Books and Baking

 Pip sat her Geography test this morning and all in all she felt that it went reasonably well - especially since it was an 8:30am start which is always tricky for her with the PoTS.  As a treat for the doing I felt inclined to undertake a spot of sit down kitchen baking as a result of finding this recipe  

 Every year we receive the 'Betty's Catalogue'  and ooh and aah over  the delightful treats, many of which are totally unsuitable if you have dairy intolerance and coeliac disease.  When I saw the blog post sharing their version dubbed 'fat scallies' I jusy knew I had to give them a try.  I had to omit the stem ginger and glace cherries since we didn't have any so instead I used powdered ginger and just topped the scones with flaked almonds.  In addition i only added 20g of stevia as opposed to 120g of sugar since I haven't eaten sugar in five years.  In fact I don't even usually bake with dried fruit and so actually found the scones rather sweet to my taste.  The family declared them a roaring success and I must admit they were a welcome mid afternoon treat:

I had to run a short errand later in the day and whilst at our local Co-op I treated myself to a bunch of tulips.

I'm in a weird phase right now of not being well enough to do the usual things and in an attempt to overcome that I've been reading quite a bit but of course reading uses 'mental' energy and which in turn causes unstable symptoms including a dodgy heart rate.  I think I'm going to have to return to keeping my symptom/pacing diary which is a good visual reminder throughout the day on how i am 'trending.'  Reading is good for me, i just need to remember to put in a 'pause' and take regular rest breaks throughout the day.

This book was a delightful read, full of interesting characters, a gentle evolving of the story and. a thoroughly heart warming read.  The back cover reads:

Jess Metcalfe is perfectly happy with her quiet, predictable life - it's just the way she likes it.  But when her beloved grandmother passes away and she loses her job at her local library, her life is turned upside down.

Packing up her grandmother's books, she moves to a tiny cottage in a charming country village.  To her surprise, Jess finds herself the owner of an old red telephone box and she soon turns it into the littlest library around!

It's not long before the books are borrowed and begin to work their magic - somehow, they seem to be bringing the villagers together once more ...

This book was a total. contrast as you can well imagine.  I vaguely remember watching the film about Odette, starring Anna Neagle, Trevor Howard and Peter Ustinov.  I had this recollection that she was executed as a spy but my memory was off whack and in fact she did return home to Britain and was subsequently decorated with the George Cross for her services to the special operations executive (SOE) and for saving the lives of many fellow operatives when refusing to divulge their whereabouts under under interrogations from the Gestapo.  There was one short section of the book ( a matter of a few pages)that I couldn't continue reading as it described the torture she endured and I began to feel quite sick reading the account.  The book was very well written and thoroughly researched including all the different acronyms for the varied resistance groups dotted throughout France and Switzerland:

'In Code Name: Lise" international best selling author Larry Loftis seamlessly weaves together a touching romance with a harrowing cat and mouse chase reminiscent of 'Catch Me If You Can.'  Yet Code Name: Lise is more than a love story and riveting thriller - it's a portrait of courage, resilience and patriotism by two of World War Two's most fearless and most decorated operatives.

My next book is a Frances Brody 'Kate Shackleton mystery ❤️

Weekend

 It's been a weekend of school catch up especially in preparation for a Geography cycle test on Tuesday morning.  Pip has regular cycle tests in each of her subjects and they are essentially a recap on the previous few weeks of lessons and a chance for students to encounter working against the clock as in an exam scenario.  Pip does however find them quite stressful even in the subjects she is most confident in such as geography, Spanish and STEM.  I'm hoping that with regular revision and organisational help things will be easier for her over time.  As a result of her health issues she should be allowed extra time and regular rest breaks in her GCSEs which thankfully are two years away.

Working on a revision poster.

The finished result - I forgot to rotate the image so you'll have to tilt your head to read it 😂

Our lovely neighbour and friend was having a clear out and due to health difficulties is no longer able to run the Hedgehog Hospital.  As a thank you for Pip helping and being interested in all that it entailed he gifted her his laboratory standard microscope, complete with books, slides and other paraphernalia:

We had another delivery of logs yesterday afternoon which might be our last for the year, although we might buy another supply in readiness for the autumn, for who knows if there will be further price increases!  Ben is our resident log stacking dude and I'm sure there are photos on this blog of him doing likewise in the old house - cannot find a photo of him stacking but I did find this photo of Ben helping to build the original log store in the old place ❤️

Threatening to 'lob' the piece of wood at Pip stood behind me - delightful boy 😂

Here is a video of Ben splitting some of the bigger pieces with his latest piece of joinery kit, a mitre saw.  What we need now is to reinforce the flooring in his bedroom since the ever expanding tool and gadget collection (all used on jobs I hasten to add!) has crept from the under eaves into the main area.

