Posted on

Day 5 – Boredom [L2]

This lockdown is much more boring than the previous one was. On one hand we’ve got used to staying in, so there’s a little less mental strain on not being able to go anywhere. On the other hand the weather is cold and wet, then it gets dark early. So there’s less happiness to be got from being out in the garden. It’s pretty easy to sit outside on the patio and be with nature when it’s moderately warm and daylight after dinner. It’s entirely different when it’s the same temperature as your fridge, drizzling and dark.

Last Rolo


Girl in a blue jacket holding up half a roll of Rolo chocolates
Lucy tried Rolos for the first time, and decided that they were very yummy! (Photo: James Kemp)
The highlight of my day was a walk with Lucy to the local co-op. We went the long way round to get some exercise, and played three rounds of the A-Z game. One on things you can wear, one on animals, and one on things you have actually eaten. The items you can wear was the hardest of the three. Although things you’ve actually eaten is quite tricky for the fussy eaters….

At the co-op Lucy chose a packet of Rolos as her treat for going on a long walk (by her standards). On the way there she’d told me all about a wedding planner game she’s been playing in her tablet. On the way back I explained to her about the last rolo. I also told her that we’d had a single rolo wrapped in the end of the roll in our wedding favours. I had to eat a lot of Rolos in the weeks leading up to our wedding!

Posting Parcels

I did manage another trip out. We had some parcels that needed dropping off at the post office. This included the replacement control circuit for the Kenwood Chef that I ordered in error. Even with four parcels, including one to Belgium that turned out not to fit through the large letter slot, it took me about ten minutes. What was a bit of a surprise was that the postage of a hardback book to Belgium on the cheapest option was £8.70. This takes 15-80 business days according to the time estimate. Maybe someone is walking there with it? Fortunately there’s no rush for it to get there.
Posted on

Day 24 – 10th April 2020

Seeing as it is Good Friday we all had the day off. Breakfast was hot cross buns, toasted. We had a relaxed start to the day before going out to do some gardening.

Gardening

Today we all went out the front. Tracy and I dug weeds out of the borders round the drive. Alexander painted the fence that we replaced earlier in the year, after the storms knocked it flat. Lucy did some painting and she also did some weeding.

I took the pick axe to the part of the border nearest the front. We cut down some thorn bushes last Autumn. There were still a few sets if roots still in the ground as well as some ivy, brambles and a large grass that gets everywhere. It was pretty hard going, and I cleared a couple if metres of the border.

Tracy was doing something similar at the other end, and we pulled a lot of roots and woody parts out of the ground.

Afternoon Walk

After lunch Lucy lost the love for gardening, so I took her for a walk. We had to collect some leaflets about Covid-19 volunteering for our street. We also needed to stop by the Co-op for dishwasher tablets, bread, milk and a few other things for dinner.

Our destination was down Nutfield Road, just over a mile from the house. So Lucy and I set off at a fairly leisurely pace and we played twenty questions until we got as far as the Merstham rec. Then we switched to the alphabet game, with the theme of Spring. This took us all the way onto Nutfield Road. Lucy was a bit despondent about then, it was a hot day (22°C according to the weather underground app).

We couldn’t find the envelope with the leaflets in, so I phoned Tracy for more detailed instructions. However she didn’t answer and I tried Alexander. In relaying the message I didn’t get that the house we were after was located behind another one. So we didn’t find it. Lucy was a bit upset as we walked back to the Co-op, but I managed to reassure her that it was okay.

Shopping

There was a pretty big queue for the Co-op, eight people in front of us when we arrived. It moved quickly though. We were only about five minutes outside. One thing I did notice was that the automatic doors were on exit only. So it was only possible to enter if someone left. I thought that was a pretty neat solution. Inside only the self-service tills were working, so staff contact was minimised.

Some of the shelves were better stocked than the last time I was in, although still no pasta, dried rice, or flour. The sweet aisle was pretty thin, and half the beer fridge was empty, notably no cider. We got most of what we wanted, including the dishwasher tablets (24 for £3), bread (lots of choice), milk (ditto), chorizo, crisps, and the very last bottle of Irn Bru in the shop.

With the mission complete Lucy insisted that we call Tracy for a lift. So we crossed the road and put some space between us and the still massive queue. Lucy opened the Freddo treasure chest that I’d bought her as a treat for walking with me.

Fence

Alexander finished painting the fence when I was out with Lucy. He did a pretty good job, although he’d focused on the parts that Lucy couldn’t reach when she’d been helping him. I noticed when I went out to tidy up after dinner that there were some bare patches near the bottom. So I decided to touch them up. It went pretty well until I stepped back to check for more and trod on a nail. It went straight into the middle of my left foot. A few hours later it still hurts.