Well, as life starts to slowly edge towards normal and we are handed back more and more snippets of our old life, it’s about time I caught up with my blog. How could I not find time before now for an update? I had great plans not to waste my time watching television and just mooching about……..oh well, at least I had started off with great ideals!. Don’t you think box sets are great? So we got safely back home from our aborted trip to Spain, and hopefully we can head back there in the autumn if travel is back to normal by then. This time I hope we get to stay in more salubrious surroundings than the supermarket car park where we spent our penultimate night on the Iberian peninsular in March!
Back home to a rather grey Braishfield to see Charlotte, and cramp her style as she had been promised the run of the house for a month and was looking forward to some peace and quiet on her own!
We had to settle for Lepe Beach and forget all about the Costa del Sol. Still, it was very bracing! As it turned out the weather couldn’t have been better for being at home and stuck around the house and garden!
Spain had gone in to lockdown 9 days before the UK so we all knew it was coming. Jane thought it would be a great idea to go to B&Q to get a few projects to keep us amused whilst at home, unfortunately everyone else had the same idea!
When lockdown eventually arrived it was surreal to see Romsey so quiet in the middle of the day………..
Everyday tasks like doing a little shopping took so long, but with most people in good spirits it wasn’t really an unpleasant experience, especially as the sun was shining most of the time.
And when you got home it was great to celebrate with a small tomato sandwich made with fresh crusty bread………why did food taste so much better when you had little chance of burning off all those extra calories?
We are extremely lucky where we live to have such wonderful countryside right on our doorstep. So as the David Lloyd club was shut and I was unable to go for my daily swim it was time for me to explore the area in which I have lived for the vast majority of my life. I wasn’t disappointed, there have been a lot of changes since my childhood and most for the better. The photo above is of the Romsey canal. When I was a kid it was very difficult to walk this route as it was just too muddy and covered in stinging nettles!
To keep us from going mad we set about doing loads of jobs, and whilst the weather was so good, it was actually a pleasure to wash and polish both cars and the caravan………..
And to polish my shoes……..
Dad was set daily projects by his art teacher and produced some great results!
Gary tried his hand at making some low calorie Easter treats………very tasty!
My nieces are neighbours so they found their way to get their Easter eggs!
I think we were amongst the last people into IKEA to get some DIY projects to keep me amused….(they are still up after nearly 10 weeks!)
The Thursday night clap for the NHS started in the dark but as the weeks slowly passed by the evenings got lighter and we were able to see our new neighbours rather than just hear them!
To keep myself amused I finally got around to starting scanning all the old family photos that I have acquired over the years. Sadly most of the acquisitions have happened due to a death in the family………but spending time editing the photos gives you time for quiet reflection……. The photo above is of me and my mum in 1961!
Dad (on the left) aged about 10………..
Grandad in training for the RAF in Torquay……..1940s
My mum’s family in East Ilsley in the early 1960s. That’s me on the bonnet of my Uncle Keith’s car!
Me in the middle with my brothers Paul and Gary.
Mum, why did you ever let me grow my hair like that????
It was my 59th birthday during lock down so I thought I would dress (or half dress) for the occasion. It did get a laugh when I logged on to do the daily crossword with my friends from the health club!
I am writing this edition of the blog as we are gradually having to get used to a new normal. We still can’t do many of the things we used to do, but as things change we are thankful of every new little bit of freedom we are allowed……..Jane is now allowed to meet up with her borrowed dog “Skittles’ and there are smiles all around!
But even whilst we have all these new things to look forward to as lockdown eases, there is someone lurking in the shadows to change Jane’s carefully crafted stone spiral in to another shape……..I wonder who that might be Gary?
Ian and Jane's Adventure Before Dementia 
Good to hear you are alive and kicking Ian. Looking almost Churchillian on your birthday (facially at least from that angle, but missing the fat cigar).
Lockdown has brought changes for us all, more exploring of the local area, which in our case meaning Bitterne, which wasn’t as exciting, but we did find a deer scampering down the streets one day on our walks.
I had 2 months on furlough from work, so not only at home for April and May, no work either. I managed to complete most of the projects in the garden that either get done months later or put off until the never never, which was good. Then I set to work on the mother-in-law’s garden, which as she is alone and housebound hasn’t been touched in years. That was a challenge, as my back kept telling me, but it looks a lot nicer now.
Back to work at the end of May, which means working from home, at least for the next few months. It’s only now that I really feel the effects of lockdown, as I want to sit and read a book or go out for a walk and I have to stay in glued to the computer.
I have barely used the car since March, driving once a week to Sainsbury’s, all of 5 miles round trip! It’s saving me on fuel and just about keeping the battery going. Haven’t even used half a tank of fuel since March, and with the fuel prices at rock bottom it’s a bit frustrating in a sense.
Right, enough waffle from me, this is your blog! Hoping to catch up with you sometime soon. I decided not to go back to DL as it’s not safe at the moment, and I need to change my lifestyle a bit, but like you I am missing the swimming. TTYL.
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