The Distancing Diaries - Day 126 & 127

On Friday (day 126), eager to book next week's National Trust adventure, I was up and online by 6am. The weather forecast had been for a glorious day but, by the time I'd finished my Wii Fit workout the rain was torrential, so my early morning tomato watering plans were put on hold. Instead I washed all of the glass collection in the lounge and gave the room a thorough clean. I was going to clean the windows but Frank decided to snuggle up on the chaise for a nap so I left it till later.

I've collected vintage and secondhand glass for years, there's also some in the kitchen, bathroom and on the landing. Being a cheapskate, I've never paid more than £8 for a piece.

After our fruit & yogurt breakfast Jon went and did a big supermarket shop, interested to see if the mandatory mask wearing rule that had come into force at midnight was being adhered to. Meanwhile the rain had stopped and it felt pleasantly warm. Frank & Stephen went outside and I was able to clean the inside & outside of the lounge windows without worrying about disturbing anyone's morning nap.

Jon returned to report that almost everyone was wearing masks although the shoppers turning up without and refusing the free ones offered by the staff were still allowed in. Jon wasn't unduly concerned, he just kept his distance, as he always does, there's no point in getting stressed about it. He sanitised the shopping and put it away while I brought forward my overnight plant soaking session and did it during the day.

Can you believe that I own a piece of clothing that I've never worn? I bought this maxi dress from the Chowpatti beach branch of Anokhi in Mumbai back in February and thought that it was about time I cut the shop labels off and gave it an outing. 

A shop label, now there's a novelty!

After our noodle lunch we drove over to Liz and Al's as Jon needed to have another rummage through their wood pile. Liz and I drank spiced gins in the garden whilst the boys hunted for wood.

The beautiful red rose in the foreground was one of Liz's 50th birthday presents, it smells amazing and is called Dublin (her Dad was Irish).

There's plenty to admire in their front garden. Plants are the new rock'n'roll.

On the way home there were queues outside every chip shop we passed with no evidence of anyone wearing a mask (despite it now being law if you visit a takeaway). Not that we stopped off, we only share a bag of chips if we're home late from working away and have lost the will to cook, the last time was on the way back from Glastonbury in 2019! The choice is limited too, most traditional Black Country chip shops fry in beef dripping or cook the fish in the same oil as the chips, no good for vegetarians.

Back at home Jon downed a bottle of strong ale to catch up with my boozy head start. For tea we shared half a caramelised onion & a Feta cheese and tomato flan Jon had found on the reduced shelf in the supermarket earlier along with a salad. We watched Gardener's World, more of My Greek Odyssey and drank rum & cola.

On Saturday (day 127)  Frank woke Jon up by clawing at the bedroom rug and stared at him intently until he went downstairs and let him out. He brought mugs of tea back to bed where we read and Stephen snoozed, squeezed in between the pair of us, until just gone 8am. I stripped and changed the bed & loaded the washing machine while Jon put some sausages in the oven and made coffee.

After our sausage sandwich breakfast I pegged out the washing and caught up with blogland, ignoring the torrential rain and leaving the laundry on the line. Jon braved the rain to fiddle about with Gilbert's brakes before taking him out for a spin around the block.  

I swept the rug in the spare bedroom & polished the floorboards and then, as there was a respite from the rain, planted a few more dwarf French beans hoping it wasn't too late in the season. 

 I'm sure that the nasturtium had grown another foot overnight, I've never known a plant like it!

Never having grown a nasturtium before I bought a single 14 cm pot of the Empress of India variety (just because the name appealed) when I placed an on-line order from a local garden centre at the start of lockdown, I'm beginning to think I bought a triffid by accident.

This is the second outing for the Papillion 1970s wraparound skirt that arrived on Wednesday morning, teamed with one of my vintage cheesecloth blouses & trusty tooled leather belt.

Somebody appreciates the profusion of leaves & flowers.

Newsflash! We have six tomatoes! Thanks to all of you kind enough to offer advice. Hopefully moving the majority from the greenhouse to the garden (and wearing my tomato dress) has worked.

Jon managed to scrub Gilbert between showers while I abandoned my gardening plans and had a self-care session instead, epilating my legs, stripping off last week's nail paint and applying my trusty Sally Hansen Hard as Nails as a base coat.

Always keen to reduce the amount of waste I generate, instead of cotton wool pads I've been using reusable eye make remover pads from &keep since May 2019 (HERE). I switched to their reusable nail varnish remover pads a month ago (HERE) and they're pretty good, too.

The biggest decision of the week is deciding which colour Barry M to use next.

Tea was half a posh shop-bought pizza with salad (no photos, we were ravenous, not having eaten since 8.30 am). The plan for later is rum, cola and the final three installments of My Greek Odyssey, Jon's got to cancel the free trial tomorrow.

Stay safe & see you soon!