I can hardly believe what I just typed there: day 36! Over a month, and no end in view. The way we get through it is one day at a time. Look ahead no more than a week. Just as when we take a long walk we do it step by step by step; and soon we’ve done a good part of what felt impossible in prospect.
Far harder I know for those who are struggling with real adversity right now: those having to home school as well as just getting through; those struggling financially; those facing an uncertain future. And of course those who have been ill and are recovering slowly, and those who have lost people close to them. Every one of the 40,000 or more people thought to have already died so far in the UK was a friend, a brother, sister, aunt, a colleague, mother, son: someone who mattered.
A slow start to the day for me after another bad night. Pottering around doing some washing, some tidying, some cooking, a good phone chat with a friend over a cup of tea and some crochet.
I actually got quite a lot done, despite the tiredness. I made the lasagne I’d planned to make last week, this time with dry lasagne sheets we’ve had in the cupboard for a very long while (best before 2008?!?! – but apparently still fine to use). There’s enough still left for at least one meal for both of us, and we still have another batch of the sauce I used in the freezer.
Garden/allotment –
- with a decent amount of rain forecast for this week, I decided only to do what I absolutely needed to in the garden and allotment today, and wait until after some rain has fallen to finish the weeding, clearing and then planting out some of the more tender plants
- one urgent job was to remove the wires and plants from an adjoining fence, as our neighbours have arranged for this to be replaced later this week. That turned out to be a very quick and easy job
- I’ve been wondering how many tomato plants I should grow on. I’ve already planted out 9, which is how many I normally do, but I still have another 17 strong healthy plants. My friend who grows lots of lovely tomatoes encouraged me to pot up as many as I can find a space for, and Malcolm pointed out that we have plenty of space for them in pots in the garden and this year we’re going to be around to water them, so that’s what I shall do
Exercise/stay fit – a short walk today. It was to have been a long walk, back from the farm where we buy milk and cheese, but as we set off it became clear that we had a flat tyre, so a change of plan there. Malcolm was able to quickly get it mended. We’ll go over there tomorrow instead and I will have the long walk then instead.
Craft/making – I’ve finished re-making the crochet cot blanket I frogged last week. It was a nice simple project, and just what I needed. This time I was happy with how it looked, so I’ve added a border to finish it off properly.
House/home repairs, improvements – no.
Admin – no
Kind deeds/something for others
It’s interesting how many new social things are helping people to get through this (I mean of course those people who have proper housing and enough money and food – for those without these essentials no amount of new social things are going to make the difference).
Most of the people I’ve spoken with who are finding it especially difficult are those who have found it hard to adopt new ways of doing familiar things, or to try doing things they’ve never done before. Conversely, those who are finding it easier are those who have been able to adjust their expectations of what life will be like, and are willing to try something new.
Someone I know normally takes part in two choirs. They’ve been reluctant to engage with any of the alternatives available online (and there are lots of really excellent things going on out there). But recently one of their choirs set up a project for them all to sing at home, record and video themselves and send it in for editing together. They were cajoled and nudged and in the end rather reluctantly took part. But it was well worth it – despite feeling a bit silly doing it, they surprised themselves with how good the edited version was, and I think will be much happier to take part next time around.
Stay sane! – despite feeling tired all day, and despite the car flat tyre, today was another good day. To my surprise. Repeated administration of tea and slices of the rather fine chocolate cake Malcolm baked for the birthday celebration may have played its part. That and the yoga.
I hope you’re well. See you tomorrow xxxx
the magic jug 