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Last week on her podcast, Gretchen Ruben was discussing reviewing #20for2020. When we all wrote our lists we had no idea what was to follow in the year and some may no longer be possible. I am going to do my 6 month check below and see where I’m up to and what I still would like to try and achieve this year.

1. Read for pleasure, 15 minutes a day. With the exception of a couple of days when I was ill in bed with a migraine and not able to read, I have completed this task everyday (Go me!) Lockdown has given me more time to read.
2. Resize my wedding and engagement rings. Done.
3. Complete my University course.  It is no longer possible to have graduated by the end of this year as I can’t do my action research as planned because of lockdown. However our course has been extended and my assignments are now due in early January. Whilst I won’t have my results by December 31st I still aim to have completed everything so I can enjoy Christmas with no worries.
4.  Run a 10k race. I had a 10k race booked which was sadly cancelled because of Covid 19. Whilst there may not be an organised 10k race, I plan to do a virtual race and time it.
5. Run a parkrun PB. parkrun is currently suspended :(. I was 3 seconds short of my PB on a wet, muddy and windy run in January, so given my PB was on a dry, warm day I think I could do this if parkrun restarts this year.
6. Have a no spend month. I managed this in January and then with lockdown it seems most months this year have been little or no spend months. Its certainly made me consider our consumer society.
7. Enjoy live music. I feel so sad that this won’t happen this year. Nothing beats live music.  
8.  Plan a special 10 year famiversary.  This will still be celebrated but I’m not sure what our celebrations will look like or what we will be able to do later this summer.
9. Have a rainbow of nail colours. Another activity I was doing so well on and then lockdown stopped it. At present there is no reopening date for nail salons. Here’s hoping I have pretty nails again.
10. Visit the fashion museum. This was closed until the spring and never got to reopen as the lockdown was put in place. Its still on my list to try and do this year.
11. Wear colourful running kit and smile. I did buy a lovely pair of peach coloured trainers but no new running kit yet, I’m in my old favourites until I can shop again. I’m determined to have festive running leggings this Christmas.
12. Special bakes for Valentines, Easter, Halloween and Christmas. Well lockdown has been perfect for this task, ticks all round so far.  
13. Review every film watched.  I can’t believe that I haven’t been to the cinema this year, I miss our local Indie cinema and really hope it can survive. On My week posts I have written about all films I’ve seen on television this year.
14. Get the correct school place for Little Man. Yes, yes, yes, we’re so happy after the challenge of getting a special school place that we finally got a place in our first choice. It means we won’t have to move and will make life easier for us all.  
15. Complete a photo a week challenge.  I started this but do have some catching up to do!  
16. Finish the 50 parkruns milestone.  This is no longer possible, but I’ll get there as soon as I can when parkrun reopens.  
17. Take Little Man to London. This isn’t going to happen this year with Covid 19 but another to add to next year’s list.
18. Plan each season’s style. I’ve gone through all my clothes and felt very carefully about what I need and how I want to look. I feel my style is developing.  
19. Take a flower arranging class. Again, this is unlikely to be possible ‘live’ but I’m looking into online courses.  
20. No sweets or chocolate. So far, so good!

Despite Covid 19, I still think that I can adapt many of these activities and enjoy them in a different way. I look forward to the end of year round up and smashing some of these tasks.

A belated post for the past fortnight, I feel that I’ve been busy but when I pause to try and explain why and what I was doing, I’m not sure what made it busy? Its been another fortnight of work, home school and family life. More is beginning to slowly open up and it was wonderful to have a Chinese takeaway for the first time in lockdown. The school work is lessening, so there is more time for little adventures during the week, my favourite open space reopened this fortnight, so we went there for a walk, play and to chill.

I’ve watched …

The Salisbury Poisonings.

This was a three episode series about the poisoning of a Russian and his daughter in the town of Salisbury. Its original broadcast was delayed from the start of lockdown and I could see why as it explained the impact of the poison and how it could spread quickly and kill, not too dissimilar from Covid 19. However it was a really interesting drama with strong characters and great acting.

