August to December
What the hell was that?
Following on from the first half of the year, the second half was due to be an optimistic time with a lower rate of transmission during the summer. The general feeling going into the second half of the year was that the rates may have stayed as low as they were reaching in July/August. How naïve we all were!
However, with a return to work lurking and restrictions at a low, I really tried to make the most of the outdoors and movement that I could make. I knew after the first long lockdown this would be integral to my mental health for the rest of the year. I also knew once I was back to work, due to the extra levels of cleaning and alert, my self-care would take somewhat of a hit. This unfortunately also meant that my dedication to my blog was hit as I had to concentrate on keeping our young people safe and learning.
However, here we go! Here is the second half of 2020, what happened for me and a review on the circumstances:
August:
At the beginning of August I continued with my ever so slight obsession with baking. This time with a GORGEOUS passion fruit and orange drizzle cake. The link is here, you are MOST welcome... https://psjarvis.wixsite.com/psjarvis/post/passion-fruit-and-orange-drizzle-loaf . This sort of reflected how the weather was at this time, really quite Mediterranean. We really made this a foodie month for a number of reasons. Due to the lowered restrictions, we managed to go to Wagamama's making the most of the 50% off 'Eat out to Help out' Scheme. Although a brilliant scheme in the short term, I'm not sure if over time this helped. This is because although it produced a much needed cash injection, the investment into that month must have been also huge. Right a the start of the month we also went to a wonderful Pub called 'The Happy Cheese' just inside the New Forest and ate outside in the pub garden. This was before another nature walk in a new area. Not only did this achieve exercise and fresh air, but continued with the theme of spending that integral time with my partner.
Again due to being able to stay over places, we managed a visit to Kent to see some wonderful friends of ours. With a socially distanced birthday party wrapping up, a massive surprise for my partner was the fact she then got asked to be a bridesmaid! Presented with a beautiful frame and tears streaming down her face, this genuinely made her year!
Shortly after this, along with my partner's family, we embarked on our holiday of the year. This was to celebrate her Dad's 50th, so a special time! Organised before Covid was even conceived, this luckily could go ahead with the somewhat locality of it. After arriving with two MASSIVE number balloons, lots of suitcases and 6 hours of driving, we pulled up to the absolutely stunning and idyllic cottage on a hill top. Arriving merely minutes before the others (Dad didn't know we were there!), we jumped out with a huge banner and told him we were there to stay too! In a small costal area called Trebarwith near Tintagel, we settled into the partitioned cottage. We really did marvel at the stunning views across the coast and down the valley.
Over the next week, we took in places such as Boscastle, Bude, Padstow and Tintagel. We explored the landscape mostly, visiting the slate laden beaches and the impressive coves and caves. Whilst in these costal towns, I naturally had to indulge in the local cuisine. This to me was trying a proper Cornish Pasty, fudge and having a local high tea. Oh, and maybe a local cider! Cornwall was such a fun and relaxing time filled with laughs and memories that I'll definitely cherish moving forward. Even though we naturally were having to use masks and keep distance, we respected that and managed to enjoy ourselves fully. With a monumental drive back to Kent, we stopped off a couple of times, mostly for fuel. This journey definitely tipped 7 hours. On the way back we drove past Stonehenge, which on a personal level was actually underwhelming. As much as I understand the history behind it, the scale was a little uninspiring. To keep me as awake as possible and as energetic as we could, we made a massive playlist of over 200 songs. This really was an eclectic mix of possibly every genre but also great fun to try and sing along to!
Towards the end of the month we attended the incredible Josie's. Josie's is brunch place that has a wonderful array of pancakes, waffles and baps. A definite recommendation. My partner and I also purchased a new bed as I had mine for about 8 years which is the recommended replace time! Incidentally when my dad helped me pick it up, I put my registration plate in the app and paid, thinking nothing of it! Except we were in my Dads car that day! Shortly after we had a fine sent through the post. I emailed the company and explained the issue. This was quickly resolved and I certainly sighed with relief as the bed would have cost an extra £50 in fines! This month I for sure was loving the somewhat freedom we had!
September:
With a new term, a full school and a pandemic to deal with, there was ALOT of change at work. An outside village was set up for each year to congregate before school, after each lesson and at break and lunch. Naturally with the transmission a lot lower outside, this was something that worked brilliantly in the still warm weather. We also had a continuation of using face masks and visors throughout.
