Jottings - February 14th - hibernating

 

Last week it was so very, very cold outside that getting up and doing something (anything) wasn't appealing. Days were dull and cold but with little snow, sunsets were fiery red, and the birdbath water froze solid for three days.

 Maybe the contrast between lovely warm indoors and freezing temperatures outside encourages us to be lazy; to curl up somewhere snug and semi-hibernate. Obviously if you have work to go to, a dog to walk, grocery-shopping to do, then staying huddled inside isn't an option. But I've nowhere I need to go and, having seen forecasts for heavy snow, did my shopping early. 

So I stayed in. 

I tended to the sourdough (made my best loaf so far, plus naan, pizza and dumplings from the discard), 

I started reading Troy by Stephen Fry (one of my Christmas presents) and continued my Wii Lego journey through Middle Earth - that's nearly finished with just a few irritating tasks left to do, and I've decided to start a Lego Pirates of the Caribbean alongside.  Made cake with aquafaba, coconut water and blackberries from the freezer 

I finished the gloves/hat/scarf set made with another Christmas present, and I'm now at that 'find the next project' stage. 

Other places had huge snow drifts or beautiful icicles worth walking to see. We just had cold, iron-hard ground with the lightest covering of snow. On Tuesday I went out in the hope of finding some snow away from pavements and roads ... but didn't, although falling snow made pretty stars on my coat. 

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. 

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.

Looking forward to winter?

Today is a bright sunny day. Blue sky is appearing from behind the clouds, and it looks like an excellent day for getting outside walking or gardening.

But winter is on the way. With its short days and bad weather, it's never the best time of year, and with the renewed threat of coronavirus, and possible disruptions to whatever we might have planned for Christmas holiday season it's looking more depressing than usual. 

By now I would normally have a number of evenings out planned at gigs or the theatre (summer is off-season as bands do the rounds of festivals, and theatres take a break) but even the limited socially-distanced events I've seen advertised don't seem all that appealing, and I don't want to risk booking anything for spring as who knows what the situation may be then. 

It's time to face it - this winter is going to be one spent at home.

Time I think for a cunning plan, or at least to find ways to make the time pass in a not-too-dismal fashion. The thought of curling up under a blanket with a box-set running on TV is tempting, but having something to focus on and achieve - from creativity indoors to exercise outside - is essential for me; it stops me worrying constantly about the pandemic and its effect on all our lives.

Outdoors, I'll be spending time in the garden whenever possible; at the moment there are apples to pick and trees to trim, so I'm occupied out there while it's fine. There won't be so much to do as we head into winter, but shortly into New Year seed-sowing for flowers and veg starts again, and as soon as we reach February I'll be searching the flowerbeds each day for the first signs of snowdrops.

Having got back a reasonable level of fitness (after the laziness of early lockdown), I want to maintain, and even improve, it. I'm trying to get my step count higher each week, so I'll be trying to keep up one day out walking each week, weather permitting. For the past couple of years Zoe at Splodzblogz has been challenging herself and her followers to get outside for an hour each day throughout November. I joined in last year, even though I didn't manage to do it every day, and again it's one of those things to give focus to the days. I'm not sure if she's intending to do the same this year, but I'm going to try anyway. 

Obviously at this time of year indoors can frequently seem more appealing than out, and I'm planning to take time out for 'me time'. Not the soaking in a candle-lit bath vibe, but things which absorb my attention and make a little semi-creative bubble in which I can lose myself.

I've rediscovered my clothes making mojo during lockdown. I was trying anyway to do a combination of buy no new clothes and use up the stash, so it fitted well. I've finished a couple of skirts, am in the middle of another, and, as I still wear trousers more than skirts, I'm thinking of taking some old, relegated to the back of the wardrobe, long floaty skirts in brushed cottons and turning them into tops. For evenings in front of the TV, I'm starting to plan ahead what I might use from from wool stash to make cardigans/jumpers for winter. I'm still making a summer one in cotton (!) but need to move onto warmer things soon.

Over the past few months, I've also revived my interest in cooking - prompted by the intermittent gluts of produce that come from the allotment. Earlier in the year we had an unprecedented surplus of cauliflower (a lot ended up in the freezer). More recently there's been an abundance of kale, and I've enjoyed finding new ways to use it - from stir fries to soups to chilli. Looking through recipe books and sorting out the numerous recipes cut from magazines keeps me occupied in itself, even without the end result of dinner. I've found myself starting to plan meals several days ahead (something I hardly ever do) and trying something new at home seems like a better idea at the moment than eating out. Over winter there'll be less allotment produce, but the stored apples, pumpkins, and beetroot will be looking for innovative ways to be eaten. And, way behind the trend as always, I could even start a sourdough culture.

