Cooking

Having had a busy day yesterday, I decided on a day of rest today. John also decided he needed a day of rest and he spent the morning in bed.

My plan was to catch up on programmes I had missed and do some reading. You know, put my feet up. Anyway, once I was up this morning and came downstairs, I realised that there were some spoils from the freezer that had been saved, and would be OK if they were cooked.

I nipped round to the shops to buy a few additional ingredients, and then I set to. I made plum jam and blueberry compote with the defrosted fruit; then roasted the tons of chicken we had with parsnips, pecan nuts and orange. All delicious, but all took time to do and be re-labelled to go back into the freezer. Hey! I thought I was going to have a rest?

After I’d done a bit of cooking, John had made his way downstairs and so we sat and watched last night’s Bake-Off. They were making bread. It did look very good. And it was lunchtime. Increasingly, we were hungrier and hungrier. “Shall I pop round to the shops to see if they’ve got any exciting bread, John?” Oh, yes. That would go down a treat. So I toddled off to the shops for the second time today…..

After lunch, I did watch a little bit more TV and read my book, so I did have a rest. John, too, had some rest and spent a good proportion of the afternoon asleep. While I was faffing about with our evening meal, however, he woke up and leapt outside with a paint pot and brush, and painted the side gate. A job he’d been meaning to do for a long time. “All OK?” I asked. Yes, all OK – although he wasn’t awfully happy with what he’d done. He hates painting. “It’ll need a second coat though…..” I bet he’s looking forward to that.

This evening, it was Quiz Night. I don’t know whether we’d all been inhaling laughing gas, but we did nothing but giggle our way through the evening. So much so, that at one time, we could hardly stop and our sides began to ache from having laughed so much. And none of us were even drinking alcohol either! A really great evening. Such fun.

In between times during the day today, we’d been in touch with family members. Michael phoned to say, in high excitement, that the offer they’d made on the house they saw last week, had been accepted. Gosh! I was overwhelmed with joy. They have had such a long hunt for a house and I was praying that this one would work out for them. Still praying, but at least it’s one step further.

Andrew got in touch, too, and his news was just as good. He’d been offered a promotion at work, so we are thrilled. It’s such an arduous job being a Chef, and he works so very hard to get it right, that it’s about time he saw some reward for his efforts.

John, in between naps, took a phone call from the laboratory that makes his serum eye drops. They were very understanding about the fact that the whole stock had had to be discarded, and they promised a fresh supply by Monday. Considering there’s a shortage of supply, that is very good news. John has only got to last four days without it, so it might not be too bad.

On the COVID front, the figures are startlingly high today: 39,851 people tested positive for the virus; 143 people died in the community and, in addition, in hospitals, 32 people died in the previous 48 hours.

When did we get so complacent about these numbers? And why are we allowing this to continue? I am baffled. If you have any answers, please let me know…….

Anyway, my prayers are with you all – everyone I know, family, friends and acquaintances – I pray that you all stay safe and are mindful in taking care. God bless.

Oh, and by the way, Susie Dent’s Word of The Day is: ‘ultacrepidarian’ – one who gives opinions and judgements on matters they know nothing about. I wonder what made her think of that, today of all days?