…in the fight against feeling down at this time of year.
I talked here about things you can try for free to keep your spirits up. Today I’m talking about three things that cost a little bit of money but help me to look on the bright side.
- Making things
- Feeding the birds
- Spoiling myself
Two things I really enjoy are cooking, and eating. I always try to eat seasonally, and making marmalade ties in with that idea nicely. Unfortunately my little Seville Orange tree never produces enough fruit! I buy in extra from the supermarket. Marmalade oranges are only on sale during January and February, so I pounce when they first appear. Making marmalade also appeals to my need to squirrel away provisions for those times when Tottering Towers gets cut off by snow. Shelves full of jams and preserves gives me a real sense of satisfaction.
Feeding the birds is something everyone can do, even if you don’t have a garden. A widowsill feeder will bring interest and movement into your life. So many things we used to put out for the birds in the past either don’t exist now (when was the last time you saw a bacon rind?) or have turned out to be a bad idea, like feeding bread to ducks (it does them no good at all) that it’s better to buy something like mealworms or special food mixtures for wild birds. Once you start feeding the birds they will begin to rely on you, so fix a budget and feed a little at a time. You don’t want the birds eating you out of house and home!
With three great hobbies, writing, gardening, and cooking, I’m never short of ways to spoil myself with a bit of retail therapy. It can be as cheap as an hour spent wandering round a bookshop (which can even be free!) and emerging with a pretty new notebook, visiting the garden centre and picking up a new pot plant, or buying a packet of seeds.
My recent cooking treat was an expensive one. When my children were tiny, I picked up a pasta machine in a sale for a couple of pounds. We had hours of fun making the dough, then rolling and shaping it using the machine, but there was a good reason why my little machine was so cheap. It had the habit of suddenly adding specks of metal or black streaks to the dough. No amount of investigation or cleaning could solve the mystery. A good quality pasta machine has been on my wish list for years, and so I’ve just splashed out on a Marcato Atlas. We had our first pasta last night. I have to say that the experience of making and eating it without unwelcome ingredients is amazing!
What’s your favourite treat?