Bending the rules slightly...

Day 27

I had told the members of my recycling group that I would be going to Milton Keynes today with the pet food pouches and coffee pods, as they were threatening to overwhelm my garage. I knew that the others had bags of stuff for me to take as well, so they were delighted. 

They all dropped their hoard off to me and I spent an hour and a half this morning sorting it all out. The recycling filled my boot and the two back seats of my car, and I estimated it must be three months since I've been.

To be honest, my car needed a good run and it was great to have somewhere to go. OK, not strictly essential, but the bags were stacking up and causing problems for us all. Sophie and I called into McDonald's first for a sneaky drive-thru lunch, and we weren't impressed as our fries were cold!

The journey to Milton Keynes was smooth and trouble-free, and before long we were offloading all the bags and boxes at George's house. His crate was already full so we stacked all of our stuff behind. I believe he has now raised in excess of £40,000!

We made our way home via the scenic route, through Newport Pagnell and Weston Underwood, which is a gorgeous village near Olney. We were astonished at the amount of flooding on the farmland that adjoins the River Great Ouse. It looked more like lakes than fields!

Our favourite little cafe in Olney was shuttered up, all the shops closed and the pubs dark. What a terrible shame. We decided to try Castle Ashby, though, and see if we could get a takeaway from The Buttery but when we arrived it was closed. There were several cars parked, though, and the Deli was doing a roaring trade in coffees, teas and hot chocolate. I also bought some biscuits and we sat in the car with a hot chocolate and enjoyed a Viennese Whirl with our drink. Well, it's better than nothing!

Leaving Castle Ashby we drove down towards Earls Barton, but when we came to a narrow one-lane bridge crossing, it was badly flooded. Cars were coming the other way but I didn't want to risk it so we turned around. All the fields were flooded and like Olney, they looked more like lakes! This time our own River Nene was to blame for the floodwater! And to think they have forecast more rain next week!

Before going home we called to see Mum from the window and had a chat on the phone. Another resident, on the ground floor, saw us and kept waving at us to come in. I only wish we could...

Back home it was time to relax for a short while before I started preparations for dinner. We were cooking a meatloaf from one of The Hairy Bikers' recipes, and I chopped veggies and mixed together pork and beef mince along with sausage meat, breadcrumbs, Worcestershire sauce and ketchup. I did as much as I could before relaxing with a G&T!

Sophie had been chatting to her friends Laura and Daisy and helped me put the finishing touches to the dish. It smelt delicious while it was cooking, and we had a lovely meal, with the meatloaf accompanied by mashed potatoes and bubble and squeak. Definitely one to try again!

A socially distanced meet!

Day 26

We had a weather warning out for snow today, and although we had a few light showers first thing, it never really amounted to much. I was glad because Sophie had arranged to meet her boyfriend at Brixworth Country Park to exchange their Christmas presents. He was travelling down from Birmingham, where he was collecting a car for his uncle, so it was the ideal time to meet up. They were planning on going for a walk - not ideal considering the weather conditions, which became worse as the day wore on!

I spent a good part of the morning preparing our dinner of Coq au Vin, and Sophie helped with the vegetables. As we were busy, we recorded Saturday Morning Kitchen to savour at a later date. 

At midday, Sophie set off laden with presents, and outside it was bitterly cold and raining. A truly horrible day! Keith and I stayed in the warm inside and it was the best place to be! We pottered about and didn't do a lot, and when Sophie returned she was a bit sad that she hadn't been able to meet Zain properly. No contact and a socially distanced walk on a winter's day is not her idea of fun! However, she said it was good to meet up after so long and exchange their pressies. One of them was a jigsaw he'd had made from a photo we took in Mallorca, and it looked great!

She also received lots of other gifts, including trainers, new headphones and bedding, so she was extremely pleased. When it was a decent time, we enjoyed a Martini and put the jigsaw together, and it was strange seeing our faces appear! We then played Scrabble and cards while the dinner cooked, and it smelt delicious. Tonight, unusually for us, we substituted dumplings for potatoes, and the suet really added to the flavour of the dish. We'll certainly do that again, and it was perfect for such a cold and miserable day.

