Father’s Day- eighty two and three

Eighty three- today I sat in the sun all day and (surprise surprise) managed to get sunburn again lol. It was a very chill morning- we had one of my mum’s friends round because it was her birthday, and then in the afternoon my sister had a friend round, because we had made banana muffins and are juts inviting people round to get rid of them lol. I need to start having more friends round, but I have a low-key fear of hostessing, and so haven’t got round t it yet. Its a shame, because I really want to be a generous person who invites people round, but I do get very nervous with having guests. I think hostessing is quite a skill that not everyone has to be honest.

Also today, I have forced myself sister to catch up with me with Elite so now we are basically at the same point, which is super good because I do love a clingy high school drama.

Eighty four… Well today is Father’s Day, and my sister and I had a big row with our dad yesterday, so we are not very much in the most Father’s Day mood. Still, I guess it is a day where we are meant to celebrate our parents, so I may as well think about the good things about my dad. 

1. He works very hard and does try hard to look after the family. I feel bad, because he used to have to work really long hours all the time, and take up extra jobs and everything, and I am very grateful for that. He also used to cook dinner every night as well and try to balance being a dad on top of that, so he is a busy boy.
2. He is kind. Yes, he does get angry (a lot-lol), but he is a kind person deep down and he does mean well. He is a thoughtful person and has been there for me through a lot. He is very protective and looks after me, and always tries to help me. 
3. He can be super fun. I have a lot of good childhood memories of going camping and going swimming and doing lots of fun things. Spending time with dad was always low-key treat time, because we would eat food we are not allowed to eat with mum, and just slop around and not do much. I remember he used to take us to this class leisure plex where there were loads of water slides, and then we used to get a subway afterwards and it was a crazy fun time. Also, we went camping every year and would be allowed to drink some alcohol and stay up way too late. WE also would have played on the Nintendo DS and the Wii with him (Mario Bros was the bomb) and been so lazy, but it was fun.
4. He always looks out for the family. He will do anything for the family and try to look after us the best he can, and I do admire that. 
5. He tells really long boring stories, but they provide a source of amusement for us, and they can be interesting sometimes. 
6. He gets us into quite nice things to be fair. Like, when he’s into cooking, we get quite nice meals, and I use to love going for Dim Sum with him at nice Chinese restaurants. Also, when he went through his juicing phase, we all got nice freshly pressed juices in the morning- which was expensive and super unnecessary but enjoyed non the less. 

Well, all in all he is a good dad I would say generally and after all I am very lucky to have a dad to celebrate fathers day with. I think we are going to go for a nice walk up around the hills and then I am cooking a roast beef for dinner, which is scary because I don’t usually cook with big chunks of meat. It is a very masculine meal, having beef on fathers day (but we shouldn’t gender foods lol). WE bought our dad a pack of different beers for his birthday, which he did like although one of them was broken in the box, so I’m tempted to email back and see if I can get another box for freeee (lol maybe thats too greedy but we can hope). Its with a company called Beer52 and they do really good deals if you have discount codes, but I feel bad because I always end up cancelling my subscription after the first few boxes when I have to start paying full price. Student life lol.

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Busy and bored- day eighty and eighty one

Eighty… just as I thought I was going to be able to wind down and relax a bit, here I am gain, back on the grind early in the morning. I have a few more zoom calls today (I literally hate soon, I do not understand how some people are going on it every day) and literally am sick to the death of staring at my laptop screen. Its pretty weird, that the whole time during lockdown you want to be busy (I mean I did start writing this blog for something to do after all) and then once you start becoming busy and getting things to do then you really do not want to be busy after all. I am looking forward to a day when I have absolutely nothing planned, and I can just chill and read and do nothing. But then again, on those days I am looking for something to do, so I guess I just can’t win.

I have a FaceTime call with a job person in 10 minutes, which should hopefully not take too long, and then I have another call at 3pm. I feel like this does not sound like that much at all, but in the scheme on normally having nothing to do, it really does seem like quite a lot.

So what else have I go up to? Well, I did another evening walk last night which was again full of lots of children. It was not as golden-tinged as the walk the night before, but it was still pleasant enough. I then did a bit of Duolingo- I was actually hoping that I was going to lose my streak that day because etc pressure of the streak was mounting- but then for some reason they saved the streak for me, so the pressure still exists rip. I also have restarted watching Elite, because my sister wants to watch it now, so I have to go back to the beginning which is obviously quite annoying. But, I am viewing it as Spanish practice- although they have a very very thick accent which is super difficult to understand. Give me Paulina from Casa de Las Flores any day of the week. Although- I must have terrible facial recognition skills because I did not realise that Rio, Denver and Alison Parker all from Casa de Papel are also in Elite. It must be really lovely to work with the same people on TV shows again and again, I feel; you would become such super close friends. My sister and I always disagree thought, because she thinks Rio is hotter than Denver, but I am firmly Team Denver all the way.

