Intentionally

I don't really do New Years resolutions.  I have read a lot about people have words to follow for the year and that has always rather attracted me.  In 4 years of blogging however I have never felt there was one word that summed up my hopes in myself.  This year however a word has been going round and round in my head all week.

Now I have been applying this word to a lot of things to do with the way I live and bring up my family.  

I am intentionally vegetarian, I don't just do it or bring my children up that way for no reason.  

I always attempt to be an intentional shopper, finding fairly traded goods and ethical, organic produce now happens on a daily basis on the majority of my shopping.

I have an intentional relationship with my husband.  After 16 and a half years we have discovered that listening is terribly important as is saying what you really mean to say.

It is this last point that has particularly got me thinking.  I do this with my husband, but do I do it with all those I am surrounded by all the time?  How often do I walk away from conversations thinking that I didn't really get across what I really wanted to say.

Now there are times I think when it may be more prudent to intentionally ignore, rather than labour a point which is never going to be understood.  However with those to whom I am closest I do feel I could be doing a little better.  Too often I go around the houses or just stay quiet rather than say what I really mean - leaving too many opportunities to be misunderstood.

So they you have it, I am now praying and hope you will join me in trying to put it into practice more and more.

Vegetarian Christmas Food

 

For the last couple of years Christmas has been a bit different from how we have usually done things.  This year I am trying to get back on track.  I have been reminded by two friends in the last couple of days of my 'Christmas Pie' recipe.  This has been one of the things I haven't done, fishing out the recipe to scan in for my friends (once you have tasted this pie you never forget it), I was reminded that it tastes even better when it has been made and frozen.  It is a recipe that I have been using since the first year we got married 14 years ago, I used to get the BBC Vegetarian magazine on subscription which is where I first saw it.  One task I intend to try and get on with in the next week, is to make a good batch of this, the bonus will be that it fills the house with that Christmassy smell :o).

A time for us (in Paris!!!!!!).

Last weekend, was wonderful, it was the result of a very very spontaneous decision just a few months ago.

My husband had come home from work having heard of a special deal that Air France were doing to train their staff on a new plane the A380 (the super jumbo).  A little search on the internet, a check of our diaries and the booking was made, for an incredible cheap price to.

Here are a few piccies of our special weekend.

Our plane coming in at Heathrow, my husband is a HUGE aero enthusiast and this is the first time he has been on a new plane type so soon after it has been put into service.  The journey was definately his big treat!

Leaving Blighty, an amazing view over Brighton you can see the pier and the marina amazingly well.

And relax, what a treat to find an incredible vegetarian restuarant just around the corner from Notre Dame Cathedral.  After a very leisurely meal we were then able to wonder over to the Cathedral which we were surprised to find still open.  We took the opportunity to light a candle and pray over all that we had been discussing over our meal, sealing our hopes and thanking for where we were.

We were able to linger and read some of the love messages that folk have engraved onto padlocks and affixed to this bridge - how unique and beautiful.

The under chapel at Saint Chapel in the courts of justice, my favourtie place in Paris, but not for this downstairs, for this view, which is well worth the very difficult stone spiral staircase to get to.........

This 13th century church just blows me away, it is soooo majestic, to see the results of those spiritually convicted to build something to Glorify God all those years ago is magical.

Who could this gorgeously handsome gentle man be?  My husband?  Really?  He's mine?   WOW!

We stayed in an old Parisian hotel very close to the Louvre, treating ourselves to a luxury room (after getting such a good deal on our flights).  When this photo was taken I had fallen alseep in the jacuzzi bath after a hard days walking.

On our way home again.  This was the first time we have been abroad alone since having my children 10 1/2 years ago.  It was quite a big deal, the last time we tried this was for my 40th birthday 18 months ago when we had planned to go to Prague but had to cancel it because of my sister becoming very sick and then dying.  It might have been a very quick couple of days but to be able to spend that uninterupted time with my husband was just what we needed.  Hopefully it is not going to take us 10 1/2 years to do it again!

Ethical Brighton!

Last week after going to visit my dear friend Helen, we continued our journey south to go back to Brighton, on the south coast of England.  We stayed there back in September for a couple of nights and found the best vegetarian restaurant we have ever been to Terre a Terre .  So it was the thought of visiting this and knowing that I had also discovered some great fairtrade shops that we decided to go back.  I had time to prepare myself this time so spent a few hours surfing the net the day before we went, finding the Fair trade shops that I wanted to visit and marking them on a map so that I wouldn't forget where they were.

