Dear Liz: Coronavirus Update

Ishbel is someone that Liz and I met on the Creative Writing Course we attended.  While none of us are currently doing (taught) Creative Writing, we have all kept in touch before, during and, hopefully, after the Coronavirus Lockdown.  Here is a letter Ishbel wrote to Liz (which she gave me permission to use) as her ‘take’ on Lockdown.

Ishbel’s reference to Scottish foods means that the most appropriate tea towel is that of Scottish Recipes!

Dear Liz,

Just touching sides to see how you are doing doing in these ‘new normal’ times?  Hope you and your family, particularly the old (your aunt) and the young (your grandchildren) are weathering these winds of change.

Arend and I have not really been seriously impacted, as we are not really gadabouts, certainly not to pubs or to dispensers of pricey, plastic food.  Admittedly, we have recently eaten some very strange combinations, as I single-mindedly am determined to eat our way through the deep-freeze.  Ah, the treasures  that I find!  Rhubarb, pumpkin pieces, kale, soup galore etc.  But, most exciting of all, those bags of ‘god knows what’.  That Scottish blood runs thick, not given to disposing of anything unless it is absolutely beyond redemption.  Would that this deep-freeze would turn up a Forfar Bridie, a Scotch Pie, an Arbroath Smokey or a good bowl of Cullen Skink.

Just remembered!  I have a Dundee Cake somewhere in a tin; hope, when I retrieve it, it hasn’t gone mouldy.  We can have it with some Blue Cheese, and pretend we are Yorks.

We certainly have not had problems with essentials, food etc but, oh dearie me, getting things like nuts and bolts and compost, frustration reigns supreme.

We are eating home-made chutney dated 2010, like a good whisky, the older the better.  Jams of various varieties are likewise all vintage, but none the worse for being shelved for a number of years.

The new 55+ Creative Writing term begins this week.  I am glad not to be a student.  I understand a lot of Zooming is going to take place.  At my age, a steady pace is what is required; Zooming is not on my ‘Bucket List’.  My resolution about getting my projects finished is something like a New Years Resolution, or giving up chocolate for Lent, they never go the distance.

Today is Domestic Goddess Day, as I get out the antique Dyson (no spares available) and push it around, even behind the sofa, just so that I can feel a sense of achievement and a job well done.  How low ambition has sunk!

Stay safe and strong

Ishbel

Thank you, Ishbel, for letting me use your letter in ‘We’re all in this together’.  There will be people reading this thinking ‘I’m glad I’m not the only one eating out of date food’.  ‘Best before’ will have a new meaning for anyone in Lockdown.