working from home

I've completed my first full week of working from home. Of course it's been very different from being in the office each day but I've managed to stay busy and have tried to form a routine. I am luxuriating in the small lie in I'm now able to have because of not having a commute but am still sticking to my rule of logging on at 8.30am. I feel lucky to have a lovely desk set up in our sunny sitting room and whilst it is truly freezing in the mornings (old Victorian house with single glazing does not make for a cosy sitting room!), I am finding by the afternoon it warms up as the sun streams through the shutters. And gosh, am I glad to have sunlight. I can't help but think this situation would be 5000 times worse were it grey and raining outside. So at least the weather gods are on our side. 

This week I planted more seeds, including tomato and carrots. Hopefully with the warming sun and some water they will start sprouting soon. My spring onions, cucumber and lettuces are shooting up well and my bulbs are still providing blooms. I've ordered some more seeds from Sarah Raven, which I hope will arrive some time next week but I am sure they will be delayed. These include some spinach and kale but also sunny cosmos which my mum grew so brilliantly last year and who has inspired me to grow my own this year. So all in all, I'm finding solace and comfort in the patio and hope to have plenty of plant friends in the coming months. 

Food wise, we have been very mindful of what we're consuming as I don't want to get into a situation where we don't have any left. Our evening meals haven't changed that much, albeit I am having to be even more creative with recipes. But it is lunchtimes that are proving trickier than first thought. Whilst Ian and I always bring our lunch into work normally, we often top up our options with a few snacks and goodies bought from the local supermarkets near our offices. I tend to cook up batches of lentils or quinoa with roasted veg for my lunches but of course that has had to change due to the national shortage of beans and pulses. This week I've been enjoying German rye bread with hummus and pickled beetroot. Perhaps a little bland but it's kept me full. I think this week, I'm going to have to swap this up for cheese and soup. Worst things have happened. 

I've managed to bake another lemon drizzle cake this weekend, which we look forward to enjoying each afternoon with a cup of tea. And the rule of "when it's gone, it's gone" is certainly gospel right now. I simply don't have the eggs to bake more than one cake a week - or sugar actually! 

^^ This is the lemon drizzle recipe that I used today. I found it on Rosanna Falconer's Instagram and my cake seems to have come out well! It's also left me with enough butter, eggs and sugar to make another one later this week. 

^^ My tulips from last weekend hanging in there for a few more days. I daren't touch them as I think all the petals would instantly fall! 

This coming week I plan to cook sticky pork with rice and vegetables, spicy red lentil and coconut soup and perhaps omelettes. What are you planning on rustling up? 

Keep washing your hands.




L. 

hello again

Hello again. What a time we find ourselves in. I hope you're all staying safe...in your houses. Please don't be an idiot and go out and about unnecessarily, it's just not worth the risk of spreading Covid-19 around. 

I thought now was the perfect time to restart the blog again, after all, I have infinite time on my hands now. I am still working 9-5 Monday to Friday with my job (my thoughts are with those who have been made redundant because of this but I hope things will pick up for you again soon), and whilst I am not going anywhere or visiting places and people (other than going to get food and walking a safe distance away from the general public), I thought I'd document how I am coping with Ian in our London flat. We're very lucky to have a nice ground-floor flat with a patio, which I will be throwing more energy into than usual. Plus we have lots of art supplies here and I even have my oboe so who knows, perhaps I will start up on that again (sorry neighbors, in advance!). 

I am trying to keep things as normal as possible, especially when it comes to cooking. I have despaired, along with the rest of the country, at the selfishness of those stockpiling and leaving the supermarket shelves bare and empty. However, we have found shopping small and local is best. Our corner shops and green grocers are still delivering as are the butchers. Now has never been a better time to support British farmers, as they alongside our NHS, teachers and other key workers, are what will keep this country running. So, today on the menu I am making a butternut squash, green lentil and chestnut bake which I discovered in the brilliant Waitrose magazine the other month. I'll let you know how it goes! 

Just because you're cooped up in the house doesn't mean you can't make things nice. Lay the table at meal times, buy flowers or pick them from the garden and do that spring clean you've been meaning to do for months!

Keep washing your hands! And buy some good hand cream- I currently look like a washing woman as my knuckles are red and raw, but I'm hoping that will improve with time. 




L.