The Extreme Staycation

Location: London, UK  COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown Today we finished watching Chernobyl, the mini-series produced by Sky/HBO. It has rightly been nominated for over a hundred accolades and won 64 so far. I thought this was an incredible series, very well written and paced with excellent performances throughout. Not a binge watch though - you need 24hrs at least between episodes in my opinion! The whole tragic, avoidable incident of the explosion at Chernobyl is quite extraordinary and I still find it hard to believe how recent it was. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it.  Not only do these stories and truth need to be better known, but it proves beyond doubt that cover-ups and lies lead ultimately to tragedy. There is also an excellent podcast which accompanies the series called "The Chernobyl Podcast" which provided some further insight into the filming of the series, but also countless other stories and facts that they didn't have time to fit i...

Location: London, UK  COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown The government have now suggested only essential travel to Spain including the Balearic islands so a whole new swathe of people have had their dreams of a holiday dashed. I am sure the government are acting in our best interest on this, but I really feel for all those people and many thousands of others who aren't going on holiday any time soon. It's funny, a holiday seems like a bit of a luxury sometimes but when you work hard all year, a bit of travel, adventure and relaxation seem well deserved. This has been such a weird year.  For some people, I imagine that not having to look at their same four walls for a week is a desperately needed break.  Mentally, physically.  Folk with families who have been home schooling during all this must be doubly exhausted. Staycations have become the obvious option but accommodation is now in short supply and prices are rising.  Tent in the garden it is then....

Location: London, UK  COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown Today I listened to some music really, really loudly.  And it was good. I like a lot of different styles of music, really depends on my mood, but today was all about some banging dance anthems which I blasted out and enjoyed being transported briefly in my head to another place. I haven't been clubbing in YEARS but nothing beats that shared enjoyment of music, especially when that beat drops. Clubs, music festivals and generally any live music events will have been decimated by this pandemic, which is incredibly sad for not just those who have suffered financially but for the music fans too.

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 I don't like wearing a mask.  I'm a little claustrahpobic but I put up with the discomfort because I think that they help. I don't think it's that hard to wear a mask - for most of us, it's only when we are in shops or on public transport that it is actually mandatory.  You don't have to wear one in a restaurant, a pub, in the street or the gym so generally it will be a limited amount of time. So why aren't people doing it?  Is it arrogance?  Do they believe that Covid-19 is a hoax? Do they not think it will help? A Delta airlines flight recently turned around mid-air and returned to Detroit because two travellers refused to follow the air stewards requests to wear their masks.  I applaud the pilot - a zero tolerence approach seems to be the only way to get some entitled people to follow the rules.   In the UK, you can receive an on the spot fine of £100 for not wearing your mask on pu...

Location: London, UK  COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown I heard about this from one of my favourite podcasts, Make Me Smart. This is a website called "Looks Like You Need Iceland".  On the website it says: " You’ve been through a lot this year and it looks like you need the perfect place to let your frustrations out. Somewhere big, vast and untouched. It looks like you need Iceland. Record your  scream and we’ll release it in Iceland’s beautiful, wide-open  spaces. And when you’re ready, come let it out for real. You’ll  feel better, we promise." https://lookslikeyouneediceland.com/   So if you need to really scream and have it released to the wide open space of Iceland, here is your opportunity.  Enjoy.

Location: London, UK  COVID-19 / Coronavirus Outbreak Lockdown My tweet about watching Hamilton and re-creating the west end at home went a bit viral yesterday which was quite exciting!  It was re-tweeted by @HamiltonMusical to their 1million followers and it was quite fun watching the little "like" hearts clock up. In case you want to see the tweet, it's below!  (this is likely the highlight of my week...) Miranda Colmans @mirandacolmans Level 1: Recreating the west end/broadway at home Curtain up 7:30 Time for @HamiltonMusical on @disneyplus Ice-cream at the interval I LOVED IT SO MUCH ALL OVER AGAIN! Oh @Lin_Manuel you super talented man And I miss theatre #Hamilton #HamiltonFilm