Firstly, if you’re reading this I hope you are safe and well, wherever you may be in the world. I can’t help but think, at this time particularly, that it’s a difficult time for many; for more reasons than Covid-19.
As I do not speak from experience I am choosing not to write about some of the news topics from this week, like that of the death of George Floyd. But, I will say I am deeply saddened and sickened that these things still happen all around the world – far more than social media and the news lets on. I hope that I will always be strong enough to call out any injustice that I see or hear.
Lockdown
70 days in lockdown and counting. Although here in the UK they’re lifting lockdown, in a very confusing, slow way I have to say. I got a message from one of my best friends this morning saying we could share a car journey so long as we keep all the windows down… Don’t quote me on that being true but it does seem ridiculous enough to be so!
There’s a fantastic mash up of Boris Johnson’s briefing by Kritikal Mass and I enjoy this video the most because it’s been synced with the dance moves scene from The Inbetweeners Movie! You can play the song on Spotify too (Joris Bohnson – We have a plan).
I’ve done the cliché and bought some flowers and given some much needed love and attention to existing ones in my care by re-potting them. I’m enjoying the lavender that grows in our garden too, especially as all I have to do is keep their bed clear of bindweed which is strangling them and no watering has been needed so far! The smell of lavender in the evening is lovely, the weathers just so at the moment that you could close your eyes and dream of Provence.
Fur Baby
Our little girl has gone through her first chemo and has her next round in about 2 weeks. She took it really well and even though she was terrified of being at the vets she soldiered through it and has been relaxing back at home with us to spoil her rotten. Unfortunately, she’s now got an inflamed thigh and we don’t know why it is so she’s not able to walk for now. Just bed rest which is hard for all of us (because we hate seeing her missing her walks) but she’s still able to sunblock up and sun bathe out in the garden so that’s a plus for her. I’ll be sharing more when we learn further about how she’s doing because I want to share her journey in case it’s helpful to anyone going through the same with their fur baby.
Work/ Studies
The next two weeks are essentially my last two weeks of university. Hopefully after that I will be able to call myself a teacher and postgraduate! I have a group presentation coming up on google hangouts – anyone else finding video meetings a joyous technical difficulty free zone *ahem* not. But I’ve been thankful that some of my final work involves planning and working with my friends from the course, I’m feeling grateful that I made such strong bonds over the year and can’t wait for us to be able to get together for a proper celebration at the end of these crazy 9 months, lockdown permitting.
Lockdown studies have felt like an uphill battle it has to be said, a lot of chocolate and support from Matt has been required to push through it, but seeing the light at the end of the tunnel feels rewarding. Matt’s got his final open book, summer exam this week which he’ll be sitting at home. It’s nearly 4 hours long! I’m not jealous of this but it has been a blessing in disguise that his lockdown has just been revision for this exam because the year above him are having to do their ‘practical’ work virtually which can’t be easy or fun!
Safe to say we’re both trying to knuckle down.
Socialising
Now that we can ‘social distance’ with one person outside of our household I was able to plan a little catch up with one of my besties! It was perfect weather so we sat on my drive on our garden chairs and drank a cider. It was nice to see someone else’s face in person that I actually knew, not just shoppers in queues!
We partook in another pub quiz and it involved collecting items from around the house which was a novel mix-up from the normal quiz and we took part in a family quiz where we all wrote our own rounds!
Food
I made tiramisu, oh my gosh, if you know me then you know this is a revelation! I followed a recipe which seemed much more traditional and uses raw egg. I followed this recipe from ‘Recipes from Italy’ and I was really pleased at how it turned out, it was delicious and tasted very similar to the tiramisu I have eaten in Italy. I’d recommend giving it a go if it’s your go to dessert like mine.
It seems we’ve got the Italian bug, or European bug really but we’ve been eating lots of pasta and pizza. We’ve only changed from this to have the odd Chinese or Indian takeaway, supporting local business which is always a good excuse right?
What we’re watching
We’re watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine from the beginning. Safe to say we’re binge watching this because we’re on series 3 already, or maybe 4… If you’ve missed it or I’ve reminded you of how brilliant it is, we’ve been watching it on Netflix. Cool cool cool cool cool cool cool cool cool cool cool cool okay okay okay okay okay okay okay okay okay. Other than that we’ve been really busy so haven’t really been watching much else together.
However, I am a big history buff so on my own I have been watching A House Through Time on the BBC whilst I’ve been cooking or doing chores. It’s a documentary by David Olusoga where he researches the history of a house in the UK. The latest series is set in Bristol and is following a house that is the family home of a girl I went to Sixth Form with – small world! It’s really interesting and has some really thought provoking moments on it’s occupiers and the state of business in Bristol during the 18th Century. It’s a 4 episode series so I’m looking forward to finding out more about it’s inhabitants through history.
Whatever, you’re doing to keep yourself occupied during lockdown I hope you’re finding some peace or feeling inspired by what’s going on around you to get up and do something. I’m writing this on a cool but summery Sunday evening so I think I’ll go make some more Italian food and find another history programme to add to my watch list – any suggestions?
L xx
Blonde-Hygge 