Sunday 26th April, 2020 - day 42 of confinement in Spain.
As I write we are now in week 6 of confinement and it seems some of us have got used to lockdown although, no doubt, most people are dying for a relaxation of rules. I am for one. My father, though, who turns 101 next Friday (wow) hasn't noticed much of a change as his life is generally a quiet life of confinement. He is one of those people, a bit like Captain Tom Moore, who don't complain and just get on with it. Maybe it's because they went through WW2 or just because they are made of stronger stuff. My father has been through many tragic moments in his life, yet he has taught me that life continues. His way of coping is to appreciate the small positive things that life brings and to always look out for the beautiful things among the ugly ones and to enjoy the pleasures, however, small, that life offers. Eladio and I keep telling ourselves that we are privileged in lockdown compared to many people. Over 70% of people in Spain are stuck in flats, mostly small, while we swan in our 600m2 house with its 2500m2 of garden and a pool to enjoy when the weather gets better. Sometimes it feels that we are not in lockdown at all until we remember we cannot go out for exercise, we cannot travel to our two second homes or anywhere else and we cannot go out to dinner. These are the things I miss most. What I need most though, as I keep telling you week after week, is a trip to the hairdresser hahahahhaahaha. When Oli took a photo of me and Elliot together that's when I realised just how awful my hair looks.
Last Sunday I reported on the latest case and death figures world wide and in Spain. This time last week, the total number of cases world wide was 2.333.240 and a death toll of 160.318. In Spain the figures were 194.416 and 20.639 respectively. It wasn't so long ago Spain reached the figure of 1000 and that frightened me stiff. Last night's figures for Spain rose to 223.759 cases and a death toll of 22.902. Not far behind are France with 22.614 deaths and the UK with 20.319. The UK jumped to that number from 15.604. Today the number of cases in the world has gone up to 2.902.708 and the total death toll stands at 202.179. Below is this week's chart and underneath the chart for last week.
In Spain at least the curve is definitely descending with deaths in the 300's for the last few days. The other good news is that the number of those recovering daily is greater than the number of those newly infected. That means we are nearing an ease in lockdown. Last night, it was quite a surprise to hear from Spain's PM, that if deaths continue to go down adults will be able to go out to exercise on their own and families on walks together from next week, Saturday May 2nd. I say, roll on next Saturday. Spain is one of the countries with the strictest lockdown measures and after 42 days of confinement, people really need to get out.
Life continued, as it does, for us last Sunday. There had been a huge thunderstorm the night before but we woke up to a sunny day. Oli, Eladio and I went on the secret walk again but making sure there was lots of space between us. Oli took Elsa, Eladio took Norah and I took Pippa. I was the only one unworried as both my husband and daughter felt bad for breaking the rules. In fact Eladio saw the police while crossing the world which made him run home and he got back before us. That would be the end of our secret walks on the lovely hidden paths behind the big houses here but not quite.
I came home to make our lunch: Tika Masala curry with rice and some old naans which were a bit hard. It was all rather heavy and the chocolates at the end did not help. Lunch made me feel full all day after that.
After a restoring siesta I got ready for a skype video call with my Uni friends Adele who lives in Orleans in France and Sandra who lives in Brussels. For about 1.5h we compared notes on lockdown in Spain, France, Belgium and the UK. We also speculated on what the easing off of lockdown would be like for us all. Sandra told us that in Belgium life did not feel as if she was in lockdown, so free are its citizens to go out and exercise, etc. It's a bit more difficult in France but even so people are allowed out to exercise and not just on their own.
My friends asked after Elliot of course. Sandra, ever the Mother Hen, asked if Elliot's sleep had improved since she was here for New Year's Eve. Both Sandra and Adele were a little shocked that at 7 months old he was still sleeping in the same bed with his parents meaning they have not had a good night's sleep since he was born. Sandra had sent a link to Oli way back in January on how to teach a baby to fall asleep on its own. It was after the call I reminded my daughter gently as I didn't really want to interfere with her parenting. But I must have been a good influence as she read out the instructions - basically to leave it to cry until it sleeps in its cot - and later that night Miguel and Oli put them into practice. Believe it or not it worked. He cried for the first half hour but went back to sleep. He woke up many times, crying for a bit but then sleeping again. In the morning they were delighted to tell us he had slept the whole night in the cot. They carried on the practice all week and he got better and better. So thanks my dear friend Sandra for the tip.
