Week Six ~ The one where we just keep swimming
The weather changed this week, as it was bound to at some point of course. Ian still managed to get out cycling almost every day but I only made it 3 times in the end. I know it makes me feel better for going, and I always thank Ian for persuading me to go with him, but one day we went out it was so windy we were actually pedalling to get downhill and I just couldn’t face it the next day. It's so lovely to get out in to the countryside though so I try not to miss too many days. The sheep are particularly disdainful of cyclists at this time of year.
I am very aware of how reliant I am on the sun to help me feel better, having suffered for years from SAD, so even though I didn’t cycle every day I did make an effort just to get out in our courtyard if nothing else. Yesterday we took advantage of the relaxing of the rules meaning that you can drive to walk somewhere and drove the ten minutes to the University of East Anglia and walked round their park and campus. Most of the students have gone home, so it was relatively quiet, definitely no problem with distancing there. I expect had it been gloriously sunny it would have been a different story.
We took mum her groceries and TV Times again. I think she’d miss the TV Times more than the food if we weren’t shopping for her to be honest. We had originally planned to sit in the front garden and chat to her but it was so cold and wet that we stood shivering in the drive way for five minutes and came home again. We did collect her prescription for her while we were over there and drop that off for her so that saved her having to go out. She also sent me home with some bluebells from her garden.
Completely out of the blue, more flowers came from my lovely friend Vics. Vics is a key worker and has been working so hard. She sent flowers to us all in her little group for being so supportive. We send her memes, I'm not sure it's a fair swap to be honest.
We have also tried again this week to make sure we aren’t drinking on a school night as things were just getting silly. However on Tuesday night, while I was FaceTiming Rubbish Wife with a G&T, Ian had a Cocktail Zoom with his Old Bastards group which descended into chaos as they all had to make each other’s cocktails (six in total). I think they were just making them up at the end with whatever any of them could find in their cupboards. The 4 espresso martinis made good use of left over Christmas Kaluha but were not so good for a great night’s sleep. Hopefully this week we will have more success sticking to the no drinking...
I’ve made sure Monday is ‘chore day’. I strip the beds, clean the bathrooms and wash all the towels, do the ironing if there is any. I worry I would slip into 'slatternly' habits otherwise, which is the same reason I make sure I get properly dressed everyday, even if it’s just in jeans and a t-shirt. I’m still washing my hair, even if I can’t be bothered to blow dry it every time. That way when, by Wednesday, I’m losing momentum it doesn’t matter so much if I don’t move off the sofa for 3 hours at a time. When I’m on the sofa I’m reading or crocheting. Mainly I’m re-reading Jilly Cooper’s Rutshire Chronicles because they are so utterly divorced from reality; I’m up to Pandora but before I start that I’m going to force myself to read something slightly more mentally taxing. I can tell you that won’t be Hilary Mantell’s latest though. I have tried to read Wolf Hall about 5 times, even tried the audio book, but honestly I just can’t do it. Maybe too many Thomases? The crochet is a blanket of granny squares. It’s unlikely it’ll be seen in public at any point but it’s giving me something to do that involves total concentration which means I can’t think about anything else. Sometimes the radio news is the only thing that reminds me what’s going on. I like those times.
I’ve seen a lot of people talk about how they are enjoying the slower pace of life during the lockdown, but I just can’t wait for it to be over now.
