Week 10

This is week 10 of staying in (daughter is on week 11 of working from home) and what is there to say.   All the weeks have been the same really - go food shopping and a gentle wander round the local park.

We belong the local Rifle Club so whilst it's closed one member has been painting inside, another has been sorting the outside range and my OH has been trimming the hedges and tidying the car park etc.  Yesterday we went cleaning all the windows, window sills, front door and the flag pole - well the bottom 10ft of it as that's all we could reach.  Maybe we will get to shoot again although all the finals, shoots and summer leagues have been cancelled.   I'm hoping it will improve my shooting - it did when I was pregnant with both daughters and was forced to give up for a year.  When the men start moaning how badly they are shooting, I tell them my solution, get pregnant, have a year off :)

Not much else to write about so here's some pretty photos - honeysuckle and fuchsia in the garden.

Elaine xx

Week 9 - Still at Home

Week 9 already - doesn't the time go quickly.   Last week was reasonable - 2 trips to the supermarket and 4 walks across the park so not too bad.  It's just I've done nothing interesting so what do I write about?

Our only problem last week was glasses.  Both my OH and I had loose arms on our glasses so we superglued them back together.  Mine are fine and will do until I can get my eyes tested but OH's were still a bit floppy.  Luckily our independent opticians in town was open - he's been open Monday and Friday for 2hrs for emergency.  So last Monday he went to order a new pair, this Monday he's collected them.  Can't complain about the service!!

Not sure what else to say, the weather is lovely so I've been gardening, sat outside reading a book in the sun - it sounds idyllic but endless!!

Anyway I hope you are all keeping safe and well.  Maybe something exciting will happen before next week!!

Elaine xx

Week 8 - Locked Down Still

Well here we are again - blogging day in lockdown.  I guess we are still in lockdown, who can say?  I for one will be staying in as much as possible for as long as possible.   I should have started 7 weeks of invigilating in the local school today - all the GCSEs, GCEs, yr 10 mocks and yr 12 mocks but that has all gone and who knows what will happen.

Anyway the weekend was lovely again - I sat in the garden listening to the birds.  VE Day on Friday was good.   The Spitfire was scheduled over the local hospital at 1pm and you could hear the sound of the engines from a distance - luckily he did 4 circuits of the town, a barrel roll over the hospital and came over our house several times.  We stood in the street trying to take photos - I have several of a tiny dot in a vast blue sky but this one was taken by my daughter.   The sound was wonderful!

I think people seem to be so much more observant - out photographing nature and the sky etc.  Last week it was the supermoon, Venus being very bright and the starlink satellites going over every night - beautiful clear skies due to the lack of pollution.  Lets just hope it all continues.

Stay safe everyone.

Elaine xx

Week 7 - Staying inside

Another week and not much news to report.  I've been to the supermarket twice and been for 2 short walks across the local park.   There do seem to be more and more people out but everyone is very well spread out and taking avoiding action.   It's going to be really strange getting back to normal and actually passing people on the same pavement!

The death figures today seem much lower - I just hope that the numbers keep going down and it all doesn't come back again.   Friends of ours have a mother in the care home in town - she is fine, but the care home has lost 20 residents, out of 60, in last 2 weeks.  It must be horrendous to be in there, work there or have relatives there.

On a brighter note, my garden is doing well.  The tulips are just about over and my oak tree is just coming into leaf  We went to Wakehurst Place about 15 years ago when my children were small, picked up some acorns and planted them when we got home.  This is one that we've kept in a pot on the patio to keep it small - it blows over occasionally, it loses a branch or two but you can't beat a good old English Oak.

Below is a picture of my seeds from last week.  I'm not sure what I am growing - to be honest it looks like grass but there are some tiny seedlings that may be snowflakes.  I will persevere and probably find I'm growing grass after all.

This week we have my daughter's birthday on Thursday then Friday VE Day a Spitfire is coming over the local hospital on it's way to Captain Tom's house.  The hospital is home to the Guinea Pig Club where all the burnt and disfigured airmen were treated in WW2 so hopefully next week I'll have some photos of that.

Stay safe everyone.

Elaine xx

Week 6 of Lockdown

Another week has gone by and I can honestly say it seems to have flown passed.  I'm not sure what I've done other than pottered in the garden and been once to the supermarket.

Shopping this week it reminded me of Supermarket Sweep which is basically what I do.  Walk as fast as possible, avoiding people of course, buying as much as possible in one go and hoping that when I get home some of the things I've grabbed do actually go together and make a sensible meal.

The weather has been lovely again - today it has been raining but I think that is the first rain we have had for a month.  The garden does need it and it makes all the shades of green so much brighter.  I decided on Sunday to put some Snowflake seeds in some compost and see  if they would grow.  They are tiny and all was going well till I dropped the tray in my husband's toolbox - he emptied the tools out, hoovered up the soil and put that back in my seed tray.   I watered it, put it on a sunny windowsill and blow me down, this morning I can see one pair of seed leaves and 3 other shoots.  I never expected them to grow at all.    I'll take a photo for next week's post!

We were supposed to have been going on holiday this week before I started 7 weeks of summer exams but that all got cancelled.  Instead I've been sat on the gravel drive pretending I'm at the seaside - I nearly got a bucket of water out for my feet so I could go for a paddle!!

Maybe I've been locked in for too long but I can wait it out.  The longer we stay in now, the better it will be ….I hope.   Stay safe everyone.

Elaine



 

Week 5 of Lockdown

Here again so soon - for all the boredom and procrastinating I did think last week went a little faster.  Maybe it was because we had a bank holiday and my daughter's working week was only 4 days or we are all getting used to it.

Nature is still taking over - more and more people are actually appreciating what is around them and going out taking photos etc.  I don't remember buying these tulips but they are really pretty - a deep maroon colour.  We live very close to Ashdown Forest which is the home of Winnie the Pooh and the Hundred Acre Wood etc.  A A Milne lived on the forest and so his books were set there.  Other fun facts - I went to school in Nottinghamshire and my friend's father went to University with the real Christopher Robin!  I'm rambling - what I was going to say was that the deer are taking over the roads on the forest already.

I'm not sure what I've been doing this week other than my one trip out to the Supermarket.  We did watch Phantom of the Opera on Saturday afternoon which was brilliant.  Andrew Lloyd Webber is putting his musicals on youtube on Friday nights for just the weekend so we're now sat waiting to see which one it will be this weekend.

We also watched the TV programme on the West Highland steam railway - 2 hours of chugging along with very little commentary.  I found it really interesting as when I was little we always went up to the west coast of Scotland for holidays staying at Arisaig, swimming in the sea, days out to Skye and fishing off Mallaig Pier.  We also took the train to Fort William for fish and chips on night.  Happy days when life was simple or I didn't have to worry about it!!

Oh well, that's another week done.  At least the number of deaths do seem to be going down so hopefully we might be allowed out of the house come June.

Elaine xx

Week 4

Well Easter was gorgeous wasn't it?  It was 25 degrees here in the south so lovely to get some gardening done and sit in the sun for a bit.  I also took my camera and went for a walk around the local Botanical Gardens - well my garden!

Wallflowers

Tulips

More Tulips

Rowan tree bursting into life

Nature does seem to be taking over.  I've seen pictures of the goats coming down off The Great Orme  feasting on the gardens in Llandudno.  There was a herd of deer sitting on the green space outside gardens in outer London.  Also we spotted some sheep that had taken over a children's play park somewhere and were perfectly happy playing on the roundabout.

Let's hope when we get out of the other side of this then people will step back from their previously  hectic lives and use their time less selfishly and more wisely.

Elaine xx