A quirky and exciting part of September for me was the return of the one and only Turkey Twizzlers! A treat when I was younger, and taken too soon by Jamie Oliver, they returned to Iceland with two flavours. I tried both the Chilli Cheese and The Original Tomato ones and I can delightfully say that both bring back the nostalgia that I craved when it was announced! I continued to try and cook from home this month also, doing my toad in the hole, curry and cheesecake through differing weeks. This was comforting as the month was full of new information that at times personally became a lot to try and take on.
Mid way through the month my girlfriend and I had friends come down from Kent as for a visit to show them around! We visited all outdoor areas innkeeping with trying to lower transmission. We started in Canoe Lake, riding the swans for the first time ever. With bird feed in hand, we were stalked around the water by a hoard of hungry birds. In Portsmouth, one place you simply HAVE to visit is Mick's Monster Burgers on Portsdown Hill. To get a starting view to the magic of the city, this is the perfect place to bring people. The burgers went down incredibly well with one of our party ordering the Gutbuster. A 1lb of meat with extras. Wow. The following day we spent in Southsea visiting a hut on the beach for some chips and the Pirate Mini Golf. A fabulous bit of fun as most of us were hopeless, we all had smiles etched across our faces. I felt a bit of achievement as knowing the city, I felt I introduced people that didn't know the area pretty well.
Football had restarted properly in September too. With a bunch of lads that I had played with before, a new team had formed. Contacted by an old player, I decided to take this up and used the opportunity to build my fitness and get out there in terms of socialising responsibly. This month I also went to a couple of matches to photograph them and get back into my photography. Photography was something else that took a back seat this year due to the fact I was inside a lot! Without venturing purposely out (which I was against unless for good reason), I felt that I couldn't really do it as much as I wanted. I really did enjoy photographing it though as it not only bought a hobby back for me but it was making those around me happy. The efforts people make for me this month made me happy.
October:
October continued much in the same vain as September in terms of school, the only differing factor was the weather. With autumn coming in, so did the rain. Due to the building being on marshland, the water laid on the field and unfortunately rendered the villages a little unsafe to use. This meant the breaks etc would be inside. The organisation was fantastic, and with the situation changing constantly, the fluidity was brilliantly followed. The photography also carried on. A few weeks after the last match I went to a first team game (I play in the reserves) and took photos for 90 minutes. I'm grateful that at this time we got to be outside and although mostly at distance, socialise. During the midst of the term this really helped me out a great deal as apart from being at work, this would be the only place I would go.
Towards the end of the month, we did venture out though. In the last few years around Halloween, we decided to go and get pumpkins. These would usually be supermarket bought. But as I wanted to support more local and smaller businesses, we decided to go to a pick your own farm and pick them. This specific place was called 'Hollam Nurseries' . With a sporadic field absolutely adorned with pumpkins, we really had a massive choice to pick from. We decided on differing shapes as we had different designs in mind. This was something different we could do again. As much as I appreciated all the walks and baking, this was an opportunity to focus on something creative and fun. We got home, and with designs to suit the pumpkins we had bought, we got carving. They looked mightily impressive compared to previous years. I put them altogether too for more effect as seen in the gallery at the bottom of this month!
We also managed to fit one more date night in at the end of the month at Wildwood. With restaurants still open and the tables massively spread out, we once again had a delightful evening! I think subconsciously we might have thought more about spending the quality time together that we actually needed because although watching tv etc can be nice, with not being able to go out as much, we were merely doing so to pass the time. Spending true quality time with my girlfriend really became a priority as although there was ALOT of time, time could very quickly become samey. I've genuinely loved spending those moments with her this year as its making me excited to make more in the future. With 2021 looking like the year we will have our own place together, its exciting to think that even in the darkest times, we are finding the brightest moments.
The month mostly was uneventful in one respect. However, the cases had started to rise again and the graphs shown on the news channels were looking grim. To tackle the fact that rises were happening in both hospitalisations and deaths the government decided at the end of October to put the UK in a lockdown for 4 weeks during the duration of November. Knowing how long it would be in a way made it easier due to the fact we could plan ahead. I felt low during this month, but very supported.
November:
With Lockdown v.2 confirmed and started, and with Halloween over, we decided to start organising Christmas. I was incredibly pleased with myself this year as by the end of the month, I had all cards done and most presents arrived after ordering. Additionally, I made an effort to continue buying from either local or small businesses. Etsy was a fantastic place to get pretty much anything I needed and for a relatively good price too. Across the app, there were both personalised and niche products that really could suit anyone and everyone. Knowing I was possibly helping small businesses and families that may not have been able to soak up the damage of the first lockdown, I definitely was pleased with both how much I spent and who it was going to. This feeling would eventually make Christmas a lot more special for me. Another website used which hosted a lot of smaller businesses was 'Not on the Highstreet'. Again, with an array of products, I managed to find everything I needed in the most ethical way I could.
