My Weekend #05 & 06

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

It was my wish at the beginning of the year to avoid that Sunday night feeling of a weekend wasted. My goal was to have a plan in place for the coming weekend by each Friday evening.

The last few weekends have been quiet. Andy was feeling unwell one Sunday and I came down with a cold the following Sunday. Sunday afternoons are our time. The time we potter about together so to say I was disappointed that illness put a spanner in the works two weeks in a row is an understatement.

I did go along to my second nephew's football game, as was my plan. Sadly I was late, I don't know where the morning went, and by the time I arrived he'd come off the pitch with a minor injury. Still, my Dad was there and we hung out on the sidelines until the game ended. It was reasonably warm and nice to get some fresh air.

Last weekend my plan had been to have a 'doing day' on Saturday. I'd have them with my Mum when I was growing up. We'd get up without a plan and just do what took our fancy. Anything that came to mind. Anything we saw that needed doing, we'd do it.

I knew I wanted to get on the treadmill again, and I did. I'm walking / running (rulking? wanning?) trying to up my duration and distance each time. I started on Jan 30th and it's been going pretty well, until this cold stopped me in my tracks.

On this particular day I also dug out an exercise DVD and completed 20 minutes of cardio. This was one of my many fitness DVDs, one of many that was purchased with good intentions and then put in a drawer. I've made a little promise to myself to use them all, get rid of any I don't like, and use the others to introduce some cardio once a week.

Anyway, my 'doing day' - with exercise out of the way I wandered around the house doing chores, laundry, filling up the log basket in the lounge, creating a poster for an Easter craft and cake stall that I'm helping my Mum with in March. I photoshopped a photograph for Andy to dupe his friend, which prompted him to say I dealt in the Dark Arts, which made me smile, and feel oddly proud. I tidied up, watered plants, finished my sixth book of the year - Blue Shoes and Happiness by Alexander McCall Smith - and did some knitting. It gave me a real sense of achievement and felt good to be moving about rather than being sat at a desk all day.

Since the beginning of the year Andy has been cooking a roast on Sunday evenings.  I love a good roast dinner but I find cooking them rather dull. I have to be in the mood to cook one, and that feeling doesn't strike very often. In a conversation recently Andy mentioned that he'd like to have a roast more often, to which I replied 'well, there's nothing stopping you from cooking'. This could very well be the best sentence to ever leave my mouth, because that's exactly what he's been doing.

At first I felt a bit guilty, I mean I do the cooking, that's my job (not because I'm the woman, but because I work part time and Andy works ridiculously long hours). But I did get this weird feeling that I wasn't being a proper wife, that I should be feeding my man. But the feeling faded, and it disappeared altogether when I told a few friends about his culinary efforts and they all said 'good for you!'.

He's mastered batter puddings, and made a delicious meatloaf. But mostly we have roast pheasant. It's nice to have one day a week when I don't have to think about our meal. I write a meal plan each week, but I do get bored with thinking of new things to cook, and when I ask Andy if there is any thing he'd like, he always says he doesn't mind, which can be maddening. I know he won't be able to keep up the cooking through the busier months of the farming year, but I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts!

So whilst my weekends were quiet, with nothing exciting to report, they have been nice, illness aside.

What have you been up to?

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26 comments

  1. I had the laziest weekend just gone, after my first week of full time work I could barely move from the sofa!

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  2. I often feel a bit the same - I only work part time and Dave earns most of our annual income but he's pretty helpful around the house at times and does quite often cook so I do feel guilty at times as I think I should be doing everything, but then I think of all the things I do - not just chores and laundry and such but I manage all the finances and make any calls and arrange appointments so on, so Dave had very little to think about or worry about himself and essentially, I work full time if you add all that in! My working part time means I get washing and cleaning done before the weekend so we don't have to devote a day off to it all so I think it all balances out really!

    I had a very nice weekend - not so much house time but seeing a band in Sheffield with an overnight stay and then a day of shopping (books and few bits for the house). We did some work at the house on Sunday then caught a starling murmuration I've been meaning to see for a while - a weekend where we actually did things was amazing, it's been so long!

    I hope you are both illness free this weekend and have a good one!

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    1. It is a balance definitely. I don't do any house / life stuff in the evenings or when Andy is at home at the weekend so that we can spend that time together. And when he is cooking a roast, I do help, so although he does the lions share, it's something we do together and he does seem to enjoy it so I've stopped feeling guilty about it.

      Sounds like you had a very enjoyable weekend!

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  3. I am proud to say that two of my three sons cook the Sunday Roasts for their families and very good cooks they are too! Enjoy .

