Sorry for the lack of posts over the weekend, it ended up being busy yet lazy and I just didn’t want to get the old laptop out.

Saturday involved us going for a morning walk to check out a butchers I had spotted a few weeks back. Randalls Butchers had a great selection of meats but also cheeses and vegetables. The meat is all organic which made it rather expensive. As a meaty treat it was fine but not sure we could afford to shop there very often, even though we do not eat very much meat these days. We got ourselves some mince to make burgers with and wild boar sausages.

The burgers were for a virtual birthday barbecue , which a friend was having for their birthday. It was a bit disjointed as no one was actually using a barbecue due to the not so sunny weather, so in the end everyone went off and ate and we had a plan to meet back up in the evening – but tasks were set for people to complete through the day! It was a good laugh.

We enjoyed a rather delicious home made burger if I do say so myself. Just good quality mince, lots of salt and pepper and a big old dash of dried basil and oregano. Served in a gluten free roll, with some home made wedges. The rest of the afternoon was pottering about, doing the tasks and we watched Heathers, such a good 80’s movie. We are finding with so much time on our hands we are going back to watch old and classic movies.

Sunday continued along the same lines. I did some cooking – the rest of the left over mince –  which ended up being a rather odd ragu of mince, aubergine and lentils (tastes nice). As well as arancini from some left over risotto.  Dinner was a wild boar sausage casserole, which was delicious.

Overall, not a bad weekend, rather chilled.

Today is Monday, so another week begins. I cannot say I am enjoying furlough, especially as it was announced by work on Friday that this could continue until the end of June. I am someone that needs to keep their brain active and I am getting very bored. With this in my mind I re-downloaded the Duolingo app –  time to start making use of my time. I have used it before when I started to relearn Spanish before a trip, but this time I am going to delve back into German. I did it at school, and end up going to Germany at least once a year so need to use this furlough time a bit more usefully. Also perhaps start pondering what is at the end of the tunnel and what happens if I do not get asked to go back to work!

I went for a rather lovely walk this morning around Wandsworth Common, in the sunshine with all the blossom out it was quite peaceful while listening to a podcast.

I have become quite a fan of podcasts over the last couple of years walking to and from work. They are a great distraction but also educational. I have learnt a lot from history and educational podcasts, sometimes on subjects I would never have looked at before. Some of my favourites are;

• In Our Time: its a good one to learn about different subjects.
• The Adam Buxton podcast: Adam Buxton is very funny and interviews lots of varied people, some rather silly and others sensible. Its a good mix.
• You’re Dead to Me: a history podcast which is rather amusing but educational
• Table Manners: Interviews with celebs by Jessie Ware and her mum, and lots of food chat.
• Sound Tracking: this is Edith Bowman’s podcast chatting to people in the film and TV world about the music of their shows and films.
• Friday Night Comedy: This is a varied podcast of Radio 4 comedy shows

I have also just downloaded the first episode of Iweigh from Jameela Jamil who I really like, especially her no nonsense attitude to female issues. As well as a couple of episodes of How did this get made, so I will see how I get on with those on my walks.

Right I better get on and do something useful with my time, like put the laundry away –  such a boring task!!!