Tuesday musings

 According to my A 'level English studies into the 17th Century Metaphysical poets, 'No man is an island' ( John Donne).

I think that those of us who are living through lockdown on our own would beg to differ. Donne was talking about  no one being isolated from the rest of  humanity, however a lot of us are ( I still go to the office so do see some people).

Some people have not had any human contact in nearly a year.

What will be the effect on us when we can go freely ( or sort of freely) about our way?

 I have become very cautious and weigh up pros and cons about most things that this time last year I took for granted.

Am I over analysing the situation? I like to think that I am just taking good care of me.

I notice in crickety news that England have taken on more backroom staff, sorry 'elite' coaching staff. I think that there must be at least 2 coaching staff to each player now, no wonder tickets are so expensive, I wouldn't mind one months wages bill in my bank account!

I was looking at ordering some bulbs for the garden ( yes I am late to the party), I was happily clicking away on the ones that I wanted, when I noticed the delivery charge. Now this is a company in the UK, bulbs are not usually mightily heavy, but they wanted £12 delivery or free if you spent £150. Well that's a lot of money or  lot of bulbs to get free delivery, and  my garden is not as large as when I lived at the chateau.

So I abandoned the order, and this morning have 3 emails asking me if I knew I had left 7 items in my basket.

Well yes I did but wasn't adding £12 on top of that. I am from Yorkshire after all.

I will be having a little walk to B & Q at lunchtime today

We have a full contingent in the office this week(4 of us), and another week closer to some for of normality.

I am waiting for my jab, wonder when that will be?

have  a great day and stay safe.

Lets get this week going

 So weekend done and time to head back to the office.

The weekend has been as  quiet as I could  make it, I continue to try to keep my social media interactions as low as possible. I still post but try to keep my viewing time on there at  minimum.

Saturday was a gloriously sunny day, so the washing was  out on the line all the windows were open and Rhys made a flying visit, promising to come and spend all day next Saturday catching up on his jobs.(we'll see)

I dropped off the food at my sisters house and  spent the afternoon in the dining room, having afternoon tea. 

I went all retro and made creamed mushroom vol au vents. A taste of my childhood,

Yesterday was another glorious day and all the beds were stripped and washing was once again out in the sunshine.

I cleared out the wardrobes too, can't take it anywhere but put some things on eBay and then sat in the dining room having breakfast.

It was  in fact a very relaxing weekend.

I am now preparing myself for the week ahead.

I decided not to have the interview with the Dutch company, I'm not sure that it was right for me and going back fully to the technical side was not something that I had planned on doing.

So I'm off to brave the traffic, because having driven everyday through the first lockdown, this one is nowhere near the same! I drove down roads that looked as though the apocalypse had occurred, this time it is back to the norm, with the exception of school traffic ( until next week).

Right off I go.

have a good day 

Wooohoooo

 

Put the flags out and do a happy dance, it is Friday!

This afternoon/ evening after shopping and cooking for my sister, I will be found on the sofa, just doing nothing, its been some week.

Apart from the extra work we have all taken on to cover for our colleague who lost her mum, its been a tough one, in fact truth be told I have found this year ( and last year) tough.

My hair has gone straight ( and yes it is very straight) I have gained over 2 stone and feel pretty rubbish about that. I've also found that I just cry at the drop of a hat, usually in the car going home from work.

I know that things are starting to look better, however at this moment I am  just trying to look  one day ahead to get through.

I am not alone in this and can totally empathise with others feeling the same, we have all been weathering the same storm and hopefully we are heading to the safety of a harbour.

Luckily now that the evening are getting lighter I hope that I will feel more like getting out and  having a walk after when I get home. This will be beneficial in many ways, especially breaking the habit of stuffing my dinner down my gullet whilst watching reruns of 'Escape to the Chateau'

I am having an afternoon tea for me tomorrow, I have planned the menu, that should be a nice little treat. Its a sort of trial run for when I can have my friends over for my belated birthday tea party.

In  less boring news,  England were in great form on the field yesterday, Root taking 5 for 8, India all out for 148.

Oh how Twitter rose to cheer England......................................

only for them to fail with the bat and at lunchtime UK they were 50-4.

And then they lost, in less than two days! 

So lets get Friday well and truly started.

Just for the record, I am not seeking sympathy , I just wanted to say what I have been bottling up for quite a while and sometimes it is better out than in. 

