Lockdown learnings #1

I mentioned earlier in the week that there’s plenty of time right now for reflecting, and I’m no different. I’m a bit of a list lover (ok a lot) and so I’ve been doing what I do best, and making a list. They are my observations and our experiences, yours may of course be completely different, and that’s ok. I’ve pondered about sharing these, how to categorise, should they be funny or serious and whether to share at all. I don’t have the answers to many of those and have decided it’s important to me to record these, and that simple is often best, so that’s what I’m doing.

A natural grouping happened as I reread the list, and so, I’m starting with food, and food related things. Which, is never a bad place to start is it?

As this crisis started, things started to be in short supply - including, bizarrely toilet roll (why?), something I never thought could cause so much angst for so many, though obviously if you haven’t got any it’s easy to see why.

1 Sourdough breakthrough

Yes, let’s get the lockdown cliches out of the way first. Everyone seems to be making sourdough, and while I’ve been making it on and off for years, often teasing my starter out of semi-retirement in the process, I’ve upped my sourdough game.

The trouble is, as I’ve said before, homemade bread doesn’t hang around for long, it’s too bloomin’ tasty! And in the past few weeks I’ve made some of my best loaves in a while. I’ve discovered, quite by chance, that if I leave my starter wetter, it makes a better loaf.

It also seems to make for a more active starter, as it’s burst out of its ice cream container home a couple of times too. Which in a full fridge isn’t always welcome…

2 A baking cliche too, banana bread

Yes, I’ve made banana bread too, probably in week 1 of lockdown (it’s the end of week 9 as I write this post). It seems to be the cake of choice, and it’s a very good choice too. I am one of those people that’s quite fussy about my bananas, there’s an optimum ripeness for eating, and anything before or after that isn’t enjoyable.

So once they’re past this stage, bananas are either destined to be eaten by MOH, banana bread, breakfast muffins or the freezer (I peel and store in takeaway containers) ready for use another day.

And so far, we’ve done all of these. Some of the frozen bananas have even made it out of the freezer too.

3 In short supply

It’s probably all the baking going on, but here we’ve struggled to buy flour and sugar. Bread flour arrived with our supermarket shop, which was good news and recently we were able to buy some self-raising flour on a local shopping trip too, so it’s ok. I’m not much of a ‘fine and precise’ baker, but my cakes are edible and some flour is better than none.

At one point though I was quite concerned about eggs, or being able to get some, though that was thankfully just a bit of a blip. Butcher’s bacon was more of a disappointment for MOH, but that too is now back to normal, and still much tastier than anything a supermarket sells.

4 We drink a lot of tea

That’s mostly because during the working day MOH makes a lot of tea! I’m not really complaining of course, but I’ve never drunk so much. I think partly because my working day used to involve me running between meetings for most of the day, so cups of tea didn’t happen. Sometimes I’d remember to take a water bottle along, and even sometimes remember to drink it.

MOH was also clearly perplexed by my work day drinking habits, or lack of them, and quite seriously asked if I had a Butler at work to make tea for me. I don’t, but have asked him if he’d consider the position when office life resumes. He wasn’t keen.

We now have a new tea regime, which involves drinking ‘funny tea’ as MOH calls it in the afternoons. ‘Funny tea’ is anything that doesn’t come out of the usual tea bag container, and includes rooiboos, chai, green, mint etc.

We’ve even threatened to break open the tea pot and loose leaf tea, but haven’t reached that stage quite just yet. Or not least, during the working day.

5 A pretty plate helps

We used to take lunch to work two or three days a week, and grab something on the other days. Now lunches are a bit more planned, as grabbing something is no longer an option. I’ll admit though, planning lunches and dinner is dull, and I’m the person who likes a plan. But it helps avoid those ‘we’re hungry, what shall we eat’ conversations, when quite frankly no one is at their best.

Some days/weeks I’m more resourceful than others, cooking some extra pasta the night before for pasta salad for lunch; some leftover potatoes for a Niçoise salad, or finally opening some tinned fish which had been labelled as ‘too smelly’ for the office, but actually wasn’t and was rather tasty.

And yes, a pretty plate helps. So does being able to eat lunch in the garden.

6 Husbands and pulses don’t mix

However, a word of caution. It may just be our household, but overloading one of us with too many pulses isn’t a recipe for success.

Just saying. Lesson learnt.

7 The dishwasher is having a fantastic workout

With all this eating at home, our dishwasher is having a better workout than me! Seriously.

There’s another upside to this lockdown that I don’t want to overlook, and that’s we seem to be making a breakthrough in where things go in the dishwasher. I still occasionally have a slight rearrange, for old times sake, but goodness, it’s only taken almost twenty years.

Apparently I’m exaggerating, it’s only 17 1/2 years, and anyway, sometimes the plates, dishes, mugs fancy a change….!

8 More Margot than Barbara

My vegetable growing is off to a slow start this year, only two (late planted) broad beans have shown up, and to repeat what I think I’ve said here before, this year might be the year for broad beans with Christmas lunch at this rate.

