Jenny Burrell

On Wednesday we received an A4 sheet of paper in the post emblazoned with a Union Jack and a request to join a street party! Not remotely! An actual party, in our street but adhering to the social distancing rules.This was going to be easy. We have space between gardens and a large green in front of our houses.

Most of our neighbours are lovely and we all get on really well. The tiny percentage who aren’t don’t cause any trouble. They just keep to themselves and ignore the rest of the street. So, another chance to ‘frock up’! And it was my turn to go shopping as well!

On Thursday night I washed my hair and cut my nails. Not painted them or had a manicure or pedicure, just cut them! I exfoliated, used a face mask and shaved my legs! Not that I was going to expose them, just to show that I was making an effort! I sorted out a red, white and blue outfit for Friday evening and had an early night so that I could get to the supermarket first thing on Friday morning.

My timing was wrong! I didn’t realise that Friday was a bank holiday. The supermarket opened at 9:00 am for frontline staff and those over seventy. I was twenty fifth in the queue when I arrived but that meant nothing! Arriving just before 8:30 am I remained twenty fifth in the queue until 9:55 am when I slid up to twentieth! I stood quietly in the lovely warm sunshine, minded my own business and didn’t speak to anyone! My children would have been proud!

Shopping done and I was home by 11:30. After our daily walk I made a salad ready for our barbecue after the party at 6:00 pm. I helped my husband set up two chairs and a table on our front lawn. I had bought snacks to enjoy with our pre dinner drinks. I wasn’t sure how we were going to communicate as the distances between our houses were great!It was going to be a challenge. Perhaps we should have arranged for some loudspeakers?

But, we took it in turns to walk along the wide street. We easily kept our distance yet chatted to everyone, taking turns to speak to neighbours, one at a time. We kept moving. There was never any need to remind anyone about social distancing. It was as if we had lived like this our whole lives! We had a laugh, commiserated and cemented new friendships. We have lived in this house for twenty years. We have waved to faces in cars. We have greeted neighbours as they walked past, usually with their dogs. We have now made new friends and promised to meet up on our green for picnics, barbecues and drinks when the world re opens! I can’t wait!

So, lockdown week seven was a good week. We used it to form new friendships, remember those fallen during the Second World War so that we can have the freedom which, until now, we have taken for granted!

As we gradually move into the next phase where we will have more of the freedom that our grandparents fought for so heroically, I’ll not forget those who have lost their lives in this pandemic. I’ll also remember the silent army who have signed up to test possible cures and vaccines! Our contribution is to stay at home! So let’s use common sense, adhere to the guidelines and slowly, one step at a time, we shall all meet up again ! 👠

I am eternally grateful that our weather has been fantastic! Good old Blighty to help get me through this unnatural, surreal period and still remain, most of the time, ‘glass half full’.

I’d be lying if I said that life has been a doddle. I have suffered from occasional anxiety attacks lasting as long as it takes to remind myself how lucky I am! I have a garden. I live in a rural, beautiful part of the country. I am fit and active enough to take long walks every day isolating with someone I get on with really well. Most of the time. I do remote daily workouts, courtesy of our gym, so can keep relatively fit and supple!

But I have had a distraction, which has helped. Our house backs onto a lane which separates us from a ten acre wood. For the twenty years we have lived here it has been known as ‘our wood’. Not because we own it, but because we love it.

We sit in our conservatory and look across at the changing seasons. We revel in the abundant bird life. During winter we can see right through to the field on the other side. As April moves slowly into May the naked, gnarled, nameless shapes morph into majestic beech, sycamore, ash and oak trees! The rhododendrons are part of the ground cover and, for most of the year, look like boring overgrown shrubs. In May they come into their own and produce masses of delicate, mauve blossoms.

So you can imagine our concern when we noticed road making equipment parked at the far end of ‘our wood’! We knew it had been sold but presumed it was bought by the same farmer who had purchased the two adjoining fields. We had naively presumed it was going to be his tax evasion, called ‘set aside’, which is government funded.

Rumours were rife. We heard that a large number of trees were going to be felled and an adventure park built in the unploughed field at the top of the hill. Sound travels far on still, balmy days and we watched in horror as trees began to crash down amid shrieks and whoops of delight! We heard the digger bashing and crunching it’s way through the thick undergrowth and saw the steel bucket swinging precariously as it moved past our kitchen window!