I spent time playing with little Elliot after the video call and Eladio played with him too as I made dinner that night. Here he is in one of the kitchen sinks with a box of matches in his little hands hahahhahaah. Maybe not the right thing to play with.
We had dinner earlier that night. Our dinners since the arrival of Oli and Miguel were getting later and later. I made our meal that evening - prawn, mango, avocado and lettuce salad, followed by strawberries and yoghurt.
Thus we were on time and in bed for the 9pm news. There was nothing new for me, just the awful numbers of victims of the crisis, doom and gloom about the economy and more speculation on how lockdown may be lifted.
I had read it as a child and loved it then and am loving the series now. It is apparently not completely true to the novel, rather to the essence of it so some purists are not too pleased. This series may be seen as childish for some but for me the story is timeless and the series beautifully made.
If you are not familiar with the book, it tells the story of an 11 year old red haired orphan with loads of personality who is adopted by ageing siblings who live in Prince Edward Island in Canada. They had wanted to adopt a boy to help with the farm but a girl, Anne, is sent instead. They want to send her back but bit by bit she wins over their hearts as indeed she wins over the hearts of the whole town, Avonlea (fictional name).
Thinking this was a somewhat childish series - it is and it isn't - I thought Eladio wouldn't be too keen. However, his heart was also won over by Anne with an E and we watched 3 episodes in one go, only switching the lights off at 1.30 in the morning.
I read the book as a child and its rival The Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder. When I posted something about the series on FB a friend remarked that maybe I would like the Mallory Towers TV series. Oh gosh yes. Mallory Towers was one of Enid Blyton's boarding school books which as a young girl I devoured. I also devoured the St. Clares and The naughtiest girl in the school books by her. I think I must have read nearly all the Enid Blyton books there were at the time. I also remember another wonderful book series about a boarding school (set in Switzerland) called The Chalet School by Elinor Brent-Dyer. I would love to read them again and wished I had kept my collection. Now they cannot be found for love or money. Well, some of them can but at extortionate prices I'm afraid. I do hope though to see the Mallory Towers BBC series which for some reason they have spelled Malory with just one "l" as my friend Amanda pointed out to me on Monday. But I can't get the BBC here so will have to wait to see if I can buy the DVD. Oh yes, I used to love books about schools.
I had a nasty bout of wind in my body that night which continued for a lot of the week for no apparent reason. I got pain and a bloating feeling even in the small of my back. At one stage I thought I had coronavirus!! I could not fathom what caused it. I do get these bouts occasionally but usually after drinking something fizzy which wasn't the case this week.
I woke up on Monday to sunshine after another night of pouring rain. I had work to do that morning; work on the media coverage report for the press release I sent out for Adamo last week; the one about offering free internet to children of families facing financial difficulties. Gosh there were over 70 clippings, quite a record for not such a big project. However, I think the news was of great interest to the media especially during this crisis when we all know that children are not equal when it comes to schooling and confinement.
On Monday, my dear cousin Katty, from "down under" New Zealand turned 50. I only wish I could have been with her to celebrate. All the family sent happy birthday videos, us included. So happy 50th my dearest.
We went on our walk in the morning but as Eladio insisted it had to be in the garden, I gave in and thus we did our 21 laps in 45 minutes enjoying the sunshine.
For lunch we had my trusted "bitki" (Russian meat pasties) with lots of vegetables. I then had a 2 hour siesta, making up for some missed sleep. I was nearly late for my weekly skype call with Amanda but made it. Over a cup of tea we nattered for about 1.15h; she in Devon and me on the outskirts of Madrid. I always enjoy our calls where, like my calls with Adele and Sandra, we comfort each other during our confinement.
