The Extreme Staycation

  Location: London, UK  COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak World Vegan Day 🌍🍃🐄🐔🐖 The 1st November is World Vegan Day. I have two thoughts on that - firstly, that every day seems to be National or World something day and secondly that for me, every day is VEGAN DAY 😁 As I have alluded to my veganism in this blog,  I thought   I'd let you know what lead me to this point. At the age of 8, I connected the dots that the meat on my plate and the animal in the field were very much connected and I couldn't bear the idea of an animal dying just so I could eat it.  Although I now have many more reasons which support my choices, animals dying was and still is my primary motivator for being vegetarian/vegan. I used to eat fish for a long time, but I could never eat a fish if it still looked like one and gradually I found I couldn't face the idea any longer. In 2014 I decided that for Lent that year it would be a good challenge to go vegan - I loved and ate dairy on a dai...

Location: London, UK  COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown In growing news, we have peas!  They were sweet, delicious and again the excitement of growing something I can eat was immense! It wasn't exactly a harvest for Birdseye to worry about in terms of competition but apparently more grow when you pick the first lot... can you tell I still have no idea what I'm doing?! Anyway, peas!

Location: London, UK  COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown Today I think it rained pretty much all day. Yep, that's July in the UK for you. Today for dinner I made a (vegan) lasagne.  I've pretty much nailed this recipe during lockdown and I'm quite pleased with it.  All of the taste, none of the animal products. My (vague, not written down) recipe is onions, garlic, some veg (generally courgette, mushrooms, peppers, carrots) sauteed.  I then add in a tin of tomatoes and some soya mince from Holland & Barrett (inexpensive and versatile). Next, make a bechemel sauce (soya milk works best and I used Sainsbury's baking block) layer it up, chuck it in the oven for 30 mins, bingo.  Delicious.

Location: London, UK  COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown Yesterday we ate some of the potatoes we had grown!  I successfully grew food!  This literally blows my mind I have wanted to do this for so long and I'm just delighted that at least 70% of what we have planted has grown in some way.  I tried a couple of peas too and they were so sweet and wonderful, it's genuinely delightful. Can you tell I'm excited?

Location: London, UK COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown In growing news, the veggie patch is thriving! The potatoes are still growing really well - we may be eating potatoes with everything come autumn. We also have beans, peas, tomatoes and carrots which are all clinging on.  All the courgettes died, so we have planted some more to see how they get on. I am actually so excited at the idea of digging up my own veg to eat!  Anyone who knows me well knows that I kill most plants and I mainly use the garden to sit in the sun and read , but I' ve long wanted to grow my own fruit and veg but never had the time or inclination.  Now I've had both! I know a few friends who have also ventured into this brave new world too who are also excited by the idea of growing their own.  It's also so brilliant for little ones so they can learn where their food comes from.

Location: London, UK COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown In growing news, the surviving courgette plants have been planted outside... Let's all hold our breath to see if they make it. The tomatoes are still a bit small to be transplanted but seem to be doing ok - although I genuinely don't think they have grown at all for a couple of weeks. In very exciting growing news, the potatoes, peas and carrots planted 10 days ago are growing at a staggering rate - I swear I saw one of the potato plants grow in front of my eyes yesterday. The idea that I can actually grow my own food is, I appreciate, not new, but to me it's very exciting, such a simple pleasure!

Location: London, UK COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown In plant news, things have grown which is exciting.  Today we planted things (potatoes, carrots, peas) in the ground outside and I stuck in lots of poles - not because I'm imagining plants are going to grow over night, like Jack and the Beanstalk - but because I don't want any of the many cats and squirrels that frequent our garden to start digging or pooing there. We transplanted the courgettes from their original pots to individual ones and they seem to have immediately taken a turn for the worse... send prayers! Tomatoes, cauliflower and brussel sprouts are all growing, they are still small and need further cultivating. It's all a bit scary.  I really want them to grow but I really don't know what I'm doing!

Location: London, UK COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown I love to bake and I've had a bit more time to indulge this during lockdown.  I asked my house mates what they might like and scones were requested and so scones were baked. I remember going for afternoon tea once and ringing up to check that my being vegan could be accommodated.  The woman on the phone detailed what they would serve me - what sandwiches and cakes - and with the alternative I would get instead of scones "because obviously they aren't vegan".  I remember being a bit dumbfounded by this statement.  They had managed to make the rest of the options vegan friendly, so why not the scones, surely the high point of the afternoon tea?  And the easiest to alter - change the milk and remove the egg.  I was particularly irked as I had literally baked a batch of vegan scones the day before. I like a challenge and I have made vegan alterntives of pretty much everything, including...

Location: London, UK COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Accidental/unintentional self-containment day 1.  Why?  Well, I had to stay in for the builders. 4:45pm Boris Johnson tells us that we should avoid everyone and everything.  I'm supposed to be going to the theatre and refresh Twitter until SOLT announce that theatreland is going dark. And I got released from a pencil for a job. Overall, pretty shitty day. My local Sainsbury's now has no actual food - pasta, rice, tins all long gone - now there is no fresh fruit and veg except grapefruits, beetroot, green peppers (the worst one) and spring onions - Ready Steady Cook anyone? I buy three bottles of (vegan) pinot grigio and far too much chocolate and spend the evening exchanging Disney song voicemails with my old drama school buddy and watching Cheer on Netflix.