My 2019 Reading Challenge - Short Stories

I love reading but if left to it I'd just read trashy detective novels all day long. Instead I prefer to shake up my reading with a bit of variety. Like last year when I read only non-fiction books.

This year I wanted to try read 5 books of short story collections. I've loved short stories since being read one in my English class in high school. The Vertical Ladder by Michael Sansom is a great example of how a short story can build the tension quickly and leave you wanting more. Short story collections are great to pick up and read when you don't have much time.


So here's what I've been reading:

Apparently Stephen King is afraid of flying so wanted to inflict the same fear in everyone else. It's a great collection of stories. One of my favourites was a story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, written in the early days of flight. It holds up well and is frightening even now. It didn't give me a fear of flying but I wouldn't recommend it if you're a nervous flyer with an upcoming trip!

Annie Proulx is great at short stories. They loosely have a theme of the Wild West but are all very different. My favourite one is of a childless couple adopting a cactus that looks vaguely child like. It becomes carnivorous which is a genius story idea right there!

This book blew me away with it's heartbreaking stories about women and the relationships in their lives. The characters are so real and relatable to me. There is a recurring character in 3 of the stories and honestly I could've read about her all day. Such mastery of the short story in this collection.

This book was a delight to read. Authors were invited to submit their own Sherlock Holmes stories and what was achieved was varied and joyous. Some of the stories were crazy, some were focused on Watson or Mrs Hudson but they were all entertaining. I would recommend for any Sherlock fan.

I decided to finish big with this anthology of 100 short stories. It has some really great stories in there from The Hare and the Tortoise to The Red Shoes to The Nose - a story about a man who finds a nose in a loaf of bread his wife bakes him for his breakfast. The stories in this book are really short mostly only a few pages each so they really are a glimpse.


I've enjoyed reading more short stories this year and I find it totally different from reading novels. Short stories have less time to wow you but they invariably do!


Any suggestions for future reading challenges are welcome! :)

My Medal Motivation

I like to exercise, it makes me feel good and I'm always pleased I've done it when it's finished. Haha! But sometimes some extra motivation is needed to keep me going. I've said before (many times) that I like to use Zombies Run when I'm out walking (I used to call it speed walking but I'm not that fast anymore!) Twice a year in the Spring and at Halloween they run Virtual Races.

Virtual Races are races you run (or walk, cycle, swim, whatever) on your own and in your own time. Zombies Run gave you a window of a week to do your race. You receive a medal when you've completed it. After getting my first medal, I was hooked. The orange ribboned medal on the far left was my first medal and I felt quite proud of myself for completing the Virtual Race.

I did the next few virtual races with Zombies Run but then I started having knee problems. So I looked into doing Virtual Swimming Races. I found a site called Swim The Distance. This was a bit different, you had a whole month to rack up as many lengths as you could, swimming to reach the goal you'd set yourself. I chose to try do 100 lengths (2,500 metres). I really enjoyed doing this race and got this blue swimming medal for completing it.

I really like swimming but it's just not accessible enough for me to do often so I decided to look around for a second hand exercise bike. JD found me one on Facebook Marketplace for £150. After wrestling it home we set it up in the corner of the dining room. I can cycle every day without leaving the house and I love it. I do 20-30 minutes a day (usually cycling between 3-5 miles) and it's great for my arthritic knees.

I still need that extra motivation some days though and so I found another virtual racing site. Virtual Racing UK does virtual races for all types of exercise. If you can log your distance you can take part. I've done several of their races including this lovely Remembrance Race earlier this month. I cycled 11 miles and it took me nearly an hour. My legs were like jelly when I'd finished.

My latest challenge is doing a Virtual Race with The Conqueror. They do longer distance challenges like the length of Hadrian's Wall (90 miles) or the Grand Canyon (280 miles).

I chose to do their Alps to Ocean challenge. It's 180 miles and I'm almost 1/3 of the way there so far. It keeps me motivated to cycle every day and to push that bit more to get a decent distance to log on my challenge.

