The Cotswold Way

I'm missing my walking books already!

When do you start thinking about your next holiday?

(a) a week before you book it?
(b) the day you come home from your current holiday?
(c) half way through your current holiday on a windy ridge in the driving rain when you still have 5 miles to walk to reach your next overnight stop? You are covered in mud, yet you are already planning to get cold, tired and wet all over again on a different windy ridge as soon as you possibly can.

Surely not (c)?

I have to say, my week on the Cotswold Way was probably a (b) in that I think we planned it the day we got home after completing our Ridgeway walk.  We weren't cold, we weren't wet and we had at least taken off the walking boots.  

Two years pass and picture the scene: Junior Daughter was about to set off on a school trip, Senior Daughter was still away at Uni, and Mr Pitt and I were sitting in the Noel Arms in Chipping Campden just opposite the start of the Cotswold Way, admiring the deep polished chestnut brown of our pint and a half of Butty Bach, contemplating the 100 miles of walking ahead of us.

"At what point do we give up?" I enquire as I take my first sip.
"This one seems reasonable," Mr Pitt quips.
"Okay."

Mr Pitt is sporting an injury, after running the Bath Half Marathon a few weeks ago and so our long planned walking holiday along the Cotswold Way is in jeopardy before we've even started.  Halfway down the beer we agree that we are at least going to try our first stage - a warm-up of 6 miles talking us from Chipping Campden to Broadway.

We've learnt from our experience of walking the Ridgeway, two years ago,  and have both selected the minimum of clothing to see us through our six and a half days of walking plus an evening and a day in Bath at the end of our walk.  Everything we need for our adventure fits into two 'day packs'.  We have 500ml of good old Oxfordshire tap water between us, a guidebook and three good legs.  Let's go!

The Cotswold Way
 - The Beginning and the End

Eco tourism
How is this eco-tourism?

According to The International Ecotourism Society, 'Ecotourism is defined as "responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people." (TIES, 1990)'

I'm sure I'm not alone in that when I think of eco-tourism, I think of exotic locations, hikes and treks to admire the flora and fauna in its natural habitat amidst beautiful scenery, awe and wonder at every turn, experiencing the local culture and of course the local food.

But there's no reason why eco-tourism can't actually be found on your own doorstep (or at least on mine - come and see for yourself!)

In order to be an eco-tourist in my own backyard, this was my plan:

1) Support local people by staying in B&B accommodation, particularly looking for B&Bs who themselves support the local area with local food.
2) Sample the local beers.
3) On the trail… take nothing but photographs, kill nothing but time, leave nothing but footprints. (I saw that on a sign at Cooper's Hill).

The makings of a pretty good holiday, I feel - especially plan number 2!

Our itinerary
If you're planning to do the trail yourself the all important thing is the accommodation and we were lucky in that all the accommodation we picked was great.  All are to be recommended.

Day One (pm only): Chipping Campden to Broadway - 6 miles

A gentle start and perfect if you need the morning to travel to Chipping Campden.  We left the pub at around two and were in Broadway by just after four.  Broadway is a fab place to stay overnight with a good choice of Bed and Breakfast accommodation and lots of lovely places to eat.  But, it is advisable to book one of these lovely eateries in advance as even early in the year Broadway was buzzing.  We didn't heed that advice and so we felt like we were traipsing along the High Street from place to place being consistently turned away - no room at the inn.  We did start to wonder whether we were overdoing it on the packing light thing.  Broadway is a smart place, but then we noticed a very well dressed couple one restaurant ahead of us also being turned away.  Phew!

Grey clouds with silver linings and all that, there was an upside to the saga… we ended up at Russel's fish and chip shop which has (posh) cafe style seating and posh fish and chips all served out of stylish bamboo compostable dishes.  I always try to think about the sustainability of the fish I eat and I know that the traditional fish and chip offerings are all in short supply.  Not feeling fully prepared for my fishy experience my mind was a bit of a blank when it came to trying to recall the sustainable fish options and cod always rings alarm bells, though I felt that a restaurant that used compostable serving dishes would likely be mindful of the source of their fish supplies.  Mr Pitt opted for cod and I chose cod cheeks, thinking that if I'm going to eat cod, then I'll go for the less popular part of the fish so as to at least make the most of it.  Cod cheeks are yummy, I can now report and on returning home I checked out the sustainability page of the Russel's Fish and Chip Shop website to find they use local oil, and responsibly sourced cod.  Aside from the food being delicious, with copious but not excessive portions, the service was warm and friendly and I would definitely recommend it.  I hope to be going again!

