Prosperous soul in the making

jwil

I hope your friend recovers ok x

Hope you've had a good day.  It makes such a difference seeing the sun.

savingholmes

Thanks Jwil - it was such a lovely day I risked a walk with pooch - loved it at the time but major increase in pain the rest of the day. I think if I do it - it needs to be just before bed so I can hopefully sleep the effects off. Apparently the hospital do now have my MRI report so that's a step forward - but my appointment isn't until early April - so I have no idea whether it will go ahead or whether they will just be swamped by then. It doesn't help that I stepped on a piece of glass yesterday. 

Am**** delivered 12 boxes of basic tissues today so if we run out of TP we do have something to use. They are repriortising all deliveries of essentials so all the others I placed which were due to be delivered at the end of April and into May now look likely to arrive all very close to one another! LOL.  I ordered shampoo and conditioner and deodorant from them too - as for Mr As we are prioritising food. I got some goodies from Cl1n**** this week - which may help DD if she goes ahead with her vlog idea. She has written a list of at least 12 ideas for shows but whether she goes ahead or not I don't know. We both have birthdays coming up so will also help with that. I suggested DS could get a job at my work as an essential worker but it would rely on DH taking him so still weighing that up.

Today I cooked beautiful brine chicken with roast potatoes and veg. Basically you pre-soak the chicken in salted water for at least 15 minutes preferably much longer. You then drain it. Then I cut up onions and carrots and placed the in a casserole dish with water cover them. I then cut the chicken into smaller pieces and slathered a thin layer of butter on them. Then I sprinkled them with a little nutmeg, slightly more cayenne pepper, garlic salt and paprika. I then put in the oven on 175c for an hour alongside the potatoes (which ironically I sprayed with a 1 cal type spray). I then served it with steamed broccoli and microwave (frozen) peas. Tasty! I saved half the potatoes and broccoli for another day - and froze 1 portion of the carrots and chicken. I am encouraging the family to exercise portion control so we don't end up even worse off weight wise than when lock down begun

Mr A's are delivering later. I updated my list last night and it looks like they will be able to deliver most of it. We have at least 2 more orders in the pipeline after this but then may struggle to get online delivery. 'First world problems.' My new chairs order looks like it will be delayed - and they can't tell me when until. I don't mind the delay I just hope they don't go bust as I will lose my over 10% deposit. I could do with more info though as I was planning to pay cash and I need to know when I will need the money for. I think either way now I will pay on CC and then pay off the CC when I have it. It's just bewildering the speed of change in 3 months!

Hope you are all keeping well. 

savingholmes

In other recipe ideas - this may sound bizarre - I made soup:
Potato peelings from 2.5Kg of potatoes (I threw out any 'eyes' or bad bits) - this helps keep the vitamins from the skin, reduce waste and thickens the soup
1 potato, 2-3 carrots, 2 leeks, 1 onion, 2 veg stock pots, some Worcestershire sauce, lo-salt, a sprinkle of nutmeg, twice as much cayenne pepper, I can't remember if I used all spice or not but sometimes do - a little ar0mat and some garlic salt and a teaspoon of garlic from a jar.
I also added a squirt of tomato puree and a long squirt of ketchup (very scientific) 
I simmered it for a couple of hours - mashed it a bit to let it thicken - and am now sampling it and it's lovely. 

DancingInTheRain

Pleased  you've got your diagnosis and that DS is home, take care x

savingholmes

Thanks Dancing. 
DH has just unpacked and packed the dishwasher a miracle in itself. When DS came home Monday night - I moved about 8 boxes of stuff from a cupboard in my ex study to make room for all the painting gear I had put in DS's room. These are now lining the narrow landing. My next challenge is to get DS and DH to put them in the loft. We can then hoover and reduce DS's
and my allergy  levels. DH like many is working on average longer days than when he was in the office. 

DS submitted an assignment 2 hours late yesterday and now has 2 other assignments to do in less than 4 days. . He did find time to google available jobs in the area - gotta love him! DD meanwhile is keeping up with her school work and can't understand why teachers aren't responding to her emails, bless her. 

