LOVE IN LOCK-DOWN

Hugs, touching another's hand whether it be cold, hot or sweaty, a kiss - I'm missing all that I'd taken for granted before. To those in similar situations, please accept a virtual love from me.

So...being of sound mind, I'm writing about my new love.

He's round, cuddly, makes a great noise when I turn him on, and he delivers! :)

If you're thinking what I'm thinking you're thinking...naughty!

It's my ARE2D2. I'm a Star Wars fan. Actually I love most things fantastical. Escapism has worked all my life for me and still does. I got my little fella from John Lewis with a voucher that paid towards half of him. I ordered him while my lovely friend Neill (who does a lot of my book covers for me), was here, (when it comes to trying new kitchen appliances I'm a bit of a chicken). With company to share the 'worry' in case it blew up (ridiculous, yes?!), we did sausages and bacon.

Delicious.

So my air fryer, that's right, it is a strange love, but because I live in a free country I'm allowed, I eat more healthily. I've not used grease at all. It's non-stick and comes clean very easily.

I also love it because it saves electricity by avoiding putting on the oven.The settings allow time and temperature adjustments. I usually start with a low heat setting than is recommended and then check and do for a bit longer.

 Plus there's no spatters to clean up because there's no frying involved.

I chose this model, it was just under £100, because it had a larger bowl than others I looked at. And the cuddly shape of course.

I've cooked breakfast stuff as mentioned in above paragraph, and chips and fish/fish fingers, pies, roasted vegetables, re-heated samosas, pakoras, (which are now delicious compared to the soggy or dried out versions I've had previously using microwave/oven). I've baked bread and cooked a few other items that I can't recall at the moment. This air fryer will also bake cakes but as I'm pre-diabetic I've avoided that for now.

My romance is getting stronger. Although it would be lovely to have a conversation with my ARE2D2, maybe it's better this way as he can't gaslight me. :)

Cheating With Willie

When is a promise really a promise? After all, a lie isn't a lie if you cross you fingers behind your back.

I'm likening this blog post to a white lie, because I agreed to blog every week. Today is the day and I'm short on time; I've not done my 1500 words on the draft novel; my walk was short; had lunch on the hoof; fewer brews; and you can't count telephone calls because they're like alcohol; you either love them or hate them. :)

So instead of a long chat, here's a little, (copy and paste) cheat.

Below is a flash fiction story published in the first Vicious Vignettes. These little stories are challenging, but I love writing them. The Willie Griffin story was so much fun. I love him and he now has a slot in every collection. This tale was reduced from 500 words to just over 200.

I liken these to making a yummy sauce; they get stronger.

Enjoy.

Another Day For Miss Flower

Starting the morning buoyed, holdups along the track, late train, no time to collect a snack, Miss Flower arrived in the school playground and scanned the building. At the last window she spotted the dour Head Teacher staring, glaring through the double glazing before snapping shut the blind.

However, having a good day, the administrative staff are much kinder with, ‘Good morning, Miss Flower. No Willie Griffin again. But Mr Davies is already searching the place.’ Nodding she’d heard them Miss Flower wondered whatever next because Willie’s mother could not be disturbed. Not after the last debacle.

Ready to be welcomed by 2BF with chaos and uproar, she was dumbfounded because they were reading and not clowning. She dumped her bag on top of their still-to-be-marked English Literature exercise books – it was one of the many piles littering the Victorian desk’s restricted surface. Normally stressed by mess, she wasn’t because her Teaching Assistant was returning from sick leave. By the end of the day, the clutter would be no more and there’d be a reprieve.

Hari Kumar spoke, ‘Willie Griffin’s missing, Miss.’

‘He’s in the library. Who wants to go tell Mr Davies?’ Logging into the computer she readies it for registration and hangs up her coat. She turns and smiles.

By the door was grim Mr Davies. ‘I’ve just told the Head,’ he said. ‘Willie Griffin’s jumped. He was at the window ledge, grinning. I lunged and grabbed and missed.’

Strange Seeds

I have a lot of interests including gardening. Since moving here, my seed collection has increased.

When I say my vegetable gardening, I mean, my attempts at it. I feel a real sense of satisfaction when the green foliage unfurls and shows itself. I can almost hear it say, 'hello'. Then, as with children, the hard work begins.

Last year I got patty pan squash seeds. In April, I planted six seeds. First only one came up. Only when I transplanted it to a bigger pot that I found another was showing signs of emerging and so I left it to continue.

Here they are.

Is it just me, or they are not related?

One is of the squash family but the other?

Any ideas welcome.