Veg noodle stirfry; pear and berry crumble and ice cream

It’s a bank holiday here in the UK, so naturally the weather has been decidedly unpleasant. We haven’t had much rain here on the Isle of Wight (sadly, as the crops on the many farms really need it), but it’s been windy enough to bring down a single, small tree branch in the garden. Our very helpful neighbour collected it, cut it up, put the leaves and twigs in the garden waste bin, and took the small bit of remaining branch away with him for later disposal. And that was the end of that very minor bit of drama.

Mum woke up in pain from her back (pulled muscle, we’re seeing the physio next Monday) and her stomach (probably anxiety, but I’m going to be annoying the GP until that’s confirmed), and her mood was unsurprisingly low. She announced she was going back to bed, I think expecting me to stop her, but I told her to go ahead if she thought that was what was best.

While she slept, I wrote a bit more of my book, looked up details of writing groups in the area, updated tomorrow’s grocery order to add far too much ice cream (six of mum’s favourite coffee one, a lemon one she fancied trying, a big tub of vanilla and a slightly smaller one of vanilla-honeycomb to go with puddings, and I don’t know how we’re going to fit it all in the freezer 😬), and researched a much-needed laptop for myself (the Amazon refurbished tech site is a revelation – so many options I can actually afford!).

Dinner was a very ordinary stirfry (mum discussed having seconds, but opted for a banana instead, which I totally agree was the better choice), then a pear and berry crumble which was the latest in my string of attempts to master crumbles: this one had far too little butter so it was a bit powdery, but tasted pretty good if I do say so myself.

By this evening mum was much better, and back to her intelligent, funny, observant self. It’s happening more often recently, which I feel is a good sign: all that’s needed now is for it to start earlier in the day, so she can start braving the outside world again.

And there, for now, I will leave the blog: I have Ribena to drink and chocolate to eat before either blow away in the wind. Stay safe, and dry, y’all.