My leg seems to be getting less flexible. It's a difficult balance between using it and having more pain and not using it and losing the function I have. DD had her ASD follow up appointment by phone yesterday - it wasn't very satisfying - but something at least in these difficult times. Pooch got 2 walks yesterday but seems subdued all week. She keeps eating stuff she shouldn't though - this time it was a half eaten tube of R@nd0ms.

It's cloudy outside but still bright - so may look at doing very short bursts in the garden so I don't hurt myself unnecessarily but can still feel like I've achieved something. Also planning to do some painting (art).

MovingForwards

It's good how you are sharing recipe ideas and is something we should all do on our diaries.

I've always found working at home means longer hours, make sure DH is getting sufficient rest and downtime.

DD seems to be trying to help a little, which is good, just keep her going with the bits she willingly helps with as you don't want to put her off. Her VLog would be another good thing, even if she is only ever at the planning and preparing stage and it doesn't grow wings for a while.

Did you honestly not expect DS to job hunt? I would have been surprised to read he wasn't 🤫

Pooch will be very confused having such a change of routine, everyone home etc and her behaviour will be a bit different, it will settle in time.

I know you have a lot on, you will be stressed, it will have a knock-on effect with what you can do, take each day, morning or hour as it comes.

doingitanyway

Glad sis and baby are ok.
Your chicken sounds lush.
Hope your day is going well.

savingholmes

Thanks MF and DIA

In theory I would encourage DS and DD to go job hunting - in practice I want to shield them and wrap them in cotton wool and hide them from the world - and hope by doing so they also don't bring the virus home to us. It's hard to know what to do for the best. 

The chicken was amazing. We ate the soup for lunch today while DD had some leftovers from yesterday. Thanks to Mr A's bakery and our delivery - we had nice fresh tiger bread to go with the soup The simple  pleasures in life... We aren't due a food delivery again now for a couple of weeks so need to be careful.

In very exciting news we have taken delivery of 'Cheeky P@nd@' toilet roll - so we now have TP to hopefully last us quite a while! It's made from bamboo apparently and feels quite soft. Got it via Am****- who are also due to send us other life essentials. I don't know how people are managing who don't have online access or the £ to buy stuff. TP has never been so expensive but needs must.

DH has sold his weight bench and some free weights to a work friend so he swung by to collect them today. We got to wave to him and his DD from a suitable distance. £30-40 should come our way at some point - and we've cleared something from the garage - and enabled someone else to exercise and get fit. I also spoke to a neighbour who was in her front garden.... 
I have done 3 brand new paintings - and reused two small square canvases. That was fun. I've been posting some photos of my paintings on FB and had good feedback which brought a smile to my face.

Have a good day all. Stay home, stay safe

savingholmes

• Well just watched livestreamed church on FB. Surreal world we are living in.
• I have joined the society for autistic people nationally and started posting on their forum too. 
• We still have some left over roast beef from a few days ago - so just need to persuade someone to do potatoes and chop some carrots an broccoli and we should be sorted for lunch/tea. The DC haven't emerged from their cocoons yet!!
• I like 5 out of 6 paintings I did yesterday so not bad at all. I've had really nice feedback on 3 sets of paintings that I have put on FB.
• I have realised I am going to run out of medication soon so considering calling Mr As to see if they a) are taking phone calls for the pharmacy and b) if the have received an electronic script for me - if not need to order some. Will see what the process is for getting electronic prescriptions for DD too.
• Today I want to have another go at writing the blurb for the back of my book. I then may use one of my paintings for the cover. I can always change the cover later. It would be good to get something out there - when people have more time to read - and would hopefully encourage me to carry on and finish writing book 2 too instead of staying stuck in perfectionism.
• I still want to get out in the garden at some point too but that would require getting dressed which feels a big commitment right now 

savingholmes

We are wondering if we could have already had the virus as DH very exhausted currently but don't know if that could be his diabetes - he has a home testing kit but refuses to use it.

Great news - we were able to pick up medicines for 3 of us today. Still need more painkillers by Wednesday but very relieved that they sent the others to Mr As. Kids picked up some hard to find items in store like beans, passata, chopped tomatoes and loo roll!  

DH and DS put the boxes in the loft yesterday - so we have a clearer landing again. DS needs to chuck some more of my stuff out of his room before he can move his stuff from the garage.  I did some more painting today but will evaluate them tomorrow. Didn't quite work out as planned.