Food was again prominent this month, with festive treats and new recipes starting to sneak in. For example, at the beginning of the month, I decided to get the Halloumi burger slices I so eagerly had my eye on throughout the year. This fried with homemade salsa in a brioche bun, might have been the tastiest meal that I created this calendar year by far. Although it may sound not much considering the events of the last 12 months, it really was good enough to make the cut in this review. Seriously. Another absolutely a-ma-zing combination, and one that is festive, is garlic bread with caramelised red onion chutney. This smothered with baked, melted camembert is a stunning combo. One that I definitely want to replicate in the following winter months.
Just after halfway through the month, my partner and I decided to put up the Christmas tree and all decorations to try and inject (sorry!) some festive spirit into what actually in reality was quite a grim time. I'm always massively proud of our tree as its something that reflects both of us and provides memories at a time of year to be thankful. With a slight orange warm tint to the it also gives myself that feeling on comfort and familiarity. To have this feeling for a tiny bit longer this year turned out to be a brilliant decision. We also managed to get our advent calendars early too. Candy Kittens were the first company I decided to use as they are ethically sound and the sweets the produce don't have palm oil and types of wax in that can be detrimental to the environment. With a witty written box and abundance of different flavours to put in the boxes, this certainly was one of my favourite advent calendars in recent years. During this month I purchased a small food shop and found the Ilchester Cheese Advent Calendar in Morrisons. With 9 varieties of cheese to open, this was a brilliant find. So much so that I bought one for both my partner and myself! I couldn't help but with this year of all years, having sweets AND cheese!
With still being at work amidst a full school, we were really doing a fantastic job of keeping on top of cleaning regimes and therefore keeping cases down to a minimum. As part of the annual tradition in our school, we as a faculty put on a 'Staff Review' to show on the last day of term. With students in year group bubbles, this was naturally made fully on video to keep the tradition going safely. With a numerous amount of different skits, lip syncs and interactive videos, it went down really well with all those who watched it! Yours truly was involved in a parody of Lord of the Rings as Gandalf. Later on in the hour video, I popped up in a TA version of the 'Masked' Singer! That was possibly the punniest thing we could think of. As silly as we all acted through these various pieces, this had been going on long before I even attended as a student over 10 years ago so was something that everyone looked forward to. It signifies the closeness and family ethos we have at the school I work in.
We managed to go out one more time, this time a brisk walk in Wickham, near Fareham. It was a lovely brisk walk that was adorned with various wilting trees and a winter fog. Many robins followed us signifying that weren't alone on our walk which was very comforting considering recent events. To wrap up the month we purchased some smart light bulbs for our room that would mean we could colour the walls during films and gaming, really making our extended indoor stay that slight bit more bearable! I think by the end of this month I was purely amazed how creative we could be with what we could do legally in a lockdown!
December:
Coming out of the lockdown was an interesting time. With the news producing the numbers of cases/deaths everyday, this had ever so slightly dropped. Just into the month it was announced that there would be an opportunity to have a 'Christmas Bubble'. This would mean that you would be able to meet up with a combination of up to 6 people from 3 households. This would prove premature as on the 18th of December a new variant of the virus had emerged in London and Kent. With the variant being up to 70% more infectious, this very quickly shut everywhere down, leaving shops and businesses in the lurch during the lucrative run up to Christmas. With some areas going from tier 3 to tier 4 within 72 hours a lot of people panicked and really struggled to accept that they wouldn't be able to see loved ones for Christmas. The only exceptions would be those in people's support bubbles and no one else.
With the slightly rubbish sounding roundup of the national circumstances, I can finally tell you about the month that I actually had a decent time during, starting with work. I support some really amazing young people in my job as a Teaching Assistant. None more so than in Food Tech this month. The department decided on a festive twist to the recipes and when I was in supporting, this came in the form of a Nutella Puff Pastry Christmas Tree and a multi-sponge Christmas Cake. Both of these recipes turned out fantastically and really were fun to make. The Tree Pastry was also making the rounds on social media due to its ease to make. As tempting as it can be to try these sometimes, it is frankly not professional and I'm using that to justify it when I really could have!