This had started to affect my sleep as, previously explained, I do a really good worry! A couple of days ago we walked down the lane and noticed a red car which had a forestry company name emblazoned on the side. My husband decided to query the price of removing a huge ash tree at the bottom of our garden and we got talking to the young man leaning against the door.

He told us that his company had a five year contract to manage the wood. Trees would be removed when necessary as a conservation exercise. The road up to the top field had a small detour to avoid a badger’s sett. Before the trees had been felled they had checked for birds nests. He gave us his word that the wood would be sensitively maintained and we had nothing to worry about! He didn’t know anything about chalets and adventure parks. Of course he wouldn’t! He was a forester!

So I have slept easier! There could still be plans for a development in the field above ‘our wood’! This would greatly increase the traffic using the lane but, as I am trying to adhere to my lockdown mantra, I am taking one day at a time! I’ll fight that battle when, or if, I have to!

The sun is still shining. The birds are still singing. We are all still fit and well. It’s Friday. I’m having my first gin and tonic of the week when the sun goes over the yardarm! We’re having a party in our street starting at 4:00 pm to celebrate VE Day. We’ll adhere to social distancing but it will be good to do a spot of socialising again as we remember the millions who perished during the Second World War. Puts things into perspective!

All we have to do as stay at home and fervently hope that our brilliant scientists either get a vaccine, find a cure or the dastardly virus gets annihilated through lack of available human hosts! Whichever comes first! Life and the economy needs to get back on track! I would really love to see family and friends and have a holiday! But not today! 👠

But who’s counting? I bet a vast number of people!

I don’t know if it’s just my imagination, but there does seem to be more cars on the road this week.Our quiet little country lanes have not been as quiet. In fact, on Friday I wanted to hold up a placard reminding people to stay at home!

I’m trying not to be judgemental and I am sure that the occupants of those cars had very good reasons to travel! I also understand how sitting at home looking at d i y jobs and discovering that B&Q has reopened, would tempt even the most law abiding citizen! How do you explain a non urgent trip if lockdown is causing mental health issues? Taking on a project in your home could alleviate a lot of stress thus prevent a mental breakdown. What does surprise me is how patient people have become, waiting for hours in queues!

Gardening certainly helps relieve my stress but not anymore! I can walk around my garden but can’t pull any weeds and my husband can’t mow the lawn. We have nowhere to store the waste. Garden refuse is not being collected for the foreseeable future. So, walking around my garden has become a stress enhancer and one to be avoided at all costs! I’ve filled every tub and the compost bin is bulging at the seams. We have been warned not to have bonfires and I can understand this! On Saturday night someone took it upon themselves to burn their waste and the acrid smell was horrendous!

I need to get back to my glass half full so can report that our latest walk was marvellous! We have discovered hiking trails instead of lanes and roads. This will greatly enhanced our daily exercise. We have lived in our current house for almost twenty years. During that time we have taken many walks, either alone, the two of us or with friends and family. We have never once tried a hiking trail! Until yesterday.

I felt as if I was on holiday! We strolled through ploughed, planted fields, saw different wildflowers, masses of butterflies and heard new bird calls. There weren’t any cars, cyclists or even joggers or other walkers to ensure self distancing rules were followed! The sun beat down on a wonderful, peaceful world and I arrived back home, ten thousand steps richer and totally de-stressed!

However, today it’s raining, grey and cold so am having to live off memories and wait for the next sunny day. It will have to be the next few sunny days so that the fields can dry out or else we’ll be walking in our wellies! But I know that this glorious, tranquil world is within easy reach. What a discovery! This lockdown life has made us explore our own little part of England, which has come up trumps, so all is not bad!

Hopefully we’ll get some idea of how the country is going to gradually open up again. Boris is back at the helm! Until then I’ll continue trying to take one day at a time. I’ll clap for the carers and all the front line staff on Thursday and continue to hope that this demonic virus burns itself out and life returns to normal. I’ve eaten my daughter’s Easter egg so will have to buy her two next year! But life goes on, albeit it at a much slower, isolated pace! As Captain Tom Moore said, today is good. Tomorrow will be better! 👠

It came as no surprise that the lockdown was going to be extended for another three weeks. There are still far too many deaths and, even though we might have reached our ‘peak’, there doesn’t seem to be a downward trend. As yet. But I live in hope!

