January 2021

January 31, 2021

I’m trying to stay off my phone and computer as much as possible on Sundays. I don’t count the meditation app or tracking a run (had I got off my ass and gone for one), but didn’t look at any social media, news or games. Made our usual weekend fry-up for brunch. I’ve got a system down now and can cook it all in one frying pan. I start with the bacon to generate some fat, then push it round the sides and add sliced mushrooms, which I sauté with Worcestershire sauce and garlic.

Take out the bacon, wrap it in paper towel, and push the mushrooms to the edge. Another drizzle of oil, then add halved tomatoes and slices of halloumi. While they are cooking, slice avocado halves crosswise and line up the toast. Shift everything to warmed plates, and fry six eggs in the hot pan while the toast is browning.

Managed to do some blue economy editing, though I didn’t really feel like it. Once I discovered that we don’t have to send it back on Monday night (the deadline is actually Tuesday night) the pressure was off. I’ll have to buckle down from tomorrow…

Beef pho for dinner, with the mint chocolate chip ice cream again for dessert. It was much better for the extra freezer time, though I think one of the main problems with mint chocolate chip ice cream is that chocolate isn’t actually all that nice eaten cold…

January 30, 2021

Started the weekend with meditation, then moved straight into completing my application to renew my British passport, which expired last October. Nova is doing hers in Bristol, and although we are in different locations it makes sense to do them at the same time. She needs hers renewed so she can move ahead with her plans to study at Madrid University this autumn. Fingers crossed that it can happen…

We read the guidance carefully, set up the photo lights, and I posed in front of the white livingroom door looking as neutral as possible while Adam fired off a series of shots. They have a built-in photo analyzer that assesses whether your picture will suffice. The first one was rejected on the grounds my eyes were closed (they weren’t). Back to the “studio” where I glared like a glitter-eyed psycho and we managed to produce a shot that was acceptable.

Went for a morning walk with Millie. We have the worst luck with weather. It was pissing it down when I set out and I opted for my wellies thinking the Heath would be a mudbath. In the event, we ended up doing a couple of laps of Waterlow Park, before swinging through the village for a bit of shopping.

Leftovers for lunch — the fourth portion of this week’s meals. Adam headed off to visit his mum afterwards. I’d aimed to do a chunk of blue economy editing in the afternoon, but only managed an hour in the end.

Dinner was five-spice duck breasts with roasted pak choi — very nice — with homemade chocolate chip mint ice cream for dessert. Not my favourite flavour by a long shot, but Lyra loved it.

It was my turn to pick the film — I opted for Frances Foster Jenkins, a recommendation from Margo. After a slowish start, it turned out to be a gem of film. I don’t know that I’d decribe it as a comedy — Meryl Streep brought too much depth to the character to make her laughable, but we all really enjoyed it.

January 29, 2021

Did another Whitestone Pond four-miler this morning. Legs not feeling so well rested today, and I was a noticeably slower, but glad to have done it.

Had a learning set with my Kings Fund group this afternoon. I broke the habit of a lifetime and volunteered to do my check-in first. Each person gets twenty minutes of undivided active listening from the others while they talk about what’s going on in their life. Most of us in were in a pretty good place, aside from Sarah in Manchester. They have been in almost continuous lockdown since March, and she has the youngest children, which would make such a difference.

It was an intense three hours, and could have done without a work meeting straight after, but it least it only lasted half an hour. Clicked my computer shut when it ended and broke out the G&Ts, which has become a Friday evening routine.

Ordered takeaway from Turquoise — I generally get a lamb kebab with salad and leave my rice. Lyra chose tonight’s movie — Freaky Friday (the Lindsay Lohan version). It’s a pretty good film, and she was certainly a talented little actress until the drugs took charge of her life…

January 28, 2021

It’s much warmer this morning than it has been for a while. After meditation and coffee, I popped out for a brisk walk round Waterlow Park before getting down to work. It’s just that bit too small to feel exercised afterwards, though it is hilly. And the views are wonderful… Listened to a podcast on how to do nothing with a woman called Jenny Odell, challenging the idea that we should always be productive and tying it to the capitalism/consumerism mindset we’ve all bought into.

It was an interesting contrast to the previous podcast I’d listened to with a woman called Ashley Willans, which was all about using your time better. She’s written a book called Time Smart that is designed to get you from “time poverty” to “time affluence”.

Prawn, rocket and avocado salad with sriracha and japanese mayo for lunch, and cottage pie with green beans for dinner.

January 27, 2021

It rained all night, and the snow and ice has been washed away. After meditation and coffee, I set out for a run — the four mile loop to Whitestone Pond. It’s been almost a week since my last run, and my legs were feeling pretty zippy. Got out of the house half an hour earlier than usual, which I was pleased about. I had a meeting scheduled for 10am, but in the end the guy pushed it back half an hour.

