arkessian

Recent comfort reading I recommend:

Juliet E. McKenna The Green Man's Challenge. Juliet is a local (to me) author with an impeccable fantasy backlist; her Green Man series is based on English folklore, but she has other series that are well worth exploring!

T. Kingfisher Paladin's Hope. Just awwww. Check her out at Amazon.co.uk: T Kingfisher: Books, Biography, Blogs, Audiobooks, Kindle (or the bookseller of your choice). There's some (very good) horror in there so double-check if that's not your thing. I will say that if you like one of the Paladins series, you will like them all. Especially the bears...

You'll need to subscribe via Patreon to the next recommendation, but you'll get all sorts of indescribable Mars-punk stuff. Chalet School on Mars? Tick. And check out anything involving Rowany de Vere (I want to be her when I grow up.)

Other stuff (a bit older): Pavane by Keith Roberts (and I'd love a discussion about that).

I'd welcome recommendations for new comfort reading -- nothing that requires me to turn my brain outside-in, but I'm willing to be ambushed by stuff I've not considered.

Apologies to those following me for deep literary insights or whatever (although if you're still here you have probably realised I'm not in that game - but see my next post about stuff I've recently read).).

I am (I refer you to an earlier post) getting to grips with my new reality, and you may have to suffer this sort of post for a while, while I adjust. ( Pass over this post if the minutiae of my life is not of interest... )

Adjustment has involved making travel arrangements for various contingencies when I am forbidden to drive for health reasons and live somewhere that a car is an essential.

I have registered with the local 'community transport' organisation which will (should) be great (but not cheap) for scheduled journeys, and I also have the ability to call on friends and family (although they all live 75 miles away) but I was still working out how to handle short-notice trips (as in I need to get to the vet/GP/whatever asap/today).

As always events overtook planning.

Little Madam (she on the left in the icon) was washing a certain area of her anatomy (under her tail) compulsively overnight/this morning, so I investigated (once my caffeine had kicked it).

An abscess, no doubt caused by her brother biting her -- they've both been unsettled after my two week sojourn in hospital and some of that has come out in mutual aggression -- they're both as bad as each other for initiating it, but he's a bit stronger so tends to come off better.

Cue: making a vet appointment (the easy bit) and finding a pet friendly taxi that could fit me in at short notice. Luckily I already had a shortlist of taxi services to try and the first one I rang was (1) happy to transport a cat in a basket (2) available in the right timescale and happy to wait while I was at the vets (and didn't charge for waiting time less than 30 minutes) (3) happy to carry the cat in basket to and from the taxi -- I'm not allowed to carry heavy stuff for another two weeks, and Little Madam is a podge. So they're on the list for future use (notwithstanding the driver's politics -- I have a theory about UK taxi drivers and politics which he totally proved but I won't find anyone different here in Tory-shire).

LM charmed the vet (as she always does) by thoroughly exploring the consulting room, including rolling seductively across the floor. She was less keen on the antibiotics injection -- which took three goes and some pretty heavy-duty holding. She has some liquid pain control prescribed, which I was apprehensive about, but in the event was a non event. She is now lounging on the hall floor totally spaced out!

Her next appointment is in 10 days by phone -- there's a suspicion she will need stitches, but we will see.

I now return you to your usual programming...

I have a 9 year old nephew with (probably) Aspergers. He and his mother love fantasy and are listening to books while she crochets and he knits (loom knitting).

I'm looking for age-appropriate book recommendations. They've worked their way through a lot of David Eddings (eek) and his mother is considering Anne McCaffery (I've pointed her at a few reasons I'm not wild about that choice either....)

Harry Potter comes with its own author-baggage but the content is IIRC less problematic. I shall suggest The Hobbit...

What else ought I suggest?

This isn't as personal as I would like, but I've a lot of people to tell -- apologies.

Life just got a little more complicated.

I already had heart failure and was under consideration for listing for a heart transplant.

