Lockdown from Bridport - Part 3 - Day 21

 'When you find yourself in stormy seas, don't panic 'cause you'll only drown! you're OK!! Tread water, focus on your breathing and believe'

My hugely talented artist friend Josie sent me this. I'm going to put it in the shop window so everyone passing will hopefully read it and realize they are not alone. As the days tick by those of us whose familiar routines are skewiff,  may benefit from the sentiment.

The central heating system is holding us hostage to it's erratic ways. Despite pouring over pages and pages of instructions it has us both beaten. We wake up in the middle of the night and hear the boiler pumping away furiously. Despite the temperatures being minus outside we could well be sleeping in a hothouse in Kew Gardens or, dreamily, a luxury villa on a Caribbean island. 'The Undertaker' heaves himself out of bed and goes downstairs and overrides the system, effectively shutting it down completely. Harmony resumes.

Monday: 'Bye bye then' I say to 'The Undertaker' as he leaves for work. He's learnt now not to ask what I'll be doing. Whose to say? The possibilities are endless so I plump for a spot of housework. I'm a sucker for cleaning products and test out my latest acquisition, ginger and lemon scented squirty stuff for the floors. Most pleasing in a mindless sort of way. Small things and all that... 

It's Burns night tonight but we won't be partaking in whisky or feasting on haggis. I think of a Burns party long long ago when the host, rather refreshed, lifted his kilt up for the ladies present. It was a rather wild evening as I recall and yet some twenty odd years later my friend and I still snigger at the memory. Whilst I'm thinking of it I send her a text which leads to a flurry of amusing messages. 'Ha ha ha, remember when we had fun'? When we can next meet up we promise ourselves that we will make up for lost time. 

Feeling housebound, I head off to our nearest beach. The air is biting cold and there are hardly any cars around. Just in case I bump into anyone (I don't) I wear jeans (with stretch) and pop on my gorgeous navy blue cashmere coat. On my head I wear a red and white spotty bandana and find my reflective shades in the glovebox of the car. I hadn't envisaged it would be quite so muddy on the steep path up the hill and I admit at one stage I got quite panicked about slipping over. It wasn't quite so much the indignity of it all that worried me, but the prospect of my coat becoming plastered in mud. The bright yellow gorse was out and, as I walked past, the distinctive sweet aroma filled my nostrils. Lot's of dog walkers are out and as there are no livestock most are off the lead and careering madly around the fields. There's one small dog getting annoyed with the waves, his yapping filling the air.

Covid has reached the family. I guess by now its affected most people whether it be directly or indirectly. My Uncle is 92, we can only hope and pray for him. I'm not the only one who is utterly fed up of it all by now. The older generation seem to be more stalwart but even they are being worn down by the restrictions. Nobody is finding this easy this time around. Is it the weather or is it that we thought it would all be over by now?

Thank heavens for modern communications, we can not only speak to people easily but we can see them too! It is now more important than ever to stay in touch. 

I buy two more hyacinths for myself but one ends up on 'Office Darlings' doorstep and the other I give to a neighbour who is on his own.