Day 70 - please stay alert!

Day 70 - Happy Sunny Sunday everyone!

Its been a bit of weird day in the Reeve household.  We got up early to head to the seaside.  As Felixstowe is only around 35 minutes from us we decided that was the best place to head to.  MOST of us got up at around 7am to get ourselves ready.  I woke both of the boys as they hadn't got up at around 7:15am.  Matthew was ready and waiting in the kitchen by 7:25am, but Simon I had to in to at least twice to push along.... he was still brushing his teeth at 7:35am.  We did eventually leave. We usually go in the docks way as its nice to park up the end opposite to the pier.  We got almost there and found the road was closed, no warning, so had turn back and make our way in towards the main pier area.  I was thinking 'this is not a great start', but it was fine.

We decided to park up towards the pier area and walk the opposite way.  There were a few people around, but they looked like people that lived there as they were running, biking or walking with their dogs and not many families, like us.  

Teddy absolutely loved it and probably wondered where his hash brown was.  It must have been a few months after we got Teddy when I started taking him to Felixstowe on my day off.  We would drop the boys off at school and then head over there.  We would do our walk from the end of the docks and make our way to the pier where a new restaurant called 'The Boardwalk' had opened and had a lovely outdoor seating area, although they were kind enough to let me take Teddy in there to place our order as I wouldn't leave him outside.  His treat was a Hash Brown every time we went in there and their scrambled eggs on toast were just so lovely, as well as their Eggs Benedict.  It was really sad to see it all closed up today as Teddy started to make his way up the pier to the gates.

All in all, we had a lovely time, even though we were only there around an hour.  We then decided we would try and get a drive-thru McDonald's for our breakfast so popped into Ipswich on our way home.  We found by looking on our phones that they do not open until 11am today - we were gutted, not that we go there very often, but bearing in mind we don't go out much these days, we thought it would be a nice treat.  The only place we found open was Starbucks drive-thru, so had to have a coffee/cold drink and a pastry, it wasn't quite what we wanted, but best to the make the most of our escape!

So getting up early on a Sunday morning was most definitely worth it and I would like to do it again sometime.

We then got home and didn't know what to do with ourselves as we had no jobs to do.  I looked at a few things for work to keep my mind occupied, downloaded a book and have read it (it wasn't many pages).  Chris watched a film or two. Matthew watched some football on BTSport that I paid for him and Simon did what he usually does - lock himself in his room to play Xbox.

I have taken Teddy on a couple of walks in this time too, so I haven't been totally lazy.  

As you can see our seating area is all now finished and all the cushions have arrived - just waiting on our new cantilever umbrella to turn up.

Hope you have all had a fabby weekend.

So until tomorrow....stay safe and keep your distance!!

Day 69 - Do what you like!!

Day 69 - As it all gets more confusing - you might as well do what you like now!  

As you can see Teddy as had his cool bandana on today, although there was quite a breeze today it was also very sunny and warm.

I managed to get all the washing done and also got it ironed and put away.  Now that doesn't happen very often, but really pleased it is all up to date. 

We are going to get up early tomorrow and make our way to the seaside for a walk and hopefully not see anyone or at last very few people.  Let's hope not everyone has decided to do the same.

We had a nice BBQ this evening.  Cooked some sweet potatoes, onions and courgettes on there, along with sausages, steak burgers and beef kebabs.   We did manage to have a nice treat afterwards though - Chocolate Brownie I baked this afternoon.  

Our evening walk was just so lovely.  It was good to have a little breeze or we would have really found it a bit hot.  We were surprised as it was over 7pm at night.  Matthew and I then had a nice dip in the spa - it was so lovely.  I got myself a little seat to go in the spa as I find it difficult to sit in there as I am too short - you are meant to fill it up with water and sit on it.  Well, it didn't work - it kept floating with me on it, it was quite funny but annoying at the same time.  Made Matthew laugh anyway.  Whilst we were in there Teddy did his usual - running around like a loony, we thought he would be tired - no such luck! 

