22 Foxhole East

trix-a-belle

f0xh0les said:

Oh that sounds like a proper family hand me down recipe @trix-a-belle !   

It is a seriously big sack - over 3kg. 

it astounds me how you end up with things in such quantities f0xh0les! 
I think its a Mrs (Mr) Beeton originally but everything has always got a hefty 'make do with whats about' twist in our kitchen & will always taste good but never quite be the same twice
Given the prevalence of sweet things disappearing at such a significant rate of knots in your house with your boys wouldn't it be funny to have sweet pruney treats available that if wolfed in such quantities would make them think twice.....
Very interesting on the osteoporosis thing Nonna

Baileys_Babe

I like prunes and I am enjoying the suggestions.

f0xh0les

I am receiving the bounty of people who went a bit nuts and hoarded stuff, I think @trix-a-belle , at the start of the Spring lockdown.  Then when  they realised we were not going to run out of prunes / walnuts /pecans etc and they were not reduced to rummaging through the bins,  they thought ' how on earth am I going to get rid of this? Oh, I know! I'll give it to f0xh0les, she has a squillion kids and bakes stuff,  or else I will just throw it away'   .....and I am not about to let 3kg of pecans go in the bin! Think of the food miles they have done.   I am a victim of my own recycling.  

I might go to the sweetie shop and (gulp) b..u..y  some of their old plastic jars off them, then they can sit in the pantry where I can see them,  and will get used up.  I see trail mix in my children's future lunchboxes... but not the one in the nut-free-school..  of course.  I mean that would just be too easy wouldn't it? 

Waiting to watch Andy Marr, and wondering at what time the govt will do its U-turn on the Primary schools.  Surely it has to?  So come on B0z, just pull on your big boy pants and tell parents so they can get some kind of childcare in place, you can't  keep on just dropping this on working parents with 24 hour notice.   Not everyone has a nanny.  Teachers have kids too.

The cynic in me says they will keep them in for a week,  claim the movement around the country on Xmas day is the culprit for rising levels, and then close down the week after, once all the kids have had a week to  reinfect each other again, and wiped out all the teachers.

joedenise

A lot of sweet shops give away their plastic jars.  I know I've got free ones before now.  You'd think they'd be glad to get rid of them and not have to pay to have them taken away as all businesses have to pay extra!

I can understand them selling the old glass jars - I've got a couple of those too which I store my flour in and they look good on the pantry shelf!

crazy_cat_lady

I am currently watching Bozza on Marr and as always, I have no clue what he is talking about. Fairly typical.

f0xh0les

He refuses to recognise his own failings.  I may have said some new rude words in front of my kids. 

I took DS4 out for a walk, all the others bailed on me, so off we went, only 5k, but better than nothing and it was an hour in the fresh air.  He took photos of every single dog we passed, we saw a white egret in the stream,  to be honest it was more of a shuck than a stream.  Anyway, all very pretty.  So I was home by 11.15, made a cup of tea, and I get a text from DS4s primary school telling me that there will be a letter coming out to us all this afternoon. 

God, I hope they just postpone the start of term for people who can stay home with their kids. Keep them open for people who need them as childcare, but a smaller amount of kids will mean a smaller viral load for those kids, and for the teachers.

Why on earth they did not choose to vaccinate hospital doctors,  gps, nurses, and teachers first, then the care workers and over 80s.  Then the over 70s, and then those of any age  with clinical vulnerabilities, then the other critical/key workers,  and then the healthy over 60s etc.   But then they would not have a photo shoot of some old Doris in a wheelchair saying how lovely everything will be now we have left the EEC.

But, small amount of exercise done for second day in a row.  It only takes 21 days to make a new habit, so they say. Here's to a new habit by the start of February!  

No snow in Le Shire, it snowed for about 10 minutes last night, but then it rained and washed it all away, cold and crisp now though.

greenbee

Consider the new words as educational for your kids, and encourage them to strike... (tell them they can take Greta Thunberg as an example).

I think the theory in vaccinating the over-80s is that they are the most likely to be hospitalised (and for longer) if they catch the virus, so it would reduce the impact on the NHS. Why they didn't lock down until the vaccination had reached a sensible point I have no clue. I realise that they're in a difficult situation and there is no win-win option, but they're paid to make tough decisions. If they'd made a decision in the summer that education was going to have to be flexible and schools (and universities) would have to plan for mixed delivery of education then we might have seen some innovative ideas. OK, some schools would have done better than others, but I'm sure they could have worked things out so that isolating teachers could do the online teaching for classes not in school, and those teachers who were able to be in could then teach smaller classes in safe environments. I bet most teachers know what topics work best online, and could have adjusted accordingly. It would also have made time to find out which pupils needed some kind of help with kit/connectivity to do schoolwork and find solutions. 

I've got family in a difficult situation - kids are changing schools, so they feel that it would be best for them to go in and meet other kids. As key workers they have that option, although last time made the decision not to send them in. However, the kids are very well-trained and happy to wear masks and strip off and shower when the get home (despite being at the soap-dodging age!) so I suspect they will take the risk if schools are closed as classes should be small enough. However, they're seriously worried about schools not being closed, and will have to hope that the kids and their peers (and the school) are sensible. Apparently the timetable has been changed to include more sport and outdoor activities and parents have been advised to buy thermals, as the kids will be outside for activities whenever possible!

f0xh0les

DS4 is pretty disgusted with his primary school teacher as she does not like to be cold, and so will not allow them  to have the windows open. She says she understands the guidelines and they are all safe to be in the room together with no ventilation.  She has also told them they are young and healthy so will not get sick.   He is totally unimpressed, it is very much left up to the individual teacher as to how they run their classroom.

The secondary school has every door, window, and cat flap open, and they have been told they cannot wear their coats in class,  but may wear a white T shirt under their school shirt .... and gloves.  Poor things come out practically blue with cold and hug the heaters in the car when they get in. .

f0xh0les

The letter came through at 4pm..  On Tuesday,  primary school will either :

a)  be open,

b) be open but not have enough teachers who feel safe, so you don't have to send your child in,  let us know before Tuesday

c) only be open for at risk kids or key worker children.

We will send you a letter tomorrow when we know more.   Insert lots of graphs of kids being plague carrying virus-hosts.

Prediction:   Venus in House of Mars, retrograde,  remote learning in your future.  Dogger, Fisher, German Bight.

Yay!   Will wait for tomorrow's letter (not!) and take it from there.

yogavibes

still waiting to hear whether our youngest will be in school on Tuesday - we've had a similarly vague email so far.  I'm hoping they just shut for a couple of weeks now instead of staying open then shutting because they have no staff in a weeks time.