Masks...

...again.

So depressing to see masks have again been mandated in schools. What the hell are they doing to our children? 

I can't believe so many people think this is acceptable. I even saw one deranged individual online say that children are very resilient, masks are no problem and, in fact, this would be a good opportunity to teach them BSL (British Sign Language) to help them communicate more easily! Dear god... how brainless do you have to be to come up with that tripe?

The idea that children are resilient is completely false; if it was true, why do so many adults have counselling and therapy to help them deal with events from their childhood? "Children are resilient" is a convenient line trotted out by adults who prioritise what they want rather than what's best for the child. Makes me bloody fume.

I am very cautiously hopeful that, even if we're not quite turning the corner on Covid, we are at least approaching the corner. This piece has a very different tone from just about everything official we've heard for almost two years. Of course, many doctors and scientists have been saying the same for a long time, but we've not heard anything like it before from someone who's actually a Govt advisor. Watch this space!

Well, we didn't have to wait long! 

Boris, Whitty and Vallance - the Three Stooges - were on tv again tonight. Boris said no more restrictions and we'll have to ride it out; Vallance actually said it was not 'tenable' to jab people once every three to six months in the long term and Whitty was his usual, cheerful, dynamic self (I swear, if he smiled his face would break). It's glacially slow, but I think they're finally making progress... of sorts. God, I hope so.

After a couple of weeks of mild, wet weather... winter arrived today. 

It's been freezing with a sharp northerly breeze, so soup was the order of the day. I came across this Winter Veg soup from the Hairy Bikers - it's easy enough, but dumplings are not my forte, hence they looked like I'd thrown them in the pan! It tasted great though, just right for a cold day. I subbed shredded sprouts for the kale (nasty stuff!) and I'd use more carrots and less celeriac next time because it finished up looking slightly anaemic. 

Tomorrow, another cold weather favourite, cauli cheese with green beans and glazed carrots.