Lockdown Week 1
FIVE GO MAD IN LOCKDOWN
The park is looking lovely with all the daffodils and tulips out and the birds singing while searching for a suitable place to build a nest … and there’s nobody to share it all with. The lodges should be a hive of activity with kids playing outside and friends having drinks on the balcony after a day exploring Perthshire.
Mother’s Day was a strange affair. We had a walk as a family, then went to my parents’ house to have champagne with them. Not so easy and free-flowing when using gloves to open the bottle and keeping more than 2 meters apart. Then we came home and the five of us had a lovely meal together, followed by a game of Cards Against Humanity. We really missed my eldest child, Shannon who is in Vancouver. Thank goodness we can talk to her on line.
Then … later that evening, there was an announcement from the Prime Minister: all hotels and self-catering accommodation can no longer accept visitors. To be reviewed on 13 April.
Since then I have spent most waking hours contacting all imminent arrivals to try and sort something out for them. We have been carefully following all guidance from the Scottish Government, Visit Scotland and our trade body The Association of Scotland’s Self Caterers.
So … what do 5 people do when in lockdown …
WORKOUTS – Following the advice of Live Active Leisure, we have been doing loads of workouts #weliveactive Body Balance, Body Attack, and a body pump alternative from Kirsty at Live Active.
We’ve also been doing lots of yoga and meditation.
WALKS – As a keen walker, I’m chomping at the bit with cabin fever, and look forward to my daily walk – the longer the better. I mostly see no humans on my walks. Perfect for social distancing.
FOOD SHOPPING – one of us will do the shopping for essentials and I’m also getting provisions for my parents who are both in their 80s. The supermarkets have been running out of bread, but never fear because our local restaurant, The Roost is baking bread a couple of times a week. Also the Italian bakery in Perth, Casella and Polegato are baking bread on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday.
COOKING – With 2 of my daughters at home, there is no shortage of cooks. Alannah is vegan so she’s experimenting with all sorts of ingredients, some of which I’ve never heard of. Iona is keeping us in cookies and soup.
WORKING – I’m in my office a lot of the time. Even though we have closed to visitors, there is still a lot of admin to keep on top of.
Jake, who works for the Wood Group, based in Glasgow, is mostly confined to his makeshift home office for now. He emerges for coffee, lunch and that’s about it. It must be quite difficult going from an office environment to a home setting and he’s trying to adapt. Anyway, we’ll save some chores for him for the weekend so he doesn’t feel left out!
Jake’s girlfriend is in isolation on her own in Edinburgh after having symptoms typical of the corona virus. Nobody can visit and Jake has found this very difficult. The travel ban for non-essential journeys has added to this.
CLEANING – Today the plan was for Iona to hoover, mop and clean the downstairs of the house and Alannah to do the same upstairs. The two of them were beavering away cleaning like mad. Then Alannah stopped for a break and we did a beautiful Body Balance workout. Then Alannah went straight back to work … or did she… I found the cleaning stuff discarded and followed the sounds of Lord of the Rings … to find Alannah playing her flute. Ahhhhh! It was lovely to listen to and the cleaning can wait.
GARDENING – The Strip. We have a long piece of waste land that we call The Strip. We managed to grow carrots, potatos, courgettes, leeks etc etc last year. We’re all involved in preparing it for planting food for the coming months.
We’re preparing the raised beds, clearing weeds and dead stuff and tidying up. Watch this space for our progress.
MAINTENANCE – John is doing the unenviable job of seeing to all the woodwork around the lodges, walls and verandas with some nasty stuff that kills moss. Still on the plus side, he has his own mask.
