Day 79...

Someone should have told these cows they needed to lie down! Yes - rain. It started this morning while we were out for a walk, and pretty much continued all day. It might even still be doing it - I feel little inclination to go and look!

On the plus side, the veg we have planted is growing like the clappers - the broad beans have masses of flowers, the kale is coming along nicely, and the runner beans are starting to reach their way towards the frame they will climb up. On the fruit side, the gooseberries are swelling beautifully - we’ll be picking some at the weekend, and the redcurrants are starting to colour now too. Three of the tomato plants look like probably giving us some fruit - the others have some catching up to do! Not a bad little collection for people without an actual garden, eh - three of those items are in a patch about 6’ x 3’ outside one window, two of the others are in a smaller area  outside another, and the tomatoes are in pots on the balcony. There are some herbs too, Rosemary, savoury, sage, some parsley and coriander although those are mostly going to seed now, and a bay tree.

I’m looking forward to being able to eat more home grown stuff this year - and yes, it will be as a direct result of lockdown as usually we have too little time to give to managing to get much growing. Time, let’s face it, is not somehing we are short of, right now!

Robyn.

Day 78...

A “bitty” sort of day, today. For a start, the weather got itself all in a twist again - in contrast to yesterday’s grey, cold cloudiness, this morning dawned bright and sunny, and I left my coat at home when we walked first thing and was plenty warm enough. Apparently tomorrow will be another day of grey and raininess, but that is just what is forecast so let’s see, shall we?!

I needed a particular item from a larger supermarket than we have in town so popped out in the car to get that this morning - just 20 minutes away, and in spite of a queue outside the store when I arrived I was home in only a little over an hour. I was surprised while I was there to note that M&S were open not just for food, but seemingly for clothing as well.

On the subject of shops, non essential stores in England are allowed to reopen from Monday. It feels quite strange to be thinking of being able to go out and buy things other than food and garden or DIY type items now. I would guess that places like shopping centres will be ludicrously busy for the first week or so while people get used to the novelty of it again. I will be in little hurry to go and join the fray I think - one of the things about having lived so frugally for such a long while while we were paying off the mortgage is that we are quite good at managing on what we have, and right now, we have “enough” of everything that we need I think generally speaking. The exception to this, from my point of view, is that I quite desperately need new glasses - my distance vision is crystal clear so thankfully driving is fine, but my near vision is a struggle now - I either need new glasses or longer arms! The optician told me last time I had a new prescription that next time round I would need either reading glasses or varifocals, and I think the time has probably now come. I can manage for the time being though - the thought of being at close quarters in an optician’s consulting room really doesn’t appeal much at the moment!

The news from the government briefing today was that pubs will not be allowed to reopen for at least another month. Although unsurprising, this is a blow to the industry, and I think there has to be some doubt whether even a months time is going to prove over-optimistic. Goodness knows when we will be allowed to hold beer festivals again, or indeed when it will be practical to do so. At the moment there is no news on when larger gatherings are likely to be acceptable again even. Another “wait and see” I suspect.

Robyn

Day 77...

The weather has turned positively chilly again - I needed a coat on when out and about both yesterday and this morning, and even indoors today it has been noticeably less warm. As a result I decided that tonight’s dinner needed to be something warming, while still using up a few odds and ends that needed eating. I’d been browsing through a free supermarket magazine (yes, ThaT one, in case you were wondering) and two different recipes caught my eye - one for smoky spicy baked beans, and another for butter beans in a tomato sauce. The butter bean aspect appealed immediately, and anything with a warming, slightly sweet, slightly spicy tomato sauce always hits the spot, no? So I set to in a bid to come up with a variation on two themes.

Needing used up were some sweet potatoes, so job 1 was to cut those into chunks, skins left on, then they were drizzled with garlic oil, salt & pepper and fresh sage leaves and popped into a fairly hot oven and left to get on with it for a while. Both the recipes I was basing the bean dish on were vegetarian, and while we do sometimes eat meat-free that didn’t appeal for today, so a rummage in the freezer turned up some leftovers from a Sunday lunch of roast pork a few weeks ago - perfect! I sliced a large onion from the larder and fried that off until soft with some garlic and more finely sliced fresh sage, then added the chunks of pork, some smoked paprika, a sprinkled of smoked chilli flakes, and a splash of white wine vinegar, once everything was mixed together I poured in a tin of chopped tomatoes, just enough cold water to rinse round the empty can, half a teaspoon of sugar to offset the bitterness in the tomato, and brought to the simmer. Finally the beans were popped in and the whole lot simmered for another 10 - 15 minutes to thoroughly heat through. A little seasoning - just salt and pepper, and that was that, ready to serve up with the roast sweet potatoes.

Incredibly simple, just a faint warmth from the chilli, (you could add more if you wanted it more fiery) a slight sweet/sour hint from the vinegar, smokiness from the paprika, a great use of leftovers and precisely what the Doctor ordered on this rather unseasonably chilly June evening! One to be repeated, for sure.

Robyn

Day 76...