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  4. It sucks to get bogged down with a cold, boo. I like to really make use of weekend time, it's so precious. I often wonder how to get the balance right of achievement vs relaxing/unwinding. I could sleep most of the day but then that would leave all the pottering/chores to be crammed in elsewhere. Anyway, I was going to say you shouldn't feel guilty about not cooking on Sundays. Sharing chores is healthy.

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    1. The cold is slowly going thankfully.

      I've stopped feeling guilty about Andy cooking, he won't be able to do it all year round, and he does seem to enjoy it. It was just an initial ingrained 1950s wifey reaction. I've got a grip of myself now.
      xx

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  5. As Andy doesn't usually do the cooling I bet he finds it a nice way of relaxing, it's good to hear that he's got a gift for it, too.
    Hope you're both cold-free now. xxx

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    1. He does seem to really enjoy it, especially now that he's happy with his batter puddings :)
      Andy is better (he's never ill for long), and my cold is on it's way out, so fingers crossed for an illness free weekend
      xx

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  6. I tried to comment yesterday, but my computer was acting weird, so I wasn't sure it went through. Apparently it didn't, so I'm trying again. First of all, I hope your both feeling better now and your next weekend will be illness free! Your doing days sound a bit like my pottering days, doing things you feel like doing, without too much forward planning. As for cooking, Jos is the main cook here at Dove Cottage, as he's retired and I'm working full time. He does a great roast too! xxx

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    1. I love doing days, sometimes I end up making more mess than I started with other times I focus on one room, however the days goes I always enjoy it.

      I think my initial guilt came from the fact that I hadn't been cooking a roast regularly and it was something that he would've really enjoyed... but then he could've mentioned it sooner. Now I enjoy that he cooks, I help him, and we eat at the table, together, which is really lovely.
      xx

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  7. sorry health issues spoilt things a bit. I did my nature journal, housework and gym at the weekend plus mountains of laundry as we are on a free electric tarriff on sundays so I try to make the most of the tumble dryer! I work saturdays so hubby usually cooks dinner for everyone he's a better cook than me. I have a couple of saturdays booked as annual leave next month, you have inspired me to ensure they get filled to the brim with lovely things that need doing!

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    1. Wonderful! What have you got planned so far? This weekend I want to wander into the wood to see if your Christmas tree is still alive, and I want to do a little decorating, and perhaps hang some pictures that have been languishing in the spare room for far too long!
      What ever you do I hope you have fun
      xx

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  8. I'm having a bit of a chores/homey weekend this weekend. I'm currently mid-way through cleaning the house haha!

    https://lizziedailyblog.blogspot.com/

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    1. I love to sit back at the end of the day and see what I've achieved, it gives such a asense of satisfaction!

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  9. I think I would feel the same about cooking a roast which is why I am glad CBC is a Pescetarian! I think it's nice for Andy to feel that he's doing something different and something HE wanted to have is something he has made! I do a lot of the cooking as we wouldn't eat till 10 at night if I left it to CBC but he is an excellent cook so I hope he does it more since I now have an hour and a half journey and he only has 30mins!

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    1. We've got guests next Sunday and he has offered to cook for them, I almost fell off my chair!
      I hope CBC starts cooking more, it can be such a drag doing it every night. Having just one night a week when I don't have to think about it is wonderful, imagine taking it in turns?!

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    2. I somehow avoided cooking every night this week except for 1!

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  10. I've had a whirlwind couple of weeks with Mr P's birthday, a comedy gig, football, a haircut, catching up with friends and family, hearty dog walks and cosy pubs. This weekend may hold the promise of visiting the seaside but I guess that depends on the weather. Fingers crossed x

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    1. Sounds fab. I hope you went to the beach this weekend. I love the beach when the weather is awful - I don't hang around for long but I love the solitude that you just can't get on warmer days.
      x

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  11. I like the idea of your 'doing day', it's nice to have time when you don't have anything planned but do whatever takes your fancy, or do little jobs that need doing. Mick does a lot of the cooking here, even though I don't work. I can't say cooking is something I particularly enjoy so I'm quite pleased to hand over the apron.

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    1. I really enjoy doing days, been having a lot of them recently. Work has been quiet so, to stop me from feeling useless, I keep myself busy.
      I have to be in the mood to cook, and most days I don't mind it, but it is nice not to have to think about it one day a week.

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  12. Yey for husband cooking! I try to cook Mon-Thurs cos Joe is out at work later than me, but it does drive me a bit mad when it's his turn to cook and he asks me what I want EVERY TIME, then gets cross when I don't know - surely if he's cooking he's planning it too! Can't complain too much though, at least I get a meal cooked for me!

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    1. I agree, if you cook, you have to come up with the meal choice too. Sometimes deciding what to cook is the hard part, I like not having to make a choice!

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