Feeling lazy

joanlawson

It's one of those days! This is what I should be doing:

a) The washing
b) The ironing from the last load of washing
c) Cleaning the kitchen floor, which is looking a bit muddy where the dog walked though.
d) Dusting (Ugh! What a thankless task!)
e) Vacuuming the carpets (why oh why did I choose such light coloured carpets which show every speck of dirt?)

But 1) I'm feeling very lazy and 2) I've decided that life is much too short to worry about such mundane tasks, so this is what I will be doing.

a) A lot of sitting around, with the odd trip to the kitchen for a snack or two. I have no intention of cooking a meal today. A fish and chip supper will be ordered later tonight, and no, I won't be the one to collect it!
b) Spending some time on here, which I haven't done for ages.
c) Painting my latest watercolour picture (Venice in the morning light) It's tricky, but I'm enjoying the challenge.
d) Watching "Strictly Come Dancing" later on this evening, and then going to bed with a good book.

I know which option I prefer!!

Joan

numptynora

Well good for you Joan, you have every right to have a lazy day.

Just sit back and enjoy the day

mellman01

yeah a chill out is in order Joan, I'm just getting over some God awful stomach bug so I wont be doing much this weekend, I'm just glad its going now! :oops: :shock:

ichabod6

Hello Joan,

I'm going to have a day like yours, doing what I want to do and not what I should do including some of the things you mention.
I'll end the evening having a pint or two in my club and then enjoy the
extra hour lie in tomorrow morning.
Nice to read your posts again.

joanlawson

Thanks for your replies. It's SO good to be back in touch with old friends!

Well, since my original post, I had a sudden urge to bake a cake! I've just made a Dorset Apple Cake, sprinkled with Demarara sugar and cinnamon. Mary Berry would approve, although I hope it won't have a soggy bottom when I take it out of the oven! I'll let you know, and if anyone wants the receipe, I'll post it on here.

Mell, Sorry to hear that you haven't been well. I hope that you are feeling better now.

Ichabod, I'm glad that you are having a lazy day too. Enjoy your pint or two this evening, and what an added bonus that we get an extra hour in bed tomorrow!

numptynora

Joan I've been wanting to cook something, your cake sounds nice, would you put the recipe up please, as long as there isn't too much faffing around

dreamdaisy

Hello Joan! Long time no hear, I hope all is as well as it can be. I too have had a lazy day (I think many of us have) and I credit mine to the bad weather round here. Dark, dank, damp, drizzly and windy. It's raining leaves too and they are being swirled high into the air.

The cake sounds good, can you spare a slice? DD

joanlawson

Hi DD and numpty,

The cake has turned out to be a great success, so here's the recipe. It's a traybake, so quite large, but can be eaten as a pudding (with a big dollop of cream or custard) or as a cake.

Dorset Apple Cake

450 g cooking apples (Bramleys are best)
juice of one lemon
225g butter
280g golden caster sugar
4eggs
2tsp vanilla extract
350g self-raising flour
2tsp baking powder
demerara sugar and cinnamon to sprinkle on top

Method
1. Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/ gas4. Butter and line a rectangular baking tin (approx 27cm X 20cm) with parchment paper. Peel, core and thinly slice the apples and then squeeze lemon juice over them. Set to one side.

2. Mix butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour and baking powder in a large bowl. Add a little milk if mixture is too thick. Mix until smooth. Spread half of the mixture in the baking tin. Arrange half of the apples over the top of the mixture, then repeat layers. Sprinkle demerara sugar and a little cinnamon over top.

3. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes until golden and springy to the touch.

NB. I found it took a little longer, but it depends on the size of your baking tin. I covered it in foil and baked for about another 10 minutes. Then tested it with a skewer to check it was cooked in the middle.

4. Leave to cool for about 15 minutes, then turn out. Cut into bars or squares.

Enjoy!!
Joan

dreamdaisy

Thank you! I will give it a whirl in due course when stuff is better - it sounds delish! DD

barbara12

Joan some me time is good...must say I always end up baking when I have a so called lazy day... :roll: but it does relax me....mind you I have now got myself a mixer ...

daffy2

Some years ago when my sister was going through a difficult time a good friend of hers advised her to try and remove the words 'should' and 'ought' from her vocabulary, especially her internal dialogue. She struggled with the idea but did eventually find it useful, and I have been revisiting it also over the past two years as I try and get to grips with my OA and OP issues.It's not easy to overcome the guilt thing, but worth making the effort.A bit of me-time makes the tiresome things a bit less tiresome I find.

joanlawson

dreamdaisy wrote:

Thank you! I will give it a whirl in due course when stuff is better - it sounds delish! DD

It really is delish, DD. It's been disappearing fast since I made it yesterday. We've eaten it as a pudding today with fresh cream. Yummy!!

joanlawson

barbara12 wrote:

Joan some me time is good...must say I always end up baking when I have a so called lazy day... :roll: but it does relax me....mind you I have now got myself a mixer ...

Hi Barbara, I'm all in favour of lots of me time. In fact, the older I get, the more I try to make the most of every day by doing things which I enjoy. Housework etc. are a necessary evil as far as I'm concerned, so I only do the minimum I can get away with (sometimes not even that!)

joanlawson

daffy2 wrote:

Some years ago when my sister was going through a difficult time a good friend of hers advised her to try and remove the words 'should' and 'ought' from her vocabulary, especially her internal dialogue. She struggled with the idea but did eventually find it useful, and I have been revisiting it also over the past two years as I try and get to grips with my OA and OP issues.It's not easy to overcome the guilt thing, but worth making the effort.A bit of me-time makes the tiresome things a bit less tiresome I find.

Hi daffy, What very wise advice! I will remove those words from my vocabulary straight away, although I rarely feel guilty about taking as much me-time as possible. After many years of working at the chalk-face in teaching, I think I've earned it!

joanlawson

After my lazy day of yesterday, I felt revitalised today, so I went swimming this morning. I managed to swim 20 lengths of the pool, so I'm really pleased. However, I was with my 80-year-old friend, who out-swam me by doing 30 lengths with the greatest of ease. Amazing!!

daffy2

After my lazy day of yesterday, I felt revitalised today

So you made the right decision. I doubt doing the housework would have made you feel revitalised would it?
Time for bed - seeing the time still showing in BST reminds me that it's been a long day as I woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep. Here's hoping that if it gets stormy I'm already asleep - but with my torch beside the bed!

stickywicket

Hello Joan. Lovely to see you. I seem to be apologising all round this morning as I've missed a few threads on here recently. The cake sounds delicious. I was thinking I must make my annual parkin this week. The full works - black treacle and oatmeal - none of that ginger cake nonsense. We only dare eat it once a year as we do pig out on it. (I might make two though )

dachshund

Hello Joan
it's nice to see you on here again. you do plenty with the swimming
painting and taking venus for walks you need your rest days.
how is your friend getting on.
take care both
joan xx