April in Review: A Trip to Devon, A New Baby and More

 

Fri 1 April

Day off. Had hair done. Watched first episode Slow Horses (read my review)

Sat 2 April

Walk, 6 miles. Forgot to wear Fitbit. V cold. Went to a party for granddaughter Rosie's third birthday party, held in a coffee bar.  Three little friends from nursery came. Watched 1st episode Hacks.

 Sun Apr 3

Cold, sunny intervals.  Did a photoshoot of 4 outfits based on a red cardigan.  Roast lamb for lunch. 

Mon April 4

Dreary and cold. J dropped one of his bikes off in Chelmsford for repairs. He cleaned my car. I got petrol and  a few groceries. J will be fending for himself (and Molly) for a few days, while I go down to Devon to see my Mum.

Tues April 6

Did early walk. Overcast. Attended a severance session  (we are in the 45 day consultation period at work; everyone in marketing is at risk of redundancy).  Left home at 11.30 to go to Plymouth.  Got there 4.30pm. Took a Simnel cake from Fortnum & Mason and we had a slice - delicious.

Weds April 7

Raining, windy. Went to one of our favourite places, Buckfast Abbey, for lunch. Had a yummy pasty from Crunch of Devon  (I consider myself a bit of a pasty conoisseur). We always light a candle for my brother. 

Back in London,  EV charger was being installed in the porch. The car was ordered last August but there is still no delivery date. 

Thurs April 8 

Did walk and saw Michael's grave. He was a baby who died in 1944. Flowers are still placed there. Also saw ribbons for Ukraine wrapped around a road sign. 

Took Mum to Otter garden centre.  I bought a heuchera and tiarella plus nerine bulbs. She bought a couple of roses and dianthus. We had a real laugh at one of her Malapropisms - "It's all water off a duck's bridge."

Fri April 9 

Raining am. Took mum for 4th jab after I booked it with a local pharmacy.  Originally, she was offered locations which were drop-in only, and difficult to get to without a car.  

While she was being jabbed I rummaged in two charity shops and got a green top originally from Banana Republic.  Then we went into town. Had lunch M&S, avocado on sourdough.  Got some earrings.  Started to pour with rain as we walked to bus stop. When we got back, I spent some time scanning some old photos.

Sat April 10th

Sunny start for my journey home.  Left 9.50, home 3.50. J was picking up another of his bikes. Couple of deliveries waiting, handbag and vitamins. Clematis Montana Rubens (x3) in bud and will soon burst into flower. Spurs on so watched The Split on tablet. 

Sun April 11

Lovely day, warm and sunny. Did walk, saw longhorns on Plains.  Did shopping at Tesco and M&S. Grand Prix was 6am, Lewis 4th. Roast beef.

Mon April 12

Did a workout.  Back to work  (from home). Lovely day, bit windy,  washing dried fast outside.  Was planning to go to Cambridge tomorrow as our account director from the ad agency in New York was going to be in, but she has Covid and and there's another petrol shortage

Tues April 12 

Walk, no cows. They move around so often I don't see them for days. Warm enough to take jacket off. Bumped into J who was running.  Quite busy work-wise. Had forgotten to take pics or write a blog post for tomorrow.  Managed to whip one up using prompt 10 on the 10th. Started The Gloaming.

Weds April 13

Planned workout but had meeting on which redundancy pool I'm in. Then got caught up in work.

Thurs April 14

Beautiful day. Walk, Yates, saw cows.  Google tells me my blog's "unparsable data issues" are resolved.  Phew. Meeting with finance advisor. 

Good Friday April 15

Day off for Good Friday. Beautiful day. Walked to Body Balance.  Haven't done it for a month,  legs aching afterwards! Did some gardening. 

Saturday April 16

Cloudy then sun came out. Bagged up more winter clothes to go in the attic.  Scheduled tweets. Went to garden centre and got a lupin, phlox, scabious and two dianthus. Then planted everything. Watched film Dune. 5 out of 10.

Easter Sunday April 17

Walk, Connaught Water.  Saw cows, still sitting down. Watched Easter service on TV. Had an Easter egg hunt for Rosie in the garden, then we all went to the Larkshall for lunch. Had roast chicken, huge.  Stayed sunny. 

Easter Monday April 18

Walk, Yates, horse n pony. Weather still quite good. Spent long time weeding rose bed. Watered roses. They will be late this year because I should have pruned them sooner  (did it in Feb). 

Tuesday April 19 

Didn't go into office.  Sold a couple of Kettlewell tops on the FB site.

Weds April 20 

Had a marketing All Hands for the latest on the redundancy situation. No clarity yet on who's going. 

Thurs April 21 

Yoga, not my usual 8.15am class. Tried a later  class, teacher was on holiday so was usual teacher, which was nice. 

