Lockdown 2 Eve

It's been a strange week so far. What with the announcement of a second lockdown and the looming US Presidential election, which seems to be the focus of attention with regard to world news.

In my small world, Monday was spent getting a few bits from B&Q to see us through lockdown, i.e. paint and other decorating bits, and smokeless coal, in case we need or want to fire up the wood burner. I expected it to be busier out, but it wasn't too bad which I was thankful for.

Today, I woke up at 6am and couldn't bring myself to go downstairs to see what was happening with regard to the election.  Then OH came back to bed saying it was very close, so I had an early breakfast and took a look. I wish I hadn't and went back to bed, then I tried to avoid it for most of the rest of the day.

I worked my final day at work for the forseeable yesterday. I spent most of it packing boxes of stock to send to our online hub for listing through lockdown.

Our shop is definitely closing and we're all being furloughed.  We did have a choice to continue working from the shop to sell online only, but it was questionable whether we'd make back our salaries and overheads doing that, although many shops are attempting it. We could also have worked to sell online from the Online hub for our area, but it is so far from where I live, I wouldn't be able to cycle there and it would probably take 90 minutes each way on public transport. Given the choice, I opted for furlough. I can't say I'm 100% happy about it, but neither was I happy at the thought of travelling across to the other side of London on public transport, when I've spent the last four months cycling into Central London to avoid it. I can't help but feel a bit guilty though, but I've made my choice and I just have to get on with it. I'm very lucky to have had a choice at all.

Instead, I have decided that I will probably sacrifice some of my leave for the remainder of the year, to give something back to the charity I work for and be more available to make money for the remainder of the financial year. After all, how much more time do I need to take off this year and carrying lots of leave over to next year will create more work pressure through absences. I'm not sure what my fellow shop managers are doing in this regard, but I'm more than happy to give some time back. 

This time around, I don't feel the overwhelming sense of panic and then relief that I felt when the last lockdown was announced, probably because we have a sense of what will happen over the next few weeks. I just feel a bit sad. Sad for all charities and businesses that are going to lose so much money in the lead up to Christmas this year. Sad for everyone who is going to be isolated and unable to see their friends and loved ones. Sad for all those who are going to suffer anxiety and financial hardship during lockdown.

One small positive, was that my last day at work yesterday was super busy and our takings were really up, which was great.  We put as many games, jigsaws, gifts and other items into the shop as we could and it paid off.  Many people started their Christmas shopping, just in case, and spent lots of money with us. I'm hoping it's been the same today and I just pray that we'll be open again at the beginning of December and that the threat will have receded somewhat by then.

In the meantime, I just need to get my head down at home, get on with the tasks that need doing and at least feel like I've made good use of my time.

Today, I have to admit that I haven't achieved very much at all. It has been spent recovering from work yesterday, reflecting on the situation we find ourselves in (which isn't very useful really, but feels necessary), getting a few last minute bits of shopping and picking up my prescription from the chemist. I will start looking forward and getting stuck into my tasks from tomorrow.

How are you feeling about lockdown this time around?  Do you have any plans about how you will spend your time?

Post Half Term Catch Up

I thought I'd do a bit of a catch up after our break up north. We had a lovely long weekend and felt much better for getting out of London for a few days, especially now, in the light of another lockdown.

We managed a good few walks on the beach to blow away the cobwebs, which the dog absolutely loved. I got to go to a car boot sale and bought lots of lovely brass and copper items that I've been wanting to find for weeks now, mainly planters for the living room.

Before we left, I made sure to leave the cottage very clean and went around stripping beds and disinfecting all surfaces, light switches, door handles, taps, etc. as requested by the owner and before we knew it we were back in London.

I've now been back at work two days and yesterday, I was very surprised when my Manager asked me if I'd seen the news and told me about the possible lockdown happening. It was a strange day waiting to hear what the Prime Minister had to say and now it seems I have two more days at work this week before we are in lockdown again.

I'm not quite sure if we'll be expected to sell online during lockdown, but it looks like that may not be allowed, in which case, I've potentially got a month at home in which to get on top of the house and do some more decorating and other projects that have just been left, as I got busy at work and didn't have the energy.

Luckily, I did a two weekly shop on Friday, just before the announcement and so I don't have to brave the supermarket when everyone is panic buying for the lockdown. I may try a visit to B&Q to get some wood and smokeless coal for the woodburner, plus potentially some paint and anything else we might need to decorate the hall.