Big Brother 2000

It is the 20th anniversary of Big Brother and Channel 4 have been showing highlights of the past series. I loved Big Brother in the early series and watching the original 2000 highlights brought back many happy memories of the summer of 2000. The final was the night before my friend’s wedding and we stayed in, watching Craig win and getting all excited about the wedding and life.

I’ve listened

On my Spotify, sometimes listening to one song can take you on a journey of rediscovery and this week I have been enjoying Del Amitri and Crowded House, good music for these times.

I read

I finished The Hate U Give and as a fiction book it has made me really think and be disappointed in our society. How can we still be accepting prejudice and racism? I also read Broken Places, Outer Spaces by Nnedi Okorafor. The author had a serious back injury due to an operation in her late teens which stopped her potential sporting career and led to her losing interest in her science studies. however from this adversity, she developed a passion for writing which led to her exploring her culture and becoming a celebrated sci fi writer. There is no bitterness in the tale and its an inspiring read. I also have started Zadie Smith’s Swing Time. There is a theme to my reading at present, I am trying to read novels written by black writers. I’m not sure how I can personally address the Black lives Matter movement but when in doubt, books are always a good place to start.

I made

The weather took a bit of a turn on some days and it was winter warmers for tea. I made a beautiful told in the hole, adding fresh fennel from the garden to enhance it. I love being able to pop out to our vegetale beds and pick some lettuce for salads, strawberries for pudding etc.. Our autumn harvest is looking very promising.

I visited

To quote my group of the fortnight, Crowded House, it feels like we’ve had four seasons in one day recently. We’ve had a mini heatwave (and ridiculous numbers of day trippers who seem to think that social distancing doesn’t count at the seaside) cold, rainy days and everything in between. I have been making the most of our local environment, we’ve had trips to the beach, the forest and a lake. I’ve been wild swimming and realised how much I’ve missed swimming, the feeling of being immersed in water.

I helped

Little Miss will have been off school for 6 months by the time she returns in September and this has been the perfect opportunity for her to try new looks. She has been dying her hair and this fortnight we went deep purple, my poor bathroom took a lot of the colour. It was a little dark and gothic, the bright pink has been my favourite so far.

Have a happy week.

We have now been in lockdown for 78 days and we are very slowly beginning to be allowed to meet others outside from our household, in the open air with social distancing. Shops will start to reopen from next Monday and primary schools are opening for limited year groups. There’s no news on pubs, restaurants, cafes, cinemas, theatres and the one I’m desperate for hairdressers. We have no idea when we will be able to visit people in their houses and stay a night away from our homes. When things reopen all is going to look very different. This has got me thinking about the last normal, when we didn’t realise what was coming. I look back on a couple of weekends with fondness now, at the time, they were just normal.

At the beginning of February, Little Miss was in her school’s production. It was a new time of the school year to do the show, but had been designed not to distract Year 11s from exams. The timing meant that of all the school productions due to be done this academic year, it was one of the few which happened. This was the last time I saw my parents who came down to watch the show on Thursday evening, before they flew to Thailand for a 3 week holiday. It seems so strange now that despite news about a virus that they still travelled and then returned home with no health checks. On the Friday, I went to do some collaborative work with a sister school with my colleague, meeting up with our peers, it was a really useful day and promises made for further visits and joint work, which are all are currently on hold. On the Saturday, my father in law came to stay for the weekend so he too could see Little Miss in the show, my sister and brother in law also decided to do this on an impromptu visit. My over riding memory is of us all in the fish and chip café in between performances, a big, loud table full of family, pots of tea and steaming plates of chips, it really is the simple moments which are the most precious. After the final performance, Little Miss and I stayed for a drink and dance in the theatre bar. The bar was packed, noisy and hot, reminiscent of Saturday nights out in my 20s and just brilliant. It felt a grown up moment with my daughter, chatting, high on excitement as we walked home on possibly that latest she had ever been out. This weekend filled with family has got me through those low moments in lockdown and the promise that we will get back to normal.

