At 09:28  2003-12-20 +1300, I wrote "freshly-brewed coffee: luxury in an ascetic life" {at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LessIsMore/message/13041 } :-

· Some of you get slightly irritated when I talk about my ascetic way of living. I continue to say something about it every few months partly because
we have new members, and partly to reinforce the fact that such living is possible - living at a higher consumption level is a choice not a necessity
(I'm not referring to the raising of small children; this is before and after that period if it exists).

· Today (Saturday) my wife and I went up to the local baker and brought home
a couple of croissants, then had the luxury of eating them with freshly- brewed coffee. I haven't had freshly-brewed coffee for more than 6
months, and I think it's been weeks since my wife brewed some for herself.

· Our little luxury marked (a) the beginning of the Christmas-New-Year fortnight when she doesn't feel it necessary to go to work every weekday, and also (b) the end of my spring "bringing-my-weight-back-to-normal" period.

· Incidentally, she was taking a break from what a work-colleague described as "spring cleaning" but my wife had to say "well, some of what I'm clearing
up, I last saw in 1988!" [When we rented-out this house while taking our family to India, Thailand and Wales.]  

· Here are my earlier posts on one or other of these themes:

David's Aug 26: “little luxuries, like an excellent croissant & coffee”:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LessIsMore/message/11376 , after signing-in

David: “For the mext two or three months _I_ will be living on less ...”
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LessIsMore/message/11669

Nandita: “two cups of cafe au lait everyday... to reduce it to one cup ..”
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LessIsMore/message/11686

D: “a bit like my walking barefoot; a small "mortifying the flesh" [daily]”
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LessIsMore/message/11698

Nandita: “'vice' half in jest. It is too much of a Black-and-White word ..”
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LessIsMore/message/11720

David.