The Isolation Diaries – 18th & 19th March 2020

wednesday 18th march 2020

a good nights sleep

I have to admit to having a great night’s sleep. It certainly helped as we woke up to more uncertainty. Rex woke around 7.20 and I took him downstairs. Grace had forgotten to turn off her alarm but I think that was a good thing. We need to make sure we don’t all get lazy!

We went downstairs and I sorted breakfast for all. Ross and I then recorded my radio show and then we were a bit all over the place with our routines. It was the first day of our new schedule and so far it wasn’t going so well.

mentoring with the guild

As the Photography Show had been cancelled, The Guild of Photographers was offering free mentoring sessions to assess whether we were skilled enough to submit for qualification. I knew I wanted my qualification in Wedding Photography.

My chat was with David Islip, who went through the images in my Shootproof gallery along with those on my website. He gave me loads of great tips on brushing up certain images and things to look out for when taking photos. He also gave me lots of praise on the photos I had taken.

He assured me – in a profession where I sometimes feel like an imposter! – that I had what it takes to go for full qualification so I am in the process of moving to the next stage. So happy!

venturing out

We put lunch together and then, once I had put Rex down for his nap, I went out to Lidl in town with a list of a few things we needed, leaving Grace and Ross at home with Rex.

I feel a bit stupid saying this, but I put on latex gloves and then normal gloves over the top as I didn’t want to look like an idiot! We had already sealed up the letterbox and asked anyone to leave our deliveries in our usual outside area. I also agreed with Ross that I would leave our shopping in a holding area for 24 hours when returning home so that anything potentially contaminated wouldn’t come into the house.

lidl’s deserted

I drove down into town. Everywhere seemed like a ghost town. It kind of feels like the beginning of the apocalypse. Like the start of Fear the Walking Dead (if you have watched that, you will know what I mean!).

I got to the free parking section of Lidl and got a space straight away. I felt kind of guilty taking in a large trolley when everyone else had small baskets.

There was no bread, no toilet rolls, no hand sanitiser or hand wash. I chose cold and flu tablets which had paracetomol in as there were no actual paracetomol left. I also picked up tea, coffee and milk. There were no size 5 nappies or pull-up pants left for Rex so I got some 4+ instead. Hopefully they will fit him! I also made sure I got a bottle of wine for Sunday (Mothers Day).

I did get one sarky comment off a woman who said ‘leave some for us’! I have no clue what she meant. It wasn’t like I was grabbing everything thing in sight. I still felt guilty for shopping though – and I think I will whenever I go out for the forseeable!

When I got to the check-out, I let the lady behind me go in front. She had less than I did. She was so grateful, bless her.

On the way home, I posted both my and Ross’ mum’s Mother’s Day cards. Kind of sad that we would not see either of them in person for a while now. I will definitely be Face-Timing on Sunday though.

working and the news

When I got back, I did some blog work but was distracted by the news and waiting for Boris Johnson to speak. My brother had said that morning that he had spoken to two separate professional people today who said that the schools were closing on Friday and that from next week, we would be in lockdown.

It was confirmed at around 4.15pm. The schools were closing – except for children of professionals needed to deal with the Coronavirus and those who are vulnerable. All exams were cancelled. Scotland had said that they anticipated that schools could be cancelled until the summer. I wouldn’t be surprised.

late naps!

Ross was due to take Rex over after his nap but he got caught up on a business call. At 5pm I suddenly realised that Rex was still sleeping so got him up. Oops! That did not bode well for bedtime at a sensible hour.

I took Rex downstairs and Ross took him over. I carried on doing some more work. Then I went downstairs to sort out Rex’s tea. There was also lots of chat between me and my brother and sisters on our group.

the pinning club online meeting

At the end of January, I did a short course on Pinterest with Jen Stanbrook at Love Chic Living. It was so good that I signed up for the full course.