Not sure what else we are going to do tomorrow as we have run out of jobs to do.  I can now understand how people have found it so difficult to cope if they don't have anything to do.  I must admit the weather is helping as we can go for so many walks.

I will let you know how tomorrow goes on my blog.

So until tomorrow.... keep your distance!

Day 68 - Stay Alert

Day 68 - Happy Friday!

Had a busy day of shopping deliveries, zoom meetings, delivering shopping and walking.

I have finally managed to get one delivery for next week from Sainsbury's so I am really chuffed about that.  Tesco still has a limit of 80 items you can order which isn't enough for 3 families, so I am hopeful Sainsbury's is the way forward.

Its been a lovely sunny day, albeit a little windy here today.  Had a very small time sitting outside on our new seating with my laptop, but it got a bit windy.

We went for our walk tonight and as you can see Teddy was in good form.  He got another gold star tonight as he was a really good boy at coming back to us especially when there were people up ahead of us.  I feel so ladylike whilst going out for a walk, not! - as you can see I have my nice dress on with my trainers, actually they are Simon's old running trainers he has long grown out of.

The sun looked lovely tonight as you can see.  

Not sure what we are going to do this weekend, I think I may have talked the rest of the family into getting up early on Sunday morning and going to the seaside.  Let's hope we can do it as we have really missed going there.

What else are you all up to this weekend?  It's a bit of a strange time, isn't it?  We can meet up, but we can't meet up, but we can, but socially distanced, but not many people, but 6 people, it's all so confusing!  

So until tomorrow....keep your distance!!

Day 67 - Stay Alert

Day 67 - And here we are on another Thursday.

Been a fairly quiet day in the office, but I managed to keep myself busy in between doing the ironing and any other jobs that needed doing.

I have just finished doing online shopping for delivery tomorrow. Tesco is very annoying as they will only allow you 80 items, which isn't enough for 3 families shopping for the week.  At least it is all sorted now.  We have 2 different deliveries as couldn't get click and collects which is really odd, but I don't mind it makes it easier for us.

We went for our evening walk earlier and Teddy has been awarded a gold star.  We saw some people ahead of us and I whistled and he came back after the second whistle.  I was so proud of him.  He normally puts his fingers up at us and carries on, but tonight for some reason he came back for his little treat.

We haven't really got anything planned for the weekend, which is a little concern, but I am sure we can make use of our new seating and the spa.  We may have to find somewhere to walk to.  I would love to go to the beach, but I am still not comfortable with it. Maybe early in the morning or late at night we will have to see.

Not a lot has really happened, to be honest.  We have had a few deliveries today.  The boys have regressed and had a football goal delivered today. They haven't had one of those for a few years, but I think being locked up for a few weeks has been getting to them and they want to kick the football around for a while.  Chris said earlier that he thought the years of the fence being knocked around with a ball and bare patches on the grass were behind us now!  At least they are having a good time whilst having to be here.

So until tomorrow... stay alert and keep your distance!

Day 66 - Stay Alert

Day 66 of this crazy life we are living at the moment.

We haven't been out for a walk tonight, so I found a photo I have already shared I think.  I like to always put a picture on here so found this one.

Today has been a funny old day, to be honest.  I love the fact that we can go outside and relax when we want to on our new seating area and also take my laptop if I want to.  Its been really quiet and I suspect that is mainly because it is half-term this week and quite a few people were meant to be away, including ourselves, although we were thinking of making it only a few days as Matthew should have been taking his exams.

I have done a little bit of work.  I cut the boys hair this morning as they both could have had a ponytail at the back, it was getting ridiculous.  Matthew said it was too hot with that much hair.  They do look surprisingly good.

We had to wait all day for a parcel to arrive.  We ordered some nice smoked foods for Chris's Mum as it is her 80th Birthday today and we wanted to get them some treats.  We should have been celebrating it this weekend with lots of family, but that has unfortunately been cancelled and we hope to do it next year instead.  Happy Birthday, Jeannie.  Matthew also made her a blueberry loaf cake, but when he took it off the paper he managed to break it in half - he was most upset, but it still looked good and I am sure it will taste lovely.  It appears she has been thoroughly spoilt today as lots of deliveries of gifts were delivered.  We popped over tonight to drop off her treats and just said Hi to them.  Its the first time the boys had gone anywhere in the car.