I am not the only person feeling lost and alone most of the time and it is vitally important that we all try to help each other through.

Happy Friday.

Have a great weekend.

Another day

 

Another day down and its nearly the weekend, I do feel that I am wishing the weeks away most of the time, but to be honest the weekend is all that I have to look forward to. Not that I can do anything when it gets here, but stay home and cook!

I am hoping that I will be called to be vaccinated sometime soon, that will make me feel slightly better I think.

The preparation for the belated Birthday tea party continues, menu is nearly worked out to the last scone.

The 'grown up' party bags have been decorated. I just have to source the last few gifts.

The invitations are in construction and then I have to set a date, again it will depend on various factors.

Cremant de Loire is on order too! Although I totally love Champagne ( except Moet, Lanson and Verve) I have become slightly obsessed with Cremant, made by  methode champenoise   ( but obviously not in the the champagne region), however using different grapes.

Well worth a try if you have never had it.

When I used to go on holiday  to The Vendee you could buy this for just over a Euro a bottle and also my personal favourite dry white wine 'Gros Plant' which is grown in the Nantais region and using the grape that was commonly used for Cognac and Armagnac until the 20th century.

Flipping heck, never mind Lainey Robinson, I seem to have morphed into Jancis Robinson. ( you have to be a certain age to appreciate that).

As a footnote if you have any wine questions that you would like answered, post the wine to me, I'll try it and then try to answer the question!!!

In cricket news, I didn't see any of it and judging  by what I read, I'm kind of glad.

Well another day beckons and I am about to head out on the 167.

have a great Thursday

Stay safe.

Mid way through

So I've made it to the mid way of the week, thank goodness.

Yesterday was a strange old day, was in early and left early as I had to go for a yearly MOT, as 'Our Ian ' and 'Mickey Dripping' rudely said, there were bound to be a few advisories!

I gave them an advisory, don't be cheeky to Lainey !

I also had a call from a recruiter regarding a job with a Dutch company ( in the UK). Interviews on Monday, I have until this afternoon to decide if I want to go.

I might as well go if  I have managed to   digest all the information , it may not be right for me , but nothing ventured.

Its more on the CAD side of things and its a while since I did any of that never mind 3D!

Anyhoo, I really have until this afternoon to decide if I want to go.

In other news, The Hundred has reared its ugly head again as teams were released, nothing there to tempt me to go and watch and where there was a slight glimmer of interest, I then saw that 'Felt tip boy' was playing too! I thought that he was long gone! 

So much talk about play this season, and going to see games, I am not holding my breath as we can only adhere to the dates given  if infection rates etc continue to decline.

I do wonder how after all the death and destruction of the last year and despite the vaccine, how people think that by May/June every thing is going to be hunky dory. 

I'm rather fond of me so will continue to be very very careful.

I've been in since 6am this morning and had a day of meetings (online).

So best to get on with them

Have a great day, the weekend is in sight ( as is March! how did that happen)

Tired old Tuesday

Here we are  early morning Tuesday.

What a start to the week yesterday. I really don't want anymore like that.

The office was a very subdued place as we sorted out the work that was to be done whilst Elaine is on leave.

So very sad, she is not just a colleague, we have become good friends over the last 4 years.

 On another note, I would like to say  thank you to those of you who were able to raise a glass to our beloved Cally.

Such a a great man but so very humble.

Also a huge thank you to the lovely Glenys who had sent me a lovely surprise package, which cheered me up indeed last night

Sky box refused to work when I got in  so I ended up in bed at 7pm watching TLJL on Kent CCC facebook page chatting about last season, and the coming season.

Yorkshire really have missed a trick there. Interaction with the supporters is key especially at the moment.

So we are moving to the new normality, and sensibly at a slower pace. My Facebook feed showed that going to the pub is the most important thing in some peoples lives. I can honestly say that the last thing I am, is DYING for a pint!

Foreign holidays might be back on but I am holding off on that too not only because having seen how much the price of my Malta holiday has increased from last Christmas to Christmas coming, I am not prepared to remortgage my house for a two week break.

Dates that have been flying around for the reopening of things and putting us back on track to some semblance of normality are fine, but we all know that Covid is not just disappearing on June 21st, don't we?????

Lets look forward to moving into the new norm, cautiously ( and in my house still lots of handwashing and bleaching ).

It is a brighter day today.

