Week six

My co-worker counted on wednesday we have been working from home for 43 days (inculding weekends and easter days off). So now it's 47 days. And children have been at home even longer, d for 50 days (they stayed home before this lock down came compusory, because school was needed for those doing their final exams) and sys and ys for 48 days.

Sys's school project -  and as you can see, everything is WIP.

It's fine. I go shopping once a week if there's no special needs. Like next week, my car is due MOT and I need some soil bags for my veggie plot and my aunt need gardening gloves and my mom wants me to check if there's any leftover goodies from shops. Old man should eat much more, he's losing weight and he's already bag of bones. Pity he can't eat anything healthy or fatty (and everything must be cooked to oblivion). No full corn anything - with exception of oats.
Here is no restrictions to go outside or working outside (just recommendation for high risk people to stay at home and away from other people - however they are allowed to go shopping etc if there's no-one to help them) , but no public meetings over 10 people are allowed, no restrictions on shops or supermarkets (or megamarkets).

So because he doesn't do shopping anyway, he decided our wood needed cutting. Wearing overalls I got him almost 30 years ago. If you want to find a thrifty person, old man is one. If there wasn't corona, I would have been there splitting the wood while he was cutting it.

So, because people are trying to avoid other people, they are flocking here.

And of course they parked right in front of our back gate. Which hasn't have an acual gate ever.

Somewhere behind all those bushes are those old (more than 100yrs) fish ponds, which nowadays might have some frogs, a pair of cranes nesting (they have laid eggs already) and two pairs of swans (which will fly away in few weeks, they will not nest here). It was magnificent park once, a very popular place for walks while in honeymoon in the manor house (it was very popular hotel at the time, even after the WWII). Old people still remembers that and NOW they want to see them again. Or their children. Or people whose parents have worked either in the manor or hotel or those fish ponds. Since then land is split and sold to several other people (part of it belongs to a country house which was spilt from the original manor), fish were harvested with dynamite and all buildings were either relocated or demolished (again using dynamite - you might think people nowadays are stupid, but think again, after WWII all kinds of stupidities were done all the time!) Pump house is gone (dynamite), caretaker's cottage is gone (relocated) as well as gamekeeper's hut (relocated, it was moved only few hundred meters and is now our closest neighbouring house, and it is empty now). Our grounds are part of that original fish pond area.

Rush hour - I haven't seen more than one plane in weeks before that and not afterwards either

 

Another uninvited visitor. We had snow for a day.

 No more snow. I put on that strawberry plastic to keep weeds on bay until soil is dry enough to plow. Might take some time, because ground was still frozen a week ago. Hopefully lack plastic warms it.

Salad!

I just had to get something in to the polytunnel, so I sowed some salad seeds. Now there is also radishes, more salads and perpentual spinach (new zealand spinach). In one of the cold frames I sowed carrots. Inside I have peppers, chillies, aubergines, brassicas and so on. I had parsnip seeds from last summer, and knowing how poorly older seeds might germinate I wrapped them on moist paper towel to see, if any seed will sprout.

Hb has been working on my car since Friday, and he might finish with it today evening. It will not pass MOT and keys are not working, but I have to take it there anyway, otherwise I can't do it at all.
I've been looking for a replacement, but haven't found any yet. I can borrow old man's car, but he needs it occasionally, when he has to go for blood tests or treatment or such. No longer taxi drives for him, too hig risk for infection.

I have made several face masks, this was the first one (instructions from New York Times, not good). I won't use this pattern again.

It is easy to us to stay at home and not to meet other people (Number Two excluded). D has it harder, she actually has friends now, and had realized she misses their hugs and closeness. Boys have a great time, they are only worrying if they have to go back to school before summer. I doubt it will happen, but you never know nowadays.

I have less freetime than before. My days are filled with cooking, walking with 'Suma, doing dishes, washing, gardening, helping children with their school - and yes, I have to work eight hours a day on top of all that.  (I cook at least one big meal a day, usually two, I make lunch for hb to take with him to work, and then there are breakfasts and snacks). I don't bake much, on Friday I made buns and one loaf, I got the loaf out of oven 1am.
There's been some very nice days, and some very difficult. But overall, we are doing fine.