It's disappointing for our Charity that we may have to close the doors again, especially in the lead up to Christmas, and when we were starting to build up our volunteer team and sales again, but there's not a lot we can do about it. I feel for some of our volunteers, who live alone and are not looking forward to being isolated again. It seems that 2020 has just been a disastrous year all round really.

In view of this, I'm just going to make the most of this lockdown and try to enjoy it, which I didn't manage to do during the last one.  It will be good to take time to finish part done projects, start new ones, tidy up the garden, decorate the hall (or part of it), clean the whole house in time for putting up Christmas decorations and do a bit more decluttering. It's amazing how many jobs have built up over the last four months, that I just haven't had the energy to tackle. I've potentially got no excuses now. I'm also going to take time to just be and relax, watch some TV, read and recover from the busyness of the last few months. 

I'll miss cycling to work, as it's the only exercise I've been getting, but the break from it should also be good too, as it can be quite gruelling, especially when it rains, which it has done on both journeys to work this week.  It's not felt great to start the day with a drenching. I'll try and do some cycle rides with OH and LB during lockdown instead, on different cycle routes around where I live.

As far as Christmas is concerned, I've done most of my Xmas shopping, save for the main presents I need to get for LB and OH, which I will probably be able to get online, although competition for things might be tough again. Even if I don't manage to get them, it won't be the end of the world.

All the above might change, however, once we find out whether we are required to continue working, listing online during lockdown, but I'll let you know the outcome of that one.

The Early Xmas Getaway

As mentioned in a previous post, today, we headed out of London and up to Yorkshire to visit family and deliver Xmas presents in case we don't get up here for Christmas.

Consequently, I've spent any spare time I had this week buying last minute Christmas presents for all family members that we normally buy for and wrapping them up ready to bring them with us, which has made it a busy week. I think I got it all done, although for one particular family member, I now realise I got it very wrong, but hey, I tried.

The journey north didn't start well, due to happening on an earlier accident which had closed the M11 causing standing traffic, just 20 minutes after setting off from London.  That set us back for almost an hour and we had to take a slightly longer route as a consequence. Luckily, I'd packed lots of snacks and a puff pastry pizza I'd made the night before, which kept us happy whilst stuck in traffic.

We stopped off for a quick toilet stop and dog walk at the services, but otherwise we were driving most of the day with Radio 4 for company.

We stopped off to visit OH's parents en route, being very social distancing/Covid conscious and then finally got to our accommodation at about 7pm (7 and a half hours later!!!) It's been a long day!

The accommodation is very spacious for just the three of us, we'll be rattling around here during this long weekend. It's not quite what I expected, but is very well equipped. I wasted no time in unpacking and making supper.

Organised as ever, I'd packed some pasta and sauce, so we could knock up a quick meal without the need for a shopping trip.  OH just picked up some bread, milk and treats at the petrol station and I had brought enough stuff from home to cover breakfast tomorrow and more. We were all grateful for that.

OH wasted no time in settling down to watch cycling on the TV, so I thought I'd catch up on a bit of blog reading and create a post to test out the Wifi, which seems to be working okay.

It feels good to be back up north. It feels like we've been cooped up in London all year, although we did get out to Suffolk for a few days in August. We're actually staying on the East Yorkshire coast on the outskirts of Bridlington this time around, which is further from family than we normally stay, but there was very little accommodation available, so we didn't have much choice.  It will be nice to go for a walk on the beach with the dog at some point though and maybe stop off in town for some fish and chips. 

We'll mostly be sticking to outdoor activities and staying away from crowds of people, as much as possible. We're thinking of a car boot sale visit on Sunday morning (if it's not too busy), a trip into Hull to visit old haunts and do a bit of thrift shopping tomorrow, plus maybe drop off a few more presents to family at some point. I've also got a jigsaw to do and a really good book to read (Naomi Klein's latest), that I started this morning, so I'm sorted.  Simple pleasures.

We're having to stay outside of peoples houses on this visit, which is very strange, but necessary to ensure everyone stays safe, due to us coming from a Tier 2 area. It doesn't help that the weather is colder up here than in London, but I'm sure we'll manage. It might be our only visit here for the rest of this year, so we intend to enjoy it and make the most of it. I'll keep you posted over the weekend, but there might not be many photos, as I've still not worked out how to upload them on my new Chromebook.

