Volunteering (part 2)

St Mary's Church, Kempley, September 2023

Still working (volunteering) at the retreat centre, and my first day off saw the end of the heatwave and pouring rain. As it happens, Former Landrover Man and Former Bee Lady live quite nearby, and I'd arranged to meet them for for a walk and a pub lunch. First they showed me the progress they had made in the garden, and I wish I'd taken a photo of the flowering beds because they were stunning, and the new pergola glistened with raindrops like strings of lights. The rain was easing off so we went ahead with the walk, but there were still heavy showers on and off. 

Along the way we dropped into a Norman church which has 'the oldest timber roof of any building in England.' There are also magnificent 12th century wall paintings, uncovered in the 19th century - such a treasure in an ordinary little church in the English countryside. We do have some wonderful heritage. And pubs. Cheese! and chocolate cake! I went home for a day and as well as getting through a lot of the boring admin that was waiting for me, I consumed my body weight in chocolate and cheesy Wotsits.

Back in the retreat centre kitchen: catering for large numbers is difficult, especially when it is all vegan and there are people with a wide range of food intolerances. Thankfully no nut allergies, but one coeliac and four gluten-free as well as 'usual' intolerances: soya, onion, garlic and peppers, and also legumes, brassicas, spinach and chilli. The people who have been here the longest have started to object to other things - cooked tomato, too much broccoli. I need to practise cooking quinoa after my attempt ended up like wallpaper paste. I don't bother with quinoa at home, but one of the cooks here made a delicious version - unfortunately it involved rinsing, steaming and roasting so I probably won't bother.

There are a couple of things I might try at home, though. Vegan parmesan made of nutritional yeast, finely ground almonds and salt was very easy. Polenta chips less easy but very good. But the day that the college-trained cook decided to do fajitas using seitan for 'meat' and other components like peppers, guacamole and refried beans took me to the brink. There were 11 non-standard plates needing alternative components and by the time it came to serving up my brain had melted.

On Sunday I was taken off kitchen duty (there were two other people who wanted to cook together) and reported for duty to the laundry room, where the housekeeper hadn't been told I was coming. She was delighted, because a) she had a huge cloth she wanted to fold up and b) there was more Spanish translation, printing and laminating to be done and she really wasn't keen. In the afternoon the work was more physically demanding, including dismantling and cleaning extractor fans and moving furniture to hoover skirting.

Another interesting thing about Sunday was this rally which went right past the end of the access road to the retreat centre. This meant that we weren't allowed in or out for most of the day (not a problem) but there was also significant loud noise several times during the day. Along with some other residents I went to have a look...