Snow days

On Sunday morning I was watching the sky impatiently as almost everyone else on social media appeared to have had snow overnight. Even in London! 

Then, in the early afternoon, flakes began to fall. Gently, hesitantly, at first, but within an hour there was about 6 inches of snow covering the lawn.

And it didn't stop there but continued to fall for the rest of the day. I went outside briefly to clear branches but decided it was too chilly and wet for a longer walk.

Monday dawned clear and bright. The garden trees still had snow decorating their branches, and paths and lawn had disappeared under a smooth blanket broken only by the footprints of cats and birds.

The easiest way to clear the path was, not to get out a shovel and dig, but to roll a ball, and make a snowman. The snow was loose and light though, and he didn't turn out as big as I expected.

Just before lunch I decided it was time to get out and see more snow, up on the nearby playing fields. A lot of people had decided the same thing though, and it wasn't the pristine blanket of the back lawn.

My garden must be more sheltered than I realised as there was little snow left holding onto the trees which surround the field, only on the wider heavier branches.

By Tuesday, it was starting to melt away, helped by persistent drizzle, and by Wednesday the only sign of snow left was my deformed snowman.

More is forecast though! After some warmer days, temperatures will be dropping again at weekend, and Sunday is predicted to have more snow. Usually my delight in snow is tempered with the knowledge that there'll places places I was planning to go, people I said I'd meet, but right now there's nowhere I can go, so I'm happy to be housebound for a day or so.

 

Jottings - 24th January - busier, happier week

 As you may have gathered from the title, this week has been busier and happier. Perhaps happier because busier. Actually, make that definitely rather than perhaps. 

  After the bustle of organising, and re-organising, and re-arranging everything again of Christmas (thanks a lot, Boris), January has been too quiet and I've slipped back into that empty nest feeling that comes when children leave home. Try as I might I couldn't find a focus for my days, and was in danger of slipping back into last Spring's lazy habits. 

Then I found a purpose in life - starting a sourdough culture - and my days since have revolved around it. When I wasn't actually tending it (to be honest that takes about 15 minutes max, but it does set something in stone which must be done) I was reading up and watching on line videos on best ways to keep one going. A lot seem to make things needlessly complicated - from fancy flour to specialist equipment - rather than help, but I found Irish Examiner food columnist Colm O'Gorman's Instagram tutorials helpful and inspiring, and posts I'd seen over summer from author Sarah Jasmon encouraged me to experiment and use each day's 'discard'. 

I'm a thrifty, waste-not-want-not style, housekeeper at best, and I hated the thought of throwing perfectly good 'dough' away, so loosely following Sarah's ideas I've tried to make something every day - pancakes, dough balls, dumplings, a pie/cake now named Rhubarb Caramel Sourdough, cinnamon rolls - and I'll continue to do that.

This has certainly kept me busy, plus my Veganuary challenge keeps me busy as meals seem to take more planning than usual to avoid repeating the same dinner too often. We've had a week of chillis, curries, pasta (with doughballs), winter roots stew with dumplings, but occasionally I've fallen back on lazy ready-prepared mock-chicken pies and burgers.

I've completed a skirt I started before Christmas (being home-made, it has pockets!), and knitted a pair of gloves. It's all kept me busy, and left less time for scrolling through worrying news reports.

To finish the week off in style, Sunday brought a heavy fall of snow. Normally my delight in snow is tempered by knowing it will be impossible to drive anywhere. But this year I've nowhere to go, so I can enjoy it.

Projects to see me through winter lockdown

 Today is Blue Monday, supposedly the most depressing day of the year. And this year surely has to be one of the most depressing on the record. Coronavirus is frightening. Lockdown is boring. The weather is generally dull and dismal - apart from a few rare days, we haven't had beautiful sunny frosty mornings, or even snow which would be exciting, and no problem as we're stuck at home - and spring seems a long way off. But even stuck at home I can decide to live a little differently.

I usually start the year with a list of resolutions, what I would like to achieve in the coming months but they often tend to be vague concepts rather than concrete plans. This year I feel I need something a little more specific than 'do art' or 'get fit', and I need something to do now, not when summer comes round. 

So I've replaced 'eat healthier' with 'join in Veganuary'. The rules are simple - avoid meat and dairy - and there's a finite length to it. Meals take more planning, to avoid pumpkin chili everyday, and longer to cook, which is good as it fills the day. 

It's probably not much healthier though, despite the soups for lunch, because there's no limit on sugar, and experimenting with vegan cake recipes is a good way to spend a damp afternoon.

As a sort of follow on to this I've decided, later than everyone else of course, to set up a sour dough culture. Two days in it isn't looking great, but there's time yet, and importantly it adds another thing which must be done each day*.