I really enjoy my cycling exercise. It always feels like a great start to my day and I feel pleased whenever I look at my virtual race bling!

Ditch the Toxic Media in Your Life

I haven't read a women's magazine in years. They make me feel bad. If it's the kind with an impossibly toned woman on the front doing a yoga position I could only dream of, it makes me feel bad. If it's a magazine with a glamorous celeb on the front, it makes me feel bad. If it's the trashier kind of women's magazine pointing out cellulite and fat on minor celebrities, it makes me feel bad.

Magazines just make me feel bad. They make us all feel bad even if we don't realise it. It might superficially make you feel good that celebs have cellulite too but really when you're having a laugh at a pock marked celeb bum you're just re-inforcing to yourself that it's terrible to have cellulite. Which will inevitably make you feel bad. You'll imagine that if anyone ever saw your bum they'd shriek in horror or even worse laugh.

Nothing you read in that magazine will help you become toned, famous or perfect. It'll just make you realise that you're none of those things. Of course, nobody is perfect. All magazine covers are staged and airbrushed. Why pay to feel bad about yourself? So, no magazines for me!

Until recently when a new magazine appeared on the shelves. It's called In The Moment, tagline Wellness Mindfullness Happiness! Yes please, I'll have some of that.

I subscribed with an offer for the first 5 editions for £5. It gets posted through my door every month and I can honestly say it is pure fucking joy reading it.

There are no bullshit headlines making you feel bad about yourself. No horrible ads trying to make you feel bad about yourself (there are ads but they're not the majority of the magazine being all glossy and in your face). There's no celebs, no cellulite, no toned yoga person. No tips to make you look younger or lose 10 pounds.

And relax!

What you do get is interesting content. You get a pleasant matt drawn cover. You get articles such as:

Simple winter rituals to help you thrive.

Be spontaneous, find wonder in every day.

Slow down, feel calm and be kind to yourself.

It's full of thoughtful ways to make your life happier. As I read it I find myself wanting to jot down things to try or films to watch or books to read. It's so refreshing to be reading useful articles about having less stress and trying to reduce anxiety.

I'm off to drink a nice cup of tea and have a read :)

We Love Mug Cakes!

Mug Cakes are the perfect quick cake fix. They're not quite as delicious as a properly baked cake but they're ready right when you want cake. They're still warm from the microwave and they only take a few minutes to be done.

When I say 'We' I mean Leigh and I love Mug Cakes. I got her this book from The Works for £2 and we've made a start on sampling it's delicious recipes.

First we had Almond & Berry Breakfast Mug.

We didn't have it for breakfast, we're not cake maniacs! Recipe here. It was delicious and ready in just 5 minutes. Yum!

Next we tried the Lemon & Poppy Seed Drizzle Mug Cake.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter
1 egg
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon poppy seeds
pinch of salt
whipped cream and lemon zest to finish

Microwave the butter for 15 seconds. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Microwave for 2 minutes. Top with the whipped cream and lemon zest. Eat while still warm.

We really liked this one, it was light and lemony. I'm going to try it again with a spoon of lemon curd on top!

Watch this space for more Mug Cakes!

My Food Shame

This is a picture of me aged about 2. All I know about the picture is that we were out for a walk along the Riverside in Knaresborough and I got an ice lolly. We lived in Knaresborough for the first few years of my life, in a flat above a SPAR mini market. My parents were young when they had me, my Mum was 17 I think and my Dad 19. I've always loved looking at the old pictures from back then. Thinking about how it must have been hard for them to have a child at such a young age but that they look so happy even with me in tow.

I should be looking at this picture fondly. I'm a reasonably cute child getting stuck into an ice lolly like my life depended on it.

But mostly when I looked at this picture I felt shame. It reminded me that I'm the kind of person that loves food. Not just loves food, REALLY loves food. And judging from this picture I always have.

I was the kind of child always wondering what my next meal would be. What's for tea? When are we having lunch?

