It’s time to share some news that I’ve been keeping to myself – I’ve decided to quit my job. This week will be my final week in school before I stretch my wings and venture out into the world of self-employment.
It wasn’t a decision I made quickly, in fact I’ve been planning it for almost 18 months. But I reached a point where I knew it was time to leave. So a few months ago, I bit the bullet and handed in my notice.
It’s been a year since I started to blog regularly and a lot has changed. My life has become more reflective and instead of focusing on far-off goals, I’ve started to consider how to make the most of each day and find the freedom to live in the moment.
My blog posts and the things that inspire me to write have changed too and in June I took a mini-break from blogging to reflect on this.
I did this because each time I wrote a post that wasn’t about saving or making money, I had a nagging sensation that my little blog was veering off course and that I’d lost sight of my overall vision.
Regular readers will know that back in August 2020 I got some unwelcome news about my beloved car. After being with me on my journey for 10 years, the garage staff advised me that it was time to let it go. The news sparked my car fund challenge which saw me aiming to save up enough to buy a used car in cash.
In May I finally let go of my little Snoopy car, an unexpected addtion to my Year of Letting Go challenge. I’m not a person who gets attached to material possessions, but letting go of my car hit an emotional nerve for me for many reasons.
Hello April, you seemed to crept by rather quietly. Or maybe it was me, wrapped up in my own cocoon of busyness and becoming oblivious to the passing of time. Busy times can turn us into modern day zombies if not kept in check. Eat, work, sleep, repeat.
Despite taking a social media sabbatical, I’ve been very busy behind the scenes. In fact, there were times when my days seemed to become one endless to-do list. It’s all for very good reasons, my business is growing and I’ve had more work coming my way, but at the back of my mind the nagging concern remained that life is for living and, as regular readers know, time freedom is very important to me.
However, I’m also aware that I have a very contradictory aspect of myself that prides itself on being busy. And it is for that reason, I decided that my aim for April’s Year of Letting Go challenge is to let go of busyness.
Each year I make a Simnel cake. Along with my extremely alcoholic Christmas cakes, it’s become a much loved family tradition. I envision myself, in the future, marking out the seasons with different cakes. I’m almost there, as my carrot and courgette cakes are widely welcomed during the summer and help manage the courgette glut.
As an avid baker, once I find a recipe that works, I tend to stick with it. My firm favourite for Simnel cake is one by Nigella Lawson which can be found in her book Feast, but is also available for free here. I highly recommend you try it. The only tweak I’ve made to the recipe is to soak the fruit in brandy beforehand, about 3 tbsp should do it. If you don’t fancy alcohol, then orange juice would also do the trick. It keeps the fruit nice and juicy.