I’m feeling a bit swamped with work, and juggling too many things. After triaging my email, and clearing a few urgent tasks I managed to put in four solid hours on the UNEP editing.

Knocked off at 6pm to do an online qi gong class with my client in Vancouver. She offered me an introductory session months back when I was building her new website, but I hadn’t got round to take her up on it yet.

There were nine of in the class, ranging from Vancouver Island, the mainland, Manitoba, Ontario and then me in the UK. It occurred to me that before the pandemic she would have been sitting in a room in north Vancouver with a handful of participants, and now she has this far-ranging virtual “circle”.

We started with some body awareness, bringing our attention to our feet, torso and hands, then stood up and started the exercises. They were similar to tai chi, except that we kept our feet in place, and slowly waved our arms around.

For the last bit, we sat down again and conducted a lymphatic clapping thing after which she sang to us in Objibway. I wasn’t sure about that bit, but it was quite lovely.

Adam had made dinner a recipe from my keto cookbook — chicken roasted with broccoli and pancetta — which wery nice. Watched a Breaking Bad, then reviewed and submitted the violin exam. Fingers crossed…

Watched the first episode of It’s a Sin, which is set in the London gay scene at the start of the 1980s and tells the story of the AIDS epidemic. I remember that time very well. I was at UBC with my adult life opening up. In 1982 the public health messages about herpes started, and I thought how awful that was and what could be worse. Then the next year came AIDS…

I remember how little was known about this very scary disease. They thought it was a kind of contagious cancer, that it only affected gay men and Haitians. A “joke” from that time:

Q: What’s the hardest thing about getting AIDS?
A: Trying to convince your parents that you are Haitian.

What a period piece that is…

January 26, 2021

It’s still too snowy and slippery for running… Coffee, meditation, and then down to work, earlier than I would do normally.

I had a marketing meeting scheduled with my architect client — what with other projects taking a front seat, they’ve fallen off my work plan for the last couple of months. There was nothing urgent to do, and it was easy to lose track of their work. I’m going to have to make time for them now, as I’ve recommitted to delivering a couple of things by the end of February.

Managed some UN editing, but had to break off mid-afternoon for a Junxion meeting. Now that our new marketing manager Cami is in post, we’re going to redo the company website. She going to lead on the project, but I’ll be supporting where needed.

Made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, which we ate with a side of Breaking Bad. Afterwards, Lyra did two more violin exam recordings, both of which were better than yesterday. I’d be fine with submitting the fourth one, but she’s keen to have another go tomorrow…

January 25, 2021

Happy birthday, Beulah! Phoned and sang her happy birthday over the phone first thing, then headed upstairs to meditate. The snow has persisted over the night and it is a few degrees below zero, so I have no interest in going for a run. I don’t mind the cold, it’s the slipperiness and risk of falling that’s stopping me.

As ever on a Monday, there were a number of household things demanding my attention — such as laundry, finalizing the grocery order and setting up another for two weeks’ time, catching up the budget — before I got down to client work.

I have another large piece of UN editing that landed on Monday — I’ve gone through my work diary and blocked out chunks of time for it, otherwise it’ll be tricky to get done on schedule. I foresee some weekend working as well…

Went for a walk late afternoon, for a bit of exercise and fresh air. Took the private road down to the boating pond, then around to Swains Lane. It was very slippy in a number of places, reinforcing the rightness of my decision not to run. This is the longest injury-free stretch I’ve had in ages and I’d like to keep it that way.

Picked up a swede and a couple of other things for our Burns Night supper, then headed home up the hill past the cemetery. They were already tolling the exit bell in Waterlow Park, so I stuck to the road the whole way.

Adam wasn’t sure he could get the car out, but the road wasn’t too bad after the bit near our house and he was able to go visit his mum while I prepared dinner. She was very pleased with the gifts I’d chosen. The Turkish delight was a no-brainer, I was pretty confident she’d like the AA Gill collection, but wasn’t sure how the fake fur throw blanket would land.

Lyra did a couple more violin exam recordings — I think number 4 is looking very strong and is submittable, but she wants to do one or two more tomorrow before we decide.

She wasn’t enthusiastic about the Burns’ Night menu. It’s her first one as usually I feed the kids first (or they’re off doing something else) and then we have a dinner party with Pete, Pasc and maybe other friends.

We did the ‘Ode to a Haggis’ taking alternate verses (Lyra has the best Scottish accent for sure), toasted it with a shot of whisky and then tucked in. Like many people, she didn’t like the sound of haggis, but she didn’t appear to have any issues with the taste. The three of us polished of a haggis for 3-4 people with no difficulty. She was not a fan of the mashed swede, which reminded her of school dinners.

Made whisky pannacotta for dinner with raspberry coulis. It had got pretty late by this point, so Lyra headed downstairs for the evening. We managed to fit in an episode of Spiral before calling it a night.

