Oops, I’m a bit late writing this! The truth is, I’ve just been so busy! Bizarrely, I seem to be even busier in lockdown than I usually am. While I’ve noticed a lot of people on social media being bored, I’m finding all sorts of things to do. I’m still finding that giving myself a list of tasks to complete each day is helping to keep me a sense of purpose. It would be so easy to just flop around and fall into a state of depression, but I’m determined to keep a good state of mental health. These are challenging times, so I need to do what I can to keep afloat. I guess we all do, in one way or another.
Homeschool
On the 20th of April, we started homeschooling again after a 2 week Easter break. We’ve been having a lot of fun. Autumn is still really enjoying it and eager to do it each day, which makes things a lot easier! We’ve celebrated the Queen’s birthday and done lots of gardening. We’ve also baked cakes and been learning about people in society who help us. As we were learning about the latter, our window cleaner started cleaning our windows. Autumn pointed him out as someone who helps people! I don’t know whether I was more excited that she had used her initiative so well, orΒ that the huge bird poo on my patio doors was going. Naturally, it didn’t even take a day after the windows being cleaned for a bird to poop over them again.
I think my favourite topic we covered was St. George’s Day. We even roleplayed the story of George and the Dragon in the garden. It was great fun, especially as Autumn chose Dave to be the princess. He played the part well! Especially with his fresh buzz cut π
Last week I made Autumn an obstacle course in the garden. That was really entertaining too!
Weather
After week after week of beautiful weather, we finally had our first grey days of lockdown. We’d been so lucky with blue skies and sunshine, that we couldn’t really complain. However, I was still worried about how it would affect my mood. On the other hand, I was pleased that it might put people off of gathering and going to the coast. Fortunately, we got through those days without getting too stir crazy (it was mostly Autumn I was worried about). We had enough activities to keep ourselves occupied and mostly stopped Autumn from bouncing off the walls!
Sewing
One of the ways in which I’ve been keeping busy over the last couple of weeks is by sewing PPE – full length plastic gowns with long elasticated sleeves. I saw a video on Facebook where a lady from Southend in Essex was making them out of recycling bags. So I got my sewing machine out and tried it out. It was a success, so I got onto Facebook and started sourcing spare recycling bags from others in the local community. I also asked for any treats and toiletries people might have for me to take to the hospital with them. The first one took me around 2 hours to complete, but they now take me an average of 25 each. I’m hoping to have enough to take to the hospital along with the treats around the weekend or shortly thereafter.
Bluebells
I read that driving a short distance for a walk is now allowed, as long as you are walking for a significant amount time longer than you are driving. We needed to drop off some essentials to my Nan anyway, so we thought a walk in the woods near her would be fine. It’s not a beauty spot or a country park and is always pretty quiet. I was sad we’d missed the bluebells this year, but I got to see the wilted blue flowers. I guess it was better than nothing. If I squinted, I could pretend there was still a glorious blue carpet amongst the trees! We had such a lovely walk and it was lovely to be outside of my estate for the first time since the beginning of lockdown. It was very odd being in the car again after so long though!
Also, when we dropped things off to my Nan, I got to see her from a distance. It was really lovely to see her and that she was doing okay. She had also given us some eggs from her Bantam hens. They’re lovely yolky eggs and taste so much better than shop bought, so I was excited that Dave and Autumn had some extra tasty eggs for their lunches. For some reason, I’ve never liked the taste of eggs. Unless they’re in a cake, of course!
Bubbles
When the weather has been good, we’ve also been enjoying giant bubbles in the garden! Not a day goes by since I bought them that Autumn hasn’t requested to go outside and blow them! She was really disappointed when it rained. Our kitten Maisie seems pretty fascinated by them too, although she won’t go anywhere near them.
The weeks seem to continue to go faster as everyone gets used to this ‘new normal’. I’ve also noticed that in the first few days people were on social media talking about it all, perhaps unsure what to do with themselves. Since then, social media seems to have quietened down to its usual level! I guess this means that, like me, people are finding various other ways to keep themselves occupied?
I’d love to hear what you’ve been up to! Please leave me a comment below π