After giving Rex his bath, I joined the meeting on Zoom with 8 others including Jen and also Susanna, from A Modern Mother and BritMums who was in the hot seat. It was lovely to get together and take our minds off the madness for a while.

messaging my mum

I messaged my mum to check she was OK. She said that my brother had moved in with his girlfriend. Of course I was concerned for him – but I am relieved that my mum is now not in any direct danger from the outside world.

meals today

• Breakfast – Oat Pancakes with Strawberries
• Lunch – Singapore Nasi Goreng
• Dinner – Rex: Roast Chicken (which we had the night before) Ross and Grace – fended for themselves! Me – Jacket potatoes with marmite, cheese, beans and salad.

Guilt about shopping, hard to come up with a schedule (trial and error) recording my show, photography mentoring, FB group live (yesterday), Rex sleeping, Lunch (Nasi Goreng), dinner

thursday 19th march 2020

trialling a different routine

We started strong today. All got up at 7.30am, had breakfast and got sorted. I prepped for my radio show and went into Ross’ office to record it.

He is a great producer and gives me direction all the time. I don’t take it well. We haven’t been brilliant at communicating and have had had some help with this over the past 6 months (I will explain about this in another blog post another time). He does know what he is doing though and I apologised at the end.

I then went to take over looking after Rex and Grace went upstairs to do some school work.

Amusing rex

I am not – and never have really been – a crafting mum but this morning I got out the little bit of craft stuff we have. We did some sticking and gluing and used some stick on letters and numbers. We also played with the pipe cleaners before having a snack of apple. I got distracted by my phone and social media and my WhatsApp family group. I really must stop doing this! My phone is going to be left outside of the lounge when I am with my boy.

We did some singing and dancing and, where in the past I would have shunned going outside because of the rain, I knew it was important for me, Grace and Rex to get outside. We hadn’t done that since Monday when Rex was at nursery, Grace at school and me at my Slimming World groups.

playing outside

I enticed Rex outside with the idea of filling up the bird feeders. I have to tell you that my bird feeder which I received for Christmas 2018 is one of the things which fills me with most joy. We have Goldfinches, Greenfinches, Robins, Great Tits and Long-tailed tits visiting us along with the standard Starlings and Sparrows.

Once we had done that, I got out the kids bikes and scooters and played on those. We also did some running races AND – something which I hadn’t done for ages – we played What’s The Time Mr Wolf. Rex loved it and Grace had a lovely time too.

After putting up the new Daisy the Cow solar light on our recently renewed driveway, I took all the shopping in from the airlock(!) and went inside to make lunch.

the afternoon

Rex went down for his nap and, because Ross is suffering with his Fibromyalgia pain, he went for a rest too. I spent the afternoon catching up on emails and some blog work and just trying to get myself into some sort of schedule for my blog.

A cleaning routine

Ross and I are well aware that we need to get to grips with a housework schedule so, once Rex had had his dinner, Ross and I got working on the hall, landing and bathroom. I got the bath done (a full clean) before I put Rex in it for his bathtime.

evening

We sat down to watch the first series of The Heist with dinner (we loved the second series so much, we have gone back to watch the first). It was fairly late as Rex didn’t go down until 8.3oish and didn’t actually go to sleep until around 10am (note to self: make sure he gets outside more!).

A row

I knew I had a lot of (unpaid) work to do in relation to my blog and my Slimming World members and my photography. Unfortunately, Ross and I got into a discussion which turned into a row. Probably the first of many given the current climate. I can’t even tell you what it was all about in the end but, when my routine gets disrupted, I find it really difficult to adapt. We kind of sorted it out and then watched the news as usual.

I went up to bed but because Ross was in too much pain from his Fybromyalgia (probably brought on by our argument) he didn’t come to bed. I then got into a discussion with one of my sisters who is still in Jamaica with my brother-in-law. She told me that she hadn’t told anyone because she didn’t want to worry them, but her flight for that day had been cancelled. They were trying to find another one as originally they weren’t due to come back until tomorrow.

Hoping for a better day tomorrow!

What we ate

• Breakfast – Chocolate Weetabix
• Lunch – Rex – leftover Spaghetti Bolognese, Grace – Bacon Supernoodles (!), Ross – eggs and ham on toast, Me – Carrot, Coconut and Lentil soup
• Dinner – Rex – a picnic tea. The rest of us – Creamy Garlic Pork with Pasta