The Lockdown Gang - not setting foot outside!

Crumbs Miss Marydoll you don’t half scrub up well ?

Well what a busy prison we have. Good job there are no locked doors here.
callistemon you should know by now that the only thing you can throw at lemon that she would catch is a handsome young man in uniform ?
dreamkeeper sorry I can’t help you with bananas. I’ve been trying to order some myself but not got any yet. Hope you are getting somewhere with sorting out your lunchtime meals. I hope you have a nice view from your window. That is quite important I think.
doodledog third sweater since lockdown ? you must be some kind of knitting machine. From the sound of it you could take orders.
gramaretto he is a teenager so prone to staying in bed I think. ?
We usually go to bed between 11.30 and 12. Which is a bit later than usual. DH often has to get up in the night with his IBS or irritable legs but has been a bit better recently. We tend to sleep in quite late in the morning (which is why I am late for class Miss Marydoll ) ?
mamissimo I have decided that as I am governor of this luxurious prison I will have some bottles of what ever you fancy in the kitchen so you may top up your hot chocolate with whatever you like ?. Love the idea of a pub meal. Wish we could have one.
Hello sharon welcome to our gang. I wonder if we will ever get back to normal sleep routines after this.
cherry hope you enjoyed your meal. What are toasties please?
I will be back later to tuck you all in or in lemons’s case turn down the music and pout out the G&T

Good evening gang, just popping in to catch up on everyone's news.

Well my cup overrunneth!

I managed to sneak out across the field for a very early morning walk, DH and I never saw a soul. That will be my last sortie until next Sunday. I felt so refreshed and uplifted.

Then DS1 messaged to say he was in Asda, did I need anything. Now this is not an essential, but I needed vanilla extract for all the confectionary, I have been making as treats for my neighbours. I said to just hang onto it, until my DIL had to go for the rest of my shopping.

See you all tomorrow!

The next thing, the doorbell rang. On the step was the vanilla, a bunch of flowers and two bags of chocolate sweets.
What a lovely surprise. I love having flowers in the house, but felt as they were not essential, I shouldn't really be asking anyone to get them for me. It gave me such a boost.

The third thing that made my day, I found my favourite scarf, which had been missing for months. I had searched everywhere.
I have a thing about buying scarves at markets abroad, as they are so inexpensive compared to here. I bought the missing one years ago for €2 at Puerto Banus market. It looks like a much more expensive scarf.

Such simple things, but we need little pieces of joy in our lives just now.

Doodledog, I feel the same way about always wearing indoor clothes at the moment.
I usually dress quite smartly, as I often have two or three medical appointments per week. I had been saying to DH, I was sick of wearing the same casual stuff, as I wasn't going anywhere. It's going to the charity shop, once I'm released.

So today, I decided to dress more smartly and I felt so much better!
No-one, not even my neighbours saw me, but I did it for me, as I felt my standards were slipping! I even had matching earrings and wait for it, a touch of mascara. Tomorrow, back to the trackies!!

Isn't there any way at all to get some sort of complaint about the food organised jointly with your neighbours Dreamkeeper? There has to be some way to complain, it sounds like because you are essentially "captive* they are being exploitative. It's an absolute disgrace! Contact your local councillor via email or local press? You can't be expected to put up with it. I wouldn't.

Mamissimo, your comment about slicing gravy gave me a chuckle. When I first started to cook that's exactly what my WP and me had to do with my gravy ?. Thankfully things on that front did improve and now I don't get complaints, not even from myself.

It's been a funny old Sunday. Apart from dinner, (slow cooked belly pork, Toasties, carrots, broccoli and spring greens ?) it hasn't felt like a Sunday - just another groundhog lockdown day. Oh well, tomorrow will be groundhog Monday, then it'll be groundhog Tuesday ... BUT one day the groundhog will get what's coming ?