I used to love going to my Nana's house across the road. She loved baking and kept a big chest freezer in the garage that was usually full of homemade cakes, cake bars and biscuits. Whenever we went over it seemed like there was delicious food to eat and I visited often.

One time at my Nana's we were all gathered around the kitchen table talking. My Nana put down a sandwich (or a pasty, I don't remember) on a plate in front of me. I picked it up and started to eat it. But she hadn't put it on the table for me. It was for my Uncle's lunch as he'd just got home from work. Everyone laughed and found it hilarious because I'd thought it was for me. I felt so ashamed, I could feel it burning my face and so I ran out of the house. I hid in the driveway of another house down the street for  what felt like hours. All I could think of was that I should run away. I couldn't face the embarrassment of going back. Of course, I didn't run away and I just went home instead.

I'd always felt a kind of shame about wanting to eat food. It's never been as simple as wanting something to eat and then eating it. I felt aware when I was young that we were not the richest family and that food was sometimes limited. So I ate what was available. I never left food and ate whatever was on my plate.

This left me with an abnormal relationship with food. I was often hungry and tried to sneak food up to my room. But I was often caught and told off.

When I was about 13 or 14 I started dieting along with my Mum. Which led to 20+ years of feeling ashamed when I ate food. I couldn't properly enjoy food during that time. I was either dieting and restricting foods which made me unhappy. Or not dieting and feeling ashamed because I wasn't restricting food which made me unhappy. Dieting made me feel like a failure. Dieting made me focus so much on what I didn't like about my body that I didn't want to be alive.

As I dieted I'd have short periods of euphoria as I lost weight, followed by months of self loathing when the weight went back on plus more. And it always goes back on. The body doesn't want to lose weight, it fights back. It worries you're starving so slows down your metabolism. 95% of people who lose weight gain it back within 5 years.

As described in this article from the New York Times

Strangers feel like it's their business to criticise your food choices when you're overweight. One time I'd just got off work (I was working at Morrison's on the Deli Counter) and I was eating a tuna sandwich as a late lunch because it was about 2pm. I was sat waiting for the bus home and a guy said "Should you be eating that?". The answer I should have given was "Fuck off and mind your own business" and carried on eating my lunch. What I actually did was throw the sandwich away and cry in the bus station toilets. Because I felt so ashamed.

Luckily for me this story has a happy ending. About 10 years ago I decided enough was enough. I stopped dieting.

It followed another experience with food shame. JD and I were walking around Morrisons and I was looking for something to eat. I wanted something sweet but also I had that feeling where I felt ashamed that I wanted it. I was currently trying to "eat healthily". Code for dieting. JD being the lovely person that he is suggested I buy something healthy to eat because that's what he knew I wanted (deep down). I snapped at him and instantly felt that familiar shame at behaving like a maniac around food.

I haven't dieted since then and I've never been happier.

My weight (while still way over what is considered normal) has been consistent for the last 10 years. I eat what I want, when I want and have a MUCH better relationship with food. I can leave food if I'm full or I can have seconds if I'm still hungry. I find that now I don't crave sweet things like I did when I was dieting because I can eat them if I want to. I enjoy food and I don't feel ashamed about it anymore.

I've enjoyed blogging about food for the last 10 years. I've made and eaten a food from every country.  I've made and eaten 101 different sandwiches. I've really loved trying new foods. Life is good!

I exercise for 20-30 minutes every day and I really enjoy it. Maybe because I don't have to exercise, I want to. I exercise because I know it's good for my body, not because I want to change my body. Which is lucky because despite being more active than I ever have it hasn't affected my weight at all. I've completed the Couch to 5k program, various challenges to do sit ups and squats. I do yoga, swim and go out walking. Last year I did a different exercise each month. Every month I'd do weekly (sometimes twice weekly) classes doing Boxing, Boot Camp, Kettlebell workouts and many more. I've never sweated so much in my life. But here I am, same size as ever.

