The Distancing Diaries - Day 5 & 6

The weather's been so beautiful over the last couple of days it's hard to believe that the world is in crisis outside the confines of our garden. Here in the UK, with the exception of key workers, we've been on lockdown since midnight on Monday.

So, on to Tuesday, day five of house arrest. the day started with Wii Fit and fresh fruit and yoghurt. I got dressed (in a 1960s Leo Narducci kaftan) and caught up on my blog comments whilst Jon tried to follow the government advice and order our food online but none of the supermarkets has any slots available for the foreseeable future so it looks like we'll have to leave the house and go hunting for supplies very soon!

I cleaned the bathroom and mopped the floor.

The eagle-eyed amongst you will notice the loo roll, we're not stockpiling- Jon bought two multipacks before we went to India, he must be psychic!

I gave my air plants their fortnightly feed. This was my eBay bargain of last year, two plants, some unused speciality food and two handmade macrame plant hangers for a Buy-it-Now price of £5 including postage. I'm amazed I haven't killed them yet!

Jon took himself off outside to tackle one of the garden sheds, ably assisted by the cats. I washed the vintage glass in the bathroom and on the landing & cleaned the picture frames on the Wall of Misery.

I took down the me-made blind from the top of the stairs and gave it a thorough beating in the garden covering myself in clouds of dust, I've no idea when I last cleaned it - if ever!

We'd been promised temperatures of 16°C (warmer than Rajasthan) and by lunchtime, Jacob had awoken and was stomping around the kitchen so I popped him in his pen with a bunch of dandelions to munch on.

After lunch I pottered around the garden, pruning a couple of misshapen shrubs and cutting some Forsythia for the house. It reminds me of Grandma, who always filled a vase of it in the Spring.

I spent the rest of the afternoon sitting outside in the sunshine reading Arthur and George.

After tea (a tin of baked beans with jacket potatoes and grated cheese) we watched The Big Sick on the BBC i-Player which had been recommended by the 6Music film critic, Rhianna, as a wonderful diversion for the weird times in which we're living. As a rule, we detest Rom-Coms but this was a joy. Highly recommended for a welcome bit of light relief.

SOURCE

On the theme of brilliant TV, if you haven't seen the wonderful BBC mockumentary, This Country, about village life in The Cotswolds, all nineteen episodes are available on the i-Player. It's in my all-time top five British comedies, I love it.

SOURCE

Wednesday (day six) started the usual way - thirty minutes on the Wii Fit and fruit and yoghurt for breakfast. After getting dressed, I stripped the bedcover and bolster case off the bed in the spare room, washed them and hung them on the line to dry and took Jacob outside for a run in his pen.

When I drew the curtains this morning I noticed I'd missed a tear when I'd mended them so did a quick repair by hand before dusting and sweeping the spare bedroom, then I cleaned all the mirrors in the house with white vinegar and an old tea towel. Jon decided to tackle the contents of the coal house.

After lunch (noodles, as usual!) I had another wander around the garden and filled a basket with more twigs and broken branches. The weather's set to get cold again at the weekend, although the night time temperatures have been pretty icy all week, so we'll doubtlessly be lighting the wood burner as we can't afford to be frivolous with the central heating.

 I didn't empty any of my patio pots last year and many - despite being annuals - are showing signs of life so I gave them a good soaking.

Daily tasks completed, I spent a couple of hours of reading in the sunshine and watching the birds whilst Jon mowed the lawn for the first time this year. I'm now supervising Jon who's making a potato, broccoli, mushroom and wild garlic frittata to go with our salad. The washing-up (A dishwasher? Us?) should keep me occupied for a while.

Tonight is Wednesday which means rum night. Believe it or we only imbibe alcohol on a Wednesday, Friday and Saturday (and pre-lockdown, the occasional Monday) even though the coronavirus situation is enough to drive us to drink on a daily basis!

Wishing all you lovely people positive and healthy vibes and please share what you've been up to in the comments - I and my readers love to know how you're passing the time.

PS Don't forget to join the volunteer army and help our NHS here.