Skip to main content

Sunny days

As we stare down the barrel of a second national lockdown I'm not ashamed to report that I'm feeling pretty angry about the whole thing. So much for 'world beating test and trace' systems and the ability to get super granular with the way in which we respond to coronavirus. I get the fact that nationally we are seeing rates of infection and (apparently) hospital numbers rising, but the data says that in our neck of the woods we have 3(3!) cases per 100,000 people and so I cannot see why we should have to lockdown in the same way that Bolton needs to when their rates are at 190! The average for England is 16 so surely we aren't at a point where we need to take the same approach everywhere?

Part of the reason I'm ranting so much is that after 2 weeks back at school I'm finally getting my Izzy back again. She has thrived with the social interactions school gives her and (although she complains about it) has loved being back. Instead of the morose, withdrawn girl she had become at home, she is now back to being full of chat and laughter, with something to say on everything. This is of course somewhat to Glenn's disadvantage as we can't shut her up at the dinner table, but I think that's a positive even if he thinks she's ruining his peace!

The weather has returned to being warm and sunny, although the
 mornings feel somewhat autumnal and the nights draw in so much earlier. I have definitely been feeling the fact that the last 9 months have been completely relentless and so I've been trying to actively slow down a bit and not beat myself up for not doing anywhere near the amount of running that I managed last year - what a difference a year and circumstances can make! Of course I'm walking so much more than I used to and I'm still doing all my yoga, but there's neither the time or the energy in many days to also get some running miles under my belt. I keep reminding myself that what matters is that I'm moving, rather than I'm moving fast. Both this weekend and last I have made a conscious decision on Sunday to just enjoy the sunshine and space and not try and cram so much in. 

On that note, today has been a real treat. Yesterday Abi had a bit of a moment and said that I never take her anywhere (?!) and so I said that she could choose something to do today given Izzy and Glenn were going to the bike track so that Izzy could get some practice in. I'm very proud to say that initially she wanted to go a NT property, but that was a non-starter because of course in these Covid times all spontaneity has left the building and we would have had to book that last week to get a place. Instead we decided to go to Chilbolton Cow Common which she had been due to go to with Mia a while ago but for various reasons they didn't make it. CCC is a nature reserve near Stockbridge, in the Test Valley and it turned out to be absolutely gorgeous. We had the most beautiful walk along the river and around the lakes, sat on the banks and chatted and then headed off to Stockbridge for tea and cake. We then did a bit of a magical mystery tour home (at least I set off in the right direction!), arriving home in good time to still have the afternoon pottering in the garden. It's been a lovely day and just what I needed before another busy week at work. Abi and I had a lovely walk, Izzy had a blast at the track with proud Dad watching - everyone is happy.

So here's hoping that the government don't decide to do anything too stupid, and that whatever they do they don't mess with the kids being at school. They have suffered enough and as Abi said "this isn't their disease and so why can't they just get on with their life in as normal a fashion as possible?" I agree. 






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Snow!

After a beautiful day of sunshine yesterday, today it snowed... but more of that in a minute. Yesterday actually felt like a day of much progress. Despite Covid we managed to arrange a visit to Taunton School to have a look around with the girls and to meet the Headmaster. This was a massive relief as I had got to the point of thinking we would have to accept a place without ever stepping foot inside the school. In the end we had a very comprehensive, if a little deserted, tour of the school and the kids loved it, as did we. There may even be a small chance they might squeeze us in if we are there by the summer term - that is of course if the kids are back into school by then. The other news was that I managed to speak to Mr &Mrs Tucker - the people buying our house - and we tentatively agreed that we will try and complete during the Easter holidays which could have us moving in the third week of April. This does require everyone to have got all of what they need done, and that of ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Busy, busy, busy

Full English brunch for these two! Life is VERY busy and I don't feel like we have stopped for weeks (or is that months?) It seems like the 'to-do' list is endless and while I know we don't have to do it all at once, I have taken on the unenviable task of trying to get the Muppet to finish all the work he promised / we have paid for and that has been like pushing a mountain of water up a very steep hill. We've got to the point where I think we have got all of what we are likely to get and the rest we'd rather finish ourselves anyway. The electric gates are clearly a work of his imagination based on the gates / the electric cables he spec'd and the cheapo motor mechanism - there is no way they'll work so we have decided to not bother and source proper gates that do the job and look better as well. Knowing that we are almost at a point where we sever the ties feels very liberating. Looking back this last 6 months has been incredibly stressful and just didn...
Post a Comment
Read more

Decluttering

Girls buying baby clothes - this could get addictive! It's Easter weekend already and we still haven't completed!! However we have made some progress, most importantly with the paperwork which has not been Steve the Builder's forte throughout this process. Stags finally got their act together and got in touch with the planning office and got an update from the Planning Officer. Apparently she is broadly happy with the application, and is prepared to pass it with only a few minor modifications which we are completely comfortable with. The Building Control Officer also came and did all of what he needed to, which means the final certificate should be issued which allows the warranty to also be issued. On our side we finally tracked down the paperwork (or more correctly got the BC Officer to come out again and do a second assessment) for the outstanding BCC on our windows (which went in 6 years ago but due to an admin error were never registered) - nothing is straightforward i...
Post a Comment
Read more