But I'm happy at this size. It doesn't stop me enjoying my life. I'm not waiting until I'm slim to do things I want to do. I'm married to the love of my life with two kids I have a great relationship with. I recently re-trained and got a new job. I climbed up Pen-y-ghent. I won't stop challenging myself and living my life. I won't feel ashamed.

It's MY business what I eat and no-one elses. If anyone in the street wants to challenge me on that...good luck!

Harrogate Cheap Eats - Little Breads

Little Breads is just down the road from our house. It's on King's Road almost opposite the Sainsbury's there. We've bought breakfast sandwiches there a few times and it's always busy in a morning. Erin and I had these sausage and bacon sandwiches just last week. Delicious!

But they also have a nice range of sandwiches for lunchtime too. Often when I walk past I feel tempted by their chalkboard advertising the day's specials. Paninis, melts and wraps all with delicious fillings. Plus they make a lot of brownies, rocky road, millionaires shortbread and other irresistable sweet treats.

JD and I went for lunch last Tuesday. I opted predictably for the special which was a panini with BBQ pulled pork and cheddar. JD had a toasted wrap with ham, cheese and tomato. Both were £4.10. Everything on the menu is under £5 with all kinds of sandwich, wrap, panini, melts options. All the cakes/bars are £2 each.

The food is always freshly made and delicious at Little Breads. We ate it outside the front where they have a few tables and chairs set up. We forgot to bring water with us so JD went the 200 yards to our house to fetch us some. Then, a trip to Little Breads wouldn't be complete without a sweet treat. So I picked out a Twix Cookie Bar and a Caramel Brownie for us to share. These are £2 each bringing the total to £12.20. Well under our £15 cheap eats budget!

I'd definitely recommend Little Breads for a breakfast or lunch. And don't miss out on their cake selection, treat yo' self!

Previously on Harrogate Cheap Eats:
 
Santar Deli

Cafe M

Harrogate Grill & Pizza

Nutrition Joe's

Tak Yan

Drakes Fish & Chips

I Am Doner

Cafe Rita

Palm Court Cafe

Oh Burger! 32: Pizza Burger

Which one would you choose? Well you don't have to, you can have this Pizza Burger instead!

Ingredients:

8 burgers
8 burger buns
pepperoni
mozzarella
tomato puree
herbs

These ingredients obviously make pepperoni pizza burgers but you could switch pepperoni for any other pizza toppings you like.

I cooked the burgers according to the packet instructions in the oven. Then added a layer of tomato puree, a layer of mozzarella and then topped with pepperoni. A sprinkling of herbs and then back in the oven for 10 minutes so the cheese can melt.

This is a winner in our house! So easy to make and pretty delicious. You have the taste of pizza but also of burger. I can see us having these often when I want a lazy cooking day. It did cause a bit of controversy with Leigh and Erin since we had them on what is traditionally pizza night but they ate them anyway!

Ratings: JD - 4, Emma - 4, Leigh - 3 and Erin - 2

My Favourite Way to Travel

I've always loved going on a train. Just the motion of a train feels relaxing. Watching the scenary speed past is mesmorising. I love watching the hustle of people travelling, running for the train and manhandling cases onto the platform as they leave.

I recently decided that I'd like to train travel more often so I picked a popular route, Settle to Carlisle, and hopped on a train to experience it. As much as I love trains. it's not quite as relaxing if you're travelling with kids, or for work, or if you're in a hurry. I was travelling alone for leisure so I felt sure it'd be great.

It was certainly a picturesque route travelling 73 miles over the Yorkshire Moors and North Pennines. You can see the three peaks from the train and it was nice to see Pen-y-ghent again under less tiring circumstances!

I love the Yorkshire countryside so I was kept busy looking out of the window. On my way up to Carlisle there was a volunteer in the carriage pointing out points of interest along the way. Geoff said he'd been volunteering for 10 years but he still enjoyed the views just as much.

I treated myself to a hot chocolate and a kit kat from the trolley when it went past. Such luxury!

