It is a shitty situation all round isn't it? Some of our students have ASC and it's been a really mixed bag in terms of their feelings about home learning. I'm glad some of yours are thriving, and I'm so pleased they have you. 

Thank you...yes it’s a pain for the moment about the flat and the boy, but how nice to be loooking forward to my own place and a very welsome guest to have come to stay, am I right? Apart from anything it’s a releif that my cold, dead heart is all smushy over someone!

One deep breath at a time, right?

Also, an old family solution for enormous zucchini is described nicely here:

Hand/home made anything is the dream. I feel like I’ve been packing and panicking and sulking all week, so I haven’t been particularly successful in the kitchen, but this afternoon I went to see a friend who (after a horrible divorce and a worse post-divorce-relationship and 3 years of homelessness) has moved into a…

Nico, the plank victory is inspiring. Well done you! Veg wise: hack at them like a maniac and freeze whatever you’ve got and can’t eat...substance over style any day.

Nutshell updating:

Still not in the flat, it feels excruciating to still be having delays, but I’m so very grateful to be able to consider living by myself. Naked Thursdays, everyday!

I’m anxious about returning to work in a school where the kids can’t or won’t observe basic hygiene or social distancing...but I’m…

Maybe *you* need to make a really good movie about these lads...if not you then who etc

Not suggesting you fob the job off on someone else, and if you’ve covered more than safety it sounds like you’re doing ok.

I mean, has the “sex talk” included stuff about more than penis/vagina sexual safety?

Flo Rida’s “Blow my Whistle” is another classic. A poet called Hollie McNish does a fantastic takedown of the song and video...I recommend a listen on YouTube while you have the muted video playing on screen 

Spent a week with one of my best and longest held friends recently; at one point he ended up with fingers that looked like he’d taken a long bath. It happens. No shame. 

I'll believe it when I see it, house wise. 8 months of shenanigans have made sure I'm fairly emotionally distanced from the whole idea! 

Excellent...the occasional pancake surprise is a wondrous thing. 

Sounds like a very harmonious arrangement, and I’mtotally with you on the coffee. During this trip he woke up one morning and realised we needed coffee, when I told him I’d woken up way early (not deliberately) and crept out to buy some he held my face and told me he loved me. I corrected that he loved *coffee* and…

I have a brother who was nicknamed Pookie until he reached puberty. These books may have been the reason?

This sounds exquisite. I will absolutely take any recipe you recommend, or google one if I must¬

The only mincemeat I know is for mince pies at christmas, and I’ve always used my grandmother’s recipe which involves a surprising quantity of green grapes. So does the green tomato version go well with cheese and cold meats (or “meats”) etc?

Right? Everyone is much more pleasant to be around after a good breakfast, and I am no fun to be around if I have to prepare food when I’ve just woken up. To be fair to him, in the 15 years I’ve known him this has been a consistent and excellent thing.

This is very encouraging, I adore chutney! They are green currently and getting bigger, I think the vile Jack Russel Terrier manages to terrorise any squirrels unwise enough to approach the garden but I will bear the green-tomatoes-plans in mind for sure!