Happy 21st Birthday S!

Today is my eldest Daughters 21st birthday - where on earth have all those years gone.  It feels like only yesterday we brought her home from hospital in her little red car seat! Sadly, due to lockdown, we are unable to spend the day with her but we have facetimed her twice - first thing for card and present opening and then early afternoon to sing Happy Birthday while she blew out the candles on her cake.  I had a couple of presents sent to her direct and ordered some flowers from Next to be delivered and then everything else we shall keep here for when she is allowed to visit. She has been out for a walk and a coffee with her friend that she lives with, also a student midwife, and later they are getting a chinese take away and taking part in a zoom quiz. Not the ideal way to celebrate but doing the best you can at the moment.  She is going to have a barbecue party at home in the summer with all her friends.

This is a picture of my morning coffee.  Two years ago, when we last went to France, I bought a Dolce Gusto coffee machine at a bargain price.  It really has been the best thing I have bought and has been a godsend over the last year in lockdown.  At around 11 on weekday mornings Daughter L will announce it is elevenses and either her or Daughter K will go and make me a cappuccino! My Mother-in-Law is brilliant at Christmas shopping.  We each get a big gift bag full of lovely goodies - not expensive as she lives off a state pension - but really thoughtful gifts and one of mine last year was a coffee set.  It had three different jars of sprinkles in it together with a metal stencil.  I was absolutely over the moon with it.

    

We have been into our local town this afternoon for a few groceries that I couldn't get in my weekly Aldi shop and managed to pick up a piece of vinyl for our en suite, so a good day.

Lastly, a picture of the pudding K made for us all tonight, a meringue nest with cream and fruit.

Tonight will be gogglebox and a glass of fizz.

 Well we are back to wearing coats on our daily walks as the sunshine has abruptly disappeared. Yesterday we were the only ones at our park, but we did see another family we know on our walk towards home so that was nice to have a catch up with another adult. Today my morning was taken up with a couple of phone calls as well as home schooling. I phoned my Dad to check he was ok and have a catch up.  I worry about how lonely he must be since  Mum passed away especially with lockdown.  I shall be glad when we can visit again and take him out for a coffee or a meal. I then spoke to the Daughter of an elderly family friend of ours who sadly passed away last week.  I have never spoken to or met S before as she had a difficult relationship with her parents, but we had a pleasant chat about the funeral arrangements and how her Dad was managing as he suffers from dementia.

I was hoping to post some more photos of our park when we went for our walk, but nobody remembered their phones. Then I thought I would take a photo of our dinner as Daughter K wanted to try out a new Jamie Oliver recipe we saw on his latest series but I only remembered when we had eaten it! Instead you will have to make do with the photo from his book.  It was salmon tacos and was absolutely delicious and very simple.  Definately one to have again. We have watched all his current series and enjoyed the programmes he filmed himself in the first lockdown.

I managed to finish another book last night - The Chalet, which was good and tonight I shall start A Winters Dream. 

Tomorrow we are having a trip into our local town for a few groceries that I cannot get in my weekly Aldi shop and Hubby has very nearly finished refurbishing our en suite so if anywhere is open we need an offcut of vinyl flooring.

Well I think that is it for today.

 I start a blog and then two weeks go past without a post.  What can I say - even in a lockdown situation my days seem to drift by quickly in a cloud of sameness.  We have really enjoyed the sun these last few days. We have been for longer walks, opened windows, dried washing outside for the first time in ages and mowed the lawn. It feels great to think that warmer longer days are on the way and gradually restrictions will be eased. 

I am on my last full week of home schooling. D has to go into school tomorrow morning for her first lateral flow test before she starts back next Monday. L will start back at primary school also next Monday but K will not start back until next Wednesday as they are having a staggered start so that they can cope with all the testing.  It will be strange to have them all back at school again after another three months of having them home.  Although generally a difficult last twelve months it has also been a special time for me to be able to spend so much time quietly as a family enjoying simple things together. I'm sure there will be tears as the girls settle back into their school routine but they need to be back with their friends and face to face teaching.

This afternoon we walked up to our bigger park area which apart from one dog walker was deserted.  I sat on a bench in the sunshine and enjoyed the lovely view out over the estuary.  I love the village I live in.  It is pretty with excellent facilities.  We have a shop, chemist/post office, two pubs, a hotel and a vineyard all of which we try to support.  When we moved two years ago we did briefly look at houses in our nearby town, Newton Abbot, but when it came down to it none of us felt we could leave the village.  Its a friendly place to live with lots going on so instead we moved from the rural outskirts down into the centre so that we could walk everywhere and make more use of what it has to offer.

I have also been busy over the last couple of weeks sorting presents for three lockdown birthdays - S is 21 on Friday, K is 13 next Wednesday and Hubby has his birthday next Thursday. Sadly we wont be able to see S for her special birthday due to lockdown and will have to make do with face time to sing happy birthday to her and watch her blow out her candles! K was very disappointed to find that she starts back to school on her birthday - she leaves the house just after 7.30 to catch her school bus - so will wait and open her presents when she gets home. I imagine it will be a fish and chips takeaway for dinner.

I am still busy working through my library books whenever I have a spare minute and once the girls are back at school I shall still make sure I go for a long daily walk as I have a few lockdown pounds to shift before the summer.