And then for totally unrelated reasons (suspected DVT or maybe cellulitis ) I went into hospital on 6 September. Which was a blessing in disguise.

7 September, in the presence of a senior cardiac nurse and a full crash team, I had a sudden cardiac arrest (best place/time to have one) -- I'd had a blip that prompted the nurse to call the crash team; I woke up briefly, apologised for causing trouble, admired the scenery (the crash team was made up of lots of very fit young men) and promptly lost 5 hours to a real arrest and the sequelae. (I was apparently very argumentative at times, according to one of the nurses, demanding an explanation before I let the doctors do stuff. If you know me well, that won't surprise you!)

I've been fine ever since -- shipped at the end of the week (blue lights all the way, because the paramedics were enjoying themselves) from my local hospital to Birmingham for a scheduled heart transplant assessment. Left Birmingham with an implantable cardiac defibrillator in place of my old pacemaker and a definitive heart transplant listing. It may never happen, or it might happen next week -- in the meantime I'm working out how to live an independent life for the foreseeable future when I can't drive (for a minimum of 6 weeks and at least two years if the ICD shocks me).

My cats are delighted to see me (and sticking to me like velcro). I need to sort out various transport options but that's just hassle.

My priorities online will also be reviewed, but I'll be spending more time in places that don't raise my blood pressure rather than vanishing completely. Plus I'll be reading a lot, so recommendations gratefully received.

I'm having one of those periods in reading where nothing is the right thing.

I tried what I suppose would be labelled 'urban fantasy' by an author new to the genre (who clearly had done just enough of the foundational reading to have a handy tick sheet but not enough to really get to grips with the genre). ~~Characters~~ Caricatures with a minimal smear of backstory? Tick. Extra points for token Asian, Religious Black Woman, Stroppy Teenager and Queer Guy, not to mention Unpredictable Boss with an unknown historical tragedy, and Naïf Protagonist to highlight how 'weird' everything is. Gritty urban setting (most definitely not the named city)? Tick. Real jeopardy demonstrated by knocking off a few of the 'nice' disposable Caricatures? Tick? Half-baked explanation involving various magical castes? Tick. Thrown hard and far? Multiple ticks. I have no idea what happened at the end, and no desire to know, but I fear it was the set up for a series... which I will never read.

Onwards then. Highly recommended SF. Paper thin world building (no, but, no, but, no -- just NO!); two protagonists with as much charisma as wet tissue paper; important information withheld by the author until it can be dramatically revealed when disclosing it in the first few pages (which would have made internal sense) would have killed the story dead. Also thrown hard and far... although I'll try something else by the same author (warily). (OK, I may be unkind to the protagonists -- they have all the charisma of untrained puppies).

Still in the to-be-read list: something by an author I always read (although I don't always enjoy equally -- some settings are too bleak and too well realised to reach the end with unalloyed pleasure); and a novella by an author new to me.

In the mood I'm in, I should probably leave them both well alone and do some comfort rereading....

Stolen from

oursin and

legionseagle . I have thriftily combined their topics.

Fantasy

A life-long love. I can't remember what age I was when I realised that (1) the things in books were usually made up; (2) very often it was not only the events and people that were made up, but even the places involved; and (3) people in books could do things that people around me couldn't.

I supposed for a while that the lack of fantastical abilities in the people around me was down to their personal lack of skills, and I would eventually encounter somebody who could really do magic...at which point I would run away and become their student and learn to do magic myself.

There is, of course, still time for this to happen.

Family History/Genealogy

Something 20 years ago, a friend said: you should take up Family History -- it would suit you to a T.

And they were right. What's not to like? Meticulous record keeping; logical thinking; ferreting around in archives (not such much of that these days, as the basic records are online, but the more interesting ones aren't -- Can I tempt you with a workhouse admissions register, anyone? Perhaps a lease for three lives?) ; combining evidence from half a dozen sources that each in themselves aren't sufficient to prove something but when combined give you that Eureka moment...

To be honest, it wouldn't matter whose family history I was researching -- the pleasure is in the process, not the end result. Although it is satisfying to know exactly how creative my mother was with the truth. "My father spent a lot of time with the redcaps while he was in the Army." Absolutely true -- he spent most of his 16 year hitch (when he wasn't on the run) in the glasshouse.

Gardening

Growing up in Birmingham, the activity we called gardening was in truth nothing of the kind: we spent all our time digging drainage ditches in a long back garden running down towards a river, with springs that appeared out of nowhere each year and reduced the garden to a muddy bog. Mum made an effort to grow some food -- gooseberries and rhubarb are what I remember (funny how I can't stand rhubarb and gooseberries to this day), and kept rabbits to sell for the pot, but mostly it was the aforesaid muddy bog. No flowers!

Moving to London didn't cultivate an interest in gardening either -- the two maisonnettes that I lived in (in the halcyon days when it was possible to buy somewhere in London on an average wage) both had pocket handkerchief gardens, most of which had been concreted/paved over. I planted a few herbs in the concrete edged beds and very little else.

Arriving on the Wiltshire/Gloucestershire borders, I had to learn to garden properly, in self-defence: letting the weeds take over is not a viable strategy. (Well, it is -- you can just let the blow-ins seed and call it a wild-life garden, or a study in cow parsley, nettles and dandelions -- but I try to be a good neighbour). In the ensuing 30 years, I've improved my skills considerably. I can no longer do the physical work myself, but have found a great gardener who is very happy for me to point and say: that needs dividing; those peonies are in the wrong place; can you plant 150 tulip bulbs next week. It's never going to win a prize at Chelsea but I'm happy with what I've got.

An Englishwoman Abroad

I was about to say I've managed to visit a few countries in Europe, over the years, and made a few sallies into North America.. And then I thought, let's be accurate about the tally:

England, Scotland and Wales (I suspect Scotland and Wales will count as abroad in the not too distant future)
France
Spain
Belgium
The Netherlands
Luxembourg
Germany
Denmark
Sweden
Norway
Finland
Iceland
The Faroes
The Czech Republic
Canada (Montreal)
USA (Denver, Chicago, Wisconsin)

I have a clear preference for temperate/cold climates!

Some of these were work trips -- the day trips to German were a particular delight between 2004 and 2008; Cannes in November is not glamourous; cheap hotels in Brussels seem to be in particularly dodgy neighbourhoods; but Prague was lovely even if our work hosts thought we would all want to go to Irish pubs every night. (Which was better than repeated trips to the Essen Christmas market -- there is only so much Christmas bonhomie I can take.)

If I were to pick a place I'd like to return to it would be Iceland and/or the Faroes... Alas, I think my travelling days are probably done. London would be an adventure these days!