My tomatoes are also slow starters, and way behind where I’d hoped they would be, so they will be receiving some attention this weekend. My spinach is just starting to get going, and some turnips which I’d sown after remembering how well they grew on the allotment, and how pretty they were, have been a little munched.

Munching, or selective munching has also happened in the greenhouse with basil, marigolds and one half of the lettuce seed tray left as stalks. I’ve still to work out if it’s the spicy lettuce mix, or the softer farmer’s market mix that’s gone. I bet it’s the latter, as that’s the one I was most looking forward to. I’ve sown more of each, and taking better precautions, so hope to find out relatively soon.

So I’m definitely not feeling very Barbara, I’ll share why I’m feeling more Margot in a future list. And if that sentence made no sense, it’s a Good Life reference.

9 No weekday chocolate ‘fix’

Often while grabbing lunch, I’d pick up some chocolate too, most likely a Twix or Maltesers, or sometimes the very best cherry flapjacks baked in the cafe on site. The sort that are so sweet that you can feel the sugary-ness coat your teeth. And obviously I’d try and choose the largest one, with the most glacé cherries in - quite a skill, and a big decision.

Well, that’s stopped too. And despite having sweet treats each day, and doing less exercise - I am no longer walking an hour each day to and from work, and don’t make use of my permitted hour of exercise, I’ve needed to ask MOH to add a hole to my belt, as my clothes were too loose.

Certainly food for thought there.

10 Fridge Jenga

Eating more, well all, our meals at home, combined with trying to keep shopping trips to a minimum means more food in the house, and the fridge. Our fridge is currently operating at a Fridge Jenga level usually reserved for Christmas. I have found, and expect to continue to find, MOH peering in wondering i) where things are and ii) what’s safe to move to avoid an avalanche. As that’s entirely possible, I usually rescue him, it’s easier all round, and better than retrieving blueberries from all over the kitchen - they’re pesky little wotsits for escaping.

I also have been know to marvel out loud about how everything fitted in. Of course I have a list of what’s in there, just so I know. And yes, I really do.

Well, that turned into a longer post than I expected, but quite a cathartic one too. There’s plenty more on my list so I’m sure there’ll be further posts, in the meantime what’s on your lockdown learnings list?

My garden in April

This post contains an item that was previously gifted.

I’m not sure if it’s because we’ve been home more, or because the weather has improved but I’ve definitely got many more photos from my garden from April. The ruby stems of the rhubarb were promising at the start of the month, but I’m leaving the plant to rest this year again as I’m not sure it’s totally happy in this pot. I’ll use that time, to admire and plan where I can put it, which may be to move the pot and to try and remove the Lords and Ladies which seem more than happy there.

It’s probably not best positioned under the cherry tree, which is where it had sheltered for the winter. That said it would have had a pretty view of all the cherry blossom, which is now long gone. The pigeons have been keeping a better eye on things than me, and hopefully we’ll stick to our usual agreement of top for them, reachable branches for me.

The dandelions and mint though have no qualms about where they grow, nor where they enjoy the sun.

In the early days of lockdown we hoped for nicer weather, and evenings outside, but also more realistically we bought a new barbecue. When it arrived it was in the hugest box ever, which only just went through the front door. It was soon assembled though, and has been quite a savvy purchase. Especially right now. The evenings weren’t so warm, but we were craving fresh air, and while the skies were clear it was a great opportunity to sit around the firepit, previously gifted by Von Haus.

We also got around to replacing the willow screening, which has been up for many years and which disintegrated on touch. That at least meant it was easy to fit into the green bins, removing the rusty wire as we went. The new screening is up, and fits nicely along the two panels, neatly matching the green wired trellis which we’re encouraging plants to grow and cover.

There’s been some great light during the month, and I do love a good reflection photo and the one below doesn’t disappoint. The agapanthus are enjoying their temporary spot, and I feel bad about having to shunt them into a slightly less sunnier spot. They’re clearly enjoying their stay of execution, perhaps an attempt to persuade me, who knows?

There’s been a couple of real highlights - the laburnum, with it’s yellow flowers and our slow-flowering camellia.

And then there’s been the ferns. I could sit and watch them unfurl, well perhaps not literally, I don’t have the patience.

We also tackled the dead ivy and knackered fence, or what could be known as the prickly boundary. The fence was quite delicate, the ivy very dead and so more of the green wire trellis fencing was put into good use. It’s a really sunny spot, and I think the pyracantha, and the holly I found growing close by, will really enjoy it. The elderflower has grown quite tall and that was freed of jasmine, once it’s flowered and fruited, I’ll cut some of those tall stems back so we stand a chance of benefitting from both.

In the greenhouse my beans were racing ahead, they’ve since been planted out and as per usual, I can’t remember which are runners, which are french beans and which are borlotti. I’ve also sown seeds for basil (eaten), spring onions (no sign) and two types of lettuce mix (half eaten). I’ll be trying again and taking better precautions.

But mostly in April, it’s been the blue skies, yellow flowers and sunbeds that have been most welcome. And yes, sunbeds in April, that has been a treat.

