A salad post

 Time seems to fly so quickly whilst doing nothing at all of any note at the moment...I realize I somehow kept mum through the Winter Week of Doom (5 entire days with a few inches of snow on the ground) which was a true highlight of the past few months for the Boy!

I skipped writing up a whole week of meals, which consisted of 4 Gousto recipes (Venison and Pork Burger with Figgy Onions and Herby Fries, Smoked Fish with Warm Green Bean and Potato Salad, Honey and Garlic Pork Noodles with Smashed Cucumber and an oven-baked Normandy Chicken and Apple Casserole); a home-made Pastitsio made with ground turkey; a repeat of the Romanian Cassoulet (by special request of the Boy) and a quick sausage, potato, red onion and courgette bake for an easy Sunday evening.

I moved back from my 'foster' department at work, into my 'home' department...which made me happy although it's only for a week. The situation at work is still bleak. I am on flexi furlough at the moment, moving to full furlough, then back to flexi furlough, then probably onto redundancy when the tap of government money subsidizing its own catastrophic decisions will have dried out (end of May?).

I finally saw my liver specialist (the appointment was ONLY delayed for 18 months, but why dwell on such minor details? We're all SO fortunate to have the NHS in our lives!). She's happy with my progress - or rather lack thereof. When you have a lump growing on your liver, the fact that it's not making any progress is good news. She is happy that all I need to do for the foreseeable is keep my weight where it is. I'd love to get it down, I said, but between my capricious liver function, the chronic fatigue and the inevitable reduction in physical activity caused by this whole pandemic affair, all I seem to do with the balance of calories in/out is to maintain the status quo. Of which I'm not happy. I could do with losing another kilo or two. Can I get some help, I asked - a dietitian/nutritionist referral, for example? She actually laughed at me. She said I'd have to weigh double my current weight to be even considered for a waiting list, and even then the precious NHS resources are so stretched, that I'd be on that waiting list for over a year. Gee, I wonder why 'healthy, young' adults keep dropping off like flies with Covid in this country. I don't think I would even look like a human being were I twice my current weight (which is perfectly normal by the way according to the same NHS - but there is a hint of a muffin top there that shouldn't be, and to my horror a fold is starting to appear on my back when I twist around which is definitely a. unacceptable to myself and b. not normal given my calorie intake/output). The NHS has spent way too long putting out fires and focusing on bureaucracy, and definitely not enough focusing on preventative care. That's one thing the Germans have got pat down.

In other news, I've applied for another dozen or so jobs, and miracle of miracles, actually had 2 interviews (got to the second stage, a 'chat with the CEO') with another employer. Don't think I'll be offered the job but it sure looked nice, and it would have been a great deal of fun to work with them. For the first time since THAT Mauritius job, I would have been doing a job I would have thoroughly enjoyed. Would have been truly nice but the radio silence since my second interview indicates they've probably gone a different way.

Have picked myself up after yet another missed opportunity (became really proficient at this process during our 4 years in Germany) and I carried on writing more applications. 

I'm not THAT stressed, something will come up eventually. After all, I am clever, educated, skilled and I have a lovely personality! One lucky company will reap the benefits at some point.

I stopped in the middle of writing this, to read the latest announcement on Life in House Arrest v.3/2021 edition. The Boy isn't going to school until the 15th of March at the earliest. Sigh.

Besides the damage to his mental health, social skills and the educational delay this is causing, the announcement puts a bit of a spanner in the plans of the new project I was allocated to from the 1st of March. My new (temporary) line manager was hoping I'd be able to work from the office (key work) but 8 years old aren't exactly proficient independent home schoolers, and the Husband's job is such he doesn't emerge from his screens and headphones for hours in a row on the best of days. Oh well. I suppose I can negotiate a half-day training in the office with the Husband. Wonder what I'd have to give in exchange (not to the Husband, to the Boy who has become a complete Mummy Limpet over the past year, as we are all constantly at home, attached at the hip and not seeing other human beings except on screens or from a cautious distance on afternoon walks)...

