Week 9 - I think

Monday

In another life I would have been doing Les Mills bodypump followed by 30 lengths of the pool at the gym, but this is now.  My new routine of a brisk hour walk with the step count app on my phone tells me I average 4-5 miles, then some weight lifting with sons weights in the garden.  We can have more walks now so I took another one in the early evening.

source:  watchlesmillsondemand.com

Breakfast was yoghurt and frozen berries, lunch was salad with cheese flan and dinner was veggie chilli con carne and leftover rice, hubby cooked meat for the men.

At 12pm the new oven arrived, while the electrician was working we stayed out in the garden, I gave the whole kitchen and floor a massive soap and bleach wash down of all surfaces after he left... all done.


On our 2nd walk of the day we found a really large, well made den in the woods - what people will do to occupy themselves during lockdown!  I suspect quite a few spliffs are being smoked in here of an evening :)  It is well hidden, I couldn't resist taking a log seat for a moment.

Haircuts had been delayed, I cut hubby's neck last time so the men were bracing themselves for this and have so far been postponing every time I offer !!

Diversion

I should enlighten you that I am not a fully skilled hairdresser - I was an apprentice at what was then Alan International  in London, as a school leaver 45+ years ago, two years washing hair and standing next to a stylist, learning, with 2 days a week release to the London training school to spend much time making nice 'brickwork' patterns with my hair rollers, pin curls and finger waves, blow drying was quite new and most people wanted afro perms and bleached heads..

https://aland.co.uk/london-hair-dressing-and-barbering-training-centre/  

Mr Alan himself has now written his memoirs after 60 years in the business, set out in blog format chapters if you're interested....

https://aland.co.uk/biography/

I can tell you - you need a further year of experience on a shop floor at the very least to develop your new found skills  to be capable (and I  missed that bit)..  I moved in the late seventies from hairdressing into moonlighting at nightclubs whilst holding down my day job as a pa in merchant banks in the City of London, lured by lots of money and bright lights.  In those days the office pest was unfortunately someone you tolerated and getting the job was 50% down to how pretty you were as long as you could type fast and didnt mind long hours, i worked for the m.d. and his team of 30 in the dealing room so often would be taxi driven home at 1am, those were the days! Not.

End of diversion!

Tuesday:

On the morning walk a household on the lane leading into the woods had put sweets out for passers by - such a nice thought.

 Breakfast was poached egg on toast, lunch falafel with salad and dinner was left over veggie chilli from Monday, with nachos and grated cheese.

Shopped on Amazon for a picture frame to hold a 6 x 4 print of Ambercat, I wanted a copper frame to compliment her beautiful fur and was pleased to find just what I wanted.  Added a couple of washing up bowls to the order to hold cleaning stuff under the sink/wash the floor and to keep outside for cleaning the bbq.


Made a space i n my treasure cupboard for Ambers bowl  collar and toys.

From 1pm until 9pm it's work from home day at the cyberspace call centre

This is my day:   had a crash and need to be recovered? vehicle broken down? need a mechanic or tow truck? no problem... boiler on the blink, electric failed, front door won't lock, pipe burst, radiator leaking, mice in the loft? no problem I will send you someone to fix it :)  we will have a lovely chat about CV19, whether you are isolating, managing to get to the shops, enjoying lockdown in your garden, missing the grandkids - while I help you look for the stopcock and turn off the water before the ceiling caves in or I will help you with my magic maps to find out where your car has actually broken down, because you haven't got a clue where you are.   I really enjoy my job because, as you can see, every call is different and I like talking to people.

Wednesday:

Frozen fruit and greek yoghurt, walk in the woods - we varied our route and found another den.  Very dense woodland here so only encountered a couple of people.

Lunch was feta cheese, tomato, onion and Ryvita.  Dinner was bbq veggie burger and salad and savoury rice.  I worked 1-9 again with the conservatory doors open, a scarf over the window and a fan - it was the hottest day this year for the UK.

The flowers my blogging buddy Annie sent are still looking like new.

I have two days off now.  Today we are collecting Ambers ashes and letting her spirit go in our own way in the garden.

Here’s a video snippet for about a minute of birds singing in the woods ruined at the end by someone using a chainsaw ... hopefully not in the woods!