Coffee & a Catch-up

Day 200...

And welcome to Sunday.

Another steady start to the day being very mindful that we needed to be up and about as not only did Simon and I have plans for the day but Molly and Dan needed to get on the road at a reasonable time.

The lovely thing about today was that the weather didn't look too horrid first thing and I got to put on smart clothes and make-up!

We had plans to meet up with a friend and so I took the opportunity to dig out clothes I'd not worn in what feels like forever and actually take the time and effort to apply more than just mascara and lippy! I also got to wear my sparkly Dr Martin boots for the first time in forever,  although it felt very strange wearing boots rather than the trainers I have been living in for the past few months.

Molly has travelled 190 miles today to spend the next week or so with her boyfriend and so while she set off on a 3 hour journey we jumped in the car for a quick 20 minute journey to meet up with our friend Mimi who we have not seen since the beginning of the year (or maybe even longer?!).

We were able to meet up outside and enjoy a lovely few hours chatting over multiple mugs of coffee, having a spot of lovely food and enjoying a surprisingly dry and at times sunny afternoon. It was lovely to be able to spend the time in someone else's company, while maintaining all the current social norms; the distance, the wearing of masks when needed, the 'logging in' of where we were but sadly missing the chance to give each other a hug.

We chatted about how we have all been coping with the last 200 days, how it's affected us personally, how it's affected our work as well as our outlook on life now and beyond this current 'situation'. It was just lovely to be out and about and feel like we were doing something almost close to 'normal'. Thanks Mimi for a fabulous Sunday afternoon...we must do it again soon!

The lovely Mimi and I enjoying coffee and sunshine

Once back home it was time to get the boring stuff done; the grocery shop for collecting tomorrow morning along with posting a few more items online for sale. And while I did that Simon spent time 'tinkering' with his mouse droid project which as I type means I have a small droid doing laps of my kitchen!

The rest of the evening was spent listening to my phone going ping as I was inundated with enquiries about the stuff I'd just put up for sale! Think it's time to step away from the laptop, enjoy a glass of something sparkly and chill.

Stay safe out there, keep your distance, wash your hands and wear a mask.

xx

Day 109

Day 109...

Today has been another lazy Sunday. 

I really haven't done an awful lot today just a bit of pottering around the house, updating my online grocery order ahead of pick-up tomorrow and prepping for this evening's Disney Dream Girls now weekly Disney quiz via Zoom.

Simon has continued with tinkering around with the electronics of his R2D2 build as he masters all the twinkly lights and how they display. I have managed a little more jigsaw time and the outside edge is coming together...slowly!

A while ago I'd discovered a number of photographs from previous Disney holidays that had never been put into albums. And although I have numerous other sets of photographs that are still sitting in the envelopes they came in I had always made a point of putting any Disney ones into proper albums. So having purchased some new albums I was able today to get them all filed away in some semblance of order; they were a mixture of Walt Disney World from 2004 and Disneyland Paris from 2002 and 2006.

The cute thing was that all the Walt Disney World photographs had been developed whilst on holiday as most of them had the place of development as Epcot printed on the back of them. I remember always being worried that taking an undeveloped film through x-ray machines at the airports might damage it and so we used to make sure we got the film processed whilst on holiday. In amongst all the photos we'd taken Disney dropped in a few of their own which I thought was a really cool thing to do...

Just a couple of our 'bonus' photos

We took a short walk out later this afternoon in the sun and the very blustery wind; we managed just under a couple of miles in about 35 minutes and enjoyed a nice coffee with a touch of Kahlua when we got home.

We have a pub very close to where we live and when we walked past I expected to see a busy outside area as we would expect to see on a Sunny Sunday afternoon and was very surprised to see no-one. The car park seemed to have plenty of cars but there were no customers outside where I expected to see them. 

Media reports from last night had showed crowded streets as people enjoyed their first night out in a long while and from the photos it appeared that any social distancing measures were not followed nor were face coverings worn. So yet again strangers are mingling in close proximity to one another with no apparent regard for the guidelines yet I am still not allowed to do the same thing in the comfort of my own home with people I know and care about!

But as we have remarked today the general public are only doing what our government have said...'go out and enjoy yourselves' they say in one breath and then in another they say 'but do it responsibly' and 'use common sense'. So what are we all supposed to do? We can't be blamed for doing something we like to do, for wanting to socialise when we have been cooped up for weeks on end but we need our government to be open and honest, they need to convince us that they have systems in place ready to cope with outbreaks, that track and trace is working, that we are ready to treat all that need treating to the highest of standards and ready to make those tough and necessary decisions quickly and effectively...things that up till now they have not been the best at achieving.

At 6pm UK time I hopped online to take part in our little Disney quiz. It was lovely to see, what are now very familiar faces, to chat a little, to laugh a lot and simply loose ourselves in a daft quiz for a few minutes. A positive to take from these past few months are the new connections made and a slower take on life...the hustle and bustle and the rush has gone and I hope that as we move forward we can do so but at a more reasonable speed rather than rushing through at a break neck speed. Taking things a little slower and appreciating all that is around you can surely be no bad thing.

Take care out there, whatever you are up to and wherever you may be...stay safe.

xx