Paperless Productivity - Actions by Moleskine

This month I've been testing Actions by Moleskine, though in actual fact I only actually tested it for a week as that's how long the free trial was for.  Obviously this app probably works best for someone who uses it in conjunction with a Moleskine diary or bullet journal, but I wanted to see if it would be a good application for tasks in it's own right.  If you wanted to use it long term you would have to become a member.  However, it's actually not that expensive at £1.79 per month or £10.99 a year.

Like most of the apps I've tested so far this one is pretty intuitive.  When you open it up there are three main pages.  The first, which is also the default page, is the Schedule page.  This holds all your activities for the upcoming days, which it gets from your calendar if you agree to link the two pieces of software up at the start, and the tasks that you put in.

The page on the left is the Logbook.  This shows all the tasks that you have completed in date order.

The page on the right is the Lists page and this holds all the tasks that you have categorized into specific subjects, such as dinner, blog, etc.  Here both those active and completed can be found which makes it a good way of keeping an eye on projects with sub-tasks.  Each list is given a different colour which is then shown in the Schedule and Logbook pages.

The menu symbol at the bottom takes you to Actions where you can get help, change your account details, go over how the system works, and pay for your membership.  It's also where you can change the colour scheme and whether the pages are set up as 'night' or 'day' by click on the symbols at the bottom of the page.

Adding a task is pretty simple, just click on the cross at the bottom and type in the name before clicking enter.  

At this point you can also add in the date and if the task needs to repeat;

Add it to a list;

And add a reminder if you need to.  

Though all of these can be added later on by just double clicking on the task.  Once you've completed a task you swipe it left and it disappears from Schedule to be added to your Logbook.

Any tasks you don't complete automatically get added to the next day and, something I really like about this app, the date the task was originally meant for is shown with the task.  This allows you to see tasks that just keep getting shunted day after day, giving you the opportunity to decide whether it's worth keeping it on,  whether you need to assign a specific time slot to it, or whether you should just delete it all together.  (To delete a task just double click on it and you'll see delete on the bottom left.)

And that's it really.  It is a really good, simple app and I would say probably worth the less then £2 a month you would have to pay for it.  I do really like the way this app adds details from your calendar  as it means you can see everything in one place, making it easier to schedule in your tasks and giving you the same feel as you would get with a physical diary.  However, as with the other apps I didn't like the way the days ran into each other as you scroll down the page.  Again, this makes me feel like I would probably add too many tasks to one day if I wasn't being careful and a prefer at bit more structure to my planning than that.

At the moment, with these types of apps I think the Microsoft To-Do is still coming out on top for me just because of it's layout, it's link to my other accounts, and how you start each day afresh, pulling in your tasks for the day yourself.  It's also free which is always good.  However, out of all the apps Teux Deux is still coming out on top.

Next month I'm going to try a pretty simple task app called Tick Tick that I found on my Google Store to see how that does compared to the more fancy well known ones.  Will probably do a few of these over the next few months.

Book Review: What Nature Does for Britain

'What Nature Does for Britain' is Tony Juniper's follow up to 'What Has Nature Ever Done for Us?' (see my review here) and is based on how us Brits benefit from nature's free services.   Juniper was once Executive Director of Friends of the Earth (England, Wales, and Northern Ireland) and is still an environmentalist, campaigner, writer, and sustainability advisor, so has just a little bit of experience and knowledge in this field.

Published in 2015, it goes through the number of environmental services, such as clean water, food supply, and flood protection, that we take for granted and pay nothing for.  Juniper also shows us that we're not only damaging the systems that actually protect us, thinking we're reducing costs and allowing the continuation of economic progress but that this actually doesn't make economic sense.  The damage we do now will not only cost us in the future, but is actually costing us right now.  Take for instance the subsidies we are giving farmers to be more 'productive' which has actually led to damaging the soil and the high use of fertilisers, causing runoffs into our local water systems, that then cost us to clean before we can use it in our homes.  By supporting nature and the natural systems we already have in place in Britain, such as flood plains, beavers, peat bogs, etc, we are in fact supporting ourselves.  However, 'What Nature Does for Britain' doesn't just cover what services we're getting already but also talks about how the restoration of additional ecosystems could really benefit us in the long term.

Each chapter starts with three facts about the intended subject and ends with Juniper writing down the manifesto he would like to see the British Government take on board.  These nine chapters cover everything from the animals who help pollinate and protect our food, to reducing floods, capturing carbon, obtaining sustainable energy, and treating mental illnesses.  It shows how, by working with nature in all these fields, we could save quite a bit of money in a more indirect, but resilient, manner.  One that works for everyone.