Tier Two & Last Minute Visits

Well, we headed into Tier Two restrictions last night, and will no longer be able to meet with others indoors.  This won't actually affect myself and OH in London, save that OH may not be able to do home visits for his work, but LB won't be able to go around to her friends houses from now on and as the weather is cold it's getting harder to meet outside too, so it will curb her social life significantly.

She is finding out today whether or not she will be made redundant from her part time job in a pub restaurant.  We're hoping it will go okay and she'll be kept on, but who knows.

On Thursday, we had an area Managers' meeting online at work, so all of the shop managers for our shop were in work together for once.  I brought up the subject of Christmas, as both the other managers will probably be visiting family in Europe and then quarantining.  

As a consequence, I requested the week before Christmas off on leave, as I will likely be the only one working after Christmas for a couple of weeks. The Shop Manager agreed in principle, which was good, as we have reserved accommodation to enable us to go back Yorkshire, but can cancel it for free up until the first week in December.

Anyway, when I got home, the realisation hit me that with London going up to Tier two last night, it is probably highly unlikely that we'll get to travel at Christmas at all this year. I then decided to look for some accommodation for this weekend to make a visit before travel restrictions are imposed.  It may be our last chance to visit this year.

We found a nice house for a long weekend and booked that too, and again we can cancel up to the last minute at the cost of just one night's stay, so it was worth taking the risk. I now just have to rearrange my hours this next week or book some more time off.

We're obviously not intending to go inside anyone's house, but we could stand or sit in the garden, if the weather is okay and at least be able to deliver Christmas presents in person and leave them with everyone. I haven't been back to Yorkshire at all this year, which seems crazy and I am looking forward to going.

Best case scenario, we'll deliver presents and have outdoor masked, socially distanced chats or worst case we'll deliver presents, talk through windows and spend most of our time relaxing in our rented accommodation and taking country walks with the dog. It's not ideal either way, but it's the best we can do. We can't take any risks with OH's parents and my sister who are all vulnerable, so if people don't want to see us at all that's fine. Just knowing we've made an effort is what is important to us and getting a break from London while we still can, before the long run up to Christmas.

I think I might at least be able to settle down into getting on with things and focus on work at our busiest time, without having to worry about Christmas shopping for family members, what happens next, etc. We'll have done our best and done what we can.

It might mean a bit of a last minute dash this week to finish my Christmas shopping, but it's doable as I've already bought a few things for family members. I think a big shopping day on Monday might be on the cards, followed by getting the wrapping paper out of the loft and a big wrapping session.

Wish me luck.

Getting Nowhere

I don't know what's going on with me at the moment, but I seem to be very unproductive in my spare time and getting very little done.

Partly, I think it's tiredness from cycling to work, and partly just a lack of focus on my part.

At the beginning of the month, I wrote a long list of things I wanted to try to get done this month, but very few of them have been crossed off thus far. Progress is very slow indeed.

Some things on the list won't get done, as they involve a financial outlay, which is fair enough.  Many others would cost nothing, but I just can't seem to motivate myself to do them.

I don't think it helps that the news about Covid is all over the place again at the moment. Talk daily swings from one idea to another to deal with the impending crisis.

Today, for example, there's lots of pressure for some sort of two or three week circuit breaker lockdown either in October or now they're talking about December, which would totally make sense, to coincide with the Xmas/New Year period.

Maybe I'm biased, as this is the only way I'd be getting any time off this Christmas, but also, how many people take the whole two weeks off work over the festive season anyway. Yes, the Boxing Day and January sales might have to be postponed for a couple of weeks, but is this really such a bad thing? Maybe, it would be better to know exactly what's coming and be able to plan for it.

I think we've more or less resigned ourselves to not being able to visit family this Christmas, and I know it will be difficult not to have big family gatherings, but these could all take place at a later date. It's disappointing, but who wants to risk giving their loved ones the virus this Christmas?

I'm sure the arguments are going to rumble on and on for the next two months, and we'll find out one way or another at some point.

In the meantime, I'm continuing to get my Christmas shopping done bit by bit, pick up some bits and pieces of food for the Festive period and try to work as hard as I can for the Charity I work for, so they can make as much money as possible whatever happens.

It's no wonder I can't concentrate, but I must try harder to get more done on my days off.

Weekend Catchup

I had a very pleasant weekend this weekend, mainly because it was my birthday, but also because I finally got to go to a solo dance class after 6 months of not dancing. I noticed the other day that classes had started up again - socially distanced, of course - so I booked myself on the next one, which just happened to be on my birthday. What a great present to myself, I thought, and it was. 

