A quiet, but busy day

It’s been a very quiet day for me today.  Up early as usual to feed and give Karma her insulin. In these weird times, I have tried to keep my day structured and as normal as possible, so I always have a ‘to do’ list.

 I had thought I might just do some yoga instead of the Joe Wicks workout, but in the end I did the workout and was glad I did. The washing was pegged out and blowing out nicely. My next task was to bake some bread. Now, I haven’t baked bread in a while and when I did, it was with a bread making machine. So as I was making it by hand, I used the one bread mix I had in the cupboard. I have all the ingredients in to make completely from scratch another time. Anyway, it didn’t turned out too bad.......

and it tasted pretty good too. We had it with our evening meal, Pepper and Chicken Bake, to mop up all the lovely juices.

This evening, I’m going through a load of free seeds I have received with my Amateur Gardener magazine. I’m keeping the ones I will definitely use and the others I will offer up on our road’s WhatsApp group tomorrow. I’ll put them in a tin on my garden path and my neighbours can help themselves. I’m also going to finish my baby bank blanket tonight.

Tomorrow, I’m definitely just going to do some yoga, as my knees are feeling it a bit. They’re not used to doing quite so much jumping/running on the spot etc. Well, P.E. with Joe Wicks is aimed at the kids being off school and I am 56, haha!  I’m also going to be doing some baking of the cake variety, though I’m not sure what yet. I’ll probably peruse some of my baking books over a nice coffee at elevenses.

So until tomorrow, cheerio for now, Ann x

The weekend and ‘Essential’ business

We had some lovely sunny weather at the weekend, but the wind was bloomin’ freezing! The three of us went on our daily exercise walk in the afternoon. We came across a few people, also on their daily walk and several families on cycle rides, but everyone was very sensible and kept their distance. When we got home, with the cobwebs definitely blown away, I noticed my little blossom tree in bloom, it lifted my heart.....

Once we got home hubby and our son took part in a virtual football quiz. When I suggested it and their enthusiasm didn’t exactly overflow, but they actually really enjoyed it!  The rest of the day was spent catching up with family (and Bumble) on FaceTime.....

and knitting, reading and watching The Kingsman together.

Sunday, I cooked Roast Beef. I just wanted a ‘normal’ Sunday. So it was roast for lunch and salmon/cucumber sandwiches and scones with jam and cream for Sunday tea. I made the scones from here......

They didn’t turn out too badly, but I think I over kneaded. I gave myself a B- could do better.....

Today, there was the PE with Joe Wicks in the morning, pegged the washing out (blowing a hooley!),  followed by an hour of ironing.

After lunch I got ready to go out. I had a blood donating appointment. I wasn’t sure if it would go ahead, but they quite rightly said blood is always needed and it was classed as ‘Essential’ business. Quite a few people didn’t turn up, so the queue went down quite quickly to get to the door to the venue, at our 2m distances. I was a little apprehensive about going, but I know they wouldn’t take any chances and nor did I. I took my own full water bottles and snacks for afterwards.

The venue for giving blood was on the same road as the farm shop I go to, so I carried on up the road to pick up a few essentials. By the time I got home, it was time to get the evening meal on, a second helping of roast beef. Tonight, hubby and I are catching up on Peaky Blinders, one of our programmes we’ve had recorded for some time.

Hope you all have a lovely evening, cheerio for now, Ann x

First four days of lockdown

Morning everyone! Well to be honest, the first two days didn’t feel any different from normal, other than I didn’t pop out to the shops. There was lots of washing, ironing and general housework. I had plenty in the freezer and fresh fruit and veggies, so didn’t need to shop.

Thursday, with no baking for the Blue Cross, no meeting my friend and laundry up to date, I had some spare time on my hands. Hubby was weeding the patio slabs and pressure washing subsequently, so I stayed indoors and made some cards. I needed two anniversary cards and a birthday card for a friend/neighbour. I have quite a few toppers, so coordinated these with some papers........

I also finished off some generic birthday cards I had half made a while back. I used stamps for these, ProMarker pens for colour and papers from my stash.....

