Extracts from my lockdown journal

Friday 18th December 2020

7.51am

Almost the longest day of the year.

It’s still dark this morning as I write in my journal.

Both bedside lamps are switched on. 

I can hear the wind buffering the trees,

I hear the Canada geese honking noisily as they fly over.

I hear the clock “tick tock” and 

I hear the water gushing through the pipes as Philip fills the kettle (usually to the brim) for the first cup of tea of the day.

I can see the twinkle of lights from the farmhouses on the other side of the valley.

I see the red brake lights of a car wending it’s way through the country lanes.  Then as it reaches the top, turns left and heads down hill towards the main roads I see the beam of it’s headlights. 

Off he/she goes to work.  Oh there goes another.

Can’t see the sheep in the fields yet though.

8.03am

It’s becoming lighter by the minute.

8.07am

Almost full daylight. 

Here comes Philip with a steaming cup of tea.

We share a bit of daft chat, a chuckle and a kiss.

Then off he goes to watch breakfast telly and the latest doom and gloom.

Meanwhile I’ll stay here a while longer propped up in bed, watching the day unfold from my bedroom window.

I’m deciding which book to start tonight after finishing Dawn French’s latest “Because of You”.  It won’t be staying on my bookshelf to be treasured or read again.  To many anomalies in it, even though the idea of the plot was quite good.

I’ll check my emails and social media, might even do a crossword or dip into the new issue of Reclaim magazine before a shower and my daily Pilates exercise routine.

8.18am

Almost there with full daylight now and I’ve spotted a few sheep laying next to a dry stone wall.

I can hear the drip of water in the bathroom.

And the scratch of my pencil across the page of my journal .

Way below our house there’s the rumble of cars as folk head off to school and work.

How lucky am I not to have to anymore.

Extracts from my lockdown Diary

2020

Extracts from my lockdown journal

Friday 18th December 2020

7.51am

Almost the longest day of the year.

It’s still dark this morning as I write in my journal.

Both bedside lamps are switched on. 

I can hear the wind buffering the trees,

I hear the Canada geese honking noisily as they fly over.

I hear the clock “tick tock” and 

I hear the water gushing through the pipes as Philip fills the kettle (usually to the brim) for the first cup of tea of the day.

I can see the twinkle of lights from the farmhouses on the other side of the valley.

I see the red brake lights of a car wending it’s way through the country lanes.  Then as it reaches the top, turns left and heads down hill towards the main roads I see the beam of it’s headlights. 

Off he/she goes to work.  Oh there goes another.

Can’t see the sheep in the fields yet though.

8.03am

It’s becoming lighter by the minute.

8.07am

Almost full daylight. 

Here comes Philip with a steaming cup of tea.

We share a bit of daft chat, a chuckle and a kiss.

Then off he goes to watch breakfast telly and the latest doom and gloom.

Meanwhile I’ll stay here a while longer propped up in bed, watching the day unfold from my bedroom window.

I’m deciding which book to start tonight after finishing Dawn French’s latest “Because of You”.  It won’t be staying on my bookshelf to be treasured or read again.  To many anomalies in it, even though the idea of the plot was quite good.

I’ll check my emails and social media, might even do a crossword or dip into the new issue of Reclaim magazine before a shower and my daily Pilates exercise routine.

8.18am

Almost there with full daylight now and I’ve spotted a few sheep laying next to a dry stone wall.

I can hear the drip of water in the bathroom.

And the scratch of my pencil across the page of my journal .

Way below our house there’s the rumble of cars as folk head off to school and work.

How lucky am I not to have to anymore.

Extracts from my lockdown Diary

2020

Lockdown Diary........ A Christmas first

For the first time in the 42 years I’ve been with Philip we will be having Christmas dinner together at home and we are both quite excited about it.

Normally we spend the morning together, open our presents, then I go off to Mum’s for a couple of hours.   I would pick Auntie Gladys up around 2pm and go back to Mum’s.  My sister would drive up from Oxford and my brother would arrive in time for a lovely meal cooked by our amazing 88 year old Mum, who has done it every year of our life, bar one when she was poorly and I had to cook it.   

After our food we open presents and have a general catch up with one another.  Later on I’d take Auntie gladys home then go on to join Philip and all his side of the family at our niece’s house.  Finally returning home together around 9pm-10pm.

