30th April

For some reason we were all in lockdown this morning although not practicing social distancing!!  Not exactly sure why all four furbies should choose to get on the bed this morning but they did and they stayed there without fighting - I reckon John must have drugged them.  They are loving the fact that we are at home all the time and rarely venture very far thank goodness.  Still this may change soon as there is due to be an announcement later this evening on how and when the current restrictions might be relaxed.

John didn't sleep too well last night and so we decided to have a quiet day today and we are waiting for our delivery from Home Market so when that arrives (which should be early next week) we will be busy.

We took a turn around 'the estate' making a list of the jobs which we want to tackle either now during lockdown or afterwards when we are able to get out and about.

John has moved my spinny thing and hung it from the temporary archway which he built to support the kiwi fruit I am growing.  The spinny thing was a gift from my Godmother for my 60th birthday and which we got when she and I went to a mega-garden centre near Shepton Mallet.  It catches the son and casts sparkles of colour around the garden when the wind catches it.

The temporary archway is going to be replaced by a permanent one when the timber we have order from Home Market gets delivered.

In the diary we had cooking - John wanted to make some scones and we planned to take some down to Di and Rob and Isabel if they turned out any good and John made another of his lovely banana cakes and whilst he was whipping up a storm I had a stifado in the pressure cooker which was to be our supper.

The scones were passable but for some reason we had an excess of the milk and egg mix so they were a tad biscuity for my liking but we put in a request to go out because I wanted to visit the cemetery and we had arranged to drop off the scones and hoped to be able to have a long distance chat with Di and Rob, whose company we have really missed.

 Everything was perfect at the cemetery.  The flowers in the trough are looking beautiful and the red one in the middle is the most glorious deep red.  The Plant that Di and Rob placed there to mark 2 years since Dad passed away is also in full bloom.

There was a Cypriot lady at the cemetery attending the grave of the young boy Andreas who died when he was driving his grandfather's tractor and it tipped over.  Through our masks we exchanged pleasantries and she offered up the hose so that we could refill the water jug.

It was odd to drive past Sheila and Klaus's old house and to realise that they no longer live there.  I think the new owners will be moving in over this coming weekend.

My quest to pretty up the outside of John's shed continues.  John had recently made me a 'riddle' which has a nice rustic look to it so I thought it would look nice hanging from the outside and by so doing it provided a little shelf.  I remember that John used to have two little oil cans which belonged to my Grandfather (he used to drive a bus) which are lovely and which sometimes John does still use and I persuaded him that they would look fab sitting on the shelf.  I love them, I love their history and their patina and I am glad we still have them although neither John nor I can remember what happened to the beautiful Lucas inspection lamp we used to have that also belonged to my Grandfather and was still working with an original bulb when we last saw it.

Before Supper we managed to catch some lovely afternoon sun up on the roof terrace.  It had been a really beautiful day and it was lovely to take advantage of the view out to Chrysochous Bay.

We were joined by Chivers who must have eaten something which disagreed with him as he was pretty sick later on in the evening although recovered very quickly thank goodness and was busy mithering for treats shortly afterwards.  We had our beer and just as we were finishing heard the ping of the combi-oven which indicated that our potatoes were ready.

John reckons that the stifado I made yesterday was the best I have ever made and I think he could be right although I don't know why this one should have been so scrumptious.

We had a lovely evening - Wednesday is a drinking day and so we could enjoy the meal with a rather nice glass of Frontera Merlot (for a change).

We sat through the penultimate episode of Gangs of London which left me totally confused so that I will have to check up on the tintyweb as to what exactly was going on - I must have fallen asleep during one of the episodes last night because I have no idea how the second under cover agent got exposed.

There was an announcement regarding the restrictions.  Slightly relaxed on 4th May and then, if people behave and the numbers of deaths and infections remain low to nil then completely relaxed for movement from 21st May - and then hopefully I might get to visit my hairdresser because it is doing my head in - literally!!!

Cooking tips from The Ration Book...
The BBC's Home Service programme 'The Kitchen Front' encouraged listeners to send in ideas for economy dishes.  Pigs' brains and cows' udders were suggested as useful ingredients while other recipes included Crow Pie, Rosehip Chutney, Sheep's Head Broth and Squirrel Tail Soup. NICE!!