So, we’re twelve days into Lockdown 2 and I think I might be getting the hang of it a bit. I have stopped hankering to go out and am resigned to a more gentle rhythm of life, I think. There was no dashing about today and no sleeping like yesterday – I just picked up where I left off on the painting situation and got on with it.
I was up reasonably early, awaiting a shopping delivery, which came pretty promptly, I have to say. And, for the first time ever, I actually managed to refuse a ‘swap’. Usually, I just grin inanely and say, yes that’s fine. But today, they were offering us almond milk instead of hazelnut milk and that’s no good as so often it goes to waste. We open it to use in an omelette or something and then it just moulders in the fridge. So, I said, “No, thank you,” and left it at that. Go, me!
I left John in bed to catch up on his sleep, but even he managed to get up mid-morning, rather than at lunchtime. He has had a very good day, in my opinion. He is still trying to sort out the contents of his man-shed, with one half of it full to the brim with wood for sawing up and burning on our winter fires. So he went off to the bottom of the garden and sawed away. Did an excellent job and didn’t seem to be too worn out by it all, which was a bonus.
Meanwhile, I was doing second coats of paint on the ceiling and skirting board in my ‘library’ and a first coat on the window wall. I planned to do a second coat this evening and get the whole thing finished, but I thought better of it and decided to pace myself. It’ll be done tomorrow.
I have yet to fill my father’s bookcase with books, however. I decided to wait a bit until the paint was really, really dry. In the meantime, it’s doing a beautiful job of housing all of John’s birthday cards, of which he had many. And about which he was very pleased.
I really can’t wait until that area is finished. We are still mulling over how we will furnish it. John has his desk there tucked into the corner which is quite nice, and we have a very large chest of drawers with all the games in – another cast-off from the Kenilworth Sleaths – but we’re undecided as to whether to keep it and paint it the same colour as the shelves or whether to discard it and move another set of shelves in. Oooh, decisions, decisions. At this rate, we’ll hardly recognise ourselves when the house is neat and tidy and the new sofa arrives, furnishing the lounge the way we want it! Mind you, we did get a letter saying, ‘Due to COVID, your furniture delivery may be delayed…..’ ah well, it’ll give me more painting time, won’t it?
This evening we sat among the decorating debris and watched the first programme in a series of four about Oscar Pistorious. Fascinating programme and looking forward to watching the rest. We also watched I’m a Celebrity and marvelled at the fortitude of a frightened man. That was also fascinating – a study of one man’s response to primordial fear.
Talking of fear – the virus has caught up with 21,363 people today and killed 213 people, plus 141 people in hospitals over the previous two days.
The figures are interesting and suggest that we may still need more ‘lockdown’ time – or tighter restrictions anyway – when this period ends. Christmas is going to be interesting isn’t it, folks?
Stay safe everyone. God bless.