Lockdown Diary - W/E 3rd April

The week started with another very quiet Sunday. I did very little, mainly just spent time sewing my quilt, which I enjoyed. We started watching I May Destroy You on iPlayer this weekend and it's quite hard to watch, as it pulls no punches, but very good indeed. We also watched the second episode of In the Line of Duty, but it always seems to be the same plot repeated. I'm pretty sure we'll stick with it though.

I ordered some new garden chairs and some solar garden lights on Saturday night, ready for some warm weather. The ones we currently have are not in very good condition, so they found their way to the tip later in the week. The new ones weren't too expensive. Just lightweight aluminium directors chairs. We've had one before and found it very comfortable.  Here's a picture of one of the ones I bought :

I thought about buying a new wooden garden set of table, chairs, etc., but it's hard to get hold of them at the moment, as some places have sold out and others seem very expensive. We decided to just settle for a couple of practical, comfy chairs instead, as the garden needs a lot of work. We may splash out on something better when the decking has been replaced. I bought these from eBay. I ordered them on Saturday night and they were delivered on Monday lunchtime.  Very quick service.  They are very comfortable too and OH and I got some use out of them on Monday, as it was lovely and sunny so we sat outside for a little while eating our lunch. It felt very therapeutic. I'd like to spend more time outside this summer if I can bear the heat.

On Monday afternoon, I finally moved myself and got around to doing some cleaning. I left it until 4.30 pm though, so only got the front living room cleaned and the entrance hall. The back reception room is cluttered with stuff that doesn't belong there at the moment, so it will have to wait.

On Monday night we watched the final episode of Unforgotten. Not wanting to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it, I'll only say that I was sad at how it ended.

On Tuesday, I needed to get up a bit earlier and get out to my allotted appointment at the local tip. I took the dog with me and after I'd offloaded our bits of worn out junk, I took her for a walk. The man at the tip asked if my sewing machine worked and I said that it does sometimes, so he set it aside to try out. I hope he keeps it or passes it on to someone who can use it. I'm done with it, but someone might be able to get it working better than I managed of late.

I had all good intentions of cleaning again today, but it was so lovely and sunny, I just couldn't face it. The solar lights I'd ordered had arrived by the time I got home, so OH and I put them up over the hammock at the bottom of the garden. Here's a picture of them lit up at night:

I've since added a few tealights around the hammock, which make the area look really cosy and LB has been enjoying sitting out in the hammock in the evenings by candle and solar light.

A Cherryz order I'd placed on Saturday also came on Tuesday, which was very quick this time, as I've always waited up to 10 days for it in the past. For anyone who doesn't know, Cherryz is the online equivalent of Poundland. I mainly use it for snacks and other cupboard staples. I usually place one order per month, as I look forward to receiving the parcel, so that's my excitement for the month over and it's not even the first of the month!

In the afternoon, I decided to relax in the hammock in the garden and read my book for an hour, as I'd not had time in the morning to read it. I'm lost if I don't get at least half to an hour of reading done each day. It was very relaxing in the sunshine, apart from falling out of the hammock and grazing my elbow. I figured there'd be time enough for working hard when I get back to work and was determined to at least enjoy a bit of time in the garden this Lockdown.

On Wednesday, it was payday, so I decided to do a big grocery shop before the Easter weekend. I didn't want to leave it too late or the shops would get busy. I arranged for OH to walk the dog, so that I could get away early and be back in time for a work Zoom call at 2pm. The supermarket was busy. I forgot how busy it gets in the mornings, when they are picking the online orders. I won't be going at that time again in a hurry.

By the time I'd got home and unpacked the shopping bags, it was time for the meeting. I can't say I was particularly happy as I came out of it, but that's another matter that I won't discuss here. I did a bit of financial paperwork in the afternoon and I was happy to see that my finances were looking better than they'd looked for over a year, mainly because the share prices are slowly returning to pre-Covid/Brexit levels. It's hard to believe what a year it's been when I think about it. You couldn't have made it up if you tried.

For the rest of the afternoon, I decided to read my current book and try to finish it before the month end. It was The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy and I agree with Marlene of PoppyPatchwork that this book was a really good read. By finishing it, I managed to read 10 books this month, which is a record to date. I delivered them all to the Little Free Library on my dog walk later in the day and took away one book that I will add to my fiction shelf.

Thursday was very uneventful, save that I received a lovely box of goodies from my sister for Easter. They were mainly biscuits and sweets, which was nice as I rarely buy biscuits and I'd already bought us some eggs. I didn't do much, just continued with my sewing.  The cleaning just wasn't happening. I wasn't feeling it.

On Friday, I was a little more productive in that I actually got around to doing a deep clean of the bathroom and downstairs toilet. LB was home and had promised to clean her tip of a bedroom, so I joined in and did the bathroom. The bath and tiles all needed a thorough clean to get rid of some limescale, so it took a couple of hours, but it felt good when it was finished. In the meantime, OH did some more painting in the downstairs vestibule in the afternoon, so it is now virtually finished, thankfully. There is just the door of the vestibule cupboard to prime and paint and the coat hooks to put back up and it's done. I can't wait, as I will then be able to put everything back in it's proper place, instead of being spread around the house.

Saturday, I finally put my mind to finishing off the varnishing of the linen cabinet. There was just one side and the top of the lid left to do, plus a second coat on the front doors. I was glad to finish it at last, although it didn't work out quite as well as I'd hoped. 

I also finally got around to making some chocolate crispy buns topped with mini eggs for the Easter weekend. I contacted a work colleague to find that he was going to be at the shop when I start back on Tuesday, which was good news. Other than these small things and a bit of sewing on the quilt, it was a quiet and uneventful day. It was just too cold outside to spend any time in the garden, but it's great to see that things are slowly coming back to life. Looking forward to some consistently warmer weather, that's for sure.

It was odd to think that this was my last full week on Furlough and that next week things will change dramatically when I return to work. I'm ready for it and looking forward to going back to work, as I've just become a total zombie during this Lockdown. I really desperately need to get my mojo back. I'll let you know how it goes next week.