A dilemma and a compromise.
A couple of days ago a friend called. She lives in Gran Canaria, so I see her very rarely. She is here in England, but only until Sunday. She wanted to visit Oxford. Would I go with her? I explained to her that I was in the middle of a challenge, but we both wanted to spend time together even so.
What to do? I could have decided not to see her – but then it might have been months or even years before we had the opportunity to meet again. I could have gone with her and taken some cooled-down boiled rice and eaten that. I could have simply fasted.
However, I’m afraid I did none of those things; I allowed her to treat me to food. I only felt able to do this because I know that I will treat her another time. Thinking about the issues of social isolation I began to explore yesterday, had I not had the ability to recompense her, I would have felt much more uncomfortable, and perhaps refused altogether, and missed out on a day which we both enjoyed very much. In this way, friendships can drift apart, stresses can build, and the problem of social isolation may be exacerbated.
I apologise if my regular readers feel that I have let either them or myself down, but I will still do what I set out to; seven days of meals for £10. It just means that the challenge, and these blog posts, will continue up to and including Monday.
So please visit me again tomorrow for some more great recipes. Tomorrow’s menu is likely to be bean chilli and stuffed aubergine, but that may change depending on what happens with my commitments for the day. The only way to find out for certain is to join me again for the next installment.