Winter has come.....time to blog

 Hi everyone, and welcome back to je t'aime le chicken. Another year has passed (very quickly I might add) and blogging fever has hit once more. Perhaps it's the onset of an early sunset, with the days markedly shorter and a desire to fill my evenings with something productive. It's certainly not the advent of Lockdown Mk2, since the first one didn't particularly fill me with a desire to do anything productive. I suspect the main reason is that I've put together some great pictures of food and fun times over the last months, and I'm in the mood to share (i.e. show off).

So tag along if you're interested. You might have seen signs of some of these adventures on Instagram if you're a follower. Even if you are, hopefully these new blogs will lend some further colour to those pictures. Or perhaps amuse you on those cold winter nights with intense social distancing in place, when there's nothing but Netflix (Prime/NowTV/Disney+.....) to keep you entertained.

I'm writing this on Day 5 of Lockdown Mk2. It's allegedly going to be a four week stint, but who knows... it might go on for longer. The gyms are closed, which is my biggest nightmare. Pubs and restaurants are also closed which, given the over-indulgence I've displayed at those venues in the last few weeks, is no bad thing. In the previous lockdown, I decided to set myself several (somewhat arbitrary) goals to give life some colour and keep my mental health in check. This time, I'm pushing those goals a little bit further, and setting a few more. I'll keep you updated on how they go, but naturally would love your views on what else I can add to the mix.

• Goal 1: Burn 2500 calories a day. This is to replace my previous goal of 20,000 steps a day. Turns out those steps aren't enough to really burn the calories. I managed to lose 4 kg in the first lockdown (and have promptly replaced them with 3 new kg - these also need to go).
• Goal 2: Cook at least one new recipe a week. I've already exceeded this week, by cooking a cheddar soufflé and burnt onion bread sauce on Sunday night. They came completely incredible. Different cuisines will also need to be explored - please do send me recipes to try.
• Goal 3: Prep for a truly excellent Christmas at home. This includes all the works - big, real Christmas tree, baked decorations, lots of mulled wine and excellent presents for all. Not to mention the big feast on the day itself! I'll be sharing my intended menu ahead of time...
• Goal 4: Excel at new job, but consider work-life balance. In a week today, I'll be starting a new role modelling Coronavirus impacts for Scottish Government. An exciting new challenge, all from the comfort of my own home. I can't wait to get stuck in, especially because I'm missing my old job and team so much at the moment.
• Goal 5: Treat myself to something every week. This is also something I tried to do in the last lockdown, largely in the form of food and drink. I've become a big fan of food deliveries and I intend to stretch these out to include DIY restaurant kits plus some other frivolous fancies. Some of my thoughts on these will certainly be making their way into future blogs.

Does that sound extreme but completely achievable? I like to think so. I suspect Goals 3 and 4 will prove to be the most challenging: 3 because I'm lazy and hate admin, and 4 because I've never been good at work-life balance, especially if there's an exciting piece of code that needs working on. I will do my best though.

Seeing as I'm not working at all this week, I'm going to use some of my time to work on these blogs, and hopefully give you a treat of one a day. Here's a little spoiler for what's on the horizon.

• A just-in-time, pre-lockdown birthday
• Audiobooks, and how they help you through those five hour nature walks
• A Covid-19 Cotswold Staycation - the highs and the lows
• Food delivery boxes: insight into where to splurge and where to hold back
• Lockdown boozy brunches and how to make them work

Hope that sounds good guys! See ya'll next time!