Yoghurt

I make my own yoghurt.

I have bought a starter culture to make it with milk, and although instructions are readily available on the net, I have not got round to trying it yet.

I have however been making it since a few months with this

and this

(both available from Lakeland)

The receipe is fool proof: you mix a pouch of powder with a prescribed amount of water, fill it in the tubs and leave it in the yoghurt maker for some 8 hours or so.

The powder consists of powdered milk, yoghurt cultures and flavouring, although it is available in plain. (Tipp: I found the flavoured one to sweet and the plain one too sour. I now mix 1/2 bag of each which gets it just right!)

Why I love making my own yoghurt:

1. it tasts good - loads of different flavours
2. it is cheaper
3. small individual glasses = portion control!
4. re-usaeable glasses = no waste
5. purchasing/carrying/expiry date no problem

Accumulating Stuff: Cleaning Agents

My husband is a typical hoarder.

When I moved into his home, he had 18 shower gels and shampoos around the bath, all almost empty. When I asked why he does not use one up before replacing it he came up with a valid explanation for every single one of them: "Janet has given me that for my birthday the year he died!", "This one, I had with me when I met you!" and "This one is now discontinued!"

We now have about 10 things between us, and although I still don`t think we need 5 half empty bottles at once, I`m satisfied with the progress and don`t ask for more. He`s however still hoarding: "It`s almost finished!", "Reduced!" or "Never goes wrong!"

The other day, I  tidied up his cleaning agents underneath the sink. He denied that we have everything twice, and I wanted to see who was right. Plus, I wanted a less obvious space for our composting. What I found confirmed my worst expectations.

Carpet Cleaner

Okay, we`ve got cats. And okay, one of them was particularly prone to vomiting. But she died in 2007.

for whiter washing

White washing should remain white, I think we all agree on that one. Only that neither hubby nor myself wear much white. He`s got a shirt, I`ve got a blouse. I think that`s really it.

Cream Citrus Cleaner

There is about 5mm left in two of them and 1/3 in the other.

I feel if you find yourself buying the same things that often because you don`t know what you`ve got, its definitely a symptom of you having too much stuff.

I also found an impressing number of bottles which were empty. They were binned, otherwise, I put the almost full ones to the back and the almost empty ones to the front and asked hubby not to replace anything until those at the back are used up, too. I guess that`ll take us a few years...

Bra Size

Approximately 80% of all women wear the wrong bra size, leading to back pain, ill fitting clothes and low body confidence. Make sure that you are not one of them!

Most department stores (Marks and Spencer, Debenhams) do now offer a free bra fitting service, with no obligation to buy. It`s quick and easy and should not take more than five minutes!

 

You`ll really feel the difference when you wear the right size of bra, and it does not even need to be an expensive one!

Also: Buy your bra so the hook fits the outer hole, not the inner one (even though this may feel better as it feels a size smaller...). As the bra stretches over time, you can still wear it by simply using a tighter hole at the back!

 

Simplify

My interest in de-cluttering my life and minimising material possessions is fairly new, and therefore I was especially excited to be able to receive an advance copy of the e-book "simplify", for sale here as of today, and review it.

The 77-page e-book has been written for myself, the sceptical newbie who feels that she has too much "stuff" in her life but doesn`t yet know how and where to start reducing it.

Becker shows how and why, his tips are general enough to apply to anyone while "deep" enough to be of use to everyone. Not everybody has, like the author, two young children, but everyone has a kitchen (which is usually full of clutter).

After the tidying up and decluttering is sorted, our shopping habits are examined and the money saved through changing them (and time saved on organising and tidying "stuff) planned for more meaningful things: "Spend your money on things which you value more than material belongings."

Elsewhere, I have read that experiences (such as a foreign holiday) give much more pleasure than material belongings, and I believe that this is true. Belongings are a wonderful thing, but I think if we have too many, we no longer value them as much. I`ll definitely continue to reduce.

I would have loved to read more about how the Becker family has experienced the process of decluttering, but personal experiences and more hints and tipps are available plentifully in the author`s blog http://www.becomingminimalist.com/

Media Fast

A fellow blogger is doing it for lent. And a book has recently recommended I do it, too: A media fast. A day, a week or a month without television, radio, newspaper, magazines and... internet and mobile phone.

Up until the "..." the thought appealed. I, too, feel overwhelmed by the flood of media available to me. I listen to the radio in the morning and in the car, but otherwise I have little time to read all the papers in the office and at home, browse the magazines in the staff room and read those which I subscribed to. Or watch a TV programme without being on the internet at the same time (as I`m actually doing right now).

I think it would do me good to do without television, radio, paper and magazines for a while. But no internet? I couldn`t imagine it for even one day*, which would probably make me the ideal person to follow a media fast.

* I can to it when on holiday. Always, and usually without thinking about it.

Competitions and Free Stuff

My husband is wonderful at winning competitions. Last year, hubby made a limerick for a local radio station, recited it live on air and got two cards for a comedy club in Edinburgh. The other day, he emailed at around 11pm on the closing date and we are now one of only 10 couples to go to a "gin experience" in a swanky-looking bar in Edinburgh:

"Craig will teach you how to mix a cocktail at home and tell you a little more about the delights of gin, in what is a relaxed but 'gintelligent' evening. You will leave with a complimentary bottle of Martin Miller's and a hardback book." Sounds wonderful!!

I usually don`t bother entering at all unless the price is something I really want, but I wrote to here and was delighted to be one of the first 50! I`ve discovered the website only weeks ago, when I started to become interested in minimalism, and I find it ever so inspiring! I`m absolutely delighted to get the book and talk about it in my blog!

At Christmas, I entered another competition and won - a life coaching session! What an interesting price this was! Although there was an option to sign up for more, there was no pressure, and the lifecoach did ensure that the one session was a closed one and I had something to go home with.

I like winning experiences as it`s usually things you wouldn`t otherwise do.

If you don`t enter you don`t win!

Clutter

Independently from these latest developments, I had started to think about CLUTTER recently.

The clutter in my house, the clutter in my life. We have accumulated so much stuff. Sometimes, I don`t even know what we`ve got because we have so much. So much stuff that I no longer appreciate it and it distracts from what really matters.

I`ve made a few half-hearted attempts to tidy up and part with things, but every corner I had cleared appeared to inspire hubby to purchase more stuff and fill those corners once again. I was fighting a losing battle. I didn`t know where to start and how to maintain.

I then read here about dedicating just 15 minutes a day to decluttering. There is no need to do the whole house in a day. After all, it took years for it to become like this. Just a corner a day, a drawer, a top of one cupboard. Do just that, but do it properly.

I`ve half-heartedly begun at the beginning of the year and then wholeheartedly continued about a week ago. I`m now starting to reap the benefits.