Faced with so much uncertainty, all anyone can do is live in the moment, take each day as it comes and be thankful every morning to be well. Everyday I try and do something new over and above the daily necessities of putting food on the table while trying to use up the store cupboard to avoid going shopping. Who knew there were Puy lentils hiding at the back of the shelf to be made into Lentil and Lemon soup? And I'm sure that bag of stoneground flour which is way out of date will still make good bread. There's nothing crawling in it as far as I can see. Then there's always the routine cleaning and chores, my Pilates exercises, the daily dog walk. At least we can now stop the frantic decluttering which has kept us busy for the last few months. Caught out like so many people, we are between exchanging contracts and completion of the sale of our house but everything is now on hold. It's a long story. This morning brought another phone call from the estate agent handling our sale to say that our prospective buyers have written to him yet again insisting we must vacate and complete as per the agreement we made at exchange of contracts, before Coronavirus struck and the world hit the pause button. Apparently there is legislation in the pipeline to clarify the situation for people in our position but it is distressing to receive these demands when the situation is totally out of our control and when your home is your refuge, your safe place in a frightening world. Dog walking helps, especially when the sun peeps out from behind the clouds. Thank heavens for dogs! And gardening, although I require warm sunshine to tempt me out.
So today's project was to try a new recipe, use up some old vegetables lurking in the fridge and make Broccoli and Stilton soup, which was absolutely delicious with plenty left over for tomorrow and the rest in the freezer for another day. Cooking is a great solace and comfort food is very much on the menu. Tomorrow, I may make a cake as we managed to find some eggs in the village shop. It's very much make do and mend, whatever we can find locally and whatever is in the cupboard. An Apple and Sultana cake perhaps? Or maybe Chocolate Marmalade Slump cake, both in Lucas Hollweg's lovely book, Good Things to Eat. Rummaging through my cookery book collection is an enjoyable way to pass the time, as is editing my collection of Country Living magazines dating back to 2000. So hard to let any go, but we're trying to downsize so I must.
How are you coping with lockdown? What silver linings have you found? They are there, very much so. All we have to do is stay well, survive this epidemic and be so very grateful when this all becomes a bad dream.