I thought I'd close with some funny/cute pictures of Milton sent via Anne (his fur mum) via What's App:

Milton asleep on their bedroom radiator...

... and here he is asleep on the living room radiator 😂

Cats and Cooking

Thankfully I had my phone to hand when I snapped this image of Milton and Poppy:

One cat out and the other cat in 😂

We had our Sainsbury delivery today and the guy remarked on our shopping order definitely being on the healthy end with all the veggies and fruit stacked in the crates.  I'm really grateful for the doorstep deliveries as a supermarket shop would probably finish me off right now.  However there was still a lot of to and fro on my behalf, as the big larder fridge from the old house is in my outside room and it did need a good wipe down before loading with all the goodies.  I earned my sit down once that job was tackled.

For lunch we had spaghetti bolognese and there were clean plates all round:

The ever growing chaotic table 😂

Good ol' Spag Bol

After lunch I had a Whats App video catch up with my mum and a lovely chat with Eva all the way over in New York State!  It was Eva's birthday on Monday and normally I try and send a hand made gift but there hasn't been much crafting going on since Covid.  I had originally wanted to send her a Barnes and Noble gift card but since I don't live in a country linked to their store it was a no go so Amazon it was 🙄. At the moment they are dealing with an ice storm and possible power outages should things worsen, but so far so good.  It was lovely to surprise her with a phone call, she is a very dear friend ❤️

After my afternoon sit down it was back in the kitchen again for tea duty - stuffed baked potatoes, salad and the Christmas Mincemeat Flapjack originally intended for Candlemas Day.  Since we don't eat a great deal of sugar I used stevia in the recipe and quartered the amount and instead of golden syrup used maple syrup.  I also reduced the amount of oats and substituted 1/3 cornflakes instead.  Needless to say the flapjack was more crumbly than normal probably due to the significantly reduced sugar content but despite that it was very tasty.

All in all a really lovely day 😊

 

Airfix and Lent Preparations on Ash Wednesday

 No ashes for us today as we are self quarantining until we know for sure that this virus isn't the dreaded Covid (again!). To be honest I don't believe in knowingly spreading viruses but Covid is far from the 'common cold' that it is made out to be and so staying home is the best place at the moment.

Early on in the afternoon Pip felt able to sit at the table for a short while and work on her airfix model:

I think she found it strange that one minute she felt like she was 'turning a corner' and then the next back on the sofa/bed for the rest of the day.  Viruses these days are certainly very weird!

I've had a very restful and productive day 😊. Mid morning I had a zoom meeting with some permaculture pals and it was good to catch up on projects and plans albeit against a backdrop of chronic illnesses as all three of us are living with daily limitations of some sort!  This same group are also going to be my peer review group for my permaculture design certificate since I'm not finishing alongside my original cohort.

After lunch I perused Eva's blog for lenten ideas.  My dear friend Eva has been a real source of encouragement, support and wisdom over the years and I'm very grateful for her friendship.  I have very fond memories of meeting her and the family around this time last year when they were in London for the spring term.  This year will be using the 'Mission Together Lenten Calendar 2023' and Pip has also expressed an interest in their 'Charity Chore Pay Sheet' with the idea of raising money for her sister's order in Spain.  Courtesy of our parish we were given the Lent booklet 'Walk with Me' and I'm still working through 'The Big Picture Bible Course' with my friend Shiron.  Lastly but not least I printed the 'Pray, Fast, Give' folder and accompanying idea strips.  I'm not saying we will get through everything but having a plan means hopefully we will achieve something!  If you are looking for something beautiful to listen to, then I can highly recommend my friend and author Pen Wilcock's reading of her Lent book 'The Wilderness Within You.'  Over the years Pen has gifted me many of her books and I've also bought several of them - I love the stories of the monks at St Alcuins Abbey and in this past year she has self published two further books in this series and I can highly recommend them ❤️

And whilst Pip and I were busy Poppy was doing what all cats love to do ...