January 24, 2021

Up at 7:30am this morning, having made a conscious decision not to lie about reading news and doomscrolling Twitter. Had a coffee, meditated and headed out to meet Will and Sara for a walk on the Heath by 10am. Snow was in the forecast, and I should have paid attention. There was nothing at first, then a few flakes, followed by a little blizzard. The ground, already frozen underfoot, became slippier with the gathering snow.

We made our way to Hampstead Village and bought a takeout coffee. It was very cold by this point, but the streets were filling with people heading to the Heath, some with toboggans.

My cheap Primark gloves I was wearing were completely inadequate and with all the flurrying snow, by the time we got home I was pretty wet from head to toe. I needed help pulling off my coat and wet jeans, as my hands were barely functioning. Worked my way into my furry flannel tracksuit and burrowed under a double blanket on the sofa for an hour.

When I looked at my FitBit to see how much distance we’d covered, I noticed that my heartbeat was strangely slow. It’s usually about 52bpm, but was down in the mid 40s. Maybe a heat conserving measure that kicks in at the onset of hypothermia…? 😉 Went online and ordered fleece-lined hat and big fluffy mittens. I don’t intend to have this experience again if I can help it.

Had a “visit” with Nova who called from Bristol for a chat, then set up a little home recording set-up for do Lyra’s grade 5 violin exam. Used both studio lights, the mini tripod for the phone, and arranged the music stand, extra table etc as instructed by the ABRSM guidance.

Lyra has to introduce herself and the exam she is doing, then hold up her entry form to the camera, recite her four pieces in order, then introduce each one as she performs it.

The exam takes about fifteen minutes to perform and has to be a continuous recording. Managed two takes today, and will do a couple more tomorrow before submitting the best one.

Dinner was Thai yellow chicken curry with noodles (I went for zoodles, which I’m starting to enjoy). Watched a Breaking Bad and then bed. I’d been dreaming of a hot bath, but by now I was too warm if anything and it no longer appealed.

January 23, 2021

Given it was Saturday, we dawdled in bed before getting up, but there was still time to meditate before meeting Steve and Gudren for a walk. It was a nice morning for it, cold and bright. We headed for the Heath in two pairs — me with Steve, and Adam with Gudren. I’d imagined we’d switch things up part way but didn’t in the end. We did their usual route, which is similar to ours (we’ve bumped into them on occasion), but cuts a few corners.

Bought a couple of things in the village (including a haggis for Monday), then made a fry-up for lunch when we got back. After eating, we flew at some housework. Adam did the loo and bathroom, while I hoovered the house to within an inch of its life, including the stairs, laundry room, Nova’s flat, doormats etc. Had to empty the dust canister twice…

Read our books in companionable silence for a while, sharing a pot of tea. Adam headed over to visit Beulah, who he hadn’t seen in a week. He got back just in time for our takeaway (Lyra’s pick, Wagamama). There wasn’t a lot for me to choose from, but I cobbled something together.

It was Adam’s pick for movie night, so we watched The Untouchables. Great cast, good story, and a reminder of what a huge star Kevin Costner was in the 1980s. I wonder what became of him…

January 22, 2021

The weeks just seem to whiz past these days. I think it’s because the days are so similar — coffee, meditate, maybe run, work, meal, telly, bed… Spent most of today iterations of graphics for my insurance client, and slashing through my overgrown inbox. Made an omelet for lunch — and ate with Adam for a nice change.

Had a meeting with Garth at the end of the day about a potential new project with the SF mens’ health bunch — building an annual report microsite. They provided a couple of examples of things they like, and I took a look under the hood as I generally do.

The one I preferred was built on cloud platform called Netlify that I don’t know anything about, so spent a bit of time looking into that. I think that’s the most challenging aspect of my job — the sheer volume and range of stuff that I need to know at least something about.

Takeaway night postponed is postponed, as Adam had forgotten he has book group this evening. Instead, I made a South African dish I’ve been wanting to try — meatballs seasoned with lots of coriander and allspice in a spicy tomato sauce. The flavours were good but it needs work imho…

Lyra fixed the drinks — G&Ts for us, just a T for her, then we sat down with our food to watch a film together. I let her pick, which is how we ended up watching something called Easy A. It was a pretty good teen flick about a girl who pretends to be sleeping with one, and then a number of, boys and the consequences of those lies.

Adam came up when it ended, and I watched an episode of Spiral with him before bed.

January 21, 2021

Started my morning with Rachel Maddow. Quite strange not to be focused on the chaos of the Trump administration for the first time in forever. I could get used to this — and to not following American politics so closely…

Adam was walking with Doron so I meditated solo, then headed out for a run. Did 4.3 miles to Whitestone Pond and back, as I’m still feeling precious about my new shoes and not wanting to get them muddy. Not my fastest effort but felt good throughout…

Had a quick shower and was at my desk just after 10am. Lots of smallish client things to get to, but my main task was pulling together an analytics presentation on the UNEP launch in December.

