Fucking HELL I'm fed up: How are YOU doing?

[Captain Crunch]

The thought of never having to work in an office again makes me feel like a huge Mavis Cruet has floated down and waved her starry wand over me. 

[Blue Jam]

cooking new things

I have been getting so sick of eating the same things all the time. When all this started I kept finding Tesco Finest ready meals reduced and got loads of them but now I never want to see a cottage pie ever again.

This week I have been making a real effort to cook new things and it has actually really helped. Did seabass with samphire, Jersey royals and chives on Wednesday, Cajun blackened monkfish with sweet potato mash and courgettes yesterday, and some nice pork steaks with paprika today, again with sweet potato and courgette-based sides. Also been making breakfast smoothies to make sure I get my five a day.

It does help.

[Ferris]

Make a good curry from scratch

https://wearenotfoodies.com/the-secret-to-making-restaurant-style-curry-at-home/

Will keep the boredom at bay

[BlodwynPig]

I made Gumbo last night with whatever I found in the draw... cinnamon, mace, king prawns, rice, onion, green beans, chillies, paprika

DISGUSTING - nothing like Gumbo. Tasted like tar.

[Sebastian Cobb]

I too was getting fed up of having dull meals thanks to having to choose safe shops, but I got a good online shop in and am going to be doing jerk chicken. yes i.

[Blue Jam]

Make a good curry from scratch

https://wearenotfoodies.com/the-secret-to-making-restaurant-style-curry-at-home/

Will keep the boredom at bay

Making a curry is the plan for tomorrow as it happens. Got a couple of good recipe books and have had good results before.

I'm also growing some fenugreek in a pot so I can do my Winner Winner Methi Chicken Dinner in a few weeks' time- you marinate the chicken in yogurt and spices and then chop up some fresh fenugreek/Methi leaves and bung them under the skin of the chicken's breasticles along with some butter (or ghee) before roasting with some onions in the pot. Take the lid off the pot half an hour before the end of cooking and you end up with a chicken with crispy skin like it's been in a FUCKING TANDOOR and some nice onion curry gravy. You serve it with sag aloo so you get your tatties and your greens.

[BlodwynPig]

Making a curry is the plan for tomorrow as it happens. Got a couple of good recipe books and have had good results before.

I'm also growing some fenugreek in a pot so I can do my Winner Winner Methi Chicken Dinner in a few weeks' time- you marinate the chicken in yogurt and spices and then chop up some fresh fenugreek/Methi leaves and bung them under the skin of the chicken's breasticles along with some butter (or ghee) before roasting with some onions in the pot. Take the lid off the pot half an hour before the end of cooking and you end up with a chicken with crispy skin like it's been in a FUCKING TANDOOR and some nice onion curry gravy. You serve it with sag aloo so you get your tatties and your greens.

I'll take 2 kg of that please to go...yum

[Pink Gregory]

In theory I can start returning to the normal work schedule at least 2-3 days a week; partner is struggling with no work and depression though, so I don't like leaving her alone for days at a time.

[Blue Jam]

I'll take 2 kg of that please to go...yum

Make one yourself, it's a fun little project for these times. Just get some methi/fenugreek seeds from a supermarket or Asian grocer (no need to bother with a garden centre even if they are now open), scatter 'em over a pot of soil and water regularly and you'll get lots of tiny seedlings that grow like bastards. They'll smell great too.

I really wish I'd planted some chillies before the lockdown. I got rid of my potting compost because it appeared to be attracting mice, and I got rid of all my pots because our current flat isn't a suntrap with big windowsills like the old one was. Still got room for a couple of pots though.

[TrenterPercenter]

I made Gumbo last night with whatever I found in the draw... cinnamon, mace, king prawns, rice, onion, green beans, chillies, paprika

DISGUSTING - nothing like Gumbo. Tasted like tar.

Probably the king prawns mate, should be kept in the fridge or freezer.


Thanks.

[BlodwynPig]

Probably the king prawns mate, should be kept in the fridge or freezer.


Thanks.

King prawn was fine. I've just eaten the remnants of the outrage. Half went into the garden for the birds to feast/die on.

[BlodwynPig]

Make one yourself, it's a fun little project for these times. Just get some methi/fenugreek seeds from a supermarket or Asian grocer (no need to bother with a garden centre even if they are now open), scatter 'em over a pot of soil and water regularly and you'll get lots of tiny seedlings that grow like bastards. They'll smell great too.

I really wish I'd planted some chillies before the lockdown. I got rid of my potting compost because it appeared to be attracting mice, and I got rid of all my pots because our current flat isn't a suntrap with big windowsills like the old one was. Still got room for a couple of pots though.

I am in lockdown so cannot get nice fresh methi or whatever, did order some herbs from Waitrose delivery. Seeds will have to wait.

I have grown some chillies, however.

[Blue Jam]

I have never seen fresh methi leaves on sale anywhere, that's why I grow 'em!

Made a curry tonight, recipe called for fresh curry leaves, fuckit dried ones will do. Was alright, not my best but I had been craving a curry and it did the job.

[Cold Meat Platter]

I have never seen fresh methi leaves on sale anywhere, that's why I grow 'em!

Made a curry tonight, recipe called for fresh curry leaves, fuckit dried ones will do. Was alright, not my best but I had been craving a curry and it did the job.

The Asian grocer on Albert Street has fresh methi and curry leaves, usually, in case of future curry emergency. Polypak on Leith Walk too.

Chicken tikka kebabs with chili yogurt chutney on the BBQ today for mum's birthday with Sis and Niece at a safe distance.