The final normal weekend was March 7th and 8th, it was a weekend when we knew something might be changing, but at the time it was all about hand washing. I did my parkrun, it was the penultimate parkrun and talk was about the possibility of postponing upcoming marathons, we hoped parkrun would be safe with perhaps a few alterations. After parkrun, I picked up Little Miss from her drama session at the local youth club and we headed to ‘big town’ for some shopping and lunch. Its these things I miss so much now, popping into a coffee shop for lunch. I remember treating Little Miss to a ruby pink hot chocolate which made her happy. I don’t always spoil the children, but I’m so pleased I did it on this day, no point waiting for treats which can’t happen now, carpe diem! We had to buy a birthday present for my nephew, we got summer swim shorts and matching flip flops for his upcoming holiday to Florida, I never imagined it would not happen and the virus would cause Disney Land to close. Fortunately as I was in the summer section I picked up a few shorts and t-shirts for my son as they had his size, these were very useful purchases and has taught me to pick up the things I will need when I see them, you never know what will happen to change your plans. Lockdown has given us the sunniest, hottest and driest spring on record and these clothes have been worn lots.

On the Sunday, we were still limited in our walks because of the storms and we walked through the botanical gardens of a neighbouring town, finishing up with a pub lunch. Whilst this sounds idyllic it was cold, windy and showery on the walk and the pub was packed as people tried to avoid the rain. I do remember having hand sanitizer in my bag and making everyone use it before the food, given the packed pub I’m not sure if the virus had been in the air that we could have avoided it given the lack or knowledge of social distancing. I’m not sure what we did after we came home, but I presume it was watching the football on Sky, ironing the school and work shirts and getting ready for the coming week. The ordinary which has now become the extraordinary.

Our normal will return, but for my wellbeing, I am working on this being a long term project. If it happens quickly, I will be delighted and relieved. I’m looking forward to the normal things on a weekend, a parkrun, a trip to the coffee shop, popping into shops, listening to the football results at 4.45pm on a Saturday afternoon, Sunday pub lunches and having school and work shirts to iron again. I will be so grateful for normal.

It’s hard to imagine what June will look like as we edge out of lockdown. It does feel that there is a lack of clarity in the government guidelines and I do look with envy to other countries with their clear transition plans.

The children will not be in school this month (as it stands as I write, but never say never as things are happening quite randomly) Neither children are in the year groups selected to return which is a relief. I’ve read the guidelines for schools and it’s so sad and sparse, I want my children to return to the school they know and be able to play and work together.

So June will be another month of home learning. It’s normally school trip month, sports day etc.. again all lovely things which won’t happen. I can’t even do educational trips as part of my home learning, although I may explore virtual trips. June would have seen our last primary sports day, it’s always a highlight of summer and a tradition I’ll really miss. Fortunately last year’s was amazing and as our final it’s a perfect memory.

The one thing we won’t be cancelling this month is our first lockdown birthday. We have a rainbow 🌈 theme, the symbol of lockdown. I’m organised and have all the things we need for a special home birthday celebration. Sadly, we have had to postpone our family birthday trip to Paultons Park which is our annual treat. I hope we can get there soon as we love the theme park.

All I want to do this month is see my parents and have my hair cut. But these are two unanswered questions for the government to decide when I will be able to do these simple acts. My problem is my parents don’t live locally and we could only meet in a garden ( we can’t go inside to use a toilet) and must return home the same night. These conditions make a visit impossible. I really couldn’t care less about non essential shopping or horse racing and other professional sports, I just want to hug my parents this month.

There is monotony in life in lockdown, each day has its routine, home school in the morning, a walk in the afternoon or if its a work day, a long day in my office and a walk in the evening trying to get to my daily step target of 10k. This week seemed really monotonous and I think we’re all confused what we can and can’t do, the public are losing patience with the government ambiguity on decisions. We had a slight change to routines this week as Mr S is now working at home, as my work poses a risk as it is a setting with confirmed Covid 19 cases.