I feel a little weird today, not sure why.  I just find this lockdown/Stay Alert thing a bit confusing.  I don't want to move away from lockdown at the moment as I am not sure I feel very safe anywhere.  As I haven't really been anywhere - are people keeping to the rules?  I only see things on the television so I can only really go by that.  At least when we were in lockdown we all knew where we stood.  

Just thought I would share with you the Blueberry Muffin Loaf Cake recipe that Matthew made today. It's one of Jo Wheatley's recipes.  As you know we are big fans of her recipe books.

So until tomorrow....stay alert and keep your distance!

Day 65 - Stay Alert

Day 65 and it the day after a Bank Holiday!

It has been a really quiet day today, so I don't really have much to say, famous last words I hear you say!

As the day was a little quiet I decided to bring my laptop outside from around 4pm and my little PA came with me.  We were under the parasol as it was still quite sunny and had to be able to see the screen.  We are lucky that our wifi works just outside.

We have had a lovely Jacket Potato with chilli and lots of cheese for tea tonight and finished off with a bit of the carrot cake I made at the weekend.

Teddy did his usual tap on the arm to go for a walk, so we put our trainers on and got to it.  He was a really good boy as he came back to his whistle tonight, even though I did only use it twice, but at least he came back the twice I did it.  Teddy and I were waiting for Chris near the farmyard as he was setting the alarm and we saw a nasty big rat go running across the driveway.  As you can imagine Teddy was all over that and nearly pulled my arm off.  He went sniffing where it went, but I had to pull him back.  I think if he had been off his lead he would have caught it, but I would have been worried he might have got bitten, bless him.  The only thing our other terrier caught was a dead mouse - poor Gemma!

I have to say I am loving our new seating area.  I have ordered a new cantilever parasol for it as where it is positioned it gets so sunny, not that that's a bad thing, but it does get just too hot!

So until tomorrow.... keep your distance!

Day 64 - Stay Alert

Day 64 on this very warm and sunny Bank Holiday Monday.

Chris showing that it is bring your Company car home weekend!  |t is funny having the tractor sitting there waiting for him to jump in it the next day!

We had absolutely nothing planned today, so it has been an extremely lazy day.  I did a bit of washing.  Had breakfast outside on our new seating (not all the seats have arrive yet), but we managed.  Had a lovely open sandwich for lunch.  Then lazed around a bit more and then got in the lay z spa for a little while and read some more of my book.  It was just so lovely.  As it was quite warm the spa just cooled me down a bit as it wasn't too warm in there.

We had homemade pizza for tea, which was lovely and then went on our usual evening family walk.  We had a nice leisurely time.  All in all, I have to say we had a fairly lazy weekend.  I still haven't done the ironing - I will have to do it over this week or we won't have anything to wear soon!

So we have a 4 day working week ahead and by the looks of it some lovely weather.  You all have a good week and until tomorrow....keep your distance!

Day 63 - Stay Alert

Day 63 - the day count is getting higher... when will this end?

So another Sunday.  We didn't have anything really planned as most jobs have been done so we put our thinking caps on.... We went for a walk to the next village along the public footpaths.  I popped into the shop whilst Teddy stayed with the rest of the family and had a drink.  We then made our way back and bumped into our neighbours.  Its really funny how people must think of things on the same day, as we haven't been on that footpath since The Beast From the East descended upon us and apparently they have only ever been there once!  Also found that our other neighbours went out walking today but in the other direction. We all must be running out of jobs to do at home.

I baked a Carrot Cake this afternoon for pudding after our BBQ, which I have to say was delicious.  After tea Teddy decided he needed another walk, so I took him on his short circuit; as we call it - image shown here.  Where that dog gets his energy from I will never know as I am shattered.