Dinner was cauliflower soup with keto rolls (basically nuts and eggs — everything keto is nuts and eggs). Watched a Breaking Bad, then started watching season 2 of Discovery of Witches, but couldn’t get into it. I’d forgotten what complete nonsense it is…

January 20, 2021

Inauguration Day, which I’m both looking forward to and dreading. I imagine they have things locked down tight, but still…

Meditated then went for a walk round Waterlow Park and the Cholmeleys before starting my day. Cold but with a slight blustery warmth to the air, or humidity. Apparently it’s going to get a lot colder by the end of the week.

Spent the morning sorting out IT issues and updates on the beauty website, then reconfiguring the email template for their membership scheme. At 2pm I turned on CNN, decamped to the sofa with my laptop and worked there for the afternoon so I could keep an eye on proceedings.

It felt different without the crowds, but the field of flags representing the American people was a strong visual. The cross-party attendance was a positive. Lady Gaga belted the national anthem out of the park, Garth Brooks (staunch Republican) sang Amazing Grace, and the Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman was amazing. When Biden was finally sworn in I surprised myself my bursting into tears. I wouldn’t say that public speaking is a strength of us, but his inauguration address was very moving.

I had a Zoom book group this evening, led by the convenors of the retreat I went on a few years back. We are doing The Examined Mind, reading it in five sections. There were twelve of us on the call, and I knew half the people.

Made chicken kati curry on homemade flatbreads for dinner, (with a weird lo-dough base for me, that worked surprisingly well). There was enough space left in my daily carb count that I was able to treat myself to a mug cake for dessert.

Mug cakes used to annoy the crap out of me. The girls would see something on TikTok, throw a bunch of ingredients into a mug, zap the crap out of it (invariably making a mess of the microwave when it spilled down the sides), and leave the cleaning up to me.

Now that I’m “living the keto lifestyle” I can see the point of them. They aren’t baked goods as such, but they broadly tick the same box. Watched an episode of Breaking Bad, then switched back to CNN until bed, hanging in there until I saw Biden sign his first executive orders.

January 19, 2021

Adam was up and out early for his Heath walk with Doron. I had my coffee in bed, listening to Rachel Maddow. Apparently, the word on the street is that Trump will pardon Ghislaine Maxwell today. Wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest…

It’s interesting though that as much as he’d like to pardon himself for all past/present/future crimes, it’s not the smart play. For one thing, a pardon is an admission of guilt, which could backfire on him later.

But the more important reason, according to Rachel, is that it would set a constitutional legal precedent that would undoubtedly be challenged, pretty much guaranteeing he would face federal charges that he could we be found guilty of.

By the time I meditated, I only had time for a short run before my first meeting. Did 2.5 miles to the Heath and back, trying to run a bit quicker than I normally do.

Spent a lot of the day supporting Pete via Zoom to edit some video he shot yesterday. He’s recently chucked in the teaching job, and joined our friend Nick’s company as the marketing guy.

For dinner I made lamb-feta burgers with salad and couscous. Another Breaking Bad (a super tense episode) and then the finale of Spiral.

January 18, 2021

Slept okay last night, just about hitting seven hours. Now that Adam has a FitBit as well, it’s interesting to compare our respective sleep reports. I get too much light sleep and far too little deep sleep. Some nights I manage only five minutes apparently.

Adam gets lots of deep sleep but not enough REM. Which concurs with my impression that he sleeps like a log, and is groggy when he wakes. (The main reason he sleeps less than he’d like is either going to bed too late or that his back starts aching after a time.) I generally pop in and out of sleep like flipping a switch, the exceptions being when I’m in my 5-20 minutes of nightly deep sleep.

Today’s guided meditation got right up my nose. The overall theme of this course is self-compassion, which is fair enough. But they’ve also presented it as an introductory thing. I imagine that’s why the sittings are ten minutes long, but then they try to cram too much guidance into the time. The result is someone yakking almost continuously and asking you to do things without allowing enough time. First World problems, as they say…:-)

Was feeling too grumpy to run afterwards. Changed out of my running clothes and started my work week — mostly graphics work for the insurance client, which is fine by me as they pay the most.

The rest of my time was devoted to trying to implement a donation plugin on the Festival website. I’m pretty sure there are issues with how the PayPal business account was set up, but at any rate I couldn’t get it to complete a transaction.

I’m not keen on us asking for Festival donations in any case, and now we’ve gone back into lockdown it seems particularly tone deaf. Sent an email to that effect to damp down the committee member who’s been hassling me to do it, and was gratified that a few other members popped up to support my position. The next meeting won’t be pretty…

Had a good chat with Wade before dinner — sausage, celeriac and kale tray bake. Watched an episode of Breaking Bad, and then the penultimate episode of The Serpent. I’ve enjoyed it, though if I have a criticism it’s the lead actor’s total lack of charisma. I imagine Charles Sobhraj must have had charisma in spades…

January 17, 2021

Woke up before 7am as per usual. Coffee with the crossword in bed, meditation, then out for a walk. We’d arranged to meet up with Pete and Pasc for twinned walks in the afternoon, but there was a glorious blue sky blazing and I didn’t want to miss what might be the best part of the day.