I am at work, been in since 6am, so best to crack on,

Have a good Tuesday.

 

Back again

So I am very late today , mainly due to coming into the office at 5.30am to get things going, one of my colleagues called me at 1.30am to say that her and the family had been called to the hospital where her Mum has been for the last 5 weeks.

I made an early start to cover her work.

Such terrible times for a lot of families. Although my sister is far from out of the woods, I do think that we have been very lucky.

My weekend went over too quickly, but I enjoyed it and did manage to have a very relaxed day yesterday.

I am continuing to try to spoil myself, there is not much else to do.

I am keeping this very short as I have a lot of work on the go at the moment.

Today would have been the birthday of 'Our Cally' , The voice of Yorkshire Cricket.

I am sure that I am not alone in saying how missed Dave is.

I will break with school night tradition and raise a glass tonight.

Have a great day and stay safe.

 

TGIF

I just can't say how glad I am that it is Friday. I do genuinely feel that I  am at the very end of my super stretched tether.

Its been some week!

On Wednesday I managed to poison myself and even yesterday was only feeling slightly better.

Note to self, when preparing your lunch at 5am, make sure you are wearing your specs!

On Wednesday morning I cleaned out the fridge of anything out of date and then prepared myself a fabulous fruit salad with Greek yoghurt.

Lunchtime, had my lunch and then tucked into the lovely fruit...........it was a bit sour but I thought that was the redcurrents.

3 hours later I am kneeling over the  loo feeling decidedly poorly and went home with a stomach that seemed to be imitating  a washing machine.

I  went into the fridge and realised that I had eaten the out of date yogurt and thrown out the fresh one!!!

Yesterday I had only  porridge and some soup. 

I've been weighed today and have lost 6lb!!! nearly a stone in 3 weeks.....................sadly  this  weight loss does not count!

This does not beat losing a stone in 4 days when I contracted norovirus just after starting my job. 

I thought I had a  very serious illness as after 4 days I found a lump near my side, it turned out to be my hip bone which had been happily hidden in fat for  the last 10 years!

All joking aside both norovirus and poisoning yourself are not something you want to have or do!

In other news if the rumours circulating at work are correct we could be in the market to be  bought again, which  would see the end of one set of Richards, but who knows what would come.

Its not official and we have no idea if it will happen we think that it is the early stages.

Who knows if me and my trusty band will have jobs.

One more thing to go on the worry list!

The tether continues to stretch.

Wonderful word of the day

Glaver

In the 14th century glaver was one of several nouns meaning chatter. Four hundred years later it had taken on the form and function of  verb with a fresh slant on the menaing.18th century version of glavr meant to talk deceitfully  or to flatter.

I am sure we all know some glaverers!

right off to get the last day of the working week under my belt which is now pulled two notches tighter  than last week.

have a great weekend, stay safe.

Farewell to Faf

 So its goodbye to test Faf and I for one am sad. With a 9 year  test career, he is leaving it on a high I think.

As I hinted early this year he is going to travel the world playing, with T20 cricket being his focus.

I have seen him play a few times most famously when I abandoned my 2nd XI boys to see Faf when he was playing with Kent at Headingley.

Yep out for a duck and I was devastated.

However I was very lucky to get a message from the man himself and Ben had been trying to get his autograph for me.

I still haven't recovered from seeing that he also played for Todmorden!

Proper fan girl!!!

I know that I will see him some more times before he hangs up his bat.

I still hope that I will be able to see the SA team in Ireland this summer, I am a huge fan.

I first saw South Africa play at Ropery Lane, Chester le Street in 1994, the year that they were welcomed back to the cricket world stage.

How will I ever forget being knocked off my feet ( and picked up) by Brian McMillan in the pavilion , seeing Hansie and Alan Donald. A great few days cricket.

Its been some night here in the North East of blighty with the wind blowing a hooley all night, at 2am I went to make a drink a the noise was too much.  and by 5 am I was ready for sleep, it may be an office door shut and head on desk at lunch time.

Wonderful word of the day

Yark

When Yark was common in English it had several meanings all associated with a sense of preparation. So Yark was used to  mean 'to get ready;

so best get yarked to head up the 167.

Have a great Thursday.

Mardi Gras recovery

 It was a proper Fat Tuesday in The Wickets last night as I ate my body weight in pancakes, ok, I actually had two, but as I am trying  to lose a bit of weight ( a lot) it was a bit naughty. 

