

2014 Snapshot

Most people will tell you what a hard/bad/broke year 2014 was - including myself.

Up until September, I was well on my way to successfully realizing a few of my Twenty Wishes. Then a double whammy work bombshell hit and it was downhill for the rest of the year.

Exercise & getting fit took a backseat and I gained 8kgs in a few months.
Besides gaining weight - the additional side effects of not exercising is that is negatively affects your state of mind.

Clearing out my phone and looking through all the photos I took in 2014, I was surprised to discover that work has clouded my mind into thinking that it was all bad, when in fact - it was not.

I heard a wonderful idea on Stacey Norman's show today & she posted it on Facebook. Instead of resolutions, start a "Rememberlution" jar. You write down all the great stuff that happens to you throughout the year and place them in the jar. Then, on 31 December, instead of making promises you can't actually keep, you open the jar and reflect on all the awesome.

I love the sound of this. I will be doing this in 2015, but if I had done it in 2014, my jar would have looked something like this:

12 Days of Christmas - Day 7 {Gift of Kindness}

source

Before we get too caught up in the frenzy of the silly season, I would like to ask you to spare a thought for those less fortunate than us.
While we are shopping for frivolous gifts and wasting money on extravagances such as chocolate - there are people (& animals) out there who are wondering where their next meal will come from.

Ever noticed the man on the street with the hopeless look in his eyes.
The children that sit on the curb net to their mom holding up a sign.
The dog who hesitantly wags his tail as you pass him by. Afraid to trust, but hopeful.
The cat that's digging or a scrap of food in the garbage bin.

Shave R20-R30 off each gift you buy this season (this could be as simple as not buying a card & handwriting or printing a notecard instead)
Before you know it, you could have R100 - R300 that could be used to buy a food hamper, or a toy or some bags of animal food for your local SPCA or animal shelter.

Finances are tight? Donate any clothing or toys - this will cost you nothing & help you clear the clutter!

To make it even easier, you can do an EFT into the bank account.
Here are some links for animal homes:

Vereeniging SPCA

Sandton SPCA

East London SPCA

Cape Town SPCA

Four Paws

Salvation Army

Don't like the options I have listed here? Visit Charity SA to find a charity of your choice


It's something small, but if 1 person made the effort, it would positively impact someone's (or animal's) life.

Knowing you made that difference, is a better feeling than any gift received will ever make you feel.

Think about it....