July: hump month.

Well July is done, mostly uneventful. I get to pick a poppy every couple of days. 

Nothing good or bad has happened, really. Having a good winter, mentally and everything. What I want is a bit more time to think. I have a lot of great input at the moment. I'm digesting the Blueprint material (investing and being a responsible adult - I should get a will), reading through The Art of Frugal Hedonism (enjoy life not stuff), lots of good podcasts -  The Money, Straight and Curly, Budget and Cents - about what I think of as maximising life. Searching for a change. Probably just bored of routine, even though it's basically working well.

Here are some random thoughts!

I'm going to keep up with my gratitude journal til the end of the year but after that I'll try other things. This blog is a monthly reflection which performs a similar job. But also, praying in thanks to the father who gives me all these blessings. I could follow this through and thank people who are blessing me in many ways. Another idea I like is a shared gratitude journal for my house - if M and I both wrote down things it would be encouraging to read each other's things. Maybe a chalkboard or something.

I'm intrigued by people who chuck in normal life and live without money, or go off the grid in some way, or quit their jobs to be something interesting. I've been in the same place for 3.5 years now so that's when I usually have a massive change like moving house, also it's winter and the days are short and life feels like just work and life admin... so I daydream about being a hippy. But also I'm rational, and I'm going to delay being a hippy until my house is paid off. I think being debt free is more my type of freedom. Maybe I WILL be a part time artist then, or take 2 months unpaid leave each year, or something. I just need to remember this plan when the house is paid off and not upsize for a bigger garden.

I've been thinking about dating, and how it's the worst. I don't know how anyone gets married. So maybe there's a real roadblock in me? But on the other hand, I'm really good at being single. I'm not fearful of singleness. Thankful for that.

Out of the deep stuff: I love the show Grimm! Seasons 1-3 are on Netflix. It's just solving crime and fighting monsters, very mainstream and middle of the road, but it's right in my comfort zone. Very low tension, hardly any emotional drama, a little bit of gore and horror, action and fights, beautiful forests, likeable goodies. Big soft spot for Woo (Asian cop!). I have now bought season 4 on DVD. 

Probably watching too much TV though.

Cello lessons are back on. I restarted practice 3 weeks before term 3 so that I was kind of fit again. It's a thing I'm not sure about. It's so expensive, it's another job to do each day, what am I doing it for, and now I'm getting into kayaking which is another expensive hobby to setup... My house will soon be filled with the paraphenalia of a new hobby every 2 years. But I'm doing pretty well at it, I'm at 2nd grade so I'm working with positions. I just hope there is an opportunity to play with other people at some point. The duets I did with my colleague last year were so much fun.

And now the photo processing where I remember what happened last month.

Meal prep: I discovered cauliflower rice and it's great. Quinoa out, cauliflower in. I'm going to try and buy them fresh from farmer stalls that are in Maitland every second Thursday.

The slow cooker I inherited from Elsie has been getting a workout. I've done pork, lamb, beef and chicken. It works on all the meat. Mum and dad moved in for a few nights while their roof was being fixed and this was some excellent dinner for us.

Had some amazing sunsets this winter. Also it's been dry and mild and really pleasant weather.

Photos of rainbows turn into domes apparently.

I had a lovely flex day when I went to to Heritage Gardens nursery and bought some Star Jasmines and had morning tea. This was a really GOOD banoffie.

This is my last shady section of fence. Hoping the jasmine gets enough sun in summer to grow. I rigged up 10cm wire mesh on the fence for it to twine through. I think I'll plant sweet peas there this summer too and see how that goes.

 Nice big orange butterflies around at work.

Lemons galore! I had a big lemon baking day, where I made lemon curd, lemon coconut slice and lemon delicious.

Went to the Newy farmers markets with JK for the first time. Had a nice lunch, bumped into Liz, bought fresh ginger and some tea and mushrooms and things. AND CRUMPETS! Black Fox Bakery crumpets that are delicious!

Mia brought her dog in to work for a week. It was nice to have Lucy chilling out.

THen it was a farewell for Mia, and I organised it with Jo, and I baked this GF lemon cake.

Have had a newbie with nice little kids join us on our Friday park walks.

As well as Grimm, I watch a bit of Terrace House.

I went to a friend's auction which was interesting. It was passed in. Because the NSW trustees set an absurd reserve.

Project kayak took a step forward. Roof racks on!

JK and I went out for dinner for her birthday, soft shell crab, and free birthday churros!

And my favourite pair of jeans went in the bin.