The Distancing Diaries - 2nd & 3rd March, 2021

Yet again, Tuesday got off to a bitterly cold, frosty start. After I'd put away the previous day's laundry and done my Wii Fit workout I caught up with blogland before joining Jon for breakfast and then hurredly getting dressed. We'd arranged for the joinery company who made our windows to measure up for a replacement front door as ours is so rotten that it's beyond repair. Living in a conservation area we have to have a like-for-like replacement not that any conventional ready-made door would ever fit our oddly shaped house.

We drove up to the local garden centre, which had just reopened following refurbishment, as Jon wanted to get some wood chippings (we'd used our stash of twigs we'd normally mulch ourselves in the woodburner) and I needed some cactus & succulent compost. A pot sale! Don't all rush to Walsall in the hope of getting stoned, these are  pots of the ceramic variety reduced to half price which I could do with as my olive tree needs repotting soon but decided to go back once we'd worked out the exact size, hopefully they'll still be there.

 Back at home Jon cleaned out Jacob's enclosure, added the mulch and, despite the temperature, the tortoise, too as he was stomping around the house and getting under everyone's feet. 

I potted up a couple of aloe vera cuttings I'd managed to root from my mummy plant. 

After our noodles we went for a walk around the block via the post box and posted These Demented Lands to a friend. The sun had finally broken through the clouds and although still cold it was nowhere near as damp & oppresive as it had been. Jon had another bash at digging up the bamboo roots from the area we'd started to clear last September and I took stock photos of sportswear and uploaded my listings to ebay.

Wear:Sleep:Repeat continued with another outing for Monday's India Imports of Rhode Island maxi dress, topped off with my latest crocheted pom pom hat. 

After excitedly rummaging through the clothes my friend Cheryl had given me on Monday, I decided to take this German-made sheepskin coat on a trip out. It is so cosy and soft & I love the toggles.

The details: Doc Martens Darcy boots (Facebook selling page), Indian jhumka earrings & vintage pendant (part of Cheryl's clear-out)

Tea was a Quorn, mozzarella & pesto escalope with some peas and mashed potato (which photographed really badly) and we spent the evening watching the final of the Can't Get You Out of My Head documentares, Are we Pigeon? Or Are We Dancer? with a break halfway through for Interior Design Masters. 

Wednesday was another chilly day. After my Wii Fit workout I caught up with blog comments before breakfast. Stephen and Jon went on a road trip to the vets for Stephen's regular thyroid check. After the strict social distancing rules of the first lockdown the surgery had started to allow owners to enter the treatment rooms with their pets but after numerous incidents of entire families turning up without masks it's back to handing your pet over at the front door and chatting to the vet on the phone outside. Stephen has put weight on and she's pleased with his progress. As usual they'll call with the results of his blood test within the next 24 hours.

I'd just got back from emptying the composting bin at the top of the garden when the heavens opened and we were subjected to a couple of hours of torrential rain which scuppered any plans I had for photographing more of the stock in the garden. Instead I wrapped the ebay sales and, using a too-small Kuchi tribal bangle Cheryl had given me and a disassembled Lamani dowry necklace from my stash, made myself a new pendant.

How nice for the rain to stop in time for an outfit photo! Wear:Sleep:Repeat saw the return of Tuesday's sheepskin coat, worn over the near-twin of the previous day's dress and, underneath that, my Armor Lux Breton top.

The details: Me-made pendant, Afghan earrings (eBay), tribal bangles and coin bracelet (part of the collection Cheryl had given me), Mjus leather boots (charity shop)

After a break for noodles we planted some red and traditional green basil seeds as the plant I'd grown last summer was staring to look a bit long and leggy and pasta and pizza just isn't the same without a generous handful of fresh basil. The rain seemed to have eased off so, needing to post a parcel to a friend, we went for a walk around the block via the postbox. Needless to say, we took a rubbish sack and a grabstick along with us. 

According to the team co-ordinator, on Sunday, the Shine A Light on Litter day, Jon, me and a hundred other volunteers collected 402 sacks of litter from around Walsall. What a team! Although litter louts make me angry I'm also annoyed by people who ignore the rubbish right outside their homes. When we'd walked around the block yesterday we'd noticed another pile of McD's trash dumped on the pavement in a neighbouring road (not ours). Neither of us had our gloves or a bag with us and thought that one of the residents would pick it up and put it in their own bin but no, 24 hours later it was still there.

Back at home I spent the rest of the afternoon sweeping and tidying the spare room. Look! Jon's managed to mend the flying puffin...don't look too closely, he's more crack than pottery.

It's Wednesday which means that it's not only rum & cola night but it's also Bin Eve. In these strange new times it's quite the event dragging the wheelie bins out and getting our litter picking sacks labelled up and ready for Thursday's 7.30am fortnightly collection. We even wave at the binmen, after all it's been months since we've been allowed visitors!

 Tea was grilled halloumi with roasted vegetables. Until Vronni mentioned it on her blog, I'd not heard about BBC4's latest Nordic Noir, The Man in Room 301. We'll be catching up with that later. 

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That's after I've sorted out tomorrow's outfit. In these stay-at-home Covid times even a trip out litter picking requires a fabulous frock!

Stay safe & see you soon!