Things I miss the most since Lockdown 1 (the April 2020 Edition) struck

 1. Going out for Sunday lunch.

2. Charity Shops

3. Regular doctor appointments. Even dentist appointments. 

4. Walking through town or on the Promenade and NOT having other passing people react as if I'm some kind of biological weapon (turn your face away, take big detour around me, even stepping in front of an incoming truck to get as far away from me as possible).

5. Giving friendly dogs a pat and a fuss during said walks. Nowadays owners behave as if I'm passing on the plague through their furry friends. 

6. TK Maxx. 

7. Going to work. In an office. Meeting other people around my workplace. Not having to work out complicated People Tetrix when I happen to be in the staff kitchen and another colleague wants to go past to use the toilet.

8. Children's sports (never thought I'd say this!)

9. Travelling. Never thought I'd say this, either. I've been a complete homebody until the Government took away my ability to decide if I wish to be a homebody or not. 

10. Hairdressers. I'd only go twice a year, but it's been too long now. 

11. Being able to nip down south and see my mother in law over a week-end if she seems like she's struggling with loneliness during Facetime calls. 

12. Places to go. We moved to Scotland in 2018 and we had gotten into a nice rhythm of going places (mostly castles, other ruins, islands and lakes) when it all came to an abrupt halt. We'll probably soon move away and for half our time here, we'll have mostly seen the inside of our home and the one mile radius surrounding it. Such a shame. 

Things I don't miss:

1. Traffic.

2. Children's birthday parties. We have a son, and most of the parties he'd been invited to in 2019/2020 seemed to be 'themed' to some sort of violent activity that I disapprove of so I'm forever divided between wanting my son to socialise and make friends, and wanting to grab the parents and shake them until they come to their senses. Seriously, 'laser tag' is an adequate activity for 8 year olds? Teaching children about guns and violence is NEVER ok and most certainly should NOT be classified as 'fun'!). 

3. Pubs. Enough said. I am against alcohol consumption (not on religious grounds, but on health impact grounds) so I have no time for places where people go for the only purpose of drinking alcohol. 

Snowdrops

 I'm seeing them everywhere we walk. Back home in Romania during my childhood, they truly meant that spring is coming. 

No such luck here...these were huddled against a frozen wind at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh, where we went for our daily exercise yesterday. 

This photo was taken at 2pm...it was so dark that the flash came on my phone camera. I think today is our 12th day without sight of the sun and even my enduring love for Edinburgh is starting to falter in the gloom.

We went to the 'Botanics' because it is just about the only place where the Boy is willing to go without a massive argument (he really hates the daily walks, because they feel like they are MANDATORY and they're no fun for a little boy). The Botanics are HIS happy place, like Cramond is mine. I don't know why-but he just mellows as soon as we set foot on the paths. 

Yesterday, although it was grim, grey and cold, we still managed to spend about an hour in the bedraggled gardens, mostly dreaming about the lush days of spring. 

As we were walking into the Chinese Hill Gardens, we spotted a grey squirrel and stopped to say hello (we stop and say hello to all creatures when we are out with the Boy). I thought the little fur ball was going to keep his distance, like they all do, so I was totally unprepared (no camera on hand) for what happened next. The Boy crouched down to see the creature better, and the squirrel ran straight towards us (we were on the path), came to the Boy and gently set a front paw on his knee, looking in his eyes and sniffing cautiously (looking for a tasty titbit, me thinks). I just did not expect that behaviour at all. I'm sure the squirrel is tame because of visitors regularly feeding it, but for my son this was a truly special moment. It was over well before I could get my phone out of my pocket, the squirrel off to some other place in search of a bite, but I know this will stay with the Boy for a very long time. 

I wish we didn't have to book at least a day in advance to get into the Botanics! Our daily exercise would come with a lot less hassle if we didn't live through the times when spontaneity has died. 

Dinners-first week of February

 Our 'weeks' start on Sunday because I usually have dinners planned until the following Saturday, when I do our main grocery shopping. We also receive our Gousto box on Sundays, those weeks when we choose to get one. This week will be Sunday-to-Sunday as we had something 'special' planned and ordered in advance for the 7th of February. 