Packaged up our tax return info and tramped through Highgate Woods to our accountant Kiri’s house. He and his wife had Covid over the Christmas holidays but happily he’s on the mend.

Back through Queens Wood, which was very mucky, though nothing like what Millie and I squelched through yesterday. Made a fry-up for brunch then spent an hour or so reading before it was time for walk number two.

Pete is borrowing my camera and lights for a photoshoot tomorrow, so we shlepped that up to their house, then carried on. I walked with Pasc, Adam with Pete. I thought we might change it up part way through but it never happened.

Headed down Swains Lane to the bottom of the cemetery. There’s a walkway behind a row of flats where you can look up at the rising field of graves. Certainly focuses the mind…

Wandered back up through Holly Lodge Estate, down West Hill, through a secret alley that connects to Mill Lane and then back up along the side of the Ponds and Fitzroy Park. Pretty good walk in the end…

Made gochuchang salmon, rice and spinach for dinner and watched an episode of Breaking Bad. Had an early night, for once. I was thinking of having a bath, but our house is so warm since getting the boiler fixed that I didn’t fancy it…

January 16, 2021

Up pretty early and had meditated by 9am, after which I made a batch of keto blueberry muffins for breakfast. They were okay, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat one again. Unfortunately Adam and Lyra felt the same way, and I now have a goodly collection of frozen “muffins” to work through at my leisure…

I’ve been trying to stay off the news sites, but I have such dread about the situation in the US. It’s going to be a long week until that inauguration. And like 2021, it’s not like the situation is going to particularly resolve itself once Biden is installed. Though it will be a relief to not have to worry about what the president of the United States is getting up to…

I was determined to spend some time reading this weekend, and after lunch I installed myself on the sofa with my book. Adam was feeling more virtuous. He gather up everything he needed to do his tax return, set up his computer on the diningroom table and started beavering away. He was just in my eyeline as I lolled on the sofa…

By mid-afternoon the guilt got to me. I closed my book (Ten Percent Happier by Dan Harris), and buckled down to my tax return. My business has grown significantly in the last couple of years, and there are a lot more receipts and invoices to pull together. Took about four hours but we finally managed it.

Made Thai spicy peanut chicken for dinner with an Asian sort of slaw on the side. Lyra’s turn to pick the film — we ended up watching Wild Child, which turned out to be a delight.

January 15, 2021

Meditated then set out to run four miles. Whatever was wrong with me on Wednesday wasn’t a factor today. I made a decision to take it gently, felt good throughout and finished a good minute faster than Wednesday.

After my shower, I called Beulah. I was feeling bad about not speaking to her in a while. Made up for it with an hour long chat. That didn’t leave time for much else before lunch — a makeshift “burrito” with bits and bobs from the fridge.

Lyra popped upstairs to fix herself something before heading back for her afternoon classes. A minute later, she let out a great yell. Turns out Cleo had taken a big, smelly shit on Lyra’s hair straighteners, which was positioned neatly between the two wands.

It was pretty funny on one level, utterly disgusting on another. I had closed the door to the laundry room (and her litter tray) to encourage her to go outside the way she has for the past ten years. She clearly didn’t think much of that idea…

Finished the final edits to the blue economy report and sent it to the designer. Issues with cross-references and figure numbers that were quite fiddly to resolve, but got there in the end. It’s a much better piece of work than the Middle East report. Coming up next, a series of guidance documents for each of the blue economy sectors that need to be edited and made consistent…

Takeout from Kiplings (who now deliver) with two rounds of G&Ts to kick the weekend off properly. Watched The Hunger — I remember loving that film when it came out. Can’t say I’m as enamoured of it now, though it has stood the test of time fine. It’s me that has changed…

January 14, 2021

Whatever it was that hit me yesterday, it seems to have passed now… 🙂 Did our meditating, but neither of us ended up walking, as the weather was foul.

I’m having to set rules to keep myself off the news sites during the day — it has been interfering with my productivity (such as it is). Had a reasonably good morning, but got distracted after breaking for lunch at 1pm and it had gone 3pm by the time I resumed.

Texted Jane to see how she’s been doing and to suggest meeting for a walk soon. Turns out she’s caught Covid and is in quarantine. Fortunately she’s not feeling too rough so far.

Made a delicious beef pho for dinner with lots of help from Lyra. Ate in front of Breaking Bad, then followed that up with another episode about the fiendish Sobhraj. To bed at 10:30…

January 13, 2021

Felt distinctly meh this morning. I’d slept badly, but that’s par for the course – it was more than that. I felt tired and draggy, and a bit upset in the stomach as well.

