Slightly Snowy Thursday

Day 302...

Well I think this is going to be a short post today as I really haven't done very much.

This was my other non-working day of the week (I only do a three day week) and surprisingly I had nothing planned (note the heavy sarcasm intended here!).

The morning was spent catching up on some of my personal admin and some household chores and by late morning the rain had turned to snow and by lunchtime it was starting to settle. As Simon broke for lunch we decided against our usual walk because of the weather; just too wet, cold and very slushy underfoot.

The snow continued until early afternoon but never really amounted to much. When I jumped online with my friend and podcast co-host, Michelle, I discovered that where she lives they had proper snow, so much so that the school where she works had called a 'snow day'.

So we had a little catch-up before we recorded this weeks Disney Dream Girls show. We chatted with friend of the show Seth Kubersky who writes for 'The Official Guides' series of books and is able to get to the Florida parks a couple of times a week. It was lovely to chat with him and find out what it's like to visit Walt Disney World and Universal Studios at the moment.

After recording I grabbed the last of the daylight and finally managed to finish my latest jigsaw...

...I think I may need to find another one to do...only ones I have though are Christmas themed ones...Oh well, never mind, they will have to do!

The day was finished off with a little trip to the 'gym'...well, for Simon anyway. While I just stuck to some light weights and my bodyweight exercises; second time this week so getting back into the swing of it slowly!

Another day done, stay safe out there.
xx

Work Day Wednesday

Day 301...

Well today was another day split in two; but both halves were spent working.

This morning was spent at home working; I had some cashflow projections to complete as well as making a start on re-writing our safeguarding policy. Thankfully we have a model policy to work from and then adapt...unfortunately it's 56 pages long!

Then this afternoon was spent actually in work for the first time this week. An afternoon of catching up, ordering some supplies, updating accounts and de-cobwebbing the room. We have a rather high ceiling and having been reminded by my deputy I took my extending duster in with me to try and get as many cobwebs down as possible - oh the glamorous side of childcare.

Once home I made an attempt at completing some more of my current jigsaw and although I did get a few pieces into place the combination of a very grey day and lots of dark pieces meant all I could really do was sort a few more pieces and hope that I have better light tomorrow.

And I think that's where I will leave it for today as there really isn't anything else to report. Another routine day, doing the same old, same old and I don't think that's going to be changing any time soon!

Take care out there.
xx

A Day of Two Halves

Day 300...

So this morning was spent working from home. Due to the reduced number of children attending pre-school at the moment and having got this afternoon booked off it seemed sensible to take the option to work from home which meant a few hours spent on emails, banking and admin tasks.

At lunchtime we went out on one of our walks, completing a couple of miles in just under an hour. As we set off we came across an elderly couple sat on the bench in front of where we live. They were sat enjoying the sunshine with a flask of coffee and something to eat and as we passed by and said 'Hello' the lady responded with a quirky comment along the lines of 'oops shouldn't be sat having a drink!!'.

This was of course in reference to the numerous stories over the last couple of days about members of the public being fined for sitting on benches and being accused of 'having a picnic' for daring to walk with a coffee in hand. We simply responded with a chuckle and told them to enjoy themselves and the sunshine, and remarked how ridiculous it all was at the moment.

We then headed into the next village and were very aware of the number of people walking about, especially the number of them that had a coffee and then as we glanced into the local park how almost every bench had people sat on them. I think this is the British way of saying 'screw you'; you're not stopping us from enjoying the outside with a coffee especially as we are not doing anything to hurt anyone. It did make me smile!

After we got home and armed with a coffee I decided to see how much more of my current jigsaw I could get completed. Unfortunately the light was not on my side and as I was completing the night sky element of the picture I had to stop when the light began to fade; the pieces were too dark and too similar to each other to continue...perhaps tomorrow it may get completed.

I decided to get my self back on track with my exercises this evening as I'd become very lax since well before Christmas. Simon headed down the 'gym' while I stuck to a few light weights and mainly bodyweight exercises. I didn't do a lot but it was a start and that's the important thing...getting started.

Take care out their and enjoy your coffee wherever you like!!
xx

Hello Monday!

Day 299...

So another week and another Monday.

My usual non-working day of the week and it started as most Monday's do with a trip to collect my online grocery shop.

Simon has been busy making Mandalorian helmets over the weekend and we had one to drop off local and three others to send out by post. So it was a case of packing up, weighing and working out postage costs. We have definitely seen an increase in prices especially when sending overseas and we had two to price up for sending to the US.

Once we had those sorted and all the shopping put away we decided to go out for a walk and although chilly and a little rain at times it didn't stop us completing 4.2 miles in one hour and seventeen minutes. Not only did the walk 'blow away the cobwebs' it also gave us chance to chat and put the world to rights, because what else are we going to do?!

The afternoon was spent working on my jigsaw...and I am pretty please with the amount I've been able to complete in just a couple of hours!

And there we have another Monday, a quiet day again because we simply cannot do anything or go anywhere. There are reports of people sitting on benches being fined, of having a coffee while out for a walk being deemed to be a picnic and therefore not allowed and of others being fined for being out twice in one day...I am at a loss for what our supposedly civilised society is turning into. 

Stay safe out there.
xx

Another day and it's Day 298

Day 298...

Wow, day 298...who would have thought way back in March last year that I would still be writing these daily posts.