Talking to friends we are all in the same boat, just some of our boats not the same size! Upper lips need waxing, hair coloured and cut, and nails looking very much the worse for wear! And then there’s Botox! My forehead hasn’t been this mobile in years!

I found myself googling leisure wear the other evening. I am getting so tired of my ‘glad rags’! Because it’s not quite warm enough to bring out my summer casuals, I’m still having to chose between black, grey and navy ‘outfits’ which are becoming very worn and boring! Just walking, gardening, housework or sitting means that I need clothes I can move around in freely. This rules out jeans. Even my comfort fits aren’t particularly comfortable!

On Saturday we were back to grey skies and mizzling rain. This would have been a good opportunity to go to the cinema, wander around a garden centre, getting ideas for summer plants or visiting a National Trust stately home. Of course there would be other options but those just sprang to mind when I stared despondently out of the window. But I filled my day, typed another two chapters of my novel, listened to the daily Coronavirus update and had a gin and tonic! So all good in the end!

On Saturday morning I googled light lunch recipes and made a stuffed sweet potato ‘concoction’. It was healthy and I thought, tasty and unusual. My husband’s comment, when asked, was not a meal he’d put on his top ten list! I didn’t even know he had a list! Amazing what one can learn about one’s spouse of thirty five years when one is locked up with them for weeks!

I have even had a Zoom lunch! Two of my friends and I sat together in our dining rooms, casually chatting, the same as we would have done in a pub. I had my sandwich and a mug of coffee and we discussed life in general but the current situation in particular. One of my friends is ensuring her shopping is disinfected, she reads her newspaper a day later and only opens essential mail on the day. Her others letters are left to rid themselves of any virus so only handled a few days later. She sent me a video to explain.

My husband went shopping on Friday. It was his turn and he shaved and got dressed up in his smart casuals! I gave him the shopping list and he set off, earlier than usual, to reach the shelves before they emptied. About half an hour later I received a frantic phone call. The list had blown out of his hand and he wasn’t going to lose his place in the queue. Could I text him what we needed! The result of his shopping trip was buying enough food for ten people for a month!

I had disinfected the work surfaces in the kitchen and was going to take over the unpacking. I had planned to rinse off plastic, wash fruit and vegetables and use antibacterial spray on tins, bottles and glass jars. My husband rushed into the kitchen with his hands full and dumped the bags down on my sanitised section! That was the start of the nightmare. I put the bags down on the floor, resprayed, filled the sink with a diluted bleach solution and started the marathon wipe down. And the bags just kept coming! Fruit and vegetables to feed an army, tins of tomatoes, beans of every kind, sardines, tuna, salmon. I couldn’t believe it!

Apparently the list I sent was far too short (of course it was! I made it in a couple of minutes!) so he had rushed up and down each aisle and grabbed what he though might have been on the original list.

So, back to disinfecting! I did my best but probably not enough. I was fast losing the will to live so just have to ensure that all fruit is carefully washed before use and vegetables well cooked! At least the fridge and freezer containers were wiped down so felt something had been achieved! It was nerve wracking! But what is even more annoying is that it’s my turn to go out next week. Unless neighbours and friends need groceries I’ll be all dressed up with nowhere to go!

But life goes on and each day, when the sun shines, is used to full advantage. I have ordered plants from one of the few nurseries who will deliver, so am looking forward to getting into the garden to prepare. Vitamin D is apparently a good Covid-19 deterrent as it boosts your immune system. I’ll get it the natural way, from sunshine that must not be wasted!

So, stay safe and at home. Remember to clap for all our frontline workers on Thursday and this will soon be just a dim, distant memory! My glass remains half full! Unless it contains gin and tonic and it’s over the weekend …..👠

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Last Saturday morning I set the alarm clock. It was my turn to shop and I wanted to get to the supermarket early. That’s when the deliveries apparently happen so shelves should be full. Front line staff and those over seventy have the first hour to themselves but I wanted to be in the queue as soon after nine o’clock as possible!

This sounds really crazy but I was excited to be going out yet slightly concerned! I was looking forward to getting ‘dressed up’ but apprehensive about going into a potential Covid-19 environment! I felt safe at home! I had control over what I did and where I went. I was in lockdown and had taken it very seriously.