Well, I had better head off to my busy busy day. Teach First have asked us to compete a survey about the experience in return for a £5 amazon voucher, but you literally have to write 600 words on things that I can’t think of at leats 10 words to say, so I’m not sure if it is worth it. lol, i think I may just miss out on the £5 voucher to be honest. Awk well.

Eighty one…well I think more and more restrictions seem to be lifted these days and I may be a quarantined gal for not much longer. I am thinking of getting to day 100 and then I can say that I had 100 days of blogging and feel very achieved.

I phoned my friend from university yesterday who was really lovely to talk with. She’s living in London right now, and went to Kew Gardens yesterday. It must be really lovely to be able to go to such cool places right on your doorstep. Last summer I worked at a summer camp in London so lived there for a while, and did indeed catch the London love bug. It is quite an addictive city; there are really so many cool things to do, and because I worked at a summer camp, I got to do a lot for freeee. Which is always fun, like: Madame Tussauds, London Eye, London Dungeons, Tower of London, the London Boat Trip, Wicked the Musical and of course free transport everywhere. I fully made the use of a free travel card and tried to see as much of the city as I could.

I went to Hampstead Heath on the hottest day of the year last summer, and swam in a dirty lake. Then I walked round all the beautiful houses there, and bought a very overpriced gin and tonic in a local pub that did not radiate local pub vibes.

I went up Primrose Hill on a really golden evening and admired the gorgeous view and listened to hipsters play music really loudly and drink beers.

I walked up and down Brick Lane loads of times; I bought a bagel from the yellow bagel shop, and browsed in all the vintage places, and went to BoxPark and looked at all the cool quirky London things.

I went for a walk by myself along the canals at Little Venice, but then thought the some creepy guy was following me, and realised that I was alone walking all canals and then got scared that I was going to be killed and my body hidden in one of the little boats, so then I left and got the tube back.

I walked along the amazing houses in West London area, and went to a cute Japanese garden and tried to take pretty photos but I’m a really bad photographer to be honest, so none made the cut.

All in all I really do love London 🙂

Teach First- day seventy eight and nine

Seventy eight… well I am drained beyond belief. Honestly, I haven’t worked so hard consistently over a day since I was revising for my A levels. So I am semi-interested in becoming a teacher, and so enrolled on a two day taster programme with an organisation called Teach First. They are pretty cool, because they are working on eradicating inequalities in eduction, and put teachers into really low income and deprived schools to try and help poorer children excel in education. It is scary like- something like 80% of kids from poor areas don’t get above a C in maths GCSE, so it is a super big problem in the UK. And adding to this- the corona virus school closure has undone 10 years of effort to reduce the education inequality gap, which is pretty devastating and mental. So, all in all, its a really good organisation to get involved in. So I enrolled on this Taster course, but because of a global pandemic, it is of course, on Zoom.

And so, I have spent from 9.00 to 6.30 today staring at a laptop screen. My neck and shoulders ache, and I swear I am going to go square eyed. It is a really good programme, and I am enjoying it, but its weird having to stay concentrated for so long. The thing I don’t like about Zoom is I never really know when people are watching me, so I feel super self conscious the whole time. And also, they really have tried to make it interesting and engaging, but there is only so much they can do, when you are staring at a screen all day, you know? Although, I do love going off into breakout rooms- its the little things that add excitement to the day 🙂

I really do not know how I used to do Uni, and how on earth I sued to stay in school all day as well. I am literally so drained, I had to rest my head at the dinner table. I did however, still manage my walk in the evening, because I really did need some nature and outside life- and the golden hour was really magical tonight. Although, it was the first time I had done an evening walk, and they really are super busy, with loads of kids. Still, I am now going to bed at 10pm ready to wake up at 8. Its weird because I know I always said I wake up early, but now that I have to, it just seems so unachievable. I have to deliver a presentation tomorrow, which is kind of nerve-wracking, so I need a good nights rest for that. Wish me luck…

Seventy nine… up bright and early and very bushy eyed (lol that’s such a cringe saying) for another day of staring at a screen. Honestly, this experience in itself has taught me that I would really like to be a teacher, because I would hate a job where I have to sit at a desk and stare at a screen all day.

I did my teaching session, which was kind of cringe, because I did the food groups and Eatwell plate and it was like super easy, but I was presenting it to 20-year-olds lol. Still, I feel like I was way overly enthusiastic about food groups, but you just have to embrace your inner cringy side when you do teaching things lol. I also had to present about a problem in the UK school system today, and chose to talk about outdoor learning and the nature deficit in UK schools.

