“Have nothing in your house...”

...that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful'. Said William Morris and I couldn't agree more.

I am a frugal person both by nature and by upbringing (frugal, mind you, not cheap), and there are some things that we don't purchase or use. There's a non-exhaustive list, which I jot down so that I can look in wonder in 10 years time and shake my head at the weird customs of our younger selves: 
1. Candles. Scented or otherwise. Fire is a hazard with small children and pets in the house, and I don't get the hype around them anyway. I store a few that we were given as gifts over the years for any power outages, but to be honest, they won't make it through our next move as a cheap LED torchlight is much more efficient. Plus, I don't actually own any matches or have any other way of lighting a candle. Come to think of it, I should just get rid of our old ones asap.
2. Air fresheners, scented candles (see above), any sorts of home 'fragrances'. Why add to the chemical load of the air around us? Open windows, lovely fresh air, voila. A clean house doesn't need artificial smells. 
3. Sodas and other sugary drinks. We drink water. My husband drinks sparkling, I drink still (with a sachet of cold-infuse herbs or a slice of lemon and some mint), our son drinks water. We drink mostly bottled water because of habit - we lived in countries where the tap water wasn't safe to drink, and we got used to the neutral taste of bottled water (me) and the bubbles (my husband). Since we moved to Scotland, I would drink the tap water but only with some added flavour (not sugar or sweeteners, just something to cover the bleachy-swampy taste of the water). 

4. Cigarettes or tobacco products. No explanation required I don't think, neither of us smokes or ever did. 

5. Makeup. I no longer have a job where I am in constant contact with the media and required to be ready to be on screen on in print on the drop of a hat. There is no need for me to 'enhance' my face so that people can actually see it (I honestly believe that the only purpose of make-up is to make one visible in a published picture, on video or on a stage where the audience is far away so makeup is useful to accentuate features; outside of those circumstances I only appreciate it on clowns). 

6. Fabric Softener. I accidentally discovered (when I had to do a few loads of washing and I had run out of softener) that the dryer does a magnificent job of providing us with soft clothes and towels, no additional chemicals needed. Ever since my pregnancy, I have had a very low tolerance for artificial smells so I don't miss the added 'fragrance' at all. 

7. Decorations. We don't buy cushions, pictures, candlesticks, keepsakes of any kind, vases, pots etc-whatever it is that people buy to 'decorate' their living space. We don't collect 'souvenirs' when we travel. Our home is cramped enough with toys and sports gear (the ONLY downside of living with an 8 years old boy - old enough to play sports, not old enough to not need toys!). I don't feel like spending any money to add to the chaos. Having said that, we do have a couple of cushions (they came with the sofas) and pictures and minimal stuff that other people have gifted us. It only stays if we really, really like it. I have no sentimental attachment to things. I was going to say I have never bought a piece of 'decoration' but I would have lied. There was one notable exception: the Hamish MacDonald limited edition, signed print that I rescued from a stash of frames 'to be upcycled' in my local BHF charity shop. I spent 2 whole British Pounds for it and I love it dearly. I bought it because I believed it is beautiful. Wanna see?

Things we rarely/occasionally buy or spend money on:
1. Alcohol. I have a health issue that means I can't drink at all, but my husband occasionally likes a beer in the summer (I should think we bought about 4 bottles of beer over the last year) or a steaming mug of Mulled Wine in the winter. We also get gifted wine and occasionally whisky or other alcohols, they normally collect dust and get shifted right before our next move, in a massive 'going-away' party. 
2. Candy, chocolate, biscuits, cookies, snacks of most sorts. We almost never buy crisps. My husband and I don't snack (although I've been known to occasionally raid the baking cupboard for almonds or raisins when I don't get to have a proper breakfast) and my son is happy with fruit (fresh, dried or canned), home made smoothies or milk-shakes, home-made bread sticks and crackers. He occasionally will ask to make some shortbread or scones, and we make gingerbread biscuits at Christmas, but he is the only one in the family eating them (or we gift them.).
3. Ready-made meals. I can cook and 90% of our meals are home made from scratch. I bake bread on the rare occasion we eat it, and I occasionally buy some bagels when the son is on a 'smoked salmon for breakfast' kick. I do keep a jar of low-sodium pasta sauce in the cupboard for when we need a quick meal, and during the never ending pandemic misery I've turned a blind eye to the husband getting himself some take-away (he is suffering from restaurant meal withdrawal syndrome; me, not so much. I mostly suffer from the 'having to yet again decide what to cook for dinner' syndrome but that doesn't mean I'm willing to eat the typical Edinburgh takeaway fare).

