Preparations under way

The washing’s on the line. The only really important things for our holiday yet to dry are my knee braces.

The Goose Nuggets are in their breadcrumb coats ready for frying up this evening. We’ll use up the carrots as veg to accompany them. Since I last wrote we’ve used up a half tin of tomatoes & 4 eggs.

 I’ve thought a bit about what to do with our fresh oddments. I’ve found a recipe that will use up a fair amount of root veg – the parsnip, swede, & any remaining carrots – I could even add some of the celery. I’ve also looked at my freezer list & discovered some braising steak. Perfect.

Now we are into more important things, like finishing novels that are due back at the library this week. We won’t want to take them with us on holiday. Last year we decided to buy a Kindle for holiday use – neither of us want to read it at home. It just doesn’t have the same feel or smell as a paper book. We’ll take a paper book with us so the other person has something to read. I also buy a puzzle book. I can happily pass my time with searching for words, crosswords, Sudoku, matching pairs, joining dots etc. It’s a holiday, & hospital, indulgence.

And above all resting, while contemplating what to pack. We’re hoping for once to pack only what we need & to not forget anything important. We try to do that every time but don’t always succeed. This time we’re giving ourselves more time to think things out.

Tomorrow Linda, our home help, is coming around. She’s rung to ask if it’s okay if she brings a trainee with her. It seems the trainee is one of those unemployed girls who is obliged to do some work for no pay in order to keep her Jobseekers Allowance. I gather from Linda the agency she works for is eager to take on extra staff permanently if any “trainees” show ability. Fortunately this young person is actually interested in doing care work, so who knows it might turn into a job for her. For once this placement might lead to a job, a sort of extended interview, rather than free labour for a company which will lead to nowhere after the requisite number of weeks.