Has it only been five days? Already, I am forgetting what our old life was like. Sarah is thinking of baking biscuits tomorrow, but we realised we do not own biscuit cutters. In the old days, I would have just said ‘let’s pop to the shop and get some’, today, it did not even cross my mind to suggest a trip out.
But biscuits are for tomorrow, we need to speak about today. As it is nominally the weekend, we had a bit of a lie-in this morning. One of life’s great pleasures is not setting an alarm on days I do not need to be up at a set time, and today was one such a day. Don’t get me wrong, we were still up by 9, but even the extra hour or so can feel like a lifetime.
Once we were up, I had crumpets for breakfast. A couple of weeks ago, we had visited Nostell Priory, a National Trust house south of Wakefield, where I bought a jar of sour cherry curd and a jar of marmalade. The curd is OK on crumpets, but the marmalade is phenomenal. Unfortunately I finished the jar this morning, and I cannot be sure when I can get some more. I will have to settle for the supermarket selection the next time I go shopping for now.
To pass the time this morning, and because it needed doing, Sarah and I have cleaned the house. I emptied and tidied the cupboard under the stairs, before vacuuming the entire house and mopping the kitchen and bathrooms, while Sarah cleaned the bathrooms and kitchen. At times having a small house have their advantages, being able to clean from top to bottom in just under two hours is a big one.
Once the house was ship-shape, we decided to go for our daily walk. We managed 5500 steps before a light shower and biting wind forces us home. For those of you going out for walks, you might have seen houses with rainbow paintings at the window. I believe these have been put up for children to spot on a walk with their parents to bolster their spirits in this trying time. I have probably seen two dozen on my walks, but for the first time today I spotted a chalk version on the pavement.
We also started talking about our favourite subject during the walk: where we would like to go on holiday. Planning holidays, whether feasible or not, takes up a not insignificant amount of time Sarah and I spend together, we both love to travel, and have been lucky enough to see some amazing parts of the world. Since the Coronavirus pandemic (and our house move before that, yes our house is currently on sale…) we have not really discussed travelling, so it was nice to get back to some semblance of normality by discussing future jaunts. The current front runner for destinations once this is all over is South Korea, fingers crossed 2021 is a little kinder on the travel front than 2020 is proving to be.
Back home, I made a cheese sandwich for lunch, before getting my daily fill of social media. The TV channel Yesterday has had a selection of nature documentaries on today, which kept me entertained for part of the afternoon, while Sarah spent some time browsing on the laptop.
At six, we had arranged a Zoom call with Sarah’s family. This time, we had decided to record part of the call for posterity, so I decided to wear an appropriate hat for the occasion. Unfortunately, despite my fetching attire, the recording did not work. We will be giving it another go next week, and I will have to see what I can rummage out of my wardrobe to suitably mark the occasion.
Everyone seemed well on the call, with people doing their best to keep busy. The plan for next week is to try a digital game of Cluedo. I will of course fill you in on how that goes.
After the phone call we decided on so haute cuisine for dinner; beans on toast (with a sprinkling of grated cheese for me). I won’t bother you with the recipe, if you have bread and beans you are 90% of the way there. Our bread came out of the freezer, and toasted just fine.
Now we are about to sit down for a Saturday evening film. The plan is Nightcrawler on Netflix. Apparently it is dark (both literally and metaphorically) so we might regret not choosing a more upbeat offering, but we have agreed to give it a go. Might even enjoy a spoonful or two of ice cream as we watch.
Oh, and don’t forget the clocks go forward tonight (in the UK). I guess that means we have one hour less in lockdown than we might otherwise have expected…
Self-Indulgent Twaddle 