Sunday 26 July 2020

Relaxing Times For Once

Crikey, the last week has simply flown by, nothing exciting, just life in general.  Apart from yesterday that is.  We are now in a 'bubble' with DD and the GC and as GS will be 13 next Wednesday we were invited to tea yesterday.  He chose pizzas for tea with salad; yummy vegetable ones at that, and then he had a surprise chocolate birthday cake which we all had a slice of.  It was wonderful spending lots of time  with them just talking, laughing, eating together and then playing card games and dominoes until it was time to come home.  It's the most relaxed we have all been for months :)

Its been a lovely sunny day today.  G has washed the car and done a bit of gardening while I spent a happy couple of hours crafting quietly and listening to the radio (although I turned it down when the news came on so as not to spoil the ambience with news of you-know-what)  Lunch was a sandwich and tea will be a ready meal each so not much effort involved other than to stick them in the oven!  It's now just after 4pm and we are relaxing together with the breeze wafting through the open French doors. Bliss....

How was your weekend?

Stay safe everyone wherever in the world you happen to be x

Friday 17 July 2020

A New Me!

 I had my hair washed, cut and blow dried this morning.  It's the best £19 I have spent in a long time πŸ‘πŸ˜Š I feel half a stone lighter😁


I am so pleased to see that we have some more tomatoes ripening on the plants in the garden.  These ones are called Sungold and are sweet with tender skins......


At the allotment we have a glut of broad beans at the moment.  Because of the failure of the ones last year, G over compensated by sowing far too many so I have been delivering bags of them to family, friends and neighbours alike .  The freezer is also stuffed to the gills with them!  Any suggestions for broad bean inclusive recipes anyone? ;)

Stat safe everyone.  Have a great weekend x



Sunday 12 July 2020

Mistaken Identity

Yesterday I  found these on the tomato plants in the mini greenhouse in the garden.  They are Gardener's Delight and the first two to ripen.   They were delicious so I'm hoping for many more to come ..... 


A few weeks ago G sowed a variety of seed in little pots and brought them on in the garden shed.  He planted the resulting seedlings in the flower pots to improve the flower display for the Summer.  Now what do they look like?.....




Yes, they are CELERY. G made the fatal mistake of not labelling the pots so the flowers have been planted at the allotment and we have some very happy celery in the flower pots...lol...  Hopefully, close proximity to the flowers in the pot will blanch them because light can't get in easily. Watch this space :).......



It's warm and sunny today so I have stripped the single bed,  washed, dried AND ironed the linen and it's still not yet 3pm!  Lunch was a ready meal so no effort involved there, and we are shortly off to see DD for a BBQ in the garden.  We will still stay well apart even though we are in their 'bubble' until G has done the Covid test and got a clear result.  It's not worth taking any risks however small they may be.

Enjoy your day everyone and stay safe wherever in the world you happen to be x

Saturday 11 July 2020

Whatever The Weather

Thank you to everyone who took the time to comment on my last post.  It seems that lots of us can't wait for haircuts!

This last week has been very cool, wet and very wild at times but the rain has perked up the garden as well as the allotment.  I have been pushing myself to go out because I feel I am in real danger of not wanting to go out anywhere since the pandemic hit and that won't help me at all.  I barely know what day it is and I certainly can't remember what happened on a particular day without some hard thinking.  We have been visiting the allotment in the main.  The broad beans have done remarkably well with the result that we have a glut.  They are delicious too.  On Tuesday I filled a bag with them, added some of the last rhubarb and dropped them on the step at my brother's front door.  We had a wonderful, socially distanced chat.  It was lovely seeing him in person instead of chatting on the telephone.

From the allotment we have had:
Broad beans
Strawberries
Rhubarb
Lettuce
Spring onions
Potatoes

Changing the subject: G's test kit arrived in the post yesterday and it's a bit of a faff to be honest.  He had to book a courier collection online (it will be Tuesday next)  The saliva test has to be done first and it's not just a matter of spitting into a tube once, the tube has to be filled to the line about half way up!  Next the swab test; first swab the throat around the tonsils 5 times, then the same swab up the nose, then place it into the tube without touching it and seal it up.  The hard part will be not touching the tongue or teeth with the swab at all.  Then it's labels here and there in a specific way, place the tubes into sealed plastic bags, the whole lot into a box which is sealed, then into the fridge to await the courier.  We have been given Tuesday between 8am and 6pm for collection so G will need to be up early to ensure that he has done the test before the courier arrives.  That will be a shock to the system as he normally gets up around 9am!  Wish him luck!

As I have said before, I am very reluctant to enter a supermarket to shop and have been relying on home deliveries.  The hard part is not being able to choose my own fruit and veg and having to put up with some substitutions of food items.  In one delivery my usual tea bags were replaced by loose tea and I have neither teapot nor strainer!  All the items we can't use have been placed to one side and will find their way to a food bank at some point so they won't be wasted.

What is the weirdest substitute you have been sent?

Anyway, we have found a Sainsbury's Local nearby which is bright, clean and QUIET so I can buy my favourite items without battling the crowds to whom social distancing appears to be a foreign concept.  I think I might use it for topping up on milk, fruit and veg when needed, keeping my delivery slots for bulk buying to save struggling.

Have you changed your shopping habits for good?

Have a great weekend all of you and stay safe x

Monday 6 July 2020

Testing Times & A Proud Nanna

Lots of things have happened since my last post; some good, some not so good.

Firstly, the man from the carpet store came last Wednesday to replace the bathroom floor.  He arrived an hour and a half late but we weren't too bothered by this as I had phoned the shop and was told he had been held up by someone sending him the wrong item which he had to go and replace :/  Anyway, a lot of hammering, banging and chiseling later the flooring had been taken up, the floor screeded, dried with a big blowing machine and new flooring laid.  Let's hope this one stays the course.

The mail then brought an invoice from the private hospital for an addition sum of £27 for "use of a piece of equipment"  This brings the total bill to exactly £300 :(   I hope that's the lot for my 15 minute conversation with the consultant....

Later that week brought a letter for G asking if he would volunteer to take a Covid-19 self test at home within the next few weeks for research purposes.  He weighed up the pros and cons and decided it was his public duty to take the test.  The kit should arrive within the next couple of weeks.  I'm glad I wasn't asked because it involves the swab test as well as a sample of saliva.  I could manage the latter but I have quite a strong gag reflex and the swab has to be taken from the back of the throat, avoiding tongue and teeth.  OMG....

Have you been asked to take the test?  How did you manage?

On happier news, DD received a letter from school about dear GD who is 15.  It basically said that she had been getting very involved in home schooling work "engaged" was the word they used and she had done extremely well, so well in fact that they enclosed £20 worth of Love2Shop vouchers as a reward.  GD was amazed and thrilled, as were we!  I am one proud Nanna!

Now I need to shout this out...

I have a hair appointment on 17th July!!

DD's friend had been cutting it for me before lockdown but she works from home in a tiny room and I was a bit nervous going back there.  Anyway, she is fully booked up until the second half of August so I needed to find a different salon.  I rang the one I used before we moved away 10 years ago and they can fit me in.  Now.... just 11 days to go until I feel human again :)

Have you managed to get an essential appointment somewhere?

The pubs have reopened in our locality too but I won't be going anytime soon.  It's stressful enough visiting a shop to buy a pint of milk let alone battle the crowds for a drink.  How about you?

Stay safe everyone wherever in the world you happen to be x

It's OK.....

  Angie πŸ’“ xx