Moody Monday

We hardly see the sun these days. It has been raining every single day and today is no different. Until yesterday, it was all foggy and the rain started again first thing this morning.

I must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed this morning as things have not been going terribly well for me today!

The door bell rang even before we got out of bed. That is never a good sign. Officially the Mhinisteir is on holiday. Unofficially, he has been catching up on his work. This is one of the disadvantages of a multi parish benefice. The Vicar has so many churches, church wardens and parishioners to care for. Recently, a numpty commented that with the lockdown, the Mhinisteir will get a whole month off!!! Dream on pal!!!!

We have to get out of the Vicarage for a proper break. With the lockdown, we have had to cancel our self-catering cottage and holiday at home! Before lunch time, the door bell rang again and it was the same person. A Church warden. I later learned from the Mhinisteir that it was nothing important at all!

Also this morning, I had a serious disagreement with a family member over Maradona! Honestly, who gets into a disagreement over Maradona???

On the plus side, I have managed to finish all the ironing. With the absence of our cleaner, I have also successfully changed the sheets. Thankfully she is resuming her duties next week!

Off to rest!

Happy St Andrew’s Day!

Coal Bunker Comedy

On Friday, we got our first delivery of coal for this year. In fact, it is only this autumn that we are properly using our open fireplace. I am typing this as I sit next to the fire. Bliss!

This morning, the Mhinisteir went outside to get coal from the coal bunker while I made him French toast. The moment he got came back in, he said that we urgently needed to buy a coal shovel. Yes, we used to have one but not sure what happened to it.

Anyway, he was explaining that it will get harder to get the coal from the bunker once the coal level goes down. Mmmmm…. so I went… “Do you not use the hatch at the bottom of the coal bunker to get coal”????? to which he asked ” Is there one”????????????

Oh my goodness! This is the problem with academics!!!

Happy Ending

For the past few weeks, my health has not been in the usual manageable level. I was reluctant to mention it to the Mhinisteir, he who is known to be calm under the storm goes into a panic if it is my health! I tried to keep quiet about it but since yesterday afternoon I have been in a lot of pain.

I see a private consultant for this particular health condition but with Covid19, access to Private hospitals is nigh impossible.

I phoned my local surgery and asked for an appointment to speak to my GP. They were not giving out face to face appointments. Fair enough. I got an appointment for Monday for which I was very grateful. The receptionist asked for my symptoms. When I told her my symptoms, she said that she will get my GP to phone me this afternoon. Thank God!

A few minutes later, My GP phoned and asked me to see him in an hour’s time! I am pleased to say that I am already beginning to feel a a lot better!

A very happy ending to my Friday!

Indian Takeaway

Last night, we had an Indian takeaway. A first in many many years. The Mhinisteir loves a good curry not too hot but sadly I can’t eat Indian food as my stomach is a wimp!

The Mhinisteir usually settles for a Waitrose Indian but since he is on holiday(supposed to be anyway) this week, he decided to try the Indian in our nearest town. We have never been there. This Indian has got a very good reputation and rumour is that it used to be frequented by a former British Prime Minister!

Since they don’t do delivery, I decided to accompany the Mhinisteir to collect the takeaway. It was only while waiting for him that I remembered that the Mhinisteir didn’t have his mask with him!!!! Guess what? They allowed him in!!!. According to the Mhinisteir, they did have spare masks. What a great idea!

Anyway, the Mhinisteir ordered two starters (meat samosa & tandoori chicken) and a chicken main course (Chicken tikka shashil buna) while I ordered chicken nuggets with chips! I was grateful that they had a few European dishes.

All the Indian dishes smelled lovely and were beautifully presented. The Mhinisteir certainly did eat to his heart’s content. I was so pleased for him.

Death of a Footballer

This time yesterday, the Mhinisteir called out to me informing me of the death of the famous Argentinian footballer, Diego Maradona. I wasn’t totally surprised by the news but I was greatly saddened and still am.