4. 'Cosmetics'. I am as low maintenance as they come. I use hand soap, shower gel, deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste. I keep a tube of a specific hand cream (Neutrogena Norwegian Formula unscented) because I sometimes react to dishwashing detergent and get raw dry hands. But that's it. No lotions, potions, serums, creams, masks etc. I clip my nails short and have my hair cut once or twice a year (or every two years if a pandemic gets in the way). I DO shave my legs and armpits (with a disposable razor, in the shower), by the way. I'm not a savage!
5. The latest 'toys' (by that I mean technology). I have an old desktop which I baby along; I gave up my non-smart Nokia phone a year ago because the son was upset I can't be on his class Whatsapp group and I'm sporting an allegedly 'smart' Samsung that was £30 and same son bought me as a birthday present with his own pocket money. I have an iPad mini that my husband discarded 3 years ago because he thought it was too small - I don't mind as I only use it as a glorified Kindle and to read emails when on holiday so small suits me just fine. The husband's (larger) iPad is therefore 3 years old and there is no intention to replace it. The husband himself sports a non-determinate smart phone given to him by his work. We do have a third phone (definitely non-smart) which we keep for our non-UK sim card (when you move countries as often as we do, some things do make sense). We have a TV (smart but 'normal') and obviously, Internet but no cable or Sky or any of the subscription packages.

5. Gym subscriptions. My husband cycles for exercise, I walk and do (free on youtube) Pilates, we both swim when on holiday. The boy plays cricket and football and cycles and walks with us. 

The things we DO spend money on: 

1. Sports and music classes for the boy (one of each)

2. Good quality, well fitting shoes for the boy.

3. Good quality, fresh food

4. Books (of the Kindle persuasion for me, the boy still prefers the good old solid paper kind).

5. The occasional trip

6. Good quality (sometimes antique) furniture for the house (this is, however, the first house we have owned and had to furnish from scratch). I was very careful though and for every piece we have bought, I searched and researched and was patient and often bought from second hand shops like charity shops, or directly from people on sites such as Gumtree. We spent a goodly chunk for excellent quality mattresses. Sleep and posture are incredibly important for all of us for various reasons so that's one area where I could not scrimp. 

Product recall...

 So, whilst reading the news this morning, I spot an article about supermarkets recalling products. As I shop at some of those supermarkets, I click on it out of moderate interest, to see if I've bought any of the affected products.

Fortunately, none of the recalled items are on our shopping list, (although we've eaten, without any ill effects, some potentially-salmonella contaminated frozen cockles a couple of weeks ago) but somewhere on that list I spot something I still quite can't believe is possible. 

Waitrose (now, I don't shop at Waitrose but I won't elaborate on why in this post) is recalling some Halloumi CHEESE because...are you ready for this? Because the 'product contains MILK' which is a potential allergen and is not displayed on the label in English. 

Beyond the fact that yes there are rules about labelling and yes I'd like to know what's in the stuff I buy on the rare occasion I buy items that have more than 3 ingredients (we don't really eat processed food, but I also have a moderate peanut allergy so I keep an eye out on things like marinades etc when I buy them for my boys), what sort of person puts CHEESE in their shopping basket and is SURPRISED that it contains milk???? Does it really require an explicit label in English? 

A situation like this speaks a lot about:

a. the 'food industry' that has brought us to a stage where it is, actually, possible to purchase 'cheese' which does not contain milk, therefore making it necessary to add milk as an ingredient on the cheese that DOES contain milk. 

b. the nation's willingness to go for fad 'diets' that require dishing out vast amount of cash you don't have to buy artificial nonsense disguised to look like the actual food you either can't or choose not to eat for various valid or spurious reasons. If you want to eat vegetables, not eat meat, can't touch fish or nuts and gluten make you ill, just for God's sake EAT what works for you and DON'T eat what doesn't. I do not understand why eating the pretend, fake version of the items that they wish to remove from their lives is acceptable (I have a theory but I want to keep this post short). Just stop eating bread or pasta instead of shelling out on 'gluten free' this or that. Eat vegetables, not 'mock meat'. Don't eat cheese if you have a lactose allergy or object to the exploitation of lactating mammals. It's really quite simple. (oh I do make an exception if you make the choice because you LIKE the taste of the 'mock' version better than the original version. but I should think that situation is quite rare). 

c. the scary lack of understanding of what food is, how it affects our bodies and influences our health. 

d. the extremes to which people expect 'regulators' to take responsibility for their lives (this would be a very good segues in clarifying why we are in the current lockdown situation but that's another post for another day).

