Empty Roads

As most of you are aware the roads are quiet and in some places pretty empty. A lot of people are still home for the moment and I have 1 question and that is, “why are cyclists using the pavements to get around?” I don’t mean children, but the grown ups/adults and some have no cycle helmets on either. They ride up behind you and ring their bells so you have to move out of the way. I am more than happy to cycle on the road because they are so quiet and I feel safer on the roads than the pavements to be perfectly honest. The pavements in some places are rough as. The roads are at least all one level and for the most part just tarmac, making for a smoother ride overall.

This morning I thought I would order some more wool on-line and have it delivered when they could do it. I picked the wool and the colours, so I chose 4 balls in total, and went to the checkout. Entered the usual, my name, contact details and address. To my surprise I entered my address in the search field only to be told it could not be found. I then chose to enter it manually and then clicked on checkout. The message ‘an error occurred with the address, please amend and continue’. After an hour of trying to sort out my address, to no avail, I actually gave up and blew a few father choice words at the store I chose to buy from. Have not sorted it out yet and hubby will go through it with me tonight as I have knitted so much and have now run out.

Did 2 x 30 minutes cardio exercises this afternoon. I think some of it was to release my frustrations at my wool issues this morning. Tomorrow is another day.

Smile and have a happy day 🙂

Trying to stay sane.

Hope all of you are well and staying safe in your bubbles.

I am trying to stay sane at the moment. It has been a long time to be ‘locked up’, if you will. We, as humans are social creatures and I, for one am missing the hugs and the contact with my friends. I am doing my Tai Chi first thing to wake me up every morning and then going for my daily walk around the block. I also do a workout in the afternoon just to keep my mind busy, but it is hard to keep trying to keep my mind occupied.

I don’t know if any of you out there are having similar issues and if so, I would be interested to hear what keeps you going during this time. I am knitting my baby clothes and also keeping the house and garden tidy. I am making different meals and a few cakes and biscuits.

At least hubby is out working at the moment and staying safe with social distancing and following the rules needed for those who are fortunate to be working. I think he was pleased to be able to go to work.

I am going to be speaking to my family tonight for a catch, so am looking forward to that. It is always nice to find out what is happening in another country and how they are coping over there.

Smile and a have a happy day 🙂

Drought

Well after so much rain yesterday, we are still short of water. The amount of rain we had only gives us another 2 days of water. This apparently is the worst drought here in 25 years!

During the Summer we saved our water from the washing machine and poured it into our water butts and are still using it now. Despite the lack of rain, our garden and vegetables seem pretty resilient to not having been watered so much.

It is rather unfortunate that we have had a pandemic whilst nearing water restrictions. We as a country, like everyone else, has had to wash our hands so much more and all the fruits and vegetables from the supermarket have had to be put into soapy water and washed. Everything we brought has had to be washed down too. You just don’t realise just how much water we do actually use.

I wonder how you are all coping under this pandemic and what you are all doing out there? We are trying our very best to do what is being asked of us, but I do miss the freedoms we had before lockdown. No matter what happens, I am looking forward to a coffee and a cake in a café somewhere, but only when we are totally out of this lockdown.

Stay safe everyone and be kind to yourself.

Smile and have a happy day 🙂

A different day

What a difference a day makes. Today the weather is windy, gusty actually and it is raining. When I say raining, I mean pissing down, which is great for us, as we have not had much rain for many weeks and next week we were going to be looking at possible water restrictions. It has been pouring all day and the gusty winds blowing, but it is a great relief to see.

Today meant that after our workouts this morning we were not able to go out for our daily walk. I don’t mind getting a little damp, but do object to getting completely drenched, just for the fresh air and exercise. Hopefully tomorrow will be a little better, but we will just have to wait and see.

Hubby went out and did the food shopping before lunch and this afternoon we watched an Agatha Christie film, ‘Murder on the Orient Express’, the one with David Suchet as Hercule Poirot. It is a great film, although having seen the new one, I do actually prefer that , only after the original one with Albert Finney. We did a couple of quizzes on the internet too.

It has been a lazy Sunday, but really, who actually cares? There will be days over the weekends when we cannot do things because of the weather and that’s okay. We are still on level 3 until May 11th and then who knows. There have been so many people at the beaches that we may be at this level for a couple more weeks.

Hubby will be back at work tomorrow, depending on the weather. It will be back to a normal week for me as of Monday. I must try and get back to the normality as best I can.

I don’t know w at everyone else is getting up to during this pandemic, but hope all is going well for you and that you are all staying safe and keeping that social distancing.

Smile and have a happy day 🙂

Quiet day

After a rough night feeling and then being sick, returned to bed feeling very cold. It took osme time to get comfortable and to fall asleep.

Woke up feeling a little refreshed, but not that great overall. Did no cardio today, as stomach was not feeling up for it, but hubby and I did go for our daily walk. It was great to have my walking buddy back to talk to. It was hot and humid again, but it did change after lunch, when it rained. I say rain, but it really was only a shower. Hubby went out to cut the grass and it rained a little harder but not heavy.

We had a quiet day today because I wasn’t 100% and so we watched series 4 of Hunted UK. It is an awesome series. Even as I write this blog I am not feeling on top form, hopefully I haven’t picked anything up, although I don’t know how I would have, as I am home all day, except for my daily walk.

Am knitting a baby shawl/blanket at the moment. It is called a corner to corner blanket, where you start of with just 1 stitch and increase at beginning of each row to 126 stitches before decreasing at beginning of each row back down to 1 stitch. It kept me quiet, but busy today.

Take care everyone and stay safe.

Smile and have a happy day 🙂

My walk today

Hubby did his workout before he went to work and I did my Tai Chi. This morning was another slightly chilly one, but the day is supposed to be a good one.