PLEASE oh! please can you have your local pub send some of their hot grub our way Mamissimo our own local Service has let us paying residents down very badly this past week.
Serving a hot meal on paper plates is just not on!Portions are smaller,cold and tasteless yet the management are first in raking in their money!

Shall we share dreams Doodledog?

You have me well and truly thinking now Cherry.....come on "spill the beans!!"

Having seen packets of bread mix selling on the TV I think this maybe the answer to our prayer for some bread.
Home made would be so delicious that there would never be left overs as we would quickly devour the lot in one!
All fantasy for me as I eat so little,am far more like a pecking bird!

Warm sunshine towards the close of day.Time to bid my cell mates a safe and happy time under the kind ruling of our Gov Doodle

Feeling a tad more with it today so opted to order a Sunday lunch from the local pub. Fantastic treat! We order and pay online and they ring the bell once it’s in the porch. Needed no reheating at all and the gravy didn’t need a knife to carve it ?

I’ve been dreaming loads of rubbish since I began incarceration, but I put it down to sleeping more heavily because of all the gardening I’ve been doing.

Can I preorder a G&T for later please? A Hendricks with cucumber would be my first choice but if It’s the girly gin with funny flavours I’ll take a chocolate and add some bourbon to it.....yummy!

Same as you Sharon going to bed later but....still getting up by 7 a.m. sadly.DH has usually been up and busily doing things since 6 a.m hard to stop body clocks really.
A nap after lunch seems ideal just lately.

OOPs! Sorry to drop the egg Callistemon I was wearing sheepskin mittens...try again?

I'm the same as you Doodledog
I am going to bed later and later, and getting up later and later.

I have the yarn, will you knit me one as well please Doodledog?

Can knit me a sweater please Doodledog, a red one in a size 10/12?
I'm finding that my sleeping pattern is gone a bit squiff atm Doodledog I've always been a bit of a night owl and usually have trouble getting to sleep because my brain puts out sleep waves all the time, however atm I am strangely having no trouble getting to sleep earlier and therefore am usually waking up earlier than my usual time (most days anyway).
Dreamkeeper, I wouldn't dream of making quips regarding your name, I'm far too polite and shy so I'll be keeping any quips under wraps and you can rest easy there and keep your dreams to yourself ?

Doodle it rather depends on the age of your DGS as to whether being nocturnal or not is a disadvantage. A 6 month old nocturnal one is no fun at all.

I have just met at a distance a lovely young family who came to prune and collect my willow bower. I had begun but wasn't tall enough to reach the high branches. So I did get a handsome man after all, Callistemon except he was already taken and I am not looking.
No dreams for me.

Sorry - I cross posted, Dreamkeeper. I wasn't ignoring you. The phone rang when I was typing, so I got left behind a bit.

Yes, we have no bananas either . Shame, as I do like a banana loaf, but I do have bread, as I managed to get a Sainsbury's delivery yesterday.

I wonder if the dreams are because there is nothing much going on (on a day to day basis I mean) to use up your headspace, so your mind steps in when you are asleep? That might be nonsense, but there is a certain logic, I think. Try to enjoy them?

I once went through a phase of having really vivid dreams, and I came to look on them as tickets to a mystery visit to the cinema. I was quite disappointed when I got through the phase and the dreams stopped.

How's everyone doing today?

Every day is a bit like the Sundays of my childhood, so today doesn't seem quite as bad as yesterday, somehow. I'v been knitting and watching Bridge on the River Kwai for the 43rd time .

I am starting my third sweater since lockdown, and am now wondering if I'll ever get to wear the things. I have a wardrobe of 'indoor' clothing that I've been wearing for ages. The sort of thing my daughter calls 'loungewear' - pull-on dresses, and leggings with jersey tops - comfy clothes. It doesn't seem worth wearing (and washing) other clothes, but who knows when things will go back to normal. After I've finished this one, I think I'll start knitting things for Christmas presents, as there is a limit to how many sweaters I am ever going to need, and I think I passed it years ago!