Miguel and Oli made the dinner that night - vichysoisse followed by ratatouille which is called "pisto" here and a fried egg. Dessert for Oli and I was fresh raspberries with a couple of spoonfuls of Pastoret yoghurt (divine).
Again we were on time for the 9 pm news - all about the flattening of the curves, lockdown etc. That day one of the things people were speculating on was that people over 65 should be shielded and stay indoors until there is a vaccine. Gosh that is age discrimination and would be awful for us. As Eladio is 75 that would mean we could never go on holiday or out to dinner together for what? 1 year? A year and a half? I certainly hope this is never put in place. If people have to be shielded, the criteria should not be age but physical health. In any case I think people should be able to decide for themselves.
That night we watched 2 more episodes of Anne with an E until it was time to sleep.
Tuesday 21st April dawned and it had rained again all night and would rain on and off all day. I wondered when I would get our walk in. In the end we went for our walk in the garden in the morning fearing it would pour down with rain in the afternoon which actually it didn't. This month and last month have been so rainy it's depressing. I keep saying I can't wait for the good weather and I can't.
Tuesday was the Queen's birthday, the day she turned 94. Happy Returns of the day your Majesty. Wow 94, that is something.
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| The Queen turned 94 this week but there were no celebrations |
For the first time in 68 years, the Queen did away with the traditional royal gun salute thinking it inappropriate during the pandemic. She has also done away with celebrations for her second birthday - the official one - in June so there will be no Trooping of the Colour this year. This means she will only celebrate one birthday this year, like all of us common or garden mortals. I'm sure that doesn't bother her as much as missing Ascot as we all know she is a great horse expert and fan. So, no, there was no fanfare and no family gathering. To mark the occasion, Buckingham Palace released
rare footage of the Queen as a young girl never previously seen before. In lots of the images there are animals including horses of course. Here is one I particularly like.
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| The Queen aged 4 on a Shetland pony given to her by her grandfather |
The photo was published by the Royal Trust on Twitter and is of the Queen aged 4. She was given a Shetland pony by her grandfather King George V. She took riding lessons at Windsor and was able to ride alone when she turned 6. Today she still rides in Windsor Park but not in confinement I suppose. I have always loved horses too but never got lessons as my parents were frugal teachers and not particularly animal lovers. I, on the other hand, share the Queen's love of animals and today have my own menagerie; 3 dogs and 1 cat. I have often told Eladio I would love to have a donkey (or a pony) but he thinks I'm bonkers. Maybe I am hahahaha but I do love donkeys.
I worked a bit that morning too, compiling the media report on coverage from the press release I sent out last Friday. All in all we garnered 75 articles which if you compare to advertising spend sums up more than 200.000 euros. Wow I was so pleased and so was my customer Adamo who got such a lot of visibility for their great new project. The press coverage of course reached readers who in turn took steps to take up our offer which was the whole purpose of the press release; something I am very glad about.
It was on Tuesday that the Spanish government who had been hinting for days on new rules for children during confinement as part of their lockdown easing off. People were dumbstruck, especially parents, when it was announced that
children under 14 would be allowed out but only accompanying their parents on errands already allowed; i.e. to the supermarket, chemist and bank. Parents were furious as they want children just to get fresh air which is something they won't get at supermarkets which are already crowded and a source of contagion.
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| Images like this emerged on twitter in protest |
So big was the backlash that a few hours later, the Government had to backtrack and announce that from today children (under 14) would be allowed out for walks. They will be allowed out for one hour only and within a radius of 1 kilometre from where they live and always accompanied by one adult who can take out a maximum of three children. The children will have to maintain social distancing, so no swings or visits to the park. Like many other people, venting their anger mostly on twitter, I was dumbstruck by the stupid new announcement. Is our government really that stupid? Well, it seems it is but thankfully they listened to criticism. So what about over 14 year old's I asked myself. Well, apparently they were already allowed out (not to exercise) to go on restricted errands. Nobody knew that and it's not as if a 14 year old can be expected to do the family shopping. I am happy children can now go out for a walk, albeit an accompanied and restricted one but I think all age groups should be allowed the same privilege as it is not only children who are suffering in confinement. Thus Elliot will be officially allowed out as from today but only with one parent. Oli and Miguel can get around that though by one of them taking one of our dogs. However, they will still have to be careful as dogs are only allowed out within a distance of 200 metres from their home. These rules make sense in high density areas but not in sparsely populated areas such as where we live. One size rules do not fit all but I suppose it is difficult for the government to apply different rules for the whole country.