It was interesting to research, especially with corona going to push more schools outside, but basically it was about how school children never spend enough time outdoors, and so conducting lessons like science, art, English, geography or basically anything outdoors is really good for the mental wellbeing and learning ability of children. In the UK we teach in classrooms, and basically everything we learn is for us to be examined on, so moving teaching outdoors more makes us able to expand our vision, and make us more open-minded about learning, which is super important. Things like a school pond, or garden would really help engage children in the outside world, and also make them happier and healthier in school.

I still have half the day left of this programme, and as much as I am enjoying, I am looking forward to getting back to having nothing to do everyday, because this is all too much. I need to do some extensive back stretches and neck twists for a few days to undo this lol. I also feel like a need ages away from my laptop screen because I have been glued to it for far too long rip.

Anything else to report? Not really, to be honest. We had some friends round and I made mojitos again, because now they are my signature cocktail (because they’re the easiest lol). I also am still painting, learning Spanish (although I lost my Duolingo streak because I was too tired to do any yesterday) and enjoying mi vida. I can’t wait for laziness to start again tomorrow.

Nothing much to report- seventy six and seven

Seventy six… I am currently listening to my sister try and record a virtual choir song, and its really quite draining. It is very cool the way lots of orchestras and choirs are doing things virtually now though, but I guess no one has to see the behind the scenes of my sister belting her heart out in the dining room right now lol. So today? I went and got bloods taken this morning and the nurse was like super chill about corona. I feel like the most relaxed people are all the medical professionals right now, because they kind of understand it more. Like the nurse was telling me that realistically walking past someone you can’t really catch anything; its only when you are spending a prolonged period of time with someone, so people getting really het up about avoiding people in the street are being a bit overdramatic. Also, she said that gloves in supermarkets were really quite silly because you touch everything back in the house and all of that. So she made me feel a lot more relaxed. One of my sisters friends who does medicine was saying about how you really can only catch corona if you literally spit on someone, so we are a lot safer than we think. Also, which I find interesting, apparently the NHS kind of messed up by bringing so many junior doctors on the wards, because they are not really trained to do anything proper, and there is less to do with the corona situation than they thought. So they just have a lot of very amateur doctors wandering the wards with nothing to do. But I guess (like everyone) the NHS just panicked, which I guess is fair enough. Even still, I feel a lot more corona calm now.

After getting bloods done, my mum and I went to a garden centre, which was actually quite depressing, because it was cold and wet and dismal, and the flowers even looked a bit under the weather. We were going to get some jolly flowers, but none were really jolly enough, so we bought some compost instead. Then me and my family went for a lovely walk in the pure countryside, where we were just surrounded by green and green and green, of every shade that exists. Fields, and hedges, and trees and pure beauty for miles and miles.

During these walks I do think about how living in the countryside would be very beautiful, but then I need to remind myself that I am definitely a city girl through and through. Like, how could you pop out to buy milk when you run out? How could you walk to a coffee shop to meet up with friends? I feel the novelty of the peacefulness could wear off quite quickly and you end up realising that you are miles away from civilisation, and surrounded by cows (which I did see some on my walk today, and did admire- but then after a few minutes I could just walk on lol). I don’t know; some of my friends who grew up in the countryside would not have it any other way, so maybe its an acquired taste.

Seventy seven… my back is really hurting and I don’t know why. I’ve tried to be less routiney with my stretching, as I don’t want to start worrying if I don’t get all my to-do list done everyday, because (as we know) I’m always seeming to worry about something, but I think its actually starting to make my back quite bad, which is very annoying. I’ve never had a normal back since I had my first job.

I was sixteen, and desperate to enter the job market (why was I so keen, I literally had nothing to buy when I was 16 lol) and so I got my dad to get me a job in a fruit and veg shop because he knew the owner. I feel like everyone got the first job in a place where their parents knew the owner lol. So, I entered the workplace and (like every first time worker) was really super keen and didn’t say no to anything. So there I was, a small 16 year old girl, lifting crates of pineapples and bananas and bags of potatoes, and (not being trained how to lift at all- can I sue lol) I ended up fully hurting my back, and its never been the same since. Which is a bit annoying, but a few months ago, the roof collapsed in that fruit and veg shop, and I’m sure it was karma, because the owner was a low key slave driver.

So, updates? Well, I am becoming suer sociable again lol, and have factored two friends already today, and then FaceTiming another one tonight. Its actually quite nice catching up with people again, and comparing corona experiences. I acc feel like Ive been super productive with my time after talking to tow of my friends, who say they lit just watch Netflix like all day. Although, my sister and I did finish Casa de la Flores last night, and I think it is the last ever season 😦 It ended on a pretty perfect note though, so I am ver happy with it. Now, I really need to invest in getting back into Casa de Papel because I have no excuse now! Well, I think I am now going to maybe do some back stretches- I’m thinking the good old cat and cow yoga pose.