One of my resolutions this year had been to find time for something creative, and at last I've organised myself enough to do it. I'd hoped to be able to join a 'real' art group or take a short course or two but neither is possible with coronavirus. Instead I've joined an on-line art group which is giving me the necessary 'push' I needed to take up pencils and scrawl, and also to allow myself time to do it.

In many ways this feels like setting out New Years resolutions. I'm hoping all these plans will give me something to focus on over the coming months, instead of feeling cooped up, waiting impatiently for spring.

Resolutions so far ... four months in

Usually at strategic points throughout the year I have a look at how my resolutions are going, and either reassess them or give up hope entirely. So, after four months, how are things going?

With corona virus forcing me to stay indoors, I thought this year's resolutions would have been completely written off, but looking at my post from January I see things aren't totally adrift.

Get Outside More - well, I'm definitely doing this. I started with expanding slightly on my normal walking activities, but oddly since lockdown I've spent more time outside than ever. For one thing the weather's been good, in fact glorious for April, and also pottering around, sowing seeds, planting out small plants makes me feel I'm doing something productive, especially if there are really problems with fresh vegetables in a few months time. having veggies to pick from garden and allotment will take away an enormous worry. And when there aren't things that need doing in the
garden, I spend a lot of time sitting and relaxing there.

De-clutter - this is something that appears every year in my resolutions list but this time I'm actually moving on it. Early in the year, I made a start on sorting through the huge pile of photographs accumulated by my parents, removing many from their cardboard mounts which reduced the amount of space they took up. Since lockdown though I seem too busy for this (but, no, I couldn't really say what I've been doing)

Pursuing my intention of getting creative is helping with de-cluttering. Actual 'art' seems to require some mindset that I don't have at the moment but it's possible to be both useful and creative (and clear some of the clutter). I made a cardigan from some wool bought in January '19 (!), and knitted a scarf and hat with some gorgeous yarn given to me by my youngest daughter at Christmas. In the last couple of weeks I've picked up a couple of unfinished sewing projects that have been lying around for a long while. This helps with de-cluttering, my added intention to buy no new clothes, and being creative, so it's a win, win, win situation - and when actually finished I'll have some brighter clothes to wear, which was another intention of mine.


I'm not making a total success of things though ...

I've broken my resolve to buy no new clothes, but I feel a little bit of cheering up is necessary through lockdown, and, importantly, these new trousers fitted my intention to wear brighter clothes instead of old reliable navy and black.

Lose Weight - ha! this is always the difficult resolution, and so far it seems to be going in reverse; lockdown definitely takes away self-control over food.

Taking holidays anywhere is off the timetable at the moment, so I'm glad I went away at the end of February to North Norfolk's coast and ticked 'stay somewhere odd' off the list by spending the weekend in a converted chapel. We'd got tickets for a folk festival in Somerset but that's been postponed till autumn, and I'm not even sure if we'll go then.

Moving house is another 'on hold' project, with no idea when that can even be thought about.

For most of us plans are going to abandoned this year, but I'm hoping I can at least carry on with some of my resolutions. Who knows? Maybe I'll even eventually lose some weight!

Lockdown - week 5: 21st - 27th April

Part of me can't quite believe this lockdown has been going on for five weeks. The time seems to have passed in a daze. I've said it before but the day of the week, and the date of the month are losing meaning; the only real marker being the succession of flowers in the garden. The continuing warm weather still makes me feel that this is a holiday of sorts, which contributes to the aimless drifting of days.

With this in mind, I decided that I'd try to make something a little different for one dinner of the week. This week I tried making my own tapas - tortilla, patatas bravas, pan con tomate, chorizo in red wine and honey, and a cheese and meat board (or plate). It wasn't a total success as the tortilla got a little over-cooked, but as a whole it worked, and it's something that I'd eat out but not normally attempt at home. I even made gin tonico with my birthday Skye gin and  elderflower spritzer, garnished with lemon balm and thyme. I'm now wondering what to attempt for future weeks - possibly something that might pass as pub-grub with an 'all you can eat' salad bar, or 'extras' such as pickles and naan bread with curry.