There were two things I found most interesting in this book.  First was the examples of businesses actively choosing to work with nature to protect their future and prosper financially, such as Thatchers who are encouraging the bees that are needed to pollinate their apple trees.  The second was the idea of integrating payments together.  So instead of paying for farmer's subsidies, water bills, and flood protection separately despite the fact they are all interlinked, we could pay to a system which would work with farmers to reduce the runoffs and clean up costs, and with both farmers and water boards to protect and develop ecosystems that greatly help with the reduction in flooding.  Instead of just paying subsidies etc, we would be making payments for 'ecosystems services'.

Possibly the saddest thing about this book is that it shows just how little has actually been done in the five years since it was published.  In fact you could almost argue that we're going backwards in some of the areas.  To make this work would require us to make new policies, laws, and redirect how our finances are being spent, and I have to admit I don't have a lot of hope for those we have in our Government at the moment (they gain too much by the status quo and seem to think they know best).  However, I can also see that there are those that have the knowledge to take us forward, that is is possible as many of the examples from companies making money from their activities have shown, that it won't halt progress, and that it will benefit us greatly in the long run.  So there is a little hope there, and perhaps now, with us coming through Covid-19 and Brexit, is the perfect time to make those changes.

Definitely give it a read.

A Little Bit of Crafting: Pillow Cases

As I said in a previous posts, one of the ways I decided to stay sane during lockdown was to take up crafting again.  This isn't something I've done a lot of over the last few years, just cross stitching some Christmas cards, so I thought that it would be a good challenge to remind myself how to actually do it.  One of the little projects I gave myself was to make some additional pillow cases for these extra large pillows my partner has (their the back set in this photo) and for which it's practically impossible to find actual pillow cases for.  Just a little side note, I didn't really think about writing about this until I was already working on them so I don't have all the photos that would be useful here - just the ones I took as a little reminder to myself.

I hadn't brought any fabric for this before lockdown happened, but we did have a bottom sheet we were getting rid of and which conveniently matched another bottom sheet we were keeping.  There was also no pattern so I had to make up one of my own.  After taking the measurements of the pillows I decided to make a pattern which was one long piece that wrapped all the way around the pillow (with an overlap) and two side panels.

The plan was to follow the basic style of the original pillow cases which had an overlap opening located at the centre, back of the pillows.

As the sheet was a fitted sheet the first task was to unpick all the elastic that was around the edge.  That took a little while but it does now mean we have quite a bit of good quality elastic for another project.  I'm not entirely sure what that project will be, but I'm sure I'll think of something.

I then laid the sheet out on the floor, drew on the pattern I had created and then cut out the pieces with a two inch border to give me some leeway when working with the fabric.  To be honest I probably should have ironed the sheet first, but ironing has never really been my thing so why start now.

Then came the fun pinning game, which I've never been able to play without pricking my finger at least twice each time.  It was a little more complicated then usual in that I wanted to work the fabric around the corners of the pillows and, as I wanted to do the sewing all in one go, needed to leave the overlapping sections open until I had sewn the seams up.

I haven't used a sewing machine in years, at least 10 in fact, so it was interesting to see if it was like riding a bike.  Turns out the muscles still remember what to do and using it definitely speed up the project considerably.  The only thing that completely eluded me was how to load the bobbin once I had re-threaded it.  Admittedly it was a different machine from what I had used before and thankfully help was at hand.

Firstly I sewed the seams of the overlapping sections, then pinned them into place before sewing around the pattern.  I remembered some of the things I'd been taught in the past, like leaving the needle in the fabric when you swizzled the fabric around at the corners, which made the process a lot easier.  This machine didn't have a setting to sew the ends closed so I just have to rely on the this single line of stitching being strong enough.  I think it should be okay though.

And there you are, there is now an additional blue set of cases for these pillows.  We no longer need to try to wash and dry the original set in one day so we can use them again that night.  Always good.  It wasn't the most complicated thing I've ever done, but I'm still pretty chuffed with the outcome any way.

Who I'm Donating To In 2020

This post has taken me a little bit longer to write then intended and that's mainly due to the events that have been happening around the world right now.  The original plan was to go through the charities I have been donating to once I had returned to the UK and decide whether or not to change them, or to just keep giving money to the ones I had decided to donate to last year.  The hope was also to be able to increase the amount I had been donating, but with no earnings come in at the moment I haven't been able to do that.  I do want to keep donating though, which is another reason I'm looking for side hustles to draw a bit of income right now.