'Get fitter' has been replaced by 'up the step count'. There was a dreadful point towards the end of the first lockdown when I realised I was hardly taking more than a thousand steps a day! I don't want to fall into this laziness again. The weather isn't appealing for getting out and about right now, though I have some nice new 'sale' boots to wear, and my average step count has been dropping, but I can always add in a few minutes of zumba-style antics during the day, or just walk up and down the hallway for 250 steps every hour when prompted. 

Christmas marked a point where a lot of my knitting and sewing projects were finished, so after a week or so of laziness I've settled on what next. First a pair of gloves from Christmas present yarn, then a hat or scarf to match. 

Alongside, as knitting is an evening occupation, a skirt renovation, turning long and full, into shorter and somewhat tighter to wear with leggings. Another of my Christmas presents was a scarf-dying kit, but that's going to wait for milder weather as I think I'll do the messiest bits outside. And for later on in Spring, I've a grow-your-own-snowman-pumpkin' kit to start growing. 

I knit mostly while watching TV so, looking for a lengthy challenge, I've started rewatching Better Call Saul. That's a lot of episodes so should last for a few weeks. And then I'll follow it with Breaking Bad. The two don't quite join up yet, but they almost do. And for something more cheerful, I'm going to watch Frasier re-runs, if I can find it streaming somewhere.

For dark afternoons, I've taken up an old winter pastime - playing on the Wii, specifically Lego Lord of the Rings. Again, it takes a while, especially if the known bug (collecting things in the wrong order in the Weathertop section) kicks in and I have to start back at the beginning. When the days start to get longer, I'll probably abandon the little hobbits on their way to Mount Doom and sit out in the garden but fro now it fills a dead space in the day.

Hopefully by the end of lockdown I'll be able to put a 'completed' tick against most of the items on my list, but till then they'll keep me occupied.

Above all I want to be positive in my outlook on life.

*the sourdough DID get going and has turned out brilliantly. 

Veganuary - half way through

 In the run-up to Christmas, when I'd already started to realise how depressing the after-festivities period was going to be, I saw people on social media talking about trying veganism for January. It's not a new thing. I've seen people talking about it for years, and you probably have too, but this time I thought 'I cook enough meals that are vegan without trying to be. I'll give it a go. If nothing else, it will be a change, and give me some focus for January. And maybe I'll use up some of last year's allotment produce from the freezer'.

From the outset I decided I'd allow myself two exemptions to meat/diary free. Firstly, the chorizo and eggs in the fridge with 'best-before' dates in January; it's counterproductive to throw away food I've already bought. Secondly, milk. Now I know this would be a huge step away from being truly vegan but I don't buy my milk from the supermarket (if I did I'd have easily swapped to oat milk, which I've tried before). Instead it's supplied by a Derbyshire dairy, and delivered by an independent milkman who has kept going throughout the pandemic. I don't want him to suddenly be losing my order for January, so I'll continue as is. 

Roughly a fortnight in, things are going well. We've eaten a lot of old favourites - chilli or curry made with pumpkin instead of meat - some new dishes discovered by via the web or my Jack Monroe Vegan(ish) cookbook, and a lot of home made soups. For giving a focus every day it's been great. I pretty soon spotted that most of the vegan meals I already cook were either highly spiced - and I didn't really want to eat chilli at lunch, then chilli for dinner - or involved baked beans and/or chickpeas in one disguise or another - again fine for one meal, not for all meals, every day. So there's more planning necessary than for 'normal' food, and more time actually spent cooking (because I haven't gone down the ready-prepared meals route). Sometimes though, it's easier to just settle for a childhood favourite, banana sandwiches, for lunch.

2020 - an undeniably odd year

 Well, 2020 isn't a year I'd want to repeat. I normally do a round up of highlights but when I first thought about it I couldn't think of what to include ... then I had a little think.

First of all, the year didn't start dreadfully. January, February, and the beginning of March were filled with lots of new and exciting things. At Nottingham Playhouse I saw Gecko Theatre and their particular brand of physical theatre,  

Ira Wolf

At the end of January my daughter was back here for a gig  in Nottingham with singer/songwriter Ira Wolf who'd come all the way from Nashville! 

Hopton snowdrops

February was about snowdrop hunting - at Kedleston, Hopton  and Walsingham - 

Salford Quays

on an overnight visit to my daughter in Manchester I visited Salford Quays,  Hall, and Lyme Park., and at the end of the month we all went to Norfolk for a weekend break (staying in a converted chapel). March brought daffodils at Shipley, a surprise trip to Nottingham Playhouse to see Moonlight and Magnolias, a last minute trip to Manchester, and, yes, lockdown.

The mere possibility of doing anything, let alone something new, seemed to go out the window, but even so I found unexpected things to do.

Streamed theatre on tv really impressed me. I never imagined this would replace real theatre but I'd definitely recommend it, and having one day a week with something 'special' happening took some of the tedium out of the first lockdown.

