Over the last week or so, I’ve been putting a fair amount of effort into jobhunting (including submitting applications for 3 jobs). Starting to look ahead to after the end of this academic year. As I’m now about 6 months away from a date when I could potentially start a new job, searching for same will probably continue for the foreseeable future … so I might not be able to blog as often as I would like . If I’m not around here as much as you think I should be, well, that’s probably the reason. I promise I’ll write when I can.

I’m finding it gets easier. It’s still not fun, but I tend to be able to get on with things now, rather than being paralysed by indecision. Writing CVs is definitely getting easier now that I have several up to date ones – I can copy and paste bits rather than having to write each new application from scratch. I am lucky to have very supportive family who will help proofread the documents I come up with, and friends /family /colleagues who will ask me about how it’s all going which makes me want to keep working on things so I have something to tell them.

So, if you know me in real life, ask me how it’s all going when we next bump into each other! Also, any ideas about what a Cambridge Mathmo (soon to have a Master’s in Education) could do for a career? Must be in the UK; ideally I’m looking for a full-time graduate job that doesn’t involve much travel and does involve maths/analytical skills. But I’m potentially open to other ideas! Leave me a comment or email me at eudoxiafriday@gmail.com …

I signed up to say that I was interested months (possibly years?) ago, but have never actually made it to a donation session before … for a variety of reasons including being a wimp and not wanting to go on my own, and sessions being tricky to get to (but mostly being a wimp).

So! I was really pleased that I finally actually managed to get my act together to donate – and now that I’ve done it once it won’t be so daunting next time. I was there for about 45 minutes overall, though I don’t know how long I was actually hooked up to the tubes etc for – probably about 10 minutes. It was a mobile donation unit, so it was pretty tight for space but everyone was very cheerful and efficient. They made me drink lots of water. It really wasn’t scary – I was a tad apprehensive about how it might be, but it was fine. The needle went smoothly in first time, and it did feel like a “long sharp scratch” like the nurse warned me it would – and basically, that was it, apart from 10 minutes of crossing and uncrossing my legs (apparently this keeps the blood circulating?) and wiggling my fingers (to keep the blood flow up in that arm).

I did feel a bit odd for the rest of the day, but that just meant needing to spend lots of time sitting down. Such a small price to pay for doing something so worthwhile.

Give blood! It’s such an important thing to do … I am sad to say that I wimped out for so long. If you’re in the UK, you can go to www.blood.co.uk for more information.

(also: this post would have had pictures, but the only photo I’ve got is of a great big plaster on my elbow … yeah, figured you didn’t really need to see that)

For that special someone ... or just for you

1. Heart shaped mini pancakes! I used the recipe from the Edmond’s Cookbook, but this one from the New Zealand Woman’s Weekly is pretty much the same.

2. A love song to the Internet … given that to be reading this you’re here online on my blog, I expect you’ll enjoy it

Hope you have a lovely day!

I would like to do something for Lent.

I could give up some particular kind of food – so far as I can tell this is the most popular way to observe Lent in England (giving up sweets, chocolate, etc). But to be honest that would be less a sacrifice than a lifestyle choice, and using Lent as an excuse to make a lifestyle change feels wrong.

I could try to give up complaining – I’ve heard of people doing that. But I suspect I would fail swiftly and I don’t like setting myself up for failure (on Tuesday I had to download a reading online, and despite repeated attempts using different links and various browsers it absolutely refused to work … yeah, complaining, it happened. And, frankly, will happen again).

I could take something on. Getting up earlier to read the Bible? maybe. Or maybe something to do with prayer.

But then … there is something in actual fasting that is not in social media fasts or TV fasts or taking something on for Lent. I used to be part of a group at Church that tried to fast every Monday, until Monday evening (so missing 2 meals). I wasn’t very good at it. I spent too much time thinking about what I was going to eat when I did eat, and deciding that it was fine to have a “snack” at 5pm. In the end I stopped because I felt that the physical discipline, without other input (and there wasn’t much input/support as the only contact was via one weekly email), was potentially nudging me towards bad habits instead of good ones. (I’ve read up on eating disorders and the associated thought patterns / habits of mind …)

Still. There is something in actual fasting. Katherine (who writes at evlogia) writes

“We fast because we need to remember that we need God.”

That sentiment calls to me.

Fasting reminds us that we are not self-sufficient.

“God doesn’t need us to fast. We do.”

Mmmm.

So. I’m kicking around this idea – I haven’t totally committed to it yet. But I think I’m going to give up lunch for Lent. For practical reasons, I don’t think I can fast in the Orthodox sort of way – which doesn’t involve not eating, but involves eating plainer food and somewhat less of it. I also don’t want to make this awkward or worrying for other people, so I think the best thing is to keep eating evening meals as usual. But lunch … I could give up lunch. And doing so would save a small amount of money, which would allow me to give that money.