At least little Elliot is not suffering from confinement in our house with its big garden. He went on the swings again that afternoon and Oli captured him on camera. Have you seen how much he has grown?
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| Elliot on the swings at the end of the garden - Tuesday afternoon |
Tuesday was a very quiet day with none of us leaving the house of course. There is not much to report except that Elliot had spent another night through in his cot (hurray) and that we all kept to our routine which you are already familiar with.
Wednesday came and it would be the day I went out shopping this week. It's amazing how the groceries deplete with 6 of us in the house, not to mention 3 dogs and a cat. Shopping for 6 people, three dogs and a cat and alone is quite a challenge and my trolley was overflowing by the time I reached checkout at Mercadona. It was mostly full of fruit and veg and even the cashier was surprised. I'm not as we go through it like rabbits hahaaha. After Mercadona I drove to the more upmarket Carrefour Market to get fish, good wine and some goods the low cost supermarket does not stock. I did not experience any queues at all thankfully. My friend Kathy who lives in Keighly, West Yorkshire, told me yesterday there were queues outside their local Sainsbury's of more than 50 people!
It was a lovely rain free day and the sun came out at times, although most of the day it was cloudy but not cold. We all enjoyed being outside and once again Elliot went down to the swings. I love seeing them put to good use after all these years. Here is a selfie of Oli and her little family out in the garden by the swings that day.
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| Oli with her family by the swings at the end of the garden on Wednesday |
It was the perfect weather for gardening and that's just what Eladio did. He had the help of Miguel when it came to mending one of his electric saws and also to sheer some of the very invading hedges. Here they are together in what looks like, to quote my friend Joanna, a jungle. It did in a way and still does as there is more work to be done. Otherwise the garden will just get wilder and wilder.
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| Eladio and Miguel gardening |
Oli had finished work by about 5.30 and came out along with little Elliot. I know the fresh air is doing him a world of good. Here they are together watching Eladio and Miguel working in the garden.
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| Oli and Elliot in the garden on Wednesday afternoon |
I'm not into gardening myself but do like to see it spruced up and looking nice. My favourite flowers are the roses. My second favourite is the mock orange blossom. Ah but I love purple lilac too and the snowball roses which are coming out now. The first roses to bloom were the yellow ones, my favourites too. For some people yellow roses bring bad luck and they are also equated with jealousy. But for me they symbolise happiness, joy and the coming of summer - thus their sun colour. Every time I go on our walk I go pass them all and inspect them to see which ones are flowering first. It's usually the yellow ones that come first and on Wednesday they were already blooming.
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| The yellow roses - the first of our roses to bloom this year |
While the men sheered the hedges in the afternoon, Oli, Elliot, the 3 dogs and I, broke the rules again and went on the private secret walk behind the big houses in our neighbourhood. It was a joy to walk along a narrow path in between long grass scattered with giant daisies, bluebells and poppies. I especially love the poppies, famous for their seeds that produce opium. I learned that from my mother when I was a little girl. She used to sprinkle poppy seeds on her home made bread and told me they produce opium. I thought it was very daring of her but of course it wasn't hahahahaha.
We came back to more free time - there is oodles of it - and to make an early dinner. Well, actually, we asked Lucy to make some Spanish tortilla and we did the rest.
We had had a lovely family day and I counted my blessings as I am so lucky to have nearly all my family with me and access to the outside. Sometimes we even forget we are in lockdown and that is good. Often I think confinement for us is quite pleasurable with lots of family time but that of course is because we have not been touched by the virus. If we had been, things would be very different. There is a lot of tragedy out there and fate has spared us so far for which I am very grateful. Even so there will be a before and after time as this pandemic is the biggest event ever in our lives and we shall never forget it, being marked by it forever, just as our parents were marked by WW2.
