Life in lockdown

Hello. How are you? I hope you are keeping well and navigating your way through the continued lockdown.

I’ve been a little quiet on the blog these past few weeks.  In the intervening period, work has carried on apace, the daily commute becoming a little less lonely as more people gradually return to work.  The company I work for hasn’t closed for a single day during the lockdown and social distancing, cleaning, hand washing and temperature checking are now just part of the everyday routine.  Greater challenges lie ahead, I think, but for now I’m very grateful to be able to go to work, to retain some normality and play a very small part in helping to sustain the local economy.  We are now also producing visors for the NHS – every little helps, as they say.

The cherry blossom tree …

Outside of working hours, the garden is my second home at home, so to speak. We are now into May – one of my favourite months. The froths of  blossom from the cherry tree may have  come and gone,  but the aquilegias are now in bloom and the garden hedge is alive with birdsong. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many birds in the garden as I have this year. Of course, my husband is providing them with copious amounts of bird food and with Boris donating his soft fluffy hair for their nests, I guess they have it made !

Scattered around the garden, in the most random of places, there are little bursts of bluebells…the Spanish kind I think, not our native common bluebell. They must have been planted by previous residents. So with this extra time available at the weekends, I am gathering them up with a view to planting them all together in pots to make a  display for next spring.  And, although they’re not the native kind, they are still rather pretty, don’t you think?  I can never resist a blue flower !

So that’s how things are playing out around here at the moment.  Everyone is anxious for the lockdown to end. I can definitely sense boredom and frustration are settling in, particularly with my parents, who despite being in their late 70s, are fiercely independent and desperate to get back out on their little day trips.  I myself am longing to get to the coast, anywhere for that matter, but I guess it will come in good time … hopefully May will bring some light at the end of the tunnel.

In the meantime, please stay safe and look after yourself,

Paula x

Some other links you might enjoy…

Ethereal Cosmos – winning image of the International Garden Photographer of the Year black and white photo project.

17 Artists Capture a Surreal New York from their Windows

David Hockney shares exclusive art from Normandy

Ballyrobert Gardens – first time ordering plants online and opted for Ballyrobert Gardens which is just a few miles from home. I ordered lamb’s ear, gentians and anemones and they were delivered two days later, beautifully fresh, in great condition and in fully compostable and biodegradable ‘bio happy bags’.  More info on my Instagram Stories