Can a fat girl slim? part two for the love of veg

In my teens I couldn't eat meat, it was partly principle, the discovery and comprehension of the correlation between sweet little lambs, piggies and calves and cutlets, sausages and veal, and partly that I just went off the taste.  The down side is that my stomach became a bottomless pit which could accommodate mountains of carbs and in turn I became a mountain of a girl.
In my twenties and thirties I tried meat and sea food rich diets, but they just left my exhausted all the time (and constipated) all the time.
By my late thirties and forties I rediscovered vegetables, salads and fruits of all varieties, and, along with a little meat, they seem to have been the source of my weight loss.  The sad thing is that it has been so easy, with not a hunger pang in sight, I try not to think of all the year's that I wasted trudging around after my skinny friends, too embarrassed to try on clothes when we were out shopping, knowing that if I was lucky I might squeeze into a sixteen, and those were the humiliating days when changing rooms were communal.
It's difficult to get excited about vegetables, the way that they are presented in a supermarket.  My inner conspiracy theorist is convinced it's because if we were all passionate about vegetables, there would be no need for any ready meals or junk food.  I buy mine from this fabulous market, where you can touch and smell everything and there is a long discussion as to the relative merits of the Spanish or Canary Island lettuces, the local cabbages and the eternal orange vs blood orange debate.

I have never been much of a cook, but just smelling the coriander and the ginger, or the thyme and the mushrooms and it is obvious how well they complement each other, and the meat suits the vegetables, it needs to be delicate for the coriander and ginger, but can be stronger for the thyme and mushrooms, but is only a supporting role to all of the other flavours. I am learning as I go, but wouldn't be if I bought everything prepacked from the supermarket.

From a child I have been fascinated by these 16th Century paintings by Arcimboldo, these are Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter and the gardener is the last one.

He didn't have much success while he lived, and his work was considered a bit of a joke, but I could look at these for hours, with hindsight, it was like he knew what we all need, after all, we are what we eat!

country couture

Country interiors can be tricky to get right.  The more relaxed pace of country living often invites an abode to become a dumping ground for unwanted bits and pieces from elsewhere so that the style is a higgeldy piggeldy mix of everyone's cast offs.
I have always preferred a simple chalky white look, maintaining as much of the original as possible but combining it with modern touches.  There must be light, heat and hot water at the touch of a button.  So many Brits are still happy living in draughty mausoleums relying on their dogs and layers of dust for warmth.  They wear their fortitude as a badge of honour and see central heating as a weakness of the feeble in body and spirit.

The puritanical style that I have adopted has remained unchallenged until I saw this beautiful table cloth for sale at a local shop.  It is antique French linen and the embroidery has been done a lady who lives a few cottages away from me.
She embroiders for the love of it, and a piece is only finished when it is perfect.  She does not labour to get the best price for her work, rather it is the love of creating beauty that drives her.
She has no idea how many hours of work goes into each one, but each is given as long as is required for it to be ready to leave her.  Whatever your personal style, how can you not love this?

The photos simply do not do it justice.  I paid the princely sum of £50.

Each time I look at it it I find different details to love, it just lifts my spirits.

Temperley tea party

Temperley is one of those big fashion labels that despite having an international following, has succeeded in retaining a local identity.  Perhaps it is because Alice herself is a hippie chick, whose heart if never far from her somerset scrumpy-growing roots.  This weekend I was invited to a launch at the head office/main shop just off Westbourne Grove.  Following the Temperley signs the journey may not be quite what you would expect of the label that dresses the Middletons....

 .....am I lost this doesn't look like a shopping hot spot?....

...........I've just zipped up my bag and put my phone away...

ta dah! not what I had expected at the end of this street....

Temperley is acutally a row of 3 mews houses and it is beautiful...

The union jack building and the burgandy painted row are all part of the shop.
It is so inviting on the outside and inside is equally cosy, and the welcome had a warmth to match.  Usually everyone just stands around looking at the collection in silence.  This was quite different, the sales assistants and prs introduced customers and press as they came in, so that every one was properly greeted and encouraged to chat.  We were offered tea or champagne and delicious nibbles.