Thursday came; another day in lockdown. Roll on May when some measures of lockdown will be lifted. Again I am hoping the hairdressers open then as I imagine many of you are too. In France, my friend Adele is on a waiting list for when hers opens again.
My friend Joanne reminded me it was St. George's Day, the patron saint of England and sent me a lovely flag of my home country. My brother George was named after him.
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| It was St. George's Day on Thursday - the patron saint of England |
In a way St. George's Day is England's national day. My friend also reminded me what I already knew, that St. George was a soldier in the Roman Army who killed a dragon and saved a princess. He was an early Christian martyr and endured torture while defending his Christian faith. While it may not be true, legend has it that he slayed the dragon, later to be equated with the devil, on English soil in Uffington Berkshire. However there has never been proof that he ever visited England or that he was even a Knight. It was said no grass grew where the dragon's blood trickled. He was not English at all but was born in the 3rd century AD somewhere in Turkey and died in the Roman province of Palestine. The real reason for him becoming the patron saint of England is very hazy. His legend was possibly boosted by returning soldiers from the Crusades. It was King Edward III who is believed to have recognised him as England's patron saint in the 14th century. He was canonised in AD 494 and the feast day of his namesake has been celebrated in England for hundreds of years on April 23rd which may have been the date of his martyrdom.
Thursday was also World Book Day. Facebook reminded me that one year ago that day, on World Book Day last year, I had sent off my father's biography for print to be on time for his 100th birthday. Oh how time flies. This week, in anticipation of my father's 101st next Friday 1st May, his old Cambridge college, Selwyn, wrote to say happy birthday and asked me to send them a photo of him celebrating. That was so kind of them. Thinking about it I'm so glad that my father's 100th was last year when life was normal and not this year during the pandemic. Otherwise all the things we did for him would have been nearly impossible, including printing the book. This was the cover.
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| The cover of my father's book which I sent to print one year ago on 23rd April, World Book Day |
I wish I could tell you my book has been a success but right now the publication of it in the UK is on hold because of the pandemic. It is available on kindle (
here) and will be coming soon in paperback at Waterstones (
here).
Lots of people posted photos of their book cases at home in confinement. Realising we have so many, I decided to show off mine too and then included some of my father's. He has so many books they take up all his room. He had many more but threw out a lot when he moved from Bradford to Madrid in 2005. His shelves include the whole works of Russian literature which he bought with my mother when we lived in Ruskington. His favourite Russian author is Chekhov. Being a linguist he has books in many languages; Russian, English, French, German, Norwegian, Spanish, Dutch, Danish and a collection of the Teach Yourself a language series so popular years ago.
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| Two of my father's old bookcases in his room |
We have lots of books too although not as highbrow as my father's. I have a veritable library of books in English which are in the TV lounge, the one we never use.
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| My own English library |
I was brought up in a reading family. My mother was very intellectual but also enjoyed bestsellers and she had a spate when she read most of Agatha Christie's novels. In the next moment though she would be reading either Tolstoy of Dostoyevski. My reading journey began when I was about 7. Our next door neighbours, the Tocheks, were moving out and their older children gave George and I their book collection. That's when we both discovered Enid Blyton. We devoured every book our neighbours gave us and then once a week we were given pocket money to buy a new one, usually at "Busby's" in Bradford. My tastes have changed of course. Today I like novels but my favourite genre is biography. On our shelves we also have lots of dictionaries, encyclopedias, atlases and travel guides although many of them are out of date now. Sadly I cannot fit any more books into our house so for a few years now have been using a kindle which probably has about 1000 books in it. The travel books and some of Eladio's philosophy books, as well as all my Nottingham University Spanish and Portuguese little library are housed in our study. I took the photo of some of the shelves there yesterday and very appropriately Eladio was reading while I snapped with my camera.
