Lockdown / Furlough boredom, anyone?

phoebe1989seb

I'm not bored either......

DH has been working since lockdown began - he's a self-employed gardener/landscaper currently working in self-isolating splendour at a large country estate, so I've been home alone five days a week.

Our rural cottage is a project that we purchased two years ago and we've barely scratched the surface of what needs doing so I have plenty of DIY to keep me occupied. I'm currently considering teaching myself plumbing as we are part way through moving a bathroom into a bedroom/landing space and DH is too busy to complete this right now. As we've been filling/emptying the bath via buckets for two years, it's in my interest to get it done and if that means learning a new skill, all the better!

Mostly I've been gardening - there was no garden to speak of when we moved here and there's half an acre plus to keep me busy.....weeding, digging, planting etc, not to mention entertaining our two dogs. Fortunately the weather has been conducive to spending time outdoors! This week I've mostly been shifting heavy paving stones from one area to another, reusing the available materials to better purpose.

For the first time in about ten years I'm also growing plants from seed - mostly pretty stuff for the garden, but also veg where we usually buy plugs.

I've lots of books to read/re-read plus I've been attempting to write (three of) my own for the past three years. 

I'm also in the process of cataloguing our progress on both house and garden on Instagram - sorting through a ton of photos etc......

I sew too - mainly soft furnishings, although I trained in fashion - but haven't got time for this at the moment, although I've a couple of projects up my sleeve 

About a year ago I began baking - I'm not very good, but enjoy making a cake once a week and now instead of dreading the outcome of my efforts actually look forward to my weekly stint as a domestic goddess, lol!

When DH is home we both garden, prep meals from scratch, walk the dogs, play board games and watch favourite films/TV series - currently we're re-watching Versailles and have just viewed twenty-odd Bond films in chronological order......

No time for boredom here 

MoneySeeker1

So it would seem the answer boils down largely to two different things:
- whether one agrees with Lockdown or no
- how extrovert/used to "going out for a social life" one is.

If someone isn't that extroverted and agrees with Lockdown - they're probably okay with it.
If they are reasonably extroverted and don't agree with Lockdown - they are crossing off days on the calendar until this/that/the other might be "Normal" again.

t14cy_t

must confess ive never been bored. always plenty to do, just doing things differently until further notice. miss seeing the family but releaved we are all safe and well. 

Abbafan1972

Not bored as such, but more worried as my employer made me redundant.  So I'm now job hunting, which is no fun at all, understandably there's not many jobs for me out there to apply for, but they are starting to appear slowly.  Trouble is most of them are through agencies and they just annoy me.  They get you on their books, but you never hear from them again....

I have 2 teenagers at home, one who was in the last year of school and about to do her GCSE's and the other at college.  It's more challenging trying to keep them occupied and the younger one just seems to have given up....you try and suggest things to do and she's just not interested.

The main thing is that we are safe and well and hopefully will come out of this the other side.

Take care everyone.

Hard_Up_Hester

We have been in the marina since October, we were intending to leave in February but the canal was red boarded as the water levels were too high. No sooner had the levels dropped that we were told that no unnecessary journeys were to be made.
 I'm keeping busy, mainly sewing and knitting, I walk my dog for an hour a day. I initially got involved with making scrubs, but became increasingly irritated by some coordinators, the instructions for making the scrubs changed twice, and I eventually gave up when I was told my scrubs would only be accepted if I purchased an overlocker!
I now have a large amount of navy poplin and no idea what to do with it.
I am also writing stories for my grandchildren, we cannot facetime them and I miss them a lot.
I don't bake as there is no one to eat it apart from me and I really don't need any extra calories, I don't watch much TV and we have very limited Mifi.
Hubby is keeping himself busy painting the roof of the boat.  

Wraithlady

Well, as I'm WFH, 9-5 Mon-Fri is kind of already spoken for (much as I wouldn't mind being furloughed, it's not going to happen). 
The rest of the time, I have more than enough hobbies/projects/books/dvd's to keep me occupied and I've started growing a bit of veg in the garden as well, so all in all, I will only be bored if I want to be!
TBH, the hardest thing is NOT buying stuff on the internet 

joedenise

We've been retired for a few years now but we're still finding things that need doing in the bungalow and the garden.  We are usually away in our motorhome for a few months each year but of course that hasn't happened this year so a bit of gardening and work in the bungalow is actually happening.

Also always cook from scratch and often batch cook meals so there is always plenty to eat in the freezer.  We are currently trying to use some of the "ready meals" up and have put quite a few on the menu plans over the last couple of months!

I also like to sew and have plenty of fabric to use up.  I also like to do a bit of crochet but can't do it for long as I have severe artrithis in my thumb which makes it difficult to do for more than a few minute at a time.  I've also recently started doing Diamond Dotz pictures and am currently doing one for my friend as a Christmas present but it is taking quite a while because there is so much the same dark colour that it gets hard on the eyes after about an hour!

Will be glad to be able to get out and about again but still plenty to keep us both going!

rosewoodspa

I can recommend this book for ideas of ways to spend your time, whether it be in hobbies, sorting out your finances or things to improve your health. I bought it at the beginning of the lockdown and enjoyed it. It's only short and even better it's free if you have Kindle Unlimited.
As Easy As ABC : Staying Healthy and Happy During the Lockdown by Joanna Martin

MoneySeeker1

rosewoodspa said:

I can recommend this book for ideas of ways to spend your time, whether it be in hobbies, sorting out your finances or things to improve your health. I bought it at the beginning of the lockdown and enjoyed it. It's only short and even better it's free if you have Kindle Unlimited.
As Easy As ABC : Staying Healthy and Happy During the Lockdown by Joanna Martin

Quick google later and I guess it's a very different viewpoint to some of us. I noted Chapter 15 is headed "Obey".

I can tell that will be one I won't be buying then .....LOL

-taff

MoneySeeker1 said:

So it would seem the answer boils down largely to two different things:
- whether one agrees with Lockdown or no
- how extrovert/used to "going out for a social life" one is.

No. It all boils down to whether you're going to make the best of a situation or whine about it.