Month: April 2020

TWTW # 74

On By TontowilliamsIn books, Garden / Allotment, Kindle, The Week That Was, tv, work

I’m a little late posting this because of, well home baking and online shopping basically. My days are a little less structured, which can make for doing things at interesting times.

This past week has been a little bit of a repeat of the one before. In a bizarre lockdown twist I can’t get my car fixed because although the garages are open, the parts stores (or at least the one that supplies the parts for my car) are not. The mechanic was quite frustrated because a lot of his customers are in the same boat (car). Whilst there is a lot of logic to the lockdown there are some illogical twists in terms of what / who is considered essential and what / who isn’t. Anyway it’s on their list to do as soon as circumstances allow. I can still drive it but only on short journeys with a large bottle of water in the boot just in case. I’m obviously not using it much so the impact is minimal for now. Please keep your fingers crossed for me or be like that little Dutch boy and use your finger to plug a virtual hole.

I’ve had quite a bit of work to do this week as one of my clients’ projects suddenly became live again. It’s good for me and has occupied a good proportion of my week and looks as though I will actually have a bill to send out at the end of the month. I’ve also been trying to do my tax return, but having problems with my National Insurance contributions. One part of the system says it’s one figure (which I agree with) and the other part says that it a significantly lesser amount that is clearly wrong. Phoning the helpline didn’t help (no surprise there), so I am awaiting a virtual solution. It’s likely to be a long wait given that most of the relevant staff are busy processing claims for Universal Credit and other schemes as a result of the lockdown. It’s not a major problem, and I at least know how much tax I owe, even if the government can’t add it up right.

My unexpected work meant that I haven’t had as much time for reading this week, but I did read CS Lewis’s The Magician’s Nephew. I thought that I would reread the Narnia stories and decided to start at the beginning (if not the publication order). I think I was probably about 8 or 9 years old when I last read these books and back then I started with LW&W like most everybody else. I also started reading The Bloodline Feud by Charles Stross, which is the first to books in the Merchant Princes series (and prequels to Empire Games and Dark State, which I’ve mentioned here before). I’ve had the book on my kindle for a while so it’s hopefully another step in reducing the pile of books to be read.

We’ve been catching up on Marvel films this week, or rather Mrs Tonto has been watching the ones she missed in the cinema and I’ve been enjoying rewatching. Captain Marvel and  Avengers: End Game have been our choices, as well as watching some classic comedy; Hi-De-Hi (which doesn’t stand up very well).

A bit more digging and seed sowing (purple sprouting broccoli & parsnips) on the allotment, but otherwise my time there has been limited both by work and the lockdown. Where everyone else seems to be really getting on with their plots mine feels a little slower this year. But that might just be a false impression, although I do need to get some more seeds sown in the week ahead if I can.

Another short one this week, I’d like to say that I’m up to some exciting things this week, and who knows maybe I will be but it does seem a little bit unlikely. Anyway, I hope that you stay safe and well in the week ahead.

The Day is My Oyster TWTW # 73

On By TontowilliamsIn books, Garden / Allotment, The Week That Was, tv

This week has been a pretty stressful one. I’m not intending to go into  detail, but let’s just say additional isolation caused by coronavirus lockdown and Alzheimer’s are not good bedfellows.

To make matters worse my car has sprung a coolant leak which I can’t get access to fix so I’ve had to track down a garage that is open and willing to have a look at the problem. Where this falls within the realms of essential or non-essential isn’t clear but without the car it’s going to be difficult to do some of the things that are essential.

This week has also been one where I’ve had literally no appointments in my diary relating to work. There have been a few emails going back and forth but no day has been fully focused on work. It’s also  been a short week because of the Bank Holiday, but that seems like a comment of a time long ago rather than something that was relevant just a couple of months ago. It also looks unlikely that the early May Bank Holiday which was shifted to accomodate VE Day celebrations is going to have the meaning that it might otherwise have had 75 years after the original date.

We spent a couple of evenings this week re-watching Bond films – Skyfall  & Spectre. We’ve mostly been watching things we’ve previously recorded or have on DVD – reruns of Father Brown, Carry On films – anything gentle that avoids the 24-7 news churn.

I’ve also been watching the new series of Bosch on Amazon which has been one of the highlights in what otherwise has been a pretty stressful week. A show made for binge watching if ever there was one.

