December 11 – Early Starts, Quiet Gestures, and a Biscuit-Shaped Secret

Today began bright and painfully early — 5:30am — because I thought the dog I was looking after would arrive at 6:00. By 6:30 I finally checked my messages and realised the only guidance given had been “early morning.” And early morning, as it turns out, is a deeply personal interpretation.

So, suddenly gifted with unexpected time, I made apple purée from the allotment apples still lingering in the fridge — a task I forgot to do yesterday. Then I moved on to ginger biscuit dough, my continuation of yesterday’s mindfulness challenge: do something kind for someone without telling them.

Once the dough was chilling, it was time for the usual morning routine: porridge, packed lunches, dishwasher, washing, tidying. My four-legged guest arrived just after the kids left for school and immediately took great interest in our cat, who was sitting in the garden pretending to be unimpressed. I brought her inside so she could retreat upstairs with her trademark silent judgement.

Then Black Bean appeared, and I made porridge for the two of us along with a much-needed cup of tea.

The ginger biscuits went into the oven next. My daughter had wanted to bake them as a farewell gift for the neighbours who were moving out today, but she didn’t quite find the motivation yesterday. So I did it for her — and delivered them anonymously.No one will ever know.

(Although, let’s be honest, I will remember, and the story may — tactically — resurface at some future moment.)

I was tired this morning, and the cold shower absolutely snapped me awake. I blame last night’s accidental choice of a “sleepy blend” that contained green tea. Note to self: labels are there for a reason.

At 11:00, the sun finally came out as I took my four-legged visitor for his walk, and suddenly I felt more like a functioning human. Lunch was a repeat of yesterday — pitta with aubergine, kale, pomegranate, red onion, chicken, tahini, and hot honey — and still every bit as satisfying.

By 15:00, after a quick trip to the shops, I needed a snack: one dried fig and a handful of nuts. Then straight into dinner prep.

For reasons unknown even to me, I had assumed there would be only three of us for dinner. I was wrong. So I bulked up the recipe with extra veg and a pouch of rice, transforming Gousto’s Zingy Thai-Style Coconut Chicken Wraps into burritos. The prepping was intense — everyone likes their vegetables differently:

• grated carrot and marinated cucumber half-moons for one

• carrot and cucumber julienne without marinade for another

• and for the adults, marinated juliennes plus marinated red cabbage

A proper symphony of cutting boards and bowls.

Dinner by candlelight was lovely, followed by a slice of Riverford’s organic Stollen. By 17:30 the kitchen was already tidy — an absolute victory — and I was ready for a quick evening walk. Tonight I chose my tea carefully, the kind that actually encourages sleep.

Mindfulness of the Day: Manage Your Goals

Today's mindfulness challenge was Manage Your Goals:pick three achievable tasks from a probably-too-long to-do list, visualise them, and prepare to actually do them.

Easy on paper. Less easy when you live in the land of Never-Ending Lists — including the tasks you didn’t complete yesterday, the ones you forgot, and the ones that appear out of nowhere like pop-up ads.

It reminded me of the Urgent/Important Matrix, which I learned through the 7 Habits course when I worked in hotels. I loved that session — something about sorting tasks into neat quadrants appeals to my orderly side. (Possibly appealing to my German efficiency… joking. Mostly.)

Stephen Covey made the matrix famous, but it was actually President Dwight D. Eisenhower who designed it. A man who probably knew a thing or two about prioritising.

These days, I run the matrix mentally rather than on paper. Yes, it would be useful to draw it out — but honestly, who has time to carefully sketch quadrants every morning? Mental sorting will have to do.

And maybe that’s the beauty of today’s challenge: managing goals isn’t about perfection, immaculate planning, or beautifully drawn grids. It’s about choosing what matters, starting where you are, and doing a little bit well enough.