[Sebastian Cobb]

I've started using dried mint and dried chilli flakes in my usual daal recipe instead of fresh. Makes little difference.

[Ferris]

Freezing jalapeños and grating them with the microplane into the sofrito along with adding ginger was the gamechanger for me

[Gregory Torso]

Things worse than complete shit now. Not even a home-made curry could fix them. Wife's visa has been refused, we might be able to appeal it but seeing as she was meant to get it in January and it only just arrived today, we've possibly missed that window, not that it would have been much good, nailed shut and painted over as all windows are to me now.
I'm left with either hopping a flight to China to try and convince wife to let me bring son back to UK, or just ploughing on into wormy soily death alone. Can't afford another 20,000 yuan to apply for another visa, plus the six to eight months of lightless obliette existence lying to myself that I haven't chosen my books and records over my family. waiting for some cunt up some chain of rotten command to make a blank decision on my fucking life.
Last night I drank 3 beers and felt so bad I had to make myself throw up, I slept propped up on a sofa cushion to stop the curdling acid in my stomach dribbling out of my face and mouth. Woke up this morning, my laptop is dead, some writing I'd been doing and pictures lost, they don't matter. Words on a screen. It's annoying to have to reset all of my passwords again. I wonder how long I can go without paying my rent.
Tomorrow is my son's 7th birthday, haven't seen him since he was 5. Can't remember what it's like to hold him, his smell. No idea when I will see him now. All the presents I wanted to buy him, the things we were going to do together. He has started back at school and they are making him wear a little red neck scarf and salute the flag and chant some song about being ready to fight for China and love the country.
Everything that used to bring light is now dark, zero dark turdy, everything miserable, a chore to eat, an effort to look out of the window, everything on here, people sniping at each other, misery, anger. Every day is a 24 hour drive to Inverness with no car radio. A monument to tedium. Decrepit, gnarled. Heart feels like it's full of salt water and wants to cry down the insides of my ragged body. Work tomorrow, rain, I'm fat, I'm poor. Walking down to the tram stop a screed of dead trees leans down and knuckles my head and tells me to shut the fuck off and be a good little dung louse.
This is just on a microscale, never mind everything that's happening worldwide. Powerlessness. Government openly sneering in contempt at the rest of us. Smash the system, smash my back doors in. Blood in the toilet, shit in the streets.
I saw a rainbow yesterday. I told it to suck my dick.

[Ferris]

Fucking hell I'm so sorry.

What can I do to help? Can you fly to China? You might be happier broke and in China with your family rather than broke and in the UK but not sure if that's an option

[Gregory Torso]

I don't know. I really don't know. I'm totally lost right now.

I mean, thanks Ferris. There's nothing anyone can do to help. Best thing is appeal on the decision and if that goes nowhere, I might go back to China for a while.

[Ferris]

I'd consider heading to China, what more do you have to lose? Can't fathom not seeing my son, it would kill me I think.

Pros and cons list for the UK and China, then decide. That way you're making positive steps and giving yourself the power to choose, rather than being without agency and power. I think that would a good first step.

[Gregory Torso]

I lived in China for about 14 years. I don't think I could go back to that, and I swore I wouldn't let my son grow up in that education system.

I could go back for a few months just to be with them, but I'd lose my job and flat here and I'd be right back where I started.

Just need time. It's raw now.

[Gregory Torso]

Oh and yeah i'd suppose China would be best bet. Maybe we could all have a whip round to get you going for that visa or some shit.

Thank you but it's not the money that's the problem, it's that I cannot function in China as a parent or a husband and I really don't want my son to grow up there. I lived there for years and I lost my mind. I was meant to be setting everything up here in the UK for them before the plague fucked everything up. Doesn't matter now anyway.

[bgmnts]

Is moving to another country an option? No UK or China?

[Ferris]

I lived in China for about 14 years. I don't think I could go back to that, and I swore I wouldn't let my son grow up in that education system.

I could go back for a few months just to be with them, but I'd lose my job and flat here and I'd be right back where I started.

Just need time. It's raw now.

Think it over and see what makes the most sense to you, then whatever way you go you've made the decision and taken ownership of the miserable situation you are in. That's something.

I really wish you the best with it, and if you need to rant feel free to PM me. I won't always have answers or suggestions but I'll always listen.

[Ferris]

Is moving to another country an option? No UK or China?

Canadian visas are laughably easy to obtain

[Gregory Torso]

Think it over and see what makes the most sense to you, then whatever way you go you've made the decision and taken ownership of the miserable situation you are in. That's something.

I really wish you the best with it, and if you need to rant feel free to PM me. I won't always have answers or suggestions but I'll always listen.

Thanks mate, as always; you're one of the good ones. I'm going out for a long walk in the blustery afternoon to get my head straight.

[BlodwynPig]

Thanks mate, as always; you're one of the good ones. I'm going out for a long walk in the blustery afternoon to get my head straight.

He's one of the best. But so are you. Take care and don't be buffeted by ill winds.

[BlodwynPig]

where is this turtle pond? I didn't see any ponds near you.

enjoy it. Greg will come out the other side.

[Ferris]

where is this turtle pond? I didn't see any ponds near you.

enjoy it. Greg will come out the other side.

Some brownlands east of us have been renovated into a nice park. It's a bung from developers to the city council to get the planning permission for their plate glass eyesores full of 600 sq ft shoeboxes which they will sell to yuppies for far too much.

Still, the turtles are nice and there's lots of nice birds flying around there now. It's been a godsend in the days of covid

[chveik]

I'm so sorry Greg, this all sounds awful.