Path Work - Ben Macdui path, Miadin Creag & Sneachda

This month has been quite a mixed month weather wise, from roaring hot and very sunny to then very soggy and quite windy.  I've decided to do this on a monthly basis, just so it doesn't become too path workie, in case you're not into that.  As that means that this could be a very long blog I decided to only take after photos, but I think it actually doesn't work as well so sorry for this blog but next time I will add the before and afters.

So, the first week in July I had come back from a holiday visiting family down south and we were at a new location.  This time we were at the CairnGorm Estate managed by Natural Retreats. The weather was absolutely scorching that week.  So, so hot and we had to take extra water as there was no shade anywhere to give us a break from the sun.

The work was those highlighted by one of the Estate's ranger as work they wanted done and were along the Ben Macdui path from the Ski car park.  They included putting in a waterbar (to remove the water off the path),

Step rises,

Stone pitching,

And more step rises to help hold the surfacing on the path and making the path more usable.

What a difference in the weather the second week in July, all fog and some (but thankfully not many) midges, but it was quite heavy and muggy.

Firstly we finished off doubling the waterbar and adding a step riser which we had started the week before.

We also blocked a braid that had been forming further along the path and removed the block that had caused the braid to form in the first place (you'll never know it was ever there).

The last work done was doubling up some other waterbars and adding step rises, still on the Ben Macdui path and

On the Sneachda where we actually worked above the fog.

The weather was pretty similar in the third week, but we were working higher up on the Miadin.  Thankfully there was a bit more of a breeze which made it much less midgie.

Damage done to one water bar had widened the path, meaning that the waterbar had to be extended.

Erosion done to the path also meant that it was necessary to add in a large waterbar and a double waterbar. 

This was quite an amazing week as we got to watch a female ptarmigan and nine chicks having a dust bath just meters away from where we were walking.  Apart from Friday of course, where it drizzled the whole day, was very midgie and muddy, and where I forgot to take a photo of the work we had done - doubling up a waterbar and adding a step riser.

The weather for the last week was much sunnier, but a lot windier as you would expect for this Estate.

We added a double waterbar on the Miadin Creag and blocked and landscaped a very long braid on the east side of the path (sorry no picture of this).  This day long landscaping of the braid was surprisingly more tiring then all the stone work I have done so far, probably due to the amount of walking involved.

We then went back into the Mar Lodge Estate to add some step rises to a particular warn are of the Ben Macdui path from this direction, with edging to help hold everything in place.

This area was particularly beautiful as it gave a new view of CairnGorm and had much more quartz stone then I have seen so far which made the whole area look shiny.

Friday we were back in the Sneachda adding more step rises to help with surfacing erosion on this section.

We are now half way through the path maintenance season and I am really beginning to feel that my body getting used to the work, becoming strong enough in the right ways to carry out my work safely.  Hopefully this will only increase.  Despite the sometimes bad weather and midges I have really enjoyed this work and getting to spend all my work time in such beautiful scenery.  It still, somehow, doesn't seem quite real.

Decluttering: Personal & Miscellaneous

So this is the last in the decluttering series using the Pick Up Limes 30 Days of Minimalism.

Photos
Non-digital photos are a group that I had already dealt with many years ago when I went through all of them and put the ones I wanted to keep into albums.  At some point I will go through and scan them all before getting rid of them, but I'm going to leave them as is for now.

For the digital photos I've gone through all the ones I've taken and deleted all blurry or just plain bad photos.  I've uploaded all the ones I want to keep on online storage and them deleted them from my phone and tablet.  From now on I'll go through my photos on a regular basis delete ones I don't want and uploading those I do so that the storage on my phone and tablet remain low.

Hobby Supplies
I don't have a lot of these really, but there is much more then I need as had been trying to see if there was a particular hobby I like.  I've realised now that I really don't have time to do these hobbies or, at least, I'm not prepared to make time for these hobbies at the moment.  The two hobbies I do do when I have time is sewing and knitting so those are the only items I've kept, though I have gotten rid of any additional fabric and thread as I'll start any additional projects from scratch.

Sentimental Items
This is a category which I had a number of.  I'm not someone who buys nick-nacks or teddy bears myself, but other people have brought and I've always felt bad about getting rid of them.  However, the truth is I don't really like having these item, especially as I have dust allergies, so I've decided that it's time to let them go.  I've also realised that getting rid of them doesn't make me care about the people who gave them to me any less or appreciate the thought behind them.  They're just not my thing.