Cowley House B&B in Broadway

Bed for the night was the wonderful Cowley House.  A warm welcome awaited us, a comfortable bed in a pretty room and a delicious breakfast of local goodies to send us on our way.  Cowley House is right on the trail at the 'bottom' end of the High Street, which makes it an ideal place to set off from next morning.  Other advantages are the fact that there's real ale on offer across the road at the CAMRA award winning Crown and Trumpet pub.  More local ales to sample.

Day Two 18.75 miles (am): Broadway to Hailes - 10 miles  and (pm): Hailes to Cleeve Hill - 8.75

The morning took us through the beautiful villages of Stanton, Stanway and Wood Stanway.  With just over 18 miles to go we were keen not to venture too far off the trail for lunch and so we aimed for a 10 mile morning stint which took us to Hailes Fruit Farm which has a tea room and farm shop.  The tea room provides bags for walkers to put over their muddy boots - we chose to just take ours off and leave them outside!  Inside we had homemade vegetable soup which went down very well and there was an array of homemade cakes on offer.  The coffee and walnut cake was delicious.

The afternoon took us past the ruins of Hailes Abbey, the through Winchcombe and up, up, up to the Belas Knap Long Barrow.  Onwards from here we could see our destination, the beautiful Cleeve Common, so near yet so far.  Between us and Cleeve Common was a lovely wooded valley.  That meant, yes… we had to go all the way down, and all the way back up the other side.

Our bed for the night at Cleeve Hill was to be the Malvern View which lies just below the Cotswold Way.  Best of all, was that you can book to have an evening meal there.  Barry and Leana had emailed us the menu choices and we were looking forward to pea soup with mint oil, followed by roasted shoulder of lamb with seasonal vegetables & baby potatoes and finishing off with self saucing chocolate and peanut butter pudding.  I admit I've had a slight obsession with chocolate fondant puddings since.

Absolutely everything about the Malvern View was classy.  The rooms were tastefully decorated, very comfortable and we had a wonderfully reviving rain shower.  We were supplied with locally made lavender shower gel to relax our tired muscles, so we were fully refreshed when we arrived back in the dining room for our exquisite meal.  Leana is an excellent chef and with the services of a local wine merchant we had an excellent choice of wines to go with our meal.

However, fast or slow your walking pace, I really think you would be missing out if you didn't plan in a visit to the Malvern View!

Day Three 16.25 miles (am): Cleeve Hill to Seven Springs - 8 miles (pm): Seven Springs to Birdlip 8.25 miles

Day three started with a breakfast of porridge, fruits and local honey.  Just what was needed for the climb back up onto the Cotswold Way, followed by the even steeper climb once back on the trail, basically straight up to the highest point of Cleeve Hill itself.  If you look east from here, apparently the next highest point is somewhere in the Urals.   The weather was evil, but strangely, it cleared for a short time while we were on the top of the hill and we had views over Cheltenham and the race course.  I can imagine it gets crowded up here on race day!

View over Cheltenham racecourse

Cleeve Hill - the highest point along the Cotswold Way

This was undoubtedly the hardest day of walking, partly due to the inclement weather and partly because it seemed that for most of the day we were squelching through deep mud along bridleways through Prestbury Hill Reserve and Lineover Wood.

The obvious lunch option was not my favourite choice in that it was the Hungry Horse at Severn Springs - a chain pub on a main road, but we had a warm welcome despite our muddy state.  It was functional and friendly and very close to the trail.  There is little else around for most of the way.

A tempting road sign announced that Birdlip was just three miles away, but we stuck to our route and enjoyed the wonderful views on offer around Leckhampton Hill and Crickley Hill. Well we could see enough to tell that the views would be lovely if the weather were to be a bit lovelier.

