A lazy day...

Day 34

It's been another day of staying in, keeping warm, and relaxing! I made a special porridge for breakfast - a Gordon Ramsay recipe which included hazelnuts, almonds, sultanas, a pear and cream. It was delicious and very easy to make. 

It has been bitterly cold today, with a biting north-easterly wind that made it feel about -6. It was lovely to stay indoors in the warm, and Sophie and I had our weekly face-mask (honey today) and watched A Place in the Sun.

In the afternoon she had an online chat with her friends, and they discussed their upcoming holiday to Italy in May. Sophie wants to cancel as she is wary about what will be happening then and very worried that they may have to quarantine on the way home for two weeks. I said that it would be best to cancel altogether and re-book next year when things have settled down. I still don't think anyone will be able to travel this year if Europe hasn't had as many people vaccinated as us Brits.

I had a nap in the evening and slept for far longer than I wanted to! It was about 6.45pm when I woke up! Keith cooked a lovely roast beef for dinner and it was great to have a break from cooking. Mike is definitely back at work tomorrow, but they have forecast more snow for tomorrow and freezing temperatures. Good luck!

 

Out and about

Day 33

We awoke to very thick fog today, so thick we could barely make out the houses opposite! 

Sophie and I went to Tesco later in the morning to get some bits and bobs that my parents needed, but she also wanted to get some cards for Valentine's Day. It was busier than we would have liked (well, it was Saturday!) and we had to queue to get in, but the wait wasn't long.

We bought the things as quickly as possible and headed to the Care Home where we dropped the bag off. I had bought some little treats for my parents to cheer them up a bit, and we waved to my Mum as she stood at the window. I am just hoping this isolation won't last much longer, as it's starting to affect her now. I am just glad she has my Dad for company because some of the residents are isolating completely on their own.

As a treat, we called into the new Costa by the A14 and enjoyed a Flat White each, sitting in the car. Today the weather has been beautiful with sun, blue skies and little fluffy white clouds. The temperature was about 6c, but tomorrow it's set to get much colder, and we're due a "Baltic blast!

Sophie wanted to buy Zain some sweets and goodies from Beckworth so we drove there and luckily, it was quiet. They had fenced off all but the food area, and they're working behind the scenes to make changes. Both of us are so looking forward to being able to go for lunch there again!

I bought some bread flour, yeast and cheesy nibbles for an accompaniment to drinks, and we headed home. Sophie put the leftover soup and pasta into the oven with some cheese to bake while she prepared the paste for tonight's Thai Green Curry, a la Hairy Bikers.

The soup tasted just as good as yesterday, and it had blended into a kind of pasta bake. We finished it off, did more preparations for tonight's dinner, and then went out for a walk. We walked into the village and along the single track road that heads out to Mawsley. It was blissfully quiet with only birdsong to be heard. We kept hearing a weird bird in the distance, and we had no idea what it was. It sounded like it was crying!

It was cold on the walk, and we could see ominous clouds on the horizon. We walked a short way along the road and then turned back as I had a feeling it was going to start raining. Back home, it was time for cocktails and Scrabble, and then a game of cards. Perfect!

Sophie and I cooked dinner, and after all the preparations we'd made it was simple. I cooked the onions, pepper and chicken, added the curry paste, and then a tin of coconut milk. Sophie made Jasmine rice and we popped a naan bread into the oven.

The meal was lovely, but Keith said he would have liked it hotter, but that's not really a Thai Green curry! Next time we promised we'd make him a Thai Red curry!

Our evening's viewing was the third Bourne film, The Bourne Ultimatum. Just before we headed to bed it started to snow heavily, big fat flakes that settled on the roads, paths and bushes. Will we awake to a covering in the morning I wonder?

Cabin fever sets in...

Days 31 & 32

Most of us haven't moved out of the house over Thursday and Friday, so we're all starting to get a bit of cabin fever!

Keith did go shopping as usual on Thursday so at least he ventured out! On Friday, I finished transferring my 2013 blog to a word document, and I've uploaded it to the book publishing company I used before. This time I included a lot more photos, as it was the year we went to Florida and Berlin. Hopefully, it won't be long before it's delivered!

In the afternoon, I prepared a tomato and pasta soup, that included chopping three onions and cooking them slowly until they turned golden brown. I then set aside two-thirds of them to cool with some olive oil and added cherry tomatoes and a chopped up red pepper to the remaining onions in the pan. Along with garlic, tomato puree, basil and chilli flakes, the concoction simmered away before I added some vegetable stock. The smells were delicious and I particularly love basil - it reminds me of pizza restaurants!

While the soup cooled I had a soak in the bath, and when Sophie finished work we cracked open a bottle of our favourite New Zealand Pinot Gris and watched A New Life in the Sun. Just watching the Brits try and run businesses makes me feel exhausted, especially those running B&Bs! It brings back memories of when we ran our own business, and the demands made by customers!

The rest of the dinner preparations was easy. I blitzed the soup until it was smooth with my blender, Sophie prepared garlic bread, and we cooked a saucepan of pasta to add to the soup. We also pan-fried the onions until they were crispy and these went on top of the soup when it was served. With a trickle of cream, I have to say it was truly delicious, very warming and perfect for a cold February night!