Holiday Decorations
I really don't have a large number of these anyway and all the ones I have I use so there wasn't really anything for me to get rid of.

The Car
I didn't have one when I was decluttering so this was a category I didn't need to bother about.

The Mind
This is something I've never been very good at, but this year I've decided to take up yoga (which I do at home) and this should help me with taking time for myself to keep my mind calm and decluttered.

There are many methods around now to help you decluttered your stuff, whether it is the Kon Marie method or The Minimalists packing party, but I thought this was a very good way of going through all your items and making sure you don't miss anything.  Definitely worth giving Pick Up Limes post a look.

Greening My Dental Care

Dental care is one of those areas that I knew for a while I needed to improve on, but wasn't really sure how I was going to do it.  I had made some changes, but hadn't taken it any further.  Then, when I was using my nylon dental floss, I decided that I really needed to stop just letting this area slide by and research what other more sustainable products were available to me.  

I had been using a toothbrush made by a company called Yaweco which allows you to only change the toothbrush head, but keep the handle.  However, this is still plastic and I wanted to see if I could improve on this.  I have also tried a toothpaste powder and tablets made by Lush, but these are also contained in plastic (though recycled) and I wanted to see if I could improve in this area as well.  So, I the order in which I do my dental care........

Firstly, at night only and when I remember (which isn't as often as I should) I use my coconut oil to do oil pulling.  Research has shown that this is not just pseudo-science but actually is an effective way of fighting plague and microorganisms that cause bad breath.  You can use a variety of oils for this, but I choose coconut oil as it also has lauric acid which is an anti-microbial and because it tastes nice.  You're supposed to do it for 20 minutes but I haven't got to that quite yet.  And spitting it in the sink isn't a good idea either.  Toilet or bin is better.

Next is flossing.  Like oil pulling I only do this at night as well.  Before I could only find nylon or silk dental floss.  Nylon is not a great material as it doesn't degrade particularly well and can do a lot of damage to the animals that come across it.  There are also ethical issues with the production of silk that put me off using it in any way.  So I found this Georganics dental floss in Minty Charcoal which is made from bamboo charcoal, peppermint essential oil, and bees wax.  Obviously it's not vegan, but it is cruelty free and works really well as a floss.  I'm not sure how they make it from charcoal, but it functions like any floss except that it will degrade.  The outer packaging is glass and metal instead of plastic, the bamboo is sustainably sourced, and you can buy refills after the initial purchase making it zero / low waste.

The toothpaste I use is also from Georganics and is the first product from them that I brought and which made me want to try other of their products.  This is a mineral rich toothpaste which is vegan, cruelty free, fluoride free, SLS free and gluten free.  It's also contained in a glass jar with a metal lid, all recyclable.  The texture is obviously different from normal toothpaste, but it doesn't take long to get used to it though the clay flavour is still taking a while.  This flavour is English peppermint, but it doesn't cover the clay or coconut flavour (though I like coconut so that part isn't an issue for me).  However, it is a good toothpaste and I like using it.  I thought using the wooden spactula would increase the amount of time it took to brush my teeth, but it's actually doesn't make much of a difference.  I want to try their toothpowder next, and maybe even their tooth soap stick.

Lastly, the toothbrush (also from Georganics) is a bamboo toothbrush.  The handle shape felt a little bit strange when I first used it, but now it actually feels more comfortable than normal toothbrushes.  This is a soft brush and feels even softer then previous brushes.  I was worried that the extra softness would mean that it wouldn't clean my teeth but it actually works really well.  The bristles also have bamboo charcoal in them and is classified as vegan.  The only issue I have with this toothbrush is that the bristles are still made of nylon so once I have used this brush I will keep looking for one which has plant based bristles.  I have heard that there are companies that do this, but I can't find ones in the UK.  I will keep looking, but if you know of any company please let me know.

All the products I got from Georganics came in recyclable and compostable packaging, and even the material they sent them in was the bare minimum, recyclable, and contained no plastic.  I brought all of these products myself and will definitely be buying from this company again.  So that's one area

Goal 2018 Update #2

This quarter has gone a little better then the first quarter when it comes to completing my goals for the year.  There's been a few little hiccups as before but I'm going to keep moving forward as before to try and get everything completed.