I'll start with the one charity that I won't be donating to this year and that is Plastic Oceans.  A couple of months ago my yearly donation ended and I have decided not to renew it.  It's absolutely nothing against Plastic Ocean, they are a great organisation that is doing a lot of good work,  I just wanted to put my money towards a more wider scoping organisation.  It also doesn't mean that I'll stop working towards reducing the amount of plastic out there in activities like reducing my own plastic consumption and campaigning for less packaging.  That will continue.

Out of the charities left in the group I donate to I am definitely going to carry on donating to the Bat Conservation Trust (BCT), just because it's....well it's bats!; Client Earth, because they do a lot of good work and I've seen the amount of progress my donations have help bring about; and Water Aid, again another organisation I feel has done a lot of good with the money I've donated and I really appreciate how they've stepped up during this Corona virus pandemic.

As with last year, I'm still on the fence about the RSPB.  I do really love the work they do and the fact that they protect the whole ecosystems and not just the birds (admittedly it would be slightly counter-initiative not to).  I also like the fact that they also work with communities all over the world to help protect habitats in other locations.  The only issue I have is where their money goes, with not as much of my donation actually going to these activities as I would like, and quite a bit going on things like administration etc.  I will keep donating whilst I try to decide on this but it is a decision I need to make.   I also have an issue with the fact that, whilst BCT and BTO (a charity my parents donate to on my behalf for my Christmas present) are able to send me their magazines digitally, RSPB does not seem to have that option.  It seems a small thing, but every bit of waste counts. 

I would like to donate to five charities again this year, so I've been having a look at what other environmental charities are out there.  I did think about some of the really big organisations to start with, such as organisations like Greenpeace, but there has been quite a few issues with transparency and the behaviour of some of these larger organisations' employees.  In then end I decided on 350.org.

Originally based in the US 350.org are an international organisation who are working towards a future that moves away from fossil fuels and towards community based renewable energies.  I like that the information they provide and the activities they do are based around scientific information and anything that gets us away from fossil fuels is good to me.  I also really like the idea of helping to support communities that are most affected by the changes of climate change and making them more independent with help that is tailored to their needs.  There's a lot of resources available on their website if you're needing to/ wanting to led some training on climate change and what we can do.  They put real enthusiast on being transparent (something that is really important to me), put their financial reports on their website for us to see, and work by collaborating with other organisations, ensuring that the changes are much more far reaching and long term.  Unfortunately I won't be able to add them as my fifth charity until I get some income coming in, but as soon as I do they'll be getting my support.

So that's my five charities for 2020.  It's always difficult making a decision as to where you're money should go, but I think I've picked a good mix that will hopefully help both people and the planet over the year.  This feels especially important with everything that's going on at the moment and these extra pressures on our communities and the environment as a whole.  

Travelling - Northland, New Zealand

This trip to Northland obviously happened before the lock down started, but I thought it would be nice to have some pictures of the outside world for us to look at.  It was only a four day visit as, unfortunately, that was all the time that we could put aside this time.  However, even though the Northland is not given as much advertising as a tourist destination in New Zealand, I really wanted to see it.  Due to the distance there was quite a lot of driving, which isn't my favourite way of seeing places, but needs must.

On the first day we started off a little late as we needed to sort out our gear first, but we wanted to get quite far north that day to make sure we made our main goals possible on day two.  So that night we stayed at Paihia, which has some nice gift shops and what looks like nice places to eat, but the main thing us was the view into the Bay of Islands.  We decided to just grab some snack like foods for dinner and sit in the car parked at the bay to enjoy the scenery whilst we ate.  It was a little murky and dull that day, but still beautiful.

The main attraction of Paihia is the Waitangi Treaty Ground, but that was a little bit out of our budget for this trip so we contented ourselves by walking over the bridge to the area and having a bit of a wondering around the neighbouring park. 

The second day was all about the original European capital of New Zealand, Russell.  First stop was the flag post at Maiki on the Flagstaff Hill Historic reserve to see the site where the British flag post was cut down four times by Hone Heke, chief of the Ngapuhi, over the fact that the treaty had not brought his people prosperity and the increasing control of the area by the British.  It does seem like quite a legitimate reason to cut down the symbol of the British Government in that area and the fighting that followed really showed the in-experience of the British and the experience and honourable behaviour of the Maori, they did far more to protect the local British, non-military population then their own Government did.

We then walked back to Russell through the Kororareka Point Scenic Reserve.  The tide ended up being a little higher then we expected, so the final beach walk ended up being a scramble over the rocks in our flip flops - always fun.

Then it was time to have a good look around Russell itself.  The main streets still contain quite a few of the older buildings and it has quite a nice relaxed feel to it without all the touristy shops that you would normally expect.  In fact it had quite a few pre-loved and craft shops for the size of the place.  We made sure to stop at the museum, which was small but full of information, and the church where you can still see holes on the outside musket balls on the outside and to whom Charles Darwin actually donated money to the building of.