But we needed to eat. I also had a list from three other households who were over seventy and had underlying health problems. My husband did his bit last week. Now it was my turn. I had to ‘man up’ and get out there! This agoraphobic tendency was new to me! It had to be overcome or ignored!

So I concentrated on my wardrobe! Not exercising, but only going for daily walks and keeping to the same diet did not bode well. I chose my ‘largest’ pair of jeans, a new blouse bought a while ago but never worn and highish wedges. Bearing in mind I have lived in comfort clothes and flats for weeks! In my defence, I still paint my face every morning and ensure my hair is clean and tidy so haven’t completely ‘slobbed’!

My jeans weren’t very comfortable but I could still do them up! The weather forecast was sunny and warm so my new blouse would suffice. I had washed my hair the previous evening so felt ‘frocked up’ and ready to go! I put a bag of antiseptic tissues and hand gel into my handbag and hit the road!

The road was bizarrely empty! There was minimal traffic out and about at eight thirty on this sunny morning. In fact, for most of my journey I was all alone! Surreal! I arrived at the supermarket to be met by a long queue which snaked from the entrance to almost the end of the car park. Undeterred, I parked, re-sanitised my hands, collected my bags and joined the queue.

And then I morphed into my mother. I started chatting to people in front and behind me! My mother used to do this when I took her shopping. I kept on reminding her that not everyone wanted to talk! I didn’t! I just wanted to do the shopping and get out of the supermarket as soon as possible!

I lasted about five minutes before I made my first comment about the lovely weather! Not very original but just felt the need to talk! The lady behind me naively looked at me, smiled and agreed. My first victim! I just couldn’t help myself. I was out in the big bad world, had my freedom back and my spirits had begun to lift. All was going well as we slowly moved along, everyone quietly minding their own business. Even I had reached the end of my ‘newsy’ chat and began to enjoy just being outside and away from the house.

And then someone coughed! Twice! Somewhere behind me!

My earlier paranoia returned! I froze and could feel panic take hold. My logical brain kicked in, albeit briefly! That cough didn’t have to be Coronavirus! I turned around and saw the culprit! A young woman in a vest and shorts with a mass of pink hair! She coughed again, into her arm! She must have been about ten metres from me. Was that any protection? I caught the eye of the woman I had spoken to earlier. I could see a look of fear on her face. The young woman coughed again.

Suddenly the queue surged forward! One more cough later and I was inside the supermarket, lists in hand and concentrating on getting finished. I passed a few women looking as if they were on a hospital ward, all togged out in protective gloves, masks and head visors!

Soon the car was packed and I was ready to leave. The roads were still empty. People were obeying the request to stay at home. I hope that young women didn’t have Covid-19. If I had a cough, knowing it is one of the symptoms, I would not have gone out. Perhaps she had been tested. Best I reserve judgement! I felt for those closer to her in the queue. We are living through very fraught times! Paranoia is bound to set in!

So, I’ve done my stint for another two weeks! I’ve left ‘food parcels’ outside friends’ doors. I’m going to change back into my glad rags, stay home, stay safe and help the NHS! I just need to exercise more and eat a bit less …….👠

A few blogs ago I mentioned that I am a glass half empty person! Now add losing my mother, my mother in law and the covid-19 lockdown, all within a month! My glass is currently virtually empty!

So is this going to dominate my life for the next few days, weeks, months, years?

I have two choices. The first one is to stay indoors and live on the food I have in the house. Perhaps someone could shop for me but I would leave the bags for days untouched to avoid contamination! There is, however, a slight problem with my first choice. I’m not living alone.

The second choice is to jump right out of my box (the older you are the harder it is to jump!) and tip the glass on its head. I could then refill the glass to the half full mark! This way there will be one glass half full and one glass overflowing living in my house.

So, this morning I have woken up after having eight hours sleep! That’s a good start! I have watched the news. This is not good! But I’m focussing on the bluish sky outside the window and watching a fat pigeon syphoning up food under the bird feeder. The smaller birds mess so much when they peck at the sunflower seeds, suet balls and peanuts, wasting more than they eat! This drives my husband crazy because he continually reminds me that pigeons are vermin and he objects to feeding them!

Is that a typical glass overflowing comment? Maybe it’s more of a Victor Meldrew one! Apparently people with this trait live longer!

