I rose a little earlier than usual this morning, which is part of my new plan. It is necessary, after weeks of casual slacking, to return to the world. Rising earlier will help me get more work done, and if I get up fifteen minutes earlier each day I won’t notice the gradual change. By the time I go back to work I will be rising with the lark and facing the day with fortitude. Not that we have a lot of larks in Nottingham, in the morning or, indeed, at any time of the day.
As I descended, ready for the day, the post arrived. I now have a new supply of bran for the bokashi bucket. We are producing a lot more vegetable waste these days as a result of healthy eating. As we gradually work our way through the carrots I am also peeling more – there’s something very unappetising about the skin of an aging carrot.
I will be finalising our shopping list later in the day, and carrots won’t be on it.
The second parcel contained masks. I’ve only bought ten, but I thought I’d get a few just in case. Government advice is still that we don’t need them, but this might change and it’s easier to wear a proper mask than make one from a handkerchief and two rubber bands.
Photo by Anna Shvets on Pexels.com
In the evening, acting on Tootlepedal’s advice, I watched some improving TV. First I watched a painting programme, which would have been useful if I had any talent for painting. Then I did the washing up while Julia watched an Andy Warhol exhibition at the The Modern. We then sat down for two programmes about Philip Larkin. He was an interesting though slightly repellent character, but I knew that. The first programme was by someone who had known him and was quite interesting. The second was by someone who had trained as an actor before becoming an academic. That one was interesting because it showed how an academic can build a media career.
Just after midnight I checked in with TESCO, which has no delivery or collection, and ASDA, which did have a collection slot. I did some ordering then had a look at the list for our Thursday collection. It’s hard doing the shopping by remote control.
I love your Mona Lisa picture. She still looks like she has a wonderful secret. We have been required to wear masks any time we go to a business since April 10th (I have begun keeping a calendar of the progression for posterity. I feel like I am living history in the making. I’ve made about a half a dozen but have given them all away. I will need to make more before the supplies run out.
Loved hearing about the bokashi bucket!
Yes, we are all part of history at the moment! 🙂
The bokashi bucket is a new one to me. So all I have to do is throw a couple of probiotic caps in with the waste and ferment it first?
I’m not quite sure what is in the bran they use, though you can buy it bottled and put it on bran bought from animal feed stores. I’ve never tried bones, but everything else seems to ferment nicely.
Yes – that got my attention, too! I’ve been composting for years but never heard of this. Very interesting!
It produces loquid and solid matter, so is quite versatile.
A whole new world. Makes me a lot more sympathetic with my mother’s and grandmother’s style of cooking. I used to look down my nose at it. All that jello! All that cream of mushroom soup. So few spices. Then I realized they pretty much cooked with what they had. Olive oil? Whoever heard of that in the 1960s? Maybe in the big cities but not in rural Maine. Because they didn’t have servants and had to do everything else as well, they took shortcuts. Yeah, I understand.
I remember when Olive Oil was something you bought in small bottles from pharmacies – we used it for earache and cooked with lard. Different times…
You bet! I think the first time I even heard about olive oil was when I was a young adult. A friend used it in a shrimp dish, and we all agreed it had a funny taste. Now, we gobble it down with pleasure. Funny, isn’t it?
I only started using it a few years ago as a health thing, then went back to vegetable oil, as we call canola.