The idea was to write a post a day as a way to capture what was happening during the 'pandemic' that was gripping the world and throwing us all into a state of fear and confusion.

Today has been a tough day for me, not sure why. Perhaps I'm just mentally tired and worn down with all that is happening. Molly is spending this lockdown with her fella and so will be away from home for who knows how long and I think that has hit me a bit today. I don't have any problem with Molly being away from home, with her staying with fella (he is so lovely and they obviously adore each other) and all I want is for her to be happy, but I do miss my partner in crime and as a hormonally challenged woman I find myself rather emotional.

We are all having to deal with yet another lockdown but I will admit to feeling rather tired of it all now. I am a very pragmatic sort of person, I will deal with whatever comes my way and try not to worry about things I have no control over but this is all starting to feel like too much. I have tried to keep away from social media and news today as I know I am feeling rather fragile and just need to avoid anything that is going to make me more frustrated, angry, disappointed and feeling powerless.

So the day has been a quiet one. The usual online grocery shop was completed. Simon has been making helmets (I currently have four sitting in my kitchen!), making some adjustments to his 3D printer and assembling some more R2D2 parts. I have also made some progress on my latest jigsaw.

And the day was finished off with our usual Disney Dream Girls Disney Quiz via Zoom. I had the task of setting some questions on the live action version of Mulan. Simon and I had watched the movie earlier in the week and had really quite enjoyed it and I had planned to re-watch it again to note down some questions. As it was we decided to play a game of Villainous last night and so while we played Simon put the movie on the TV with the sound off and subtitles on and was able to come up with the questions for me! We had a lovely hour chatting Disney and more; a nice and much needed distraction.

Take care of yourselves,
xx

Another Weekend

Day 297...

So we have another weekend roll on by, another weekend with no where to go and nothing much to do...back on the rinse and repeat rollercoaster of life.

Inevitably this led to a rather slow and steady start to the day, with no real impetus for us to get up and moving. Molly is back to having her guitar lessons via Zoom, as are her karate classes, so life continues inside the four walls of our house and by staying 'local'.

Simon has been tinkering on and off throughout the day with his R2D2 build, getting more of the smaller parts into place. He's also completed some minor repairs to his 3D printer. When he bought the printer he went for a cheaper model as he didn't want to spend a lot of money and then find he didn't use it. He had to assemble the printer himself and even had to 3D print parts for it and it has lasted him really well, it's been used extensively for the past few years and along the way he has become rather handy at keeping it working.

Mid-afternoon we took a walk out over the fields in the sunshine...the rather chilly sunshine and the very muddy and squelchy fields; thank goodness for our wellies!

We did notice quite a lot of people out walking today and I must admit the devil inside of me wanted to ask everyone if they were staying 'local'! And on our walk back we bumped into my brother...well I say 'bumped into' he was actually driving home and just happened to spot us and so stopped for a quick chat. Scarily this was the first time I've seen my brother in I can't remember when and he only lives a couple of miles away - how ridiculous and awful is that and all because of the current situation.

So whatever you may be doing, wherever you are, stay safe.

xx

Staying Local

Day 296...

So here we are at the last day of my working week and it was another cold day with a light dusting of snow. The weather app on my phone had said snow was forecast for most of the night so I was hoping for a snow day but it was not to be.

Work was fairly steady with the usual bits of admin and we still have lower numbers of children attending than what we were expecting, which is a direct result of the lockdown and parents not knowing what to do for the best. There is lots of concern within the early years sector as to why we have been told to stay open while schools have closed along with long term financial implications and whether we will get the funding from government that we so deserve.

As we find ourselves a few days into 'lockdown 3' the talk turned to where we can go outdoors to exercise. I am very fortunate that I live in a small village and have numerous footpaths to roam literally on my doorstep. But we have noticed a significant increase in the number of cars parked in the village; people travelling to us and then setting off on walks.

But today we heard of a local country park that has been turning people away because they are not considered to be 'local'. Now this park is only a few miles away from me and I have always considered it to be 'local' to me but apparently because I don't live in the same borough council I can't visit it anymore. Reports are that police were in attendance and were turning people away and issuing fines where they saw fit. This is such a shame; there have even been reports of people who live within walking distance, but live in a different council area, being turned away and told they are not allowed to visit. It would appear that there is no legal definition of what 'local' means and this would seem to be causing confusion and irritation. 

And this is not the only country park, there have been others reported across the region where I live. These country parks are often expansive and are the ideal place to get out, have a change of scenery, get some exercise but at the same time maintain all social distancing. This draconian approach feels very wrong and quite oppressive. I am sure that the police have much better things to be doing with their time and resources other than guarding the entrance to these parks.

It does make you wonder where all of this is going and whether our civil liberties will be completely restored after all of this. We seem to be doing so badly with this virus compared to other countries and we keep having lockdown after lockdown imposed but nothing seems to have an affect on those all important figures that are reported to us each day. So what is it that we are doing wrong? And whenever it is questioned we (the public) get told to do more or that we're not doing enough and all the while businesses suffer and our freedoms crumble. I am sure there are people out there that are not abiding by the 'recommendations' but I think the vast majority of us are, or at least are trying our best to do as we are being told yet all the time it feels like we are being 'told off' for not getting it right, that we are the scapegoat, or the excuse, for things not getting better.

It is a depressing circle of events that seems to be spiraling downwards with no end in sight.

Take care.
xx