Yesterday was the first day I felt the pinch of lockdown. I needed to go to Sainsbury’s for all sorts, mainly because I didn’t go mad and stockpile. So there was lots of items on my list that I couldn’t get from a farm shop delivery. Anxious isn’t the word for it! I left it until midday, long after all the special shopping hours. However the queue was all the way to the top of the very large car park. Everyone was being very sensible with distancing. I had on protective gloves and smothered the trolley handle with sanitiser. It didn’t take long before I was at the entrance. Only a certain number of shoppers allowed in store on a one out, one in basis. I managed to get most of my shopping, only a few items not available. It was a larger shop intentionally. I will not be going in again unless absolutely necessary, as the longer I was in there, the more stressed I was getting.

I dropped off the shopping for my neighbour (on her doorstep), had lunch and was going to weed the front garden. But I felt so out of sorts after my shopping expedition, I decided to curl up in the chair, in the sun and read my book. I felt tons better for that.

I glanced out to the garden earlier in the morning and noticed the Magpie trying to balance on the seed shelf and peck out the mealworms from the holder. I don’t really like Magpies, as all the other birds are scared of them. But he entertained me for a while, particularly as he nearly fell off twice....

In lieu of gym, I have been doing the PE with Joe Wicks at 9am. It’s aimed at the kids, but I think there are loads of adults are doing it and it’s pretty good! My cot blanket is almost finished for the Exeter Baby Bank, so I’ll be starting a new project, possibly stuff for the neo natal dept. at the Royal Devon & Exeter.

Today is another lovely sunny day, but with a very chilly wind. We’re going out for a walk for exercise today, so I’ll wrap up. Hubby has gone up to the paper shop for our older neighbours. I’m also planning on sowing seeds too. I’m never bored, I have too many hobbies and keep in touch with family and friends by phone, FaceTime or Facebook.

And there’s always baking! But my son announced he’s baking this weekend, so I wonder what his offerings will be. I’ve got loads of ingredients available to him. My daughter said she’s baking today too,  at her house. I’m glad they’ve both got the skills, in times like this.

So, that’s my catch up of news. Hope you’re all keeping safe, thanks for popping by, cheerio for now, Ann x

A new way of life ......for a while

So, it’s been confirmed, we’re on a lockdown. It’s not come as a surprise. We have plenty of food, so imagine I’ll only need to pop out once during the week for fresh essentials, if that.

We’ll work out when we’re going out for our once a day exercise, probably a walk. We have a level drive and a patio, where we might be able to cobble up some sort of gym work.

There’s obviously no volunteering for me for a while. Last Friday they were run off their feet at Blue Cross, as several people were off, self isolating. The laundry mountain was enormous, with staff having no time and very few volunteers in. So on Saturday I spent five hours feeding the laundrette size washing machine and tumble dryer, deep cleaning the staff room in between times.

Yesterday,  I had a delicious meal cooked for me and some lovely gifts. The weather was gorgeous. We even sat out in our deck chairs in the afternoon!

Today, I met my friend at Haldon Woods for a walk. Chatting so far apart was weird, but it was a lovely 3 1/2 mile walk in the sun, with lovely views.........

This felled tree will look spectacular in the winter when Jack Frost has visited!.....

We drank our drinks from our flasks at our respective cars and said we’d see each other whenever, as we’d had a feeling things would change tonight.

So, tomorrow, it’ll be a fairly normal day, washing and ironing etc. Hubby will be working from home. Our son still has to see of his place of work is open.

 I hope you all keep safe and well. I’ll hopefully catch up with blog reading tomorrow, cheerio for now, Ann x

Community spirit

A few days ago, as the announcement that the more vulnerable should stay at home came out, hubby suggested that we drop a note through everyone’s door in our road offering any help. In it, he suggested setting up a WhatsApp group (he’s more techy than me!) for anyone interested.

So the following morning, 27 letters were dropped through letter boxes. We have a wide variety of ages in our road, from a 94 year old to a very young couple and everyone in between.......and now we have 23 houses in our road’s WhatsApp group! We’ve had lots of offers to help the people who are staying in their homes, when they need it. Not just getting shopping, but offers of dog walking etc. Our oldest resident’s son has our telephone number, so if he’s not able to get her urgent shopping, we can.

But the best thing about all this, is the way we’re all getting to know each other. We’ve lived in our road for 26 years, so knew a fair few of our neighbours, but not all of them. The chat that goes on between everyone in the evenings is amazing, especially the humour. So in the midst of something quite awful, something very lovely is coming out of it. There’s already talk of a street party, once this is all over!