I need to keep to some structure and have a routine, which will help as a comfort blanket. This makes me happy and I can balance the glass of water! This morning my husband and I will have our once daily walk. He walks at a brisk pace so I get warm and my heart beat is raised. This is good as I am really missing my gym classes.

Because it’s warm and dry we can have lunch outside in the little thatched hut we call the teak house. It overlooks the country lane at the bottom of our garden. I’ve been weeding and de-leafing so the view of the garden on the one side and the wood on the other is very pleasant. This keeps my glass topped up!

I love being outside so will spend the afternoon weeding and generally tidying up. Being a visual person I can periodically step back and enjoy my handy work. That will take me to afternoon tea and another visit to the teak house. Back to the garden for another hour and then inside to prepare the evening meal.

This all sounds really mundane and in my ‘normal’ life I would not be satisfied with days spent like this! I am going to have to fill more of my time with diversions when the world reopens because I no longer have to visit my mother.

But, for now, still taking one day at a time, challenge number one! Keeping my glass topped up to half full, challenge number two.

Having a sense of humour is imperative! Trying to contact probate solicitors, banks, councils, inland revenue offices and all the departments necessary when someone dies (times two for both mothers!) could tip one over the edge! Or, just shrugging your shoulders and sometimes having a laugh at absurd excuses or comments, does really help. We have all the time in the world to sit on the telephone for hours! Even my husband is becoming adept at multi-tasking! He can be waiting for someone to answer the phone, drink a cup of tea and do a crossword puzzle.

There is even a chance that I will come out if this lockdown a calmer, more pragmatic, patient person! I’ll definitely be a few pounds heavier! I’m eating the same as I did when I exercised regularly! That is going to be another challenge for another day!

So, for today I’m sorted! Walking, lunch, gardening, evening meal then watching a recorded cowboy movie! Boris Johnson is showing signs of recovery but still in ICU. Here’s hoping the news will be better tomorrow. I’ll be clapping for the carers at 8:00 pm tonight and staying at home over the Easter weekend. I’ll speak to my children and hope they are all fit and well.

I can’t change the situation but only I can chose how I spend this time! So, to reiterate my mantra: Nothing lasts forever! Not the good nor the bad ……..👠

I’ve survived and so have my friends and family! We’ve stayed at home and it has not been so bad!

But I do have a confession to share with you. Adamant that I wouldn’t get back into a routine but stick to a loose daily structure, this has not been achievable. My loose structure has morphed into a daily routine. It has taken two weeks to get back to ‘normal’!

I wake up unaided by an alarm clock. Three times a week I had to get up early to go to a gym class. My mornings are are now relaxed and I have breakfast watching the news, updating my diary, writing this blog or typing my novel. Alas, this has become a routine.

Weather permitting my husband and I go for a walk before lunch. We subtly change our routes just to bring some interest as we are staying close to home. It is surprising how a view can differ walking up a hill one day and down the hill the next! Walking on different sides of the road for a start changes the scenery and one way is easier than the other! This has become a routine!

I spend more time thinking about healthy lunches, as well as our main evening meals, bearing in mind we only shop once a week. I need to ensure ingredients are available! This is a challenge, trying to keep to a healthy low carb diet and not get to the other side of this pandemic with a weight problem! When I worked I ate to live. Not so now that I have time, I’m enjoying googling recipes that are quick, easy and healthy with minimal ingredients and fuss!

I listened to the Queen’s speech last night. I have huge admiration for her. The Queen thanked the NHS staff and all the key workers who are putting their lives at risk to tend the sick and dying. She also thanked all of us adhering to the government’s guidelines and staying at home!

I still can’t get my head around pictures of idiots sun tanning and having picnics with friends over the weekend! They might think that they are infallible but the poor people they are potentially infecting aren’t! Unfortunately these morons aren’t infallible either but, obviously having limited intelligence, they don’t understand? No, they are just selfish and we need to bring back the stocks. Sit these idiots down, lock their feet and ankles into the device and forget about them until this pandemic is over!

Gardens are looking really good. I’m not sure where people are hiding their weeds because wheelie bins aren’t getting emptied! We managed to empty our compost tub into the garden yesterday so I have a tub and a wheelie bin to fill! No excuse so have to get out when I can. Will have to factor this into my new daily routine! Oops!