I wore ..

Given the Covid 19 cases, I am now in PPE at work, a mask and gloves when I leave my office and am in communal areas. In truth, I walk into my office and leave at the end of the working day, with only one comfort break. We are in lockdown and you need to keep as safe as possible. The masks look awful and make you feel quite nauseous but they are medical quality to keep us safe. We have all the cleaning materials to keep everywhere clean and the new start and end to each day is anti baccing our office. It is a horrible situation but we have young people to keep safe and we can’t leave them alone. Our staff are doing amazing things in the most challenging circumstances.

I decorated …

Well I finally decorated some stones which is on the essential list of things to do in lockdown, along with the infamous banana bread! It was a nice activity and kept us occupied on Sunday morning in the garden as the sun shined. Its the simple things which bring joy.

I got a phone call ..

Okay getting a phone call is hardly an unusual part of the week, but this was so unexpected and exciting that it merits a mention. For the past year, we have been trying to get our son a place at our local special needs school. All professionals agreed it was the best fit but there was no place available. This has led to mediation, tribunal, letters to MPs, councillors and finally after months of no school place for Sep 2020, a place was offered at our second choice.

Whilst we were delighted to get a place, we realised that given the distance from our home, we would have to move from our idyllic seaside town to make life work for all of our family, so were having to anticipate big life changes for us all. We had begun to get our heads around all of this and were starting to make tentative plans when out of the blue on Tuesday afternoon, I got a phone call offering a place at our number 1 choice. To say I was shell shocked would be an understatement and I couldn’t quite believe it until I had the confirmation email. This has meant we can relax and simply focus on settling him in the new school rather than having to make those big life changing plans. The relief is indescribable and I’m still having to reread the email to believe its true!

Next week is the last before half term and then a pause on home schooling for a week, yippee! I’m trying to plan lots of lockdown treats as we were due to be at our happy place of Butlins at half term and whilst it wont be the same, I want them to feel some holiday vibes.

Have a happy week.

So a new month and another month full of cancelled plans. This was going to be a great month for Little Man, his school residential, cub camp and our annual trip to Butlins. Sadly none are going to happen now. We had decided that even if lockdown was relaxed that we wouldn’t go on holiday. We want to relax and have fun on holiday, be in communal areas to swim, watch shows, play and eat out, and we quickly realised that even if Butlins opened our holiday couldn’t be like normal. Fortunately, Butlins cancelled all bookings last week and we have had all our money refunded easily. At present we haven’t rearranged as we don’t know where we’ll be in the months to come. We are doubtful if our summer holiday will happen and have been honest and upfront with the children about this possibility. They seem to be okay but we have a beautiful sandy beach at the bottom of our road so a summer at home will be full of beach days, if the rules allow it. The only trip away I want to do at present is simply to see our parents.

As we start this month, we still don’t know how long we’ll be in lockdown, its been 40 days so far and Boris has spoken today about maintaining the lockdown, I’m fine with this. We’re so lucky to be in the position we are and it feels safe. I’m not sure how I’ll feel when we are free to do more, I feel like we’re in a safe, protective bubble at present and opening up will give more risk. Again, we don’t know if the children will be at school this month, I doubt it and think realistically it won’t be until September that we are back to school. This will mean Little Man’s transition to secondary school and leaving primary will be very different to his sister’s last year, the lockdown seems to be affecting him more with some of the coming of age events cancelled. He’s taking it calmly and is focusing on the positives, his attitude certainly helps us all. I think I’m more upset on the things he’s missing out on.

As we don’t have anything to look forward to this month its another month of simply being in the present, enjoying the simple things and writing lists of things to look forward to in the future. This list won’t be full of exotic holidays or expensive shopping trips, but seeing parents, going for a coffee with friends, playing football in the park or enjoying the latest film in the cinema. The pandemic has given us a new perspective on how we want our lives to be lived. I think this will be the most positive and life affirming result of the pandemic along with an even deeper love for our Nhs and our communities.