I have managed to order a few more bits for the garden today.  We needed a cover for the new seating area and BBQ, so got all that sorted and a few scatter cushions to make the seating even more comfortable.  I want some nice weather to be able to sit out there, but on the other hand we need some rain for the crops to continue growing.  

We have had a nice relaxing day and the weather is lovely this evening, as it was still very windy this morning and quite chilly.  I have even managed to read one book and on the second now!

So until tomorrow... please keep your distance!

Day 62 - Stay Alert

Day 62 - wow how did we get to this many days.

I forgot to show you yesterday our first ever, lovely, delicious Sourdough bread.  It was made from our second starter.  We think the first one was actually ok, but somebody in the family thought it was mouldy, but it wasn't!!!  It took over a day to make but we were really impressed with the results.  We don't have a proving basking, so we just used a tin.  What surprised me was that you bake it in a casserole dish.  Matthew now wants to find other things to make with the starter.  We are going to make pizza on Monday with it, but need to start tomorrow.  You have to be really organised if you want to make anything with it.  It was definitely worth it.

We got a lovely surprise in the post - a card with a Yorkshire Tea, teabag attached inside.  It was sent from family up North and very appreciated it was and the lovely words inside.  Its lovely how many people have got in touch with us over this lockdown who have been enjoying my blogs.  Thank you everyone of you for reading them and keeping me going.  I think its stopping me from going mad.  I know they are sometimes really late, but at least I have been getting them done every day.

So what have you all been up to today?  It has been extremely gusty here today and living on a hill makes it even worse.  Had a bit of a slow morning, with a bacon sandwich for breakfast.  Then we went outside and got our seating back into place after having been painted.  Chris had to bring the telehandler around so he could move them as they are just so heavy.  Then the 'men' in the family got to breaking up a slab of concrete we had in the garden. It used to be a base for the boys 'Play House' when they were small, but haven't had one for years and its been annoying me since.  Thought we might make it back into grass if we aren't going to use it for anything else.  We also had a little down pour today, not sure it actually watered the garden though.  I painted an old garden table for our little decking area, it should really have gone in the skip, but I think it looks really good now.  I baked a few scones for our afternoon treat and then took Teddy out for an early walk.

Teddy has had another bath today and I have groomed him.  He looks a little skinnier than he did before.  He absolutely hates it and just gets angry with me, but I just keep going with him.  At least he doesn't smell now and he actually looks like somebody owns him!

Not sure what we are going to do tomorrow?  I still haven't done any cleaning or washing, so they are probably jobs for tomorrow with my mountain of ironing.  It has been too hot to do that!

Hope you all have a lovely evening and until tomorrow..... keep your distance!

Day 61 - Stay Alert

Day 61 - And we are still on stay alert especially on this bank holiday weekend.

I have to be honest I am looking forward to 3 days rest this weekend.  I don't know why it feels like its been a long week... maybe its because its been busy but also so hot.  The nights have been so warm.  We opened the double doors upstairs last night and more windows as it was just so warm, but at 5:45 the wind was getting up and it was so noisy I got up to shut them, then an early wake up for the first shopping collection at 6-8am!

We then had a collection at 10-11am, so in between we made a delivery and we also have a special delivery to make next Wednesday as Chris's mum is 80!

Had a lovely walk this evening until Teddy decided to go awol and Chris and Matthew had to go after him.  He found mole hills in the field and thought he would investigate every one of them.  It was a nightmare as it was near the drive to the houses where we live.  I went on patrol near the road in case he got that close.  His fishy treats got him back.  He can be such a little monkey sometimes, but love him all the same.

So what have you all got planned this weekend?  I think we are going to finally put together the new painted seating area and as the seat pads are here I can't wait to relax on them and maybe read a book or two while topping up the sun tan!  Have the usual washing, cleaning and cooking to do, but boy do I feel like a need a few naughty drinks and treats.

So until tomorrow.... please keep your distance!

Day 60 - Stay Alert

Day 60 - so here we are at the day I was hoping we wouldn't get to, but we obviously have and I am sure there will be many more to come.

A late blog tonight as I have been busy cooking, walking and shopping ready for the collections tomorrow.  But all sorted now, thank goodness.