I do enjoy good football especially the World Cup and yes, I do know the offside rule! People are usually stunned when I tell them that I enjoy watching a good game of football. Apparently I don’t have “that face”. I didn’t know you had to belong to a certain socio economic group to enjoy football. My father who is now an old man is a big football fan and a bigger Maradona fan.

I am saddened that for someone so gifted, Maradona’s life was full of trouble till the end. As a Christian, my mind always wonders to spiritual things……I can never forget his “hand of God” goal. What made him say that?

Every Sunday, we recite the Eucharistic Acclamation which is “Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again. It is for this reason that we Christians celebrate Christmas for without the birth of Christ, there is no hope. Because of Christ even the worst sinner has got hope.

May he rest in peace and rise in glory!

ABC and his Sabbatical

It was reported this week that the Archbishop of Canterbury is to go on a three month sabbatical. Given that we belong to the Church of England, I only knew about it when I opened up Monday’s papers.

Readers of the Telegraph were aghast that the ABC was going on a sabbatical. They are disappointed with him over the decision to keep the churches closed during the Covid pandemic. They also feel that he has been twiddling his thumb during the pandemic

Just one reader wrote to say that he was pleased that the ABC was going on a sabbatical as this would mean that this reader will get a break from the ABC!!!!!! I know what he means!

Fruit Salad with a twist

Photo by Elly Fairytale on Pexels.com

I know this is not the weather for fruit salads but I had a sudden craving for it on Sunday! The Vicarage fruit bowl was filled to the brim with fruits. It gave me the perfect opportunity to make some fruit salad as part of our Sunday Lunch. The main course was Coq Au Vin.

I used pears, oranges, bananas, blue berries, strawberries and melon balls to make my salad. My secret ingredients were a pinch of salt and a small can of Schweppes lemonade!

I have never prepared fruit salad this way but it tasted heavenly with a scoop of Swedish Glace non dairy vanilla ice cream!

The Mhinisteir said he enjoyed it but I think he would have preferred a warm dessert like sticky toffee pudding!

Covid19 Vaccine

With news of the Covid 19 Vaccine, I fear that people will start treating it like the morning after pill. I get the feeling that people are (or willing) to let their guard down now that a vaccine has been found. The Vaccine is not a miracle cure. We MUST continue to act responsibly. I for one am a little sceptical about the vaccine as it is still in its infancy. How can a vaccine that normally takes 10 years to produce be produced in 10 months??? Furthermore, do we know anything about the side effects etc? Is it a competition between the pharmaceutical giants as to whose vaccine will triumph

People continue to die from Covid nationally and globally. The government can no longer desensitise the situation by producing statistics as more and more of us are facing the hard facts that these statistics are now someone we know or whom we once held dear!

Life is not always about eating, drinking and be merry!

New Slow Cooker & Coq Au Vin

I never replaced our slow cooker after leaving Scotland.

With the way my health is, I decided to invest in a new slow cooker. About a month ago, my new retro Swan brand slow cooker arrived. However, It was only last weekend that I was able to try out the new slow cooker.

Since I had some old red wine in the pantry, I decided to cook Coq Au Vin. I am so pleased to say that the new slow cooker is working marvellously and the Coq Au Vin was Super tasty. 😋

End of the Old Year

I was brought up a Protestant Christian so I didn’t follow the liturgical Calendar until I joined the Church of England.

Yesterday was the Feast of Christ the King, marking the end of an old year.

Next Sunday will be the start of Advent which marks the start of a new liturgical year. Just based on observations, I used to think that the start of advent was the start to the party season!!! That was when Office Christmas parties and Christmas shopping got underway.

Advent according to the liturgical calendar is similar to Lent where Christians are in a penitent mode fasting and praying. For this reason, I am not sure who came up with advent calendars filled with chocolates, gins etc!!!!!!