So, Waitrose, I'd like to know, what do you do with all that lovely halloumi that you can't sell because the label doesn't say IN ENGLISH that it's made of the main raw material involved in the production of cheese worldwide for the past 10,000 years or so?

I really hope you're not throwing it away. We're wasting enough food as it is in the 'civilised' world. If you are planning to throw it away, I could do with a few packs. I can't really afford to buy it at the prices you usually charge but I'll happily take it off your hands as I'm sure it's totally delicious.

And by the way, all the other stuff that's being recalled because the 'food plant' employees couldn't be bothered to wash their hands after using the loo (therefore potentially contaminating tons of food with Salmonella), I'm not worried about THAT going to waste. I'm very happy with all supermarkets and manufacturers just dumping that.

PS. Here's the link to the Waitrose recall list, in case you think I am making this up Product Recalls (waitrose.com)

Only in Edinburgh...

 I was sitting at my desk, finishing my 'what's for dinner' post, when a strange noise distracted me. Sounded like someone crinkling some aluminium foil right outside my window (not possible since my window is on the first floor!).

Got up to look out the window, and my brain really struggled to put together what I was seeing and hearing.

A huge, white, bright, almost full moon is currently shining cheerfully over a massive downpour of what I can only assume is hail. 

I don't know how this happens, but we often get weather so localized that the front of the house is under heavy rain, whilst the back garden is a calm sunlit oasis. We don't live in a large house. 

I'll step away from the computer now, as the little one needs to start his evening routine, but not without posting a picture of Cramond in winter (taken last week-end).

Cramond is the place of my sanity, this past year.

Overlooking the Cramond Island causeway, still submerged by a tide on its way out

What's for dinner?

 I've spent the last year focusing on dinners. I love cooking but after nearly a year of having to cook almost EVERY dinner, it feels like a prison sentence more than something I actually used to enjoy. So I'll be journaling it here for a week or so. I'm hoping that by writing about it, cooking will turn into something I love and CHOOSE to do again, rather than something forced on us by the current closures of more competent eateries.

We do get a Gousto box sometimes, giving us 3-4 dinners/week, but the rest is up to me. 

This past week's dinners were:

Monday 25 January - GOUSTO venison burgers with neep and tatie chips 

The burgers were not bad, but as usual I had to add a salad as there were no vegetables included in the box besides the turnips and potatoes); T (my son) did not eat the 'tartare' sauce which my husband and I thought was an ODD (though edible) addition to a venison burger.

Tuesday 26 January - GOUSTO crispy chicken with curried potato salad and green beans.

This dish was ok, plenty of chicken to go around, but the chicken was going to be very bland so 'doctored' it up a bit. Gousto's recommended method of cooking green vegetables (boiling) is a particular pet peeve of mine, so our green beans were steamed until al dente, then quickly sautéed with some butter and a sliver of garlic. T. hates everything curried, so I roasted some of the potatoes for him (instead of giving him the salad); I am allergic to eggs so couldn't eat the salad either (the dressing contained mayo) but we enjoyed the idea of the curried potato salad and will be making this again with some modifications (replace mayo with set yoghurt and  adjust the seasoning). 

Wednesday 27 January - GOUSTO baked fish with leek Mornay for N (my husband), Teriyaki belly pork with noodles for T., a green salad for me. 

I often end up making three different meals for us in the evenings, because we won't all enjoy the same food and life is to short to eat food you hate! T. still has full-on taste buds so rejects 'spicy' or bitter foods and has a fondness for fatty pork and quick-pickled cucumbers, which he had tonight. I have multiple allergies and other issues meaning I can't eat the noodles, and I am going through a patch where I really can't stand fish (it is actually difficult to even cook it, the smell makes me choke) so I'll be having a salad (something my husband doesn't see as a meal!).

Thursday 28 January - Pasta with turkey meatballs for the boys, a salad with greens, beetroot, goat's cheese and smoked mackerel for me

Friday 29 January: Sirloin steaks with baked sweet and regular potatoes, sautéed greens (broccoli, mushrooms, green beans and pak choy), sweet corn on cob,  tomato and red onion salad. 

