Thought I’d start this blog off with another poem I’ve written, related to our current style of life. Getting the creative juices flowing!

Time to reflect

Time to pause, Time to think

The missing hurts SO bad, We know now what we had

Our family can’t be near, We realise what’s most dear

Time for hugging, laughing, kissing

Without a doubt that’s what we’re missing

So, make a pact to always be, In close contact with family

It’s time to reflect

Time to pause, Time to think

A life of compulsive shopping, Should we think of stopping?

We’re managing with less, And still can eat and dress

And play, walk, read, enjoy the sun

So many things that amount to fun

It’s memories not things, That gives our lives their wings

It’s time to reflect

Time to pause, Time to think

And thoughts of our dear Earth, Could this be a rebirth?

People are becoming more caring, The ozone layer’s repairing

Pollution, carbon emissions all reduced

Will it return? Will we be seduced?

Will we go back to those old days?

Or can we hope for more considerate ways?

It’s time to reflect

Day 10 of Lockdown. 02/04/2020

Started off as a fairly ordinary day in our new routine – breakfast, 5 mile walk, piano practice and messaging friends.

At 8.00pm we joined our neighbours at the edge of our gardens to clap for the NHS and other keyworkers. Ended up chatting with our neighbours for a good hour – Don and Jeni. Felt so good to have a chat and laugh for a while, albeit at a distance.

Ended on a very sad note as we got news of our very dear friend, Ebram, losing his beautiful wife, Aneesha, to Covid-19. They have only been married for one year. To lose your life to this devastating virus at the age of 27 is cruel beyond measure.

❤️

Day 11 of Lockdown. 03/04/2020

Not a great night’s sleep – tried to wake myself up with a High Intensity workout. Steve went on a 9 mile run. So, exercise ticked off for the day.

A bit of a down day for me. I know everyone’s going to have some of these along the way. My heart feels so heavy in thinking of Ebram in his grieving. Haven’t managed to make contact with him but praying he’s not having to go through this alone – another cruel factor of Covid-19 requirements.

The first Nightingale Hospital opened today in London. Capacity for 4,000 ICU beds – an amazing feat to set up in less than 2 weeks. As always, listened to the 5.00pm Downing Street update on the Coronavirus. We have absolute respect for these MPs who are handling this crisis and reporting so extensively. Boris Johnson remains in self-isolation with persistent virus symptoms. As of today, there have been 38,168 cases to date in the UK and 3,605 deaths. Sadly, there is an increase in the number of NHS workers contracting the virus, including deaths. Still concerns about the lack of testing and insufficient supplies of PPE for keyworkers.

Steve did get his steak night tonight while I had some fish (good Catholic girl). Dinner turned into a continued talking (whilst drinking) session. Feeling bruised by yesterday’s news of Aneesha we took the time to talk about all that is special to us and our thoughts on ‘what if’ it happened to us. It may seem maudlin but there’s no harm in opening up about your feelings right now. And so the wine flowed!

Day 12 of Lockdown. 04/04/2020

A pyjama day for me – the first one in Lockdown … in fact, I think I’ve only had a handful of these in my life.

(1) Feeling the affect of too much wine consumption last night.

(2) Still feeling a bit low

(3) My calves were killing me from my HIIT session yesterday

So lots of TV and reading … and that’s about it. Early night.

Day 13 of Lockdown. 05/04/2020

A beautifully sunny day and warm. Threw myself into a huge sorting task in the morning – study cupboards, drawers and paperwork now all neat and organised.

Feeling more jolly today – kept myself busy. Garden time, lots of reading, online piano lesson followed by a home spa session – thank the Lord for the invention of ‘Flawless.’

Steve cooked a roast beef dinner – incredibly delicious. Enjoyed some of our favourite red wine – Amarone – and shared a couple of hours with Tom and Jess over FaceTime. Many laughs. 🤣

Boris Johnson was taken into hospital today.

Day 14 of Lockdown. 06/04/2020

Ventured out to the supermarket today – Sainsbury’s. Surprisingly there was no queue – all very civilised. New lines on the floor to help with the 2 metre distancing. Also good to see that the checkout staff now have screens up to protect them. I had such a lovely chat with the lady who served me at the till – I think we’re all clinging on to any new people we can get to talk to! And everyone’s being SO friendly.

The rest of the day drifted by with all the usual activities. Some garden time, some housework and a bit of Netflix indulgence – have got hooked on a series called ‘Safe.’

Boris moved into Intensive Care Unit today.

Day 15 of Lockdown. 07/04/2020

Filled another day of lockdown. YouTube exercise, housework, piano practice (making progress on my 4 chords), relaxing in the garden doing crosswords (keep that brain ticking) – never a dull moment … and we are incredibly lucky with the weather. 😎

Dominic Raab is now deputising for Boris Johnson – on the 5pm Parliamentary Update, some reporters really pushing him on his level of decision making. Although they’re talking of ‘green shoots’ the daily UK death toll is still rising. Donald Trump reported as saying ‘there’s light at the end of the tunnel,’ even though the USA death toll today was over 1,800.

Day 16 of Lockdown. 08/04/2020

A bit of a sneaky lay in today – how am I ever going to get back to normal hours!? Then the usual – exercise, late breakfast, housework, piano practice, loads of phone calls and messaging. Love receiving all these funny messages and videos – creates a lot of mobile pinging! Started on my blog – even wrote a poem about reflection.

Two great zoom chats today – (1) Geraldine and (2) Alice and Mel. Zoom is the best thing ever in these difficult times. 💕

Onwards and upwards … this was part of our school motto back in the day!! 🤣