After we'd eaten we watched the second Jason Bourne film, and poor Keith had to explain the plot to us girls! Once we realised what was going on, it all became clear!

A quiet end to the week!

Day 25

I woke up very late this morning - 9am! I must have needed the sleep!

Keith and I went to get the newspaper first thing and it was a beautiful morning - sunny, dry and mild. When we returned home the postman called, and Keith had a letter from the NHS to say he could book his vaccination, which was brilliant news! We managed to book a slot on Tuesday and then another 12 weeks later, so we were all very pleased!

Our walk to get the newspaper was our only outing of the day; we have stayed in the house and pottered about, so again, very little to report! 

The weather stayed sunny and dry until the afternoon when it clouded over. To be honest, it was lovely to potter about, and I caught up with my work colleagues on WhatsApp, so that was good. Some of our leisure centres are going to be used as Covid testing sites and there was talk of the staff being on hand to help, so we'll see. I think we are all fully resigned to being off work for the whole of February and maybe into March. I still find it hard to believe...

As 6pm approached, Sophie and I cracked open a beautiful bottle of Australian red wine that Mike had bought me for my birthday. We watched a couple of episodes of A New Life in the Sun and sympathised with the Brits who had started new businesses at the beginning of the pandemic.

Dinner tonight was a delicious savoury beef crumble. It made a change from cottage pie, and went down very well with the wine!

It's no joke!

Day 24

Keith went shopping very early this morning and was back by 9.30am. It has been a mostly uneventful day with little to report, other than a walk around the estate at lunchtime to drop off some recycling to a neighbour and to collect our daily newspaper. I busied myself with housework throughout the morning and took down all the glasses we keep on top of the kitchen cupboards to give them a good wash. One thing is for certain, they won't be going back up again when we have the kitchen refurbished!

The weather has been grey and dull with very heavy rain in the evening, so we have more flood warnings in place, and weather warnings for snow over the next few days. 

Keith wanted to watch the football this evening so Sophie and I (with Monty-cat) went upstairs to watch a film. We were both in the mood for a rom-com but ended up watching Joker instead, which was a bit disturbing! Joaquin Phoenix looked painfully thin in the film - apparently, he lost 52 pounds!

An early awakening!

Day 23

For some reason, I was wide awake at 3am this morning so I decided to get up and watch Ben Fogle's New Lives in the Wild. The cat was very bemused as to why I was up, and even more bemused when I refused to give him his breakfast! It was way too early! He went outside in a huff!

By 4am I was flagging so I called the cat back in, put him on his bed in the kitchen, and went back to my own bed until 9am which was shocking! Of course, I then felt like I'd wasted a good part of the day!

I had to go over to the bank in the Weston Favell centre today to try and sort out some money matters for my parents. There was a queue (as usual) and when I spoke to one of the staff, she was very helpful, but it was really a wasted journey. Keith and I returned home and pootled about until lunchtime. Sophie and I managed a good walk into the village before having leftovers from our Indian last night. The previously grey day had turned sunny, and it was lovely to see the sun for a while. 

The rest of today has been uneventful. Boris gave a press conference at 5pm and said that it was unlikely that restrictions would be lifted until early March. I feel sorry for parents at the moment trying to home-school their children, hold down their own jobs, and cope with family life. I am so glad mine are adults and working!

21st Birthday celebrations!

Day 22

I had a very busy morning making a chocolate sponge cake for Mike's 21st, and also making a carrot and coriander soup for lunch. Outside it was grey and dreary, the blue skies of yesterday well and truly gone. We still had snow about, though, but with the forecast rain later in the day, it was bound to disappear!

I made the cake and I was quite pleased with it:

The soup was lovely as well, and I was able to use my new stick blender to smooth it. Sophie and I skipped a walk today as the weather was so horrible, and at 2pm we drove over to the care home so I could drop some shopping off for Mum. We were also able to get her on the phone so she could wish Mike a Happy Birthday. I never ever thought we would be celebrating in lockdown. A while ago I was planning a trip to Boston and Chicago to commemorate his special day! Good job we didn't book anything!

