I Have Lost Things

I did a socially distant exchange on my doorstep with brother today, well sort of on my doorstep. He was at the gate, I was in the porch and the neighbours could probably hear every detail of what we were saying. He left stuff for bear, who is lucky to have an amazing uncle, and for me. I gave him dog treats and had to confess that I've lost his laptop. 

I thought I knew where it was, but stuff got shifted around when a television was moved, and it's all got a little out of hand. I feel very overwhelmed.

Dinner was a fail as well. I had some of those ready to eat/cook chestnuts that I want to use up, and a third of a bottle of olives, and I thought I'd add them to a Tesco jar of bolognese sauce and bung it in a casserole with some diced beef and a few chopped mushrooms. It should have been epic. As it was, it was deeply unpleasant. The beef was too tough. I think I cooked it too high for too long. 

Also, I have an incredibly sniffly nose. It's driving me nuts. The poplar trees near us are shedding, which causes problems. Pretty soon we will have the usual build up in corners that looks like a duvet has been sick and slunk off.

Earlier we had a phone consultation with a consultant for bear. I can never think of what to say and bear is equally bewildered. His eye is a lot better, he is putting in ear drops and he's suffering with the pain. On the bright side, I got to explain to him that when I was young, you could only get olive oil at a pharmacy and it was strictly for medicinal purposes, like ear drops. People cooked in lard, not oil. To be fair, some of the more progressive cooks also used solid vegetable fat like Trex which set like a lump in the chip pan. Bear didn't approve.

Writing stuff - I have also lost my Mrs Beeton. I'm supposed to be writing a couple of character spotlights and some articles and I can't write the article on Victorian cooking as easily without Mrs Beeton. I am heading for maximum grumble. 

On the bright side, I've posted this week's writing challenge, here, and I hope I do better than I did last week. 

Hugs and good health to all.