Sunday 31 January - Turkey schnitzels with sweet potato mash, braised caraway cabbage and side salad. The cold weather made me nostalgic for some German stodge (never thought I'd see the day!) so, 'inspired' by a well-priced tray of turkey escalope found at Sainsbury's last Tuesday, I whipped up this meal. It was surprisingly tasty although I am not bound to repeat the marathon 1 hour standing in the kitchen any time soon (shallow frying schnitzels to golden crisp perfection in olive oil is not a task for the weak!). The boys inhaled everything except for the lunch planned-overs (two schnitzels and a portion of cabbage).

Monday 1 February - Gousto Lemony Smoked Fish and Spinach linguine. I doctored this up with some good quality frozen seafood as the fish by itself was not 'inspiring' enough for the son (he likes his prawn and calamari). Served with a large side salad to make up for the lack of vegetables in the meal. 

Tuesday 2 February - Gousto Sticky Chinese Port Chops and Sesame Pak Choi. This was served with a plain rice and didn't have enough of a variety of vegetables for us, so I stir-fried some carrot ribbons, mushrooms and sweetcorn with the pak choi. The Boy enjoyed this very much, the Husband was, as usual, rather unimpressed with the rice (we're not big rice eaters).

Wednesday 3 February - Gousto Vietnamese-Style Spicy Beef Noodle Bowl. Delicious is all I can say. Of course added some sugar snaps and baby sweet corn (same eternal vegetable issue) but we all enjoyed this (un-spicy for the Boy). 

Thursday 4 February - Romanian 'Cassoulet'. This was a nostalgic meal for me, a hearty dish inspired by childhood Bean Soup. A ham hock was cooked with spices and some veggies, until fall apart tender. I then cooked 3 kind of beans with some of the ham stock, drained the liquid when the beans were tender; sautéed carrot + celery + onion, added and browned some smoked pork sausage, poured some tomato passata and seasoned (salt, pepper, caraway, thyme). When this sauce was a bit sticky and reduced, I added the beans. Served with the shredded ham hock on top, and loads of crusty home baked bread. The Boy declared this the number one best dinner in the world. 

Friday 5 February - Gousto Indian Chicken & Grains with Turmeric Yoghurt Dressing. Lovely meal, although I marinated the Boy's chicken in a Teriyaki glaze instead of the curry paste and the Husband complained about the rice as always. The wolfed it all down though so that's all I'm going to say. 

Saturday 6 February - in hopeful expectation of spring and the return of our weekly Saturday barbecues, I made a Mixed Grill. Lamb kofta, yakitori chicken, pork sausages grilled in our oven grill, served with sweetcorn on the cob, home-made oven chips, sweet potato wedges and a Mediterranean salad (tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, feta, home-made olive oil, vinegar and dill dressing). 

Sunday 7 February - this was a bit of an expensive disaster. To fend off boredom, I had ordered (10 days in advance) a 'finish-at-home' posh take-away from Edinburgh restaurant The Little Chartroom. This was £65 for a 3 course meal for 2 with a bottle of white wine (which neither of us drinks but is useful to re-gift at some point). Whilst the food was extremely nice, the portions were a bit skimpy so my hopes that it would feed the 3 of us were squashed when I saw the delivery bags. I had to come up with a back-up plan to feed the Boy so I added a starter of oven-backed scallops on the half shell (frozen queenies left over from the Husband's birthday dinner in the beginning of January) for everyone (2 queenies/each), and a main of prawn skewers in a sweet soy glaze with home-made potato 'crisps' and green beans for the Boy. This was DEFINITELY a very expensive day, given that we ate at home. I wish restaurants would allow us to order these meals without the wine, and for 3 people so that we can all eat the same thing (almost all options, including Gousto, have meals for 2 or 4...not for 3, so you're either ordering too much or too little). 

Here's to hoping next week will be slightly cheaper!

Tomorrow WILL be a good day!

The world is a lonelier place tonight.  Rest in peace, Captain Sir Tom Moore. 

Photo by George Becker from Pexels