Dinner, 14/5/17: Sausages, Oven Potatoes, Green Beans

Book 41: Some Luck, Jane Smiley

This is the first in a trilogy following a single family through 100 years. I enjoyed it, and quite liked the interesting way of telling the story - one chapter per year, regardless of whether it was a particularly significant year or not, often told from the point of view of small children. But I'm not sure if the device will carry on working through the other two books - I guess I'll see as I've ordered the second one.

Dinner, 13/5/17: Ribs, Jacket Potatoes, Asparagus

(Rib recipe, Good Food Magazine)

May Declutter, Day 13: 13 items, 91 total

...I always go through my jewellery during the declutter to see if there are things I don't ever wear - I have things I rarely wear, but here are some I simply never wear. 

All off to the charity shop in small baggies for someone else to find and hopefully wear!

Dinner, 12/5/17: Asian steamed chicken dumplings with spiralized vegetables (Spiralize Every Day)

We really liked this when we had it before - and this time everyone was home, so it was a good time to have it. 

May Declutter, Day 12: 12 items, 78 total

Some more things from Sarah's cupboard - a stationery set she got as a child and never used (she confessed, she didn't want to use it because it was so nice all in a set and once you use it...well, you get the idea), an old tablet case, a working watch which is no longer her tyle, a pencil case, a money box.  

And a few more stuffed toys of various sorts.

This is a leather jacket which is a bit small for her and has a torn lining, plus a scarf she doesn't wear.

This one is from my wardrobe -it's a leather coat I bought in a charity shop for very little, but it's just too big. Which is too bad - if it were a size smaller, it would make me look all matrix-y, but instead, it's just too big.

And finally, a single snowflake earring. Sometimes I keep single earrings in case I find the other one, but this has been single since Christmas, so I don't think it's going to happen.

May Declutter: Day 11. 11 items, 66 total.

Today's incredibly thrilling offering: a pile of 11 padded envelopes. I tend to save them when I get things in the post, but then I don't send nearly as many things as I receive, so I always have extras and they take up more and more space in the cupboard... So I've thinned it down, still keeping an assortment of shapes and sizes to send things in. 

May Declutter, Day 10: 10 items, 55 total

A few more items from Sarah's room - a few commemorative bears from various places and events. 

And a pile of books going to the charity shop. Books leave the house regularly (as well as enter it!) through the year, but if they go during May, they get counted in the declutter.

Dinner, 9/5/17: Mac & Cheese with Spinach and Bacon

Almost forgot to make this (was going to do it ahead, as Tuesday is often a problematic evening for meals) - ended up doing it in the morning while eating breakfast and packing lunches - it's the Mum trifecta - preparing all three meals of the day at one time!

May Declutter, Day 9: 9 items, 45 total

Two craft related items I never use (parts of a needle felting kit) and a clear-out of the dressing up box give me todays items. I still have some stuff in my dressing up box, but aside from a small handful of Hallowe'en related stuff, it's all stuff I might use if called upon to dress up for a Book Day or simliar at school (i.e. mostly witch or pirate stuff). You might be thinking the Hawaiian lei could be useful, but we have quite a few and this one is the most beat up and least pretty of the lot.

Dinner, 8/5/17: Pizza with Courgettes and Red Pesto

Having three - yes three - opened jars of red pesto in the fridge, I really needed to do something with red pesto. So, a basic pizza dough, red pesto for the sauce, thinly sliced courgettes, cheese on top -hey presto!

May Declutter, Day 8: 8 items, 36 total

Some items from a desk drawer, 

5 small stuffed toys from Sarah's room, which we actually tidied a little while back, but the stuff is still hanging around waiting to go to the charity shop, so it can form part of the declutter...

Dinner, 7/5/17: Bombay Potato Fritatta (Good Food Magazine)

This was great. Really liked the Bombay Potatoes (cooked with turmeric) in it, as well as the other Indian spices. Will definitely do it again. And maybe some of the other fritatta variations from the same article.

May Declutter, Day 7: 7 items, 28 total

Can you tell I've moved to under the sink for sorting things out?  Some old dustcloths which are a lot skankier than they look in this photo - a couple of old sponges, same. We still have loads, of course.

Dinner, 6/5/17: Tacos

Family favourite. Of course.

May Declutter, Day 6: 6 items, total 21

A pile of recipts and instructions for stuff we no longer own/which has gone out of warranty; the wrong kind of sewing machine lightbulb, an old phone case which is a little broken, random CD, two lids to jars I am now using for pencils. 

Dinner, 5/5/17: Sticky Sesame Chicken with Rice & Pak Choi (John Whaite)

This is from the excellent book Perfect Plates in Just Five Ingredients, which we like a lot. Not all the recipes are quick necessarily, but all are simple. And many - the ones we've tried anyway - are tasty, too.  The pak choi was my addition, so technically we had six ingredients...

Book in

This is a book I ordered on the recommendation of my cousin Terry, who really loves the author. We were talking about humourous novels (I find the humourous novel a tricky thing, and have low tolerance for ones which try to hard to be funny. On the other hand, I do really love it when one succeeds without going over the top. But I digress...) and she recommended this author, who I was not familiar with. So I thought I'd give it a try. We'll see (eventually - it may, of course, take some time to read)!

May Declutter, Day 5: 5 items, 15 total

Another day with little clusters - some dead pens, bits of erasers, pen lids with no bottoms, broken stuff, dead emery board. Love the junk drawer...

Book 40: The Devil in the Marshalsea by Antonia Hodgson

An exellent historical thriller, very atmospheric and well plotted. Really enjoyed this one, despite the realistically unpleasant depiction of a (pre-quaint-Dickensian) debtors' prison.