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Sunday 24 January 2021

And about time too.

 Well, its been a long while.

I took time out and it stretched to the 'nth degree.

I have run the gamut of emotions, high and low and have emerged hopefully stronger and possibly wiser.

I have stopped baying at the moon about the stupidity of people. having snarled at one too many shoppers who thought that it was fine to lean on me as they reached to pick an item off the shelf, I no longer go into any shop. 

There is a notice on my door telling all delivery persons to ring the bell/bang on the door and step well away. I have chewed the ear off a postman who wanted to hand me my parcels and made a formal complaint the second time.

I have nothing but praise for the various people who deliver my Asda grocery order and am thankful that we have a marvellous meat supplier who delivers and follows the correct procedures. The local free range egg supplier has set up contactless collection and is on my regular dog walk route. I am thinking about getting rid of my car and carrying on for the forseeable future as i do not miss shopping one little bit.

I have got over the uncomfortable/embarrassing fact that I am enjoying lockdown. My time is filled with whatever I fancy doing whenever I wish to do it.

The only downside is not seeing family in the flesh, video calls and zoom sessions are good but nothing like the real thing. Having said that there are many families that are scattered across the world and rarely or never meet in person. 

Michael has plans for the good weather, both for house and garden, so much so that he has decided not to take on any work for at least 2 years, if ever. We are enjoying working as a close team and want it to continue.

At the beginning of December I looked long and hard at my crafting supplies. I will not be buying anything for this year, with the exception of mask making materials. I am still churning those out, just at a slower rate.

I joined an online knitting community, yarn n yarns based in Penarth, South Wales, and am taking part in the "12 cast ons of Christmas", This is helping me work through the yarn stash, gathering patterns, yarn and  ( making more project bags) matching up what I have is theraputic. Some of the projects are reasonabley medium term but a few were quick makes and as I have emptied a bag of its finished item I have cast on another to take its place. In this way I hope to run the stash right down. There are also 2 projects ongoing to work through any leftovers. I have just finished the second scrappy Flax Light in sock yarn and have a dk crochet blanket on the go. 

The sewing is nowhere near as productive as it is based in the dining room. I prefer to be in the living room with Michael so that we can chat as we work on our various things. Once the warmer and drier weather arrives this will change. We will spend more time outside working together and time indoors will be separate, he with his planned projects and me sewing.

The garden has vegetables in it still and 3 beds are filled with garlic and summer onions. The polytunnel has my flower planters in it but they will be moved out ready for lots of edibles. The greenhouse has some brassicas (thriving out of the wind) ready for harvesting and these will be replaced with tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers in due course.

There are 3 new blueberry plants that will provide a small harvest this year, my established bushes fruited really well last year, so lots of purple porridge is in my future. The fruit trees all look healthy and we will be building a cage over the Jostaberry and  Black Elderberry. That of course is "the royal we" I will be making coffee and cookies as my contribution. 

All that seems to be a bit smug and self satisfied but it has required, and will continue to do so, planning and some hard work. It was no easy task to dig out and make a level area for the tunnel on our sloping garden.

Herbie is thriving, thankfully he has stopped growing, and loves having Revi and Poppy during the week, a no contact handover takes place at each end of the day and their owner is as careful as us on a daily basis.

I think that I am all caught up now and I plan on being here a few times a week now, when I have something worth sharing. 

My thanks to anyone who is still there and my hopes that you are all heathy and well.

Take care.


                 TTFN                                                                                           Pam


23 comments:

  1. How lovely to see you back blogging! Like you I've rather enjoyed lockdown and it's making me think about how I want to live in the future.
    I'm interested in your 12 cast ons of Christmas - what sort of things did you knit?

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  2. Welcome back Pam, it's lovely to 'see' you sounding so well and content and full of plans.