Chef life- day seventy four and five

Seventy four… I’m just going to say it: I am a chef. Honestly, in the past few weeks I have stetted cooking lots and to be honest, I am amazing at it. But the reason I ride myself on being such a good cook is because I am a no-fuss cook. Like, this is a skill in itself that many great cooks do not have. Take my dad for example He can cook a really nice meal, but needs to weigh out every single ingredient, go to the ends of the earth to buy everything needed in the recipe, and won’t be at all creative. Me, on the other hand, am very practical and very resourceful. Not a single meal that I have made, have I needed to go to the shops to buy ingredients. I use what is in the house, add whatever spices I please and make a flipping great meal. Let’s take last night for example.

Our freezer needs defrosting so we have to use whatever ingredients we have. So, overnight I defrosted some leftover puff pastry and one salmon fillet (there are four hungry people in my house, and only one salmon, but I decided to play Jesus in feed in the five thousand). I rummaged in the cupboards and found and jar of onion chutney, and we had aubergine, carrots and parsnips in the house. So here the creative genius (lol I acc am in love with myself rip) begins:

1. Roll out the pastry. There was enough for one large tart and two smaller tarts so that had to do. Cook them in the oven for a bit (not really sure how to cook puff pastry in tarts) so I just kind of guessed. The pastry ended up puffing too much in the middle so I had to poke it back down. At the same time boil up the carrots and parsnips and roast the aubergine.
2. Boil up some frozen peas in vegetable stock. Then add the peas and some stock to a blender with salt, pepper, mint and a spoonful of yogurt. Blend it and get a (bit too watery) pea puree.
3. Take the tarts out of the oven and spread the two smaller ones with the onion chutney, then place the kind of half roasted aubergine on top (like had been roasting for around 10 minutes). With the there larger tart, spread the pea puree on top, and then cut up the one salmon fillet (lol) and put salmon chunks on top as well. Sprinkle with random spring onion chilling in the fridge (going out of date)
4. Put back in the oven for like 20 minutes or until the carrots and parsnips are soft. Mash the carrots and parsnips with salt, pepper and butter.

And voila, serve the tarts and carrot/parsnip mash and you have a very makeshift and random dinner, having to buy no ingredients and with very little fuss. I also made bread this morning for lunch, which should be very yummy. Tonight, I am going to use some mince thats in the fridge, and maybe make this mince shashuka because it involves some ingredients that I have. But I will be substituting pitta bread for potato waffles, and adding frozen sweetcorn instead of pepper, and having to omit the yogurt. But I know fine rightly it will be great.

Other notes from the day: Elite season 2 is just as god as season 1 and very addictive.

seventy five… ah it looks like my cheffing days may have come to an abrupt end. I had a proper argument with my sister just there now, and still is unresolved, so I’m not feeling the best right now. Basically, she thinks that me cooking a lot is just still me trying to control what everyone is eating using anorexia. I really don’t know what to think to be honest. My therapist says that its a lot better me cooking, because then I know what I’m going to eat, and so there is no panic and I can snack throughout the day without worrying about mealtimes. She flipping encouraged me to cook my own meals separate from the family, because thinks that it is best that I know and control what I am eating. I don’t fully understand the logic of this, but I feel I should just trust the CBTE.

But cooking meals just for myself is very antisocial, so instead I would just cook the family dinners, and it was all going very well. Or at least I thought. My family would say they love my cooking, but then today my sister started getting really annoyed, saying it was a control thing, I’m not getting better, I’m still flipping weird, etc. It really started because a few days ago my dad bought double cream to cook with, and obviously I did not want this at all. But it is going out of date today and so my sister was like ‘you have to use it to cook with it’, but I was like ‘no.’

And so began all the arguments, involving the whole family and lasting well over an hour. Safe to say that I won (or anorexia won, but either way my decisions come out on top whoops) and I am not going to be using the double cream when cooking. Its like the scene in Matilda where the greedy boy eats a slice of chocolate cake and then is forced to eat the whole cake, because now my dad is going to have to get through a whole tub of double cream by himself. lol serves him right for throwing these surprises onto me.

Walking and cooking- day seventy two and three

Seventy two… I feel like there are not enough hours in the day. I literally sound like such a melter when I say I don’t have enough time for everything, but it does sometimes feel like that. Like, I really don’t have much to do, but I worry that I won’t get all my reading and Duolingo and calling friends and all of that done. Its really quite silly; I think I am just someone who always wants something to worry about.