We arrived late, booked into the same hotel as before (we are such creatures of habit!).  Fortunately they had space we hadn't dared to book anything as the weather had been so unpredictable and there was still lots of snow on the ground.  After a quick freshen up and a cup of tea we made our way down to the restaurant.

We both had potato rosti's, mine with spinach and poached egg, my husbands with spicy halumi tika, this was washed down with a fine local West Sussex white wine.  We then treated ourselves to one of their yummy puddings.  I had a cheese cake that was accompanied with a lemon and rosemary sauce which was just divine, while my husband had something very very chocolaty.  My husband brought me their cookbook for my birthday at the end of last year and so I now feel re-inspired to get it out and get cooking.

After a very warm nights sleep (we could not cool the room down, even with the window open!), we went off for a days shopping map in hand.

First we went to Gossypium which is a shop I have brought from by mail order many a time, they do a superb selection of fairtrade fabrics.  It was lovely to browse, I was interested to see if they had any sale items as they are usually a little bit pricy.  Unfortunately the only bargain I found didn't fit, but I enjoyed the looking.

There are lots of little gift shops in The Lanes, many of which stock fairtrade products, so I enjoyed having a little look around these.

We then walked up Bond Street in the North Laines area.  Here we visited a small gift shop called Evolution, they are almost all fairtrade, and we managed to pick up 3 lap trays for the children that were a little damaged but had their prices cut from £10 each to £2.00 each.  So we got those!  I loved looking at all their FT jewelry, but resisted it knowing I was going to the bead shop.

We passed another shop that I noticed had clothing by Nomads on a rail outside.  So I went inside.... there I found right at the back a whole rail of sale items and managed to pick myself up a lovely white long sleeved shirt (my husband loves me wearing white) for £15.  Another succesful purchase.

From here we went to my very favourite shop Infinity Foods for an organic ethical vegetarian you just cannot get any better.  Here we stocked up on lots of house hold items, chocolate shampoo, seaweed shampoo, lavender bath soak, Weleda rose cleansing lotion, replaceable head toothbrushes for my youngest - we got these last time we came and were very very impressed. We then went into the food section and brought some Vegan Worcestershire sauce, which I didn't know existed, the normal variety, used alot in sauces has fish in it.

We were now laden down with 'stuff', so my husband offered to take it all back to the car while I went on the a bead shop that I wanted to visit.  I eventually found it and spent 20 minutes in my heaven!  I was very restrained, I just picked up a few bits, jewelry fastners, earing hoops and a few packets of seed beeds in colours I had never seen before.  This restraint cost me £6.50, and I have enough 'bits' to keep me going for quite some time, so watch out for some more making.

We then went into Costa Coffee for a lovely fairtrade Late, shared a sandwich and lovely crunchy granola bar.  After a much needed sit down and rest we had a little wonder around the book shop we were in, I managed to find 'The Secret Life of Bees' by Sue Monk Kidd for my mum, I read this several years ago and thought so many bits reasonated with my mums growing up years that she would really enjoy it.  This made the perfect little gift to give her for looking after the children for us.

There was not much energy left in me after this, my husband on his way back from dropping the goodies at the car had managed to find a second hand copy of a jazz cd which had lots of clarinet playing on it - so he got this for our eldest (who has been asked to join the school jazz band).  He had also passed a second hand book stall and saw copies of the original Dr Who books, so he purchased one of these for our son.

I just had a couple of shops left on my list, on the way to one we passed a small tucked away shop called Fair Play, they did not have a huge collection, they had some People Tree clothing and lots of gifty bits.  What did catch my eye was bedding.  This is something we were looking out for for our bedroom, they had some gorgeous sets, but didn't have the one I liked best in King size which we needed.  I got talking to the sales lady who gave me the details of where they purchased them from.  This is the set from   Fairly covered that we are going to order.  It goes just perfectly with the husky pink and deep ruby reds we have in our bedroom.

There was just one shop left on my list but I knew that would be a car ride to make, so we went back to the car and headed off.  Kolkata has some very unique fairtrade clothing and gifts.  What I did find here that I have found no where else is fairtrade wools and cottons for knitting with.  We got a small hair band for my youngest, so that they all had a little gift, and headed home.  We were just commenting on how lovely it had been to spend so much time shopping in our kind of shops when I noticed a huge Co-operative Supermarket shop.  This store is a big favourite as they sell lots of fairtrade produce and we also use them for their ethical banking and insurance.  I remembered that I had a cheque in my purse that needed to be paid in so we pulled the car into the car park and my husband whisked the cheque in.