My partner and I always celebrate Christmas a little early every year with each other and we have annually since we met. We wanted to do this again this year also. After being absolutely spoilt as always, we made a fry up together and settled into watching our favourite Christmas films. A notable favourite this year was Jingle Jangle. This was a fantastic culmination of warmth and heart with a humorous musical twist. I likened it to a cross between Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium and The Greatest Showman. On Netflix, this certainly will be a go-to film for future years. I'll be honest too, this was a good food month, neigh, a food year as the Christmas Roast we produced was nothing short of delicious! With all the veg we like and the meat trimmings, we ate everything on the plate! One present I was given that day was a Mary Berry cookery book (Mary is the chef I follow the most). Towards the back as I was flicking through, I saw a recipe for Gingerbread. Loving Jamaica Ginger Cake, I thought that it would be a intriguing recipe to make due to the unique texture. How brilliantly right I was to try it! We followed the recipe fully, making a sumptuously light and airy cake but one with immense taste. This is of course a recipe I will add VERY shortly to my blog!
The end of term was looming and as such, I decided to wear my Christmas jumpers! The previous month I purchased a Jurassic Park themed jumper and wore it to work with pride. The dress code was relaxed enough to allow this sort of garment. On the last day however, I went full Christmas and wore a pair of red trousers that I purchased for 50p a few Januarys previous I paired this with a red dinosaur festive jumper and a Santa hat. The centrepiece of my outfit was a fairy light necklace that actually lit up! On the last day, we had a inset which lasted a half day. I'm massively grateful for the gorgeous roast that was created by the dining team at our school. It really set the holidays up lovely to finish with all my colleagues. Sat socially distant, we reminisced on one of the craziest and most odd terms any of us would endure. But if I'm honest, as expected with the phenomenal team we have, I think we absolutely smashed it. It really does make me proud to work where I do. I know we have made a different this term for young people who not only have had to deal with a normal school day, but also most likely suffering from anxiety about what was going on around them.
Christmas Day very quickly came around this year. Every year I feel so lucky for whatever I get, but in my grand old age of 27 (I know), I really felt that the effort people went to this year considering the circumstances. Not being one to flout what I have, I received a very good amount of presents and ones that reflect my personality for sure. On one hand I appreciate everything at Christmas and definitely have made the most of it with my immediate family, but I understandably didn't get the same buzz on Christmas morning. This was a shame, and I'm not saying it ruined Christmas in the slightest, but it was signifying to me that maybe I am beginning to outgrow parts of the holidays that I used to cherish as a child. As much as Christmas day was enjoyable as always, I don't know, it felt odd.
Shortly after, as it does every year, my Birthday comes along! 4 days after Christmas on the 29th, I 'celebrated' my 27th year! Its sort of a nothing number as its not a decade and there isn't much right of passage attached to it. I fondly celebrate each one though even if it is a meal out or a trip somewhere interesting. Previous years includes trips to London and Holland, local restaurant meals and actual parties. With no such option this year, it once again was a family affair. I decided on an obligatory McDonalds Breakfast to start. It duly snowed on the way back for 5 minutes bringing a winter wonder to the beginning of the day. Around about midday we embarked on a journey down to Southsea, dropping into The Tenth Hole (a local tearooms) to pick up some lunchtime grub. I had a stupendously good Mac and Cheese Toastie with a Caramel infused hot chocolate. Both were welcome sitting a brisk promenade! Although relatively busy with people exercising and getting fresh air, everyone kept their distance and there was surprisingly a sense of calmness. After a walk through Southsea Rose Gardens we returned home. When we arrived home, we played a hilarious game called Scrawl (think adult Chinese whispers with whiteboards) and Cards Against Humanity, a classic! The last game was a family favourite in Cribbage. For dinner I decided on ordering one of my fave meals from Wagamama's, Katsu Curry. This although in a a odd pair of plastic bowls was equally delightful as it is in the restaurant. The day was so relaxing and I was so full.
Then New Years arrived swiftly. Finally a celebration that wouldn't be downplayed due to the Coronavirus. Across social media, it seemed to echo that people were glad to see the back of 2020. The houses would still only have their residents in, the streets were predominantly empty and the midnight cheers was done with a suspicious optimism. Surely next year, 2021 couldn't be as bad as the year before?
But do you know what? Taking away the illness and subsequent deaths caused by this dastardly virus, I learnt to adapt, acknowledge and appreciate this year. It further showed my love and dedication to my partner, my family and my work. I did what I could this year and am proud of both my colleagues and the majority of the UK for the sheer determination and effort people have shown to look after one another. Being a modest person generally, I am bloody proud of myself too. This isn't over yet, but with so much learnt, this could be the start of something better in its place.
Finally, and I have to ask, but what the hell was that?!
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