Stirfried vegetables with hoisin, and sticky rice

Mum was unusually settled yesterday afternoon, so I got my laptop out to do some emails and do some long-overdue work on the cookbook. But despite working from home for years, I somehow forgot one key problem with getting out a laptop:

Today was Lady Friday day, so of course mum spent most of the day panicking about it. To give her something else to worry about, our kitchen sink is refusing to drain, despite the eco-friendly cleaner I poured down it.

I think something must have got stuck in the pipe, as the plug hole is giving off a distinctly unpleasant smell. Thankfully, the wonderful RenoDrain can come out tomorrow and clear it, which will deal with one of my sources of stress.

This afternoon I was set to meet a potential new PA, so of course, 20 minutes before we were due to meet, my taxi driver phoned to say he had a puncture and was stuck in Newport. Thankfully, the prospective PA was willing to give me a lift, so we went to sit outside a café and chat.

The prospective PA has limited availability, but we have tentatively agreed that she could come and see mum on a Wednesday afternoon. Next week I will invite her round to meet mum, to see if they’re actually going to like each other.

One thing she did agree is that moving out is going to be the best thing for me. I’m waiting for a response from the Council to my enquiry about housing support, but when mum gets truly unbearable, at least I know escape is in the works.

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For dinner I did simple stirfried veg, which mum looked at and said “hmm, I might actually like this”, as if I don’t cater to her very limited tastes every single day. (She has recently decided she doesn’t like milk, and so won’t eat cereal, or yoghurt. I’m going to run out of food she will eat soon.)

This evening I’m feeling distinctly off-colour, to which observation mum responded with a laugh and a return to the topic of her teeth. I will therefore end here, and rejoin you when I’m feeling both less unwell and less like throttling my terminally unsympathetic mother.

See you tomorrow, everyone.