Fri April 22 

Aching from yoga. Busy at work sorting out a new messaging look and feel for the big event I campaign manage, Embedded World.  Took some pics of clematis in full bloom.

Sat April 23 

Forced myself to walk, didn't really fancy it. Funfair has arrived (top pic).  Remember how excited I used to get when I was 15. Rejoined Ancestry (14 day trial again) and uploaded old pics from Mum's. Nice to put faces against her grandparents and an uncle. 

Sun April 24

Sunny intervals,  breezy. Took tripod to Larkswood to take pics of bluebells. Roast beef. Got a few containers ready for summer bedding

Mon April 25 

Did a stretch class at the gym. Bit shocked to realise that although my weight has stayed the same, waist measurement is back to what it was pre boot camp in Nov. Need to earn my carbs!!

Tues April 26 

Busy day - had to prepare a slide deck for a senior exec at short notice. Also had 4 hour planning session which used to be a couple of days in a nice location before Covid (Paris, Miami). Did walk pm. The forest seems totally different at a later time - the lighting and atmosphere.

Weds April 27 

New garden post live on blog.  J's daughter R went in labour overnight. Baby Olive born. R had tough time, kept in hospital overnight. No visitors allowed.  

Thurs April 28

Fairly busy today. Those in the pool I'm in for demand gen jobs  (11 people) had a meeting to ask questions which was a bit strange, and muted. Not many questions. Fox has dug up new clematis.  Lovely pics baby. R in hospital until tomorrow. 

Fri April 29

Cloudy, cold. R out of hospital.  J looked after Olive to allow R & S to have short nap. Here's the proud Granddad.

Sat April 30

Likely to be the only sunny day this bank holiday, so got up early, did a 4 mile walk and then went to  Epping & garden centre. Got lots bedding plus 4 auriculas (for first time), and 2 dianthus. Didn't plant any: got distracted dealing with what looks like ears of corn in the flower beds, and weeding the drive. 

Sharing this post with:#SpreadTheKindness  and #Linkup on the Edge at Shelbee on the Edge, #AnythingGoes at My Random Musings, Rena at Fine Whatever, Talent Sharing Tuesdays at Scribbling Boomer, Link Up Pot Pourri and Traffic Jam Weekend at My Bijou Life

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Lockdown Continues: Sentence a Day, April 2020

Quick scene setter - the UK went into a form of lockdown on March 20 - schools, restaurants, pubs and most non-essential shops are closed. We are told to work from home, unless it is impossible. We are allowed out daily to exercise and we can go out for basic shopping.  My company mandated working from home a week before the lockdown started.

Weds 1 April

Had good intentions- walk daily, eat only healthy foods. But didn't work out today. Published blog post about silver linings. My brother's wife Claire thinks she may now have Covid-19  (he had it last month). Wanted to send them Easter eggs but delivery would not have been until May!

Thurs 2 April

A more active day - a Joe Wicks workout and a walk with John, all before 9.30. Then work. Clapped for carers.

Fri 4 April

Fairly quiet day. Feeling a bit of FOMO as everyone seems to be doing Zoom or Houseparty calls and we aren't!

Sat 5 April

Lovely day. Did early 6 mile walk in forest.  Unfortunately had gastric problems so had to cut the walk short. Went to bed early and slept for 9.5 hours

Sun 6 April

Another lovely day. Feeling a bit better. Got Easter decorations out. Also summer clothes and sorted winter clothes for charity shop and attic.

Mon 7 April

Woke to the news Boris has gone to hospital with respiratory problems caused by Covid-19.  Meanwhile the Times, struggling for feature content in its supplement, leads on Princess Marie Chantal of Greece's new book about etiquette. But good to read anything non-Coronavirus related.  Did Joe Wicks workout but a bit low on energy

Tues 8th April

Busy day working. Didn't get time for a walk or workout.  Need to prioritize that.

Weds 9 April

Walk at 8am, a short circular 2.2 miles. This is the local village green. Went to the small M&S in Epping for some groceries. Hardly any queuing time, very enjoyable. Made a chicken casserole for dinner.

Thurs 10 April

Worried about economic forecast and care homes tragedy. Did short walk.  Sunny day. Tried to set up a Zoom call with old friends for tomorrow but it fell through.  Clapped for carers.

Good Friday 11 April

Lovely day. Sunny. Queued to get bread. Did housework and weeding.  Ironing while watching Jesus of Nazareth part 1 from 1977.

Sat 11 April

Walked to Waitrose to take a John Lewis parcel back.  Took 1.5 hours to get in. Didn't need any groceries so this was frustrating, but at least it was sunny and I had my headphones. Watered roses. Garden is very dry. My Easter beauty egg arrived from Look Fantastic. Read what was in it here.