Happy May.

Whilst I am still continuing ‘My Week’ I am also am writing a Coronavirus post everyday. This post is for the little sparkles, the serious stuff is on the other post.

This week has been week 3 of lockdown and I’ve also been on Easter holidays. I’ve not done much school work with the children, just finishing off some maths and a few bits and bobs. I can amuse us all without the pressure of set tasks.

I’ve read …

In Five years by Rebecca Serle. This plot was similar to something else I’ve read recently ( but I cannot find the title which is really bugging me and it’s not on my Good Reads list either!) The main character has a premonition of a new man in her life despite being engaged and happy. The story explores her life and the truth of the premonition is revealed. It was fine as a book to read in lockdown when you have the time but for me it was only 3 stars ⭐️

I’ve made …

The kitchen is my favourite place and the lockdown has seen me happily trying new recipes, baking with the children and finally having the time to make hot cross buns, which have been on my to bake list forever! I love the time and effort we are making with food, it’s my interest and a real treat. This week I made a full Chinese meal, complete with egg fried rice, mushroom rice etc.. It was all so remarkably easy that I did wonderful why we hadn’t done it before. Homemade Chinese is now being adding to our Saturday night around the world menus. In preparation for Easter I’ve been following the domestic goddess Nigella’s recipes for hot cross buns and Simnel cake. This item of special bakes on special occasions on my 20for2020 is progressing well.

I’ve listened…

It’s quite hard to find time to be alone at home. My normal podcast listening time whilst I run is no longer available as my daily exercise is now going out with the children for a walk. I’ve listened to some of my favourite pods in bed and it’s a different alternative to reading. I do need to be careful as I was laughing so much to With Me Now, I woke up Mr S!

As I said last week I’m finding the radio to be a great comfort at present. I’m more likely to listen to the radio than watch television.

I’ve decorated …

Easter has always been a special time and I love to decorate the house. I’ve made a special effort with the front window to make anyone smile as they pass it. We live at the bottom of a footpath so we have people walk past regularly. Sadly I am missing my fresh daffodils and tulips among my decorations, as they’re not considered an essential in our small supermarket.

Little Miss has been busy painting rainbows for our neighbours and it is lovely to see her work in all the neighbouring houses. One of the best things to come from this tragic situation is the sense of community. I feel so lucky to have such great neighbours.

I’ve walked …

Everyday we have had our permitted walk in the local countryside. We live minutes from big fields and to see the children running around and to feel the sun on our faces is a blessing. Even in these tough times we need to recognise and celebrate the nice times in our lockdown lives.

This monthly post is a preview of the month, full of plans and hopes for the coming weeks.  My diary for April 2020 was looking great.  For me April is the month where life starts to bloom after a winter’s hibernation. Our seaside town starts to fill with visitors and there is a lightness and happiness in the air.  April brings the Easter holidays and we normally go and have a break at my parents and then celebrate my Father in Law’s birthday with the wider family too.  On our family calendar we had dates for sports, the school Easter bonnet parade and the simple things like hair and nail appointments.  Then there were the plans yet to be finalised, days out at local attractions, play dates, a trip to the cinema etc..  April was going to be a lovely month. 

And now to the reality, everything is cancelled, we are in lockdown. Of all the things planned it is my Father in Law’s birthday which will be hardest.  He will be 88 this month and last year we had such an amazing day in Lyme Regis, in the Easter heatwave, with all the family.  It was one of those really special days, amazing weather, a delicious lunch, everybody on sparkling form, these memories do help.  My father in law lives alone and is self isolating and it just feels so sad and lonely.  He bought himself an iPad at the start of this crisis and with my brother in law’s virtual help, he has set it up so we can Face Time him every day. I’m trying to think of something special we can do for him so we’re still celebrating together (virtually)

I recognise how lucky we are that the coronavirus is simply an inconvenience at present and that none of friends and family have been infected.  There is no FOMO this month, we’re all in this together and this month is to be one of simple pleasures, walks in the countryside (5 mins walk from our front door) baking hot cross buns or playing games.  