The weather was looking nasty, but I put on my running clothes anyway, as I’ve learned that’s the best way to ensure my runs happen. After meditating, I pulled on my shoes and and headed out into the rain.

My first idea was to do two miles, but once I got going I decided to do a slow four instead. I managed to complete my run, but certainly didn’t enjoy it.

The rest of the day wasn’t much better. After lunch, I decided to move to the sofa with my laptop. Had a bit of a nap, then did some half-hearted work with the impeachment hearing playing in the background.

Made ginger-lime chicken for dinner with a winter slaw and continued with season 3 of Breaking Bad. Satisfying to see the bi-partisan vote to impeach come in with ten Republicans onside, but honestly what the fuck is wrong with the rest of them? To bed by 11pm…

January 12, 2021

Adam was walking with Doron first thing this morning, so I meditated on my own. I didn’t do the latest installment in our New Year’s meditation challenge so that Adam could do it with me later.

Made a start on some client work before it was time to meet my friend Kate for a walk. Grabbed coffee from Nero and then did a lap round Waterlow Park and down to the bathing ponds and back.

Got stuck in properly after lunch doing some LinkedIn design work for my insurance client, and also updated the ecommerce plugins on Basil’s art school website.

Made a cauliflower cheese crustless quiche for dinner, which we ate with a tossed salad. Started season 3 of Breaking Bad, and then after Adam headed off to spend the evening with his mother I watch another installment of the Charles Sohbraj thing…

January 11, 2021

According to the FitBit, I only got six hours sleep last night, but because I scarcely woke at all and I managed a decent amount of deep sleep (sometimes I get as little as 5 minutes) I felt pretty good.

Did our meditating, then I headed off for a run – 4.25 miles to Whitestone Pond and back. Still not ready to muck up my new shoes. Not as fast as my last couple of times on the route, but still a lot faster than running in the Woods.

Put in a good chunk of time on the blue economy report, which came back to us last Friday. They were generally happy with my edits, but there is some more complex stuff around which charts and graphs to include where that took some time to sort out.

Hard to keep from checking the news every five minutes to see what was unfolding in the US. Not as much as I’d like, though it is gratifying to see the arrests pile up, and read about the plans for impeachment.

Made a mini pork loin roast, with applesauce and steamed potatoes/carrots for Adam and Lyra, and a fennel gratin for me – all of which was delicious. Watched the final episode of series two of Breaking Bad with dinner.

January 10, 2021

Had one of those nights where I kept waking up to make sure that Adam didn’t sleep in. Four am, 5am, at 5:30am I gave up and just stayed awake doomscrolling through the latest “news” about the attempted coup.

I’d felt that “coup” was overstating things at first, but the more information that trickles out, it’s starting to feel more apt. There was definitely a more focussed, militia-like aspect to some of the rioters, and if they’d managed to capture one of the politicians they were after, who knows what might have happened…

Nova loaded the car, Adam shaved his head, and I made them a packed lunch for the journey. I also did a little scout round for things Nova had forgotten to pack. It’s entirely likely we won’t see her before Easter now.

They got off about 8:30am in the end – fingers crossed they complete the journey (both ways) without encountering a road block. Tossed all the linens and towels from Nova’s room in the washing machine, did her bins and recycling then went upstairs to meditate.

When Lyra got up we had a brunch of fried eggs and bacon, which we ate in front of an episode of Parks & Rec. I’ve been meaning to get back to that for ages, especially since I remembered that Joe Biden has a cameo.

Adam got back just after 2pm – it all went smoothly. He helped Nova get her stuff out of the car but didn’t actually go inside her house. He also ensured she booked a Covid test for later this afternoon. She’ll get the results within a couple of hours and know whether she needs to isolate.

Went for a walk round the neighbourhood before it got dark. The streets were absolutely heaving – it looked like the school run. Even worse, very few people (besides us) were wearing masks. Opted to avoid parks and trails and just walk the streets, heading down through the Miltons and back over suicide bridge then up through the village.

Dinner was lemon-garlic chicken thighs, roast potatoes (cauli mash for me) and braised cavolo nero – lovely.

January 9, 2021

Awake by 6:30am, having slept surprisingly well if not long enough. Did our meditating then talked through the taking ‘Nova back to Bristol’ question.

The guidance is pretty clear that people are meant to stay where they are, but she’s distraught at the thought of not going back before April, crying every day, staying up half the night then sleeping in, and unable to focus on her essay which is due next week.

So mental health is a consideration. When she came home she didn’t anticipate still being here, meaning there are books and things she’s having to manage without. Also, she hasn’t seen anyone or left the house except for short walks in the last couple of weeks so there’s little risk of her bringing Covid to the southwest.

