Here I am again on a mission to be happy every day, It’s now week 19-22. I had to triple check because time is an odd thing currently!
Lock down continues
When I began this series in January, I never expected to face such a tough year. We are now about 10 weeks in to lock down. I know things are easing and I will be returning to work in June, but for us, we will remain in our bubble as far as possible.
I’ve made no secret that I have enjoyed this time in lock down but to return to some sort of normality would be lovely. Just to be able to spend time with family and friends would be really special.
Week 19
It was a funny week for me. I was bitten by a horse fly and had a nasty reaction to it. As I was on my late Easter break it meant I had to slow down a little bit. Probably for the first time since this all began.
Once I was feeling more alive, I had an urge to be really productive. Probably to make up for all the sofa sitting I’d been doing.
Again a paint brush found its way in to my hand and I got very busy! I repainted the downstairs bathroom, the hallway and between us we started on the hall, stairs and landing. We finally got our gallery wall completed in the new bedroom.Here is how we got on.
The downstairs bathroom Entrance hall Hall and landing Gallery wall in our bedroom
The sense of achievement is unreal. Honestly I think it would have taken 18 months minimum to complete the DIY we have done over the last 10 weeks.
Week 20
Week 20 was a fairly quiet one. I was back to work which meant I was able to see real life people! It was lovely to work with my partner in crime, even if we did have to keep our distance and make our own tea!
We were also able to get out and enjoy the ongoing sunshine. The aim was to see the tadpoles we’ve been watching grow. We were very disappointed to see no change.. It’s been weeks now. I think they must be faulty!
Week 21
This week we explored somewhere new. Now we have had the green light to travel further afield we drove 20 minutes up the road. Today’s destination was Canley woods. The kids absolutely loved being able to climb trees, jump off logs and generally run round shouting ‘I’m free!’
A really lovely place to explore together, before heading back to work our way through our Disney+ game.
Week 22
A bank holiday. The sun was actually shining on a bank holiday Monday. In fairness, we’ve been so blessed with good weather this year. Long may it continue.
But with the sun shining, of course it was time to get the paddling pool out for the first time this year. The kids had so much fun. I’ll ignore the fact that my whole garden is covered in the remains of 100 water balloons. They are happy, I read a whole book and we ate BBQ food. It was the perfect day.
Looking back
It has been a month full of sunshine and wonderful memories. But I won’t say it has been an easy month. It started with a horse fly bite that left me feeling very pathetic and in week 21, I had another. This time much worse and a suspected spider bite.
I spent two days almost paralysed. The pain is like nothing I have experienced before. I couldn’t sleep, eat or even move myself to a comfortable position. I even called in sick on my work from home day because I could not stop crying.
I have to say, it has left me NOT wanting to spend time outside. But I have to be brave and just hope that its just bad luck and it won’t happen again.
Maybe I’ll end up as spiderwoman eventually. That would be kinda cool.
I also took a break from social media. I’ve found the internet a pretty shitty place to be if I am honest. Taking a step away has been hugely beneficial. I have so much more time now. And I do not get bogged down with the negativity.
Weeks 23 -26
Like most at the moment, the future feels pretty uncertain. I am back to work tomorrow I think, but how that’ll look. Who really knows. F will remain at home so home schooling will be tricky.
All I hope for is a healthy and happy month ahead.
How are you all doing? Do you think you’ve found happiness in each day this month? I’d love to hear your highlights.
It must be great to be back at work. Super awesome post!
Thank you, being back at work will be fun x
Those bites sound horrible! Hopefully it won’t happen again 💕 I have to say as well, I love the blue paint – such a lovely colour!
Thank you Katie. They have healed well thank you. Although I am now covered in mosquito bites from our forest walk yesterday! I am definitely going in to early hibernation now x
I love mooching around the woods with the kids, especially if it’s somewhere new, feels like a little adventure and makes me feel young again 😂
I agree. You can’t help but be absorbed by them, almost magical x
Such a lovely way to document your life. Yes, I can imagine this is not what you planned to write about! Ouch, horse fly bites are horrible, let alone another bite.
I’ve really enjoyed lockdown too. I used to be a supply teacher, then worked in the school office before we took over a pub. Obviously we aren’t making a profit being closed, but there has been something so nice about being able to press the pause button, relax and reevaluate, hasn’t there?
I hope everything goes ok for you returning to school with much more people.
Lots of love, Helen
http://www.whathelenloves.com
Thank you Helen. I agree, pressing pause has been hugely beneficial. I hope business booms for you when you re-open your doors.
I think we are all eager to get in to a pub!
