reorganisation

We moved the piano downstairs this afternoon, swapping it for the pile of amps that migrate like lovesick wildebeest into our living room. I don't know what calls them or where they come from - I do know most of them aren't even actually ours, but they seem happy and it's handy to have somewhere to rest a wineglass. The piano has been in Neal's studio/study but he tends to use a different midi keyboard these days and I thought it might be nice to have it handier to play. It's an old electric - basic but decent - I haven't played it in years. I sat down and played a few songs and my brain hurts because I haven't sightread in more than one clef for so long. Hands already aching too - I guess it's really been awhile. Nice though.

I still feel like these things may not be worth it because we'll be back to work soon even though I know that's extremely unlikely. Just can't seem to get to grips with it really. I was supposed to be at a learn-your-bike basics class tonight that I signed up for months ago. It would have been a busy week, with a brass band rehearsal tomorrow, Neal gigging on Wednesday, and a big band concert on Friday. 

Instead, I finally started my "Learn to sew one project at a time" book and I made two cloth napkins. They are not very good. I really can't cut straight and I suspect I wouldn't know a grain line if it bit me in the arse. I think I may hate sewing.

At least the weather is warmer - the wind has dropped a bit and there was a lot of sunshine for our walk today. We walked out to the hop field - felt so good to be out and away in the fields. It's all rapeseed  fields on the way and the sea of yellow flowers is cheering. Still needed a hat but warmer weather will be here soon and that is for sure something to look forward to.

Nettle Tortelli

In a stroke of amazingly good fortune, one of the books we have out from the library (for the foreseeable future!) is the Pasta Grannies recipe book, and it is brilliant. Yesterday we made Nettle Tortelli. We gathered the nettles up on our walk in the afternoon, and Neal made the dough (he is very good with all things dough-y - his bread - well, his bread is going to make me FAT by the time this is all over, put it that way). I mean, look at this - his hands aren't even touching the rolling pin!

They were stuffed with a nettle/ricotta/parmesan filling, then cooked and drenched in butter and more parmesan. Delicious. Today's meal is slow roast beef short ribs. At least there is lots to cook - we are lucky that our local farm shop is well stocked and still open, and that I am still getting paid so we can afford groceries. I know not everyone is that fortunate. 

The wind has turned and is blowing a gale from the north so the temperature has dropped right down. My run this morning was considerably faster on the return leg running south back home! Our clocks went ahead last night so we have one hour less at home today :) I saw a post that really made me laugh - it said, "Don't forget to set your clocks ahead tonight - about 4 months should do it!"  In the meantime, we are fine and finding pleasure in the little things.

wool

So I've been meaning to do this for AGES :)

I was actually quite surprised - I didn't have as much of some things as I thought, and I had A LOT more of others. I've re-categorised and now have a much better idea of what's there, and, more importantly, what I can do with it. And it turns out I don't need a new bookcase to keep everything organised after all - what I have is just fine if it's sorted out nicely. 

Like many people around the globe now, we are pretty much locked down. All non-essential shops are closed, and all pubs and restaurants. We're allowed out for one exercise a day (whether it's cycling, running, or walking), and for food and medicine shopping and that's it. Because of his asthma, Neal is not supposed to leave the house at all for 12 weeks. The weather has been bright and sunny which helps. Today the two robins came to one of the feeders while we were sitting right under it which bodes well for hand feeding as we progress. We were going to wash off the patio today but we decided to save it :)

I'm trying to just take it a day at a time, limit social media and definitely limit the news, and not think too far ahead. It's just too much. These days will be considerably easier if we can enjoy them as best as we can. I did have a nice run this morning - it seems post-apocalyptic anxiety is a great motivator! I also solemnly promise that I will never NEVER complain about going for a run ever again. 

I hope you're all well and keeping your spirits up. This, too, shall pass (as my mother always says x).

hitting home

I returned my season ticket today. For someone who complains as much as I do about commuting, I have found this surprisingly difficult. It is all feeling more real. I was lucky that I could - the way the ticket refunds work means it's only worth refunding them if you are near to the beginning of the time period. Mine started in November, so I basically broke even. I'll get a £400 refund, but more crucially, I won't be paying £600 a month not to ride on trains that aren't there. A bit of a no-brainer, I know, but I still feel disloyal somehow. I didn't realise how much my season ticket meant to me. I realise how crazy that is, don't worry.

To celebrate I then went and stood in a line outside the pharmacy for an hour to pick up Neal's asthma meds. Ha ha. The pharmacy is tiny and they were operating a 4 in at a time policy hence the back up. They did say that paracetamol was coming through though which is good news. They only had one packet so I left it for someone who really needed it, but I feel better knowing I can get some next week (probably).  People are NOT practising social distancing nearly enough and there are packs of teenagers everywhere. It hasn't really hit home yet for a lot of people I think. 

My friend Kate went to Macknades (our local farm shop) with her car and picked up a bag of charcoal for us (just thinking ahead!) so that is another thing to look forward to once the weather starts warming up. And, all my library books from both libraries have been auto-renewed until July! One of the books is the Pasta Grannies cookbook - I highly recommend watching the Pasta Grannies you tube channel - it is about as soothing and wonderful as you can imagine. Tonight we are tackling Selvina's Gnocchi con Salsicce. The first and only time I attempted gnocchi it landed up as a layer of potato glue in the bottom of a saucepan, so hopefully this will be better! Well Neal is making it so I thing you can take that as read :)

Happy Friday x

I think it's Thursday

I also think I'll quit numbering - it may get too depressing.

