Stay at Home Diary 3

[Clericus]

Well we are now in May and the sun is shining here in the U.K. We had quite a few weeks with very warm temperatures but the rain came back this week. It was so uplifting to be able to sit in the garden and we even got a welcome tan.

The garden is coming alive and we were lucky enough to be able to phone an order for basket plants which we collected last Monday and planted the same day, so we are looking forward to a lot of colour in the next few weeks.

As time has gone on our life has become quite a lot slower and the days still go quite quickly. Apart from the day to day household chores I have tried to make meals a bit more interesting experimenting with Moussaka and using fruit in salads. Cutting meat to fifty percent per month has proved a bit of a challenge this month but we are heading in the right direction.

As yet the hall, stairs and landing still await a fresh coat of paint and there are plenty of books to read. As I say life has no urgency but I do miss a routine.

Generally we are lucky health wise, we have a total of 10 of our children and spouses working in key worker industries, police, prison officer, nurses, care workers, retail and pharmaceutical, with no symptoms of this dreadful virus.

Our sprits are generally buoyant although we miss the children and grandchildren, we do have some down days when there is a bit of niggling but generally having each other for company is an added bonus. This confinement must be very difficult for those who live alone and I hope that with the help of modern technology and local help groups life isn't too difficult.

There is a concern for peoples mental health, especially us men. We must learn to reach out before things get too bad and there are plenty of groups and health professionals to help.

I hope you are all keeping well and will keep to the rules for the next few weeks. There is speculation that our Government will start to relax the rules at the end of May.

Stay safe and well everybody.