I do love pancakes and it was always a  great evening as a child, Dad made great pancakes and could eat millions ( or so it seemed when I was little).

We always ate ( and still eat) them with golden syrup. Yummy!

I saw that South Africa will be playing in Ireland in the summer, in Malahide where my friend lives, wouldn't it just be wonderful if I could go to see my friend and go  to watch South Africa. That would be just a perfect antidote to the last year.

I'm very busy making things for my post lockdown birthday tea party. I've made 'grown up' party bags and am currently sorting out the menu. There is not very much else to do whilst I wait for the AWOL joiner to reappear.

wonderful word of the day

Evigilation

Perhaps getting out of bed on a morning wouldn't seen so difficult at times if it was referred to as evigilation.

The word was known in English by the 18th century in the sense of 'awakening' and took its origin from the Latin verb  evigilare ( to wake up)

I struggled to evigilate this morning I can tell you.

and with that I am off out in the rain, which I much prefer to the snow.

Tuesday already

 So I missed a day yesterday on here, due to other things going on .

At the start of the new year, a friend who is a journalist asked me if I would look at online bullying and whether it is just children and young people.

I was given a list of groups/ facebook pages and asked to select the ones that I would join.

Now I am a member of a few Facebook pages and one in particular is a wonderful, supportive page, just about crafts and trying to have a more 'hygge'. I love it very much and there are members all over the world who are all supportive of any things that are posted.

This is how I thought it would be on all groups that I joined. 

Not so.

Over the last few weeks I  was subjected to abuse and bullying of the worst degree over a couple of groups that I had joined, one about cooking, the other about travel.

What I noticed is that when one  person started to be abusive, others soon joined in.

Most surprising was that they were mostly men and mostly retired according to their profiles. One from the Ministry of Defence!!!

On a some others it ranged from just plain meanness to being quite rude.

I'm currently collating the information for  my friend.

It was an interesting experiment and I have left most of the groups.

Makes you realise that its not just children who are bullied online.

It also made me realise that possibly people are struggling with the effects of the pandemic and this may account for  some of the behaviour. Who knows.

What I have realised is that maybe I spend too much time on social media.

The weekend came and went too quickly although the thought of venturing out in sub zero temperatures with freezing winds was not my idea of fun and once I had done the essential things, I could be found wrapped up in blanky on the sofa.

And then yesterday morning as I looked out of the window at thick fog I was not looking forward to the drive to work. I opened the door to a rush of warm air and all the snow and ice gone overnight!

Result!

Wonderful word of the day

Periapt

Known in the English language since the 16th century, it is a combination of two Greek words , peri, and Haptos.

the word relates to the graphic description of a charm or amulet to keep evil at bay.

I think that I will be needing one of these next time I venture onto an online group!

have a great Tuesday where ever you are, I hope the weather is warmer for you.

take care, stay safe and be kind.

Weekend is calling

 

Welcome to the run down to the weekend.

I have only worked 4 days this week, but it feels like 40!

Snow, freezing temperatures have not helped at all. -8 welcomed me yesterday morning and half an hour trying to get the car defrosted was not my idea of a good start to the day.

Fingers crossed the last of the doors go in this weekend which will be a huge relief and mean that I can get on and get 'The Sanderson Suite' finished. and  then to make a start on the hall.

That's if I manage to get mojo back, it seems to have disappeared.

As I've had no word from Rhys this week, I am not holding my breath!

If the weather continues to be so grim, I might just hibernate.

So  new additions to Laineys lockdown literary list.

2 books to add to the reading pile this week.

Vintage champagne at the edge of space by Sally Armstrong The supersonic world of a Concorde stewardess

Underground London  by Stephen Smith  this is about travels under the city streets

Looking forward to dipping into these this week.

I miss the charity shop a this is where I get about 70% of my books ( and send about 70%). I have become a regular buyer now from World of Books, stopping more things in landfill and send out post free.

Wonderful word of the day

Mungy

 word which i feel should be used more often, mungy meaning dark and gloomy.

Good word for how it looks outside this morning.

So with Alexa telling me it is -7 outside best go and try to get the car defrosted and head off to the office.

Happy Friday , bon weekend

Any more bad news?

Well it looks like if the government have their way then we will  be having holidays at home and by at home, I mean your home as news was spreading yesterday that holidays abroad and in this country are a no no.