Had a busy day at work and the weather was beautiful again wasn't it.  We were meant to get some rain or thunder tonight, but we haven't had any here, not sure if anyone else has had any?

No dips in the hot tub tonight, I have been too busy, but looking forward to a 3 day weekend to relax.  The weather is meant to nice again and getting warmer again next week.

Sorry I haven't got a lot to talk about tonight, I feel a little tired.  Our fire alarms all went off at 5:45am and woke us up, but I did manage to get back to sleep and then Chris alarm went off at around 7am, so I have been struggling a bit today.  I am not sure we have many jobs lined up for the weekend, but I am sure I will find a book or 2 to read in the sun.

There isn't a lot on TV at the moment is there, although the Real Marigold Hotel is quite relaxing to watch, I wonder what is happening to the TV at the moment.  We do have Netflix etc but I feel sorry for the people that don't have anything like that as they do seem to be scraping the barrel.  I would rather they put films on that have been on 100's of times than some of the rubbish that is one here.

Well anyway, until tomorrow..... keep your distance!

Day 59 - Stay Alert

Day 59 and what a beautiful day its been again.

As you see we have been on another family walk tonight. It has become a routine where they all try to kick the mini rugby ball into the trailer. Please note chris is involved in this and mainly misses the target!

Not a lot to report since yesterday.  I don't know where the days go and they certainly whiz past at the moment.  Its Thursday already tomorrow and I was reminded today that this weekend has 3 days as Monday is a Bank Holiday, I had totally forgotten.

We were due to go away next week and meet up with Chris side of the family the following weekend but that has all had to be cancelled - look forward to doing it next year instead.

Had the spa to myself this evening as Simon went in there around lunch time and nobody else wanted to with me tonight - it was quite nice being in there on my own.  But I am too short to sit on the bottom, so I think I need a little seat in there. Amazon here I come again.  Simon said he wants an inflatable crocodile - children!

Matthew made a lovely Victoria sponge today as he wanted to make something and I just fancied one.  I look forward to having a slice soon.

So until tomorrow.... keep your distance!

Day 58 - Stay Alert

Day 58 - not far from 60!

We have a casualty of lockdown.  My poor glasses have taken a battering.  First I sat on them and cracked the top, but they managed to stay together and then Teddy attacked them at the weekend, so they are now bandaged up.  I have spoken to the opticians and they are looking at making me another pair and they will post them to me soon.  At least nobody can see me - no more zoom meetings please!

Had a nice day and the weather has been beautiful.  Had a lovely walk this evening and Teddy was tired before we got very far and he chased pheasants again.

It was my Dad's Birthday today.  Happy Birthday Dad!!  Its weird this situation isn't it.  Normally we would have gone out somewhere to eat to celebrate, so we will have to do that when we are allowed to again, it might be a while, but we look forward to it.

We finished our lovey cheesecake tonight and all the banana and chocolates have gone, so we have no sweet treats left.  I will now have to look at making something more...maybe I can get my little chef on the case tomorrow.  We also have our new sour dough starter that we thought we might try out.  I wonder what my little chef can make?  We have a few bits and pieces in the cupboard so I am sure he will find enough ingredients for something delicious.

Not a lot more has really happened since I last blogged.  I am sorry that we have got to day 58 and I am running out of things to talk about... hopefully the family will do some more stupid things that I tell you about.  Tonight they were talking about a holiday we went on to Majorca a few years ago - they have decided they would like to go on another one like that as soon as we can.  I was told that we had to go all inclusive as they eat and drink lots!  It is nice talking about previous holidays and what they can remember.  Matthew said he remembers a holiday we went on 11 years ago to Egypt.  Its nice to hear what they remember.

So until tomorrow....keep your distance!

Day 57 - Stay Alert

Day 57 in this new crazy world we live in!

So its a Monday - how did yours go?  Mine was fairly relaxed to be honest, which was nice.  I did have a lot of work to do, but I managed to keep calm about it all and just got on with it.  I feel really quite tired tonight, although I did sleep really well last night, which makes a bit of a change.

