And so dear listener, I must confess to some cheating even in these difficult times. I am leaving the house twice a day for good long walks. I justify one of them by combining it with some hunting and foraging down the Lifestyle Express in the middle of the scheme where I buy newspapers and any foodstuffs or other shopping that I need for that day.
Later, in the day, say about 1700, I will go out for another walk, possibly in the graveyard across the road. That’s where the dogwalkers go but there’s room enough to avoid them if necessary. 🙂
However, all over Summerston the streets are quiet. Many people travel by car or by train but even the world famous 61 bus (Eric the Floodstalker’s favourite) is empty when I see it, although I suspect it picks up passengers once it gets past the ASDA. Summerston is the terminus for one or two buses and that’s showing at the moment.
But, yes, I’m reasonably well stocked at the moment and that’s not a boast. It’s the result of harsh health reality in recent years. Two years ago, I had a ‘mild to moderate’ heart attack and one of the brilliant things my son did was to keep an eye on the contents of the fridge and sell by dates 🙂 something I’ve been doing a lot recently.
When I came out of hospital the cupboard was bare and my sister very kindly took me for a large supermarket shopping. A few weeks later came the Beast from the East and that brought home to me how important it was to have a full larder and freezer – if possible. Maybe it’s a freelance thing.
And then last year, my sister was ill with the cancer and passed away. Again I’d allowed things to run down on the food front and this time it was good friend e who took me supermarket shopping. She is amazingly good at packing supermarket bags. 🙂
But I do know this is not possible for everyone. People with families, folk who are self-isolating and folk with limited incomes, amongst others, will be struggling. I am in conversation with some folk…….
I’m also up to date with medication and my hair has still a long way to go before I’d be getting it cut anyway. I’m also still editing which gives me a focus and a student with whom I am working on her PhD and who lives in America tells me she has had a negative Covid-19 test. She works in social care.
And my thoughts are with my former colleagues who work in supported accommodation for the homeless, and a member of my family who is a nurse in Intensive Care, and someone I know who is a volunteer with a telephone helpline, and so many others and I look forward to us all meeting again.
I have spoken to my grandchildren via videophone and an SDF colleague who sent me a link to Microsoft Teams and I will have another go at either Skype or Zoom but I am open to any suggestion if people want to contact me.
So, I have read and re-read the words above a few times now and I do hope that I don’t come across as smug. It’s a realistic appraisal of where I stand just now. I would ask people to read them in the context of everything I have written over the years. Like many people I am scared about the future, but I do believe there is one and am looking forward to enjoying it.
I do realise how fortunate I am at the moment.
I would also like to say that I paid my first visit (in several days) to my local supermarket and things were looking reasonably good. There was a five-in and five-out queuing system; the shelves were well enough stacked; and the staff were fantastic – as always. There is a long way to go but that is at least a positive sign.
I shall now stop for a moment before moving on. There’s a couple of light bulbs need replacing in the kitchen.
Right, with Steve Earle on Spotify in the background, there is something else I want to talk about.
I think that BBC Scotland and other broadcast organisations are playing a blinder at the moment, but I have one question. What the hell have they done to BBC’s The Great British Menu?
It used to be a nice wee competition cookery programme leading the successful chefs towards a major banquet at somewhere prestigious to celebrate a significant but meaningful anniversary e.g. the anniversary of the founding of the National Health Service, but it has lost its direction hopelessly. 😦
There are too many chef contestants and they have to come up with too many dishes. What the hell is a pre-dessert dessert? And the food takes second place to the fancy decoration that it is served in.
And it does not need a presenter, particularly one who feels she is part of the show. This is not a dig at Sue Calman and I know she has fans who listen to this blog (Ann and maybe others) but in previous series, the food spoke for itself and was aided and abetted by a voice over.
But the biggest crime of all? The anniversary is to help them to give a theme to their cooking. It’s tenuous enough that it’s ‘writing for children’ based on ‘It’s almost (sic) two hundred years since Oliver Twist was written.’
Dear listener, according to Google Oliver Twist was published in 1837!!!!!!!!
That is 183 years ago!!!!!!!!
Thank heavens for Masterchef where one day someone may cook scallops or try a chocolate fondant (LOL) Just a thought.
So I said last week that I’d just play some music that meant something to me. This was a first date in my first time at university with someone called Moira C. I was a wee bit nervous and we were meeting at Queen Margaret Union as she was a board member there. This was already one of my favest songs and as I turned the corner to QMU, this was what I heard being played and I knew things would be okay. And they were. 🙂
And this is what my hair will look like in six weeks time.
Tioraidh
iaint850