Anyways, I am starting to fee like I don’t have too much to write about, because my life is getting very repetitive. I am still doing Duolingo, and started listening to Coffee Breaks Spanish podcast today, because I don’t know if my Spanish is even improving at all. I really want to move to Spain when I graduate, but I do need to pick up my Spanish learning for that. My sister speaks in Spanish to me a lot, and I do understand quite a bit, but never really respond. I don’t have that great a grasp of the grammar yet; I know a lot of words, but forming sentences is a different ball game completely lol.

Today, I went to Lidl for the first time, and it was a really great experience. You have to clean your hands on entering and exiting and the shop was very vey empty, and the queue is quite long, but moves fast. So it ticks all the boxes for well run corona supermarket! Also, the food there is always super cheap but also really good; I feel Lidl is something you discover as a student and then realise how great it is, and never really want to turn back. It feels very continental and airy and the staff are often very lovely as well I find. So all in all it was a great experience.

The reason I had to go to Lidl was to buy ingredients for making dinner; I made a spaghetti Bolognese. Its a shame, because I was really enjoying cooking veggie food for a while, but now my dad is getting annoyed and so went to the butchers and came back with loads of meat that I have to cook with. I was vegan all the time at uni, so its a bit annoying having to eat animals again, but I’m getting used to it (and secretly enjoying it a wee bit). So Ive made a very good looking (and good smelling dish) and now I’m very excited for dinner. I always like cooking, because I get to plate up everyones dish and always give myself the most yummy portion lol.

And what does the rest of the day hold? well, I might paint for a bit, and then read some more and then do some more Duolingo practice, because I really want to get myself fluent soon por favor. Or I could just watch the next season of Elite…

Seventy three… its raining today, which is just not ideal now that we are starting to have people round to sit in the garden.

Update on summer plans: I was meant to be working at a kids summer camp this year, but obviously having kids from all over the world to the UK is not the best idea at this moment in time. However, I still did my TEFL and juts kept open-minded about what the plans could be. Well, they contacted today and said that they are thinking of starting it on the 21st July. So I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, it will be nice to do something, but on the other hand, I don’t know what it will be like. Its quite hard to know what to do; my parents don’t want me to go, even if it does go ahead because they think it is super risky. Which is probably is, but I don’t know how much I care (omg thats so bad, please can the corona police arrest me now). I do love working at camps, and it would be super fun, and I’m sure they would have lots of restrictions in place, but even still, it does seem pretty crazy to think that it could go ahead. Still, I’m not holding my breath about anything, I’ll just wait and see.

Anything else to update? Well, I had a big argument with my sister, but then resolved it like 15 minutes later because we can never argue for too long. I think it is maybe getting a bit cabin-fever ish, spending all this time together and we probs will have plenty more arguments throughout the rest of summer, but I guess that is to be expected. I read more of Jane Eyre, which is getting good enough, but I’m not captivated by it just yet.

And anything else? well, to be honest not really. I am enjoying cooking very much and spend a lot of time planning recipes and ideas in my head, but my family always get really involved in what I’m cooking, which is quite annoying, because I feel like they don’t trust me to cook something nice, even though everything I have made so far has been wonderful.

Casa de las Flores is not that good this season which is such a shame, but we are just banging through it because we want to start new TV shows, eg Killing Eve, the next season of Elite and all the classic movies that we are wanting to watch.

Well, I’m off for my daily walk now, ready to listen to some more coffee break espanol, my new fave podcast. the guy who presents it is acc Scottish, and I do find the Scottish accent very sexy.

Netflix- day seventy and seventy one

Seventy… no way is this 70 days of blogging. Absolutely mental. Even still, I was talking to my friend on FaceTime today about this corona time has given me a lot more respect for people during the war. To be fair, everything is starting back now (I think) only like 4 months since it closed, but wars literally went on for years. We are a very impatient generation.

I’m still reading Jane Eyre, and as cliche as it sounds, I wish I was born in a Jane Austen novel. Not to toot my own horn, but I do feel like I would be very good at being a lady in those times. All they seem to do in these books is paint (which I am decent enough at), read books (which I love doing), go for walks (I do those daily anyway) and not much else. Still, I know enough of history to be aware that these books probably offer a very glamourised view (and of upper class citizens lol) so maybe not. And also, it is very anti-femenist of me to suggest that I would enjoy being nothing but a decoration for a house owned and run by a male.

So what did I do today? Well, funny enough I read and painted and went for a walk 🙂 Well, it was the first day that my sister is off from exams. We had a really lovely evening last night; we sprayed her with cava in the garden to celebrate her handing in her final paper (aka submitting it online lol), which was cute. then we ordered an Indian takeaway, which ngl was so good. I love Indians when you haven’t had them in a while; the peshwari nann bread is the best hands down. I always get a bit cocky with Indian food and order really hot ones; I went for a Pathia (which I’d never tried before) and it acc wasn’t that hot; very enjoyable. Then I made mojitos (well, it was a bit makeshift since I didn’t have all the ingredients- I had to use tonic water and lime/elderflower cordial) which was fun, and felt very special.