A catch up on today too. A dull drizzly day in the South West, but my friend and I still met up, in the open air, no crowds and a nice long walk along Exmouth beach with her dog. It was a bit dismal........

I tested out my new wellies......

We treated ourselves to a bacon baguette and hot chocolate each, in a near empty beach cafe. On my way home, I popped into Tesco to get a couple of bits for my father in law and his other half. He is 89 and grudgingly staying in with his other half (He’s not happy he can’t play golf!) The shelves were empty of most things. They only needed onions, garlic and brown sauce and luckily I managed to get everything.

Later this afternoon I baked for Blue Cross. I did check if they were happy for me to bake at the moment and they are. So these are making their way to them tomorrow......

I’m going to relax for the rest of the evening, a bit of knitting and perhaps we’ll catch up with some recorded programmes. Thanks for popping by, stay safe, cheerio for now, Ann x

A sunny afternoon stroll along the Quay

Well, after yesterday which consisted of heavy showers, today’s weather could not have been more different! The sun had his hat on at 7am this morning and continued to wear it all day!

I couldn’t take advantage of it this morning, as I had a bit of food shopping to do and Aquafit. However my daughter had a day off and hubby was free, so we took Bumble for a walk along Exeter Quay....

We walked down one side. She came face to face with some swans ( a first for her! ) She didn’t really know what to make of them, but they instantly knew they didn’t like her. Lots of hissing occurred, as we knew would probably happen. There were no nests, but they are quite territorial there, so we scuttled past.....

over the first suspension bridge......

There were lots of other dogs enjoying a sunny walk. She’s able to say hello now, without getting too excited. We walked alongside the flood relief, which is still doing its thing and back over another suspension bridge to the other side.....

there were lots of sniffs for her and the temptation to get very close to the river!......

We stopped off for coffee and cake, as you do. Coffee and Walnut cake in this instance, which was delicious! I then popped into one of the little independent shops, selling locally made wares. I couldn’t resist buying this little soap dish. I use bar soap in the bathroom and keep the bar on a flannel. But I thought this is a much prettier place to keep it......

Tomorrow, it will be catch up on the chores I should’ve done today. But the weather was so nice today, you have to take advantage of it. Also, who knows if we’ll be able to wander about, in the days or weeks to come.

Have a lovely evening, cheerio for now, Ann x

Cats and cakes

Feeling less stressed and have had some less busy days. Unfortunately my Aquafit class was cancelled on Thursday due to a staffing problem, but that did free up a bit more time to do a few chores which involved driving here and there. I had a large bag of stuff for the charity shop in a  nearby village, I picked up a library book I ordered and attempted to send off a box containing two birthday presents to my cousin’s daughters. They have birthdays with 10 days of each other, so I tend to send it all down together.......and there was the problem! Aside from some money in their cards, I bought them both 3 small bottles of nail polish each. Apparently with Royal Mail, you can only send a maximum of  4 bottles in any one parcel, no matter how small the bottle. So I had to take the parcel home, make two small parcels and go back up to the Post office again. What a palaver!

Anyway after the parcel debacle, it was home to some relaxing baking. Toffee cupcakes, for the Blue Cross, with icing and sprinkles.......

So Friday is volunteering at Blue Cross day. Usually I go to a supermarket, have poached eggs and do any shopping needed. But it was my daughter’s day off and she text me to ask me if I wanted to meet up at a garden centre for breakfast. Usually garden centre and daughter are not words that are used in the same sentence, haha. But now she’s a house owner and has a quite large garden, a whole new world is opening up for her! Anyway, joking aside, we had a nice breakfast and we had a wander around the plants and I advised a few plants to buy for the time being. Then it was a quick whizz home, pick up my baked goodies and off to Blue Cross.

It was a busy day there, stocking up the cattery kitchen with food, stocking up the ‘linen cupboard’ with bedding and towels and of course sitting with some gorgeous cats. I have two favourites at the moments (yes, I know it’s wrong!) there’s the gregarious, black and white Felix and the so-affectionate grey boy called Harold......

He cuddled up on my lap and just purred!

Hubby was cooking last night. When I got home, he had run a bath for me to relax in, while he prepped and cooked our meal. So what is a girl to do, other than sink into the warm bubbles with her latest read......

Due to the Coronavirus, all Football league and Premier league football matches are cancelled. So no footy matches for my son and I on a Saturday. But as my hubby works in the football world, it means he is now home (ahem, under my feet!) There’s only so much work he can do from home. I might be encouraging him to go to the golf club!

