Lunch With An Eclectic Kitchen Witch

My Dear Princess and Dear Friends,

I went into the office today because it is the day that Laura comes in from Masterton. Masterton is a small town about 90 minutes away on the train so Laura only comes in once a week.

Except when she misses her train. As she did today. Trains are not regular there so I got a "f*ck it" message from her. Erica did also not come in as she is recovering from COVID. 

And Corrie wasn't well either. And Fazzy is staying home until the end of Ramadan... and so.... this was the bank of desks I used to sit at with the gang when we were all busy. 

It made me feel a bit sad.

But Ellie came to save the day! She messaged me to say that she was in too and that we should go for lunch. I offered to take her to The Crab Shack and so off we went at noon.

She gave me all the latest office gossip as Ellie is all over everything. Then she talked to me a lot about things she has been going through - or rather coming to terms with - lately. And once again I had that feeling of being privileged to be trusted with someone's feelings and history. 

I really really like Ellie. She is this mercurial, magical person with a mind that flits like a hummingbird and a wonderful sense of humour. I mentioned that it is maybe some of the horrid things she has faced and come through that have made her as strong as she is. I don't know if she believes me but I think it is true. She is a really great mum and it seems to stem from a DETERMINATION to be a great mum. 

I admire her a lot. 

She also made me laugh, of course. She told me about her "brain fog" that refuses to lift even after getting over COVID and how stressful it can be. She described the act of making a cup of tea for her parents and the in-laws. Here's what you need to know. 

Ellie's mum: Skimmed* milk, two sugars. But if there's no skim, regular will do.
Ellie's dad: Oscillates between one sugar, half a sugar or no sugar. He's trying to give it up but it is proving difficult.
AJ"s mum: No sugar. No milk. Literally drop the bag in hot water for ONE SECOND. That's it. 
AJ's dad: Any milk. One sugar.

"It's a lot to remember, but I really should know by now," she told me. "The problem is that because I always have to ask my dad if it is one sugar or half a sugar or no sugar and I conflate the dads I ALWAYS ask AJ's dad what he wants and it's always the same and it is just EMBARRASSING."

So she asked AJ's dad (again) what he wanted. And he told her (again) "one sugar". And then she couldn't keep it in her head and she knew it would be consumed by brain fog. 

"So I had to lift a finger to indicate one sugar," she told me. "And then I was FOLLOWING THE FINGER to the kitchen saying, 'onesugaronesugaronesugaronesugar' all the way and then AJ INTERRUPTED me by asking what I was doing and I just replied 'ONESUGARONESUGARONESUGARLEAVEMEALONEONESUGAR' until I got to the mug and put the one sugar in."

AJ then tried to help (too late) by saying his dad took one sugar. "I KNOW HE TAKES ONE SUGAR!" she replied. 

"This brain fog, I f*cking hate it," she sighed.

It also turns out that she is an Eclectic Kitchen Witch. She said there are lots of different types of witches. Including Garden Witches (who focus on nature) and Astro-Witches** (focus on astrology) and Lunar Witches (cycles of the moon). 

But Kitchen Witches find power in cooking, especially for other people. They love the effect food has on people and dabble in herbs. That's what I got from Ellie, anyway. But witches can also be traditional or modern or eclectic. Which is as the names suggest, those who focus on old folk methods and those who use technology and those who dabble in either. 

Hence Eclectic Kitchen Witch.

It made her happy to have come to this conclusion. But by my reckoning it is impossible to categorise Ellie, she is a force of nature. My magical, mercurial witchy friend. I am very proud to be able to call her that.

PLUS she paid for lunch! After I offered her lunch as MY treat! She really IS magic!

S.

* CULTURAL DIFFERENCES CORNER: It is "trim" milk here.
** And if THAT isn't a great line of children's books I don't know what is.