HAVE YOU EVER: COOKING EDITION

This is rather USAian in its expectations and language

1. Made biscuits from scratch? Yes, for the UK usage of biscuit.
2. Fried fresh okra? Can't stand the stuff.
3. Made sourdough bread? Yes.
4. Fried chicken? Yes. but not with breadcrumbs or batter, if that matters.
5. Made spaghetti sauce from scratch? Often. As in, never done anything else for spaghetti.
6. Made any kind of yeast bread? Yes, but not since I started making sourdough.
7. Baked a cake from scratch? Yes, but not in maybe 20 years -- life and tastes change.
8. Made icing from scratch? In my teens, at school. Mrs Etheridge approved it greatly.
9. Cooked a pot roast with all the veg? Yes, though it depends a bit on what 'all the veg' means. Ditto pot roast.
10. Made chili from scratch? Yes.
11. Made a meatloaf? No.
12. Made scalloped potatoes? If scalloped potatoes mean potato gratin? Yes, often. If they mean the potatoes in batter that kids used to get fobbed off with from the chip shop when their parents got fish? No.
13. Made mac/cheese from scratch? Never seen the point.
14. Made a jello salad? Duh, what? Salad computes, but jello?
15. Made peanut brittle? Never.
16. Made fudge? Another childhood achievement. Never wanted to ruin my teeth once I got to the age of independence.
17. Made cookies from scratch? See above, 'biscuits'.
18. Cooked a pot of beans from dried beans? Chickpeas and/or lentils, if they qualify.
19. Cooked a pot of greens? Brain going uhhh? Greens are a part of every meal. I suspect this means a particular kind of greens, but... what exactly?
20. Made cornbread from scratch? No.
21. Made a pie dough from scratch? I'm going to assume you mean pastry. Yes.
22. Cooked a whole turkey? Why?
23. Snapped green beans and cooked them? We need to discuss the beans. French? Runner? What, exactly?
24. Made mashed potatoes from scratch? On request -- I'm not keen, but will make it with mustard or cheese through it for particular dishes.
25. What’s the most people you have (alone) prepared a whole meal for? When I was cooking tea for my family every night (aged 12-18), 6 people.
26. Poached an egg? Yes. The traditional method is rubbish -- use a microwave.
27. Made pancakes from scratch? Yes, but not recently.
28. Roasted vegetables in the oven instead of boiling them? Is boiling an option? Always roast. Or steamed.
29. Made fresh pasta? You're having a laugh. (I don't eat much pasta if any, so no point in making it myself).
30. Made croissants from scratch? No. And don't intend to.
31. Made tuna salad? Ick.
32. Fried fish? Yes. No breadcrumbs or batter, again.
33. Made baked beans? Ick again. Why would I?
34. Made ice cream from scratch? Too much work.
35. Made jam or jelly? Aubergine jam, which turned out pretty well, but that was the one year when I had a decent aubergine harvest..
36. Zested an orange or lemon? Yes.
37. Made grits from scratch? Grits? ???
38. Made an omelette? Often. Sometimes even Spanish Omelette.
39. Lived in a house without a dishwasher? Yes.
40. Eaten a bowl of cereal for supper? I don't think I've ever eaten a bowl of cereal for breakfast since it was the only option in my mother's house , 44 years ago.

Dance on the left and Boycat on the right are in a good mood. This may be because they don't know I have (with some trepidation) booked a plumber to address the all-they-can-drink cat fountain in the shower... The plumber and I have negotiated a mutually satisfactory safety protocol, but they are obviously snowed under with jobs that have backed up, so it will be almost two weeks before they arrive.

I have a number of small but important plumbing tasks building up -- two of which include leaks that really ought to be dealt with sooner rather than later, and one of which might as well get done when I've allowed somebody in the house.

So, with some trepidation, I have inquired of a plumbing company that I've used before (a) are they still working and (b) is this work they can take on. To make things smoother I have provided them with chapter and verse on the parts that will be required (I am a hoarder of part numbers and instructions).

We'll see... I may have to teeter-totter on a chair myself to fix to bathroom light-pull however. Theoretically, it's simple, but working above my head is hard for me.

In other news, the John Radcliffe in Oxford really really want me to come to them for a scan. As an incentive they've pointed out that parking will be no problem (their letters usually say allow 2 hours to find a place!)

Thanks to everyone who responded. I have recommended Pratchett, Bujold (Chalion and Penric), Martha Wells (Raksura and Ile Rien), Aliette de Bodard (Dominioon of the Fallen, and as an off-the-wall suggestion the Aztec novels), Addison's The Goblin Emperor and Sherwood Smith's Inda series if she can lay her hands on it.

She should find something she enjoys in that lot, and it's a pleasure stretching a young mind...