Sun 12 April

Sunny. We did an early walk, bluebells and then Strava Art exercise with heart shape. Lamb for lunch.  Watched the Archbishop of Canterbury's Easter service, conducted from his kitchen, with other speakers at their homes. Did a video call with J's kids and granddaughter.

Mon 13 April - Easter Mon

Bit of a long dull day. Consumed a Lindt Easter egg which I wouldn't normally do. Watched last part Jesus of Nazareth.

Tues 14 April

Back to work.  Did a walk at 8am and able to get into the Co Op without queuing to get salad veg. Did a LinkedIn course on Google PPC.  Lots of lovely lilac trees are flowering as I go round on my walks. I love to breathe in the heady aroma.

Weds 15 April

Highlight of week  supermarket trip. Sainsbury's. The queue was in a different place, their side car park,  and it took 1.5 hours snaking round a slalem route which featured upturned trollies as route markers.

Thurs 16 April

Went for early walk with J to do a Strava art route. They're quite complex to execute and I didn't have too much time before my first meeting, so I had to come back early. Clap for carers.

Fri 17 April

Busy at work. Did short walk. Baby Rosie has taken first steps.

Sat 18 April

Woke at 5 thinking this is the best time of the week. But breakfast news was dominated by PPE crisis and UK probably going to have worst death toll in Europe. Went to M&S, very enjoyable, not much of a queue. They had plants!! Got a couple of pink pelargoniums. Did an indoor workout.

Sun 19 April

Sunny but cold. Did an urban walk 4.4 miles. Saw this gorgeous apple tree. Roast beef. Video chat with Christopher, Katie and grandchild. Did a bit of gardening.

Mon 20 April

S**t day. Didn't finish until 7.45. No chance to do a walk.

Tues 21 April

Went out at 8 to do walk. Nipped into Co Op for bread. They even had sourdough! Managed to do a quick blog shoot.

Weds 22 April

Did a workout. Productive day, felt on top of game. 1st time for ages.

Thurs 23 April

Walk 3.5 miles. More cars and people around and people getting complacent.  I was the only one taking avoidance action by walking in the road.  Went to Sainsbury's - noticeably more expensive this week. Queuing took 30 minutes, down from last week. Saw this wisteria on the edge of their car park. Clap for carers.

Fri 25 April

Short walk. Sunny. Short queue for Co Op to get milk and eggs. Fairly busy with work.  Did very quick blog shoot.

Sat 26 April.

Cold start, sunny later. Did a forest walk with J, 3.5 miles.  A lot of people out.  Chris and  Katie were out walking with the baby so called by and we chatted 2 metres apart in the drive. Watched penultimate episode Game of Thrones.

Sun 27 April

Sunny. Took photos for 4 blog posts. Roast pork. Watered garden front and back. Last GOT. Spoke to Mum but not for long as her phone wasn't charged (land line). Should have been flying to America for an annual sales/marketing conference.

Mon 28 April
Early short walk. Survey says J and I am "accepters" meaning that we accept the restrictions and make the best of it. Boris back at work.  Made J a salad  for lunch but I had cheese and crackers, one of my absolute favourite meals. The baby robins in a nest box in our garden have fledged.

Tues 29 April

Virtual event replacing work conference started. Lots team banter on Slack which made it fun.  Molly was fascinated (below). No walk today, did an indoor workout as it was raining.

Weds 30 April

Rain cleared away. Short walk. The rain made everything smell fresh, except for dog waste which makes me very annoyed. Why can't people do the right thing? Busy day. Virtual conf continued, with exercises during the break (!). Salad lunch.  In the evening looked over at J and thought for a moment the Grim Reaper was standing behind him!

Thurs 30 April

Wet and blustery. Did walk 3 4 miles. J found a dead squirrel in the water butt. I was quite sad as we've had a squirrel in the garden for years and enjoy its antics  (I don't know if it's the same one).  Sent mum a VE Day hamper from M&S.  She was thrilled. I worry about her as she's 87 and on her own; she wasn't on the list of 1.5m who were told not to go out at all, so she does venture out occasionally for a short walk, but do-gooders often tell her she shouldn't be out.

Stay safe everyone, and hopefully in a month's time we'll be out of lock down to some extent!

10 on the 10th: Getting Ready for Spring

I get very excited about spring, and Easter: such promise-filled, joyous, colorful times of the year. So I was delighted to join Leslie from Once Upon A Time and Happily Ever After.  to compare UK and US spring and Easter celebrations in a seasonal "10 questions on the 10th" post today.

Getting Ready for Easter - and #WowOnWednesday Link Up

Easter in the UK was until fairly recently an "ecumenical matter" as Father Jack would say, and had not been commercialized in the way that blights Christmas. Now it's a case of "Easter is the New Christmas."