Oh hello Tuesday! here we are again. I think writing these each week is starting to help me. I find that throughout the day I am thinking more about what I may write about in these posts and what pictures I have taken in the last week. I think the key to increasing gratitude is to practice being actively grateful so this is a good step for me.

Here’s this weeks list

1. Pancakes! I’m not Christian so I don’t really celebrate pancake day in the sense of using up my sweet items before Lent starts but I do love pancakes and often make them on weekends for breakfast (specially if I have visitors) so any excuse ‘eh? Vegan pancakes are really easy to make and I have had a fair few compliments on the recipe I use. It was one (that I use with a few tweaks) from this book. I’m gonna scribble down my recipe here for anyone who is interested

– 1 cup of plain flour (white seems to work best, I have had weird and oddly rubbery results with wholemeal)
– 1/2 cup of soya milk
– 2/3 cup of cold water
– A dash of vegetable oil or a bit of melted vitalite (or other non-dairy spread)

Whisk all this together in a bowl, stick it in the fridge to chill for 20 mins. When you take it out, add a little more water if it’s too thick (I aim for a single cream type of consistency) and then go for it! I just try and use a bit of spay oil to slightly grease the pan and then spoon around a ladle full in and swirl the pan to spread it out. Once the bubbles have appeared in the batter and the edges have started to lift, I flip it over.

I had mine with the following combos of toppings
– hot cherry pie filling and schlagfix (aka vegan squirty cream from Vx)
– banana, blueberries & maple syrup
– salted caramel sauce (from a vegankind monthly box) and dark chocolate sauce

2. Serial podcast – I listen to a lot of podcasts and have done for years. I used to commute for 4 hours a day when I first moved to my current house, so many hours on train passed with me staring out of the window and listening to comedy based podcasts This is the first podcast series I have listened to though (as well as the first non comedy podcasts) and it quickly had me gripped. I don’t want to say too much about it because I think it’s kind of hard to really describe what it is about without going into a lot of detail but I would really recommend it for a thought provoking and interesting listen. I’ve already persuaded a colleague/friend to listen to it as well so I’m looking forward to having someone to discuss it with. You can download episodes as well as look at supporting information at their website. I look forward to seeing what they do with series 2 which is due later this year.

3. I am having another Pinterest spree at the moment. I’ve been looking for inspiration for a new blanket to make. I have the yarn but as yet not a fixed idea of what to make with it (other than “blanket”) so I’ve been saving ideas on Pinterest. Which then leads me right down the Pinterest rabbit hole and I have been adding things to my other boards as well. There goes another hour…

The majority of my boards are for storing craft ideas or hacks, but I also have boards for home, travel, tattoo and clothing ideas as well as one where I pin items I would like to treat myself to one day. This has proved quite a good idea as I periodically re-visit it and see if I still want those items or if they were just spur of the moment urges.

4. We’re slowly working on making our house more cozy. Last night my partner came home with this lampshade which we have put up in our room. I really like how it looks and it makes the light so much less harsh in our room than the one that was there previously. I keep getting disheartened sometimes at how much left there is for me to sort so it’s good to remember what a difference something small can make.

Other random bits and pieces from this past week;

I read this article today. It helped. I struggle with thinking of myself as lazy a lot and worrying about whether that is how I am perceived. The results is that I often burn out while trying to be everything to everyone*

I went to see Josie Long on her most recent tour last week. It’s the 3rd or 4th time I have seen her and I always find it a real life affirming experience. Her support this time was Heidi O’Loughlin who told some amazing stories based on Beauty and the Beast and Snake 2 from Nokia 3310.

I have lots of other exciting plans coming up over the next few weeks as well as a few things that have already happened that I hope to write about here in more detail.

Till next time…

(*Everclear reference only half intended)