We had some Chinese Chicken and salad for tea tonight. I love having salads in the summer.  I often chop loads of things up, well I do mean edible food and add them to mixed salad leaves with bacon and chicken and things like that. We also love balsamic glaze drizzled on it. Yummy.  I think we may just have jacket spuds tomorrow night for tea.   Lunch has become a bit of a boring meal.  We tend to just have a cheese or tuna sandwich, which is not particularly exciting, but I just can't get myself into making anything different. Maybe I just don't have the inclination at that time of the day. Does anyone have any ideas?

As you can see we saw some new stones on our walk tonight.  I don't think they are made by the same people, but I could be wrong.  I don't mind as they are all amazing whoever has been making them.  Teddy was quite funny tonight.  I was about to put him on his lead at the gate of the garden and Chris just opened the said gate so Teddy thought he was free to wonder off.  The little monkey must have had a great laugh to himself as he wondered off down the drive.  He was a little sod as he must have smelt something, as he wouldn't leave the trail alone and just ignored us.  The next second a partridge goes flying up and he tried to chase it.  He was in one of those moods tonight, or maybe its every night!

The cushions arrived today for our new seating area - they just need to paint it without complaining now!  I have never heard anything like it when they were painting them. They have a little roller each (Matthew & Simon, not Teddy) and just moaned constantly about how long it was taking.  I only got there near the end and they were wearing some of their fairly new sports clothes - apparently they didn't think it would stain!!  Boys!!!  I know I moan about them, but I wouldn't be without them - love them to bits.

Simon got a call from his form tutor today to check how he was getting on.  The phone was linked to my headset so he had to use that to speak to him, it was quite amusing.  His form tutor has a really good sense of humour and a good job Simon gets on really well with him, he was smiling as he spoke to him. It was good of them to check in with him - he wanted to check if he was getting on ok with the work and what he thought of it.  Simon was honest and said it was going ok and that it is quite hard as there isn't anybody in front of him teaching and there to ask questions when you have them, but it does make him work harder to find the answers.  He may be going back next month for a few days, but we haven't heard anything as yet.

So I am going to head off for the rest of the evening now... so until tomorrow... keep your distance!

Day 56 - Stay Alert

Day 56 - what a beautiful day it has been, but will a little bit of a chilly breeze here.

Our Zoom quiz went great last night - was such a good laugh.  Not so much dancing this time still an enormous amount of laughs. Thank you so much everyone..until the next time.  The Baileys on ice late on really did put the cherry on the cake!

Had another busy day.  Got a bit of a lie in today, which was good after not getting to bed until after midnight.    Took Teddy out for a little walk, it was so lovely out that I decided to go further than normal - must have looked an idiot wondering around in my crocs, luckily Teddy didn't mind.

As you can see the Lay-Z-Spa is up and running. We filled it up yesterday and it got up to heat today, with a little help from the sun.  Then pottered about with some artificial flowers I ordered.  As previously mentioned I am not so good at keeping flowers alive.  Although I have put some herbs in pots that were in the kitchen.  Teddy must have lovely breath as he decided to eat a stalk of my mint plant, little sod.  He didn't eat another one!

Chris and the boys have completed the wood cutting and attaching, but now have to paint it.  They finished the seating and made a great little table with wheels on.  I am really impressed.  The seating pads has been despatched, so really looking forward to receiving it.  Now need a new parasol and some scatter cushions for our seating.  I also want some more lighting.  This lockdown is playing havoc with my ideas as I really don't want to go and look around shops with the current situation, although I do if you know what I mean.  Might have to organise a click and collect.  I like seeing and touching things before I buy them that's the problem, but even touching anything at the moment is out of the question.  Ggggrrr!! Feel like a child having a tantrum. 

We did manage a dip in the spa, which was just lovely and helped my aching body.  I have done so much this weekend, that it really did need to have a little spa treatment.

Then we had a wonderful BBQ - I gave Chris all the meat, corn on the cob and halloumi to cook, but forgot to start cooking the potatoes.  I keep forgetting to put them on, I am such an idiot.  I made Matthew his sweet potatoes also, as he has still been trying to avoid normal potatoes.