This made me realise, that if I had to move anywhere in the UK then Brighton would probably be my choice, just because it seems to so support the life style that we have chosen to live.  Moving is not something that I particularly want or would like to do, so for now,  I shall just treasure a lovely time away with my husband, chatting, shopping and eating.  I shall also continue to pray that the area of Hampshire in which we live might be transformed into a similar ethical living style one day.

It was fab to get home and discover there had been no upsets, the eldest went off to her Church run Youth Group, the younger ones went off to bed and we settled down to a nice treat of an Indian takeaway with my mum and dad before heading off for an early night in our own, cosy bed.  Perfect.

My Ethical/Environmental Living Journey - Vegetarianism.

I recently gave my whole blog a bit of a going over adding labels to all the posts that I had written. I know I should have done it from the beginning, but for some reason I just couldn't be bothered. (With hindsight, I so wish I had, it took an age to do it all!). I was quite pleased to note so many labels to the posts I had written, a pretty mixed bunch of stuff, which I do think reasonably reflects my life - with one exception.

I was appalled to realise that I haven't (unless I missed it) ever blogged about my ethical and environmental journey. I like to console myself with the fact that in most things I am still 'Trying to find me', however on this one subject I think I totally know where I am! I will try and recap now on where this journey started and how it has progressed.

I think the starting point was probably when I met the man who was to become my gorgeous husband. He had been vegetarian since his teens and let onto me in the very early stages of our relationship that he didn't like kissing me after I had eaten meat! I was a little shocked, but not being the sort of person to resist a challenge I very quickly stated that I had better turn vegetarian then - and did. It was an overnight thing, a bit like my spiritual conversion I suppose. I realise now that my reasons for doing so what not really very ethical or environmental, however over the last 15 years I have developed a very keen sense of why I remain vegetarian. It is not really anything to do with not 'eating' animals (or fish) but much more to do with how I feel society treats animals (and fish). I remember growing up when we would go out for a meal and you could have 'steak' as a real treat, these days, it seems you have a right to eat as much of this as you want. It's this demand that is unpalatable for me, as with all demand and supply chains, this means that industry takes over trying to supply as much as cheaply as possible, blow the costs to the animals or the environment. The other side of my argument for being and remaining a vegetarian is that it is how I believe God made us to be. In the Bible we are told that Adam and Eve were given all leaves and grains to consume, it was not until after the flood in the time of Moses that they were told they could consume meat. So it gives me a great reassurance of the future of returning to a 'new earth' when the 'rapture' finally takes place. Considering I eat at least three meals a day, this is not a bad thing to be reminded of on a regular basis.

There is of course another reason - the stubborn part of me is determined to show all those folks who reckon it isn't healthy not to eat meat and fish that it is completely and absolutely possible. And I do delight in every new research article that appears telling us that it is actually possible to be healthier eating a balanced vegetarian diet than a carnivorous one. I am very proud of raising my two youngest (now 8 and 9) in this manner. They know the reasons why I have done this and they are free to choose what they would like to eat when out or when I am not cooking. The one thing that they will often submit to is jelly sweeties (the Haribo variety particularly). I do not purchase this sort of gelatin containing stuff for them but if others give it to them I do make sure they are aware of what it contains but they are free to consume if they wish (mostly they choose to do this!). It does frustrate me that there are not more vegetarian sweeties available, I know it is possible to get non gelatin containing stuff but shops just don't stock them!

I do not mind people asking me why I am a vegetarian, I do not so enjoy it when people try and tell me there are better causes to stand for. Hopefully you will see in the next few posts that be a vegetarian is not my only claim attempting a more ethical and environmental lifestyle.

I have found that as time goes on I am becoming more aware of what I am buying. For a while now I have avoided all leather products (I'm not vegan, but think leather products are in the same supply/demand crisis). Unfortunately I have not been able to do much in the way of shoes, though I do have a few pairs of vegetarian friendly ones (this is due to my foot shape and bone problems). I am very much looking forward to a visit to Brighton next month with my hubby so that we can go and visit the Vegetarian Shoe Shop http://www.vegetarian-shoes.co.uk/, we have had some lovely purchases for him from there in the past.

I am sure I could still improve some more on this journey, but it is a journey that I wouldn't swap for anything.