Greetings from Cabot Covid (thanks to Tim from Solve-Along-A-Murder-She-Wrote for that one).
Thursday was the blog’s birthday. For FOURTEEN YEARS I’ve been blogging about movie stars and their favourite recipes. My goodness me, I can hardly believe it.
I started this blog at a very low point in my life, and it has got me through some very difficult times since. I am so happy to have it as a distraction from real life. As Mark Brisenden put it, “it’s my favourite waste of time.”
This week has been a bit tricky mind-wise. It is beginning to sink in that I am going to be spending a lot of time on my lonesome for a long, long time. This lockdown life is not ending anytime soon. I had slipped into some very bad habits, so on Thursday I decided to push the RESET button (thank you to my chum Carol Anne Rice for the prompt to do so).
With Angela Lansbury as my guide, I spent part of my day doing things that are good for body and soul. If you need a reset, I highly recommend reading Angela’s book cover to cover.
Or better still, watch the book’s accompanying video. I am not being cynical or sarcastic about Positive Moves, this is BRILLIANT STUFF. Angela KNOWS how to be happy and she has kindly shared her life advice with all of us.
I was working from home but I made sure to find time to do some of the things Angela recommends. I did her exercise routine before work (as usual I particularly enjoyed the freestyle dancing at the end) and I had a spin on Angela’s Kitchen Sink Salad for my lunch.
I went into my garden for half an hour just to relax (Angela loves to garden).
and in the evening I did plenty of something that Angela believes is very good for the soul, “puttering”.
With everyone being productive all over the place at the moment, I feel that “busying oneself in an ineffective manner” is the perfect antidote. I just loved my day living like Angela and heartily recommend a day like this to EVERYONE.
Press reset, live like Angela even if only for one day. You might start your day feeling like this…
But you’ll end it feeling like this…
Angela’s recipe is looking for a test cook (if indeed a recipe can look for something…) so skip on over to the Murder, She Cooked test cooking page to nab it. In these strange times it’s perfectly acceptable to make substitutions for any ingredients you can’t currently find. I’m sure Angela calling it a Kitchen Sink Salad gives you carte blanche to put in anything that you have knocking around in the fridge!
Congrats on 14 years of blogging! Here’s to many more years of blogging.
Thank you so much Annette! I enjoy it so much and know that you do too!
And it’s still my favourite waste of time ! Did you ever take a tour round the Lansbury estate in Poplar. Named after her father, the Labour Councillor and MP . It’s fascinating – It’s also my ancestral homelands on my maternal side . I could give Mr R. and your good self a tour round after this is all over and then we can have Pie and Mash in Maureen’s !
All exercise and wellness routine especially important in this, mental health week . Also Clare Lynch of Soho Society is doing a daily hr pod cast from her flat – she might be interested in your ‘Living Like Angela .. things as a way of coping with lockdown . Shall I ask her ?
Oh, a resounding YES to both things Mark! I love the idea of the tour of Poplar, I have never been there! Do pass my details on to Clare – could be fun!
Thank you so much for this post and especially for including the video! I have been searching for an exercise video, but with arthritis, a hip replacement, and being 73, I was finding it difficult to find something that would be gentle, but also a through routine. I loved this program, and her calm voice and beautiful surroundings made it just perfect. I love your recipes, and have has such fun making things, but this is still my favorite post of yours.
Oh Colleen, your comment has absolutely made my day! Thanks so much for taking the time to send this message, my heart is bursting with happiness. I am so pleased that you like Angela’s exercise video. I love it too, it’s so gentle and easy and I really love the freestyle dancing part at the end. Luckily I am on the fourth floor of a block of flats so am not overlooked when I prance around my living room! Thanks again for leaving a comment, I’ll be smiling all day long xx