This weekly blog episode comes to you from Funchal, Madeira. I am sat with my feet up on my hotel balcony, with my laptop on my knee, and it is wonderful.
My view is of the steep sided hills of Funchal – I can’t quite see the sea from here (not from this side of the hotel), but the view is big and pretty. I’m enjoying watching and listening to the world go about its business; a couple are sat laughing just out of sight but in earshot, a man is humming as he tends to the herb garden a few feet away (he’s just cut the mint back and it smells divine), and there’s a bit of general road noise and hubbub.
Anyone who I’ve spoken with in the last few days knows a holiday – a break – is very much needed. I’ve been here less than 24-hours at this point, but I can already feel the tiredness and overwhelm of the last few weeks begin to melt away.
A Holiday with Three Intentions
The intention is to do three things while I am here… spend time sitting down, walking, and eating. I’ve earmarked a few short hikes I might do, some places to visit, and some things I want to eat. But I shall spend the week following my nose, going where the mood takes me, and eating what takes my fancy. No guilt, no stress, no worries.
I’ve not had this kind of holiday for a long time, certainly not for a whole week in one go. My annual leave tends to be used for on-the-go road trips. These might be my favourite way to see the world, and they do provide me with some important respite from the day-to-day routine of life, but they are never relaxing. I did have a short break in Lanzarote this time last year, but as that was kind-of a working holiday (I was gifted the stay by Jet2holidays in return for some content), and it was very short, I couldn’t really let my brain switch off entirely.
I’ll save any more holiday talk for my next weekly blog episode when I’ve had chance to see more of this country, but know this one comes to you from a completely different place to normal. In this episode, then, let’s look back over the last week, see how the One Hour Outside photo challenge is going, and share a bunch of mini book reviews with you.
My Week
Let’s see… more rain, more very long days at work, more staying up late to catch up on chores and admin, more doing my best to squeeze in my One Hour Outside time in the gaps. It’s all been a bit samey since Christmas, it seems. But hey, you don’t want to know about that. And I can’t complain, I’m on holiday! So let me move straight onto one of my favourite topics… food.
On the Dinner Table
My big win of the week in terms of dinners served, was making the best minted pea soup I’ve ever made. I intended to use the same recipe I’ve been using for years (I sung its praises back in weekly blog episode 99). When I popped to Tesco to do my top up shop, they had no loose onions – only massive bags – and I only needed one. On bit of a whim, I bought a leek instead. And it worked an absolute treat. I’ll be doing that from now on.
It also helped that I used a whole bunch of fresh mint (also from Tesco, I need to replant mine this year as it died a horrible death last autumn). Dried herbs are very handy, but fresh unquestionably tastes better.
Honestly, if you aren’t making your own soups, I highly recommend giving them a go. You could start with my mushroom soup recipe, which is so good, and perfect when served with warm garlic bread.
I also tried another new-to-me recipe, this time a simple tuna, caper and chilli spaghetti. I’m really trying to stick to my good intention of adding to my repertoire of home cooked meals I included in this year’s Bucket List Reset. It helps that I seem to have the motivation to eat well at the moment, so I’m making the most of that. I’m concentrating on making mid-week dinners more interesting, while keeping the time spent in the kitchen to a minimum.
Anyway, this pasta dish is a keeper – filing but fresh in flavour, and not bad on the healthy scale, either.
This Week’s One Hour Outside Challenge Photos
Are you still getting One Hour Outside every day this month, inspired, at least in part, by my photo challenge? This week we’ve had another mixed selection of themes. Honestly, who wrote these?! Sorry everyone. How did you get on with ‘the weather’, ‘on the menu’, ‘my favourite’, ‘on wheels’, ‘at noon’, ‘comfortable’, and ‘going down’?
Looking at what you’ve been posting on Instagram, some of you have certainly been getting on better than I have! But hey, it’s the effort made to get outside every day that really matters, and looking at the world around us a bit differently; the quality of the photographs taken is secondary. Thankfully.
I missed my first photo of the month-long challenge this week. It was on Thursday, when the theme was ‘my favourite’. I think I can just about add up the time I spent outside to an hour… but only just, and in several much smaller chunks. But hey, that’s working life sometimes, and some time outdoors is way better than no time outdoors.
Still, I failed to take any photos, let alone something that could be linked with the theme. Instead, I had a look in my ‘photos I like but haven’t posted yet’ folder and decided one of the windswept tree (or lonely tree, if you prefer), taken at sunrise on New Year’s Day this year, was a good match. I like having a favourite spot to wander, it brings me joy and peace to spend time in this big open space close to home.
Three Days to Go!
As in the last couple of episodes, I have dotted a few of my One Hour Outside photos through this weekly blog episode.
There are just three days left of this year’s challenge, if you include today… and I reckon you can all join in these ones! Assuming you read my weekly blog on the day it’s published, today (Tuesday 27 February), your theme is ‘can’t live without’, tomorrow (Wednesday 28 February) is ‘waking up’, and Thursday (29 February) is ‘sunset’.
Have fun with the last few themes, and be sure to tag me (@Splodz) to help make sure I can find your posts on social media.
That’s Entertainment
I’ve got a bit of a bumper That’s Entertainment feature for you in this weekly blog episode – two adventure books, an audiobook, and a fiction novel. I guess that’s what holidays can do… provide time to read (and listen!). Hopefully these will give you some inspiration for any down time you manage to grab this week.
The two adventure books, as you’ll know if you read my weekly blog episodes regularly, were part of a prize bundle I won in a competition run by Vertebrate Publishing. I gave one of those books away as I already had it, but I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the other two.