LONDON BABY! 😁 Following a conversation with a good friend last week about how they had driven into London for a walk, and how odd and quiet it was, but how nice it was to walk somewhere different, we decided to do similar this weekend. Our usual method of going into the city is of  course  to drive to Epping, then get the tube, but at the moment public transport in London is still essential travel only, so we needed an alternative. I was also looking for somewhere that I would be able to park midweek too - because I may need to pop back up there in a couple of weeks for what we shall just refer to right now as “a thing” - so we did a bit of research on google maps and settled on the area just south of the Rotherhithe Tunnel. Now I HATE the Rotherhithe with a passion. It’s nasty and narrow, and as a passenger it triggers my claustrophobia quite horribly - I don’t like tunnels much at all, but that one I REALLY don’t like. Gulp.

First mistake was deciding to believe the SatNav might really know a better route than I had planned - thankfully we picked up in time on the fact that it was planning to take us across Tower Bridge. Scenic it might be, but I rarely want to drive across it! anyway, I ignored it for a while, made a few turns of my own back onto my planned route, and got back on track. Surprised myself with the tunnel too - felt very apprehensive driving towards it, but once I got to the half way point I realised I was concentrating to hard on driving in the crazy narrow lanes that I wasn’t much thinking about anything else. I wouldn’t much want to go through on my own, and definitely still wouldn’t want to do it as a passenger, but driving, I can handle it just fine.

Parking was a doddle - plenty of free on street parking in the street I had earmarked, although perhaps not for much longer as it appears it is being converted to residents parking at some stage before too long. For now though, and at weekends even after that, it should do nicely. We walked through to Tower Bridge, then along the embankment to the Tate Modern. Crossed over and back along the opposite side. Fabulous to be back in my home city, and to be walking along the river too! Initial feeling was that it was quite busy, but actually I think that was just that it had been so long since I’d been anywhere with that many others. The city itself was unsurprisingly very quiet indeed - and because of the protests currently going on up towards Vauxhall we decided against going any further along. It was so nice to walk somewhere so completely different though - and the perfect plan for a rainy Sunday afternoon too!

Robyn.

Day 75...

Another picture taken at Lakenheath on Monday. 

Saturdays have become quiet days here - we tend to take longer walks on Thursdays or Fridays and Sundays, and Saturday afternoons see our regular weekly Zoom get together with friends, so the rest of the day is mostly about chilling out, baking some form of cake, a short walk and not much else.

An increasing number of people are incensed about the protests taking place across the county in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Indeed, looking at the news coverage the gatherings of protesters in London certainly look incredibly ill advised allowing for the current virus situation. A point to consider is that we know that those from BAME communities seem to have a higher vulnerability to the virus - and a high percentage of those attending the protests are of course from those communities. It will remain to be seen what effect his has - I understand wholeheartedly as I said earlier in the week why they feel strongly that they need to protest, but I desperately hope that they aren’t putting themselves at risk to do so.

Robyn

Day 74...

Today... A socially distanced walk with my parents and the dog, and an apparently entirely abandoned underground train drive unit, in a field...

We have no idea of the backstory that lead it to be there - as far as we can tell it’s about 80-odd years old though - late 1930’s “P” stock we think. It would have run on the District line, which makes it ironic that where it has ended up is not a million miles from where, until, the mid 90’s, the Central line terminated.

Yes - that’s the dog, looking as though butter simply wouldn’t melt. Best not to be fooled by that expression... She’s not a Poodle although looking a little like one after a “short back and sides” at the groomers earlier in the week. She was clearly delighted to have a couple more people to pay her attention today anyway!

This was today’s other triumph - my latest sourdough attempt. A little flatter than I would ideally like as it stuck to the cloth lining the bowl I proved it in, which pulled out some of the rise as I detached it. The texture however is the best I’ve achieved so far - lots of lovely air holes and a far more open crumb. The taste has been good on all the loaves so far, but it’s definitely getting even better week by week as the starter improves too.

Robyn

Day 73...

Today has been a cutting ourselves some slack day. Putting the “shoulds” and “ought to’s” to one side, and taking some time to do stuff that felt like what we needed. A walk this morning - the final section of sculpture trail (yes, really, this time!) along the river, so mirroring my running route yesterday as far as the zig-zag bridge, then continuing on to tick off the remaining sculptures before heading back home. 8 and a quarter miles - we seem to be taking this sort of distance more and more for granted now!

A late lunch, then an afternoon of mainly just pottering about - meal planning for the next week, a quick audit of the freezer, a bit of houseworky stuff, a bit of jigsawing. Macaroni cheese for tea (the “chef’s special” version with cauliflower and chunks of ham thrown in) because IS there even a better comfort food out there?

The reason for all this being kind to ourselves? A chat with a friend last night - who confessed that she had been struggling - and hearing her made me realise that the anxiety had been creeping back here, too. So taking my own advice, a step back from feeling the need to achieve things all the time - if all I get from the next few days are three meals a day, a bit of fresh air, and a freshly baked sourdough loaf tomorrow (well, of course!) then that’s fine. We’re also trying to focus on things to look forward to at the moment - starting with a (weather permitting) socially distanced dog walk with my parents tomorrow. We’re also musing on the possibility of a drive into London at the weekend - the opportunity to walk somewhere different is very appealing!

Robyn.