Getting Used to a New Way of Life

It's been a strange old week and to be perfectly honest, I've been so concerned with the news that I haven't really done much that was productive. I've caught up on washing and ironing, but that's about it.

It was faintly reassuring to watch Monty Don on Gardener's World on Friday night. Some things do stay the same in a time of great change and flux. On the subject of gardening, OH has now dug over the allotment and will soon be sowing shallots, seed potatoes, and various other seeds.  We figure that the quicker we get them in, the quicker we will be able to eat our home grown food and be less reliant on the supermarkets and the madness going on there at the moment.

I really feel for the emergency responders who are finding the shelves empty when they go to shop. It's heart breaking, as they work so hard and we are all so reliant on their skills and expertise at a time like this. I really hope things calm down in this direction soon. I'm completely avoiding the supermarkets at the moment and we're buying the fresh bits we need from local shops.

After watching Monty on Friday evening, I decided that it was time to get my act together and do more. I immediately went up into my sewing room and started to get a bit more organised, mainly so that I can get sewing some tote bags for the shop. I pulled out lots of fabrics that I'm happy to use for this purpose and some webbing for handles. I figure I can make about 20 to 40 bags while I'm off work, that we can probably charge a pound or two for in the shop when we reopen. It's not much, but at least I feel like I'm contributing something while the shop is closed.

A colleague and I may decide to drive into London to the shop in the next few weeks and do some online listing to try to earn money for our charity.  This lock down is devastating for the organisation and anything we can do to bring in revenue will help.  Obviously, we are not going to take any risks and we might be able to do it all from home, which would be better, but we would need to gather some stock from the shop in order for us to do it, if we get permission from the powers that be, that is. Of course, the lockdown may get stricter and this might not be possible, we'll just have to see how things progress.

On Saturday, we finally put the Xmas decorations back in the loft. They'd been hanging around on the bed in my sewing room for months, so it was good to finally get them out of the way. The space was quickly filled with other things, but at least the floor is now clear to access the room and I intend to start sewing in there very soon.

My gym closed on Friday night, so no more classes, even though I wasn't intending to attend anymore anyway. I really do need to start thinking about exercising though at some point, or I will put on weight spending all this time at home.

I finally got out into the garden on Sunday. It was such a lovely day, if a bit cold.I swept up the decking, which was a bit mossy, and we put up a new mini greenhouse that I bought from our Charity Shop a few months ago. It wasn't perfect and had some writing on the plastic cover at the back, but you can't see it too well, and it was very cheap so I can't really complain. It's so good to have outside space to potter about in. It must be so frustrating for people living in London who don't have such a luxury. We are very fortunate indeed.

Swing Patrol, the company who run the dance classes that I attended, have already got their act together and are creating online courses for people to do whilst at home.  Unfortunately, I probably won't be subscribing, as work is quickly drying up for OH whilst people concentrate on just getting through the next few months. As a consequence, I have to be very careful with money and can't justify spending it on things that aren't absolute necessities. I admire their spirit of enterprise though and I'm sure they'll be a lifeline to lots of dancers out there.

Thank you for all of your lovely comments recently on my posts.  I really appreciate them. We will get through this. We just have to stick together, listen to and abide by the government's advice and think about others and not just ourselves, whilst helping others where we can.

One of our neighbours did a very nice thing this week. A potter, she offered clay to everyone down the street to occupy them during our time at home. This offer was quickly taken up by many parents with children and was much appreciated. She also offered to fire the resulting work for everyone, which was very generous of her.

I have also noticed that there is a group of local residents offering to help people who are self isolating in our community.  I think I saw one of them delivering some much needed items to a house down the road, whilst I was out walking the dog. The people receiving the help were very grateful for it.  It was good to see people being so selfless and helping others in need, without wanting anything in return. That really is the kind of spirit we need to foster to get us through this difficult time.

I'm sure as we settle down into routines, it won't seem so bad and we'll start to get creative and find ways to tolerate the isolation. I've already signed up to a Facebook page set up to connect people facing lockdown.  It's based in Australia, but it's interesting to see what gets posted on the site. Some of it is amusing, like the little boy who's decide to call the virus by the name Cod Fish and the Aussie slang that people have created to describe the virus (Rona), hand sanitiser (hanny), self isolation (iso) and panic buyers (magpies).  It's interesting that the same themes occur even on the other side of the world.

Talking of which, I was very relieved for my friend this week whose daughter has been over in Indonesia for some months now and managed to get a flight back to Europe this week. With so many people stranded, it was a relief that she made it back before travel restrictions become more widespread.

I also received an email from my sister in Brisbane this weekend.  It was good to hear from her. I think they are a few weeks behind us here, and from a picture I saw of a crowded Bondi Beach in Sydney, they must be. I warned her that it is fast getting worse here and to expect it where she is.

Anyway, that's enough talk of depressing events, I promised I would steer clear of the subject.  I hope you are all keeping busy and finding things to occupy you.  I know this Sunday has probably been difficult for many who can't be together for Mother's day. I hope you all still managed to spend time communicating in other ways instead.

Take care, stay safe and if you've got any good ideas for keeping occupied, let me know.