SO LONG summer!
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Farewell, auf Wiedersehen, adieu.
While you may pinch and punch for the first day of the month on Thursday, you may also get a kick and a flick because March did come around quite quick.
Hold that thought.
February did drag its heels for those of us on Febfast.
The month-long pause on alcohol, sugar or something else of your own choice (I didn’t know this was even an option until too late!) raises money for disadvantaged youth in Australia.
It’s a great initiative and much more achievable during the shortest month of the year in a non-leap year.
Having given Febfast a faux go in 2016 and a much better crack at going alcohol-free last February, it could only go down easier this year.
While I always stick to four booze-free nights a week, I still enjoy a drink with dinner most Fridays, Saturdays and (Wine) Wednesdays.
And by some cruel twist of fate, February had no sooner began than it was a Friday night; it was February 2.
Here’s what I learnt to appreciate during the month-long, dry spell.
1) The SodaStream: While I agreed to give up sparkling wine, I wasn’t prepared to give up all bubbles. Try soda water in a red wine glass with a dash of Murray Breweries cordial for grown-ups and a slice of lime. It’s basically a Bloody Mary!
2) Board games: It’s so easy to have a couple of drinks on a Saturday night, then watch a movie or binge three episodes of Scandi drama Ride Upon The Storm. Before you know it, you’ve gone to bed late on Saturday and woken up late on Sunday. Instead last weekend we started a game of Monopoly with the kids on Saturday afternoon, which ran until Monday night (with some breaks and sleep in between). Though our seven-year-old had six strategically-placed hotels on her properties, she eventually stopped charging rent because she never wanted the game to end. (Incidentally, she has given up the iPad for Lent so it was in her best interests to keep Monopoly rolling over!)
3) Sundays: For the reasons mentioned above, it’s easy to not make the most of Sundays. We are spoilt for choice with day-trip options in the North East if only we can all get on the same Sunday page. We’ve done Lake Sambell, Woolshed Falls, Rutherglen, Kiewa Street Market and City2City this month.
4) Liquorice: I am suddenly addicted to liquorice – sweet or salted. I don’t think it’s because I’m mixing it up with “liquor”. Darrell Lea is divine but Van Slooten Dutch Salted Liquorice is going down a treat. Weekends only though; I’ve lived by the 80:20 rule since I turned 20.
5) Baking: I don’t usually bake much over summer, but through Febfast I’ve reclaimed my weekends. Suddenly I have extra hours for baking whereas in the past I might have been relaxing with a vino. Blind baking rarely turns out well! I can recommend Donna Hay Easy Chocolate Cake for the sweet tooths in the house and Bill Granger’s Banana Bread for everyone else.
6) Dancing: I’ve started a dance class in town on Mondays. It’s entirely possible to swap the bar for the barre. I can’t think of a better way to start the week off on pointe!
Heading into March, I’m looking forward to Tastes of Rutherglen but Wine Wednesday is seriously on the line!
For those of you wanting to slow down time though, there is always Dry July or Go Sober for October. Cheers!