Onward to Birdlip and we finished the day with a short walk up the pavement alongside the A 417 in rush hour - just enough to make me feel extremely grateful that I was walking and not sitting in my car queueing at the Air Balloon roundabout!  The path then dips down into a lovely woodland before you meet the hill that takes you up to Birdlip.

The Royal George pub provide a lovely room with very comfortable bed for a modest price together with an extensive menu of good old pub grub.  The buffet breakfast provided lots of healthy options to set us up for our days walking.

The Royal George Hotel, Birdlip

Day Four - 16 miles (am): Birdlip to Edge Common 7 miles  (pm): Edge Common to Middleyard 9 miles

Lovely woodland starts off the day, followed by a steep, steep climb up Cooper's Hill famed for cheese rolling.  The walking was much easier today, and we made good time to the lovely town of Painswick. Our lunch destination was the Edge Inn at Edgemoor a couple of miles beyond Painswick down some grassy meadows into the valley across the brook and up the other side, passing the not quite halfway marker on the way up!

Nearly half way - 47 miles in!

A ploughman's lunch and more local ale at the Edge Inn meant that I picked out this particular stretch of the Cotswold Way between Painswick and The Edge Inn (open 12 noon to 2pm) as one I'd most want to return to in the future for a pub lunch walk with friends.

A half of Uley's Gloucester Old Spot washed down the ploughman's nicely, but in the early part of the afternoon, we were a little confused about the landmarks we were supposed to be seeing according to our trusty guide book.  When Mrs Pitt realised she was holding the map upside down it all started to make sense! (And that was despite turning down the landlord's kind offer of filling her water bottle with another half of Old Spot.)

Accommodation that evening was at Valley Views in Middleyard, where we were welcomed by landlady, Pam White, who has won awards for looking after walkers and we could see why.  We had planned to walk back to King's Stanley to find an evening meal, but the pub had recently stopped serving food on a Tuesday.  However, Pam contacted a local taxi company that whisked us of to The Old Fleece in Woodchester, which had a lovely atmosphere and served well cooked local food.  Just one thing - the portions are very generous and this is the only place I have been unable to finish a meal in a long time.  If I go again - which I hope I do - I think I'd have a main course and then maybe share a pudding if there's still room!

Day Five 14.5 Miles (am): Middleyard to Dursley 8 miles  (pm): Dursley to Wotton-under-Edge 6.5 miles

The Valley Views breakfast was wonderful.  I chose yoghurt with berries and toast with home made jam (and set off feeling virtuous for avoiding another cooked breakfast).

Our morning's walk was to take us to The Old Spot in Dursley up and over some big hills.  The views over the Severn were stunning and we had a clear view of our route for the next few days.

Looking at Cam Long Down

Cam Long Down was a vertigo moment.  With the path going straight up the hill at one end there was a strange feeling of nothingness on either side as I clambered up.  I kept feeling I wanted to turn round and sit down.  A couple of times I could kid myself I was stopping to admire the view, but most of the time I was just clinging to the side of the hill in the hope of not rolling back down like a Double Gloucester Cheese.

Once on top it really did feel like an achievement.  The views all around were well worth lingering for. We met an elderly gentleman who was looking a little weary from the climb.  He told us that he'd got half way back down and realised his dog had stayed on the top of the hill, so he'd had to climb all the way back to the top to get him.

The Old Spot pub is another CAMRA award winner and we could see why. It is the epitome of the English Country pub run by people who really care about what they have on offer.  We were refreshed and revived ready for another big climb out of Dursley and up to the Tyndale Monument.  After the first steep climb up Stinchcombe Hill you come to the golf course.  You can either walk round the golf course or cut straight across it.  Our plan was to go straight across.  We later met some walkers who had chosen to walk around it and the verdict was 'not worth the extra miles'!

We stayed at The Swan in Wotton-under-Edge (tel:01453 843004). Very comfortable and good pub food.