This week we are are still in lockdown but we are doing things to try and enliven the experience. Here are some of the things we’ve done this week.

I’ve read

I tried to read a magazine this week, I just needed something light. However the articles just didn’t sit right in the current situation, travel, days out, clothes shopping, all things we can’t do at present. Unless it’s a specialist magazine, I don’t think I’ll be buying one for a while.

The book I read, ‘Love, Loss and what I wore’ was recommended by Gretchen Rubin’s podcast as it’s this month’s book club choice. I loved the book, an unusual concept, an autobiography through outfits. It was surprising how much of the author’s life came through some simple descriptions. It’s inspired me to write about some of the memories I have of favourite outfits.

We made …

Little Miss took an idea we had together and made a blue ombré nhs display for her bedroom window. I think it looks great under her rainbow hearts and shows our support for our amazing nhs.

We cooked …

Meals have become a highlight of our days and the children are taking it in turns to help me make our main meal. They have helped to make a shepherds pie, rice pudding, curry etc.. all from scratch to show them how we use fresh ingredients and herbs and spices to make a proper meal.

I listened …

The radio is an important resource in these times. It does bring people together and I’ve really appreciated it in these past few weeks. I listen to all types of radio stations, local, national, music and spoken word. It’s helped balance what is happening in the world and stops a preoccupation with scrolling through social media. Radio whether national or local is a community hub and as much as I like podcasts, live radio is a comfort and necessity.

This week saw our new normal, with the children off school and Mr S and I working different hours to be able to care for them. We are both key workers and have to attend work onsite, although at present we are compressing our hours into longer days, I’m working 4 days in 3 days and Mr S, 2.5 days in 2 days. There seems to be quite high expectations of what we are to do with the children on our ‘school days. ’ I prefer a more relaxed approach, starting the day with a long nature walk, returning home for the core tasks and then more practical, fun activities in the afternoon.

I read ..

I’m preferring to read in the evenings rather than watch television, it’s a perfect distraction. I’ve read two books this week, Call me by your name by Andre Aciman and Never Greener by Ruth Jones. I was a little disappointed that the hype about Call me did not live up to the reality for me. I simply didn’t root for the main characters, they weren’t particularly nice and I didn’t find their romance authentic. However the characters and relationships were so much better in Never Greener. I love Ruth Jones’ tv work and her story was of the relationship dilemmas that people may face, do you go back to a former love, unrequited love etc.. was one the reader could relate to. The ending was perfect and you felt that every character got the right result.

I watched

I finally got to see Rocketman this week and loved it. I love a musical and could see this on the stage. Some of theatrical styles, eg through a door to a new scene, music to cross over scenes etc.. were in the film and I appreciated this, it felt original. The costumes were amazing and it was a film which I liked on so many different levels.

I made

It’s not so much about me making recipes this week but foods the children have enjoyed making with me. On Tuesday we made fresh pancakes on our return from our walk and on Thursday Little Miss made a delicious ginger cake with citrus icing. I’m keen to encourage a wider range of recipes and today, Little Miss and I made a chestnut and mushroom flan from scratch for tea, delicious! In this lockdown, it’s been nice to have more time to prep meals and enjoy around the table.

We have also made rainbows for our windows this week, this is part of a national project to add a little sunshine to our local neighbourhood.

I heard …

On Thursday evening, we went into the garden at 8pm to clap and cheer our nhs. The sound was incredible, I never expected it to be so noisy and emotional. It’s interesting to see the ways in which communities are still trying to be together and show appreciation.

So now it’s week 2 of lockdown. We’ve done our first week and I know what to expect and have made some minor changes to the routine. Let’s see what week 2 brings ….