Aching

Yesterday we cleaned out the outhouse shed. The bins went today, and I like to make sure that I get as much as I can in there. We usually manage quite well with the three week collection, we recycle a lot, we have very little food waste now, we compost the veg peelings. But, we know that locally, the garden waste collections have been impacted due to a lot of staff being off ill or self-isolating. Is it just a matter of time before this hits the black bin collection as well? And also, the recycling centres are all closed, so anything we need to dispose of that we can't recycle or upcycle has to go in there. People are saying that councils will need to be putting skips in streets, and I think they have a point, otherwise there is going to be a heck of a lot of fly tipping.

Amongst the other gems (crap) we found some wood stain, some paint, and loads of brand new paint brushes. They must have been breeding or something. So we can do a little staining, probably not all though. I know places are open that sell things like paint and stain and compost, but Mr G and I feel really conflicted about this. They're not necessary purchases, at the end of the day. The risk is there with each and every place you are that isn't your own home. It's nerve wracking enough just going food shopping. One of Cait's friends works at a local garden centre though, and she has kindly offered to deliver any compost or plants that we might need, to stop us going stir crazy.

I have had a fair old clear out so far; I have clothes for the charity shop, clothes that aren't good enough and old underwear, odd socks etc for the fabric recycling bank. I have a bag of bras for the Oxfam collection at M&S. I have pairs of the boys old spectacles for the appeal in Specsavers. I have a box of bric a brac and old books and DVDs that Cait has decided to get rid of. All these are crammed into my wardrobe currently. Still plenty of work to do though, but we will get through it bit by bit. Don't want to peak too soon!

We have at least another three weeks in which to do so, anyway, with the lockdown being extended, no surprise really, and it will probably be extended again, and again, and again... before this is anywhere near over. It makes sense to me, and it's a small price to pay to save lives.

Saw this yesterday and it really resonated. We're all going through it but we're not going through it the same, are we? I can honestly say that for me it's 'sprinkling'. For some of my friends it's 'a storm'. And for others, like my keyworker friends, it is 'a hurricane'. I really do appreciate each and every person who is out there daily, whether they're a doctor or a dustbin man. I wouldn't like to be in that hurricane right now, so the very least I can do is stay in and do as I'm told.

My random act of kindness came unstuck yesterday. My NHS friend not only gave me the wrong address, but she gave an address that didn't exist (one digit wrong). Amazon claimed the parcel had been delivered, yet when I went on the chat bot, it said that it may have been prematurely marked as delivered (you reckon?). I asked to speak to a customer service rep, and I spoke to a guy called Deepak. I explained what had happened, that I was trying to send a small treat to my friend who was on the frontline. He said that he could see it was ordered as a gift (complete with soppy message) and God bless my friend. He refunded me my money and I was able to re-order the chocolates. My friend who had also ordered was able to cancel her order and re-order as hers hadn't been sent yet. The card... Lord knows where that will end up, hopefully the postie will pop it in the right letterbox upon seeing the house number doesn't exist. I know the local posties here would know where people live by the name, I guess it might be different in cities. So I partially salvaged that situation, thankfully. At least she'll have some lovely choccies to munch on in a few days time. Fair play to Amazon, I know they have their issues, but any time I've had a problem with anything, they've always sorted it out instantly for me.

I was so excited the other night, when I found out that my faves Lawson are reforming and have a new single out today! It's called Lovers. This really was news I wanted to hear, they've gone off and done their own thing, but they really were too good, too talented not to be bigger than they were. And live, wow. Spot on. Mr G said if they tour again, we are going, damn right we are. All we need now are The Pierces to reform and we are made. They have been singing together too via some sort of video call, I don't know, Zoom or Facetime and uploading the videos to their social media channels. I think we will see a lot of bands reforming when this is all over. I think this pandemic is delivering a huge wake up call to everyone.

One of my friends in Wrexham said to me yesterday, that when this is over, for Mr G and I to book a hotel, because there is going to be a huge party. That's something else to look forward to. Miss them all so much, it was bad enough waiting for the season to start, but to only have seen one game before this happened is a bit rubbish. Haven't even had this season's shirt yet :-(

I braved Aldi this morning, and it was quite a pleasant shopping trip. The only thing I didn't manage to find was antibacterial wipes. Got plenty of fresh salad, thankfully, and some fruit other than bananas (got a shit ton of bastard bananas again that are over ripe - banana bread anyone?). Once I had kept all my groceries, Cait and I did a little staining between us. We managed to get half of the fence painted before it started to rain.

She's been a star, really getting stuck in to anything and everything. I know she is really missing her boyfriend, I'm impressed at how she is not just sitting down and moping and wailing at how things aren't fair. I remember being 17 and in love and not being able to be with my boyfriend and it was horrible. At least they have Facetime and phonecalls and texts, which is better than nothing right now.

Finish this tomorrow (she says...)

Tea tonight was Chubby Cubs Cheat's Lasagne with garlic cheesy 'bread' and salad. Really enjoyed this but I am so off plan, I have been so bad this week. So, so bad. I need to draw a line under it and get back on plan. I just can't stop snacking, picking at stuff, I feel constantly hungry, and I haven't felt like that since before I started Slimming World. Is it boredom? Underlying fear causing me to comfort eat? Even if it's subconsciously? I don't know. But either way I am looking at a bugger of a gain this week and I need to pack it in, and soon.

So tomorrow. Weather permitting, I'll finish staining the fence, and the fence at the bottom of the garden, then go on a hunt for the brown stain for the decking and the summer house.

Then! My chicken thighs are marinating for the Chicken Doner Kebab I'm making for our SW group's Fakeaway Frenzy tomorrow night. Told the children what we were making and their faces lit up. If I thought I could get away with just making this for two, I had another thing coming. You have never seen so much chicken in your life, I think there must be about 30 chicken thighs in this massive bowl. Probably about £10 worth of chicken in there, but when you think what a takeaway kebab would cost for five people, it's well worth it. Plus there's the added bonus of knowing what has gone in there. The recipe comes from Recipe Tin Eats, we've made it a couple of times before already, and if you want some serious food porn, then take a look at this video... cheap, simple and tastes absolutely spot on!

I'm serving this with some sort of bread, I might throw caution to the wind completely seeing as I've fucked this week up spectacularly, and put it on a naan bread. It would be both a travesty and an insult to put it on a Weight Watchers wrap, wouldn't it? Loads of fresh salad, some homemade kebab shop style red cabbage to bang on top, nice hot chilli sauce. Mr G wants a homemade savoury rice too, and I might make a coleslaw to use up the rest of the red cabbage. Time permitting.

Until tomorrow... stay safe