I finished reading Alan Bennett’s Keeping On Keeping On and started a Maigret novel, The Grand Banks Cafe. Despite what should be lots of extra free time my reading rate has slowed right down, I think because I’m doing other things and at the end of the day (my usual reading time), I’m too tired to stay awake for very long.

I think books are important right now and I loved this story of a bag of mystery books.

We’re still awaiting the outcome of the public consultation on the future of our local libraries. Given the personality of the decision maker it’s fairly likely to be bad news as he lacks the imagination to do anything other than close enough of them to make the budget balance. Perversely this means that my local library will probably escape as it’s the one that serves his local patch – gotta look after his own image afterall.

I’ve had some seedlings to transplant into bigger growing modules this week, they’re too small to go out on the allotment yet. They’re cabbage and cauliflower plants, but because the sun faded the ink on the tray labels I can’t yet tell which is which until the plants themselves get a little bigger. I know I have a roughly equal proportion of each but not sure which is which yet!

We had some rain at the end of the week, which has helped soften up the soil on the allotment a bit so I did manage to get some digging done for some of my daily exercise.

Another short one this week, I’ll be trying to get my car back on the road this coming week and then seeing how things play out. I hope wherever you, you stay safe and well.

Supermoon Flatbread TWTW # 72

On By TontowilliamsIn books, Cooking, Garden / Allotment, Kindle, The Week That Was

It’s been a gloriously sunny week here, even the day they said it was going to be a bit gloomy was a good one. The slight perversity of having a bank holiday weekend when the weather is smashing but we can’t go out has not escaped the attention. Whatever happened to those old fashioned bank holidays were the weather was miserable and so was everyone stuck indoors? As I write this on a Sunday afternoon, it feels slightly dystopian being at home and all that I can hear are the sounds of police sirens and then more police sirens. I’m not sure what’s going on but I guess someone isn’t having a good day.

Although it is small I am very grateful for our back garden and very conscious that not everyone is as lucky as we are. I’ve been spending quite a bit of each afternoon sitting in the garden reading a book.

My reading this week has mostly been on my Kindle and has been Alan Bennett’s Keeping On Keeping On, the first part of the book is ten years worth (2005 – 2015) of his diaries and I think I’ve made it to about 2010 and am still going and have yet to get to the remainder of the book. I’m finding that I am able to concentrate on it which is something that I’ve recently struggled to do. Maybe the lockdown is just becoming the new norm and I’m adjusting to it?

I wrote last week about having been forced to go into town after failing to be able to do something online. Well I did achieve this and picked up some medication that the pharmacy has been holding for me. Town was strange. In places it was downright ghostly, in others it seemed that there were far more people out and about than there should have been. Going to the pharmacy was the weirdest part of all. It’s one of the only shops open in a large 1970’s built shopping centre (mall). The building management has opened a route up so that you can walk from either side of the shopping centre to the pharmacy and out again, but everywhere else is barricaded off. I wish I’d taken a photo of it but if you’ve ever watched any film that has a pandemic or other global emergency at it’s centre you already know what it looked like.

Speaking of which I’ve been watching season 9 of The Walking Dead this week (if you haven’t seen it yet but are going to, then best skip ahead as there are some small spoilers to follow). The series has been losing it’s way a bit for a while now, and with the deaths (both real and perceived) of major characters really seems to have lost itself completely. I still want to watch season 10 when it becomes free to view but I’m certainly not going to pay to watch it.

There was a Supermoon midweek, and I went out into the garden with my camera and a tripod and spent some time trying to get a good shot. It was a little cloudy and some of the shots were obscured a little by that but I got a few that were pleasing to me, which is what counts.

There are a couple more to come this year, but this one is where the moon is closest to the earth so the others won’t be quite as impressive. If you’re interested there are some more of other people’s photos here.

I’ve been making flatbreads this week – just flour, salt, water and oil, makes a perfect little wrap which you can stuff with whatever you like. I was using up some roast chicken and mixing it with some homemade bbq sauce, green peppers and white onion.

I’ve also been reading about sourdough revived from ancient Egypt (by the guy who invented the X-Box) and the sourdough library.

I also want to try this Spinach Dip if I can.

My social media abstinence for Lent has come to an end, but it’s the strangest thing. When Lent was over I reinstalled the apps on my phone and logged back in, but that’s all I’ve really done. I did look at Instagram for a bit and also Twitter, but I just felt a bit disconnected from the whole thing, like gazing into an abyss. I’m not sure what happens next, I guess I’ll just wait and see. I haven’t posted yet, and in previous times I lived in lists in Twitter to make it as locked down as possible, it might be I do a similar version but with lists that are even more locked down.