Love these happy every day posts! Sounds like you’ve had a great few weeks. Love the colour of the photo wall in your bedroom! Glad you got to interact with another human as well! xxx
I don’t think I realised how much I missed people outside of my home until I saw real people again x
Amazing ideas for new living on the house. The gallery is beautiful everywhere. It’s very small but very nice! 😁🤗🥰
It will grow over time. Thank you
Wow you’ve been bitten a lot! Good to see you’re back at work, it helps so much to have a routine that actually involves getting out of the house doesn’t it!
Canley woods looks beautiful!
Thank you Sophie. It really does help having some purpose and getting out x
Oh my gosh! You really have been suffering! Horse fly bites are never great, but to be receovering from that and get bitten again by a spider. Hope you are feeling much better now and have some energy back! I’ve been enjoying lockdown too but cannot wait for some things to get back to normal, I’m worried this way of life will become the norm! Sim x
I agree, It has been lovely but a little bit of normal would be wonderful right now. It’s the unknown that is the hardest to deal with. I am getting there now, I have a load of mosquito bites from a forest walk yesterday, There must be a lot more bugs about as the world quietens down as I have never had this issue before x
Horse fly bites are the worst aren’t they? It’s incredible just how bad they can get for some people. I love your gallery wall it looks so good! I always feel a sense of pride when I finish something like that.
Fingers crossed for a healthy and happy month for you – I can only begin to imagine the pain the bites caused! Well done on getting so much DIY done.
Good to hear that things have been going well, during the lockdown. I to dislike Horse fly bites, they itch for ages!!
Nic | Nic’s Adventures & Bakes
This has definitely not been easy. It looks like you are trying every day to make the most of it for you and your family. I love your blue wall with all of the gold picture frames. It looks really lovely.
I think we have been truly blessed with the weather, can you imagine lockdown with our normal weather? I love that navy blue wall and the pictures, it looks gorgeous
That’s not good that you had two bites which left you in so much pain, but it seems like a pretty good month overall considering the situation. How do you feel about going back to work? Has it been okay? x
Not great if I’m honest but I’ve been in today and it was lovely to see people again, almost normal except for the distance between us x
Ah nooooo, I get horse and spider bits regularly and they HURT. I feel for you! But on the plus side, your bedroom looks stunning, that’s such a gorgeous shade, I’m inspired to have a go at a gallery wall now too (Alan will not be happy, haha). Canley Woods look beautiful, we have some woods near us and a river, it’s always so lovely to be out in nature. I hope you have a happy and healthy June – no more bug bites! Lisa x
Great post! Your house looks so cool and I hope everything is okay going back to work! May was a pretty good month for me as I started blogging!
The weather that’s definitely helped this while thing hasn’t it . My god , you must have something about you for all these insects to biting you lol . Xx
That gallery wall is gorgeous!!!
Oh those bites sound painful! They must have been awful.
On the positive side though, you’ve done so many nice things. I love your gallery wall by the way – the blue is a lovely colour.
Hope you have a happy and positive June 🙂
Kathryn x
You have had such an incredibly productive month! I love your gallery wall! Good luck returning to work, I expect it might feel a little strange at first!
It was certainly strange, but it almost feels like I’ve not been away at all x
I’m still basically in lockdown. What a great chronicle of your finding good in a terrible situation. I always look at things like it can’t be all bad. Sometimes that is hard to say.
Ah, I wish I could say I’ve found happiness in every day. It has been a real struggle, especially with the added issues going on around us now. I am so ready for a sense normalcy, but i can say one big positive in all this is I have an employer who genuinely cares for the well-being of myself and my clients. And that’s amazing! ❤️
Thats really great, I think a lot of employers have been truly shown up by their behaviour towards staff during this time x
Sad to know that you were bitten by a fly. I love your gallery wall though. It’s beautiful.
Thank you Toby x
Hasn’t the weather just made it all 10x more bearable! I love this post thank you for sharing its so lovely! Also, your house looks so cool!
Thank you, It really has made it much easier x
Faulty tadpoles made me laugh 😊 Ah, horse fly bites are horrendous. I’ve only been bitten once, but it was awful. The pain and itching is unreal, and my whole leg swelled up!!
As for me, I’ve been OK. I’ve been enjoying the benefits of lockdown and have been doing the house up like you. I never stopped working, but with not being able to go anywhere the rest of the time, it’s been nice to have the extra time at home.
It looks like you have had a busy time. Being outdoors is so important! You have taken some great photographs. Horse fly, I didn’t even know that was a thing, I hope you are okay now, that cannot be nice. I hope you are staying safe and we can hopefully be out of lockdown soon xx