Lockdown - Week 13

 

 

Finally, after 12 weeks of Lockdown, the UK is getting back to some sort of normality with many non-essential shops opening. As a consequence, I'm not sure how much longer we can actually claim to be on Lockdown, but for this week, at least and maybe a few more, I'm sticking to using the term, as we can't do exactly as we please and go exactly where we want to just yet.

 

Week 13 got off to a very slow start for me. I didn't do too much on Monday, save for later in the afternoon, I headed off to do another big food shop, as it had been a couple of weeks since I'd last been to the supermarket. Whilst there was still food in the cupboards and freezer that we could have used, I would have needed to go by the end of the week, and the thought of it hanging over me all week was just was too much, so I decided to get it over with on day one.

 

I went back to the big Tesco that I normally go to, as I had £7 in vouchers that I wanted to use. There wasn't a queue to get in this time and it wasn't too bad going around the shop.  I even managed to buy some self-raising flour for the first time since Lockdown started, which was encouraging. I did have to join a queue for the tills, but it moved pretty quickly.

 

It was interesting to take a little drive around the rest of the retail park afterwards and see what shops  had actually re-opened. Sports Direct and a toy shop (I can't remember the name) had the biggest queues, followed by H&M and TKMaxx, but there seemed to be lots of people spending lots of money, which is a good thing I guess. I didn't need anything from anywhere, so I just came straight home.

 

I am always surprised at how tired I feel after food shopping, I can't imagine what I'm going to feel like after a day back at work, completely exhausted I imagine. One of our volunteers had rung me before I set off to do the shopping and we had a good chat. Hopefully, it won't be too long before we're working together again in the charity shop.

 

On Tuesday, I had another slow day. I did continue with painting the rattan chair though, out in the garden on this occasion, until it started raining that is. Next time I try to paint something similar, I think I'll use a spray paint.  Much easier to get into all the nooks and crannies. We ended the day watching the final episode of the Salisbury Poisonings, which made very interesting viewing.

 

I've definitely been getting that Groundhog Day feeling again this week and often felt the urge to break out of the monotony and do something different, but I didn't, as it would most likely involve spending money.

 

On Wednesday, I finished painting the rattan chair from our bedroom. I had to use a small paint brush to get into all the nooks and crannies of the rattan. There are still bits visible that I couldn't get to, but for all intents and purposes it is finished and here is a photograph:

 

 

I'm pretty happy with the end result.  I now just need to paint both of the rattan storage boxes in our bedroom to match, but there's no hurry, as we're nowhere near ready to decorate this room yet. I may do it during Lockdown if I have enough time to do so.

 

I also attempted to do a mosaic project that I'd been wanting to try for ages on Wednesday.  I had to wait until some new safety goggles arrived, as I'd donated mine to the hospital earlier in Lockdown when they were short on PPE. They arrived on Wednesday, so I was all set to go.  It was much trickier than I remembered and it took me ages to assemble just part of the design I was going for. I'll post more when I finally finish the project.

 

Later, I caught up with the ironing whilst watching the Sewing Bee. I'm really getting back into it now that I've got my sewing mojo back. I stopped watching it for a few years, as I'd completely lost interest in sewing when I started my current job, mainly due to not having the time or the energy.

 

Thursday and Friday really weren't good days for me this week. I didn't sleep well on Wednesday or Thursday night which didn't help. As a consequence, my exercises didn't get done, and I just didn't feel motivated to do anything much. I was starting to get quite concerned about myself and then I heard that I'm going back to work on July 1st. I think that this really helped me. I need to get back to some sort of normality, Lockdown is starting to wear me down.

 

Since finding out about returning to work, my mood has picked up and I feel much more motivated to get on and finish the few jobs I want to complete before I go back. I can finally see an end to being at home day after day. I might not feel quite so happy once I get back there, but at least I won't be climbing the walls as I am at present some days.

 

On Saturday morning, LB and I went out on a little vintage thrifting adventure.  I was very excited, as I'd seen on Facebook that my favourite vintage shop was re-opening and I just couldn't resist a visit. LB was keen to go too, so we drove over and each filled a bag with items for just £10 in total. It felt so good to do something that I used to do and enjoy before Lockdown. Social distancing wasn't the best, but I wore a mask and gloves and there weren't really many people in the store, so it was ok. We weren't able to try any of the clothes on, so it was a bit hit and miss whether they fitted.  Put it this way, I could get them all on, but some looked better than others.

 

I spent the remainder of Saturday afternoon doing a few adjustments to one of the items to make it more wearable. I'll do a separate post about the things I bought once I've washed and ironed them all.

 

So a mixed week, a bit of a roller coaster one to be honest, but I'm feeling a lot better knowing that I'm returning to work, whatever I face in doing so.

 

I hope your week 13 of Lockdown has been a good one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's hoping you've had a better week than I.