The Swan Hotel

Day Six 14.5 miles (am): Wotton-under-Edge to Hawkesbury Upton 7.5 miles  (pm): Hawkesbury Upton to Tormarton 7 miles

A nice walk along the valley to ease us in to the penultimate day of walking, followed by another steep climb.  Once on top of the hill the path cut off a nice gravel bridle way through some grassy meadows and was a little difficult to follow.  We emerged soaking wet into a woodland and then back onto the gravel bridleway.  The detour it seemed was all so we could get a better look at Nanny Farmer's Bottom.

Nanny Farmer's Bottom

Just off the trail at Hawkesbury Upton is the Beaufort Arms.  You just keep walking on through the village instead of turning right at the green to follow the trail.  There's then a footpath from the pub back to the trail and it is another pub well worth stopping at.

That evening we arrived in the lovely village of Tormarton to stay at The Little Smithy which is a gem of a B&B.

We were entertained in the not to be missed Major's Retreat.  More excellent pub grub and local beers.



Day Seven: Tormarton to Bath 16 miles

The plan was to head to Cold Ashton for lunch - 6.5 miles in to our 16 mile day, but having set off not long after 9.00 am we were in Cold Ashton around 11 and in all my planning I hadn't remembered that the Folly End Farm was slightly off the trail, so we had walked on past and through the village before we realised we'd missed it.  We decided not to turn back, but I slightly regretted that decision two hours and another 6 miles later as there is nowhere else to stop and I don't think I made the most of the last few miles before we arrive at the village of Weston on the way into Bath - because all I could think about was a toilet!  So I'd advise a stop at Folly End Farm so you can fully enjoy the views later.

After a brief stop for a half of Severn Valley cider in Weston we continued on into Bath, but you don't just amble down to the town centre by the quickest route.  There are of course a couple more big hills to climb in case you didn't feel you'd done enough of that already.  So, up Primrose Hill and up Sion Hill, with spectacular views over the city of course, but I think my favourite bit was sitting in the sunshine, enjoying a plate of bread and olives with oil and vinegar and a cold glass of Devon white wine at The Circus Cafe with a feeling of euphoria at having walked 100 glorious miles along the Cotswold Way.

The Cotswold Way in oil and vinegar

The Cotswold Way, the beginning and the end.

Bird Behaviour

One morning last week I looked out of my bedroom window to see a wood pigeon and a magpie squabbling over possession of the cup of fat and breadcrumbs that I regularly hang in a cherry tree in my garden.

I try to avoid using plastic cups, but when I'm given one, then I make use of it again this way.  This cup is now a bit battered, as it has done several refills.  I often find the cup has gone from the tree and I have to look for it in the bushes.  Now I know how they get there and why they get battered.

As children, my sister and I used to look after ponies and one of the things I learnt then was that when putting out piles of hay for them, you always put out one more pile than there are ponies, so that if one pony is trying to nose in on another pony's hay, that pony can go to the spare pile.  It avoids the arguments.

Maybe I should put out more than one cup in my cherry tree?

Could you run a Zero Waste Week in your company?

I'm always on the lookout for Zero Waste action. I like to hear about new ideas that might help me and help others in the mission to live more and waste less.

A few weeks ago I heard that Ferrier Pearce Creative Group, an independent group of creative and marketing consultancies,were planning to hold a company Zero Waste Week.   I sent them a copy of my book, for them to leave strategically placed by the kettle, and eagerly followed their progress on their blog and Twitter.

At the end of the week I was keen to know how it all went, so I spoke to Rachel and Debbie to find out just that.  Here's what they had to say...

What inspired you to run your Zero Waste Week?

We’ve always prided ourselves on being environmentally friendly, and we were one of the first CarbonNeutral companies. We also have an ISO140001 accreditation under our belt.

We were inspired by a few key individuals in the company who thought this would be a good idea to really get everyone involved in our efforts.

How did it go down within the company?

It was a great success. We held ‘Waste Hacks’ in the weeks running up to our Zero Waste Week so that we could educate and discuss issues regarding waste at work. The ‘Waste Hacks’ were made up of groups of eight, and run by one of our ‘Zero Waste Ambassadors’ who were already very keen and very green! The hacks helped us to work out where we wasted items, and what we could do as a company to improve them. Lots of ideas from the ‘Waste Hacks’ were incorporated into the week. 