Minimising

This is still going well.  I am getting through all my beauty products at quite a good rate and should have everything (bar makeup) down to just what I need by the end of this quarter.  I am also working through my books and have a no buy on those and stationery until I've gone through all of them.  

I was also down at my parents again where I still have a number of my things.  As I was going through them to take more items home with me I was able to get rid of more things that I no longer needed and I no longer had any attachments to.  Having them away from me has definitely helped me realise what I do and don't need.

Healthy Eating

I knew this area was going to be a struggle as I do use food as a comfort some times.  I've also been keeping an eye on what I've been eating and how it's been making me feel and I noticed that I got bloated every time I ate something with gluten in it.  Since that point I have been concentrating on removing gluten from my diet to see how that has made me feel and have noticed that I am not only less bloated, but I feel less tired and have been having less issues with dry and itchy skin.  It has meant that I have been concentrating on this rather the goals I had originally put in place.  That being said I have managed to keep my processed sugar down low, just a couple of treats a week, and have reduced my process food to around one portion a week, but I could and will do better.

The next stage is to go vegan by the end of the year.  This is a little more complicated due to the gluten intolerance but I am going to give it a go.  Even if I am not able to go completely vegan I will take it as far as I can.  Right now the issue is to do the egg they put in the gluten free bread.

Finances

This has actually gone quite well this quarter.  Now that I know what I am earning on a monthly basis it's been easier to work out a budget.  It's still a learning curve and I will keep making changes until I get it to fit my needs, but I'm getting used to it.

The pension side of things has been a little more difficult.  I started researching possible pension schemes when I realised that I didn't know enough about pensions to know what would be the best one to take as someone who is self employed as a subcontractor.  I did look at possible financial advisors to help me make a decision but noticed when I was logging onto my NEST pension account just to see how this was doing that you can keep contributing to this if you're self employed.  So I think this is the route I'm going to take.

The next stage is to look at sideline jobs I can possibly do to earn more cash.  I want to do this so I can build up my savings so cover the 3 to 6 months they recommend you have as well as working on paying off my Student Loan, though that isn't a priority after reading the Money Saving Expert article on it.

And that's it really.  I am getting through my goals and, for the most part, have managed to keep mostly on top of them.  I still have 6 months to go to catch up on those I am falling behind on and to keep pushing forward to being a more healthy, financially stable, and grown up person.

Project Use Up Update #6 and Other Products

So the slowing down of using up has begun.  I have managed to finish another product, but the rest are moving very slowly and will probably take a few months before the next product is finished.

Starting with the item I finished, the Burt’s Bees hand salve.  I've been using this pretty much every night on my nails to help keep the skin moistured from the work I've been doing.  It did a very good job at keeping my skin healthy and I have definitely noticed a difference since I've stopped using it.  Burt's Bees is a cruelty free brand again, but obviously it's not vegan.  I did like this product but I want to see if I can use something simpler.

The next product I've used the most is the Gosh Velvet lipstick in Matte Rose.  This is the lipstick I've been concentrating on and I haven't really touched the other ones at all.  This is taking a little while to use up and I thought I would use up more based on my week off, but it was too hot to wear too much makeup during that time anyway.  I might wear one of the other lipsticks during July just for a bit of a change.  No change to the other lipsticks.

 The Living Nature eye liner in Midnight is a slow mover as before.  I really need to start using this more, but it does smudge around my eyes a bit (even when I set it with eye shadow) so I don't always want to add more.  I think this one is going to take a couple of years to get through.

The Barbara Day even smoother eye primer in Vanilla and NYX Dark Circle Concealer Corrector in Light / Pale are both plodding along slowly.  I'm not sure either of these will be finished by the end of the year, but I live in hope.  Both work well enough, but aren't really working their best in this weather and probably with the oils and SPF I use on a daily basis.

The last item is the Argan Oil hair treatment.  I am actually remembering to use this everytime I wash my hair, but seeing as I only wash my hair twice a week I don't use very much. It's a good oil mix though and works very well at moisturising and defrizzing my hair without being too much.

The other product I finished was the Physicians Formula Organic Wear CC Mascara in Black.  This is a good natural mascara and, once it had dried out a little, gave quite good volume and length.  But, like most mascaras I use that aren't waterproof, it did smudge under my eyes during the day so I won't buy this one again.

My progress so far:

• Project Use Up 2018
• Project Use Up Update #1 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #2 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #3 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #4 
• Project Use Up Update #5 and Other Products