If we drive her door to door, and she as careful there as she has been here, it doesn’t feel like there’s much increased risk of her infecting or being infected by anyone. I’m more concerned about Adam, who would be the one doing the driving. In the end, we made the decision to take her back tomorrow morning.

Went for a four-mile run in the Woods. It was below 0°, so the mud was hard, but I wore my old shoes anyway as I want to keep the new ones nice for a little longer.

Lyra kindly spent the afternoon helping Nova tidy her room and pack. Adam headed over to his mum’s house to spend several hours trying to extract Freddy’s company accounts from some obsolete financial software on their ancient PC.

I baked sourdough and made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, which we ate in front of Little Women. Adam was the only one who hadn’t seen it. I’d seen it twice, Nova four times, and I think Lyra said she’d seen it six times. She does have a thing for Timothy Chalamet. To bed about 11pm…

January 8, 2021

We’ve started a new year meditation challenge on the app I use and have stuck to it all this week. I’ve got Wade going on it now, and so far he’s enjoying it…

Had two meetings today. One with my new colleague Cami, who we hired in December to lead on marketing. Based in Brighton, she boosting the size of the London office. We won’t be meeting face to face for a while, but once we’re past lockdown, I expect she’ll travel up to the shared workspace occasionally.

My second meeting was a training session with my life coach client so that she can do her own page updates going forward. I had a couple of other client websites needing attention that took the rest of the afternoon.

Started the weekend with a round of G&Ts. Tonight’s takeaway was pizza – I joined in by making my own on a lo-dough base. It didn’t look promising – the thing was as thin as an insole – but it was surprisingly satisfying. Apparently they have a lot of fibre…?

Watched Parasite for movie night. Lyra nervous about watching it – Nova had told her the storyline when it was in the cinemas, and it creeped her out, but she was fine…

January 7, 2021

Checked the news first thing. The more I see of what went down at the Capitol yesterday, the scarier it gets… Rachel Maddow was late posting her podcast, but worth the wait.

Once I’d had my fill of domestic terrorist insurrection I went for a four-mile run to clear my head. It was a job to stay away from the news and focus on work, but I managed until the evening.

Nova is fixated on getting back to Bristol, and creating daily scenes with arguments and tears. I have a lot of sympathy for her, and I’d love for it to happen, but not sure it will be possible.

The current guidelines say students aren’t meant to go back to campus. That said, she doesn’t actually live on campus, so it’s different than returning to halls of residence. I want to see how things develop before making a decision.

Tuna lettuce rolls for lunch, mapo tofu with rice for dinner…

January 6, 2021

Woke at 4am, not sure why… Spent an hour trying to fall back to sleep by constructing an alphabetical list of my primary school classmates. I thought that might be dull enough to send me back to sleep, but no dice…

At 5am, I switched to reading on my Kindle so as not to disturb Adam. I’ve started a new novel called Pachinko, by a Korean-American novellist. Got about five chapters in, then gave up on the idea of sleep and checked the news on my phone.

Things are looking good in the Georgia senate races, and steadily improved over the next hour. Warnock was called before I got up to start my day and Ossoff is looking promising as well.

Did my meditating, had a coffee then devoted the next several hours to dismantling Christmas… stripping the tree and wrestling it onto the balcony, packing away the decorations, taking down the outdoor lights, gathering up the books and films, and stowing all the boxes in the garage. Took almost five hours in the end.

I didn’t feel much like starting my work day by this point, and also wanted to check in on US news to see if they’d confirmed Ossoff, and how the election confirmation was unfolding. Caught some of Trump’s disgraceful speech, and the mob setting off down Pennsylvania Avenue.

Broke off to made the family chickpea pasta soup for dinner (and fix a cold plate of meat, cheese and crudités myself). By the time I switched the telly back on, the Capitol building had been overrun by rioters who were smashing windows, attacking the few police there were, and milling about the rotunda in ridiculous cosplay getups.

The senators and representatives had been whisked away to secret locations, four people were dead, and Trump was fanning the flames. Shocking and yet not surprising at the same time…

January 5, 2021

Had a broken night’s sleep, waking at 2am, 4am, 5am… At least I was able to fall back to sleep each time. I’ve learned from my fitness tracker that the average woman my age wakes up 10 to 30 times a night, sometimes so briefly they don’t even realise.

Snow in the air this morning, those tiny little flakes that swirl about but don’t land. Meditated then pulled on my weird stretchy sock-shoes and set off for a run. Not sure how I was going to feel after such a broken night, so decided to play it by ear.

To my surprise, I felt pretty good, and clipped along at a good pace (for me). Decided to do the four-mile route to Whitestone Pond and back, and achieved my best four mile time in forever.

Showered then sat down to work. Having devoted all yesterday to the blue economy report, I needed to turn my attention to my other clients. Spent the bulk of my time sorting out the stylesheet and page formatting for my BC wind farm client.

