Life in Lockdown

So, Wales is still in lockdown, but you can see one person from another household. This will presumably have to be your favourite person, which is tricky when you have to choose between  more than one person in that household. We can also exercise more than once a day, but still no travelling for exercise. People in England can now travel a bit further for things like exercise, but not to Wales because we’re still closed. Although it seems quite a lot have already tried to visit Wales, and have been turned around. No one can possibly be unaware that there are different rules in place in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland so I can only conclude that these people are a) stupid, b) arrogant and think that Wales IS part of England, or c) both. I'm erring on the side of "c" at the moment. Anyway, lets talk about nicer things. I made my own bunting for VE Day as I wasn't organised enough to get some in advance. Don't be under any illusion that this was any sort ...

Last week was the first week where I felt properly grumpy for a few days, for no particular reason. I think I've done well to get to Week 7 (I think it's week 7) based on my usual levels of grumpiness. My tolerance levels are dropping weekly though so I should probably start each conversation with some sort of disclaimer that people should ask questions if they don't want completely honest, unedited answers.  Normally when I feel a bit shit I go for a run as that helps, but I didn't even want to do that. Lee actually locked me out in the back garden on Friday to try and make me go (I had my kit on but decided I want going). He's clearly learnt nothing from 11 years together at stubborn side kicked in and I just say on the back step until he opened the door again! Even though I know the benefits of running I just didn't want to do it.  However, we went for a bike ride on Saturday,v which was lovely, and I ran on Sunday. I've also done a couple of home workout...

Guess who's out of self-isolation?! Hurrah! We went for a bike ride on our first day of freedom and it was lovely. I love this time of year when everything's in full growing mode. The hedgerows are absolutely packed with flowers and the wild garlic smells amazing. Friends of mine are using it to make infused oil and putting it into bread, and all sorts! I've also been for a run, after a bit of procrastination. I knew this would happen: I spent two weeks moaning because I couldn't go out and now that I can, I don't want to. I'm like Andy off Little Britain, complete with forehead! I gave myself a good talking to the other morning and reminded myself that I'm in a unique position at the moment to be able to really focus on improving my fitness and my eating habits. It's easy to blame a lack of time when we have to travel 45 minutes to and from work each day, so I've got no excuse now that I've been gifted that extra time. So I went ...

The virus is coming closer to home for me, now, with one friend having to be tested after developing a mild cough and another starting work in the Dragon's Heart Hospital in the Principality Stadium. My next door neighbours are still living in blissful ignorance with their daughters visiting daily, often bringing their grandchildren. I'm just ignoring it as it doesn't affect us massively but it just emphasises the disparity in people's understanding/acceptance of the whole situation. It was a big week in the Pinney household this week as Dylan was allowed out of his room after doing 7 days of self-isolation as a precaution. We think his hay fever was causing similar symptoms, and brought on some asthma, but you can never be sure. He was given an inhaler and steroid tablets and is now much better. Lee, Matt and I, on the other hand, are staying in for the full 14 days just in case it was anything more sinister, although none of us is showing any symptoms. ...

Bloody hell, how is it Wednesday already??  I hope everyone had a nice Easter. My weekend began with an epic three hour shopping trip as everyone in Caerphilly went to the shop at the same time as me, apparently. As I drove towards Aldi I saw people standing out on the road with their trolleys! “Sod that”, I thought, and went up to Lidl instead - same thing, but a much shorter queue.   Easter in the Pinney household involved a bit of planting, a BBQ, baking, wrestling (no, not me and Lee - I’m running a book on which son will survive lockdown), and DIY hair cuts. Yes, Lee let Matt loose on his hair with the clippers, and I have to say the boy did good. Lee and I also slept in the van the whole weekend - why should Vera miss out on the fun?  Lee and Matt also painted the bottom half of the house over the weekend. A sneaky bike ride to What! revealed some masonry paint (don’t even ask about the debacle that was B&Q click and collect) so I ...

Even in a lockdown it seems there can still be surprises. This week our boys came to stay with us for an unspecified period of time. Normally they split their time between our home and their mum’s, but when all of this craziness began it was decided that they’d stay with their mum to avoid any unnecessary travel and to reduce the risk of unwittingly spreading the virus.  However, it seems that lockdown in Guantanamo Canton was more stressful than was originally anticipated, so they’ve come to spend some time with us. Upon arrival on Friday afternoon Dylan immediately set to it to dye his dark hair blonde. His reasoning is that if it doesn’t go to plan he’s got 12 weeks of not needing to go out in public so that it can grow out. I knew we were in for a treat when I heard him laughing to himself after he washed the toner out. It was originally a sort of yellow colour (think Justin Timberlake when he had dubious blonde hair) but he’s since had another go at it and it ...