A weeks holiday in lockdown

James and I had this week off on holiday. We are both still working during the pandemic, it was much needed!

To be honest it is super hard when the majority of your work colleagues (in James' case) are off getting full pay while you have to continue to work and home school the kids. It's easier for me, as although I'm now working full time everyone else in healthcare is also working hard and I get to leave the house as usual. I am avoiding too much Facebook, I can't bear to hear how people are bored at home, when I'd love to be spending time with my kids. My challenge has always been envy and right now I am working double time on keeping on top of it.

Anyway onto the fantastic week off. The opportunity to not have to go anywhere meant we were even more productive than usual. James re-built the wall out front by the pig sty and pointed it up, I have ordered a gate where the old pig entrance used to be. It's a little wider than it was to make a new pedestrian access.

Our usual Easter egg hunt was reduced to just us, but it was still special and we now had enough chocolate for the 20 kids that had been planned for. 

We have some wonderful neighbours that we help out occasionally and like all of the retired people round here their gardens are amazingly well kept. I had a wonderful delivery of plants this week so the beds are once again overflowing.

The polytunnel got planted up with salad and spring onions and I potted up the tomatoes and aubergines. I've started more cottage garden plant seeds too. It got so warm in there this week with the sunny weather, I could have been in the South of France. We had managed to buy an IBC and got this is set up by the polytunnel to make watering easier. The plan is eventually to see if we can get a drip watering system set up at some point.

Another friend has given me a sour dough starter so we have made a few loaves and they were good! 

We did so many walks with the kids and picked some wild garlic. We made pesto and garlic butter and fresh pasta so we've eaten like kings. I even had a Weston's cider delivery so it's been the type of week where mid afternoon is a perfectly acceptable time to open a bottle.

I've cleaned the windows for the first time in 12 months, had a BBQ, done a 1000 piece jigsaw, sorted out junk, James cut down a leylandii; is it any wonder that we're happy to be off work? I am so lucky to have a life where all I want to do is be at home and sometimes that has to be my consolation and God is it a big consolation!