Reflecting on my week #129

The good news is that the plants I had MOH saw in half last weekend have survived, and so my request has been seen as slightly less mad, which is good news. I think it’s a family thing as talking to my dad he told me he’d done the same with is dahlias, and they were growing too.

This week, even though the lockdown advice has changed to stay alert from stay home, we haven’t really changed our routine much. In fact, I think we’ve been out less, we’ve definitely avoided the local M&S. I did pop to the local parade of shops on Saturday and worryingly the chemist had one of the longest queues, second only to the local supermarket. So my trip focussed on the butchers, the greengrocers and the bakers - which definitely makes me sound like a 1950s housewife. Though if anything does come out of this, whether it’s making much more use of our local shops, or noticing our environment more then that can only be a good thing.

I think I’m usually quite an observant person, but even I’m noticing more of my surroundings. Saturday I walked the quieter, and slightly longer way back from the shops, pausing briefly to snap this picture of a yellow rose I’d noticed. I think it’s important to note down how things have changed for us, and what we’re noticing, and being a lover of lists I’ve been keeping one of my own observations. I hope to start to share them here soon, there’s nothing profound, I mean one of the entries is learning that husbands and pulses don’t mix so well, but they our experiences and as frustrating as lockdown can be, I don’t want to lose those thoughts.

This week Facebook scrolling threw up one of those weird things that only social media can. As i was scrolling through my timeline, I spotted a street scene that was all too familiar, the road of our childhood home. Looking more closely, the wall of the house looked oh-so-familiar too, reading the post it had been posted by one of the children who’d lived in our house (though obviously theirs at the time) before us. How peculiar was that?

That prompted a flurry of memories for, not only me, but mum and dad and my brother too. I looked through my photos of photos from mum and dad’s photo albums, but could only find this one of me outside the front door. Clearly before photos in your school uniform became the norm. Here I’m in my bridesmaid outfit for my aunt’s wedding, in Bristol. No idea why, but it must have been after the actual wedding as I have my bouquet, and that red pinafore was floor length and red velvet. I told you it was the 1970s.

I looked our old house up on Google Maps, and it seems they still have the same front door, and i’m sad to say the house looked a little worse for wear.

But the memories in our family Facebook chat were priceless.

We remembered building work to make the downstairs a ‘through room’ which was so very modern, the tortoise that kept escaping and who was once found in the middle of a neighbour’s manicured lawn, and no dandelion was going to tempt him to move. The tortoise, called Joey, was mine - but I didn’t like to pick him up - so our neighbour carried him home for me. I guess if you had a manicured lawn and a rogue tortoise in the middle of it, you would carry it home.

Joey was always the adventurer, and many years later learnt that swimming wasn’t his thing. We remembered dad painting the terracotta tiles in the porch, and having to leave the house via a plank while they dried, which my brother remembered as us being pirates. I’ve no idea what my nieces thought of it all. Though I suspect they saw a different side of their grandparents when they shared that when they moved in (in 1963) they didn’t have a back door key, so to start with had to access the back garden by climbing out the window!

Even though I’m close to finishing my Vintage Hearts blanket, I wanted a new project and one that (I hope) will finish more quickly. I was also keen to see how the colour combination would work. I bought this mint and pale blue cotton a while back, and didn’t use it as I’d expected. In fact, I didn’t use it at all. Taking a strand of each colour, and a much chunkier than usual hook, I’ve completed two squares for what will be a protective sleeve for my laptop. Yes, I’m already hoping that at some point I’ll be able to take my laptop out of the house again!

It works up quickly, and the colour combination is pleasing. MOH thinks it’s bright, i think it’s pastel and can’t help but think that the coral and bright pink combo I’d also thought of, might actually be bright.

We’ve spent a fair amount of time in the garden again this weekend. Working at home has given us insight into what goes on in our garden during the day, and during the week. We’ve learnt it’s cat central, with them boldly heading for a closer look through the patio doors. As soon as we move, our feline visitors scarper. Though it seems they’re getting more used to us, as I looked up after lunch today, this was my view - my very own cat traffic jam, but both of these are #NotMyCat

A TRAFFIC JAM OF #NOTMYCATS

Our gardening this weekend has been less frenetic, and our bins are less full, but that’s ok. The greenhouse seedlings needed some attention, and now the beans are planted out. Some of have joined the two broad beans tied into the canes with the toadstools on. The borlotti/runner bean mix (I can’t remember which are which) are already taller, or as tall as the broad beans. There’s another couple of pots too, as well as nasturtiums in a couple more. I’ve sown some more basil and lettuce, to replace those that got munched, and tried some spring onions again - I’m hoping for some to germinate this time round!

Another gin box arrived this month and we’ve broken into it this weekend. MOH cooked paella Saturday evening, and so that seemed the perfect accompaniment to cooking. Both were very good, and while we’ll have paella for lunch a couple of times this week, we’ll skip the gin, well until later in the day anyway!

So another busy week, a busy weekend, and still in lockdown - I think we’ll be here for a while yet, and thankfully the gin isn’t about the run out anytime soon!