Coronavirus Lockdown: Day 74. My Last Lockdown Post: What I’ve Learned and Done During Lockdown.

It’s Friday, day 74 of Coronavirus Lockdown and my final entry in my lockdown diary. I know of course that it’s not the end of lockdown but to me, it feels like the end of lockdown proper because I’m going back to work soon. I went in on Wednesday afternoon for some remote training on a new piece of kit and I’ve been doing a lot of online training at home. It is perhaps would more accurate for me to say that my furlough is almost an end.

I’ve enjoyed documenting snippets of my life over the last ten weeks. I don’t think any of us will forget just how strange it has been, but we may forget the details. Already when I look back at my lockdown blog posts, I see things that I’d forgotten.  So much has changed in the world and yet life has gone on, but in a very different way. I don’t think it’ll ever be the same again; there’ll be a new normal.

I’ve been quite productive during my ten weeks at home, although I still think I could have done more. I’ve got some biggish jobs done though, some of which I didn’t expect to do before summer and I’m very pleased with the end results.

What I did and learned during lockdown

So here, in no particular order is what I did and what I learned during lockdown with some photos at the end.

• Painted a DIY kitchen splashback.
• Decorated the living room.
• Painted two walls in my bedroom pink.
• Emptied and tidied the garage.
• Painted the larder cupboard.
• Sprayed the handles on my dressing table and hated them.
• Bought new handles for my dressing table.
• Discovered Tool Station.
• Clapped for the NHS and key workers every Thursday.
• Saw rainbows in windows everywhere.
• Learned to play poker.
• Put a dart board up outside.
• Fell in love with gardening again.
• Took cuttings to propagate mint and basil.
• Did a happy dance when said cuttings grew roots.
• Re-potted the same cuttings when they outgrew their first pot.
• Tidied my shed.
• Planted rocket and oregano seeds.
• Engaged a garden designer.
• Celebrated both of my children’s birthdays.
• Missed seeing my mum on Mother’s Day.
• Missed my mum and her triplet brother and sister celebrating their 70th birthday.
• Celebrated 75 years since VE Day.
• Rearranged three appointments to try on wedding dresses.
• Booked a band to play at our wedding.
• Wore gloves and face mask to go food shopping.
• Saw empty shelves in the supermarket for several weeks where loo roll, pasta, rice, hand soap and anything anti-bacterial should have been.
• Looked for strong white flour and yeast every time I went to a supermarket because Ian wanted to bake bread and pizza.
• Was ridiculously delighted when I found flour and yeast. (Ian’s pizza is second to none).
• Discovered that Poppy is a great cook.
• Queued around the car park at B&M and thought nothing of it.
• Queued for forty minutes with Poppy at the tip when it reopened and enjoyed every moment.
• Woke feeling excited because B&Q had reopened and we were going.
• Binge-watched Normal People.
• Downloaded and binge-watched Gardeners’ World. I know.
• Watched Boris with baited breath.
• Started watching Prison Break. Got bored after eight episodes.
• Started watching Money Heist. Not bored after eight episodes.
• Cut my fringe five times.
• Cut Ian’s hair twice- with scissors.
• Trimmed Poppy’s hair.
• Was not invited to cut Harry’s hair.
• Learned how to share a Power Point presentation on Zoom.
• Had training via Zoom call most weeks with my work friends and colleagues.
• Was and still am very grateful for the furlough scheme.
• Walked round Skipton Woods countless times.
• Walked around the park countless times.
• Realised that I love walking.
• Saw a pair of swans with 11 cygnets.
• Saw the same swans one month on, still with 11 cygnets.
• Ate too much.
• Drank too much.
• Became obsessed with succulents and cacti.
• Laughed at hundreds of Covid memes and videos.
• Crossed the road to avoid being within two metres of another pedestrian.
• Was thankful I didn’t need to homeschool.
• Heard, with my own ears, Harry say that he misses school.
• Set myself a challenge to walk 50,000 steps per week.
• Changed my energy provider.
• Changed my broadband provider.
• Upgraded my phone.
• Wore contact lenses for the first time since uni when we had to practise on each other.
• Loved every moment of being with Ian all day every day.
• Was thankful every day that my family and friends all stayed safe and well.

Lockdown in pictures

Thank you for reading my Coronavirus Lockdown Diaries. Your comments and messages mean the world. Stay safe and have a lovely weekend. I’ll be back next week x