I'm going to need to plan ahead for this when shopping but I'm now finding that although it may still be tricky to get a supermarket delivery (slots are sensibly being saved for the most vulnerable) it's comparatively easy to click and collect. This feels a safer, less exposed option than actual in-store shopping so Friday saw us heading off to top up supplies. Unfortunately the treats - chocolates and crisps - went a little rapidly, and we were soon down to 'proper' food.

I have a tendency to binge-eat like this at the best of times and lockdown has made that worse. At the end of Week 4, I looked at the scales and realised how easily and quickly I'm putting weight on, and decided I should do something to change my habits. I can't quite say I've been dieting, but I have started to watch how much I'm eating, and at least this week I haven't put more weight on (which counts as a result)

I've discovered online jigsaws - and yes, without a bit of caution, I could become hooked. As the pieces lock together they make an extremely satisfying 'click', so there's no change of putting a wrong piece in, and the monotonous sections such as sky are completed much easier than with a physical jigsaw.

I've finished a hat to go with my new rainbow scarf, finished a couple of weeks ago. Actually it's the second hat I've made, as the first was strange. I tried to use the scarf pattern but it looked like something a flower fairy might wear, so I unraveled the yarn, and knitted it up as a plain hat.



It's been another busy 'out and about' week, with livestreamed gigs and theatre.
Thursday - gig round at Frank Turner's, raising money for independent music venues, followed by Bruce Springsteen's segment from the Jersey4Jersey benefit.
Friday - Twelfth Night from National Theatre Live - brilliant and funny interpretation, and Tamsin Greig's Malvolia was wonderful. I followed it with Friday Night Dinner just to see her in something totally different.
Saturday - Bustival livestream festival, organised by Vans for Bands who are raising funds to supply their tour buses as rest and accommodation facilities for doctors and nurses. You can find more details on their FB page and a link to the crowdfunder here. I didn't attempt to catch all of the acts, just Mark Evans (with a Young Rebel set), Frank Turner (again), Will Varley, and Skinny Lister (with month old baby)
Monday - Sean McGowan livestream gig, followed by a trip to the theatre, this time for a RSC production of Macbeth starring Christopher Eccleston and Niamh Cusack




It's not been all fun though as recent news has reported that 'disruptive social distancing' is likely to the end of the year, and anyone over 60 ought to be considered high risk. For now things are manageable but I'm beginning to wonder what my situation might be in a few months, and whether I'll be able to see my daughters, especially if they're no longer working from home but mixing with other people in an office. Worrying, of course, won't make any difference so I'm trying to still take
each day/week one at a time; potter in the garden, sit in the sun, and try to enjoy this weird time.

Lockdown - Week 3: 7th - 13th April

Well, to be honest, this third week feels like it was almost indistinguishable from the second. Days and weeks are certainly starting to blur into each other, despite my best effort to recreate normal life.


I went 'out' to the theatre twice - first to The Globe to see Hamlet; a very interesting, compelling 'gender blind' production with various male characters played by women (including Michelle Terry as Hamlet himself), and Ophelia played by a man (Shubham Saraf). It's hard to make such a well-known script come over as new and fresh but this production did - and James Garnon almost made me feel sorry for Claudius. I wish I'd been able to see it live.
 A couple of nights later was a National Theatre Live recording of Jane Eyre, a co-production with Bristol Old Vic, starring Madeleine Worrall as the diminutive, feisty heroine, Felix Hayes as brooding Mr Rochester, and directed by Sally Cookson. I'm not generally a fan of books turned into plays, but this worked brilliantly - not trying to cram every bit of dialogue from the original in, but aiming more for mood and character development. Oh, and I loved Pilot the dog - the actor playing him almost stole the show.

In between these two, I went to an Isolate Live gig to see one of my long-live favorite singer/songwriters Sean McGowan performing live from his 'gaff' (well, his mum's front room), and on Easter Monday I went to a festival - not out in a tent in the back garden as I know some people did, but a sensible Front Room Festival organised by Folk On Foot presenter Matthew Bannister, featuring a mix of familiar and new (to me at least) folk singers. As at any festival I dropped in and out of the music tent, and I have to admit I left before the end but really enjoyed watching Beth Porter from the Bookshop Band, Nancy Kerr and James Fagan, Kris Drever, Rachel Newton playing the harp, and Jackie Morris paintings otters.

Apart from these 'evenings out' day to day life doesn't feel like it's changed that much. I finished knitting a scarf made with some fabulous rainbow yarn brought back from a trip to Riga by my youngest daughter.