Interesting to see where they all go on their extra long summer holidays.(reports are one has already booked to go to Cornwall)

To say that  I was not happy to hear no holiday news is an understatement. I wonder how they will police this and of course if they say its a definite there are always those who will take no notice.

I feel that I have a permanent black cloud over my head.

I don't think that the black snow clouds that hung over us yesterday helped, it snowed on and off all day, my car which I had cleared at 6.45am in -4  temperatures, was covered completely again before lunch !

I have just been trying to get through this so that I could eventually get away for a week or two. I wonder if they have enough beds in the NHS for the amount of people who will be admitted for mental health problems!

So lets try  to look at positives.

I have a garden and when the weather gets better I can make use of it ( and looks like I will have to).

We can all save quite a bit of money, or spend it on lots of other things ( me in Home bargains!!!)

Hopefully we will be able to see friends which will be brilliant, I feel like I haven't seen anyone for a million years.

The mornings and evenings are getting lighter and this is a real positive, I no longer feel that I live in permanent dark. 

We are all still here and relatively well.

Negatives

I rarely give any cricket news these days  ( and fear that it may continue for a while longer)

Wonderful  word of the day 

Freck

Which means to move swiftly or nimbly.

And so I am frecking off to work now.

Have a great Thursday.
 

Mid week before I knew it

 Welcome to Wednesday, its half way through the week already and  I am now pushing myself to get things done.

Last night I started to prime the chair and got the stuffing and dacron stapled onto the seat  ready for the fabric to be put on. I am hoping that this will be completed by beginning of next week, but if not there's no hurry, its not as if anyone can come round.

Am I the only one that thinks that TV is pretty rubbish at the moment, I've watched a couple of good things since Christmas but not much else to write home about,  I pay a fortune for Sky and cricket was on Channel 4!. I also tend to go to bed and watch things on Amazon Prime. 

I also saw that the BBC are putting up the license fee, I can't remember the last time I watched any BBC ( and I used to be an avid Sunday night watcher of BBC4 foreign films). I know I am not getting much  out of my fee.

We are still no further forward as to when lockdown will end, I think this is why people are becoming a little bit tired. A few of my friends have been diagnosed with depression, and I suspect there may be a few more before summer arrives. We seem to be running out of steam.

I have set up a regular morning meeting with the gang in thee office , we chat about things going on at home and how  lockdown is impacting on our lives, its just really to get things off our chest, but it also is a good way to monitor the well being of my colleagues.

This usually lasts about 15 minutes, it hardly encroaches on our working day but has become something that we have found useful.

Snow is still a problem and as this is our 5th delivery since Christmas  it is now becoming tiresome. With what looks to be about another inch over night I am heartily sick of it.

In other news, my sister is on the mend and doing good, this is a huge weight off my mind although I think that I may still be meals on wheels for another couple of weeks.

Whilst reading my book 'Change your life one day at a time' I came across a section called 'release your emotions'

I thought this might be of some help.

We all know that crying when angry, sad or stressed ( yes!!!) is being recognised as beneficial and helps with the healing process. Its been recognised that healing tears differ from those caused by say, hay fever. This explains why people feel better after a cry.

Crying is a way of regaining calm and lowering stress related symptoms like blood pressure and pulse rate. So don't bottle it up. If you feel the need, have a cry.

Wonderful word of the day 

Cicisbeo ( chichisbayo)

This is from 18/19th century Italian and was the male companion or lover  of a married woman.

And with that I am off to brave the roads and broken traffic lights ( Industrial estate was in chaos yesterday morning as the 3 way lights were all donald ducked).

Happy Wednesday 

And just like that, the weekend was over

 How on earth is it that  weekends go by so quickly????!!!!

It disappeared so quickly that I decided late on Sunday evening that I was taking a days holiday yesterday, and did just that, having a long lie in and day off social media. I didn't get much done, but really that wasn't the point. Having had my flu jab and then feeling so ill afterwards, I just needed an extra day off. 

I am counting the days until it is Easter and a long weekend.

reading the paper this morning it is doom and gloom about summer holidays which is one reason why I have not planned anything, that way I wont be disappointed. 

The weekend did see one set of new wardrobe doors going on and  although I had everything ready, I did not prime and paint the doors, and just to say the chair didn't get painted either.

