Monday 27 April 2020

Random Ramblings :: A Week of Highs & Lows

Hi there everyone 😀

We are still in the midst of our national 'lockdown'. Our initial three weeks of needing to stay at home as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic has been extended by another three weeks, taking us up to the May Bank Holiday weekend.

Last week was a funny old week. There were both highs and lows ... I'm feeling that there were more highs than lows, but let's see ...

Thursday, well every other Thursday to be precise, has turned into our regular shopping day.

Other than my occasional shift at the foodbank it's the only time we've left the house since lockdown began on 30 March ... we keep saying we must go for a walk or a bike ride but, as yet, neither have materialised ... there always being something else that we’d rather be getting on with.

I’m not really sure how I feel about this fortnightly expedition. On the one hand I look forward to it as it's our only real trip out ... on the other it has become a bit of a marathon event. Not only are we shopping for ourselves for two weeks, but our elderly neighbours and my mum and dad too.

Our trip last week also involved dropping off a birthday card to a friend, a visit to the Post Office to send a gift and a stop off at a local chemist to pick up a prescription for mum.

The day started out well ... it was glorious ... again ... and I had a wander round the garden before getting ready to go out ... the raised bed is starting to really come into its own ...
I actually got properly dressed ... with trousers with no elastic at the waist ... I even put on a bra!! Oh and as if that wasn’t enough ... I actually straightened my hair for only the second time since lockdown began.

The car was loaded up with lots of shopping bags and all of the bits and pieces we were dropping off, the lists gathered and we were on our way ...
First there was a quick drop off of a birthday card and some iceberg lettuce seedlings to a friend ...
Then it was off to Aldi, which wasn’t too bad at all. Just a small queue to get in, nice and civilised inside ... with plenty of proper social distancing going on and the shelves pretty well stocked.

We decided to drop the Aldi shop off back at home before heading to Asda as the boot was pretty full and we didn’t want to leave the fresh stuff in the car for too long ... as the temperature was rising and we had no idea how long we would be.

So a quick unload and it was back off out and on our way to Asda, where the queue outside wasn’t too bad, well spaced out, with plenty of sanitiser for the trolleys.

Once inside it all felt a bit uncomfortable ... most people were just acting as though it was a normal shopping day ... seeming to have forgotten the whole point of why we queued outside, leaving nice  decent sized spaces between us.

There was no real regard for either the arrows on the floor of the store trying to direct the flow, or much awareness of the importance of others' personal space ... it was not a very pleasant experience at all ... I am certainly not looking forward to going again.

From here it was a quick visit to the pharmacy for mum's prescription before heading to mum and dad’s to drop off their shopping before heading for home.

We dropped off next door's shopping, unpacked our own ... squeezing it all in to every last ounce of space before we could finally start to try and relax and start that 7 day count that follows every trip out at the moment ... always wondering whether sore throats or coughs will start to materialise ...
I think we may have overdone it on the treats though 🤯🤯🤯 It seems that the diet has totally gone out of the window ...
There was a bit of a shopping bonus in the fact that we did manage to bag four fuschias, so we are slowly collecting enough bits and bobs to do some hanging baskets in a few weeks time ...
Whilst we were both seriously stressed by now, it was still a lovely day so we opted for BBQ for tea and I have to say that being in the garden was very restorative ...
We sat in the sunshine listening to the birds singing and the splashing of the starlings in the bird bath and watching a solitary buzzy bee searching for open flowers on the blueberry. There were blue tits and sparrows feeding on the fat balls and our friendly robin bobbing in and out of the border. It was just the job.
We enjoyed cumin and paprika salmon kebabs with a herby yoghurt dip ...
... followed by gammon with roasted vegetables and new potatoes and corn on the cob ...
We were ready to head indoors just in time to watch Kirstie's Lockdown Crafting show before heading out front for the weekly clap in appreciation of our NHS, followed by the weekly quiz ... What a day!!

Friday was a totally different day ... the weather glorious again but we went nowhere. We spent the whole day just gently pottering in the garden. Martin finished off the jet washing and I did some potting on in the greenhouse ...
We finished off with another BBQ tea ... this time halloumi, followed by Souvlaki chicken, Greek salad, new potatoes and Tztaziki ... no photos I'm afraid ... but we did sit under the pergola this time ... in the comfy chairs ...
The day was rounded off with a lovely video call with my Goddaughter, who is expecting her first baby in July. She called to confirm that her gift had arrived and she loved it. It was lovely to sit and chat with her and to know that her gift had arrived safely ...
It is very easy to forget about the chaos that is gripping the world when sat in the sunshine in one's own little bit of outdoor space ... I'm really not sure how we would be managing without it.

I spent Saturday morning in the kitchen. I did a bit of a cook off getting some meals made up for next week for the freezer ... trying to make sure that we made the best of the fresh veg as with only shopping every other week that can be a bit of an issue.

Martin popped out to pick up some soil from a friend's neighbour. We did get really lucky here as we have ordered some new raised beds for the garden, which will hopefully be delivered fairly soon. Having mentioned this to our friends and saying that we would have to order some soil, they let us know that their neighbour needed to get rid of a load and didn't really want to have to pay for a skip. 

We couldn't turn the offer down, especially as it was already bagged and ready to collect. So, whilst it could have been considered a bit of a non essential journey, Martin went off to pick it up ... we kind of justified it to ourselves by saying that we were shopping less and we haven't been out for any exercise.

We spent the afternoon sat in the garden, in the sunshine, riddling half of it to get out any stones and break up any clumps, but it's really good stuff and there may be more to come, so we may be able to have saved ourselves a delivery as well as having saved the neighbour having to get a skip delivered, so it's less journeys than there would have been if we hadn't had it.

Sunday was a bit surreal. It was a lovely morning ... we were woke up by clapping and bells ringing in the street. We’d forgotten that one of the neighbours was running the equivalent of the London marathon in lengths of the street and at 9.00am she started off to applause from the neighbours. 
More came out as the day progressed, with deck chairs, sun cream and beers in abundance in front gardens up and down the streeet.

We had a late breakfast in the garden, which was just lovely ...
... and had a few bits to do so dropped in and out. We got to see some of the neighbours' kids running lengths with her ... it was actually all very festive and community spirited ... definitely one of the many silver linings that this virus has brought.

Once we’d finished what we were doing we were drawn back out front, where the street was pretty much lined with neighbours cheering the runner on. Sitting on deckchairs at the side of the road and on front garden walls generally willing her on.
She did have to pause for a bit of a breather very close to the end but we all waited patiently and she soon reappeared to finish off to raucous applause, church bells ringing and lots of cheering as the street was lined with well wishers to clap her back home.

There was just time for us to have another hour or so out back, riddling the rest of the soil and just generally enjoying the garden, which really is starting to show the results of our labours ...

It was a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon and ended our week on a real high 😁

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2 comments:

Thanks for taking time to comment on my blog. I love to hear what people think about what Martin and I have been up to.