The sun is currently shining! This weather does really help my mood and life doesn’t seem quite as frightening! The daily death announcements are very disturbing and made even more harrowing when a number of deaths are young, previously healthy adults and even a few children! Our prime minister, Boris Johnson, is in hospital. I wish him well and hope that he gets back into number ten as soon as possible!

The Queen told us that we ‘will succeed’ in our fight against this invisible enemy. She told us that we still have more to endure but better days will return. I’m sure they will but, for now, we have to take comfort in the knowledge that brilliant scientists are working around the clock to find treatment and a cure. All we have to do is stay at home and wait. Never did I ever imagine that the world would be at war against a virus! Perhaps I should watch more science fiction films! Maybe now is the time!

So, roll on lockdown week three! Every day will bring us closer to winning this battle and moving on! Stay safe, take care and STAY AT HOME! 👠

Tonight I joined neighbours and the rest of the United Kingdom to clap for our fantastic carers, all our NHS workers, pharmists, and all those on the front line keeping us safe and well!

But, tonight I clapped primarily for all the carers in care homes across the country. I clapped and cheered for all the Alisons, Claires, Ginas, Kaths, Debbies, Michelle’s, Celines, Tamsins, Jameses, Kevins, Joshuas, Julies, Julias, Elizabeths and many many more, all around the country.

My late mother had dementia and was in a care home for almost five years. These were tumultuous years, filled with despair and extreme sadness but also lots of laughter, understanding and hope! And this was largely thanks to the wonderful caring angels who guided my mother and her family through this debilitating, demeaning disease with good humour, compassion and a whole lot of loving care.

So tonight I donated my claps to these special people who are undervalued and grossly underpaid! Without them, living through this frightening pandemic but knowing that our loved ones will be safe, should bring some comfort.

I’ll continue to show my appreciation for our key workers every Thursday. In return, all I have to do is stay at home and, when I have to go out, keep my distance and wash my hands! That is not asking too much! In fact, it’s the very least I can do!

So we stand together to defeat this silent enemy. For our sanity and well-being we need to get back to our normal lives as soon as possible! Watching the five o’clock Covid-19 updates is uncomfortable and scary! People without underlying health issues are also dying. Yet there are those who have virtually no symptoms! So it’s best not to tempt fate and if possible, avoid this grim reaper! The global economy is on its knees! It’s brought us down, but we’re far from out👠

So we have completed our first week of lockdown and survived! The weather was really good which was a huge bonus. We joined neighbours out in our gardens, talking over the fence and keeping our distance. Being ‘all in this together’ has created a camaraderie between us and a certain amount of pragmatism. I must stress that we are all of a similar age so have lived through some of our own hard times. Being able to share this isolation with its very real challenges has brought us together and talking a lot more than we have done for a while.

Getting out for walks has been a real boon. Seeing the early signs of spring and breathing in fresh air (although some farmers are spreading compost on their fields!) creates a sense of well-being and makes me feel healthier! We don’t go for extended walks but stay in our area. On particularly sunny days last week we doubled a circuit. Going up a steep hill twice opened our lungs and justified the hot cross bun I had for tea later that afternoon!

But there are times when I feel claustrophobic! I am so used to the freedom of movement and choice! I focussed on our shopping trip last Friday as a chance to change out of my ‘glad rags’! When we arrived at the supermarket the queue was at least twenty trolleys long and we were told that only one person was allowed into the store unless under extenuating circumstances. They were also rationing certain products.

We had a list of shopping to do for some elderly neighbours. We would need more than two pints of milk and two loaves of bread! We didn’t want to go out more than once a week. After a quick discussion with my husband we decided that we would share the shopping. He took the neighbours shopping lists and drove to another supermarket. I stayed in the queue and finally managed to get everything barring toilet paper and soap. We kept in touch, thank heavens for mobiles, and delivered all the extra groceries as requested. Not ideal but this is not an ideal world.

Unless we have extra shopping to help neighbours this week we have decided that only one of us will go out on Friday. It’s just not worth taking any risks and this lockdown situation won’t last forever. We need to attend my mother in law’s cremation service in Leeds, eighty mile away. We’ll stay in her house (just the two of us) overnight to collect the necessary documents for probate and to cancel her driver’s licence, passport etc.