I think this will work. 2 meals a day for 6 days a week will be fine, right?
(Sundays are not part of the 40 days of Lent as calculated in the Western Church.)

Step 1: Realise that those knee-high socks you have are going holey

Step 2: verify that all holes are in the foot/heel/lower ankle area

Step 3: Figure out which hole is highest. Cut just above that one.

Step 4: cut the other sock to match

Step 5: put your hand over the top edge of the sock (the bit that was once by your knee), to work out where you want your thumbhole to go. If your socks are stripey, it makes it even easier.

Step 6: cut teeny tiny holes for your thumbs (they will stretch. Also it is much easier to make a hole bigger than to make it smaller ...)

Step 7: wear with pride! or something

You might want to whipstitch around the edges of the thumbholes, they do stretch a bit. (I haven’t bothered so far.)

I like the fact that if you want to put on “real” gloves, you can quickly pull your thumbs out of these and squish them down over your wrists. And they’re less itchy than one of my other pairs of fingerless gloves, and less bulky than the other.

Any other ideas for things you can transform just by cutting a couple of holes into them?

Today is the 60th anniversary of the Queen’s Accession to the throne. Wow. She’s been Queen for more than twice as long as I’ve been alive …

Picture of me and the Queen … although Her Majesty was unable to be there in person

Last year, I resolved that I would not buy (black/green/white) tea or coffee unless it was Fairtrade*

*or otherwise ethically certified in some other tightly controlled way (I decided Rainforest Alliance was insufficient).

I had already been trying to keep these factors in mind when buying boxes/bags of tea. This resolution made a difference as I started to include “having a cup of tea after my meal in a pub” type buying as well as “in a supermarket trying to decide which box of chai to buy” type buying.

The aim was to educate myself about which establishments served Fairtrade tea and/or coffee, and which products they offered, as well as (of course) to support producers and workers’ rights through buying Fairtrade certified products. I know that Fairtrade is a crude measure and that there are lots of other important issues when trying to shop ethically (e.g. how companies treat their staff all the way along up to the person who actually serves you; their business practices outside the UK). But one has to start somewhere.

(the saucers in the M&S Cafe all have this on them)

The resolution was successful. Perhaps not a 100% success rate, but I think I broke it fewer than 5 times over 13 months (as stated, it allowed me wiggle room: I could order non-Fairtrade hot chocolate, or a “tea” like peppermint that included no camellia sinensis) and that was mostly by accident (blurting out “tea” when asked what drink I wanted without thinking).

Over the course of the year, I learnt a lot. Some places serve Fairtrade tea and coffee: M&S cafes, AMT Coffee, Cuppa Cino. Others serve Fairtrade coffee but not tea: Starbucks, Pizza Express. Others do neither: Costa Coffee, Caffe Nero, most pubs. Some companies are involved with charitable / social responsibility projects, but don’t come under any form of certification, e.g. Lavazza coffee (used by many pubs), Starbucks “Tazo” tea. There is enough Fairtrade tea/coffee on the high street/railway station platform that one can generally get a cup without much hassle.

So. Why give this resolution up, if it still seems to be a good thing, and, moreover achievable?

Because it’s becoming a burden, and one where I now think it’s not worth the angst it causes me. I believe that angst can be good and useful and necessary as a spur to action, but I think I’ve worried about this issue enough.

I will still prefer to buy from places which sell Fairtrade, particularly AMT Coffee and Cuppa Cino who have everything (applicable) Fairtrade (as this makes me think that the companies actually care about ethics, rather than just bowing to consumer pressure on a few items). I will still read the fine print of advertising and try to work out which products have which certifications attached to them. I will still try to find out about other charitable / ecological / social responsibility projects that companies undertake. But I will also occasionally have a cup of tea in a pub without worrying.

These are pictures I took on Wednesday morning, walking across Cambridge:

The skies have been clear and hat makes for cold temperatures, but it also means beautiful, beautiful days.

Top tip for working from home and staring at a screen all day: wear sunglasses. Yes, you will look like a bit of a twit, but your eyes may also be much happier.

My Chinese New Year feast went well and I had leftover wontons, which is a wonderful thing. There was leftover wonton filling, as well, which I’ve made into meatballs and frozen, for later dropping into soup … I’ve been making lots of soup with Chinese greens and wontons, which is delicious and also pretty healthy. Here are some pictures of it all:

folding wontons is fun!

cooking them is pretty neat too

yay, food!

mmmm, cooking with leftovers

Hurrah for tasty (and affordable) food!

We’re having roast duck, deep fried chicken and pork wonton, and stir fried vegetables in oyster sauce, with jasmine tea to drink. Assuming that everything goes well (it ought to do so – I’ve been tasting as I go along so I know the food’s okay!) it should be a lovely meal. We didn’t really do anything much for the calendar new year, as C had pretty terrible toothache and went to bed early, so it’s nice to have a chance to make up for it now.

Are you doing anything for the Lunar New Year?