Walk to Hunsdon lock

It was too cold yesterday or today to sit on the patio but it was ok for walking. So yesterday I was out for 1 and a half hours including lots of standing and staring and sitting for a snack.

  I love the frog statue on this one.

This is actually a foot path but the water was running very fast and definitely needs wellies.

A productive day

My home actually had the best clean its had for weeks. That was satisfying. I had an email to say the liquid soda crystals are back in stock in Wilkos. I can't get them anywhere else so not sure if that is considered essential but we needed other things as well so combined it with exercise walking there with my shopping trolley. There was no soda and a very helpful assistant went to check and confirmed that but I did get DS some handwash as he couldn't get any in the 3 shops he went to. Also a bag of compost, some herb and lettuce seeds and a couple of garden tools.

Then to Iceland for milk and frozen fruit. There was a short queue to get into the shop a few at a time. All was going well with everyone patiently waiting their turn and smiling from 2 metres away. Then a couple came along and the woman said to the man we have to queue. He took the shopping bag and just ducked under the barrier and went in. The guy in front of me shouted out to him but he took no notice. None of us got upset though and there was plenty on the shelves so took my items and went home.

After lunch I made a start on erecting a screen along the edge of my patio to give some privacy then I constructed a wooden trough with a trellis backing and filled with compost all ready for planting. Then I sat in the sun and had a healthy snack of kefir and nuts. A neighbour came along and we had a chat from a distance and then a friend rang for a long chat. Time for dinner  so relaxing this evening apart from going out to the patio in my dressing gown to clap. All around I could hear clapping, cheering and whistling. It was quite an experience.

Sunset from the patio

Screen and trough in the back ground and chair and snack all ready for a sit down in the sun.

social distancing

I'm trying to follow guidelines to avoid spreading disease but shopping is making it difficult. My normal shopping doesn't take long. Once a month I pick up DB's prescription in Asda so do a main shop there. If I'm across town near Lidl's there are things I stock up on. Aldi is when we are at the doctor's. Sainsbury's is a five minutes walk from home so good for milk and yoghurt. With all this madness I seem to be trawling from shop to shop not just for me but for other people.

This morning I decided to go to Home Bargains for a screen for the patio. I arrived at quarter to 10 but a notice said it was opening at 10. I thought about sitting in the car but decided more prudent to join the young mum and two men queueing. By 10 am the queue stretched right across the car park and out of sight. I was keeping my distance but as the door opened everybody surged forward and pushed in crowding round each other. I decided in the circumstances to check out the toilet roll situation and scooped a pack of 18. We are down to 6 so didn't feel too bad about it. Also got some milk for little GD. I was so excited about the toilet rolls I nearly forgot the screen!

On a brighter note, yesterday was very enjoyable. I spent the morning baking some healthier snacks to avoid too much chocolate and rearranging some kitchen cupboards. All our bible meetings are cancelled and we can't even meet in small groups now so we used Zoom cloud meetings. It was amazing we could all see and hear each other and after the study we all chatted and sent greetings - all 107 of us listened. Some had provision made for the phone as they have no internet. Nobody was left out and it was so lovely to see all the smiling faces.

After that I needed some fresh air so took little GD for a walk to the pond to feed the ducks. There was hardly anybody around and so lovely hearing the little one's hearty laugh at the ducks.

A savoury courgette and cheese loaf and some banana, oat and peanut butter muffins in two different sizes.

The duck pond.

Blowing away the cobwebs

and the germs. I had another few days with DD in Clacton. We had quite good weather most of the time. Cold but sunny and dry. DD is limited as to what she can do due to ME which came on after swine flu and secondary infections 10 years ago. Short walks with her greyhound was recommended by the ME clinic and although she has to lay down afterwards she still does it. There is a lovely country park nearby so she drives there and lets the dog have a run round with other dogs and also is able to interact with other dog walkers. I enjoyed walking with her and watching the dogs playing. I needed my wellies though.

One day while DD was resting I got the bus down to the town and walked along the sea front. It was invigorating and relaxing.

I walked back along the road as there are lots of old interesting buildings. A few years ago DB and I had a holiday in an apartment in the art deco Oulton Hall. It was great to be able to walk across the road for a swim every day. I couldn't resist taking a picture of this model owl on a porch.

I am looking forward to some good walks in my own area while everything I normally do is restricted.

Afternoon Walk

After a busy day I still hadn't had a proper walk and it was about 3pm and getting a bit overcast. I made myself walk down to the Mill on the river and was so glad I did. There were lots of daffodils out and blackthorn blossom. Also 2 beautiful swans came up to see what I had - nothing to eat I'm afraid. Anyway some photos

The gallery was closed but the exhibition will be on for a while yet. The walk was definitely worth the effort even if I did doze off on the sofa afterwards.

Dreaded Noddy!

No I am not talking about Enid Blyton's little wooden man. This was a cake I used to make every week. I don't know why it was called that but it was a recipe given me by a friend and that was its name. I think it was a family joke. It was a boil and bake cake and tasted a cross between cake and bread pudding so quite stodgy but DB loved it so that's why I made it so much. Over the years I stopped making it and when DB asked about it a few years ago, I couldn't even find the recipe or remember exactly the ingredients. I tried a few others from the internet but they weren't the same.

Then I tasted some fruit cake which I really liked and it turned out that was a boil and bake cake but different from my original one. Anyway I make that now but not so often as we don't eat so much cake. The thing with this cake is that I have to remember to boil it in an evening when I can finish it off the next morning so that happened today. It makes two loaf cakes so one is to take to my older sister and BIL when I visit tomorrow and the other is to take to the monthly craft group my friend is starting tomorrow evening.

I also made a big pot of celeriac soup and had some for lunch which was delicious. Some in the fridge for tomorrow and the rest frozen.