As it’s Veganuary I thought I’d document some more of our meals. A few people have asked if I’m going to make a cook book but honestly they way I cook is so random and intuitive I’m not sure it would make a very interesting book. I think it makes an interesting addition to the blog though so I keep a lot of stuff either in my Instastories or over on the OUTSIDER blog (link in bio – then find…
One of the things I really struggle with when I’m back in Cymru with the van is the food shopping. My default setting is to just stock up at a local supermarket. This is strange to me because when the children were younger I was part of a CSA (community supported agriculture), or at the very least ordered a weekly organic veg box. My work with Slow Towns (Cittaslow) was also rooted in the Slow Food movement and I loved…
It’s been one of those days that has made me take stock and feel a deep gratitude for the accident of birth that made us born in a country that is relatively politically stable, and that isn’t being bombed. Even today, when things had gone wrong with the van doors and we spent the day freezing getting it all fixed, I felt acutely aware that we still have family who have land we can park on while doing repairs, and…
This is a lengthy heading! But it’s explains what I’m doing so I’m gonna stick with it. If you’re thinking of switching to home-cooked food for your hound(s) the most difficult aspect is probably finding the time. Part of our slow-living vanlife is that I have more headspace for things like this, but I still don’t to want to spend all my days cooking. I’ve found the easiest way is for us all to eat different variations of the same food…
Our grandson Arthur has a menagerie of birds on his farm, including two rheas, a goose, a flock of both quail and guinea fowl, and hens. Apart from the Rheas that have their own field and pen, they all roam free about the farm all day. The hens are locked in at night to save them from the foxes. Guinea fowl sleep up in the trees and bushes to avoid predators – I didn’t know this! Anyway – a by-product…
Our battered old kettle has survived a few tumbles from the kitchen top over the years. The hard lesson learned (and still occasionally forgotten) is to always clear the decks before driving. After one such event the handle had to be welded back on. But I love the stories this kettle could tell, its insistent whistle in the morning and then making a steaming-hot brew. Unfortunately all that remains of our beautiful orange ceramic teapot is this basket which is…
Can’t seem to shake this fug at the moment. It’s the strangest thing. Even as I know it will pass, it doesn’t seem to be waning. There are always highlights to the day though and today’s was this apple delivery right to the van door from our grandson. Collected fresh from his orchard. What a ray of light he is. He eats the entire apple – top to bottom, core and all – amazing.…
Lazy Sundays. Experimenting with hot turmeric coconut drinks (with heaps of maple syrup ??). Watching the downhill mountainbike racing at Maribor, Slovenia and remembering being there to see it live last May when the world was a very different place. Tiny living isn’t a hardship once I was prepared to let go of all the stuff I really didn’t need. It also allows for a slow, simplicity of life that I’d never dreamed possible in our culture that pathologically values…
A slightly different post to usual and I want to point out that I’m not a healthcare professional so this is just my own anecdotal story about using turmeric as an anti-inflammatory – along with an algal (or fish) oil. I did some research on Kit’s lineage (Scottish deerhound x lurcher) because they only tend to live to ten. He turned ten earlier this year and had started to struggle getting up on the bed and getting out of bed in…
As there were so many requests for the Italian white bean recipe in my Instastories I’m posting it here… this is a classic Italian dish first made for me by a Dutch friend in Switzerland, so simple. What makes it taste amazing is the amount of time you can give it. That’s all really. Slow Living. This is the recipe as I remember it as I didn’t write it down… Soak white beans overnight.Next morning drain beans and put in…