Book: Peak Bagging Wainwrights, Karen and Dan Parker
Peak Bagging Wainwrights by Karen and Dan Parker, contains 45 curated routes designed to help you complete all 214 of Wainwright’s Lake District fells in the most efficient way. It’s designed for those who are looking to bag them all – but want someone else to plan the routes so they can complete them in a well-organised way, without ending up with odd peaks that must be hiked alone.
I’m not setting myself the challenge of walking all the Wainwrights; I know people who have done it and who are part way through, but it’s not for me. There is worth in this book as a hiking companion in the Lake District, though. It’s a compilation of 45 fantastic-looking walks, which will certainly inspire my trips to the Lake District over the coming years.
All the routes are circular (makes life easy), and link summits in a practical way – no silly ascents or ridiculous ridges to force routes to work. Apart from the route descriptions (which I’m yet to use in practice, I’ll report back on those), there’s also a route map, elevation profile, public transport and parking details, where to refuel, and downloadable GPX file you can import into OS Maps to help in your planning.
It’s also a very pretty book, with beautiful photography and well laid out details. It’s been sat on my coffee table since I got it, and I can’t help but want to get out and hike. If you are challenging yourself to complete all the Wainwrights in a series of day hikes, this is an excellent companion. And if you’re not – like me – but like exploring the mountains of the Lake District, then Peak Bagging Wainwrights works very well as day hike inspiration.
Book: The Outdoors Fix, Liv Bolton
In The Outdoors Fix, Liv Bolton tells the stories of 30 people who have made the outdoors part of their life in some way. Grouped together in chapters based on how the outdoors took over their lives, there are adventurers who show just how beneficial the outdoors can be to life – cultivating happiness, boosting work–life balance, improving physical and mental health, and leading to new and better friendships.
It is particularly good to see a whole chapter dedicated to ‘after-work adventure seekers’, that is, those who fit the outdoors in and around their ‘normal’ life. While all the stories are fantastic and inspiring, it is those in this chapter which are most like me and, therefore, are the most relatable in many ways. And, of course, it helps that I’ve met and spoken with some of the people featured – it’s always nice to see your friends in print.
It’s not just stories, though. Liv also includes practical information on how to get into a more outdoorsy lifestyle/profession. As such, The Outdoors Fix is the kind of book you might consider gifting to someone in your life you feel could do with a bit of an outdoor-inspiration or motivation boost. Something for a friend to have on their coffee table to provide a little inspiration when they’re wondering what life might bring them next.
Audiobook: Quiet, Susan Cain
My most recent audiobook listen on Audible was Quiet, by Susan Cain. I downloaded it after listening to Cain’s podcast, A Quiet Life in 7 Steps, because I liked the idea of learning more about introversion – something I solidly identify with.
Cain explains at the start of the book that at least a third of us are on the introverted side. Some of the world’s most talented people are introverts – and Cain shares some of their stories. Without introverts, we wouldn’t have the Apple computer, the theory of relativity and Van Gogh’s sunflowers. Except we now live in the world of the extrovert, and being ‘outgoing’, a good talker, and wanting to jump into social situations with both feet are considered the most valuable traits.
Cain says: “Introversion – along with its cousins sensitivity, seriousness, and shyness – is now a second-class personality trait, somewhere between a disappointment and a pathology. Introverts living in the extrovert Ideal are like women in a man’s world, discounted because of a trait that goes to the core of who they are. Extroversion is an enormously appealing personality style, but we’ve turned it into an oppressive standard to which most of us feel we must conform.”
I found Quiet to be positively self-describing. I could see myself in the stories Cain includes and found the information interesting – and useful. I’ve long known that introverts and extroverts see the world differently and know first-hand how society misunderstands and undervalues introverts. But this book has helped me to better understand myself. If only everyone would read it!
Book: The Dark, Emma Haughton
This year, my Jokabolaflod book courtesy of my friends at Comms Unplugged, was The Dark by Emma Haughton. It has taken me a lot longer to read the book than it did to eat the bar of Lindt Excellence Orange Intense that Pen sent with it, but here I am, finally sharing my mini book review of this one.
The Dark is a psychological thriller telling the story of Kate North, who goes to the UN research station in Antarctica as the emergency doctor after the previous doctor died in an accident out on the ice. As you might expect, as darkness covers the land 24 hours a day, it turns out all is not as it seems. Danger and dread are part and parcel of living in Antarctica during winter, and Haughton makes the most of them.
The Dark is a great story – it was an enjoyable easy read which managed to cause me to me reaching for it for a few minutes each day over the last couple of months. I’m not going to give anything away, because that ruins the premise of a good whodunnit, but I will say that I warmed to the lead character and didn’t to some of the others – getting some of them spot on, and others not so much. There were enough twists to make things interesting, but not so many that made the book hard to follow.
See You Next Time
A shorter weekly blog episode than in recent weeks, perhaps, but it is time for me to go and explore Funchal some more. Next week I’ll tell you more about this Portuguese island I’m calling home for a week.
In the meantime, please do give my two other posts from the last week a read. There’s the second part of my Cumbria Way adventure journal series, which talks of the hike from Ulverston to Coniston via Beacon Tarn. And a gear review post featuring some super packable waterproof layers from Mac in a Sac.
Don’t forget your last three One Hour Outside photos of the month… I’ll be looking out for them over on Instagram.
I hope you have a really great week. See you next time!
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Buy Me a Cuppa?
If you enjoyed this weekly blog episode and fancy supporting me and my mini adventures this year, you can “buy me a coffee” for £3 (well, a cup of tea, if that’s okay?). Head over to Ko-fi to find out more. Thank you.
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