Throughout the week itself we had great involvement from the teams. With offices based around the UK we communicated with everyone daily by sharing photos and tips.

What were the highlights of the week?

There were lots. It was great to see how creative the team were at trying to reduce waste in the first place. It was great to see the interaction we got from other companies and individuals, which spurred us on even more.

Were there any low points? We wouldn’t call them low points, but there were times when we had to remind people that this wasn’t just about recycling. It was about reducing the waste in the first place! What was the wackiest Zero Waste idea? The wackiest idea was probably turning the heating off and coming into work in lots of layers, woolly hats and gloves! It was freezing but we made it through the day without any frostbite in sight.



What ideas had the best take up?

Definitely the ‘Souper Group.’ It was a great opportunity for us to all come together at lunch time and share food that we had all contributed to making. Everyone was given different jobs – such as the soup maker, the bread baker, the vegetable collector. We’ll definitely be repeating that through the year, and coming up with some summer time alternatives.

Did you have a significant reduction in physical waste?

We definitely saw a huge reduction in packaging and paper waste, as well as food waste. This was helped by sharing lunches and by our ‘Souper Groups,’ where individuals brought in left over vegetables. These were turned into a tasty soup for all to enjoy. Our bins were practically empty! We also educated ourselves on using the compost bins in the office, and gave any vegetable scraps to Debbie’s chickens!

Was anyone inspired to make a long-term change? There are certainly a few people who will continue making changes in their everyday lives to reduce waste, and for the rest of them, we hope we have educated them to make conscious decisions regarding waste. We haven’t allowed any plastic bags through the door of our Cambridgeshire office and have still kept the fine tin, just in case anyone breaks the rules! Do you plan to run another Zero Waste Week in the future? Yes! We’ll be running our second Zero Waste Week of the year from 01 – 08 September, and will continue to run two Zero Waste Weeks each year. We will be inviting our suppliers and clients to take part in the challenge.

So…do you think your company could give Zero Waste Week a whirl?  You can read more about Ferrier Pearce Creative Group's Zero Waste experience on their blog. Please do let me know if you're going to join the Zero Heroes by tweeting me @AnnaPitt or dropping me an email anna@dustbindiet.com for a free copy of my book and a few tips to get you started if you feel you need a little help.

The Greener Gym

It's almost a year now since I gave up my gym membership.

It was a difficult decision. Several years ago I joined a private gym on the edge of the town where my children attended dance classes.  It was very lovely - particularly the swimming pool, and I do love swimming.

My main reason for joining the gym was because my children had a dance class or two or three or four most weekday evenings. Although we lift shared with three other families to make the most of the journey, and so we didn't have to spend every evening driving, on the evenings I did my part of the lifts I'd often spend quite a bit of time reading/ lesson planning / going through students' work in the cold in my car.

I sometimes used to take a flask of tea to try to keep me warm, but frozen fingers were a frequent occurrence.   And so I investigated the local gyms.  I wasn't really keen on the idea of exercise machines, but, as I said, I love swimming.  So, gulping at the joining fee, but taking the plunge anyway, I signed up.

It was so nice to be warm and getting some exercise while my children were getting theirs.

But 18 months ago, while on holiday in the Vendee region of France, the daughters - anxious about losing their amazing fitness that comes from 10 hours a week of dancing during term time - suggested we go on 'a nice little family run'.

"Go on, mum!  Give it a try."

So, hearing them promise me that it would only be a little circuit of about 2km and would involve passing the bakery for croissant I hear myself say:

"Go on then.  I'll give it a go."

Boy, was it hard!  I thought I was reasonably fit - I was swimming and walking regularly. But I felt every step of those two kilometres and only the thought of my lovely warm croissant and raspberry jam kept me going.

On balance, though, I felt I'd enjoyed the experience - the running as well as the croissant that is!  And so we did two more  two-kilometer-via-the-boulangerie-back-along-the-sea-front forays.  But then…

In our second week, daughters decided that they needed to up the stakes.  They'd been out and about and noticed a "nice little circuit jogging" that was 5km and still passed the bakery.

