'Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted'

I have recently left my job in teaching and am currently waiting to pursue a new career. During this interim period, I have been given the gift of time. Throughout my teacher training and the career that followed my one complaint was that of not having enough time to ‘do things’. What these things were exactly I am not entirely sure. One aim when leaving the profession was to use this time I now had to ‘do things’ but as of yet I don’t believe I have achieved this goal. Autumn is upon us now and Autumn solutions seem to be a thing at the moment so I’m going to use this blog to make some.

I’ve made a list of some ‘things’ I am determined to start using my time doing and am hoping having a blog with them written down on will help me(?!)

This is the list I have developed so far sat in my favourite coffee shop in Cambridge - Hot Numbers.

Baking - I say I love to bake but only really do the basics. We bought a Kmix on Sunday and it needs to be utilised. I need to learn to bake properly and start experimenting. So that’s what I’m going to do. 

Photography - My Dad gave us a Canon SLR camera last year and I’m ashamed to say I have never learnt to use it properly and in all honesty don’t even really take it out very much. I’m going to get onto some Youtube tutorials and start taking some decent pictures.

Walking - The above leads quite nicely onto this. Living in Cambridge, we are surrounded by beautiful countryside. I’m going to start exploring and taking my camera with me. Walking and nature are supposed to be good for the soul and I’m going to discover how true this is.

Gardening - We have a rather large garden and it’s in a bit of a pickle. Within the year and a half we’ve lived here, I’ve been out and done something in it once. For about an hour. Shameful. I’m going to get in touch with nature. Start caring for the plants, actually learning what a weed is and getting rid of it. 

Reading new books - I have always loved reading but over the past few years have claimed I haven’t had enough time for it. This is definitely not true now and I’m going to start reading more. I’m currently on Goldfinch by Donna Tartt and it’s great. Any other must reads are most welcome.

Watching classic films - When I lived with my sister in Brighton a few years ago we made a list of classic films we knew we should have watched -The Graduate, Trainspotting, The Big Labowski, Pulp Fiction… I’m going to continue with this list and start watching more. Any suggestions for titles are most appreciated. 

Running more - Exercise is something I enjoy doing and is one of the few things I have done more of in my ‘free time’. In March we took part in the Liverpool Half Marathon and despite near heart failure and a small breakdown half way through, I did actually enjoy it and would like to do more events like it. 

This is just the start of my list. I’m going to continue adding to it. Any ideas or suggestions are always welcome. I’m off to try some baking with Kenneth the Kmix and then watch the next episode of Greys (one has to wean themselves off these addictions). 

Lizzie x