pickles and life in general

Last week brought some challenges...  Being back at school is not easy it seems. 

After being cooped up at home for months and missing out on all the teenage adventures a teen should be part of, Annie's friendship group does no longer care much for guidelines that would help to slow down the progression of Covid-19 through the community. A party was scheduled, with children from different schools invited. I am afraid this is true. Annie didn't go. She didn't think it was the right thing to do and it isn't, of course it is not. Indoor meetings are restricted to a minimum of eight people from a maximum of three households here in Scotland. Not exactly party proportions...  I am very proud of Annie for not giving into peer pressure. I know she really wanted to go and I know she found it very difficult to spend the evening with us instead. Breaks my heart. It is not easy to be a teenager in pandemic times. Of course all the teens mingle at school and it seems somewhat futile to avoid parties when distancing at school is virtually impossible. Anyway, to keep herself busy on Saturday night, she baked the most amazing custard tarts. The custard was just the right kind of wobbly and the pastry was really beautiful. It took all but five minutes for all the tarts to disappear into our greedy tummies.

Alistair on the other hand finds it difficult to make new friends at his new school. His friendship circle at primary school was very small and his friendship with his best pal is somewhat stale after two years of spending every free minute with each other. He isn't always sure how to get to whatever class room he needs to get to. The one way system doesn't help because turning back is not possible. I guess the children will be really fit after a few weeks of school...  After school, Alistair's primary school friend hurled a stone at him, cracking his forehead open. We went to minor injuries but were sent to A&E because there was some swelling around his eye socket. In the end, a drop of glue was all that was needed, and a good night's sleep. The swelling must have been from all the crying, poor wee mite. 

I am pleased to note that James is cruising happily. Sam will return to university soon but all his courses are online. 

I am back to experiencing a crushing fatigue around dinner time (not every day). It is like a heavy blanket of tiredness that wraps around me a bit too tightly. I was asleep by 9 pm on Friday and I slept until 8 am the next day. It must be all the worrying. I worry a lot about life in general and my children in particular. I worry about things I have little control over and things I can't change. 

On that note, the Covid-19 contact tracers are now in several schools nearby.... The numbers are still very low, about 1% of tests return positive but there are several active clusters, some in our health board area.

Alas, moping around and feeling sorry for myself is not good. My knitting and sewing mojo is not back but I did fancy an afternoon pottering in the kitchen. I haven't done that in a while. I really wanted to make pickled cucumbers. As you do! My two plants produced six pickling cucumbers (with many more at various stages of development) and I enjoyed slicing them up and pickling them. I always loved pickled cucumbers.They were delicious, I added some to my burger on Sunday. I also made raspberry jam with wild raspberries from the freezer. Jam is so tricky to get just right! Mine is tasty but it is on the rubbery side. At least it won't slide off the toast. 

My social life was almost hectic last week. I didn't plan it like that but there you go, sometimes life takes an unexpected turn. Maybe all the excitement causes me to be tired!

Thursday was book group night. After two Zoom book group meetings, we decided to meet outside in the garden (not mine). The forecast was not great for an outdoor back garden evening gathering and I nearly copped out but in the end, I made myself go. I put on my thermal top, a warm jacket, and warm socks. I also packed a quilt. There was some rain but the gazebo kept us dry and it was not windy either.  It was good to be in company of friends. We even chatted about the book ("Motherwell" by Deborah Orr). I wonder what we'll do when it gets cooler still? I am all zoomed out if I can be honest.

On Friday another friend dropped off some clothes for my two youngest and we had a coffee and chat. It was raining but with one person, it is is easy to maintain the 2 metre distance inside. I last saw her on my Birthday Zoom and it was good to catch-up. Better still, the chat lead to us hatching a plan for dinner next weekend. 

Then on Sunday close friends and their teenage daughters came for a BBQ in our back garden. The weather wasn't promising but it turned into a lovely evening with the sun warming our faces. We used our fire bowl to barbecue some burgers and to provide warmth once the sun was low in the sky. We cooked nothing fancy, just a burger each and bags of crisps. And of course my pickled cucumbers. Annie made a pavlova for pudding, topped with strawberries. Strawberry season is coming to an end now, sadly. 

I can't think of anything else to write, life on the whole is predictable and apart from the above exactly nothing has happened in ages. 

Just now, I am keen to go out in the garden and take some photos. It is glorious at this time of year, wild but not too wild and still vibrantly colourful. The rudbeckia only just started flowering. I love the sunny yellow very much. I'll show you some photos soon.

Thanks for visiting today. Have a great week xx