Spring things

In the last fortnight, like clockwork, the plants on our balcony started coming back to life. It caught me by surprise because I was sure I'd killed them all. Even the parsley. So is the magic of spring, and with it the temptation to change it up in small and simple ways.

In our little home it's meant some spur of the moment spring cleaning. Over the weekend I sorted through the thirty-odd books that'd been stashed under my bedside table and put them away. Now there's a smaller stack of things I'm reading now and am planning to read soon. Makes me happy just looking at it.

I'm waiting til October to bring my spring/summer clothes out of storage but I got a little head start this weekend, folding up heavy coats and bagging a few things up to give away. 

And I actually put some effort into food prep this weekend, after I edited this story about meal planning. The point that stuck? Scheduling regular days and times to do it each week, and making it part of your routine. I make time most days to exercise, but had never thought about food prep in the same way. I always assumed it'd somehow get done.

Over two days I made a half-day rye bread for our lunches this week, a batch of veggie stock, curried coconut lentils for the freezer, plus and a banana, coconut and pineapple loaf. It felt surprisingly easy... possibly because I've been listening to Dispatch to a Friend non-stop since last Thursday and it's all about finding pleasure in cooking. Also, I only planned to make two things (the bread and the stock). Everything else was a because-I-felt-like-it bonus :)

And on Sunday night, the perfect spring meal that's part winter and part summer. I made a roast chicken with potatoes (I love Nadine Redzepi's recipe). Then there was takeaway Gelato Messina for dessert and Flavours of Youth on Netflix.