A spot of gardening!

Day 30

I half-heartedly cleaned the conservatory this morning, but I was anxious not to disturb Sophie, so I didn't do as much as I could have done. I yearn for dry and sunny weather, but all we're getting is more rain. The room could do with all the windows opening and airing because the sealant that Keith applied last year has started to discolour again, much to our disappointment.

As well as cleaning the conservatory I hoovered downstairs again so that should be it for a few days! With all four of us in the house, it does get a bit dirty!

After a delicious lunch of leftover fried rice, I ventured out into the front garden. The weather today has been sunny and I felt like tidying up the verge and cutting back a geranium that was looking straggly. I swept up loads of leaves and turned over the soil that was sodden with all the rain we've had recently. I was pleased with how it looked after I'd finished, though.

The conifers we cut down in December haven't sprouted again and I pushed a pile of leaves into the corner for shelter if any little creatures want to use the heap. Our pile of logs were also rotting down nicely and I hope they're home to some bugs!

As always, it was quite social being outside, and I spoke to a few people walking past and a mum with a horde of young children on bikes. I can't imagine how it must be to be cooped up with young children at the moment!

I had become cold working outside so I had a soak in the bath and afterwards caught up with the second episode of The Drowning that's on for four days this week. I was hooked! It was so good to be able to watch the programme upstairs - this is a real bonus if Keith is watching sport downstairs!

We caught some of the Coronavirus updates this evening and the experts think we are now over the peak, which was good news. By now over 10 million people have been vaccinated, which is wonderful!

Chop, chop, chopping!

Day 29, continued...

After getting back with Keith from the vaccination centre, I busied myself with housework and doing little jobs that had irritated me!

Sophie and I went for a walk at lunchtime, up to the village, and we were delighted to see the sun come out. It's forecast to get cold again towards the end of the week and the north saw snow this morning. We're all hoping that Spring is not too far off now!

I had planned on cleaning the conservatory this afternoon, but after I'd spent over an hour preparing the ingredients for dinner, I had run out of energy! We were cooking chicken in a black bean sauce with fried rice, so I decided to prepare everything and then all we needed to do was cook the meal. I chopped up green beans, a carrot, an onion, broccoli and a red pepper to go into the rice dish, as well as baby sweetcorn, mushrooms and mange tout to go with the chicken. I cooked a pan of rice as well, so everything would be easier later on.

The meal turned out to be delicious, and the fried rice was sticky and absorbed the sauce from the chicken dish beautifully. Keith watched Newcastle play in the evening while Sophie and I went upstairs and binge-watched several episodes of A New Life in the Sun!

Keith is vaccinated!

Day 29

Yesterday I was up at 5.30am, but this morning it was a much more reasonable 7.30am when I opened my eyes!

Keith had a very important appointment today - his Covid jab! He was due at 9.50am so I drove him there and waited in the car.

I actually felt very emotional watching everybody go into the building to get their vaccine. Obviously, most of the people were older, and probably over 70 years of age, and it just felt great to see them going to be protected against this horrible virus. At the same time, though, I did feel like we were in some kind of nightmarish world where huge vaccination centres have been set up to protect the population. A year ago we would never have believed what would happen.

Keith emerged barely ten minutes after his allotted time and said the whole process had been great - very smooth, efficient and professional. He received a leaflet and will have to return in 12 weeks for his second dose. He has been given the Astra Zeneca vaccine:

We returned home to have breakfast and coffee in the conservatory with Sophie, who was delighted that her Dad had received the vaccine. Let's just hope the remaining three of us will have ours soon!

Musings on lockdown...

Day 28

Keith went shopping very early this morning and stocked up our fridge and cupboards until he goes again on Thursday. I made sausage sandwiches for breakfast - not my ideal choice but we had to use them by today, and I was determined not to throw them out. We are trying not to dispose of leftovers at the moment, especially when we contribute to the local food bank every two weeks!

The sausage sandwich sat heavily in my stomach and I decided that I really do prefer the veggie ones we buy instead! I felt queasy all morning and in the end, added a spoonful of ground ginger to a cup of boiling water in an effort to feel better. It worked!

I have to confess I haven't done much today, which makes me feel a bit guilty. This lockdown seems so much harder than the two previous ones, and it could be down to the weather and not being able to spend a lot of time outdoors. It seems that the less I do, the less I want to do and tomorrow I'm going to try and motivate myself to give the conservatory a good clean! All I seem to do these days is drift between the computer in the study and the dining table in the conservatory, and endlessly fill and empty the dishwasher, washing machine and tumble dryer! When I do resume work again, I feel it's going to be very difficult, especially if we're called in every day!

The news this evening was full of the South African variant that has been found in certain parts of the UK. Residents in these areas have been told they must stay at home, and also get a test, even if they have no symptoms. It raises the worrying question about whether the variant will be resistant to the vaccine?

In the evening we had leftovers from the weekend meals for dinner, so that made me feel better! Mike has been furloughed for another week, which pleased him greatly!