New routines

I've been having my breakfast in the conservatory in this lovely weather. Waking-up time has got earlier and earlier as the months have rolled by. This morning, Alf joined me on the sofa, as usual, and continued his dozing as I ate and listened to my Audible book Ivy Lane. It wasn't that early (7.30am) but he's a late riser.

The conservatory is more like a 'real' room now that five of the six side windows have been replaced with solid panels. This is the first of the changes to my daily routines. I used to enjoy breakfast in bed, but not any more. I'm at my best in the mornings and want to get going with the daily chores before lunchtime

The second change is regular meals and snacks/ One of the things that began in Southwold, was mine and Eamonn's love of fresh mint (morrocan) tea. We first sampled it at Cafe 51, in the summer of 2017. Even in late autumn or early spring, they have fresh mint available.

I decided to grow my own, a couple of years ago, but all attempts to source a plant failed. This morning, after Mr Ocado had delivered the groceries, I made mint tea using the sachet of Morrocan mint that was part of the order. My elevenses were Mint and Chocolate - what a combination!

The third change is having a weekly routine where essential jobs and activities are scheduled on certain days. That way, I am hoping to take the pressure off on those days when I am tempted to continue working until I am exhausted. Today is maintenance of plants day - repotting, feeding, and pruning where necessary. The extra jobs of sorting out the new layout of the yard and storage of gardening stuff will have to wait until after JFK gardening has finished the borders, and the new shed is in place - early August. Yard maintenance will definitely have to be on a different day; probably one of the days Alf is with the Dog Pack. There is laundry day to be scheduled, and bread baking day, as well as taking over the cleaning duties on Wednesday mornings until October. I also need to fit in a 'walking Alf' hour into five days each week. One of the last things that needs more of a routine, is cooking. Too often, I'm leaving it until late afternoon until I consider what to cook for dinner. It might be time to try more slow cooker recipes, or switching main meals to mid-day, every day?