Kedleston 

As summer progressed I headed outdoors again, as safely as possible, mainly to places charging an entrance fee (the free-to-all beauty spots of the Peak District regularly made the news with photos of crowds). Even though I was limited to local places, I still found new areas to explore. At Calke I discovered the wider parkland, at Kedleston found walks beside the lakes, and through the Wilderness , and at Chatsworth gardeners were still working on a new area of planting, opening up an area which was previously just woodland and creating a series of flower-filled glades across the hillside. 

A particular delight was going back time after time (far more than in a 'normal' year) to these places and seeing the seasons change, from summer's heat to autumn's bright foliage, and rounding the year off with a trip to see Chatsworth's outdoor Christmas lights.

Online art at The Good Life
Experience

Over the months, as it become obvious that 'real life' events wouldn't be able to take place, a variety of festivals went digital. Yes, I sat and watched old footage from Glastonbury but I also called in at book festivals at Hay and Edinburgh, pretended I was in Fearnedock forest at Timber Fesitval, and (the big find of this year for me) joined in with art, cookery and inspiring talks at The Good Life Experience. This is a festival I have to go to one day. I don't feel quite comfortable yet about booking tickets for this year, but maybe another.

At home I've pottered round the garden, being more focused on growing vegetables than previous years. Rather oddly, as I haven't really being seeing anyone who might know me, I decided it was time to dump the dull black/navy clothes, pay a little bit more attention to what I wear and brighten my wardrobe. It's proved quite cheering picking out something red or purple to wear instead of sticking to the same old boring clothes. I've joined an online art group, but after being initially enthusiastic I rather let it drop in the run-up to Christmas (I'd better add 'make an effort' to my new year resolutions).

The best bits of this year have undoubtedly been the rare occasions it was possible to meet with family. It was easier to see my elder daughter, who lives relatively nearby, for a walk somewhere outside, but meeting up with the younger in Manchester was harder. In retrospect, I wish we'd been braver and arranged picnics somewhere in the countryside between here and there, but safe is better than sorry. 

It's definitely been an odd year, when time seems to have alternately stood still, and then galloped past. Here's hoping 2021 will  be better and brighter.

Here we go again - another lockdown

 

It's not the best way to start the new year, is it? Being told to stay home, only go out for essential food and exercise, don't meet up with more than one person ... The weather has chosen to be contrary with tempting blue skies, though it's awfully cold, and, if I'm being told to stay home some snow would be nice.

I thought and hoped that the drastically curtailed Christmas would avoid a complete lockdown, but, no, it seems like things are totally out of control. I feel like we almost may as well have had the five day Christmas after all. 

I'm not much affected by it to be honest. I don't have work to go to or children to care for. Over this last year I've certainly got used to staying in and pottering round the house. But, I'm finding it harder this time. Partially I think because there's no fixed limit to this lockdown, and because having seen family at Christmas I'd got used to having people around again. 

I'd half-expected this would happen though, so I'd planned diversions of sorts - joining in with #12DaysWild, trying out my culinary skills with Veganuary, 

and luckily my daughters bought things for me to do among my Christmas presents (pretty wool and scarf-dying kit). 

I'm going to make the most of clear skies and my allowed daily exercise, and try to catch the sunset most days.

Soon it will be time to think ahead and start sewing seeds for a productive allotment and pretty flower garden, and before long the snowdrops will be flowering. I'll be kept busy - and that, I think, is the best way of getting though this.

#12DaysWild

 I knew the post-Christmas period was going to be difficult, having been only able to meet family for such a  short time, so I'd planned ahead for a variety of things to occupy my thoughts.

First up was the Wildlife Trusts' 12 Days Wild initiative. Like the longer summer-based version, it encourages people to get outside,  make 'wild art', take notice of wildlife, and perhaps help them in some way.

Obviously summer is a more appealing time to get outside, but, from rushing out in my dressing gown to break the ice on the bird bath on frosty mornings to filling seed feeders, there are still things that can be done - I even made a tiny snowman!

Since Christmas the weather has been clearer but much colder, with spectacular sunsets. Some evenings I've been tempted out for a walk, some I've just looked from the warmth of home.

There are always regular avian visitors to the garden - robins, an occasional blackbird, a flock of long-tailed tits, and the resident pigeons - but the cold weather has brought more to the garden - half a dozen blackbirds feasting on rowanberries, both blue- and great- tits, a couple of goldfinches, and a flock of small birds high in the bare branches of a wild cherry which I couldn't identify.

We've missed most of the snow that's covered the rest of the country, both north and south of us, but enough fell one day to cover the lawn - it didn't last long though. 

One day we took a muddy, icy, slippery walk to the wood where I spotted hazel catkins opening (I also thought I'd seen a fox, but that turned about to be a spaniel chasing about) but for the most part I've spent these 12 days at home, checking on the Christmas roses, and the shoots of daffodils and snowdrops.

 I know these aren't strictly speaking 'wild' but snowdrops particularly mark the end of winter, so I'm eager to see them appear each year. I've decided this time to lift a few bulbs and fill some pots to bring some spring cheerfulness to my windowsills early.