I took a few pictures (as you can see) but I tried to enjoy the trip in the moment rather than try to get great pictures (difficult on a speeding train anyway!). On the journey back it rained all the way but I still enjoyed it. The rain added to the bleakness of the expansive countryside making it more impressive if anything.

I even had time to tackle the Metro crossword. Not the cryptic one though, I've never been able to finish a cryptic crossword without my Dad's help.

It was just the relaxing kind of trip that I'd been wanting. Time to myself to read and take in the scenary. I'd taken along a detective novel set in Yorkshire (in Giggleswick near Settle actually) which was perfect.

Carlisle was a nice place to visit when I finally got there. But for me it was all about the journey. I'd chatted to a few people along the way but it was nice to travel mostly alone. I didn't have to think about anyone else or worry they were bored. Just me, my book and the endless Yorkshire Dales stretching out all around me.

I enjoyed it so much I'll likely do it again. maybe Wales next time or up the East Coast through Northumberland. Let me know if you know of any scenic train journeys I should go on!

Frugal Family Fun - Prize Bingo

Once a week we have a family night where we get together to have some fun. It can be anything from a board game or film to a cinema trip or meal out. My favourite times have been where we're just at home doing something silly that I've devised.

For instance;

Beetle Drive

Minecraft Event

World Record Attempts

These activities are always much cheaper than going out to have fun and we all seem to enjoy them more. I try to keep to a budget of around £10.

Leigh and Erin's favourite thing about us playing Bingo at home is the prizes. I go to Poundworld or Asda and pick up some cheap treats. Usually a mix of snacks, stationery or home stuff. I wrap them up to keep the prizes a mystery.

I use a free Bingo Caller app on my phone so I can join in too!

The Bingo tickets and dabbers came from the Post Office years ago for a few pounds. There's 600 tickets a book so it lasts for ages.

There's a prize for a line and then another prize for full house. We usually do 5 rounds of Bingo using a new sheet each time. It takes about 30-40 minutes and then there's some swapping and negotiating of prizes.

Leigh and Erin are always pleased when we do this even though it's a little slow at times. Mystery prizes are a good motivator apparently!

Playing Silly Burgers 31: Mac N Cheese Burger

This burger is brilliant comfort food, two of my favourite foods in one.

Ingredients:

2 burgers
2 bread buns
2 1/2 cups milk
8oz macaroni
1 cup cheese

This is a simplified recipe for macaroni cheese but it works really well.

Boil the milk in a pan and then add the macaroni. Stir it for 10 minutes while the milk thickens and the macaroni cooks. Add the cheese and stir it well. Add salt & pepper and perhaps some mustard depending on personal preference.

Heap some macaroni cheese on top of a grilled burger.

I like a mac n cheese burger but it's a bit too much to eat. The cheesy sauce goes great on a burger keeping it moist and giving that cheeseburger flavour we all love. It's messy to eat too which as I get older gets increasingly annoying for some reason. Still, it's a great combo if you've got the appetite for it!

Ratings: JD -3, Emma - 3

Harrogate Cheap Eats: Santar Deli

Santar Deli is on King's Road just along the street from our house. When it opened up I was delighted to find out it was a Portuguese deli selling all kinds of deliciousness from Portugal, Spain, Italy and other European countries. I've been in many times to buy their pastéis de nata and chocolate cannoli among many other things. We've never been in for lunch though so decided it was time to give their sandwiches a try!

After looking at their sandwich menu I decided to try the Bifana sandwich and JD picked the Prego sandwich. Mine was £5 and JD's was £6.80. So I added a Lemon San Pellegrino and custard tart too. Still under the £15 budget!

My sandwich was delicious. The pork was tender and spiced. I'm not exactly sure what with but I got a lemony flavour somewhere. I enjoyed it anyway. The custard tart was delicious as always. A very nice lunch. One of my favourite things about the lunch was the plates. I really like the style of them. JD's sandwich was steak which he also enjoyed. There were plenty of other appealing sounding sandwiches on offer too as well as quiches, pastries and intriguing looking brioche sandwiches with mozzarella tomato fillings. I'll be going back to try one of those next.

