This spring really flew past. I got busy. I was a machine. I slacked off. I did a ton of designing. I designed a new logo. I designed lots of new logos. I settled on one. I designed a bunch of different headers. I haven’t settled on a header yet. Maybe a revolving header subject to my whims will be the way to go?

The list I wrote at the start of spring was a little neglected. In the end, list-wise, I didn’t do nearly as well as I wished. I can honestly say that I succeeded in 6 out of the 10 items on my list. Another 2 were attempted and the last 2 I didn’t even attempt.

Here’s a summary of my spring to do list.

1. Declutter the kitchen

One half done, one half to go. This is the nice half.

2. Build a compost

We didn’t consciously build a recycled palette compost bin, but I realised there’s a compost pile living at the bottom of our garden already. It’s currently the heft of a 3 seater couch and filled with green and brown garden waste. It’s got lots of plants growing in it though so I don’t think it can be turned. Does that still count?

3. Plant herbs

I planted seeds and bought a few seedlings. The seedlings are doing fine, the seeds did not sprout.

4. Get a cast iron frypan

My momma got me one of these for my birthday this month. It weighs a ton but I’ve already put it to great use. Mostly, I just love searing steak. There’s nothing that makes me feel quite as cool as cooking a T-bone on a super hot cast iron pan, then wrapping the handle with a tea towel and finishing it off in the oven. It’s entirely possible I watch too many cooking shows. When did chef tricks become so freakin’ cool?

5. Make pesto from scratch

My intention was to use the herbs I planted and the macadamia nuts from our garden to make a pesto. The seeds that I planted at the start of the season never sprouted. Though we’ve had plenty of nuts this year.

I’m going to push this one onto my summer list.

6. Live on $2.25NZ per day for 5 days for charity

One of my biggest culinary challenges of the year, I lived on $2.25NZ per day for 5 days and raised $635 for my chosen charity. You can read about it here.

7. Make hollandaise sauce

I did it. Though it wasn’t as thick as the store bought stuff. I suspect the store bought stuff may have some extra ingredients.

8. Bake something from scratch

I baked some mini scones loaded with yummy savoury bits. You can read the recipe here.

9. Make Pâté

I didn’t get that far. Turns out we don’t have a food processor.

10. Make cheese

I made cheese. I really did it. I’d do it again too.

So that’s it. Looking back, I did do some interesting things things month. Am I ready for summer? No. Can I slow the year that seems to be moving at great speed towards sunshine and doom? No.

Check out my Summer To Do List here.