Due to us being in Tier 3 we have decided that this year I will go to Mum’s house for breakfast and my brother will go for Christmas lunch.  Mum’s house is a small pretty back to back house with a tiny living room and galley kitchen.  Not conducive to having a pile of folk in and keeping socially distanced.

Also my sister can’t come home as she is having an operation on Monday and will not be allowed to travel afterwards.  As you recall my lovely Auntie Gladys died in March. It’s hard to believe nine months has passed by.  

Nevertheless, even though I’m not going far I’m still going to wear my new velvet coat and tartan dress.  Well I can’t go to the pub or a restaurant so it’ll have to be posh frocks at home.

On Christmas Eve we are having a Christmas buffet box from our local farm shop.  It’s to make up for the meal we are missing out on with friends.

I said I wasn’t cluttering up the lounge with Christmas tat after having our new carpet laid and the room looking so tidy.  However the welder shamed me by saying I was being a grinch, so this is my offering along with a fat plastic Father Christmas hanging from the bathroom window and one on the garden gate that is wrapped in tinsel. Talk about tasteless. 

Let me know how Christmas will be different for you this year.  If it has been changed at all.

 

Take care and stay safe.

Happy Christmas wherever you spend it 

Lynn

xxx

Linking up with 

ANNIE’S FRIDAY SMILES

Lockdown Diary........ A Christmas first

For the first time in the 42 years I’ve been with Philip we will be having Christmas dinner together at home and we are both quite excited about it.

Normally we spend the morning together, open our presents, then I go off to Mum’s for a couple of hours.   I would pick Auntie Gladys up around 2pm and go back to Mum’s.  My sister would drive up from Oxford and my brother would arrive in time for a lovely meal cooked by our amazing 88 year old Mum, who has done it every year of our life, bar one when she was poorly and I had to cook it.   

After our food we open presents and have a general catch up with one another.  Later on I’d take Auntie gladys home then go on to join Philip and all his side of the family at our niece’s house.  Finally returning home together around 9pm-10pm.

Due to us being in Tier 3 we have decided that this year I will go to Mum’s house for breakfast and my brother will go for Christmas lunch.  Mum’s house is a small pretty back to back house with a tiny living room and galley kitchen.  Not conducive to having a pile of folk in and keeping socially distanced.

Also my sister can’t come home as she is having an operation on Monday and will not be allowed to travel afterwards.  As you recall my lovely Auntie Gladys died in March. It’s hard to believe nine months has passed by.  

Nevertheless, even though I’m not going far I’m still going to wear my new velvet coat and tartan dress.  Well I can’t go to the pub or a restaurant so it’ll have to be posh frocks at home.

On Christmas Eve we are having a Christmas buffet box from our local farm shop.  It’s to make up for the meal we are missing out on with friends.

I said I wasn’t cluttering up the lounge with Christmas tat after having our new carpet laid and the room looking so tidy.  However the welder shamed me by saying I was being a grinch, so this is my offering along with a fat plastic Father Christmas hanging from the bathroom window and one on the garden gate that is wrapped in tinsel. Talk about tasteless. 

Let me know how Christmas will be different for you this year.  If it has been changed at all.

 

Take care and stay safe.

Happy Christmas wherever you spend it 

Lynn

xxx

Linking up with 

ANNIE’S FRIDAY SMILES

Proper posh now

At last the living room has come together, 

the new carpet has arrived.

Its like living in some posh woman’s house.  

It won’t be long before it’s messed up with all my stuff.  

I’m even thinking of ditching the Christmas decorations this year just so it doesn’t get cluttered up again.

Theres a few things on the window bottom and I’ll add some twinkly lights to make it a bit more festive.

The Christmas cards are usually artfully displayed  in a nice basket as I don’t like them scattered all over the place. I’ve got a vintage music case I’m going to use this year and a little picnic basket.

Wednesday is our day for shopping at the little open market of Bacup, ten minutes up the road from us.  We buy fresh fish, meat, fruit & veg and treat ourselves at the patisserie stall. It’s lovely chatting with the market traders who we’ve really got to know during these strange times.

On the way back home we stop off at the little Tesco Express for milk and other necessities we can’t get on the market.  The staff always ask how we are keeping, and if only one of us goes in they always ask “Are you on your own this week”.  Its a lovely friendly local store.

Once the shopping has been washed and put away its time for a late lunch and a chilled out afternoon reading, doing crosswords from the weekend paper or generally fiffing and faffing about.