... snoozing peacefully ❤️

Shrove Tuesday Sickness

 It wouldn't be Lent in our house without someone being ill in some way shape of form.  We are currently on Covid watch with Pip, she has all the same early symptoms as per last time and I've been feeling more unwell than usual.  Her test was negative yesterday but I know from experience it can take at least three-four days before a positive, needless to say we are hunkering down and staying home.

Whatever is going on she's caught it from either being at church on Saturday evening (our first time attending in person since catching covid last December) or at bowling with her friend on Sunday.  Once again the downstairs room has been converted into a sick bay, only this time it's a little more organised and bonus points we have the stove to keep us warm 😊

Our church from the side - we park here as it is right next to the ramp for Dave,

Whilst making our main meal at lunch time I also made a batch of pancakes and some were eaten then and others saved for after tea.  I used the recipe from the River Cottage Every Day cookbook and actually remembered to let the batter 'sit' for thirty minutes before cooking.  The pancakes were really delicious and definitely worth the effort in the kitchen.

Life captured - school folders, supplements, pain relief pills, throat lozenges, my reading pile and my 'bed' to the left of the table sitting snugly under the dining room window.

My focus is off in this photo but it's such a lovely photo of Dave that I've included it in today's memories.

A stack of light and fluffy pancakes.

Vegetable, sausage, pasta and cheese bake 😋

May you be blessed this Lent ❤️

A Library Day

 I used my limited energy reserves to make a library visit with Dave and Pip.  I came home with this stack of books:

If you look carefully you will see a theme 🙂 in addition to some gardening books and an interesting book on how small changes can make a big difference ❤️. I still struggle with reading academic texts since Covid, so I’m struggling to complete the various modules associated with my permaculture design certificate.  I’ve given myself permission to take a ‘pause’ for the next week or so, and then hopefully gradually complete my studies but by bit. However being able to read this type of literature is a real comfort and distraction during these post covid days.

Another change that has helped in daily living is switching our main meal at lunchtime which then means less washing up of an evening when we are all tired.  Today’s tea was a variation on the Oslo Meal which was a nutritious meal given primarily to children during the Second World War, it was essentially bread, various salad vegetables, a piece of cheese, an apple and a glass of milk.  Everyone enjoyed their tea and only a plate to wash once we had finished eating: 

February Already?!!

 Must admit I’m glad to see the back of January. It has been another month of me mainly on the sofa 🙄. My heart rate is reasonably steady if I do very little which makes daily living a bit of a challenge 🤪. Other post covid problems have appeared such as terrible abdominal pain which has thankfully eased due to a low FODMAP diet, the effect was almost instantaneous ie within 24 hours, Praise God!  I have an appointment with our nutritionist as I’m sure there’ll be some additional supplementation needed for the time being.

The swollen glands have been constant but the scratchy throat and vocal changes occur the more fatigued that I become.  Alongside that is the headaches, word finding problems (calling the washing machine the fridge 😂)and inability to complete a sentence or deal with conversations.

I’ve been using the permaculture principle of observe and interact and have kept a bio time diary since the start of the month tracking heart rate variability, symptoms, sleep, food and drink and any activities either physical or mental.  If I sit down to make a meal and wash a few pots then I am wiped out for several hours afterwards.  

Despite all of this we are bumbling along reasonably well and I know for sure that things could be a whole heap worse!!  I think I’ll try and pop by over here a bit more regularly and post a snippet of daily life in the mundane 🙂

Here are some pics from my phone, which I’m also using to write this blog whilst lying down:

Dave and I managed a short outing to a nearby cafe on Saturday, the first non medical outing in nine weeks.

My brother’s school yesterday was closed due to the strikes so part of his day was spent in the kitchen making this yummy concoction ❤️

My symptom log lay out that is helping track what is going on 👍🏻

The lovely Milton ‘helping’ in the kitchen 😻

Poppy resting on my legs whilst I had a much needed lie down yesterday afternoon ❤️

Ollie was tasked with making a dinosaur den as part of his ‘homework’ so he devised this elaborate structure on Minecraft- he’ll be five in March.  Mum and Dad have printed his efforts and stuck the design in his book.  Well done Ollie 🙂