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| Our study has lots of books too |
Of course being in confinent during lockdown is very condusive to reading and I for one have found a lot of solace doing so. Right now I am still reading Abdul and Victoria, having parked Churchill away for later. I should be using the time to write my mother's book but precisely because of the pandemic which worries me so, my mind is not at rest and I cannot write. I can only hope inspiration returns when this is all over. Who knows when that will be?
Our day was pretty similar to most of our days in confinement. It was partially cloudy with some sun and thankfully did not rain. The highlight was talking to Suzy on whatsapp video after our siesta. She was sunbathing in London believe it or not (on the terrace of her friend's flat). It's her birthday next week and we had sent her some chocolates (Thornton's) and some Spanish Albariño wine (Terras Gaudas). She had received the chocolates which had already been eaten hahahhaa but not the wine. She confirmed she will be coming to Madrid at the end of May or beginning of June before heading back to Bali. She found a flight for 15 euros from London to Madrid which surprised me. I had thought that firstly there were no flights and secondly that flights would be expensive during and after the pandemic.
Later we went on our walk in the afternoon and were joined by Oli and Elliot. Miguel prefers to work out (gym style) and does so with friends on Zoom which is so much in fashion now.
Oli made dinner that night from a delicious recipe for stuffed aubergines Turkish style. I helped her and learned how to make them while doing so. This was the result and they were delicious. I shall be trying my hand at them another time.
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| Oli's delicious stuffed aubergines. |
The day ended with more of Anne with an E episodes on Netflix. It is rather childish but is delightful at the same time.
Friday came and the sun shone again. I had noticed on my walks around the garden that both the sweet mock orange and guelder-rose bushes were already in full bloom.
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| Our sweet smelling mock orange blossom which always blooms at the end of April |
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| One of our two guelder rose bushes. Love this snowball like rose |
So excited was I to see them in bloom that I went out into the garden in the early morning to pick flowers for the house. I particularly love the sweet smelling mock orange blossom which is sometimes called English dogwood. The botanical name is Philadelphus Coronaries. This flower always reminds me of the girls's first Holy Communion celebrations when we lived at our other house. I adore the smell which slightly reminds me of the smell of jasmine. I also love the snowball type roses called a guelder-rose. Its botanical name is Vibernum Opulus. This rose type flower resembles a snowball; thick and white and oh so beautiful. Yes I love flowers yet I don't know much about them. While out picking flowers for the house and for my father, I also cut some of the first roses, my favourites, the yellow ones. Here are the vases ready for distribution around the house.
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| Flowers from the garden for distribution around the house |
During confinement I am finding lots of pleasures. You already know that I find a lot of solace from cooking and reading. As I wrote above, I have always been a reader so when there was a Facebook challenge to post photos of the covers of 7 books, 1 per day, of books I love or have had an impact on me it was a hard choice. The challenge has been doing the rounds and in my case was thrown at me by my soul mate Sandra. Book 1 was by the British author, Nevil Shute. Published in 1950, "
A town like Alice" became his most loved novel. My Aunty Gloria had a library of books from a book club that we inherited after her death. It was my mother who started reading some of them among which she found "A town like Alice". It tells the story of a young woman (Jean Paget)caught in WW2 in Malaysia and who is sent on a march around the country by Japanese soldiers. Many of them die in awful conditions. But it is also a wonderful love story. The book is loosely based on the true story of a group of Dutch women made to march in Sumatra, Indonesia. I have read it countless times and now that I have remembered it, I may read it again soon.
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| One of my all time favourite books |
On day 2 of the challenge, I posted the cover of another favourite book;
Wild Swans: 3 daughters of China cc
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| A book that had a profound impact on me and which I must read again |
This book written by Jung Chang tells the story of three generations of Chinese women, her grandmother, her mother and herself. It thus tells the story of modern China from before Mao Tse-Tung, his reign and the end of it. What a story. Again you see this is another biography, but this one is firsthand.
As to cooking, that morning I made up a recipe from some chicken breast I had in the fridge. I looked for recipes but in the end make up my own. I floured the chicken, fried it in butter and added stir fried onion, leeks, chicken stock and then some yoghurt, coconut, sultanas and almonds. Served with rice it was delicious and I got a lot of compliments.
