Just a sharp scratch

I’ve no even slightly connected gardening activities to report from last week. No plot visits, no seed or plant deliveries, not even time browsing seed catalogues. I wonder whether visiting some of my favourite gardening blogs counts.

The weather has been bitterly cold with, at times, a bitingly cold wind. We even had another flurry of snow on Wednesday. At one point it looked as though we were in for a significant covering but fortunately that didn’t materialise.  At one point I did wonder whether I was going to be able to make my Covid jab appointment. According to the weekend news, I should receive a letter this week inviting me to book an appointment, as that is when my priority group will start to be given the option of a vaccination. Our area must be ahead of the game as my text came from our doctors last Monday

My appointment was for Thursday morning at a nearby rugby club. I knew what to expect as Martyn had his jab the previous week. For those of you still waiting, I thought  I’d share my experience.

On arriving at the car park we were greeted by yellow jacket clad, masked volunteers who organised the parking and gave me directions . Before arriving at the club door, I was greeted by another volunteer and asked all the usual questions about whether I had any symptoms and I was handed an information sheet. I then headed for the club building.

Outside the door, I joined a socially distanced queue with two others to wait for admittance. The man queuing in front of me told me that he was really excited when he received his message but now he was there he was feeling less happy. Apparently he didn’t like needles.

Once at the front of the queue, another volunteer squirted sanitiser on my hands. I was then told that I could enter the building.  

Just inside the doorway was a table where I had to give my name. I was then given a card showing my name, date of birth and details of the vaccine about to be administered. It was reminiscent of registering for a conference and receiving a name tag.

The room that I entered had about eight tables arranged down its far side each manned by two people.  At the side of the room nearest to the entrance were eight chairs spaced at two metre interval where I had to wait for my turn to receive the injection.

When it was my turn, I was escorted to one of the tables where the card containing my details was checked and I was asked more questions about my health, allergies and some effects that might cause were described. I didn’t suffer any after effects. The vaccine was given, and no it didn’t hurt at all.

I was then given a timer set to fifteen minutes and escorted to another room where about twenty chairs were arranged at two metre intervals. I was directed to a chair and told to wait until my timer pinged. Of course I managed to have a timer that didn’t ping but I kept an eye on it until it reached zero. As pings sounded and people got up to leave, another volunteer disinfected the chairs. 

As I left I was told that I would be contacted for my second dose in 8 - 12 weeks time. Apparently it takes about 21 days for any degree of immunity to be created so my risk of contracting Covid is still as high as it was prior to the vaccination.

The whole operation relied on a large number of volunteers so recognition should be given to them. They were all really pleasant and friendly, even when standing out in the freezing cold. Whilst I was there, a constant stream of people were being vaccinated.

Anyway now I have to wait for my next text before I go through the whole process a second time.

Just off at a bit if a tangent. I wonder why it is OK for so much junk mail and charity bags to keep popping through the letterbox? Is it just me who throws them straight into the bin? Regardless of any potential risk of infection our postal service is struggling to deliver important mail with some people commenting that they haven't received any mail for over a week.

We may not have been gardening but we have been kept on our toes with, Ruby. She became very interested in her stitches so constant surveillance has been necessary. Her stitches come out on Tuesday so we will then be able to relax.

Of course I still managed to do some cooking.

Monday, I made a turkey stew that included some of our leeks, carrot, onion and frozen peas and green beans.

Wednesday, I used the slow cooker to make a vegetable korma using, our potatoes, onion, carrot and frozen peas. It also used red pepper and a courgette that I had to buy. The only problem was that the potatoes broke down during cooking so I think next time I’ll cut down on the stock. Liquid doesn't thicken in the slow cooker so the end product was a bit 'thin' but it tasted better than it looked.

Friday, I used orzo for the first time and made a tomato and chickpea risotto based on this recipe. I added our onion, frozen sweet corn and some spinach. Next time I won’t sauté the orzo as this caused it to stick to the pan and I’m not sure why it was necessary. I’m guessing someone just substituted orzo for rice in a recipe and treated it in the same way.

The orzo made a nice change from the usual rice based risotto so will become a store cupboard regular.

Sunday I made a vegetable and black bean hash which used, our potato, carrot and onion along with red pepper, spinach (I didn't have any kale) and some mushrooms. 

My korma used ground almonds which prompted me to mention another favourite gadget. My stick blender has a grinder attachment so rather than buying both flaked and ground almonds, I just buy flaked and use the grinder to make my own ground almonds. It’s also really useful for blitzing root ginger. I blitz a batch and then freeze portions in an ice cube tray. It will also chop herbs, if they need to be chopped finely and can be used to make a curry paste.

This week the weather is set to be mild so maybe we will get out a little bit more especially as Ruby will have lost her stitches and be OK to go for some walks. Don’t tell her, but due to all the mud, it may mean more shower time too.

As usual keep, safe and well and here’s hoping for those of you who haven’t received the call it will arrive soon.

Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett