Day 876

Day 876...

We have had yet another glorious day with clear blue skies, sunshine and high temperatures. Whilst we started our day with a walk it was a little different to normal. We set off later than normal as about half way round Simon and I parted ways...Simon headed off home while I continued on. My destination was a local cafe called 'The Cowshed' so that I could meet up with a friend for coffee.

The walk over was 2.6 miles which I completed in 49 minutes, while the walk back was a little shorter at 2.3 miles in 42 minutes. It was lovely to catch-up over coffee and lovely to be blessed with such a beautiful day although by the time I got home just before lunch I was rather sweaty to say the least!!

A few photos from my walk this morning...

And of course had to get one of the Alpacas....

I arrived home to a couple of parcels...

Not only had the Funko Stitch arrived so that I now have a complete set of the Funko PeopleMover figures...

...but we also received our new Kindle Paperwhite along with a wireless charging dock and case. Consequently this afternoon I took a little time to set everything up which was super easy as I just had to login to the Kindle app on my phone and hey presto everything synced up and it was ready to use.

Mid-afternoon my very good friend, and podcast co-host, Michelle stopped by for a cuppa on her journey down South. She was making her way to her hotel for the evening before she embarks on her journey tomorrow to Orlando, Florida. Yep Michelle is going to Walt Disney World and she also has a Disney cruise booked to round out her vacation. Although things are proving a little stressful as the airline has decided to move her and her friends seats around so they are no longer sitting together despite having paid extra to reserve their seats. Plus she also had to upload proof of her vaccination to the Disney Cruise Line as they will only allow fully vaccinated guests to board providing they have also tested negative 48 hours prior to boarding. This is another level of stress for Michelle as she has to figure out how to get tested and get the test uploaded prior to her cruise while being in a foreign country who follow different rules and protocols to us in the UK.

I really do think it is time that we drop all these silly rules that are still in place for a virus that is now no worse than the flu and is endemic within society. We need to get some common sense and go back to how things were before and adopt a sensible approach...if you are ill stay home - simples! This is how it should have always been and for the majority of people it was. There is no point making yourself do something or go somewhere when you are feeling rough...take the time off, rest and you will be back on your feet ten times quicker than if you soldier on as you will then find yourself in a worse state.

What we need to be doing is educating people about looking after themselves, getting them to be as healthy as they can possibly be so that if a cold or a flu does come along they are in their best shape to deal with it. Unfortunately the cynic in me says that is not a profitable approach. If people eat well and exercise well then how will big food make their profits and if people are fit and healthy then how do big pharma get rich? So in turn why should those of us that do the best we can with our diet and fitness be penalised because the majority choose not to?

And in my attempt to look after myself we finished the day with a gym workout and although it was still very hot there was actually quite a nice breeze and so most of my workout was done outside. Tonight I was concentrating on arms and shoulders.

See you all tomorrow.

xx

Lazy Autumn Sunday

Day 207...

Today turned out to be your quintessential lazy Sunday.

A very slow start to the day and so lovely not to have to be woken by an alarm! Once up and about my first job, as usual for a Sunday, was to update my online grocery order ready for collecting tomorrow morning.

While I was doing that Simon has restarted his project to get all our home video off tape and into digital format. He has had this as an on/off project for a while and is something that he can set off running while he does something else. We have taken plenty of video over the years as we have either owned or had access to a video camera going back to the late 1980's or early 1990's.

Simon is able to take old video and transfer it all onto a server so that we can watch it easily whenever we want. I think today's capture was from Christmas of 2008! We have lots to go through but it's great to know that all those memories can be preserved onto a format that won't deteriorate over time and will be there for our kids to look back on in years to come.

We then took advantage of a lovely Autumn afternoon and took a walk over the fields near us...5.5 miles and an hour and 52 minutes later we arrived back at home. This was the first decent walk we have had for a fair while and it was lovely to be out and about in the fresh air, although I suspect I may feel the effects of it tomorrow.

Once home it was time for coffee and one of Simon's signature sweet omelette's, sat outside enjoying the outdoors while the weather allows. I just love these omelette's that he makes full of cinnamon, nutmeg, dash of cream and yummy extra dark chocolate and relatively healthy too!

The afternoon was rounded out with the Disney Dream Girls podcast Sunday Disney quiz via Zoom. This was, as it is always, great fun and lovely to be able to chat with people from all over the world about what we are all up to as well as attempt to answer some Disney questions...some easier than others. This week Simon had come up with some number based questions and only one of them involved Star Wars!

And I think that's where I'm going to leave it for today as I'm sure there is going to be much COVID talk over the next few days as our government are set to announce a new 'tier' system along with rumours of possible short 'circuit breaker' lockdowns and all the while we still haven't got an effect test and trace system...or as I was calling it track and trace! Just goes to show that there is so much information out there that we can't even get the name of the systems that are supposedly in place right!

So as always look after yourselves and do what you can to keep yourself safe. Wash your hands, keep your distance and wear a mask.

xx

Day 89

Day 89...

Or is it? I have returned to work today so I did think twice as to whether I should carry on with the same numbering of days or what? But figured I'd carry on as we are still in some weird state of normal.

So yes, today was back to work day. Ordinarily I don't work Mondays but as today was the first day pre-school re-opened after 3 months having been closed I wanted to be there to support my staff. And everything was fine. 

Parents arrived on time, followed social distancing and adhered to our new 'rules'. Children were happy to come into pre-school without parents and seemed not to be phased by a different set-up to normal. The children impressed us all with their knowledge of 'the virus' and they knew that they couldn't get too close to each other and that they have to 'wash our hands lots'.

I spent a couple of hours getting my desk up and running; typically the laptop seemed to want to run on slo-mo and it took two changes of batteries to get the mouse to work; paperwork from home was returned to its rightful place and documents copied and filed away. By lunchtime I was home and adopted what will now be my new routine on arriving home after a day at work...work clothes in the wash and me in the shower!

After lunch we took a walk out over the fields and discovered a new route that took us 3 miles in just over an hour and 10 minutes; and after a grey and misty start to the day we were blessed with glorious sunshine and a very warm afternoon.

When we got home it was time for a much needed coffee and some more time out on the patio enjoying the sun, in between checking work emails. I even managed to find time to complete the border of my latest jigsaw - boy was that one a challenge and a half?!

And today was the day that we saw non-essential retail shops open up in England and if the media is to be believed some people had queued from early this morning just to get into certain shops. I must admit that I have no desire to get back out there to retail shopping just yet; I'm sure I will eventually when I actually need to get something and I can't get it online but for me shopping is much more of a social event. It is something to experience with friends or family; to be enjoyed; to take your time over; to stop for a coffee or lunch and perhaps if you're lucky enough to pick something up that you hadn't even realised you needed. I'm not sure I'm ready for queuing and a strict regimen of what and where and with whom I can go!

There has also been talk about the potential opening up of hospitality and hairdressing on the 4th July, coupled with a review of the two metre social distancing rule. Now don't get me wrong I am looking forward to getting my hair cut, and perhaps even a colour, but I am much more interested in when we can get to spend quality time with friends, family and loved ones. To me the most important thing at the moment is to be able to reconnect with friends and family and to see relationships flourish, I would much rather Molly be able to meet up with her boyfriend than get my hair cut...but hey that's just me...priorities and all that!!

Take care out there, stay safe.

xx

Day 32

Day 32 and the sunshine is back!

A nice gentle start to the day, as it would be most Sundays. My first focus for the day was to update my online grocery shopping as I am due to collect it tomorrow morning. With that done I thought I would see if a slot was available for the following week and was surprised to see that dates beyond what I was expecting appeared but they were all full for the next 2 weeks...eek! But I then re-looked and suddenly saw a chunk of free slots appear so I grabbed one, added a few items to my 'online basket' and checked out to secure the spot - phew! But bizarrely I looked again and the free slots I'd seen had all disappeared again...not sure what was going on with the system but at least I have my shop booked in.

Simon has been making more progress with both the mouse droid he is building and his R2D2...

We then took a bit of a longer walk out today and managed to complete just under 4 miles in about an hour and 20 minutes. It was a gorgeous day in some beautiful countryside and we are very blessed to have all of this on our doorstep.

And I only had one little rant today while we were out...walking down a small lane we moved over to our left and walked single file to give the couple walking towards us the appropriate distance...shame they couldn't repeat the same favour...I'm sure not holding hands for all of 30 seconds really wouldn't have been that much of a hardship!!

Having these moments most days to get out and walk gives Simon and I the chance to have some time just for us away from the noise of the internet and reminds us of the importance of connecting with those around us. We get the chance to chat, put the world to rights and just to 'be'; we have both said that we must try to make sure we steal these moments after all this lockdown malarkey is done with. To steal moments together without the need to 'go somewhere' or 'do something special' but just to take a small amount of time away from the noise of everyday life.

Perhaps after all of this we will all have a greater appreciation for a quieter, less manic and less materialistic lifestyle. One where we appreciate all that we have and those that we have chosen to spend it with. I'm sure for some the return to the hustle and bustle will be a great relief but I hope to come out of this with a greater appreciation for life, and for what I want from it regardless of what others may think or expect of me. I will definitely embracing 'me' and doing more of what I want, when I want and in the way that I want to do it.

xx