It’s surprising how quickly Wednesday comes around.  It’s the only day we have a plan.

 

Philip has been working on this little pedal car.  Here it is after a respray in Racing Green.  I’ll post some before and after pics when I get them off his camera.

This morning (Friday) we’ve had a flurry of snow, thankfully it’s not sticking,

and I’ve just finished reading Katherine May’s book “Wintering”

Book Review Link

It’s a lovely moving read, perfect for this time of year. Even though it was published this year, it was obviously written before the pandemic and I wonder what the author thinks and feels now and if she would write it any differently if she could have seen what was to come.

 
Stay safe everyone 

Lynn 

x

Proper posh now

At last the living room has come together, 

the new carpet has arrived.

Its like living in some posh woman’s house.  

It won’t be long before it’s messed up with all my stuff.  

I’m even thinking of ditching the Christmas decorations this year just so it doesn’t get cluttered up again.

Theres a few things on the window bottom and I’ll add some twinkly lights to make it a bit more festive.

The Christmas cards are usually artfully displayed  in a nice basket as I don’t like them scattered all over the place. I’ve got a vintage music case I’m going to use this year and a little picnic basket.

Wednesday is our day for shopping at the little open market of Bacup, ten minutes up the road from us.  We buy fresh fish, meat, fruit & veg and treat ourselves at the patisserie stall. It’s lovely chatting with the market traders who we’ve really got to know during these strange times.

On the way back home we stop off at the little Tesco Express for milk and other necessities we can’t get on the market.  The staff always ask how we are keeping, and if only one of us goes in they always ask “Are you on your own this week”.  Its a lovely friendly local store.

Once the shopping has been washed and put away its time for a late lunch and a chilled out afternoon reading, doing crosswords from the weekend paper or generally fiffing and faffing about.

It’s surprising how quickly Wednesday comes around.  It’s the only day we have a plan.

 

Philip has been working on this little pedal car.  Here it is after a respray in Racing Green.  I’ll post some before and after pics when I get them off his camera.

This morning (Friday) we’ve had a flurry of snow, thankfully it’s not sticking,

and I’ve just finished reading Katherine May’s book “Wintering”

Book Review Link

It’s a lovely moving read, perfect for this time of year. Even though it was published this year, it was obviously written before the pandemic and I wonder what the author thinks and feels now and if she would write it any differently if she could have seen what was to come.

 
Stay safe everyone 

Lynn 

x

I’m still here - what’s on your Workdesk Wednesday

I know folk having been wondering where I’ve been and I thank you for seeking me out.

Honestly though I’ve had nothing to post about.

Lockdown 2 life has revolved around home,

books, television and checking what’s going on down the lane.

Yesterday we had a walk in the dell kicking autumn leaves

before heading back home for lunch and trying 

to keep out of the biscuit barrel.

My friend Susan has utilised her stay home time well

by making me a beautiful stitched heart which she dropped off on Sunday.

On Monday we celebrated my fabulous mum’s

88th birthday with fish and chips from the chippy, a big bunch of flowers, a balloon and a bag of presents and then the postie brought her a pile of cards.

Mum will have an even bigger smile after today’s news.

It now means my sister and brother can spend Christmas Day with her, and while we won’t all be together like we normally are at least now we can plan whose going where and whose staying put.

Stay safe folk

Lynn

x

LINKING TO WHATS ON YOUR WORKDESK WEDNESDAY

I’m still here - what’s on your Workdesk Wednesday

I know folk having been wondering where I’ve been and I thank you for seeking me out.

Honestly though I’ve had nothing to post about.

Lockdown 2 life has revolved around home,

books, television and checking what’s going on down the lane.

Yesterday we had a walk in the dell kicking autumn leaves

before heading back home for lunch and trying 

to keep out of the biscuit barrel.

My friend Susan has utilised her stay home time well

by making me a beautiful stitched heart which she dropped off on Sunday.

On Monday we celebrated my fabulous mum’s

88th birthday with fish and chips from the chippy, a big bunch of flowers, a balloon and a bag of presents and then the postie brought her a pile of cards.

Mum will have an even bigger smile after today’s news.

It now means my sister and brother can spend Christmas Day with her, and while we won’t all be together like we normally are at least now we can plan whose going where and whose staying put.

Stay safe folk

Lynn

x

LINKING TO WHATS ON YOUR WORKDESK WEDNESDAY