Good Things

 Hello. How are you? I do hope you are all ok. It's not been the easiest week, and I'm sure it's the same for you, so I thought a round-up of the good things going on might in in order.

:: The weather today. Warm enough for bare feet and iced coffee. Warm enough to wash all the winter woollens. Warm enough to remember how we use the garden as another room, most welcome at the moment I can tell you.

:: Anniversary tulips. Seventeen years. 

:: Walking in the local woods. I save this walk for the weekend, so it feels a bit more special than our usual "pavement" walks.

:: John coming home from work with a load of plants for me. I have never been so happy to see new plants. 

:: My seeds are growing. I moved the cold frame onto the decking as it wasn't getting enough sun in it's first spot, although it was doing an excellent job of hiding some ugly drainage pipes.

:: Bella, Angus and I baked Easter egg biscuits and we all let loose our inner artist while we iced them.

:: I turned the wreath that always hangs in the hall into an Easter wreath. I added crochet daffodils and had a lot of fun faffing.

:: My friend had a surfeit of plants (she has an allotment) and asked me if I'd like some. Tomatoes, definitely, and some kind of pepper I think? At the moment I am just pleased that I'm remembering to water them.

:: The sweetest parcel arrived today from my friend Abigail, via Winter's Moon. Full of treats she knew I would enjoy and appreciate. I did have a little cry. Happy tears.

:: I made an Easter tree with some twigs I found a while ago.

:: We made mini egg nests. I hope the kids never stop asking to make these because it wouldn't be Easter without them here.

:: Plant therapy. All my houseplants have been given a bit of attention this week; showered, repotted if necessary, moved around to different positions. I swear some of them look better for it already.

 :: I found a bra I thought I'd lost. While cleaning out and tidying the wardrobe, I found a new bra I bought about a year ago bundled up in a load of clean clothes (on John's side of the wardrobe too, probably put away in a hurry). I remember looking for it afterwards and being frustrated that it seemed to have vanished, but then eventually I forgot about it, until today, when I discovered again. Given how much I loathe bra shopping, and that the shops are mostly closed, I consider this to be a very good thing indeed.

:: One last thing. A neighbour's pet rabbit escaped and we found it hopping around our back garden, sniffing the air, whiskers twitching quite happily. By some miracle, Ziggy, our whippet, was sound asleep indoors as Bella and I caught the rabbit (Pippi, adorable), put him in his cage and handed him back over the fence to our neighbours. If Ziggy had been present and spied the rabbit before we did, the whole incident might have had a very different ending, but thankfully Pippi is safely home and the gap in the fence is there no longer.

I know that this Easter weekend will feel very different for most of us, as we are unable to share it with wider family or friends. I hope that you still manage to enjoy the weather and the time at home, and find some moments of peace and calm - and even joy - amidst everything that is going on at the moment. Happy Easter to you. 

Enforced Nesting

There's a kind of country-wide (world-wide I suppose) enforced nesting going on at the moment. Almost everyone is at home and when they're not trying to work from home or teach their children or care for family members, I suppose they're doing what we're doing: chores, DIY, gardening, crafting, reading, cooking. Leaving the house once a day for our permitted walk, trying to only shop once a week, avoiding non-essential travel. It's hard but I am coming to realise that resistance is futile. I think my main goal would be to try to relax into this new routine because there really is no-where I'd rather be than home - just perhaps not all day every day.

John has returned to work but that doesn't mean life has returned to normal at all. I have been going in to work on the odd day, although it's all very strange and not really like a normal school day. Bella and Angus are still learning remotely, and I think this week we really found our groove with it all, which is frustrating as we now stop for the two week Easter holidays. It will be hard to get back into the swing of it after the break, but more important I think to keep weekends and holidays very separate from school days - for the children and for me.

Amongst the supervising homeschool, housework, constant meal preparation and all the other things, I have been doing jobs like clearing out the garage, sorting out cupboards, and generally trying to make good use of this strange time so that, when it is all over, we can go out and do something lovely. But there are lovely things we can do at home as well, and I have been focusing on that because it keeps me sane and happy.

I ordered us all some new books recently, and I have been promising myself some daytime reading, a luxury only usually enjoyed on holiday.

I've long admired Jennie Maizel's online Sketchbook Club and thought that it would be something creative that Bella and I could do together while we are at home. By lovely coincidence, Jennie has temporarily made all her modules free during the lockdown and so I requested a few, including this Sardines collage/illustration. I started it rather impulsively at the end of a particularly fraught day and it was the best thing I did. 

I've done the background colour and collage (such fun choosing the papers!), and now will have lots of fun building up layers of detail and colour on the illustration with coloured pencils. 

Now and then I put a podcast on and do a few rows of my beaded bracelet.

The garden continues to be a haven, especially while the weather is so good.

I like to bring some flowers indoors whenever I can. It's usually a random mix of whatever is in bloom in the garden but there's something about those first little jugs and vases of flowers on the bedside table after winter.

 After a couple of false starts, I am really enjoying working on my trio blanket. I don't love the colours at the moment but they are just starting to change a little and I'm excited to see how it develops as the blanket grows.

I finally got around to doing something I'd been meaning to do for months. Years, really. I unravelled my rose crochet cardigan which I never wear. It's such a waste, all that gorgeous pink cotton yarn, just hanging on the back of the bedroom door.

I now have a sizeable amount of cotton and am looking for a simple, floppy, wearable t-shirt pattern, something I can wear with jeans in the summer, maybe half tucked in. 

I feel like we've really exhausted all the walks we can do from our front door but I am thankful that we can get to the woods on foot. It makes a difference, gives me a change of scenery and reminds me that it's spring.