Derby Arms, Witherslack

Going to the pub since lockdown eased has not been at the top of my priority list as they seem to be places that potentially cause outbreaks. Also I didn't go to the pub much before lockdown! However, as we had parked next to The Derby Arms for our walk to Halecat House, it was the obvious choice for a late lunch.

It was very reassuring to see all the COVID-19 safety procedures with a one way system into the pub and hand cleaning as you came in:

One person had to register our group for track and trace. There was only table service able, only max 2 households at a table, and the menu was on the wall and not as one you held. We were verbally told the sandwich options:

All over the floor there were markers to show the one way system and lines to keep everyone socially distanced. Luckily for Sherlock the rules don't apply to dogs and he made a new friend:

Free School Meals during lockdown

Free school meals first appeared in Manchester in 1879, another reason to be proud of my Mancunian heritage! However, it took until 1906 for the Liberal government to introduce legislation allowing local authorities to provide meals. Due to the lack of provision more legislation in 1944 made it compulsory for all authorities to supply nutritious meals for all pupils. Over the 1980s and 1990s the emphasis switched to keeping meals as cheap as possible and making it harder to qualify. It wasn't until 2001 that food standards improved again.

The way they are administered as also change. It used to be obvious which children were getting their school meal for free which caused embarrassment for some. Nowadays, in normal times, lunch systems are electronic and pupils are credited each day. No one needs to know who isn't paying for their own food.

During lockdown most children have not been in school and so new systems have been developed.  Some schools chose to make food packs for pupils in receipt of free school meals. Others made use of the government voucher scheme with supermarkets. Like any new government computer system this had big flaws to start with.

Like many families an extended period of furlough, with vastly reduced income from both employment (as a supply teacher) and self employment, has pushed us under the threshold for eligibility for free school meals for my son. I applied via my county council and this week I was sent an e-mail to claim the vouchers for 3 weeks. The web site gave me a choice of a range of supermarkets. As I shop at Asda and Morrisons I selected these two.

The Asda one is very flexible and I was able to use it when I did our click and collect order. I just had to add in the code and the PIN at the checkout.

The Morrisons one can only be used in the store which is less flexible. I also hadn't got it up and ready on my phone before I got to the checkout... It was a good job there wasn't any one behind us!

As my furlough has been confirmed until the end of August I am grateful that Marcus Rashford successfully campaigned for free school meals to continue over the school holidays. This means one less thing to worry about whilst seeking out a permanent job.

Sunshine and sharpening - Day 18

It was a day to don my Victorianesque teacher garb with long skirt and lace up boots:

After more than 2 weeks of social isolation I think it got to me a bit today as I wasn't feeling much motivation. I did rustle up crumpet pizzas with, for me, a cold chicken salad:

My only successful mission was to empty out my school bag and sharpen all the pencils!

Socially Distant Exercise - Day 17

My son wanted to exercise with me today so we needed to choose a local location that had plenty of space. We opted for the old canal trail which borders our street. At first there were quite a few family groups heading in the same direction, but luckily they deviated to a different footpath. This meant we had time to be careful about crossing stiles without using our hands:

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We alternated between walking and running along the old canal and managed to maintain a safe distance from other walkers. It was only after we got back to Hawes Bridge that the number of other people increased:

It was a beautiful spring day and it was such a pleasure to see all the lambs gambolling around the fields:

Today should have been the Manchester Marathon I've been training for since before Christmas. As that is on hold until October I'm just trying to maintain my base fitness. My son is also trying to not lose his race fitness whilst all his clubs and races are suspended:

As we came back into our street I noticed that our community flower bed is looking amazing with all its tulips in full glory:

As I was only going to be getting the laundry in I decided to have a go at emulating Lauren Bacall in a little black dress and pearls:

The Mazzle is starting to come together. I am learning more about the location of the fells in the Central Lake District:

Cooking with mother - Day 13

It was once again a Joe Wicks start to the day and I live streamed my workout - one way of encouraging myself to get back in to better shape! Then I had decided to go for something simple in the fancy dress and chose Rosie the Riveter from the US WW2 posters:

If anyone has any sensible suggestions for costumes then please comment! I have no idea how long I can keep this up....