My niece B has asked for some fantasy recommendations for this lockdown period:

"It’s only fantasy, I don’t mind the horror side of fantasy but most that I enjoy is “other world”. [C] introduced me to Neil Gaiman so I read the American Gods books (my but they took artistic licence with the series on prime!)and I’m listening to Neverwhere as an attempt to distract me while I try to run! I do need to start the Robert Jordan books at some point, loved David Eddings although they were all a bit young. I normally enjoy anything Arthurian although I tried one of Jonathan Moeller’s the other day and it made a wonderful sleep aid! I’m always open to suggestions! I’m not a fan of short stories, mainly because I like something that lasts more than a couple of hours "

Who should I be recommending? (I will be telling her to put off |Robert Jordan until she's old and doddery, ditto George R.R. martin).

During lockdown, people's fancy alights on strange things.

When my great-nephew A was born, his grandfather G (who I loathe with a passion) decided to write a book of the adventures of A and G.

[G is the kind of person that, when he gets divorced from his second wife, loses custody of his only child to that child's step-mother! And when he and his third wife were due to retired to Wales, she decided not to go with him at the last minute.]

The adventures will of course involve tax evasion, swindling customers and suppliers.... you get the general picture. He has transferred his business to his daughter with a single piece of advice: Cheat whenever you can.

Cue lockdown, and he has put his idea into words.

Except, according to his daughter B, they are very bad and unstructured words. Could Aunty Helen (the familly's official author) take a look and knock it into shape.

And I've never been able to deny B anything.

I'm now awaiting a draft in dread.

My first stage Heart Transplant assessment (a round trip of 150 miles to Birmingham) has just been cancelled and will be reinstated "when things go back to normal." Which is actually a weight off my mind -- I didn't fancy the journey or the hospital environment -- but if they'd said I should go, I would have gone.

Cunningly disguised as a postman! Sporting a non-regulation face mask and (allegedly) his pyjamas.

Today, the entire panoply of central government, the NHS, local government and the major supermarkets have all surged into the business of making sure that I'm all right. I would hope they're being slightly more effective with people who really need their help...

Item the first: I received three emails today from different supermarkets telling (or retelling me) that I have priority for their delivery slots. The fact that none of them can actually offer a slot in the next three weeks is neither here not there -- I do have sufficient food and probably only need an order once a month. If I can get that.

Item the second: a bloke in a white van abandoned an anonymous parcel on my doorstep and retreated as they have all been trained to do, to check I came out to pick it up. I could not pick it up, so he returned (me having retreated in my turn) and hefted it inside the front door. I was the lucky and surprised recipient of a government weekly food parcel! There is, it transpires, a tick box on the form to register as a 'vulnerable person that asks if you have friends and family to do you shopping for you -- which I don't because I don't need anyone to do my shopping, so I ticked it. Cue a large box of: potatoes, white bread, rice, pasta, breakfast cereal ,uht milk, tinned soup, tinned veg, baked beans, pasta sauce, and a solitary tin of chicken meatballs in tomato sauce, and some seriously cheap fig rolls... sufficient supposedly for one person to live for a week (if they don't need much protein to go with their carbs, and don't mind everything tasting of tomatoes). There were some fresh apples and oranges which I shall keep, but fortuitously the Post Office is collecting donations for the local Food Bank tomorrow, so I shall leave it out for them to take away.

Item the third: I just had a welfare check call from the local County Council. He at least sounded as if he knew what he was doing: do I have enough food, and means of getting more regularly; is my prescribed medication getting to me regularly; do I have people to talk to on the phone; do I have access to the Internet and know how to use it... I got the distinct impression that if I had needed any of that sort of help, or just somebody to talk to, he would have been able to sort it all out and would have stayed on the phone as long as I wanted. So that at least was reassuring to me that people who need real help will get it.

I just had a brisk exchange of views with somebody on Facebook who ‘doesn’t want strangers coming in and contaminating our village’.

I asked, strangers like Postmen? Delivery drivers? Carers? And are you OK going to [three nearest towns] to shop and visit your doctor's surgery, and contaminating them?