We have snow again the 5th lot  since Christmas, so I need to go and clear the car and try to get out of the square, which will probably be like an ice rink now.

This is a short one as I am against the clock, so stay safe and take care if you have snow.

Thank goodness

 Let it be 2pm and then I can go home and crack open a bottle of champagne , because I think I am worth it.

'The scant few '( those of us in the office) were talking yesterday and the consensus was that we are all on the borderline of dropping like flies

Tiredness and the fact that we are covering the work of those who were furloughed ( and still to return) is starting to tell.

When I asked one of the Richards at the beginning of lockdown ( when we were abandoned in the office) 'What is the duty of care to the staff', I was told that duty of care to the company comes first, and that is what we office staff have done for the last 11 months.

Not a lot you can say about that really is there.

However, the positive is that we still have a job something that a lot of people don't at the moment. ( send your CV in if you want mine).

So lets not look on the dark side, there is a lot to feel gloomy about at the moment, no end to lockdown, no holidays, not much daylight.

This time next week it will be lighter in the mornings and the evenings. Hurrah!!!

So lets look at some positives.

Well after nearly turning into a weeble since lockdown in March , I lost 5lb  this week, its been down to healthy eating, ( water loss) I now have to catch up with the exercise.

I will get back to my fighting weight instead of  fighting with my weight.

this has given me a huge boost this morning.

There will be no Big Als this morning, I'm on Weetabix and the other 2 are on  cheese and onion toasties. Not a positive for Big Al but a positive for our hearts and waistbands.

We are heading to Spring  and nature is doing its thing, their are snowdrops around and  daffodils are starting to show. Things are slowly starting to wake from their winter sleep.

I received yesterday the most fabulous set of china which is so summery it made me smile the instant I took it out of the box, I think that I will be using this everyday its so cheery.

Huge thank you to my lovely friends who sent it, it will be well loved and looked after.

Wonderful word of the day and I love it so much I am thinking of using it  all the time.

Abarcy.

To be described as being in a state of abarcy  equates to wanting more of whatever is desired ( champers in my case).

today we would use insatiable...........until now that is!

Time to head out for half a day at the saltmines and then it is LE WEEKEND!!!!!!

Have a wonderful Friday and a relaxing lockdown weekend.

Here we go....................

 

This is a very good representation of me at 5.15am this morning. I'm not ready to do the 'stuff' yet that may take another coffee.

I am however looking forward to the weekend, yes I know its only Thursday, but I have to have something to look forward to.

A little bit of crickety news, it appears that Steve Smith and Mitch Starc will not be appearing in 'The 100' ( yes it is still a thing), and names being bandied around to come over to play include ....................................

FAF!!!!!!

Oh my dog!!!!! I still wouldn't go though!

We are being warned about more snow arriving here in the North East of Blighty , well I am thoroughly sick of it now so it can go down south and not bother us again. 

We  have had  4 lots of it since Christmas and that's more than enough thank you.

I am planning a special Saturday night as I thought that I would treat myself to a lovely French meal, as of yet I haven't finalised the menu. I am sure that my Twitter followers will be sick of seeing the pictures when it is cooked.

I might also get the sewing machine out, I have some fabric that I would like to turn into cushion covers, so no time like the present.

I'm quite a whizz with the sewing machine I just never seem to have enough time to do all the  projects that I would like to.

I am now onto some new reading books which may ( or may not ) be of interest to you.

3 light reading books

Mind the Gap A London underground miscellany by Emily Kearns

The Vendee and surrounding areas    by Angela Bird

Paris Street Style A guide too effortless chic  by Isabelle Thomas & Frederique Veysset ****

and a bit of a heavy going book

The Historian  by Elizabeth Kostova

Wonderful word of the day is 

Xenodochial

From the Greek xenodochy ( given to receiving strangers) this word made a brief appearance in the 18th century in the form of xenodochial, which meant hospitable.

Something that we should all try to be more of.

Right, I have drunk the coffee now best go and do the stuff!

Have a great day

****

I may be reading the book but it will take a lot more to put it into practice!!!!

The road to nowhere

 Do you feel as if you have been walking down the same road since last March and not getting any further?

I do, although I can also say that Monday to Friday it is a bit like a hamster on wheel scenario.

I feel the need to now head off down a slip road and have a change of scenery as I am sure we all do.

This is not really an option due to lockdown but for me this weekend is about being at home and a lot of self care.

