Adventures in Self Isolation

Taking advantage of the enforced peace and quiet, Brian, director of DVCA, is tackling his infamous pile of magazines and after that, he is hoping to restore a pair of brass headlamps for Peter, which he has been promising to do for almost eighteen months! Meanwhile Tony, our representative for East Anglia, is appreciating his daily walk with his four-legged companion and is finding solace in the wild, open countryside near his home in Norfolk. Our Southern representative Jim enjoys spending time restoring his Minor Traveller but as many of us sensibly do in a crisis, he has also turned to Mary Berry for culinary inspiration, as he tells us...

So what does our dynamic Southern Area Rep do to relieve tedium and prevent being furloughed by Mr C?

"You are never bored if you have a classic car in the garage but there is only so much pain one can endure from aching limbs, grazed skin, burns and blood loss. If I am to survive multiple weeks of self- isolation, I need something else to occupy my mind.

Rummaging through shelves of workshop manuals and Rupert Bear Annuals, I come across a Mary Berry cookbook. It’s a eureka moment, ‘Bake Off ‘, I cry and scan the index for ideas.

There is flour, baking powder, eggs, sultanas and my nuts supply is in good shape, so a walnut loaf looks a cinch.

‘Turn oven to 180’ says Mary. Casting around our new fitted kitchen, I soon identify the oven - O.K,  switching the TV on was a mistake, as was the washing machine, spin drier and sundry mysterious devices for which I have no clearance to use.

‘Grease a pan' says Mary so off to the garage for Castrol LM, but am stopped by my wife who thrusts an almost empty butter pack at me.

To avoid further mistakes I work under supervision from here on in. Breaking eggs proves a messy operation and’ folding in’ things was beyond comprehension, but eventually something went into the oven, only to emerge an hour or so later as a reasonable facsimile of the target."