Today though, we all went out for breakfast to the farm shop, which was very nice. I bought some lovely pork chops and naughty belly pork for the freezer. It’s a great independent farm shop and one I will be shopping at a bit more frequently during this difficult time. I’d rather support them and just buy, what I can’t get there, at the supermarket. So many small businesses must be very worried at the moment. I did pop into Sainsbury’s for some bits for myself and an elderly neighbour. My list wasn’t massive at all, but there were 6 things I just couldn’t get because of empty shelves and one for my neighbour. I hope the panic buying subsides soon.

For the rest of the day, I’m just doing a bit of pottering and some knitting. The cot blanket I am knitting for the Baby bank should be finished today. We are just having a Ploughman’s later with some delicious local cheeses and bread bought from the farm shop today.

I hope everyone is having a good weekend, thanks for popping by, cheerio for now, Ann x

Busy times

Just popping in to say I’ve had a bit of a hiatus in posting anything and not for any other reason than life just got in the way!  To be honest, it’s been very busy, but with nothing very exciting either. So busy, in fact, that even the peeps at the Blue Cross had to make do with some shop bought goodies from me last Friday! I seem to have been chasing my tail a bit and all I’ve wanted to do in the evening is watch a bit of tv and get to bed.

I feel as if I need to get out to the beach and have a bit of a wander, inhale some salty air and revitalise myself. Hopefully I’ll manage that within the next week.

Here are a few pics of the past week........

Made a ‘vat’ of cauliflower cheese with bacon and hunks of tiger bread, a family favourite 

Bought these to cheer myself and the mantelpiece up

Spent some time dog sitting Bumble on Thursday. Hubby normally does it, but was working away.

Treated myself to porridge with honey and a cappuccino while doing some shopping before Blue Cross on Friday 

I managed to start a cot blanket for the Exeter Baby Bank while I was dog sitting 

Hoping to be back to normal very soon, cheerio for now, Ann x

This weekend

Firstly, just to say the Mocha loaf cake was a success. So that recipe will be stashed away with other ‘torn out of magazines’ tried and tested recipes.

Saturday morning and surprise, surprise, it was raining!...

I drove over to my daughter’s house and we ( & Bumble) wandered down to the Cranberry Farm for coffee and cake. Although it is a pub, they have lovely cakes for the ‘coffee and cake’ deal. It’s a new build pub, done in an olde worlde way and I love the place. The food is delicious, the staff are lovely and it doesn’t really feel like just a pub. They even offer free fruit as one of your 5 a day....

 We settled in the comfy chairs, at the library end and enjoyed our blueberry muffins, while Bumble took it easy with her antler chew...

My son popped out too, to see his sister and enjoy a mocha.
The weather had cleared up by the time we had left, albeit very windy. A quick stroll back to her house and my car and it was sleeting! Brrrr! Very chilly too.

Back home for about an hour, to put a few more layers on and pack my bag to watch Exeter City. A bag full of sweets, sheepskin gloves and a bobble hat. I was glad of everything, I can tell you!  By the full time whistle, I was ready to get back to a nice warm house. Despite having sheepskin lined boots on, my tootsies were like ice. Back home, my son cooked some delicious steaks for us and his girlfriend, which was a treat. Hubby got home from work mid evening and we caught up with a few  Richard Osman’s House of Games.

Sunday brought the sun, at times. Our daughter sent us a pic of Bumble taking in the rays......

We (me, hubby, son and his girlfriend) went to the gym. Not for any exertion at all, but to go to the spa bit. Hubby and I get a monthly free pass for one person each. It will be our daughter’s turn next time. So there was a bit of jacuzzi, eucalyptus steam room and hot stone bed. Very relaxing and good for the old muscles, haha! We also had lunch there too. I was good(ish) and had chicken Caesar salad, which is ones of my favourites.

All good things come to an end and when we got home, it was back to sorting the washing and feeding the washing machine. A quiet evening with tv and doing the sudoku.

Today is normal chores, Aqua at the gym and prepping the cauliflower cheese for dinner tonight. It been pretty sunny here today, although a little bit chilly. I have skittles tonight and we don’t start our game until 9pm, so hopefully it won’t be too cold!

Right, I’m off to resume the ironing, cheerio for now, Ann x