SECOND LOCKDOWN – HOW AM I COPING?

How am I coping in the second lockdown? Well, much the same as the first one; some days I cope better than others depending on the weather, but on the whole I cope fairly well. Only difference is, the days are shorter, although they are getting longer all the time. I have still managed to do some great walks during autumn and winter, and will share some pictures with you at the end from my autumn/winter walks. The autumn colours were glorious this year and it was a joy to be out and about admiring the trees. It has been a joy to follow the changing seasons, from last spring, through summer and into autumn/winter time. I am now looking forward to this spring and we will have come a full circle! I still haven’t started that walk book yet but there’s still time!

In the months leading up to Christmas there was a lot of activity on the SWI Zoom Skill Share nights and I spent the dark evenings learning a few new crafts, and took part in some old ones. I learned how to make poppies from plastic bottles and that was very satisfying when I saw the results, I crocheted granny squares and made them into Christmas tree decorations and Christmas tree decorations made from plastic milk bottle tops. Painting stones was another thing I enjoyed, and I painted some for the Memorial with poppies on for Remembrance Sunday. I also painted some ladybirds to remind me of the glorious summer. I also learned how to make paper gift boxes and paper snowflakes for Christmas decorations, and I found that very therapeutic. In the lead up to Christmas there were several SWI Zoom Christmas parties with cocktail making, and quizzes. It was a hectic time but very enjoyable. I also enjoyed knitting some angels for the Church Angel project when time permitted in between the other activities. Everything then stopped for a couple of weeks over Christmas and New Year and I felt at a bit of a loss some days, especially if it was a dreich day and I couldn’t get out to walk. But then the snow came, and we had a few crisp sunny days, where although it was a bit slippery underfoot, there were beautiful sunny skies and it was a joy to be out. Then this week we have had the Burns Nights and Suppers on Zoom which were very enjoyable. No doubt we will be having a Valentine’s party on Zoom, and of course there is my birthday before that, so I hope the family have something planned for that! Hopefully I will get my Covid vaccine jab soon and that will be a lovely birthday present.

I really enjoyed my garden last year, and now that Spring is just round the corner, we hope, I am making lots of plans for the garden for this year. Hopefully, all these jobs that I planned to do like decluttering, decorating, painting the fence and shed will get done this year! Sorry to say I still haven’t finished knitting the jumper I spoke of – maybe this year! The keyboard is still sitting there and I still can’t play a tune! We have carried on with our family quizzes every Saturday night and we do enjoy these and catching up with the family! We take it in turns to be question master but we are now in danger of running out of questions! It doesn’t matter how many times we have the same question, none of us can remember the correct answer! Steve and I play dominoes occasionally and I do enjoy that, especially when I beat him. He says it’s luck but I say it’s skill!

Evelyn Scobie

LIFE IN LOCKDOWN

“Lockdown hair” and “dressing down” has been the norm this year,
we’ve learned new crafts, painted stones, and knitted blankets to bring good cheer.

With cries of “press unmute” and “can you hear me Anne?”
Meetings on Zoom were mostly fun when everything went to plan!

We’ve missed our families and friends but we hope to meet up soon.
Video calls and quizzes have kept us in touch on Zoom.

The pubs are open, and the shops, and we can meet up with friends for lunch.
We feel safer now, we’ve had our jags, well most of the older bunch!

We must still take precautions though, wear masks and sanitise,
stay apart when out and about, we don’t want the numbers to rise.

Sad times and happy times in this lockdown year we’ve had,
but we’re looking forward to meeting up again, so let’s think happy thoughts, not sad.

Evelyn Scobie