Resolutions #3

As we approach the end of January I thought I would consider how well my New Year Resolutions have been going. Er - um- well.......
Following the slight hiatus with my tummy problems I have had to choose my moment when it comes to going out for a walk. My original resolution, linked to the fact that London is hosting the Olympics in 2012, was to walk at least 201.2 minutes a week. The weather hasn't helped. And I walk quite a lot in my day to day routine and I haven't always remembered to time it, so I have given up on that, on the basis that when I did manage to time it I found that I probably do more than that anyway, so I shall just try to keep on with that.
On the being greener front I have made a controversial decision. I shall be glad to know what you think but it probably won't change my mind. Neither myself, my husband nor my mother go on holiday. the last time I was on a plane was in 1985. Mum hasn't flown since 1982 and hubby has never flown. So I am balancing that against the fact that for all three of us, our food is one of the highlights of the day and I am going to look for local alternatives but if I can't get them I am going to buy stuff that has come from abroad. Particularly at this time of year. I am going to grow some things in the summer - that is what I can do in pots. Last year I grew mange tout successfully and I am going to give peppers a go this year. My dodgy back stops me from doing a great deal of gardening but I do my bit for the local wild life that way (That is my excuse for the state of the flower beds and I am sticking to it !)
I am getting quite good at planning the cooking so I use the oven for more than one thing once it has gone on. We have just had a letter to tell us that our gas and electricity charges are going up so that will concentrate my mind even more. Heating has to stay as it is as hubby, being disabled and therefore not able to move around to keep warm, feels the cold quite badly.
I don't always say no to plastic bags because I need them to wrap the rubbish sometimes. Getting free Tesco carriers sometimes means I don't have to buy bin bags so much. There is no way round this that I know of. The recycled rubbish is dry and it is a requirement that things are not wrapped for that bin. The food waste that goes into the brown bin is wrapped in newspaper. The dry other rubbish goes in unwrapped but when it comes to the smelly stuff, like the plastic bag the fish or meat has been in I'm afraid that needs to be wrapped up, especially in the summer. I am thinking about it though so I hope I don't lose too many Brownie points.
The water is another problem I haven't quite solved. I have to run a tap to get the hot water through and that water is not "potable" so the only solution that anyone has come up with is to use it to flush the loo. That however is not easy because the dodgy back means I cannot heave buckets of water out of the sink and up the stairs and hubby is quite unable to do it even for the downstairs loo. In the summer I can probably siphon it outside to water the garden.
Oh dear, I'm not doing very well am I. But I am going to blog more. Watch this space!