 

There was also a beautician on hand offering mini manicures and make up retouches. It wasn't a famous name make up house, just a local girl who was distributing her cards for home facials and beauty treatments.

Similarly shoes were on offer from a new independent label called Emmy, a young 30 something from Islington who is trying to launch herself in the accessories world. Which other big fashion label would offer this kind of chance, when they have their own shoe range to sell?

And now for the collection, it was beautiful can you spot me in the shadows?.....

epiphany

Bourbon and Pearls and her ReAura laser has been stimulating my grey matter, not just for collagen production it seems.  This weekend passed in a kind of grey chilly fug and my mood was similar.
However on this supposedly statistically one of the most positive Mondays of the year (apparently first paycheck after Christmas has arrived for most people) I think I that I have crystallised my stance on letting it all hang out, getting old, growing vegetables, allowing grey hair, fat and wrinkles to proliferate without even a pretence at halting the advance.

Ladies, we simply can't, it is our social and fiscal duty to fight the good fight.

An article in the FT today predicts that 20% of the US population will be over 65 by 2020 and in the UK that figure will be even higher.
We should feel no guilt at our attempts at maintenance, it is not about trying to compete with the 20 year olds (my horror is that anyone might assume that I think that I could!), the simple fact is that the NHS  will not be able to deal with the numbers of infirm and those who are fit and well will need to be able to work well into their 70s.
What we do now will make this possible, it is a simple truth that on the days that we look in the mirror and see nothing but old and tired, we lose all of our self-esteem and energy, this is no use in the workplace. The biggest help that we can be to the next generation is to work and pay taxes for as long as possibly can.  My enlightment has made me change my mind on surgery, again, it is our responsibility to invest in a facelift, tummy tuck, boob job, whatever it takes to ensure that we maintain optimum health and psychological well-being.  And this kind of significant spending stimulates the economy much more than saving it under the bed for a rainy day.

Of course a secondary complication for today's young, is that with nobody retiring, those really desirable jobs in larger companies are simply not being freed up for the next generation.  Youth unemployment is at an all time high and unless you want to work at a supermarket checkout, I struggle to see what the options are for the kids today.
Anyone with their own kids is immediately protectionist about their money and time as they know how tough it will be for their offspring.  But those with knowledge and cash to impart and no vested interests are in the position to really help the 20 and 30 somethings who are living in one of the worst periods in our financial history.  And it is about getting local.  Spend your money carefully and wisely and get a certain satisfaction in knowing that every penny does more than just acquire your own goods and services.
Today I am going to book up the following;
IPL zapping from a girl who has just paid out £14,000 to buy all of the machinery to start her business from home.
Fruit and veg delivery box from a local farm.
Weekly food order from the tiny local shop, which stays open I have no idea how and selling only pints of milk to 3 people a day.
I have been promising myself for years that I will buy a piece of jewellery and there is a lovely girl called Lucy Sylvester who makes all of her jewellery by hand and I have made an appointment to visit her workshop this week.
As this is more of a manifesto than a nice touchy feely post, there are no pics, sorry if it is boring, but I feel positively uplifted! Any more getting local tips that you have I would love to hear, join me for the revolution!

should old aquaintance be forgot

Finalising my New Year's resolutions always takes a while. Optimism around the holiday period often results in promising the unachievable, it's always preferable to wait until the back end of January to be able to focus on reality.  And this year, with writing it down, I am more accountable.
1. Start the personal training business that I have spent 3 years preparing for even if it means working for free
2. Continue the healthy eating regime and guard against slipping back into the old habits and the 15 stone (154 pound) former self
3. Limit purchases from multinationals and focus on supporting local independents
4. Learn to cook gourmet minceur
5. Jog daily with the pooch for a minimum of 40 mins (he is carrying some post holiday poundage)
6. Create a centralised database of all my friends names, children's names, addresses, email addresses and numbers
7. Arrange to meet someone that I haven't seen for a while for lunch at least once a week
8. Don't slip back into the habit of letting work rule my life


These are some pics of New Year's Eve, wearing vintage Chantilly lace Christian Lacroix and Rene Caovilla shoes, drinking Cristal and eating salmon caught in Alaska by my hunter gatherer with home baked bread and Beluga Caviar.