Back home we cracked open a bottle of Champagne and each had a slice of cake, which I was pleased with. I'm always worried it will be dense and dry!

I had a lovely soak in the bath in the evening, and we ordered an Indian takeaway for Mike's birthday meal. It arrived at about 7.30pm, and for once I chose a vegetarian curry with mushroom rice. The food was delicious and I hoped that Mike enjoyed his birthday despite not being able to go out and see his friends.

I watched a very disturbing documentary on BBC2 this evening about the start of the pandemic. Today, the UK death figures went over 100,000 people, a devastating number of lives lost. I still can't believe we are in this situation - at times it feels so unreal.

The good thing is that the vaccinations are ramping up, and we can't wait for Keith to be called for his!

A blue and white day

Day 21

Keith, Mike and I left at 8am this morning - a journey I was not looking forward to! The temperatures had dropped during the night and it was -3c on the way to Kettering. It looked like the gritters hadn't been out at all, as the roads were covered in snow.

Both Mike and I urged Keith to take it easy - my car is not the best to drive in these conditions, despite it being German! We went out of the village towards Mawsley and then picked up the A43, which was nose to tail with vehicles all going slowly. Keith took it very easy going down the hill towards the A14, as the new traffic lights by the industrial estate can change to red very quickly! 

Once we were on the large housing estate leading to the golf club, the going was slow and slippery again, and as we turned into the very narrow road which goes over a river and the A14, we had problems. The car couldn't get a grip on the snowy road, which had been hardly used, so we reversed down to the estate road and Mike got out there. It was only a short walk the rest of the way but we didn't want to get stuck!

In fact, as Keith tried to turn the car around we did nearly get stuck, and then he hit the kerb as he slowed down at a roundabout, so I was a nervous wreck! We had to go to Tesco, so we attempted to drive through the town but realised that a lorry was stuck going up one of the hills! We turned around at a roundabout and headed back towards the A14, which was a slightly better route. The road was busy with lots of lorries and I was astonished to see that the outside lane was still covered in snow! This weather had been forecast since Thursday so why weren't we better prepared?

I was very relieved when we arrived in the Tesco car park as we'd had to negotiate another hill to get there! We parked the car as best as we could (all the lines were covered in snow) and went to do our shopping in an almost deserted supermarket! We met Sue again and she said she'd walked to work this morning, leaving her house at 4.15am! She deserves a medal!

The journey home was a bit better but we followed a lorry on the A43 who had snow billowing from the roof of the truck. It was like a blizzard! 

View from the car

It was a gorgeous morning, though, with clear blue skies and sunshine. All the trees and bushes were laden with snow and it looked so beautiful. We arrived home, put the shopping away and had a belated breakfast in the conservatory. One of the first things I did was feed our poor feathered friends who appreciated the seed, mealworms, fat snax and suet pellets.

Once breakfast was out of the way I gave the downstairs of the house a clean, hoovered upstairs and did two loads of washing. I also cleaned out the understairs cupboard in the kitchen which was full of shoes and definitely needed sorting out!

At lunchtime, Sophie and I went for a walk in the snow. It was fabulous!

This is the first significant snowfall we've had for about two years, so it was wonderful to walk along and hear the crunch under our feet, and see it sparkling in the sunlight! We walked to the village and met lots of other people out having some exercise in the crisp, cold air.  Yesterday we didn't venture out at all, so we needed this half-hour walk!

Keith went to get Mike from work, earlier than planned, and Sophie and I had lunch. The afternoon was spent sorting out some finances and mooching about. The snow has lasted all day but over the course of the week it's set to become milder, windy and rainy, so it was great to make the most of it while we could!

Before dinner, Mike came bounding downstairs and said he'd been furloughed from work until next Tuesday. Why this hasn't happened before, I'll never know. The golf club is closed at the moment so what on earth can they all do in this weather?!