From A Distance - Day 24 & 25

Yesterday started with Wii Fit, a blog catch-up and fruit & yoghurt for breakfast. In a previous life, we'd have spent Easter Monday trawling the car boot sales of rural Staffordshire but, instead, we walked to Johal's for groceries. Trust me, in these strange new times, getting all the items on my shopping list was every bit as thrilling as unearthing vintage treasure.

My trusty 1970s slow cooker - £1.50 from a car boot sale

After we'd got back from our expedition and had sanitised our shopping I assembled the ingredients for dhal and threw them into the slow cooker. We'd been battered by gale-force winds the night before so, armed with my yard brush, I swept up the Magnolia petals and noted with pleasure that the bluebells were in bloom.

According to the National Trust, over half the world's bluebells are found in the UK and they're relatively rare in the rest of the world. Who knew?

Since yesterday the temperature had dropped significantly so it was back to long sleeves, a jacket and boots but as the sun was still shining I was still able to sit outside and paint the flagpole.

Jon moved the wood to the newly positioned wood store,

And I weeded my fern bed,

Already showing signs of new life.

The joy of living in an old property is that you only have to dig a few inches to unearth something old and interesting, like this antique gate bolt I found whilst weeding.

That looks a lot better!

After a brisk walk around the block (those trees on the left are ours as is the fence), it was time to watch the government's daily update and to think about tea, deciding upon a mishmash of stuff from the freezer and some potatoes that were on the turn.

Tuesday (day 24) started in the usual way, a half-hour workout on the Wii Fit at around 7am, something I've done religiously for over a decade.

For those interested, my exercise routine consists of ten minutes of yoga followed by twenty minutes of step aerobics, five days a week. Looking at my trip photos when I got back from India last year I wasn't happy with the top of my arms, they seemed to have lost their tone since I turned 50. As luck would have it I came across these weights in the £1 charity shop a few days later, incorporated them into my step routine and within a month my arms were back to how they used to look.

After our fruit and yoghurt breakfast, Jon trimmed the ivy on the wall where the wood store used to be, checking thoroughly for nests first, while I varnished the flagpole. When he'd finished we swept up the trimmings, managing to fill two garden waste sacks, which we hid away behind the wheelie bins. Due to the Pandemic, the council has suspended the garden waste collection & closed the tips and it could be months before we can dispose of it.

After a lunch of dhal and wholemeal roti, I thinned out the plants growing in the border at the front of the house to make room for the flagpole. The new flag should be arriving in time for the weekend, I've just had an email from the eBay business I bought it from. Repositioning those electrical cables is a job for tomorrow.

The lads were as helpful as ever!

In the greenhouse we now have radish, lettuce, summer savoury, leeks and cucumber sprouting, there's turnips and French radishes in the beds, basil & peppers on the windowsill and rocket in the cola bottle planter.

The rhubarb, redcurrants and blackcurrants are looking good as are the chives, rosemary, fennel and thyme.

On our daily walk around the block, we salvaged a few dandelions for Jacob's tea.

He's 45 this year - here he is in 1975, along with me, Mum and my brother, Marcus, (who has always hated having his photo taken). The photo was taken by my Grandma and we're at Stonecroft, sitting beneath the kitchen window.

We've still got the same window and, forty-five years later, there's even a spider plant or two on the sill inside!

In cruel contrast to last week's mini-heatwave, the temperature has hovered around 10°C today. It's gloriously sunny but horribly cold when you're in the shade. Under my dress, I'm wearing leggings and knee-high socks. We're forecast some heat again tomorrow and I can't wait.

WEARING: Vintage 1970s psych print maxi dress (swapped with a vintage trader friend, 2016), Clarks' Orinoco Club boots (eBay)

Tea tonight is a salad with a mozzarella & red pepper flatbread (another freezer discovery, dated best before August 21st, 2019). Living on the edge, again!

Stay safe, stay sane, stay healthy!