Sundaze 188

I’m taking a quick break from working on the & Chai restock to write this and watch Strictly (HRVY, Bill Bailey and Maisie are my favourites so far, tonight!). This time of year is incandescently my favourite: the TV is excellent, rain tapping on windows, blankets all out for the taking, some festive shopping to check off. For many reasons, I feel very introspective and reflective lately. I guess I’m trying to let myself believe that things could go my way soon.

Nostalgic childhood dishes

On Tuesday night, Mum made me sweet-and-sour tofu for dinner. And whilst it was ‘just dinner’, I gobbled it up and savoured its nostalgia. It’s funny how a simple dish can mean so much: as children, we often ate dinner after school and then when Dad came home from our takeaway at 11pm, we’d get to chow down on leftovers from wrong orders. (Note: we didn’t ‘do’ traditional bedtimes at home!) Later as we got older, my brother, sister and I would gather, along with our cousins, to spend Sundays at Granny’s house.

To say I treasured these Sundays would be an understatement. If you haven’t read this Sundaze series from its inception, those days are the very bedrock of this series. Those days meant playing games together, commentating on X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing long before Twitter was around. They meant the freedom to curl up with a book, a Gameboy Advance, a few hours of Maplestory, snaffling Pop Pan crackers, Shrimp Crackers and 煎堆 from Granny’s kitchen. They meant sitting down for a family meal, steaming bowls of white rice, a whole sea bass, sweet and sour pork, salt and pepper chicken, salted fish, steamed vegetables and more. I felt so happy and grateful to Mum, for instantly bringing back those cherished memories, with one simple gesture.

A very soggy dog walk

In keeping with the government guidelines, yesterday morning Harvey and I finally met up for the first time in November! We embarked on a very blustery and rain-drizzled, socially distanced dog walk, and it was so good to see each other. We made Christmas present plans, let the dogs roam, and soaked up all of November’s best weather, haha! I suppose as we’ve been cooped up indoors for so long, it felt good to get outdoors and not worry about rain beating down on my face.

Musings on coping in lockdown

Now that we’ve done lockdown, come out of it, and then headed straight back into lockdown again, I feel like I’ve got a slightly better hold on things. In many ways, I didn’t confront how lonely much of lockdown felt in the spring. Sure, I enjoyed some glorious spells in the garden and had a whale of a time making Dalgona coffee and learning to make candles, but I found it hard – even as an introvert – not to be confronted with noise and human activity. I hated my commutes, but the jump from regularly hearing the noise of 100+ people on a train to only the sound of your own heartbeat is, well, hard.

Thankfully, I immersed myself in the incredible communities over on Twitch in early April. From our own Katy to the inimitable Arden, and now also Harvey(!!), these live streams have benefited me so much. Hearing a person’s voice, live, and interacting in their chats has pretty much kept me afloat.

Links I’ve Loved

I’ve loved reading Angela’s blog for many years, and am really enjoying seeing her get to grips with the bullet journal system.
My girl Sarah penned a lovely post about embracing hibernation, particularly as we wrangle with our winter lockdown.
9 Books You Have to Read Before 2020 Ends via Glitter Guide
Bee shared her End-of-Year TBR, and it reminded me I still have a few books to check off my own list.
I’ve been thrilled to see Hannah Michalak (or Hannah Maggs!) back to blogging; the old-school, conversational format feels so familiar to me.
This Vegan Ricotta Cannelloni recipe on Joy Felicity Jane looks and sounds absolutely delicious!
And, where were you when you heard the news? A new President-Elect is going to be in town – woo!!