So, if you want a tasty sandwich or a delicious Portuguese pastry Santar Deli is the place to go!

Previously on Harrogate Cheap Eats:
 

Cafe M

Harrogate Grill & Pizza

Nutrition Joe's

Tak Yan

Drakes Fish & Chips

I Am Doner

Cafe Rita

Palm Court Cafe

Oculus Quest Review

Last year I got JD a VR experience for Christmas and he loved it. So much so that he'd been highly anticipating the release of the Oculus Quest in May of this year. About a month ago he bought one and VR gaming has taken over the Jackson household!

This is what our dining room generally looks like now. Darkened to protect the delicate lenses of the Quest and all the furniture piled to one side to maximise play area. Also, this is a rare moment of quiet because there's usually someone in there flailing around on a VR game. I'm describing it as if I'm not one of the flailers, but I am :D

Pictured above I'm playing Beat Saber. You have a light saber in each hand and boxes fly towards you in time to music. You have to slice through the boxes in the right direction also in time to the music. I'm doing my favourite song Mr Blue Sky.

Beat Saber

It gives you a good arm workout which leaves you with aching shoulders. It gets so vigorous that we've had to put a fan in the dining room. Beat Saber is probably my favourite game so far but there are lots of good games. List time!

Epic Roller Coaster

Epic Roller Coaster - As you'd expect you're on a roller coaster in this game. You can choose the level of comfort from Comfortable to Fully Immersive. I've always enjoyed a fake roller coaster experience because I'm such a roller coaster wuss. Safe on my dining room chair I quite enjoy the feeling of my stomach turning as you lurch over the drop heading downward fast. There's lots of roller coasters to choose from with Dinosaur, Halloween or Zombie themes.

Superhot

Superhot is a game we'd previously played on our Xbox. But it's way better on the Quest. The bad guys are red and everything black is something you can pick up and use as a weapon. Time only passes when you move so it's an interesting game. I'd tried it on the Xbox but wasn't very good at aiming with the controller. On the Quest I can easily play the game with no aiming problems because I'm using my own arms to aim. I shot two guys at once with a gun in each hand!!

Shadow Point is a puzzle game narrated by Patrick Stewart. You have to hold up objects (sometimes several objects at once) to cast an increasingly complicated shadow. Quest games are usually a solitary affair but through the app you can cast the Quest to a phone screen. JD and I are playing this game together taking it in turns to play/watch. We're enjoying it so far.

Raccoon Lagoon

Raccoon Lagoon is the game I've probably played the most. It's a lot like Animal Crossing. You chop trees, mine and plant seeds to get resources to upgrade stuff. There's a host of cute animal characters you have to help with their various problems. They always want something building or rescuing. It's a nice looking game and it gets addictive.

Before you start playing the Quest you have to set up a guardian. It's a virtual wall stopping you from banging into walls or furniture. It works quite well usually but when JD was playing a game called RacketNX (basically futuristic Squash) against someone online he got so competitive he knocked everything off the top of our bookcase! Haha.

Another story which is less funny because it happened to me - I was playing a game called Ninja Legends where you have to defend yourself against waves of Ninjas attacking you. I got a bit carried away and punched the wall trying to attack a sudden onslaught. Ouch!

As well as the potential to damage your possessions when you first play the Quest it can make you feel nauseous from moving around quickly in a virtual world. It passes as you play more, we all experienced it to some degree. 

Leigh and Erin love playing on the Quest. They both enjoy a game called Work Simulator where you have to perform basic work related tasks. It's pretty fun despite the name. One of the best things about VR is getting someone new to try out the VR tutorial. Watching them figure out how to do basic things like pick up a block or pull a lever. My sister Sally came over for a go and now she has her own Quest.

One of JD's favourite things to do on the Quest is to draw. He's got a program called Tilt Brush. You can draw in 3D and he's made some very creative but weird drawings in it. I'll leave you with this chicken he drew.