Then we watched Ghost, as neither of us had seen it before and we want to watch more classic movies during lockdown. I feel like when you watch those really famous movies, you realise why they are famous. Like, it was really really good, like equal amount of funny, and touching, and dramatic; very good acting and just super original. Classics are classics for a reason after all.

So today, I woke up feeling refreshed after a lovely family evening, and excited that, now my sister is done working, everyday can be like this. Its like the best version of Groundhog Day lol

Seventy one… well, lets see what is new to update on. Today the weather has been surprisingly lovely, so my mum and I went for a walk, however it really was crazy busy. I find I’m finding that people are a lot more friendly on walks now than they were before; I get a lot more smiles than I use to which is fun.

today, I cut my dad’s hair and did a very good job in my opinion. Its weird, because hairdressers are supposedly not open, yet I never seem to see any guys with long hair, except my dad. Although after much investigation, it seems that a lot of hairdressers are operating under the radar, so maybe that explains it. Nevertheless, my dad seemed to be the only man with hair getting a bit wild, so today I got the scissors (not brave enough for any buzz cuts yet) and kind of snipped away the long ends, and it looks pretty decent. I then cut my own hair bit more, because I had noticed some unevenness. I am really getting a bit carried away with this hairdressing thing; no one in my family will have any hair left my the end of it lol. I wonder who is next?

Right now, my sister has a friend round in our garden; our first one since lockdown! It seems weird starting to socialise again, but at least its good weather for these garden bants. I factored two friends yesterday because I feel I haven’t been making much effort recently, so that has been nice. Both of them are getting bored of lockdown; I’ve heard a lot of people are heading back to uni early in august to get away from home, I’m not sure what ill do yet, but shall wait and see.

I finished Elite last night as well, so it took me about 2 weeks to watch, so kind of a binge show? Although I feel like its the type of show that you just have to binge, and so im very excited for when I’m going to start season 2. Although, I have neglected Casa de Papel, which I feel bad about, so maybe should resume that a bit. And of course, Casa de las Flores as well. So many shows, so little time!

I find the days are really flying very fast; I haven’t had time yet today to read Jane Eyre or do much Duolingo, which is crazy since I don’t really know where the day goes. And I’m still waking up before 8 everyday, so I really have no excuse. I think a contributing factor is that my sister is now making smoothies every morning with her Nutribullet so breakfast does take a good 45 minutes these days, because no matter how many times people say smoothies are quick and easy, I will disagree.

BLM- day sixty eight and nine

sixty eight… I feel like I should in some way mention my support and care for everything happening in the world right now with blacklivesmatter. I grew and live up in Northern Ireland, where the population is something like 98.2% white (I think) and racism and prejudice is ngl quite a big thing in our culture. And it seems crazy looking back that in my whole school there was one black family; literally everyone else was white. And it wasn’t until I went to uni in England that I first made friends with people from different ethnicities; not just black people, but friends with people from different countries, different religions (I acc don’t think I had ever met a muslim or hindu person before coming to uni, and now I have two very close friends) and cultures. Honestly, NI is such a sheltered place, and its super upsetting at how much it lacks diversity and inclusion. Its something that I just grew up accustomed to, and (I guess like a lot of white people) am only now starting to learn what white privilege is, and how it affects me. I feel I never really thought about racism (past what I learnt in school about rosa parks days) and probably at many points of my life was ignorant enough to think it wasn’t as present now as it is then. But obviously now, with having more black friends, and just leaning more about racism, I am acutely aware of my very naive upbringing, and privilege that exists in my day to day life. so I just thought id say I support all the movements and protests, and really do hope that the world can grow and change.

Its interesting because it really does show you that progress is definitely not linear. I think (maybe- I could be wrong) but a lot of progress had been made (with barrack Obama) and then as soon as trump got elected its gone down hill exponentially. hopefully, there will be a different future regarding leadership in America, and we can try to start an upward growth again.

Still, it is very heartbreaking that so many years on from all the laws and segregation in America that it is still so evident, but I think its just as difficult now, because the racism is engrained in society, and so is less easy to purely identify as racism, because a lot of it is very subconscious, so easy to ignore.

