Ordinarily Extraordinary Anna

Everyday thoughts, discoveries and projects from an ordinary life

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Category: community

May 11, 2019May 10, 2019 ordinarilyextraordinaryanna

I Really do Belong : the value of community

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Reading this June (into July) I only managed to finish one of these books and my review of Wendy Holden's Born Survivors is on the blog now. (link in profile) It's the true story of 3 Jewish prisoners who hid their pregnancies and gave birth during the final days of WWII in the worst imaginable conditions. Miraculously all mothers and babies survived to tell their stories. Sent via @planoly
When beautiful strawberries like this are $4 a kilo, you stock up. Strawberries for snacking and smoothies this week.
I don't know about you, but those Facebook Memories posts can go either way for me. They may bring a smile to my face and gratitude to my heart or just leave me wistful and sad at how ordinary and run of the mill my current day is. On the blog now is my reflection on today's FB memory. (link in profile) This photo, by the way, is me doing one of my favourite things, walking on history at the Palace of Versailles and is very vaguely connected to today's blog.
Not a huge achievement, but it's better than nothing and nice to be thanked for it. For years I was afraid to donate blood and never got round to it. I have always had low iron levels, so thought maybe I couldn't do it. At least, that was my excuse. In my early forties, I decided to give it a go and realised there was nothing to be afraid of. Due to overseas travel to malaria zones, I can only give plasma for now. This is actually a better option for me, as red blood cells are returned to my body and only white cells donated. If you've never considered donating blood or plasma, maybe now is a good time to check your eligibility and give it a go.
What to do when you don't have lemon juice for your smashed avo with feta? Add a drop of doTERRA Lemon essential oil, of course! We planned to walk to a cafe for breakfast but it was raining. Instead, I whipped up a special weekend breakfast at home. Wouldn't you know it, it stopped raining as we were eating!
'Plastic free July' dilemma here. Today I got brave and took my own containers to the butcher. (This is my chosen 'plastic free July' challenge' and yes, the containers are plastic, but not single use.) I politely asked the butcher to use my containers instead of plastic bags. He agreed but didn't look thrilled about it. I'm sure I heard another butcher comment to him about 'always getting the crazies'. Well, if saying no to single use plastics makes me crazy, so be it. The tare on the register didn't work, so he ended up placing my meat on plastic to weigh it before putting it into my containers. This meant even though I didn't take any single use plastic home, I still caused 3 bags to be used for my purchase. I found this frustrating and disappointing and am wondering if anyone else has experienced something similar. I'll try again next shop at another butcher and see if I have more success.
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