This week has been grey and dank. It’s easy to feel the same as the weather! I have to keep on reminding myself to take just one day at a time! This morning my husband and I will go for a walk. For lunch we’re having salmon and salad. I’m typing another chapter of my novel after lunch. I’m not a typist so this takes a while! I had a cowboy movie on the television yesterday so this extended the time it took to type chapter eight quite significantly!

I have ironing to do while my husband is cooking the evening meal (he enjoys cooking so we take turns, which suits me!) and there is a television programme I enjoy at nine o’clock tonight. I’m beginning to feel as if I’m slowing down which has its pros and cons! I don’t want to gain weight! I need to find a balance! Eat less or exercise more!

So, tomorrow is another day. A day when I should have gone with my friend to my late mother’s care home to give their exercise class. I am missing my two hour yoga class today. I’m not alone. There are many families worse off than me. I am grateful that I have a happy marriage. My partner is also a good friend. Life could be a whole lot worse! My family are well and we regularly keep in touch. FaceTime is marvellous! I saw my son and his family in Boston on Sunday! My daughter is recovering well from Flu? Coronavirus? we’re not sure!

I pray that we all get through this unscathed. I’m not going to focus on living like this for another few months! Today has some structure. I’ll sort out tomorrow when I wake up and check the weather! This is alien to me! I can either stay in bed and give up or I can get out of bed and make the most of another day, albeit grey and wet! This lockdown has taken away my freedom but not my choice of how I use this time!

My great grandmother sailed to South Africa from France to escape religious persecution. My grandmother lost family and friends in two world wars. My mother was a young girl during the war and then had to fight a debilitating disease for a number of years! I come from a line of strong women, I’ll not let them down!👠

We are living in unprecedented times! Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that I couldn’t get into my car and drive to the shops! I have my nails done every two weeks. I get my hair coloured and trimmed every six weeks. I visit the dentist every six months. I have a standard chiropodist appointment every two months.

Not anymore, or, at least, for the foreseeable future!

Life as we know it has changed dramatically.

No more hugging or kissing to greet family and friends. We can’t even visit family or friends even if we wanted to hug or kiss them! We are fast becoming a virtual society, something we have been actively fighting against. We have been trying to re-educate the younger generation to leave their mobile phones at home and get back to real, one to one, communication! Now we are asking for their help to stay in touch with our loved ones caught up in this Coronavirus pandemic!

But all is not doom and gloom. I’m looking outside my bedroom window. The sky is blue, a few hazy clouds waft slowly past. I heard the dawn chorus when I awoke earlier. Even though we feel that our world has been turned upside down, spring has arrived! Devoid of air traffic, fewer cars on the road and our busy, frenetic lives put on hold, can I be so bold as to suggest we take time to enjoy the warmer, longer days? If we look around, daffodils, crocuses, blossoms on trees and in hedgerows are all flowering in gay abandon. We have time to stop and ‘smell the roses’. We might be surprised at how good this newly enforced ‘freedom’ feels.

I am aware that not everyone has a garden but we are allowed out once a day to exercise. I do also realise that there are those being asked to self isolate for twelve weeks. My heart goes out to you but I am very hopeful that everyone will take this lockdown seriously so that you can come out of isolation as soon as possible. I also hope that you will get all the support you need to see you through these harrowing times. Where I can help I certainly will!

I’m jumping right out of my box when I say that I am taking one day at a time! I am only looking at the current day and trying to get some structure by planning a few activities, just for that day. I include boring things like housework but, if I take these chores in small bite sizes, they don’t seem so bad. On Tuesday I vacuumed, yesterday I dusted upstairs, today will be downstairs. That’s an hour a day accounted for. Tomorrow will be the bathrooms.

I don’t usually watch television during the day. Because we are not living ‘normal’ lives I can throw my rule book out the window and make a new one. Or, heaven forbid, not have any rules at all! I check the television guide and, if a good film or programme is showing, I watch, regardless of the time!

My husband and I do need to exercise as the gym has shut. Because the weather has been so good we have managed to have a long walk every day. Taking each day as it comes I have been able to factor these walks into my current daily schedule. I might not always have this luxury. Tomorrow might be wet and cold!

But I am trying to remain positive. The good weather helps. If our NHS staff and all the other critical workers in this country and around the world can risk their lives and those of their loved ones to go to work, I can stay at home! This way I am doing my bit to prevent the spread of this disease. And so, I hope, say all of us 👠