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  3. Loving this positive post. I know what you mean about rather enjoying lockdown. The pressure is off, there's no social expectations. Suits me too.
    xx

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  4. Hey Pam, welcome back !Hi from sunny Queensland.
    Good to finally hear you are well and doing ok, absolutely best to do your own sensible thing with health safety and precautions, the alternative is crazy behaviour and look what that causes.

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  5. Welcome back Pam! It's good to hear that you and yours are well and thriving and making the most of it. Take care and stay safe.

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  6. I'm glad you are both well and safe, I did think of sending you an email, but decided you would drop back in when you are ready. I too finding plenty to do in lockdown, thank heavens for crafting, but my thoughts are turning to the garden, like you making plans.

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  7. How lovely to have a post to read from you Pam x I think of you every day as I use
    My quilt you sent me x you sound as busy as ever!

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  8. Glad you are keeping well Pam. I really hope that when this is all over we can all keep the good bits that have come into our lives as there are quite a few. xx

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  9. It is so nice to see you back again. I have looked every day to see if you had written anything and hoped all was well. You are going to be very productive over the year and it is great that Michael has decided to take time off and work at home. Still shielding, a year now but we are safe. I have forgotten what a shop looks like.Yvonne.

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  10. Welcome back Pam. I really missed your blog and its lovely to hear of your lockdown activities. Like you we are not as oppressed by covid restrictions. Lots of indoor interests for these wet and cold days and lots of plans for the garden as well. We downsized 18 months ago and although the garden is not big it was very overgrown,last summer we did the back garden and grew some veggies,this year the front garden hopefully will be sorted. Even in lockdown it's good to have plans. All good wishes.

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  11. Glad to see you are back. I must admit to feeling more anxious this lockdown than in the previous one. Unfortunately I have lost my mojo and find I can't get motivated about anything. Thankfully the dogs keep me going and as one of them is diabetic and needs regular meals and injections it keeps me in some sort of routine.
    Stay safe.

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  12. So lovely to see you are back, I am sure I am not the only one who has missed you, glad too see you are well and still crafting.
    Much love Trish

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  13. So pleased to see this and know you are safe and well.

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  14. Great to see a post Pam. What a year this has been. Missing family and human contact that doesn't involve social distancing, masks and covid fear. If I never see hand sanitizer again I will be very happy-and so will all the cracks on my hands! Sounds like you've been keeping busy, and lots of plans for the coming year. Take care.

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  15. Great to see you back blogging Pam and good to hear you and your family are well! Lovely also to hear about all your plans. Definitely positive thinking so helps. We are back in lockdown here in Alicante for 15 days and after that we have been told everyone has to self isolate where possible. Keep well Amanda x

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  16. How lovely to see you back, Pam. My feelings about lockdown are similar to yours and I bought nothing except lots of elastic for masks last year. I’m just about to finish my christmas scrappy quilt having been sidetracked by mask making. Catriona in cold Scotland.

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  17. Great to see a post and glad all is well. Like you we rarely go far, a little shopping now and again as it is so hard to get a delivery and a drive/walk for a change of scenery. We are in Tier 3 so this is allowed. Take care.

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  18. It's so lovely to have you back and know that you are well.

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  19. Welcome back Pam I missed you so glad all is ok with you I look forward to reading more xx

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  20. Hi Pam. It's lovely to see a post from you and to know that you are ok. I gave up owning a car a very very long time ago and have very rarely missed it. I'm saving a fortune too as they aren't cheap things to run are they.I'd love to hear about the things you are growing this year. Keep warm and stay safe.

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  21. Good to see you back. Glad you are well.

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  22. Hello and of course we are all still here ! :) It is so nice to hear your news . Yes I,m with you on the shopping deliveries . I cant do very much in the veg garden at the moment , torn abdominal muscles,ouch, got to rest up ..but I,m pottering about and sowing a few seeds and the sun made an appearance for a little while today, which made us all feel so much better . Take care . Stay safe . Hugs Debbie :) x

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