I went out for a short walk one evening to see the sunset - but this time I encountered cyclists riding too close to the pavement, so there's another worry for when I'm out and about.










The weather has returned to glorious sunshine, and most of my days are spent pottering about the garden doing something or other.


Sowing seeds, watering tiny plants, tucking them up under bubblewrap at night, all with the intent of producing home-grown vegetables, makes me feel I'm clawing back a certain level of control over my life. I feel fresh fruit and veg may be hard to come by as spring progresses, and I'm targeting my sowing at producing crops as soon as possible. I already have rocket and mizuna for salad, and rhubarb for desserts; there'll be more to follow.



Obviously I haven't seen my family but we're keeping in touch with an almost daily video chat, often involving a lot of running around from my grandson, and a quieter pictionary style online game at weekends. There still seems to be as much traffic as ever out on the nearby main through-estate road, so at times it's hard to believe in the virus and that the world has changed.

I never expected three weeks to be the end of lockdown, and I've braced myself to follow the twelve week isolation period recommended to 'shielded' vulnerable people; I've no need to be as restricted as them but 'better safe than sorry' is my motto for now.

Keeping Occupied

It's a week now since we decided to pull up the drawbridge and self-isolate, in an attempt to keep corona virus at bay. I could go out and about, but my husband is one of the people who regularly receive a flu jab and needs to be more cautious. We've perhaps been extreme, but better safe than sorry is my current motto.

At one level, it's hard to see what's been different about our routine - I've pottered about the garden, and husband's been to the allotment (it's empty midweek) - but on the other it's been a very strange  week. The whole situation seems so uncertain that I find I can't settle to anything for long. With the really vulnerable being asked to self-isolate from today, it's obvious that, no matter how much we'd hoped things would quickly turn round, we're in this for months.

If in doubt, or harassed about getting things done, I make a plan. It calms me, and gives me the feeling that I'm in control (even when I'm not). I'm hoping it will give some structure to my days, and positive things to look forward to, whether fresh vegetables or a new skirt. I'm trying my best to ignore the fidgety feeling that comes on when I realise this state of affairs is going to last for at least three months, that I won't be able to see my daughters and grandson in that time, or pick up the plans I had for summer. Mindfulness and concentrating on everyday things will be my way through this - small things such as bringing flowers and blossom in from the garden to brighten the house, and looking forward to family video chats most evenings.



A (not necessarily so cunning) plan to occupy me ...

continue my blogging here (if I have anything much to say) Usually I blog about where I've been, what I've seen, gigs, theatre etc.  Well, that will inevitably have to change. It won't quite be Pepys' Diary, but ordering my thoughts to make a sensible blog post helps calm some of the panic I feel from time to time. The next few months are going to seem incredibly long

get back to book blogging over at Our Book Reviews Online. My head's been too full of other concerns to read much, and definitely too full to think of anything to say about what I've read, but trying to get back to regularly posting reviews will give a structure to the weeks.

spend more time outside in the garden. Obviously being active and out in fresh air is good at any time but March is when the garden bursts into life, and it's time to really crack on with seed sowing - everything from cabbages to cucumbers to flowers. There's a certain mindfulness about the preparations for seed sowing - organising seed trays and pots, carefully scattering the seed, checking each day to see if anything's grown. It's definitely helped keep me focused and occupied, plus I feel I'm doing something positive and useful - soon I'll have salad leaves to pick, and by the end of twelve weeks, there might be peas and french beans. The last couple of days have been sunny, and even just pottering about, admiring daffodils and forsythia, seeing what will flower next, has helped settle my mind.

(one for my husband) the house had been getting to need some TLC, wallpaper repairs, woodwork painting, so the wallpaper paste and paint are ready for wet days.






I have knitting and sewing projects I've neglected, and one of my resolutions at the beginning of the year was to do something more creative. A lot of plans will have to be abandoned but that is one that needn't be.







Of course, we're not completely locked in the house (yet). Going out for a walk is considered a reasonably safe activity if you avoid other people, and at the moment my husband is still going to his allotment - if everyone stays on their own plot all should be fine, just no stopping for a chat. I'd hoped to go out to local National Trust gardens but the huge amount of visitors over the weekend, and subsequent closing of all properties, has put paid to that. I'm still hoping to find somewhere close to home, to drive to, park up, and check the coast is clear before risking a short walk, or just look at a different view for a few minutes.