Hello.
I’m Claire. I am a forty-something mum of Minnie and Jackson, and wife to Gareth. At the moment, we live in a pretty little village in Berkshire, UK. We came back from five years living in Christchurch, NZ in 2017 and we have hopes of moving back there in the not too distant future.
I gave up a job I loved when we moved back to the UK and it took me a good six months to grieve the loss. One of the things I did to keep me positive and give me something to focus on, was the Joe Wicks’ 90 Day SSS Plan. I graduated from this three-month health and fitness programme in the first week of January 2018. I had lost 9kg and several inches off my waist and hips – every girl’s dream ay!
During those six months, I applied for jobs and looked for work that I would enjoy, as well as fit with our family life. Apparently, it was too much to ask! So I am going to take a year and see if I can create my dream job for myself. If it’s a job I am going to put my all into and get a return on my investment, I need to enjoy it, so what gives me joy?
- words
- food
- friends and family
- life in its fullness
- communication
I already have one blog, thethingsnotsaid, that I started when we moved to New Zealand in 2012. This is where I write about the things that are difficult to say in person, because as a mum I’m generally distracted, interrupted, rushed or cleaning on my own at home. So I write them down on a blog, that way my urge to communicate is met.
thethingsonmyplate is going to be a place for the ideas and inspiration I have when I taste, watch, read or see something about food. It could be Great British Bake Off, a recipe book, a cake at a friend’s house or a new dairy-free product I have found in a shop.
Whilst I was warming up to this blog, I watched ‘Julie and Julia’, the film about Julie Powell who wrote a blog about cooking all of Julia Child’s ‘Mastering the Art of French Cooking’ recipes. When she wrote it, blogs were not the competitive, global industry they are now and I liked how simple it was for her to do, because it was ostensibly for her. Taking a leaf from Julie’s book blog and having just finished the challenge of the 90 Day SSS Plan, on which I learnt so many new things about food, I thought it would be good to set myself a challenge to give this blog some direction.
The challenge: to write a blog every day for the next 365 days (end date 11th January 2019) about ‘the things on my plate’. Most likely it will be about food, but as we often talk about “things on our plate”, metaphorically referring to stuff we’re dealing with in our life, then I am going to give myself permission to deviate from food when appropriate. The challenge within this challenge, is to maintain the lean and healthy body I have gained on the 90 Day SSS Plan. Can I do it without The Body Coach?
This blog is a place for all my passions (see above), but if it becomes a place where other people can get good recipes, food ideas and life hacks from, well that would be lovely.
Claire x
the things on my plate 