A Bit of Progress

I complained of not really being very productive in my last post, which is really still the case.  I'm just trying to get to Christmas unscathed by the virus really, as we're told that the figures are rising rapidly in London at the moment. There was a bit of a scare at work on Saturday, as my Manager's elderly landlady took a test late last week, which might have put him out of action until Christmas had it been positive, but it came back negative thankfully for everyone concerned, so he returned to work yesterday after a couple of days awaiting the result.

Some things are getting done at home on my days off. I managed to finish painting the inside of the vestibule cupboard this weekend. I just need to add a coat of clear varnish to the shelves, as the paint I used was a chalk paint, which will scuff easily, so the varnish will make the shelves a bit more hard wearing.

I can then put back the contents of the cupboard, as they are currently cluttering up our second reception room and the kitchen, and the mess is getting on my nerves. The hallway, is currently on hold as OH is just too busy to do anything at the moment.  After having applied two coats of matt emulsion, it is already getting a bit scuffed, so we're thinking of applying a third coat of emulsion that is wipeable. He will do this when he gets the time. Besides, we still haven't chosen a colour for the wall in the vestibule, and in the meantime, there's no point painting the woodwork, I'll have to do it at a later date.  It's looking like it won't be done for Christmas, but so be it. Maybe I'll take a week off in January and do it then.

On a positive note, we did all head out to the mall yesterday to do a bit of shopping and have supper out.  Whilst there, we finally got around to ordering a new armchair and footstool for the living room, both from John Lewis.  Only problem being, a 15 week wait, so we may get it for Easter if we're lucky, so long as Brexit doesn't throw a spanner in the works. Something ticked off the to do list at least and something to look forward to next year. It's our present to ourselves, instead of having a proper holiday this past year.

We also put some lights up at the front of the house.  We stuck to stringing them along the fence instead of around the windows, but they look okay, and again they are on a timer to come on at 4pm and go off at 10pm. They make the front path look very festive in a subtle kind of way.

Today, I stayed close to home, as I needed to do some ironing and some present wrapping too. I also had an Approved Food order coming. Mostly snacks, food, toiletries and some dog stuff too.

I was going to do a big food shop today, but I was not really feeling it and we had virtually enough to see us through until Wednesday, so I decided to do a very small top up shop and leave the big shop until later in the week. Trouble was, the small top up shop (at ASDA) then became somewhat bigger, as I decided to buy a few staples for the new Brexit stash that I'm starting, on account of all the depressing talk in the news about us crashing out of the EU without a deal. I also decided to get a few things for the food bank and also saw a few extra surprise things that I decided to buy LB for Christmas.  I'm hoping she likes them. 

I almost can't be bothered with the Brexit stash thing, but this might just be the one time when I wish I had. There's always something lately, prepping has almost become part of the UK psyche, (judging by the queues and loaded trolleys at ASDA) adopted from the US, of course.  I'll probably just stash the things that most likely come from Europe, just in case. Who has the money before Christmas to buy too much extra food? 

This week, is the last full week at work before Christmas and of course, we have just been put up a Covid Tier to Tier 3 from Wednesday, so it's going to be an interesting week. I don't know how this will affect footfall in the shop, but shops can remain open.  I won't be attending the last class of the year at the gym though, which is disappointing and we will no longer be able to go out for Xmas dinner, so we'll be eating at home instead. I'd already bought a few things and put them in the freezer. It's now getting so close to Christmas that if you haven't got stuff in, you could find yourself unable to get out to the shops if you come down with the virus. I'm now wishing I'd done the shop today, but I will certainly be doing it on Wednesday, just in case.  Some things may not necessarily be the freshest they could be for Christmas, but I can live with that.

I'm supposed to be on leave the week before Christmas, but I may need to work on Christmas Eve and the day before that, if my fellow managers need to get back to Europe for Christmas Eve, which is their big celebration.  Not sure what's happening there as yet. If they do both go, I'll then have to work after Christmas too, until at least one of them returns, so I may not get a very long break from work, we'll see what happens, as we may all be locked down again before then. Either way, I guess I'm okay with it. We're staying here, so I am around and I can't really quibble after the amount of paid time off I've had this year. It would seem super churlish to do so.

I hope you all had a good weekend and are on top of your Christmas To Do Lists.