Off we set along the sand dunes, with me trying not to get left behind.  Not even half way round my legs felt like lead and I had to stop for a stretch before I could drag myself any further.  I carried on bravely through the forest, up and over the hill until we reached the road.  At that point, I thought,

"Enough's enough.  There are people.  I'm not panting my way past all those people.  I'll catch you up at the bakery." And I did.  And then I ran again the rest of the way along the sea front back to our sunny little terrace for breakfast.  I was secretly quite pleased with myself, even though it had been a struggle (the run not the breakfast) and I'd had to walk part of the way.

Before the week was out, of course, they wanted a second stab at the circuit jogging.  This time I needed tactics!  It was basically a rectangle.  I planned my attack.  I was going to stop at each corner and stretch and hoped that would mean my legs might make the whole 5km. And they did!  It worked.

But then it was time for home.  Our two weeks were over and the return journey awaited us :(

Not, however, without the seeds of a plan being sown.  Back at the gym, I investigated the treadmill and set myself the task of being able to run 5km easily by Christmas.  I did it! By October in fact.

I could run 5km in just over half an hour and I didn't feel like I'd been run over by a bus by the time I'd finished. Result!

Thing is though, although I had a target and a determination to improve at the new game they call running, I wasn't really enjoying it like I'd enjoyed running on the road, like we had on holiday.  And I wasn't going very often.  So Mr Pitt and I started to experiment with running outside instead of on the treadmill.

Now here's the strange bit… It was January.   It was freezing.  On the good days it was -1.  On the bad days it was -4.  With ice and snow all around us, rather than running from home on icy roads we'd run from the ballet studio in town where the increased traffic and footfall cleared the ice.  Gloves and hats kept the cold at bay and we were away!

With the gym membership up for renewal we wanted to prove to ourselves we wouldn't miss it during the winter months.  Now having been running outdoors for a whole year and in to the second winter I can honestly say I enjoy running in winter as much as in summer and running in the rain - well, I admit that it is hard to set out when it is pelting down, but once you are out there, rain just comes as a welcome coolant.  We've had a couple of occasions when we got so wet we had to peel off clothes in the hall, yet it still felt fab.  All those endorphins working their magic.

Gym membership, sorry to say, I don't miss you ;)

New Year, new you?

Do you do that thing of making New Year's Resolutions?  If so, what is your resolution for 2014?

Last year, I embarked on a year of "Swishing".  My new year's resolution was this:

• to give away 2 items of clothing to charity each month, and
• to not buy any new clothes, but instead buy from charity shops or reuse/recycling shops or websites

Like many people, I often find that within a few weeks I've forgotten all about my new plans and resolution, but not last year.  I cleared out my wardrobe, sorted out plenty to give to charity and not only that, my daughters both cleared out their wardrobes too.   So as far as the first resolution is concerned I smashed that target.

As for the second, not only did I manage to keep to the resolution, I loved doing it too.  I bought quite a few new clothes, but spent less than £100 in the whole year.

I found that both the giving aspect and the buying aspect, spread too.  During the summer holidays, with the assistance of my two daughters, we decided to embark on a big sort out.  We set ourselves the target of reducing the amount of stuff we have around the house.  We have lots of storage space, so it is easy to think that we can just keep everything - just in case it might be useful.  But we were getting to the stage where every bit of storage was full up - every shelf, every cupboard crammed full of stuff, that might be useful to someone, someday.  Time for a clear out!

We decided to go for the 'One Room at a Time' approach, giving everything a good clean as we went and mending anything that needed mending as we came across it.  But it was slow going and frustrating because we still seemed to have packed shelves at the end of the process.  I just wasn't being ruthless enough!

My perusal of charity shops on various occasions throughout the year, though, had definitely sparked a shift in thinking.  I started to tell myself that if ever I needed something again I could just borrow it, or buy it second hand.  And that got me thinking...I needed a target!

So, that's when we set ourselves the aim of parting with 80 bags of stuff to take to the charity shop.

It took me two months to go through each room, fishing out toys, games, books, clothes, bags, rags, buttons, jewellery, shoes, belts, boots, hats, art and craft stuff, CDs and DVDs.  I managed to fill 80 carrier bags to give away.

