I've no idea when actual Autumn starts, but as far as I'm concerned, it's begun. I know this because a few days ago I woke up to fog, and as I type this very sentence I am wearing a jumper. Case closed.
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| Me, right now, in a jumper! |
Except it isn't. Not this year. First there was the Rule of Six. Then Liverpool provided its residents with their own extra rules. Then Whitty and Valance talked the nation through the scary data. Then the Prime Minister got on and hinted at further restrictions coming up over the forthcoming weeks. All this was done in an eight-day period and I don't imagine that's the end of it. Planning ahead has repeatedly proven to be a big fat waste of time. I haven't bothered getting an academic diary for 2020/21. What's the point? I can map out the following weeks' plans all I like, but it doesn't mean they're going to pan out the way I intend. I can set deadlines and work myself into a stress about meeting them, but with every change to my daily routine that's thrown out on Twitter - or if they're spoiling us, televised speech - then it will only result in excessive crossings out and scribbled changes. This won't help me feel organised, so I'm not going to bother in the first place. The only plans I have right now are the niece's 1st birthday party, and a family caravan weekend in Wales. Both are next month. The party is currently rejigged into shifts - small groups of the family passing a present to a small child in numbers that total less than six. And the weekend away is not even worth thinking about yet. We'll know we're going when the day arrives and the rules haven't changed again. No point looking forward to it. No point planning to go. It's one day at a time.
But enough of the doom and gloom. The events of the past six months have shown that people can adapt and that includes me. I WILL adapt my Autumn routine. I WILL make plans. It's what I do. I'll just have to plan things that are unlikely to be changed by the powers that be. Here we go.
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| This is a previous Autumn's soup creation. ISN'T IT PRETTY. |
Butternut squash, chilli and coconut. Broccoli and stilton. Spicy pepper and coriander. French onion. THERE ARE SO MANY OPTIONS. To be honest, the enjoyable Sunday afternoon of chopping veg and blitzing hot liquid is much more fun than the eventual months of eating it. But look, it's Autumn. Tupperware boxes of frozen soup are what it's all about. Defrosting one for a late lunch goes hand in hand with a cosy jumper, log fire, and steaming cup of tea. The risk is that with nothing else to do, I will be overrun with soup by November, but still. It's relaxing to cook. No virus can take that away.
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| A slow, steady work in progress. |
2. No-Deal Drawer
I am categorically against panic buying. That's my statement and I stand by that. But slowly building up store cupboard reserves for whatever comes at the end of the year isn't the worst idea. It's sensibly cautious thing to do, and the planning of it can be a fun project to occupy a rainy afternoon. Make lists of ingredients you can store, that will make food you like. There's no point stashing 20kg of pasta if you've nothing to make sauce, or add flavour. Sauces, pulses, spices, dried veg, cereal, preserves. Whatever floats your boat and gives you the means to rustle up a basic chilli or curry should the need arise. I did this in the build-up to previous deadlines too. The tins and pasta I had put aside for last October were very useful in March when shopping was tricky. (And supply chains weren't even affected then.) As long as it's a couple of extra items here and there, week by week, it's not going to cause any problems. And, if the microwave pings in time and the oven-ready deal rocks up before the year's end, then there's no harm done. You've got groceries in for the start of next year when you can't be arsed shopping. Win.
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| Earwigging provides SO much content. |
3. Work
To repeat myself from six months ago, I am lucky. I can work from home. I have everything I need in my kitchen to do my job. All of these are true statements. Except the events six months ago proved how wrong that was in reality. I might technically have all I need - a power socket, a laptop, cups of tea - but that wasn't enough. I needed to have the freedom to mix up my routine. I needed the bustle of Costa a couple of times a week. I needed my writing space in the Pharmacy office in order to change the four walls around me. With those changes taken away, the writing stopped. My brain packed in. I cannot let this happen again. For as long as it's allowed, I will make sure I work out and about a few times a week. When/if that changes, I will FORCE myself to keep working. If it means driving somewhere scenic and working from my car seat, I will do it. The March/April/May brain freeze can't happen again. I have time to plan for that this time around.
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| If it's a Christmas in lockdown, I will just have to eat everybody's roast potatoes for them. It's a challenge but I'll do my best. |
Look, I KNOW. It's far too soon to be thinking about that now. (It's probably not.) The fact that no one has a clue what this Christmas will look like, is one good reason not to dwell yet. If we're still limited to groups of six (although in my neck of the woods, households can't mix in private homes) the seventeen of us that should be eating roasties together on Boxing Day will have an interesting dilemma. (Question: If you pull the short straw does that mean you miss out, or that your attendance is mandatory? Answers on a postcard.) But forget about the logistics of that for now. When I say Christmas, what I really mean is Christmas films. And yes, it's far too soon for Home Alone and Elf. We all know that. But Netflix has done sterling work over the past few years to bring us cheesy, snowy, cosy, daft, fluffy, festive content whose sole purpose is to MAKE US FEEL NICE. With the darker evenings and the chillier weather, I see no reason not to dive into seasonal cinema as soon as possible. With no friends round for BBQs and garden get togethers, what on earth else will you do? Make sourdough? Nah. That was so First Lockdown. Instead get on to Let it Snow, The Christmas Inheritance or The Christmas Prince trilogy. Shmaltzy and restorative. Just what the fear of a second lockdown needs.
I have other plans in my head that will see me right over the next few months, but they're less fun. Sort out my wardrobe and tidy my desk might make me feel better once they're done, but they don't sound particularly exciting for a list of cheery plans. Likewise, I'll have to tackle the Christmas logistics at some point, but not yet. All headachy jobs to be done. The trick will be to space them out with cheering activities between them. And for someone who started this Ramble throwing her hands in the air at the lack of opportunity to plan, I'd say it looks like I have adapted.
Have a lovely week, folks.
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