We went on our evening walk after our BBQ and as you can see in the first photograph the boys came with us and were kicking a mini rugby ball around, which ended up in the grain trailer.  Also saw the stone below, which is lovely and very apt for a week or so ago.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend and remained safe.

So until tomorrow....keep your distance!!

Day 55 - Stay Alert

Day 55 of this barmy situation.  

So how is your weekend going so far?  I don't know where the day has gone.

A certain somebody got up around 7:15am to go to work and unfortunately woke we up.  So much for the lie in I wanted.  Was downstairs by 8am to take my little furry friend out for a wee and then the day started.  I have done loads of washing, cleaned the whole place from top to bottom - hopefully I will be able to walk tomorrow.  Been for a small walk with Teddy. Baked some banana and chocolate mini cakes, made a pineapple cheesecake and guess what I am making for tea? (picture below). End Result at the end!

So tonight we have a zoom quiz - 2nd of the week, we are really pushing the boat out this week!  We do have music and dancing at the end of this one and its a very boozy affair, so lord knows what we will be like tomorrow.  I started drinking whilst making dinner at 5:30pm.

Haven't really got much else to report, so really sorry its a very short version, hopefully more will have happened tomorrow, so I can make it a bit longer.

Happy Birthday Charlie!! 🎂🎂

So all have a wonderful evening, so until tomorrow... keep your distance!

Day 54 - Lockdown to 'Stay Alert'

Day 54 and its Friday!!!!  And looks like being a glorious weekend, although we really could do with getting some rain.

So here are todays stones we found on our travels.

Teddy has had a nice day of tractor driving and eating whatever he can find in the garden and that includes sticks and my garden ornaments.  That dog will have no pocket money left after replacing all the things he has decided to break.  We have to be so careful with what we put outside now - he is a nightmare!

So what have you all got planned to keep yourselves busy over the weekend.  I wish it was visiting the seaside and having breakfast on the pier, but that is not the right way to go about things at the moment, so we are keeping well away.  We are going to continue with our seating area as the wood has turned up.  The Lazy Spa is going to get its first airing since last year.  We left it part pumped up in our shed - it takes most of the floor space up.  It will be nice not to move around that every time we go in there.  The house needs its weekly clean and more washing has mounted up.  At least when the boys were at school all they really wore all week was a uniform.  Simon is hilarious as when he is at school if he isn't doing activities in the evening, he sits around in his dressing gown - we call it his 'smoking jacket' as that what they used to call it years ago I believe.  Please note he doesn't smoke, well not when I am around!

We did the shopping collection and deliveries this morning.  All went ok, thank goodness... until next week.

Our Zoom quiz was brilliant again, thank you Melissa and Russ, we really enjoy these get togethers.

We have another quiz tomorrow night and we are doing a Geography round - this should be fun... it got a bit messy last time!  I had to order some more wine this week.

So until tomorrow, please all take care and....keep your distance!

Day 53 - Lockdown to 'stay alert'

So here we are at Day 53 of this crazy life we are leading at the moment.

Had a very busy day and evening so far already.  Went and collected one lot of shopping for 5pm this evening and now just updated the other lot of shopping for collection tomorrow morning.

We have a quiz tonight after the clap for carers which we are really looking forward to and probably have a couple of glasses of vino.

Its all go as we also have a quiz on Saturday night - how did we cope before we were in lockdown I wonder?

Matthew made us a lovely chilli with nachos for tea, which was very welcome.

The above photograph is from our trip to California.  Its from our hotel window in Boulder City, near the Hoover Dam.  That area really surprised me but some were quite a disappointment.  One of the most expensive hotels we stayed at was The Oasis in Death Valley and I have to say it was the worst.  It was quite cold whilst we were there so had to have the heating on, if you call it heating.  We were there on New Years Eve and it was just such not what we expected.  The food was awful and the accommodation well put this way, we locked the keys in the room and got in through the unlocked window!  We purchased a fairly expensive bottle of wine which was local and it tasted so bad I didn't drink it, so it must have been bad.