Here are 3 principles that helped us fill our 80 bags:

• We didn't want to part with all our games, as we do use some of them when we have younger visitors.  How to decide which to keep?  We decided that if all the parts were there and the box was perfect, then it went to the charity shop.  But, if there were bits missing, or it was a bit tatty, we kept it.  Why?  It was fairly easy to see that the games in perfect condition were the ones that had been played less.  The ones that we'd used over and over again, seemed to be the sensible ones to keep.  The better the condition of a game, I thought, would mean it more likely to bring in revenue for charity.  We often found that the tattier games had makeshift pieces, so we'd clearly played them despite their condition, so we'd be more likely to play them again.
• We set up boxes for each person, so that I wasn't making a decision to give away something that wasn't mine, but could still feel like an area had been cleared and finished with. Each person was then able to go through their box as and when they had time.  I'm sure much of what was given away, would have been kept if it had just been left where it was out of sight out of mind!
• If it didn't fit, it had to go.  This helped, for instance, with DVDs and books, where we had stuff double stacked.  It made us go through them and part with a few that we thought we wouldn't watch/read again.

If it didn't fit, it had to go!

So, is my house minimalist and organised now?  Far from it!  Despite our clear-out we still have a lot of stuff.  It did fire a desire to free up more space, to acquire less and to clear out more.  I had a big clear out in my office, when I decided to minimise the paperwork I had stored over the years.  I recycled more than my body weight of paper by setting myself a twelve week clear out programme.  But there's lots more that could go, so the summer sort out might be repeated in 2014.

And New Year's Resolution for this year?

I plan to continue my efforts at reducing food waste, reducing packaging, buying from charity shops or choosing considerately up-cycled goodies.   But my big giveaway this year will be…

BOOKS!

Here's the rules if you want to play the game too!

• 10 books per month to be given away
• No new purchases of print books unless for work
• Borrow from the library whenever possible.   

The Paperless Office - Week 12

Now I've recycled my tree's worth of paper, the last week of my paper challenge is going to be about reducing the amount of paper that comes into my office next year.

So, by looking back over the last eleven weeks, I've put together a list of habits that I'm going to try to change.  Here goes:

Envelopes - I will stop using new envelopes altogether.

Books -  I will limit my purchase of print books to those I buy for my work as I'll be using them again and again.  All other books I will get from the library or on Kindle.  I am also going to aim to give away ten books every month to charity, as I still have way too many for my bookshelves.

Business Cards - I will stop hoarding business cards and instead use my phone to connect to people I meet via social media, either on Twitter or LinkedIn.

Bills - I will keep up my household bills spreadsheet and once entered onto that the bills will be recycled.  Where paperless billing options become available I will sign up for that option.  I'm sure more and more companies will start to offer this.

Notes - I will aim to type up notes straight into my blog, but where that doesn't happen I will transfer them from my notebook or from the scraps of paper I often use, into the blog on a weekly basis. This will be a good way to ensure that I've acted on everything I've taken notes about and it will mean a clearer desk, and I hope, a clearer head!

Every year, when I finish my year end accounts, I will dispose of the oldest set of company accounts so that I am only keeping six years of paperwork.


Manuals and Instruction Booklets - From now on, when a gadget goes, so does its instruction booklet!

I'm no longer going to keep the boxes from any new gadgets or appliances.

That's my New Year's Resolutions sorted.  I hope I can stick to it!

Happy New Year!

Making the most of the Christmas Turkey

I do love turkey - and not just for Christmas dinner...

Boxing day had to be the classic cold meat and bubble and squeak favourite.  Then on Friday we had a choice of pies - Turkey and gammon with a white sauce and turkey and pork with gravy, both with a home made short crust pastry top.

Turkey and gammon awaiting its white sauce and shortcrust pastry top

For Saturday, something a little spicy ... a turkey tagine with couscous.

We have some turkey stock in the fridge to make into parsnip soup for New Year's Day and I've just put two more pots of turkey stock in the freezer to remind us of our lovely Christmas dinner on some frosty night of 2014.  I think we've made the most of our lovely turkey.