Saturday 30 January  - M&S Year of the Ox Chinese food box (with some top-ups) for the boys, stir-fried tofu, marinated with chili and coriander, served with a Chili Miso broth and udon noodles for me. For the record, the tofu was as awful as I knew it would be. It is beyond me why I bought it and was willing to put some in my mouth. 

We're getting a new GOUSTO box tomorrow, so as soon as it's in I'll put down a meal plan. 

GOUSTO chicken with curried potato salad

Stunning skies

 I never expected to love Scotland as much as I do. As an 'accidental nomad' I am usually prepared to make the best of whatever situation we find ourselves into.

Sometimes it takes a lot of work to enjoy living in a country, sometimes you fall in love after the first 5 minutes and then with every passing moment you are deeper and more hopelessly afflicted.

I will write about Edinburgh and Scotland, if only to understand my own very strong attachment, for a long time after we've had to make a home elsewhere. 

But for today, I will just say that I can't get enough of the drama of this country. The mountains (not very tall), the beaches (not very warm) the seas (not very friendly), the towns and villages (not 'picture perfect'); nothing is 'the best in the world' but the combination of it all is always dramatic, always interesting, always appealing, always hard to ignore. 

My beloved husband complains non-stop about the weather. There's nothing really wrong with the weather (he grew up on the North-East coast of England, mind you, not in some tropical paradise!) but to him, it's too grey, too cloudy, too windy, too cold, too wet. I personally LOVE the drama of it all, and the variety. 

I grew up with the extreme continental climate in Romania: bitterly cold, snowy winters (that used to last from November till March), pretty but short transitional seasons and sweltering summers. 

Here, everything is more like an eternal spring. It does get cold (but not like in Romania, Bulgaria or Germany). We do get snow (but not like in Romania or Bulgaria). It does rain a bit (but not as much as in Mauritius). The most important thing is that it changes a little every day (and sometimes several times a day!). I love the variety within this narrow spring-like (to me) margin of tolerance.

I love the crisp, bright mornings. 

I love the days the locals call 'dreich'. I've never seen the like before in my life: the rain is like a fine mist, doesn't really fall on surfaces but sort of hangs there in the air. Doesn't look serious enough to require an umbrella, but set foot in it without one, and 20 minutes later you're squelching in your footwear. 

I particularly love the haar. The cold sea fog that blankets the city. I feel we all move in a Scandinavian fairy tale. The shapes are soft, muted, the world is outlined in tones of grey, trees dripping from child-like stick silhouettes. It's quiet, cosy and oddly comforting. 

But most of all, I love the skies. So big, so deep, so all-out dramatic at all times. The almost constant wind creating dynamic skyscapes. It's like a completely new canvas out my window every other minute.

I love the skies of Scotland. It's very dark still at this time of the year (daylight is very short, but usually bright) but the sunrises more than make up for this. 

I wake up around 6, make myself an infusion (after 14 years of living with a Brit, I still don't 'get' tea) and stand in the kitchen staring out the window until the view changes to this: 

And life is SO good. 

I am most unsettled

 I am an accidental nomad. 

I have been living away from the place I was born for a very long time, and have been moving often and far. 

I never felt like I wanted to settle somewhere, until I arrived where I am now. 

Edinburgh, Scotland. 

I won't be here for long, most likely, so I hope journaling my love of it will keep it present in my life long after I've left. 

I believe this will be of very little interest to anyone except myself so I'll be writing whatever crosses my mind.

I'll post old stories, and some new, and I will chronicle some of my days. I will rant about things and wax lyrical about others. 

I'll often speak about being displaced (not forcibly, mind you!), about not fitting in, and exercise a dose of sarcasm about things that rub me the wrong way.

I'll talk about the beauty of Edinburgh (without many pictures, as I'm not a photographer). About my family (without specifics, as others need their privacy) and home. About small things and really quite big ones. 

I will also talk, when the time comes, about moving, yet again, to a new country (perhaps even a new continent) and a new adventure. New food, new smells, new people.

I'll sometimes talk about politics, and science, and management. About raising a single child, about being a relatively older mum. About loving cats and seeking balance.

I'm doing this on doctor's orders. No, really!

2020 has left me more isolated and alone than I ever thought possible. My GP has suggested that keeping a diary might help. With what, I'm not sure but as I can't really hit the bottle (doctor's orders plus I hate alcohol and all that goes with it) and I'm not particularly fond of antidepressants either, it had better work!

Signing off with a pic of my happy place (the Cramond foreshore).