Sunday 23^rd February, 2020 1730

I am advised it is in fact possible to download Skype to mobiles in China. Not that they will, they are all on Wechat groups the school communicates with them through. I'm sticking to my plan, after all, it's only for four weeks, isn't it? Maybe........

I am still in contact with Annie and she brought something up I hadn't thought of. With Nordine not returning until the all-clear sounds I did wonder if he was still going to be paid but she asked whether he had been asked to do his lessons from France. Well he could if he followed my format. I know he's on Wechat but with a seven hour time difference, live streaming would be problematic unless he wanted to start his days at 0100hrs.

Since switching VPN providers I have now downloaded the entire backlog of BBC shows I watch, so many in fact that my memory is full! This laptop actually has three drives and I can't figure out how to get the overflow to go into the next memory. Why on earth they give you three when one would be so easy is beyond me. Having binge-watched soaps and dramas I freed up enough space to complete my logjam of downloads. Not that I will have a great deal of time to do anything much shortly, I'll be snowed under with essays and videos! But no set hours, at least.

I made a carrot and lentil soup last night and baked a loaf. No red lentils in the nearby mart so they gave me some khaki-coloured ones. She loved it, I didn't that much, especially as at one point when I was using the stick blender I angled it incorrectly and as a result the shirt I hadn't long put on was smothered in soup and my belly got a little scalded! Beans on toast to use the rest of the loaf tonight – it's safer!

I am seriously considering buying a couple of lobsters tomorrow from BHG if they still have them. The one thing the closedown has done is ensure I don't spend as much money as I would normally. It might be nice to have a luxury treat in Tumbleweed Town.