It does seem as if I didn’t shut down all of the autoposting I thought I had in my absence and this blog was still posting a link to twitter with every post. I didn’t realise and there’s no point in doing anything about it now, but there must be a setting buried somewhere that I didn’t find – because I thought I’d found them all.

If you’re interested I’m @tontowilliams on both Instagram and Twitter, if you don’t already follow me come and say “hi” who knows you might be the one to break my fast! Also it means that I can go back to posting links here again.

JRR Tolkein was right about the trees.

I used one of my exercise allowances to visit the allotment to plant out some broad beans and sow a few seeds. It’s amazing how quickly the plot went from being a soggy mess to rock hard and impenetrable to any hand tool known to man. I was trying to hammer some supports for my loganberries into the ground and had to water the ground to soften it first as the posts were just bouncing off. I feel a little like I’m on borrowed time with the allotment if the lockdown were to get any worse, and so have also been making space in the garden for some extra pots with veg in. Hopefully we’ll end up with a surplus that we can give away.

Well that’s about it for this week folks. I seem to have written far more that I’d intended to, or thought I had words to write. In these times of limited travel and adventure (yeah right when did I ever do those two things), that’s not bad.

I hope you’re all staying safe and well, and I’ll catch you later.

 

TWTW # 71

On By TontowilliamsIn The Week That Was3 Comments

Hello. How are you doing? I hope you’re safe and well.

The blackthorn is in full bloom at the moment (see left), and it’s quite an amazing site.

I didn’t sleep very well last night. Because of someone else monumental incompetence I have to leave the house today for something other than my daily exercise and I’m not looking forward to it. Is the trip essential? Yes it is, but I have tried so hard to complete this task without leaving the house and just can’t. At the heart of this is someone else’s inflexibility that means I have to put myself at risk. Admittedly the risk is slight but it’s there none the less. Some people / organisations are just arseholes.

I’ve tweaked my working arrangements a bit for the time being. Fortunately I technically still have some client work to do, but things have decreased a bit and pace has slowed right down. As a result I’m tending to work mostly in the mornings after my once daily trip out with the dogs, working until lunchtime. After a lunchbreak I’m turning to do something productive either in the house or the garden, so this week I’ve been tackling odd jobs, including repairing our garden bench. I had intended to replace the bench this spring as it’s really showing its age but given that is now unlikely to happen soon I made some running repairs. After I’ve finished the productive element of my afternoon I turn to reading, or watching something. Again trying to clear backlogs of shows that I’ve recorded and haven’t yet watched or just watching random things.

After a friend sent me this link to a documentary on Hummingbirds (which you’ll probably need to watch via a VPN in the UK, but can be found on other services too), I’ve also been watching much more natural history programmes. Much more relaxing than watching the news at any rate.

Towards the end of the afternoon / early evening thoughts turn towards food again, and then the evening is spent with more books or a film. We’re deliberately watching less news and trying just to stick to the briefing that happens around 5pm each day.

My reading this week has mostly been across reading some H P Lovecraft and Thomas Merton. I’ve found it tough to get into anything that requires longer term concentration, I guess that’s a sign of the times.

I’ve had some requests for online garden talks. I’m working out the logistics of doing this, but it’s certainly possible for me, but I suspect given the age profile of my normal audience it might not be everyone’s thing. Nothing’s confirmed yet so watch this space.

The allotment site has been experiencing some petty theft and vandalism in the last week. The site manager’s conclusion is this is from another plot holder, but I’m not convinced. Luckily I’ve not been effected yet.

We’ve also been supply fresh veg to NHS staff so that they don’t have to go to the supermarket. I’ve only really got leeks and carrots on the plot that are ready to eat at the moment, and I’ve put a few in. I’ll be planting a few extra things to contribute if this goes long term, although it looks increasingly likely that we might be told the site is going to have to close completely. I hope not as I think this will mean a lot of plot holders will give up.

My social media abstinence is due to come to an end this week as the period of Lent ends. It’s been an interesting time to try and do something like this given everything that’s going on, but also I think it’s been a blessing and a firm means to reducing anxiety. I’m not going back completely the way it was before, but will probably return to Instagram and to a lesser extent Twitter, but I think I’ll mostly be ignoring Facebook going forward. For now I won’t be deleting any accounts just letting them lie dormant where I’m not using them.

Well that’s about it for this week. Take care and stay safe!