After a maths tutoring session I had a lovely virtual tea break chatting to a friend in Lancashire. I am finding that I am speaking to so many different people whilst alone at home!

This afternoon I decided to use up some of the slightly stale bread to make another bread pudding. As my son won't eat dried fruit I decided to make a chocolate one instead. I modified the Delia Smith recipe to make up my own:

• 110 g (4 oz) bread with crusts cut off
• 135 ml (5 fl oz) of milk
• 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
• 25 g (1 oz) of melted butter
• 35 g (1.5 oz) soft brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons nutmeg/cinnamon or mixed spice
• 1 medium egg beaten
• 100 g (3.5 oz) chocolate chips

1. Break the bread into suitable size pieces and put in a bowl.
2. Put the cocoa powder in a bowl and add a bit of the milk and mix to a paste.
3. Slowly add the rest of the milk and stir until mixed.
4. Pour over the bread, mix and leave it to soak in for about 30 minutes. [rest of recipe further down!]

I didn't want to waste the crusts I googled how to make croutons in the air fryer whilst waiting for the mixture to absorb. At this point my daughter FaceTimed me and decided she wanted to make some too. So I talked her through it whilst I was cooking:

Medieval mayhem - Day 6

It was another glorious sunny day up here so my choice of medieval attire turned out to be a trifle warm today:

I had a pretty busy day of real work as I was tutoring 3 of my regular students. We are all getting the hang of this video conferencing stuff. It's a steep learning curve but its making such a difference to my ability to still earn a little money, despite being confined to the house.

My son decided I had worked hard enough and said I had to come out in the garden for some fresh air:

He had even gone off and made me some peanut butter cookies:

Cooking up some magic - Day 5

The realities of the new rules haven't really hit our home as we can't leave any way. We are settling into our isolation routines and I started off with my Joe Wicks live workout:

Then it was time to don today's silly outfit before hanging out the washing:

I was interviewed by CFR Radio about the rainbow on my window. They used some of it on their news bulletin which I heard this evening. It's great to know that the rainbows are spreading around the world.

My son was more enthusiastic about doing his maths work than his other subjects! He did ask to do some cooking which counted towards his food tech. He rustled up some cheesy crackers:

Into the unknown - Day4

I am writing this just after Boris Johnson announced that the UK is now in lockdown. We are heading even more into the unknown as we battle against this pandemic. I will keep on trying to post positive posts and doing my silly things to try and raise smiles whilst we are stuck indoors! 

So today I joined in with over 1 million people around the world with a Joe Wicks PE workout:

That set me up for the day! As the sun was shining I could also get another lot of washing on the line, today I hung it out whilst dressed as a pirate:

I had been worried about how I was going to top up my electricity meter as it needs to physically be taken to a shop! My lovely neighbour agreed to take it for me and we used sensible precautions to get the card exchanged. It was then time to check out the bread I had baked last night:

Running in circles - Day 2

So it was our second full day of being isolated at home. I am trying to make sure we don't get stuck in a rut - even if it is just 48 hours in! I obviously can't get out for a run and haven't got a treadmill so I decided to recreate a parkrun as gardenrun. Here is my first timers' briefing:

I have to say that 155 laps was mentally tough and I couldn't get up much speed either! It did make me feel better though (and entertained my neighbour!):

Yesterday my son seemed to be non-stop eating so after my run I cooked us both bacon and scrambled eggs which kept him going for longer. Then I had another virtual coffee morning with friends.

Thoughts on isolation - Day 1

As of last night my son and I are in quarantine as his coughing is flagged as potential coronavirus. I am trying to make the best of a bad situation and fill my time by re-activating this neglected blog! We have at least 14 days at home so I will try to do more regular posts...

Yesterday when I realised that we have suspected corona I was scared and angry.

Scared that we may have shared a virus that is dangerous to those less healthy than ourselves whilst being told to keep going to school.

Angry because we hadn’t been able to get a normal food shop in because of people panicking.

Today I’m feeling loved and blessed. I was advised how to get hold of our missing fruit and veg by ordering a delivery from Parsons, so now we won't get scurvy. The man delivering it had even lived in our house years ago!:

Another friend was going out to the Lakeland Farm Visitors Centre farm shop and got us enough meat for a week: