I’ve been taking a lot of care over my meals in the last few days.  Nothing complicated in particular, but nice food, a good deal of thought over what to do with it and then careful cooking.  I made two soups from the remains of Sunday’s chicken, having given most of the leftovers to Charlotte and Eddie (the dog stole the roast vegetables, so there was just meat left), one being a creamy chicken and ground almond concoction, the other being a more vibrant affair with chilli, vegetables, the chicken broth and the last of the meat.  The fishmonger calls on a Monday morning and I bought some crevettes and redfish (big prawns and red snapper if you prefer).  It sounds a little pathetic to say that cooking my evening meal shapes the evening, but I like food, I like cooking and it has always been an indication of caring for my family.  That I can eat what I want and nothing else – not having to take anyone else’s preferences into account, I mean – is an encouragement.  If I don’t feel like eating, then Twiglets make a meal too.  It hardly matters if I snack for a day or two.

Meetings at school today, but I took half an hour out during Finance to go up on the roof.  The  school’s roof, most of it, has been replaced over the summer and it’s nearly finished.  At the last Health, Safety and Premises (I know, darlings, I lead a dull life) committee meeting the splendid caretaker gave a progress report and said that if any governors would like to go and inspect? …..  Well, darlings, you know me better than he does and he was quite surprised, though he hid it valiantly, when I was ‘me! me! Pick me!’ and duly arranged for it to be done.

The school buildings are not pretty, it has to be said.  They’re fifty years old – that is, the school was built fifty years ago, a dull, brick-built and partly cladded affair, and has been considerably added to since.  Flat roofed, on one, two or three floors.  I went up on the highest level for the best view.  The second ladder was almost vertical, but it was worth the climb and the view was brilliant.  I was clearly so happy that the three chaps with me were clearly pleased.  I’d seen the insulation they’d taken down, a layer of straw, so the replacement will be much warmer, they’ve been able to add more skylights, we’re having solar panels and it’s guaranteed for twenty years, so should last twice that.  Won’t be my problem for much longer anyway, of course, a strange thought when I’ve been a school governor for so long.

My monthly cleaners came today,  so I’m all hoovered through and sorted out.  It’s laziness really, I’m quite able to do my own housework, but I quite like not having to, at least occasionally.  At one time, I used to have a thrice weekly cleaning lady but that really wasn’t a great idea, it meant I left everything to her and I find it better to deal with most things myself.

The other thing is that I’ve joined the new site Ello – it’s still invitation only and I don’t know who else belongs.  I have so far failed to manage to load an avatar and can’t think of anything to say there.  However, I have hopes that it won’t go the same way as Google+, it’s free and they’ve promised never to sell members’ info (there will be occasional requests for money, clearly, everything has to be paid for one way or another) and so, though I’ve never come across any unpleasantness on Facebook or Twitter, it seemed worth trying.  If you are on there, I’m @zoesprake, so do – if you can work out how – look me out.