I’m not acc joining any protests at the moment. I do feel in a bit of a moral dilemma, because we are fighting corona and racism and the same time. I was talking to my friend about this, as she had the viewpoint that racism isn’t something that can go away because of a protest (yes they are still definitely important catalysts for change) but corona is something that can go away in the foreseeable future, if we stay inside. I do know what she means by that- there are lots of other ways to support blacklivesmatter even when staying inside, but there is only one way to fight a virus. And also, black people are often worse affected by corona (I think I heard that on the news) and so I guess protecting against a second wave is important for that respect as well? Although, to be honest, I get that this is (maybe) a controversial viewpoint, and I fully support anyone deciding to protest, because after all we all just have to do what we believe is the kindest thing; and that shifts for everyone.

So yeah, just though this important matter needed a mention- I liked this post about how to act as a white person during this time x

Sixty nine… I woke up super early again 😦 at flipping 6.30. Although, I am excited because today my sister finishes her exams. She could have finished a few days ago to be honest, but I think she’s acc scared to stop revising because she is a very productive person and needs always be doing something. therefore, she’s spent ages on these exams in order to let them go on as long as possible so that she doesn’t have to face having nothing to do lol. But I am here and waiting earnestly so that I can bother her all day long 🙂

So what else has happened? Well, I’ve taken this time to get down to cleaning out old emails and things, and trying to tidy up my laptop, now that they year is done, which takes a very long time. I also went for an excellent walk all by myself, which I haven’t done in a while, so it was quite refreshing to just be inside my own head for a bit. Oh- and I started season 3 of Casa de las Flores (aka the best Mexican show on Netflix) which I’m not sure what its going to be like this season, but we shall find out. And I am reading more and more of Jane Eyre, which I am really enjoying now. It does dhow you why classics are classics, because often they are very very good books indeed. I have done some tutoring, and the novelty is wearing off a bit now to be honest, but it is a form of income so thats always a wee perk. And other than that, my life has been very same-ish. Nothing too exciting, but I am very grateful for my safe, slightly boring life.

Birthdays- day sixty six and seven

Sixty six… its another quarantine birthday! this time its my sisters and she turned the famous Taylor Swift song age (22 lol). Which is not the exciting a number; I don’t think there is anything you can do at 22 that you couldn’t do at 21 but there you go. My mum told her at dinner that she’s not really going to have any more exciting birthdays until she turns 30 lol. To be fair, it wasn’t that exciting a birthday, because she is still in the middle of exams, so was working most of the day. But for me, it was a very busy cooking and preparing day, because if she was only going to emerge from doing her work for meal times, I may as well make them special.

I got my sister the best present out of everyone: a nutribullet. I know- I am extremely generous! So, I had frozen a banana overnight and bought lots of frozen kale and berries and yogurt and so in the morning she could make a smoothie. Before now, we had this tiny little blender (that really blended nothing lol) and so she could never make smoothies. Although, my sister is super into fitness and watches all the you tubers like Zana van dyke and Venetia la manna and so would love to make all that banana ice cream and smoothie bowls and all of that. It was extremely exciting (and low key scary) using the nutribullet for the first time (it is very powerful ngl) but obtained a smooth smoothie was really quite a revelation. I wonder how long we will be fascinated by it, before the novelty wears off.

So then, my sister went back into do more of her essays, but I busied myself baking bread for lunch and icing her cake. Which really did take all morning, after doing dishes and tidying up, and just taking my time. After reading como agua para chocolate I am big believer that food only tastes as good as the mood you were in when you cooked it. if it is made rushed, or stressed or upset then it won’t taste good at all, even if it has all the right ingredients. Bt if it is made thoughtfully, care and with love, then even if you end up guessing the quantities for everything (as I always do lol) then it will be enjoyed, no matter what.

I made a very Mediterranean platter at lunch; my homemade bread, salad, hummus (but my parents ruined the vibe because they were arguing about gardening lol- the garden looks a mess and neither want to take responsibility) and then cleaned and cleared up again. Im starting to think I really wouldn’t mind a job as a kind of housekeeper/nanny role- maybe become an au pair? Although Ive heard that it gets quite lonely. After that my sister, dad and I went for a lovely walk together, (after she submitted two more essays, so she only has two to goooo) and then back in time for me to set the table again, cook my lasange, make a salad, and blow up balloons. the birthday dinner was enjoyed, and then me and my sister watched a movie (the tourist- we chose it because it had Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie, but it wasn’t that good by the end of it) and that was the day done.

A relatively boring, but successful enough birthday; nothing wildly special but I guess it was cute and thoughtful. The real celebrations will come on Friday when she finishes exams I think 🙂 we plan to buy own our wine (we are getting a bit guilty always drinking our parents) and getting really really lit. happy days.

sixty seven… I woke up today at 7.00 ad thought the day just has to begin. But then, I started to drift off again, and didn’t awake until 8.20, so now am in a much better mood at not having to start the day so early. I didn’t do my morning stretches today, because I don’t want to become obsessed with a routine of stretching and becoming scared to break it.

Today is the first day of rain for over a week, and, you know what, it’s almost quite refreshing. I thought I would be really deflated at seeing the rain, but because I slept well, and we did have such an excellent run of good weather, I acc don’t mind it too much! My dad has gone to work (yes I know, how scary is that? two days a week he has to go to his real work, which is always quiet nerve wracking for everyone- we’re not really use to anyone leaving the house, except for shopping and walking, so it is strange) and my mum is working from home, and my sister is still in exams so its just me who’s free as a bird. Also, the exam deadlines have now passed for my exam, so I really cant change anything now. I am officially officially off for summer.

So how to busy myself today? well, I am going to cook a curry for dinner tonight, because I am becoming such a chef these days. then I need to do Duolingo practice and I am going to FaceTime some of my friends today, because I have been getting out of the swing of that and am worried that I am going to start becoming antisocial. Will it be a boring day? In all honesty, I think not, because busying myself doing nothing is my new best talent 🙂

Hair cutting- day sixty four and five

Sixty four… so today I did the standard typical quarantine thing. I cut my own hair. I know, I know, I must be getting very wild these days! So, I washed my hair and then went out to my garden with a big mirror. I had the option of asking my family to cut it for me, as this does seem like it would be easier. But last month I cut my sisters hair for her and took too much off it (whoops, it was an innocent mistake- I just got a bit carried away lol) and so I would not trust her not to try and avenge me. My mum is quite a silly person (my mum is lovely but silly is acc quite a good word to describe her) and so not trusting her with that, and my dad is, well, probably just going to be bad at it. So the best person was in fact myself 🙂

So I started off quite tentatively, not sure how it to cut hair. In hinds sight, I don’t really know why I didn’t take time to watch youtube videos or read about it online (after all I do have countless hours of the day to do this, but I think its just a thing where I’m so used to not having enough time to do things and always taking shortcuts that I just do it automatically now) so I just thought I would wing it. So I just snipped away, quite carelessly to be honest, but really enjoying it. I just kept cutting and cutting, and you know what?

I’ve ended up with quite a choppy little bob. Yes, its uneven (I tried to do the shorter at the front and longer at the back thing, which had a varying degree of success) but I like it. It is clearly a quarantine haircut, but I think there is something effortless about it, which makes it look low-key cool? Maybe I’m convincing myself lol.

Anyways, I’ve really felt like a new woman today with my new hair. It does get addictive though, I just want to cut more and more off it, but have to stop myself, and am trying to get my other family members to let me cut their hair (with no such luck). Should I drop out of uni and become a hairdresser? I feel quite boss and independent, and really see no need to ever again spend £25 on getting my hair cut. I mean, obviously, it is better done by a professional, but its really not that bad or difficult, and since I’m not very high maintenance when it comes to hair, I’m happy enough. I feel very bohemian and hippy and ready to buy a camper van and live an off-to-map life, completely free and cool with my newfound talents.

Sixty five… so today was a very busy day! Who knew that even when exams finished that my life would still be so non-stop? So I woke up quite late (or early- it was around 7.45 and I’m not sure whether that is a lie in for my body anymore). I’m waking up later because I’m going to sleep later, because I’ve got addicted to these new Netflix series (its not new but I’m just late to the party for most things lol) called Elite. It’s kind of very binge worthy, but I am restricting myself to one episode a day because I don’t really like binging on things. Two summers ago I binged watched Orange is the New Black and developed an eye twitch from looking at my laptop screen to much, and since then have never be able to watch more than two episodes of something per day. Also, in my house at uni, the wifi didn’t quite stretch to my room, and so I never could watch too much Netflix or YouTube, so got out of the swing of it.

So then I woke up and went downstairs and started cooking! I made a veggie lasagne in the morning, and made too much for the dish to hod it all, so its kind of overflowing, but I think I’ll just put a tray underneath it in the oven and it should be fine. However, my cooking session was interrupted by the fact that I had to do tutoring. Its funny that I always want work, and then when I get it, I really don’t want it anymore lol. But it was grand to be fair.

Then after lunch, I made a carrot cake, but it didn’t rise so is now just like a mini cake, which is fine (I’m trying to convince the rest of my family that it is fine too). I think I added too much carrot and walnut, because they’re the best ingredients in a carrot cake, but maybe I should have stuck to the recipe. Well, we shall find out tomorrow.

And then I helped my sister with her essays (I really have no clue, why does she always ask for my advice?), and then I went for a walk at like 5pm, where the light is very golden and warm and lovely, and it was lovely. And I still haven’t even had time yet to write this blog, or do Duolingo practice! What a busy day in quarantine it has been. Tonight I am going to wrap my sisters present and then get into bed for another episode of Elite. What a splendid day 🙂