To get to Russell and back we took the ferry (which is pedestrian only), and it's a really nice way to first see Russell and the bay.  Probably beats the long, winding round you would otherwise have to take any way.

After a lovely morning pottering we carried on the drive north.  We made a pretty quick stop (and by quick I mean I almost did an emergency break, but decided to control myself) at the Living Nature factory shop.  I love their products so was keen to see the place where they are made.  Unfortunately we couldn't see the factory that time, but I had a good nosy through all the products in the shop.  Then we stopped at Kerikeri to get supplies and visit the Kororipo Pai.  There isn't a lot still visible at this Pai, but you can see the terracing that once supported the wooden palisades that make up these fortresses.  We also took a quick leg-stretching break to see the Rainbow Falls.  The waterfall was beautiful, but we didn't get to see any of the rainbow colours they are names after, probably because the lighting was a bit off that day.

Our stop for the night was the most northern campsite in New Zealand, the DOC owned Tapotupotu Campsite.  This is a really beautiful campsite and there was enough space for us to get a spot away from other people, but there was a warning about blood sucking insects (thankfully it was very windy that night so we were left alone).  The best part about it was that we were able to have a swim in the sea first thing in the morning and then have a little rinse off in the river that was right beside our tent.  It was a little chilly, but still a really good way to start the day.

The main aim of this trip was to visit Cape Reigna, the most northerly point that you can physically reach in New Zealand.  This is the most sacred site in Aotearoa to the Maori as it is believed to be the launching point of a deceased person's spirit as they return home and you are asked to not eat or drink whilst visiting.  The actual point is an 800 year old pohutukawa tree that you can see clinging to the side of an outcrop of rocks, but this point can't be visited by anyone from the living.

It is a beautiful spot and the views were amazing, helped by the great weather we had that day.  Definitely worth driving this far north to get to see this site.  The location also has lots of really good plaques everywhere telling you about the site, why in is sacred, and about Abel Tasman the Dutchman who was actually the first white man to discover New Zealand.

We had decided to drive back down the west coast instead of taking the same route back, choosing a route that would take us through Kohukohu, known for it's beautiful Victorian buildings.  It did not disappoint, they were gorgeous and a very good example of Victorian buildings done the New Zealand way (which mainly means using wood).  We then took the ferry to Rawene (the third oldest European settlement in New Zealand), which also had a lot of beautiful old buildings and many, many, many churches.

Of course, we had to stop off in Waipoua Forest to see Tane Mahuta, named after the Maori forest god.  It's the largest kauri tree still alive and it probably around 1200 to 2000 years old. Am absolute beauty which was lucky enough to be missed by loggers in the not to distant past.

That night we stayed at this amazing campsite at Kai Iwi Lakes, not surprisingly called Kai Iwi Lakes campground.  As with Tapotupotu Campsite we had a lot of space to choose with not many people looking for spot.  This is probably due to the fact we were visiting a little out of season and Northland was dealing with a drought at that moment.  This lack of water had meant that we weren't able to stay at the campsite we had originally planned on, mainly because they offered kiwi tours during the night, but this campsite definitely made up for that disappointment.  Just look at that view!

The next morning we went for a swim in Kai Iwi Lake and it was a slightly odd experience.  This lake has no in-lets or out-lets and the amount of water found in there is determined by the amount of rain water it received and how much evaporates off.  Without the usual salts and minerals that is was a much harder to float and swim in that water.  It was also strange to open your eyes under the water, with everything much more blurry then in other waters I've swam in.  It was absolutely beautiful to swim in.

After our morning swim we carried on down south through Dargaville were we wanted to see the museum there.  This museums differ from other ones I've been to in New Zealand in so far as most of the European settlers in the area were actually from Croatia and the main industry was gumdigging.  This was an interesting museum, which also contained information about the Greenpeace ship, Rainbow Warrior, that was blown up by the French in 1985 whilst at Auckland Port as they were planning to protect against French testing nuclear arms at Moruroa.  The masts are mounted outside the museum in memorial of Fernando Pereira who died on the boat as it sank.  It also turned out to be a good place to end up around lunch time as we found a vegan cafe called Taste and See.  The food was really good, the prices were really good, and it contained a small shop with natural food and beauty products in it.

And then we headed back down to Auckland.

Northland is a really beautiful area and there was definitely not the same level of tourisms here I've found in other areas of New Zealand.  This ended up making it a really good place to visit and, despite the fact this is not usually high on most people's list of places to visit, it should be.  Definitely worth going to and we'll be returning to see more as soon as we can.