The venue has patio doors that open into an outside courtyard, so I made sure to position myself right next to them in the socially distanced spaces. It was also useful in case I got hot and sweaty too, of course. The class was very tricky, but got my brain thinking about dancing again, which was good. I felt a little stiff later in the evening, but it has almost worn off now. I'm not sure how many more I might get to before dance classes and gyms are closed again, but even if it was just the once, it was great. 

I also had to go and collect some items I bought on eBay on the morning of my birthday. It was a 2 hour round trip, but I was very happy with the items, which were vintage cobbler's lasts, that I am going to use as door stops. I'll post a picture on my next Random eBay Purchases post. The seller was a lovely gentleman and it was a nice drive out, so a pleasant way to spend the morning. 

I'm typing this post on my birthday present - my new Chromebook. OH ordered and collected it after our trip to the mall on Friday. It's very nice, quite easy to use, although I'm not sure I know exactly what I'm doing just yet. I don't seem to be having the problems I had on Windows with using different browsers, which makes life so much easier and the sound is much gentler too, which has the advantage of disturbing OH less in his basement office, when I'm watcing YouTube videos in the kitchen. Obviously, he's very happy about that. 

I also got some chocolate, a couple of new books that I picked myself and am looking forward to reading (one about Stoicism and the other the latest book by Naomi Klein), plus some spirits, which is my perfect kind of birthday. Part of my present from LB was a haircut, which I got when I got back from my dance class. It's maybe a little short for pinning up in pin curls, but it will grow. Otherwise it's great and so much cheaper and easier than going to the hairdresser. I might employ her on a regular basis in future and give her some money to do it. It just feels great to get rid of all the straggly ends and for it to feel light and healthy again. 

We were going to go out to eat in the evening, but as I'd been out all day for one reason or another, we decided to stay in and do something that we never do, order a take away Wagamama. As soon as it came I realised why we never order take out, so much plastic to recycle. We probably won't do it again. 

After a pretty sleepless night with a poorly dog (stomach upset), today, I'm on another day off, so I'm taking it easy. I took the dog for a nice leisurely walk this morning and then continued on to ASDA to do a top up shop. Every time I go out, which isn't often, I find it so busy everywhere. It's as if nothing has or is happening. I guess people are making the most of freedom while they have it, although I don't think we'll be fully locked down again like last time, this time around. 

This afternoon I've got at least four washloads of ironing to do, so I'd better go and do it. 

Hope you're having a Happy Monday.

As Promised

As promised here are a couple of photos of the rather large teddy bears donated to the shop.

As you can see they are both pretty huge and yes they are originally from Harrods, so also very posh bears. Hence why so special. I'm not sure who's going to buy them, but they are pretty adorable and in very good condition.

Today, it's another of my days off and OH and I have been to the local mall to look at Chromebooks, as OH has offered to buy me one for my birthday.  I've been having a few problems with my current netbook, as the windows operating system is far too cumbersome for the storage on it and makes it very slow and laborious.

As a consequence, I'm upgrading to a slightly larger machine, i.e. 14" as opposed to 11.6" and more storage, i.e. 64GB instead of 32. I'm looking forward to getting used to the slightly different keyboard and hopefully faster operating. It's not expensive, at just over £200, but to be honest there wasn't much availability in lower priced chromebooks, so I've gone with the same brand I have already.

The keyboard on my machine is also suffering from wear and tear, as I am notoriously heavy handed when typing and some buttons are starting to stick and are difficult to use, so it's probably the right time for a change, all things considered.

In addition to checking out netbooks, I also dropped into Waitrose to use another £8 off a £40 spend voucher.  This time I bought a bottle of Tattinger Champagne for LB's 18th Birthday in January and some Pink Gin, also for LB.  I picked up some chocolates for the Christmas tree too, and got a free newspaper for OH to boot. I've got one more chance to use one of the remaining vouchers on Sunday, so I think another visit might be in order, possibly for some more Christmas booze presents. I figure I might as well save money where and when I can, seems silly not to.

What started out as a bright and sunny day, has now turned into a grey and rainy one, so this afternoon will be spent in the house, drinking tea, reading John Lewis's free At Home catalogue that I picked up this morning, catching up on jobs and enjoying time away from work. Small simple pleasures are always the most enjoyable and after a couple of hours at a busy mall, I'm just happy to be at home and away from crowded places.

How's your Friday?