Well hopefully it wont be so long between posts again. Take care.

    

 I don't know where the rest of the week went - suddenly its Sunday!.  We have obviously still been cracking on with the home schooling in the mornings, usually manage to finish by early afternoon, then a walk around our village.  We've had to really push ourselves with going for our walk this week as it has been so bitterly cold.  

On Wednesday we had some more books to collect from the Library so we combined that trip with a bit of food shopping and a walk around our local town for a change. On Friday I met a friend for a walk who I haven't seen since before Christmas so it was lovely to have a good catch up.  

I've done a lot of reading over the last week or so.  The book by Sarah Moss was disappointing, it just didn't seem to have much substance so I skim read that over a couple of evenings but I'm really enjoying 'Saving Missy'.  

I've been wanting to make cheese scones for a couple of days but had run out of butter after K made plain scones and D made millionaires shortbread and then this morning I remembered Id printed out a recipe months ago for 3 ingredient cheese scones.  They just use self raising flour, grated cheese and natural yoghurt. D made them for lunch and they were delicious.  During lockdown the girls like to have a bit of a spread for lunch on a Sunday.  I have managed to eke out the last boxes of party food I bought for Christmas so today it was the cheese scones, crackers and a cheeseboard, sausage rolls (made by K)  some assorted vol a vents and kettle crisps. For dinner tonight I made a chicken and mushroom pie or it might have been turkey - I'm not very good at labelling before I put stuff in the freezer!

Well Dancing on Ice has almost finished so I will be able to reclaim the TV from youngest Daughter L, shortly.  I've got a bit behind with my viewing this week, I don't really know why, so tonight I want to watch Devon and Cornwall from Monday night.  Although its now half term we have to unfortunately be up early tomorrow as a chap is coming to do some plastering for us and the boiler is being serviced.  We shall leave Hubby overseeing all this and try and occupy ourselves for a few hours walking somewhere until its safe to come home.  The rest of the week we shall just take as it comes.

 The days seem to drift by quite quickly considering not much is happening.  On Saturday it was nice and sunny in the morning so after lunch we decided to travel a short distance to our nearest National Trust property and walk around the grounds.  The car park was nearly empty and we passed very few people whilst out.  It was a good job we packed wellies as it was very muddy and then about half way around our walk it started raining.  It was good to get out somewhere different but I seem to spend a lot of time trying to dry lots of coats where we keep getting caught in rain! 

On Sunday we skyped Hubby's sister who lives in Spain and had a catch up and then afterwards we skyped eldest Daughter.  She is in her last year of a midwifery degree and this last year is mostly spent on placement at several different hospitals.  She has been very busy as the lockdown baby boom is kicking in, and has delivered a lot of babies so far this term. She lives just outside Bath sharing a house with a friend who is also a midwifery student.  She is doing well but it is hard not knowing when we will be able to see her next.

The last couple of days have been bitterly cold but we have still broken up the home schooling by going out for a walk. I finished the second Celia Anderson book over the weekend - I can highly recommend both - and have now started this one. My pile of books to be read is slowly getting smaller!

Hubby has just got in from work.  He is busy refurbishing our en suite so I am sure the noise and mess will start shortly. Meanwhile, I shall go and make a start on dinner. K has guides on zoom at 6.30 so we need to be a bit more organised on Tuesday evenings!

 

The Last Few Days

The last few days seem to have gone surprisingly quickly considering not much is happening.  The weather here on Wednesday was lovely and sunny so when we went on our walk, as well as taking the scooters, we took a frisbee and spent a good hour at our village park.  We had a play and I bumped into a couple of people I knew so it was nice to have some grown up conversation.

Yesterday was mainly wet. I met a friend for a walk around our village which was lovely and we had a good catch up but I was absolutely drenched by the time I got home.  In the evening I finished my book and started this one which follows on. The first one was really good and after only reading the first chapter of this one its just as good. I've also managed a bit more knitting. Its going well apart from when I somehow gained a stitch! 

This afternoon we had a trip to our local town as D had some library books she'd ordered to collect.  We combined our trip with some grocery shopping and a scooter around a different park for our daily exercise.  I'm not sure how we will occupy ourselves this weekend.  For a change we may go to our other local town in the other direction and have a walk along the beach. I shall have to check tide times.

Tonight, I'm looking forward to watching the second part of Death in Paradise and finishing The Bay.

 

This and That

Nothing much going on here in South Devon.  I try and get home schooling with youngest done by early afternoon, then it usually fits in with D and K's timetable that we can then get out for our daily walk. Yesterday it was windy with mizzly rain so we got pretty wet but it makes us feel better getting the exercise and fresh air.  Today was much brighter after lunch although its now back to being wet.  

Yesterday I made a start on the dishcloth I have decided to knit. Jo at 'through the keyhole' put me on to this.  You can download a different dish cloth pattern each month from 'the kitchen sink shop' and they are simple knits. I am an amateur knitter so thought this sounded like a nice relaxing activity.  For this pattern as long as you can do knit and purl you'll be fine. So far there are no holes!

K had food tech for two hours on Teams this morning so dinner is sorted for us tonight - pizza and dough balls, so I have a night off cooking.  However, the mess to clear up after the lesson was unbelievable which I was left with as she had to move on to her next lesson!

Well I'm going to try and knit a few more rows before dinner.