We’re running low on food, and don’t have groceries for a week. (It’s very difficult to get delivery slots at the moment). Infection rates in London being what they are – 1 in 30 people have Covid, apparently – I’m not overkeen to visit shops if I can help it.

Defrosted some lamb mince, and made burgers, itch and roasted brussels sprouts. Watched The Dead, and was pleasantly surprised that Lyra really liked it. It’s definitely a slow burner. Spent some time enjoying the last evening with the Christmas lights, then head to bed soon after…

January 4, 2021

Monday morning and back to work… Spent most of my day on the blue economy report. I’d meant to do a bit of work on it over the holidays, but once I shut down my computer I had no appetite for opening it up again. I stowed my desktop monitor away for the entire holiday, which felt good as well.

Adam bought another external monitor so that he has one as well. (He’s been using the telly from the flat, but the resolution is crap.) He was happy for my to have the nice new one, as it would be better for video editing and graphics work, but it wouldn’t connect with my computer.

Had a meeting with our blue economy client Dennis about the second phase of the project. Turns out he’s on sick leave this week because of an injury sustained over the holidays. He somehow managed to slam his own thumb in the dishwasher, passed out from the pain and gave himself a serious concussion. Yikes…

Dinner was salmon poached in coconut milk served over noodles. I’m eating these shirataki noodles now, which as a bit rubbery but better than no noodles. They are pretty common in Japan, but you don’t come across them so much here.

Had a good long chat with Wade this evening, then watched the first episode of the new BBC drama on Charles Sobhraj, which looks like being good. I read the true crime book about him (Serpentine) at least three times as a teenager – he’s a horrifying creature. Googled him afterwards, and discovered that he’s currently in poor health and incarcerated in Nepal.

January 3, 2021

The last day of the holidays… Meditated, then made myself an avocado-berry smoothie from my keto cookbook. Not the most tasty sounding proposition, but they are actually pretty nice. I bought a big bag of frozen avocado halves last time we went to Costco. I assumed the girls might use them in their concoctions, but they are still sitting there untouched, taking up half the freezer.

I had thought of going for a run, but it was bloody cold out and I didn’t fancy it. I’d also thought I might get a jump on my email or something before work resumes tomorrow but didn’t fancy that either.

Instead, I watched Meet Me in St Louis. It was fine, but not really my cup of tea. Imho, it’s not particularly a Christmas movie either, which was my reason for taping and watching it.

There are some good songs and interesting period details, like the trick-or-treating scene (a far darker affair back then than it is now), but I certainly wouldn’t go out of my way to watch it again.

Dinner was ginger-lime chicken with coleslaw. Indulged myself with a bit of baking to mark the end of the holidays. I’ve taken it easy this Christmas compared to what I would have tucked away normally, but don’t want to miss out entirely…;-)

January 2, 2021

Feeling a bit more motivated this morning and ready to start my year. Meditated then went for a walk on the Heath with Millie. We did a bit of grocery shopping in Swains Lane, and I bought a hunk of Spanish omelette for my lunch to eat on the way home.

It was crazy busy out there, but we had to stick to paths because Millie’s old wellies are split and her new ones she ordered from France are delayed in the Brexit chaos that is building at the border. We kept seeing people and stopping for conversations. I was glad to get back home to be honest…

Did a sewing project with Nova this afternoon. She wanted to convert the plaid dress I bought her in Brussels into a two piece. I wasn’t convinced by the idea, but it turned out pretty well. I helped her with the planning and cutting and did some of the initial sewing, then left her to it.

Dinner was spicy cottage pie and green beans. Turns out the oven was full of oil from Adam’s cake baking yesterday. (He’d used a loose-bottomed tin without putting it on a baking sheet.)

There were great billows of smoke when I opened the door to pop in my cottage pie and we had to open all the windows to air the place out. It wasn’t the right time to do anything about it, but I’ll have to remember to clean it before we use it again…

January 1, 2021

Happy New Years! Slow start to my day, as I was feeling last night’s over-indulgence. Mooched about it bed until 11am before I finally felt like doing anything. Got up and did my meditating, which was enough activity until lunchtime…;-)

It was a relatively decent day compared to some of the weather we’ve had, and Adam and I thought it might be an idea to go for a family walk. Somewhere different than the Heath, which we all get plenty of on a weekly basis.

The girls were less keen, though both quite fancied going for a drive. In the end, we piled into the car and headed into central London. Adam devised a route that took us past the national museums, through Hyde Park, past the Royal Albert Hall, Harrods and round Buckingham Palace.

Stopped at Westminster Cathedral (one of my favourite places in London) and went in for a brief look round. At Lyra’s suggestion, we ate lunch at a Shake Shack in Victoria (strictly speaking, outside a Shake Shack).

Carried on past Westminster Abbey, Parliament Square, along the Embankment, over Tower Bridge, then back over Waterloo Bridge and home. We all thoroughly enjoyed it…