It's amazing how much rehearsals have bookmarked our lives. Now there aren't any and I feel adrift.

So Neal and I had our own rehearsal this afternoon - guitar and trombone - actually it was really fun. He picked 3 songs to start out with and we figured out the keys and main lines and blocked out a few ideas and it worked well enough to pick 2 more. I was able to collect my bass bone from band earlier this week so I have that and the tenor and between them it's surprisingly versatile.

Maybe if we get a few together we can have a "stay away" gig at the bottom of the driveway...

day 3 - wood lice for the win!

I finally finished my Cowichan-inspired cardigan and I LOVE it. I used a pattern that included blank charts so that you could design your own patterns. I started with a bunch of old Mary Maxim/Buffalo wool patterns that my amazing mother scanned in for me as a base, and then designed from there. The wool is actually the old discontinued Buffalo wool (not, disappointingly, actual buffalo) that Mom scored for me in a building sale in Canada (did I mention amazing? Seriously people - that is love).

I've been fascinated with Cowichan jumpers as long as I can remember. When I was looking for design ideas, I found so many pictures of other people's jumpers that I had taken surreptitiously (and sometimes not-so-surreptitiously) on our trips to Canada. Then a few years ago I read a book that really made me love and respect these sweaters even more - Sylvia Olsen's Working with Wool. Here's the link - https://sononis.com/product/working-with-wool-by-sylvia-olsen/ - go buy it now if you haven't read it - it is amazing. She creates a history of the west coast and colonisation through wool and these sweaters and it was eye opening to say the least. 

There is a history of these sweaters being usurped and stolen, knocked off and the people who make them cheated. I hemmed and hawed for awhile because I did not want to in any way join that brigade. But I am so inspired by them and I wanted to pay homage in a respectful way as well. I hope I managed to stay on the right side of that line but comments welcome as always.

The wool was a PAIN to knit with - 6 strands of unspun cloud fluff that broke as soon as you looked at it. Good luck with pulling snug for colour work, which, I may add, I knit in the traditional way of back and forth so that means stranded purl rows. ARGHHHHH (European stranded knitting like fair isle is almost always knit in the round, so no stranded purling). It was a good thing I was utterly besotted with it from day one or it would have landed up in the rubbish bin almost as quickly.

Can you tell what the creature is? I knit a test to make sure you'd be able to see it, and when I tried it out on a few people, I got responses that ran from "a chameleon" to "whale" and "some sort of fish" but the best was my friend John who looked at the sweater, looked at me, furrowed his brow and tentatively guessed, "Wood louse?"  For the record it is SUPPOSED to be a salmon but I guess it can be whatever you want it to be.

And best of all? It has pockets!

In social isolation news, we walked up to the Shipwright today, the long way, around the marsh. It was sunny and windy and we felt so much better once we hit the fields. We barely saw anyone out there, and we had a pint sitting on the bank watching the tide come up. Neal didn't go into the pub at all (there's even an outside loo) so I don't think it was particularly risky. Who knows how long our pubs will stay open for?  It did us a lot of good. And I'm glad I got out at least once in my swish new cardigan!

Day 2

It was a bright sunny almost-spring day here which has helped enormously as we all try to get to grips with this new life. I'm going to try to stick to a vague schedule so I've just shut off my work laptop and had a trombone practise. I really feel for people who can't make music - I feel so much better after that practise. Neal has made chicken stock and sourdough bread and the house smells like heaven. We even dried laundry outside for the first time this year. I have a furniture delivery for one of my projects tomorrow which looks like it is going ahead albeit without me (sniff). The market was still on in town and there were quite a few people out and about.

I even found quite a few half-used blister packs of paracetamol - hurrah for being disorganised and never putting things away in the same place! My colleagues have been sending photos of empty shelves, and one of their sons has a temperature today which is not good news at all (I haven't seen her in a while so hopefully no cross contamination there but you sure get a feeling for how easy it would be).

I've started a "loose ends" list to refer to if we get bored (!!) and I think I'll start a jigsaw tonight too. I have lots of wool :) We're more fortunate than many people so far as at least one of us is still getting paid (for now anyways). I can't really comprehend what this is going to mean long-term, I don't suppose any of us can.

Stay safe peoples xxxx

day 1 - night 1 - ???

Already time is heading liminal.

We're officially in lockdown now - no non-essential travel, working from home. We weren't this morning, and I went (reluctantly) into London on the train, armed with a pre-defined set of behaviours (don't drink your coffee on the train, don't touch the seat rests or the table, stay as far away from anyone as you conceivably can - in London - tricky, wash your hands IMMEDIATELY). Neal is reasonably severely asthmatic and has a tendency for problems in the lung department when he gets a cold. In the last few days it's been very difficult to know if you are tipping into paranoia or not.  We've settled for just-before xmas levels of stocking up, although we may up that slightly over the next days. I did stock up on the stuff that's easier in London - noodles, cheap scotch from Aldi (I am willing to improvise on toilet paper - but scotch? let's hope our supplies last). I haven't been able to buy any paracetamol which worries me slightly but maybe things will even out as we get used to this new normal.

It's very surreal.

At least we like each other, Neal and I.