She deleted her post.

I worry about what we’re learning about people’s attitudes in this.

1. Are you an Essential Worker?

Perhaps in the dim and distant, when I was actually writing software that helped run the country's electricity infrastructure. But no, not for some time.

2. How many drinks have you had since the quarantine started?
Usual amounts of coffee, lemon tea, beetroot juice, water, wine...

3. If you have kids... Are they driving you nuts?
I haven't, so they aren't.

4. What new hobby have you taken up during this?
I have no time to fit in a new hobby -- I already have more than enough to do.

5. How many grocery runs have you done?
None. As an 'officially shielded' person, I'm not allowed out of the house for anything as mundane as shopping. I managed to get a few deliveries scheduled before all hell let loose, and at least one UK supermarket has me on its list to get priority and seem to be releasing a few slots every day...

6. What are you spending your stimulus check on?
N/a

7. Do you have any special occasions that you will miss during this quarantine?
No, unless you count medical appointments as special occasions.

8. Are you keeping your housework done?
No. I can manage bogs and basins and kitchen work surfaces, and laundry, but floors are beyond me.

9. What movie have you watched during this quarantine?
No movies. No TV. Not listened to the radio either.

10. What are you streaming with?
N/a

11. 9 months from now is there any chance of you having a baby?
As much chance as there is of me running a marathon.

12. What's your go-to quarantine meal?
Whatever comes first to hand. I am making an effort to cook proper meals, so tonight I shall have duck in orange sauce with roast potatoes, carrots and stir-fried cavallo nero with onion.

13. Is this whole situation making you paranoid?
No. I'm being sensible and staying in. I'm enormously fortunate -- I have a secure roof over my head, an income which isn't at risk, local support systems I can call on if I need them (which I haven't yet.) I do worry for my nieces and nephews, not all of whom can work from home (logistics workers, traffic warden, factory workers making essential goods) and few of whom have a cushion if they cease being paid, but worrying never helped anything, and the Bank of Aunty Helen has been known to help out. I'm sleeping very well.

14. Has your internet gone out on you during this time?
So far, so good.

15. What month do you predict this all ends?
What do you mean, ends?

16. First thing you’re gonna do when you get off quarantine
Not perhaps the first thing, but I'm looking forward to a nice meal out.

17. Where do you wish you were right now?
Right where I am.

18. What free-from-quarantine activity are you missing the most?
Eating in a restaurant.

19. Have you run out of toilet paper and hand sanitizer?
I have plenty.

20. Do you have enough food to last a month?
Yes. Fully stocked freezer that will feed me for a month if everything else runs out, plus a bunch of stuff in the fridge and cupboards. No excessive hoarding -- I'm always careful to have enough in in case I'm not well enough to go shopping. Only problem area is fresh fruit -- I had to thaw frozen berries to have with my yoghurt this morning, and the cats did not like berry-flavoured yoghurt (they always get the last spoonful on a saucer).

I have two chilli seedlings and one sweet pepper seedling on my kitchen windowsill. I will do my best to nuture them (and I've never had chilli/pepper plants fail before -- I have a sun-trap in the garden where I shall pot them on when the days get warmer.)

To be honest, I'd also like some bush tomatoes and courgettes (can't buy plants online for love nor money, and I've never been lucky with seeds) but beggars can't be choosers. These seedlings were offered on the village FaceBook page, which is all of a sudden a treasure trove of people doing/offering nice things.

The Teddy Bear hunt to entertain the children on their daily walks has staled a bit (I tried to persuade Boycat to pretend he was a teddy bear and sit in the window all day, but he was having none of it, and I didn't think a stuffed black crow or a knitted dalek entered into the spirit of things; likewise Little Madam who can emote the whole spectrum from "I hate you and if you come closer you're dead" to "your life is meaningless to me you nasty little worm" ). Perhaps if we're still locked down at Halloween.