So I am going to have to love yer and leave yer, until tomorrow....keep your distance!

Day 52 - Lockdown to 'Stay Alert'

Day 52 and we are still here in lockdown, not sure about the rest of you!

I didn't have any photo's for you, but we have just looked at some parcels that arrived earlier and I had a wonderful surprise from a very lovely friend.  Its a Essential Oil Diffuser, so that I can have a lovely fragrance and mood lighting, yes it has 7 different colours and now I can't wait to try it out.  I will put it in my office, which doubles up as the boys gym, so they are going have a lovely fragrance to pump the weights to. I actually think it will benefit me as I don't have a smelly boys smell in my office.  Thank you! 

I have had a really good day.  Been busy as usual and had a lovely family walk tonight.  Well I say walk - the boys decided to take their mini rugby ball with them and lost it in 2 ditches.  Teddy has decided to be a ditch dog now and can't wait to jump in them.  He went down 2. There are more than 2 ditches on our walk, so we are thankful he decided to only go down 2.  We didn't see any more stones on our walk tonight 😒

We have a shopping collection early evening tomorrow, so I have been frantically getting lists together and ordering as much as possible and then we have another collection on Friday from a different supermarket.  I do feel quite guilty for doing this, but at the end of the day we are trying to feed 3 families and I think going around the supermarket is going to be worse than it was before so I would rather do it this way.  I really do miss walking around the supermarket and choosing what I want to eat, rather than leaving it to other people, but that's the way it is.  I really don't think people understand that just because things have been relaxed very slightly, it doesn't mean that COVID is no longer there, it is and I think there will be at least another spike before it really settles down.  We all still need to be careful and not act as if we can go and do what we want.  I urge you all to stay safe and look after your friends and family.  We all need to stick together in this.  Sorry for going on about it, but I am very concerned about it.

I have ordered some ingredients to make the No Bake Pineapple Cheesecake this weekend, so thought I would share the recipe again with you.  I am really looking forward to making this.  As the weather sounds like it will be nice again, we will hopefully have a BBQ, so ordered some bits for that  also.  

We have managed to gather a few jobs already for the weekend.  The wood is being delivered on Friday, so the new seating area can move forward.  The flooring for the hot tub has also been delivered so we can finally get that put up for the summer months.  I am not very good at watering anything in the garden, I have all good intentions to start with and then get fed up with it, so they basically die.  Chris said the dew fairy doesn't come along and water them you know!  So I am thinking I either plant some seeds and see what happens, as I already have them and won't have spent any money or order some artificial plants.  I have a few in the garden already which look quite nice to be honest.   We shall see how I feel.

So until tomorrow, please stay safe and.... keep your distance!

Day 51 - Lockdown from Strict to 'Stay Alert'

Day 51 - And not too far away from the 60 days I predicted.

As you can see at the end of this post, we saw some more stones on our walk.  They are so lovely.

Guess who decided to jump into the ditch for a drink?  He is such a silly dog - he ended up with the cold hosepipe when we got back.  He looked like he was wearing a pair of wellies the rest of the walk.  It was quite funny as he one minute he was there and the next he was gone.  The only ditch we know he has been in he couldn't get out of so I was a little surprised how he managed this one.

We had some homemade pizza for tea tonight and it was lovely.  Had pepperoni, pineapple and lots of cheese on it.  Even had homemade tomato sauce.

I don't know where the days go at the moment as it has just been so manic and don't know which way to turn, but thats a really good thing considering the way things are at the moment.

I haven't mentioned about how I feel lately and I'm sure you don't really need to know, but here goes.  I feel strangely relaxed about the whole lockdown situation.  In fact, I am probably a little worried about moving around even as much as they have told us we can.  Maybe its because we have been in lockdown so long, I don't know.  I don't want to chance anything by going to too many places.  Probably best to stay at home a bit longer.  

Not really a lot has happened since the last time I typed on here, so I haven't really got much to tell you, so I am going to say goodnight for tonight.

So until tomorrow.... keep your distance!