#Photoanhour | March 2020

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

March 21st, 2020. I was supposed to be meeting up with a friend but we postponed to adhere to social distancing, so I thought I'd have a day of doing nice things instead but I woke up with other ideas...



7am
Waiting for the kettle to boil for my first cuppa of the day, Tink had a drink too. My cats have a glass of water on the kitchen window sill because drinking from a glass (or a bowl) on the floor next to their food bowls is, apparently, abhorrent. 




8am
Cuppa no.2 and a little reading. How To Be Happy? Stay in bed and pretend everything is normal (just for a little while at least). I had an unusual and overwhelming urge to get up and clean. Strange times indeed!




9am
Felt the need for some colour, this bright yellow jumper did the trick. Colour often lifts my spirits, especially in uncertain times. The day before I'd worn a skirt I usually keep for dressy occasions to the supermarket, 'Vix would be proud' I thought as I stepped into it and teamed it with an emerald green jumper.




10am
Cleaning in progress. I washed floors, walls, woodwork. I vacuumed, did laundry, wiped surfaces and polished. I have no doubt that all this cleaning is a way to have some control in these uncertain times.




11am
I took the time make one of my ‘special’ teas - Sencha Cherry Rose. I took my time drinking it too, savoring the taste. Taking note of the little things has always proven to to be a good way of keeping things in perspective. Being in the moment seems all the more important now that the future seems so uncertain.




Noon
The first time I’ve hung anything out on the washing line this year. Look at that sky! I think the sunshine is helping me to remain (mostly) positive. Can you imagine dealing with all that Coronavirus entails, and having to put up with cold, grey, windy days as well? No thanks, more sunshine please.




1pm
I had my lunch looking out into the garden and noticed the birds needed a top up. It felt like a very ordinary thing to do, the world feels like it's tipped on it's axis but the bird feeder still needs to be filled. Strange times.


I missed my 2pm photo because I was vacuuming, the sort where you move the furniture out of the way to get underneath, y'know, the kind of vacuuming I really should do more often.



3pm
I left the housework chaos for a while. Do you ever start housework and end up just making more mess? That's exactly what I did, but I'd run out of housework steam, so I escaped to my neglected greenhouse. I wanted some fresh air. It needed a good tidy up after the wind had thrown it's contents around, and broken a number of it's windows. The sun felt pretty fabulous beneath the remaining glass panes.




4pm
Of course Andy left the wrapping of his Mother's Day gifts to the last minute, he came home to ask me to do it so he could give it to his Dad before he went home for the day. I had a little ‘help'.




5pm
My greenhouse planting was cut short when I only had enough compost left for one planter. The big bags I had stored in there turned out to be bark chippings. It's good to stagger the planting of spinach anyway, or at least that's what I told myself. I was annoyed that I hadn't checked, I could've picked some up during the week, or ordered some.




6pm
I’d got to that point in the day when I just wanted to sit down, but I had to make dinner. I pondered sitting down for a bit but my hunger was stronger than my weariness.




7pm
I made sausage and bean herby stew with broccoli and mash. I watched an episode of Escape to the Chateaux, and didn't move far from the sofa again until bedtime. Andy came home not long after I took this, we watched a few more episodes of The West Wing for about the 17th time.


Before bed I messaged my Mum and brother to reluctantly cancel our lunch the next day. I'd really hoped that we could still get together, but it was the sensible thing to do. My inner toddler was stamping her foot and yelling 'I don't want to', but adult me accepted that it was just what needed to happen.

I hope you had a lovely weekend, despite the social distancing. Thanks to Jane and Louisa for hosting #PhotoAnHour. 

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16 comments

  1. What a lovely post. I think you've got it spot on there, all this cleaning is a way of taking a little more control over a world that is getting stranger by the day.
    That blue sky! Isn't it gorgeous? I'm sort of glad we're on lockdown now because this gorgeous weather would make even more irresponsible people meet up with friends and head for the parks and beaches.
    Our cats have to have water bowls in different rooms to their food although Stephen much prefers drinking from my glass at the side of the bed, I'm reduced to balancing a book on top at night to stop he getting at it.
    We topped up our bird feeders yesterday and our feathered friends definitely didn't get the memo about social distancing, there's loads of them!
    Keep wearing your best clothes and enjoying those little moments, we'll get through this! xxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Vix.
      I can't believe that people needed to be put on lockdown before they would finally stay at home. It's utter madness!
      To stop our cats drinking out of our 'night water', I use a thermos cup with a lid and Andy uses a jam jar with a lid. Honestly the things we do for our cats.
      I feel encouraged by the lockdown, it's a really positive move, it's comforting in a way, even though things are uncertain still, it's a strong message that if we pull together we can overcome it.
      xx

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  2. Totally agree with clothing/colours making you feel better. That yellow jumper is lovely! x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, it can be a bit blinding on sunny days though :D
      xx

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  3. Everyone else is using their time at home to spring clean whereas I swear my place is just getting messier 😂

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll get bored of cleaning pretty soon!
      xx

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  4. I love that first photo. We used to have a cat who would jump up to the bathroom sink as the tap started running so he could drink from underneath it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, mine won't go near a running tap! Funny little beings.
      xx

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  5. I am forever overcommitting to a housework blitz then everything looks chaotic and worse than before I started. It's just the dream to get everything done and tidy again in one day....! Worst is unfolded laundry and un-lined bins. Nooooooooo xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I should've just stuck to doing one room at a time. My biggest fail is vacuuming the whole house and leaving furniture out of place and everything up off the floor, then I have to go around putting everything back - so annoying.
      xx

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  6. Cats! Phoebe does prefer drinking from the bird bath, or any receptacle containing water in the garden. She even loves licking raindrops from foliage! And sunshine is indeed a great help to stay positive. At the very least, we can be out and about in our garden. Even cleaning is more enjoyable when the sun is shining, although I must admit I still have to get the urge :-) It often ends in chaos with me too, as I want to tackle far too many things at once. At the moment, we can still leave the house, but are encouraged not to make unnecessary journeys. If people would generally be more responsible and not being utter idiots, it wouldn't have come this far, I'm sure. Trying to keep my spirits up, as it's all I can do. Keep safe, Hazel xxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank goodness for cats, sunshine, and sanity.
      xx

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  7. A lovely day! I line dried laundry at the weekend for the first time this year too and it was so satisfying!

    ReplyDelete
  8. It's good to have done some cleaning. We did some cleaning on Saturday too but like you, didn't finish it! How long are we going to have to stay at home??!?! How long??!?!?x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's all so uncertain, but the more we stay at home, the quicker we will beat this thing.
      Staying at home isn't unusual for me, it's the not being able to go out that I struggle with at the moment. I didn't go out everyday but I really miss the trips out that I did have. I guess we all struggle in different ways, but yes, the question most certainly is - how long??
      xx

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