We had a delightful afternoon all together outside in the garden. I kept asking myself; is this confinement? Really all our days begin to resemble a normal Sunday. Eladio mowed the front lawn that day. The grass is growing at such a speed because of the intermittent rain that he can hardly keep up.
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| Eladio mowing the front lawn on Friday. Notice Pippa in the picture |
Elliot is loving it outside as there are so many stimuli for him. He just chuckles and smiles all the time and is a pleasure to have as company in confinement. As you can see below he loves the grass and the dogs. I'm so glad there have been no issues with them over him. What has happened is that they have immediately recognised him as "one of the pack" and that is good.
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| Elliot stroking Norah with Oli looking on and Pippa lying down peacefully in the sun |
Oli and I took the dogs on their walk through the lovely pretty paths behind the houses. When we got back Miguel had returned from some shopping. It's not that we really needed anything but he had bought food to make more chef like meals. He is such a good cook. That night saw him making fried artichokes. Wow.
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| Fried "flower" artichokes in the making |
Being Friday night we all indulged and I had wine and chocolates which are not a good combination but for once I did not get a headache.
Saturday came and again it was sunny and we spent part of the day outdoors. The morning was spent cooking. Miguel was making our lunch - his famed boletus risotto and some "torrijas" (like French toast). The excuse was to make them to take round to our neighbours after they had brought us the Russian Easter fare, but of course he made many more which we would also eat.
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| Miguel's torrijas |
Spurred on, it was that morning I tried my hand at making flapjacks. I had seen a post from Bradford Grammar School where the school chef made them in confinement. He said they were a school favourite. Well they are a favourite with me too and I hadn't eaten one for years, so yesterday was the day to have a go at making them. I watched his video on
You tube and with a bit of help from Olivia made quite a big batch. I did not have any golden lyle syrup and used honey instead. The trickiest part was taking them out of the tin without them crumbling. That's why the shapes are not exactly perfect.
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| My attempt at flapjacks |
I have to say they were delicious. I ate one in the afternoon and as the main ingredient is oats, I felt full until dinner time.
The afternoon was quiet and the repeat of most days. Yesterday afternoon we did our walk around the garden while Oli and Miguel tried to watch a film - not easy with a baby. By the time we were on lap 10 or so, they were on the kitchen patio feeding Elliot his afternoon fruit. Oh how he loves to eat hahahahhaa. Every time we came around to where they were, we were welcomed with an excited hand gesture and huge smiles. Here is Oli feeding him a puree made of raspberries, bilberries and apple and his face was covered in it. I had to have that picture hahahha.
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| Elliot having his afternoon tea outside yesterday |
Our walk finished at around 7.15 pm. I always call the time between the end of the walk and dinner "my time" to read, talk to friends, scroll on my phone etc. Yesterday during "my time" I facetimed with Phil and Kathy in Keighley. I always love to talk to them. I was so glad to hear that Brian, Kathy's father is a lot better although we shall never know if he got the virus. William, one of Kathy's four sons and who is in confinement with them together with his son Charlie aged 8 and partner, Katrina, told me he had visited his grandparents that morning. I think he does their shopping. I loved it when he told me that his grandmother had put on some lipstick in confinement and remarked to her grandson Will "so that he (Brian) still finds me attractive". Isn't that lovely?. Their love story beats many loves stories we may read about or see on film. The very fact that when 89 year old Brian was faced with the choice of being admitted to hospital when he fell ill a week or so ago, or to go home, and he said "I want to go home to be with my wife" proves his marriage vows. May God keep them safe.
Oli and Miguel decided on the menu for dinner last night which was fried eggs and chips - not so healthy but oh so delicious. It was late to bed last night and so we only got the tail end of the news; the best news being that very likely we shall be able to go out to exercise individually and on walks as a family as from next Saturday. As I said at the beginning, roll on 2nd May. Fingers crossed too that the curve continues to descend for this new measure to be put in place.
I have now come to the end of this week`s tales and will leave you now until next Sunday. Wishing you all well; keep safe my friends.
Till next time, cheers
Masha
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