Around mid morning I went for my daily walk around the block. Before our lock down, we would see small amounts of dog poo in places. Since lockdown however there seems to be more, so much more. Trying to avoid uneven pavements and people is hard enough without having to be constantly looking at what is underneath your feet. Yes, granted , I do look where I am going, but if you let your dog go, please pick it up, as you should do. There is so much of it, and it is everywhere, pavements, grass verges and on peoples gardens.

It was a quiet walk around the block today, maybe because it was a cooler morning, or maybe because it is Friday. Only saw around 8 people on my way around, so very quiet. I need to find some ear buds and listen to some music on the way around. It was a great walk nevertheless.

After lunch I did a 40 minute boxing cardio workout, which was hard work, but I felt good afterwards and even better after a nice warm shower.

I cooked a lovely salmon dinner ready for when hubby came hone with a lovely glass of cold white wine. It has been a great day and managed to get some other stuff done as well.

Smile and have a happy day 🙂

Getting Fitter

I can honestly say that I have never walked around the block for as many days as I have over the last few weeks. This morning I did notice however, that some of the cars we saw parked up driveways or in the road before, were missing now. People now slowly heading back to work, but it was still quiet out there. There are a handful of people walking the same route as me, that hubby and I had previously seen on our walks.

Been actively doing my cardio too, to get fitter. It is hard work at home, much easier in a gym. For a start it is certainly a lot cooler in this dry heat at the moment. I feel better and am eating healthier too, which is nice, although I do miss my chewy sweets or as some say my candy/lollies.

Have eaten so much fresh fruit in both smoothies and on its own. Eaten a lot of salad and vegetables, although we do keep running out quicker. I have never really eaten that unhealthy but have a sweet tooth and need to curb that. Before it was little easier to buy the odd packet of candy, as out and about, but now it is not essential and certainly not cost effective to “pop” out. I am trying not to add it to the shop my hubby does at the weekend. I am actually trying to be a ‘good girl’. Trying, being the operative word.

Anyway, I hope you are all well and staying safe in your bubbles. This is a hard time for everyone and we have to keep going for the better good.

Smile and have a happy day 🙂

Another Day

Second day under the new level. Hubby went to finish a job that was left unfinished when our country went into lockdown. He was pleased to be able to go back.

Hubby did his cardio this morning as I did my Tai Chi. He left for work later than in a normal week and an hour or so later I went out for a walk around the block, on my own! It felt odd walking around, having done this route for the last 4 weeks with hubby. The weather again was hot and humid, but I won’t complain.

I did my 30 minute non-stop cardio workout before lunch and felt completely worn out. It is funny how a warm shower can make you feel human again. Go me..

Hubby was working most of the day and came home around dinner time. I don’t think he will last the evening after not being at work for a month. It is always hard when we have been on a holiday, to return back to work, but this is completely different.

Today felt weird for me too, a lost feeling, if you like. Hubby not around to do things with. Back to knitting my premature baby clothes and blankets. Hopefully everyone will behave and we will soon be out of lockdown.

Smile and have a happy day 🙂

First day of Level 3

So today saw some businesses back at work and the roads have more vehicles on them. We noticed more traffic on the roads as we were walking around the block yesterday, but not quite so many today.

Hubby did his cardio early so he was ready for work if needed and I did my Tai Chi. He then did my hoovering whilst he waited for a phone call for work. I wrote a letter to my very best friend back home, whom I have known since my days at junior school.

Hubby was due to do some work today, but it was not quite ready, so he will be doing it tomorrow. That being said, we decided to head out for our walk around the block and make the most of the weather. There was a lovely breeze as we made our way around, which was a real treat, no sweat! Our golf course had a few golfers on it, as it was now open but with a wait time between each tee off.

After lunch we both did some studying and then another cardio workout for 30 minutes. Today has gone really quickly. I don’t know what will happen when hubby does finally go back to work, I have actually gotten used to having him around. The house will be oh so quiet and I mean quieter than it is already.

If we get this right as a country on level 3 then we could go to level 2, but we won’t know that until May 11. That is 2 weeks away, so fingers crossed.

Smile and have a happy day 🙂

Day 33 of lockdown

Last day of Level 4, tomorrow we will be on Level 3, which means that some schools and businesses will be able to go to work. For the rest of us, it is lockdown as before, only going out for essential or for daily exercise.

The one thing hubby and I are missing and will have to wait until Level 2 or 1, and that is a Chinese takeaway. Just think how much we will appreciate it when we are able to order one.

Hubby had a long 1 hour cardio workout this morning whilst I did my Tai Chi. Then for the last time, until the weekend, we went out for our daily walk around the block. I will go out for a walk, but for a shorter walk around the block for the next 4 days.

We have been watching Celebrity Hunted from the UK today. This is a series where 4 teams of 2 are dropped of in one place and they have 14 days to avoid capture from ‘hunters’. There is a team back in the office whom are ex covert ops people and the such and the hunters are all ex police intelligence. The team in the office track all the movements of the hunted via CCTV, cash machine usage, looking into friends and family. They then send the hunters to where they are seen. It is very interesting to watch.

This afternoon we did a 30 minute cardio workout, this is Day 1 of my Two Week Challenge. I set myself a target to get fit and healthy and to lose a certain amount of weight. although friends keep telling me that I do not look that overweight. It maybe that I don’t look overweight, but I know what weight feels comfortable for me.

Well it has been a productive period for us in Level 4 lockdown and we will see what Level 3 brings us and hopefully we don’t go back to Level 4!

Hope all of you are staying healthy and happy and safe in your bubbles. Be kind to one another and take care of yourselves.

Smile and have a happy day 🙂