I am emerging, a bit dazed, from two weeks of university lectures and assignment writing. Two weeks of staring at a laptop all day, every day. It's been draining, to say the least, but now I can relax and enjoy the last few days of half term.
This little corner has been where I've spent most of my time, up in the spare room. I quite like it up there and am claiming it for myself, by stealth. I might start referring to it as my office soon, maybe move my yarn up there....
It used to be Angus's bedroom. It's a tricky size and shape but I'm moving furniture around and making it cosy. I hung all my embroidery hoops together on the wall the other day. There is definitely room for more.
Downstairs, life has booked like this. Children doing schoolwork from home, John working from home. There were days when our WiFi was stretched to its limit with all four of us on Zoom or Teams at the same time.
This one spends his days going from bed to sofa to a different bed. Occasionally he pops up to see me in the spare room. I think he likes the carpeted floor up there as much as he likes to see me.
While we've had some bitterly cold weather, we had the most pathetic amount of snow you've ever seen. It's not like I wanted to be snowed in or anything, but enough for the kids to go sledging would have been nice. Anything to relieve the unrelenting boredom or days and days at home.
It's been a challenging couple of weeks, actually. I am not suited to lone working or any kind of working from home, and feel very thankful for the usual contact I have with my colleagues and the children at work. I wouldn't say I'm an extrovert but I am a very sociable person and do like the company of other people very much - perhaps more than I realised. Also I feel like I've hit a bit of a wall with the pandemic and lockdown. I am just fed up. I miss my family and friends, I miss hugging people. I miss going for a coffee or a drink in the pub or out to dinner. The cold, wet winter hasn't helped much.
So positivity comes in the form of small things; spring flowers, lighter evenings, finding a good TV series to watch, a new book, crafting and baking. And big things too, like loved ones being vaccinated.
We have baked rhubarb and custard cake, heart-shaped biscuits for Valentine's Day and pancakes, among other things. We made savoury pancakes for lunch, filled with cheddar, chopped ham and spring onions. Then we had traditional English ones for dessert after dinner, with lemon juice and sugar.
Our walks have been frequent and local. They have been muddy 
stormy
sunny 
drizzly
and frozen. At least it's not so muddy when the ground is rock hard.
Every sign of spring, every catkin and camelia and snowdrop, is welcome.
I am working steadily on my crochet jumper. Since I took this photo I've made good headway with the body and hope to have it finished in a couple of weeks.
Solace also comes in the form of my Stitch A Day sampler. Sometimes it's three or four stitches every three of four days, it doesn't matter, I am loving it.
I hope you are all keeping safe and healthy and doing well, or as well as can be expected. Spring is coming. Cling on to that.