Has anyone a spare small wholemeal loaf of bread and some bananas?
Yep we are going short!!!
Your tales of foodstuff and hot chocolate drinks are making me drool!!

We both are finding we dream more and although none are of a frightening nature we would love to know the reasons for these quite odd dreams.
I am sure there will be some quips regarding my name here!!!

Sun is poking its head out so I shall sit in the window wistfully dreaming of blue seas and all the rest!!

Enjoy my fellow cell mates.

Hot chocolate and bedtime story and lemon’s G & T knees up ?

No contest!!

Hot chocolate and the Handsome Prince of course

Here's an egg for you, lemongrove - CATCH!
Oh dear, you are a butterfingers today

bradfordlass I’m not sure whether you like audio books or not but if you do want some then your local library may well have some. It’s where I get mine from. There are also some on the BBC radio iPlayer. They have Testament as an audio book the follow on from The Handmaidens Tale.
doodledog my DGS has gone nocturnal too. Not sure it’s a good thing in his case but gives his mum and dad some peace to do their work at home in the mornings.
I love banana cake but don’t make it as I would eat the lot in one sitting. Quite happy to try yours though callistemon ?

lemon trust you to come in and wind things up ?. From tonight there will be two options in the kitchen. Hot chocolate and bedtime story and lemon’s G & T knees up ?

Grammaretto I'm putting a link to BBC Sounds schedules, so you can choose some enlightening programme to listen to: lots of Comedy, Science, Drama etc.

It's what's keeping me (relatively) sane at the moment as I have no audio books.
www.bbc.co.uk/schedules/p00fzl7l

Sickofweddingcake I had a wonderful BIC breakfast today.
A friend delivered a mixed salad bag late last night.
It's something I've sorely missed and which I usually eat every day. I have vegies and home-made coleslaw but for the last month, no crispy mixed salad. It contains shredded cabbage, carrot, beet and iceberg lettuce.

So I had bacon and a delicious mixed salad for breakfast. Just BIC!
Divine. Bliss, Yummy

Is anyone else finding that their sleep patterns are disrupted?

I am naturally a night owl, but since this started I am becoming completely nocturnal. Not having anything to get up for, knowing that nobody is going to call round, neither of us is going anywhere, and there is nothing time-critical to do has meant that I am going to bed later and later, and getting up later and later.

I think it's also because having my husband around all day is unusual, and I relish some time to myself when he goes to bed, so that contributes to the late nights, too. He's more of an early bird than I am, so we are keeping very different hours. It doesn't matter (in fact it might be for the best ), but I wondered if others were finding the same?

The banana cake is good although I say so myself!

I asked DH if he could guess the secret ingredient but he couldn't. I used olive oil instead of butter, don't tell him.

Yes, we have no bananas!
Can I borrow an egg from someone as well?

I will definitely be a bit like Rapunzel by the time we're all let out of lockdown Calistemon. My hair was already far too long and needed cutting beforehand but it's growing rapidly like my neighbour's grass ?. Okay, okay it is softer than my neighbour's grass but it is very thick - there's so much of it!
I've noticed a trend doing the rounds on GN, there seems to be a an infection going round. Has anyone else noticed? You must know what I mean; it's bananas bananas! Everywhere I go there's someone making something with bananas. I'll be dreaming about them before long ? .
Grammaretto, this cell block is pretty good I think, gov'nr Doodle looks after us inmates well.
I'm setting down now but I'll have my hot chocolate first. Goodnight fellow inmates.

Alternatively.....put a ZZ Top cd on very loudly and dance around the room like a maniac (Dire Straits will do, at a pinch) I find it very therapeutic.?Then have a large G&T?

Oh callistemon you let him go. No rescue from the prison then. Hot chocolate in the kitchen for all. Any latecomers can help themselves.

Now for the bedtime story. Are you sitting comfortably...
Once upon a time there was a Prince ? who wanted to marry a Princess ? ? ? ?. Sleep well dear inmates