This became a buzz word in lockdown last year, but in reality it is very important to take time to take care of you.

What does it entail?

Well it is what you want it to be.

It can be something that normally you don't find the time to do, for me that was and is a long soak in the bath, refilling as needed. It usually took longer to run a bath than for me to be in it.

Now at weekends I try to take an hour out and soak away in a vapour of essential oils.

What about food?

As you may know I spent many weekends cooking meals on Saturday evenings, accompanied by wine or champagne.

It doesn't have to be  a 3 course meal, just something that you enjoy.

Sit at the dining table and linger over food.

Here's a quick idea 

Baked goats cheese.

Cut one think round of goats cheese per person.

Put into oven proof dish and cover with creme fraiche.

Season and bake in oven until golden brown.

Garnish with chopped walnuts and serve with crisp apple slices and slices of baguette.

( if you want to add a splash of white wine to the cheese before baking that is perfectly acceptable)

quick easy and seems to be a little bit indulgent.

So whether your self care is a long walk, good food, a soak in the bath or just  watching old films, enjoy it and relax.

Well with that I am off to brave the outside world, snow fell yesterday luckily the roads weren't too bad here in South Durham.

It has rained all night so at least it has washed away most of the snow.

Have a great day, we are half way through the week.

What to do

I received an invitation to a dinner at Worcestershire County Cricket Club yesterday, this  was due to take place last year , but was postponed and now will take place in October this year. 

I would like to go but to be honest I am loathe to say yes I will be there.

The way that vaccinations are going I doubt that I will have been jabbed by October! In reality I am loathe to travel to Worcester for the weekend. This is just how I feel at the moment.

Anyone else thinking the same way or is it just me?

So what to do with my time at the moment and the coming months.

I'm still writing letters and trying to spread a little cheer.  I have my chair to paint and reupholster. I also now have to find a unit for a fabulous wash hand basin I have just acquired,  I have yet to decide which bathroom it will go into. I guess I will also spend a huge amount of time ( and money) finding a plumber to sort it for me.

I became the custodian of a beautiful tea set from my friend Suzanne. I exchanged it for a bag of homemade goodies ( chutney, spicy pickled onions, elderflower champagne and a homemade Lily of the valley candle), I think we were both really grateful for the  gifts we each received.

I need to have another evening of candle making.  It has become something that I am working on perfecting.

Cricket which is my absolute love, does seem to have taken a back seat at the moment, I haven't watched that much and not really keeping up with cricket news. I guess when the weather takes a turn for the sunnier I will feel more like it.

I did have a chat with Ben last night, he seems to be a bit like me, lots of work and thats about it!.

Wonderful word of the day is

Kench

Which is to laugh loudly.

I'm sure most of us have done this  when reading something on social media.

Have a great Tuesday, after nearly 20 minutes to defrost the car yesterday ( I do miss the garage at The Chateau) today we are expecting snow with the first lot due anytime now according to the weather forecast.

So best head out.

Hello February

 

Finally we are into February, it seems that January had at least 150 day!, it felt like it.

So after a massively busy weekend it is the start of the working week and back on the treadmill.

I have read this morning that the effects of lockdown are very similar to jetlag, well I can agree with that. my sleeping was never great before this and now its all over the place.

Having been awake from 2am on Sunday morning, I then struggled to get out of bed and deliverr the food ( that I spent nearly all day Saturday preparing) to my sister.

I got home at about midday put the dishwasher and washing machine on and then ended up having a couple of hours sleep.

I can't be the only one who is all over the place with sleep and then totally exhausted during the day.

I did massive amounts of cooking, the corned beef hash was a success, dahl and chicken curry made, mince made  and frozen, and probably accompanied with dumplings at a later date.

Saturday evening was 'sticky chicken' egg fried rice and stirfried beansprouts. 

I might just write a recipe book if lockdown goes on any longer.

I planted up my hyacinths this weekend too and can't wait for them to flower. The garden is looking very sorry for itself but there are some signs of life especially on the hydrangeas.

My sisters front garden was full of snowdrops which are cheery little flowers and always a welcome sight.

I didn;t get to make a start on the chair, just through tiredness.

Ive set myself quite a few tasks this week, but if I don't see Rhys soon  it will make all jobs very difficult.

What is it with tradesmen! The money is just waiting for him to do the jobs.

Well I am running late this morning so have a great day and take care.