Postcards from....not quite the edge

Time appears to be getting away from me a bit at the moment. So let’s take a minute, maybe make a cup of tea and have a quick catch up.

Firstly, workwise: I have an increasingly long list of things to do before I finish my current role at the end of August (this assumes I will take a week of leave before starting my new role in September – and I’m feeling increasingly guilty about planning for that even though I have leave that needs using up before my new leave year starts.) Although I am very good at making to do lists, I am less good at ploughing through them, so at the moment I am just watching the spreadsheet grow with a slightly mesmerised expression.

Secondly, housewise: the estate agent has informed us that everything should go through in about 8 weeks. We have started looking at new places to live. I am trying hard to focus on the positive things as far as possible (the fact that I’ll live with a twenty minute walk to work, the fact that Leeds has lots of nice shops, the fact that I’ll have some spare money to spend in said nice shops). Readers of this blog may know that optimism is not a strong suit of mine and I am spending a fair amount of time wanting to handcuff myself to the living room radiator and refuse to leave my beloved flat. I suspect D is losing sympathy and I can’t say I blame him.

My chimp continues to make loud noises (how can I possibly be expected to think about dieting when I am SO. STRESSED.) But I lost three pounds last week and, miraculously, am on track to record another pound this week. Perhaps all that stress has boosted my metabolism.

I have a couple of recipes I want to post here since I prefer this to be a food blog with a touch of navel gazing rather than the other way round. Also I want to reassure people (hello, Mum!) that I am eating something other than cheese on toast which is my usual recourse in high stress situations. We had a very nice stir fry last night. You probably don’t want to hear about stir fry though. I mean, it’s vegetables and prawns cooked in a bit of oil with some garlic and chilli and ginger and soy. Very tasty but simple stuff and not a whiff of authenticity about it.

Speaking of authenticity, has anyone else seen that Gok Wan now appears to have a cookery show? Now, I am all for anyone who makes women feel better about their own bodies and have a definite soft spot for Gok, but I’m slightly confused as to how someone makes the leap from television stylist to television cook. And probably a bit jealous that there is no such easy route from, oh, say, civil servant. But if any television producer should ever stumble across this blog then I think it is a MARVELLOUS idea. It could be all about austerity cooking – you know, lean recipes for lean times.

Have a lovely weekend peeps – we’re off to the races tomorrow as part of our extended Farewell to York tour. Any tips are welcome below.