But! The children can still look for and report painted stones on their perambulations -- the stones are moved regularly and new ones added every day. And there's now apparently a set of Gruffalo characters attached to trees in the local woods.

And there are excellent amateur photographers going out every day and posting photographs of the spring -- new born lambs, new leaves, sunshine and daffodils. Unexpectedly cheering.

As a paid up curmudgeon, I can only say: bah. But it is nice to think that people are taking the trouble (and probably enjoying it) to entertain children they don't even know; and post photographs for the people who can't get out.

This is, reportedly, a golden opportunity for catching up on reading.

So I've read the first two books by Hilary Mantel about Thomas Cromwell (Wolf Hall, and Bring Up the Bodies) and enjoyed (or at least admired) them.

But I've ground to a halt on the The Mirror and the Light. OK, so I know the ending... but that's never stopped me finishing a book before; I am the Queen of Reread, if a book is well enough written. And I have no problem with Hilary Mantel's writing (although perhaps a little trimming would not have gone amiss in this third book).

But I've taken against the main character, alas -- I could understand his dilemmas in the first two books but now... I just don't like him any more. And the current climate means I want to gain some enjoyment from my reading, not just technical admiration.

I left the house yesterday for the first time in three weeks (OK, I've been out in the garden, but not off my own property). I had to get a blood test done at my GP's surgery, and while I was out, I decided I'd also go to the petrol station and fill the car tank in anticipation of possible longer medical trips. Mask on, gloves on, sanitiser gel and wipes in my handbag... Ready for anything!

My GP's surgery is in a small town about 5 miles away. The roads through my village and on the way to the dual carriageway were empty, and there were only a couple of people visible doing their daily exercise (with obligatory dogs); the dual carriageway had plenty of trucks and vans but very few cars. As soon as I turned into Cricklade, however, it might have been an ordinary weekday morning. Traffic queuing at the central roundabout (by the town clock); people strolling along the High Street with no apparent inkling of social distancing; a cluster of workmen in peering into a hole in the ground... Scary, and I rather suspect it will be worse today.

The GP's surgery on the other hand was taking things very seriously. One out, one in; stand behind a tape line on the floor to talk to the receptionist, nurse masked gowned and gloved. I wasn't allowed to touch a thing; the nurse opened all the doors on the way to her room and back, reassured me that (e.g) the chair I put my bag and jacket on was wiped immediately before she came to collect me... And she had checked that I was on the extremely vulnerable list and congratulated me on having the good sense to wear my own mask and gloves.

Patrol station was pay-at-pump but it seemed to be pot luck whether you ended up filling opposite a van man who didn't much care -- I was lucky and had plenty of space. At the two supermarkets I passed, the car parks were heaving with cars and long queues of appropriately distanced people. Most of whom, I fear, were going to get home and wonder where they were going to stash the stuff they had just bought.

With luck I won't have to go out again until and unless I have to go to Birmingham for a Heart Transplant Assessment in May. The NHS has finally decided that I probably don't have amyloidosis, and the trip to Oxford for a scan ('for completeness') can wait until it's safe for me to travel. So that was yesterday's very good news.

And this morning I was notified by a supermarket that I haven't shopped at for 20 years that I had priority access to its delivery slots. I may be cynical, but I can't help thinking that they're seeking every opportunity to attract customers... Or maybe it's just out of the goodness of their corporate heart.

I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up

Recent reading

A routine emergency

Book recommendations (fantasy for a 9 year old and his mother)

A quick health update

Misadventures in reading

Rhubarb! Rhubarb!

Cooking meme via Oursin

Go me!

Nothing ventured

Fantasy recommendations

Crowd-sourcing some fantasy recommendations

The perils of family

Another one bites the dust

A collector for the local food bank

The state of lockdown

A worrying exchange of views

Meme

Score!

Reading

I left the house yesterday, and was not happy with what I saw

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