O/S Daily Sunday 23rd March 2025

RedRuby1231

Morning all

Dull and overcast here with rain due at lunchtime, the washing will have to go on the airer today. I have just put two small brisket joints in the sc for dinner for today and tomorrow and hopefully some left for sandwiches during the week. Will do some roasties and veg and delicious yorkshires 😃 DD is working a late shift / sleep in tonight and then a long day tomorrow so just OH and I here for dinner with leftovers for the pups.

OH seems to have become gluten intolerant I think it’s been brewing for a while but last week after that pizza he was really rough so he has been cutting it out of his diet for the last three days and feels so much better he is less bloated too, how funny he was able to eat it for all these years and now suddenly he can’t ! We will have to get used to a different way of cooking but it does mean all the yorkshires will be mine 😬

Dogs to be walked later and then a restful afternoon as I am also not sleeping well. We need to have a quick tidy through as well. I treated some rust spots on the patio yesterday which worked well but they will need another go this morning before it rains.

Remmie hope your friend is ok xx

Re the lockdowns I am one of the people that really enjoyed them, it was the year of my cancer diagnosis so a worrying time, but we were all off work and OH and I spent most days out walking / cycling and really connecting with nature and each other it was quite cathartic for me.

Hope Nan is ok and just not feeling like posting xx

Have good days all and take care xx 

TravellingAbuela

I hated the lockdowns. I was still grieving for the loss of my lovely DH and suddenly to be thrust into isolation without friends or family being able to call and share my grief was soul destroying. Even now I still feel the effects of it as it seemed to drain any confidence I had  in myself and I still can't face socialising in large groups of people. I pray those days don't happen again.

On the other hand my late BFF loved the lockdowns and the lovely weather we were having. She and her DH were out walking the moors every day, enjoying the solitude and peace and quiet. Happy with each others company. Life was so different for everybody in those dark days.

Well my bed has been re-made, the washed bedding is now festooning the upstairs. Some sliced beef in gravy from the freezer is be my lunch and an assortment of veg is ready to go on. I think the afternoon will be a slothful one, watching catch-up of some stuff from last night and probably nodding off! xx

newroadahead

Another one here who didn't enjoy lockdown and like TA pray it never happens again.We lost my cousin  to covid early in the 1st lockdown and no one could attend his funeral. I also lost my Dsis in 2020 as both my Ddad and I couldn't attend here funeral as we were both shielding. I only left the house to go in our garden ( which I was lucky we had compared to some) I then found it difficult when needing to commute again when lockdown finished.
My DH worked all through the lockdowns as he was in a power station.

Nan hope you are ok xx
Took DGC to get mothers day cards and presents for DD yesterday
Pork for dinner today but will have later, should be enough for another meal and sandwiches.

Just seen the horse go our lane always makes me smile
Hugs to all who want them 
NRA xxxx

remmie

Thanks for the kind words for my friend. He has managed to get some sleep propped up in a armchair, and with the help of painkillers. My BF is going to walk him around the garden later for some fresh air.

Re lockdown. I had a high day and holiday job cleaning and setting up holiday cottages. Lockdown meant the cottages had to close and by the time they could reopen and got bookings it was only a few months until I retired, so I decided not to return to the job. I still miss the banter of the girls I worked with.

Gers

My lockdown days were a mixture of good and bad. The good was that I was unable to leave my elderly and frail DM so it meant that her final year was spent being looked after 24 / 7 - something she loved! I'd already been there for two years since she fell and we were looking at being getting home for at least the weekends - wasn't to be. One bad was not being in a bubble so we were mostly isolated. Eventually we decided that DM's crossword friend who was shielding would join us, that was a godsend for both of them, and the lovely cleaner eventually came as usual but DM stayed in her room when she was there.

No, I wouldn't describe those days as good overall though I think some unexpected good came out of them.  More delivery services, more outdoor eating (unknown in Glasgow) and much more kindness overall.

I've been out and back, now got the ragu bubbling away. The day is a short of bright grey and still. I've got my door open to let some air in.

dp1

Afternoon everyone
I've had two days to catch up on. It's interesting to read everyones' memories of lockdown. We closed the nursery I work in on the Friday, not knowing when we would re-open,. DD and little one went into hospital on the same day for little ones' big operation on her stomach - I went to visit them on the Sunday and then didn't see them for about a month when they came home and I saw them through my living room window.  DD spent her 21st birthday in there and wasn't allowed off the ward at all.  Throughout the lockdown, I'm afraid I broke the rules and still went down to see mam and dad - they would sit in the garage and I was halfway up the drive, I would stay for about an hour every day.  I was worried dads' dementia would get worse if he saw no-one, but I would have seen no-one either. Eldest DD was living in Sweden and her life carried on as normal....and she never caught Covid!
I had a treat on Friday...little one stayed at my house for the first time in months..it was so lovely, I had her right up till teatime yesterday. It was lovely having her snuggled up with me on Saturday morning - even if she did wake me with the news - Granny it's five nineteen on the clock do I still have to not wake you up until it says seven?
Her feeds are all different now, but I had my list of instructions and she knows what she has to have and when. We spent yesterday morning playing  and then went to our local theatre to see Northern Ballet's Hansel and Gretel, a very modern adaption. We both enjoyed it, though little one was disappointed there was no witch.
Snoozer thanks for the tip regarding books for my dad - he doesn't mind swearing, although he doesn't and never has, and the more murders and blood the better! 
After being at mam and dads this morning, I went to our new Lidl, it just opened last week. I was very impressed - and got a free bag, a big box of strawberries and a cauliflower free and also a free chocolate brownie! Well worth going, plus I was good and only spent £10.
Right, I'd best get on...I want to make a big pan of tomato and red pepper sauce for pasta and have a couple more jobs to do, then it's going to be a lazy afternoon with my book and Sunday Times.
Hope you're all having a good day x

weenancyinAmerica

The shutdown happened so fast here. I accidently left my flash drive in a computer at school and the next day everything was shut. Wasn't able to get the flash drive back for over a year and a half. Fortunately the teacher had seen it and had put it in a "safe place". Our library shutdown and we weren't able to come in and sort books that were donated. Donations did keep piling up in the meeting room and when we reopened, all of the books had to be quarantined, so we had separate areas depending on when the book was donated. We would go in and sort one section at a time. The library was only open for request and pickup outside for several months instead of totally reopening, so our book sales were non-existent for almost two years. We are still trying to get our book store up to the sales level we had before. That is why we are having special monthly sales to fill in the gap.

I noticed by reading the diaries on here that it seemed you were in and out of lockdowns rather than a total lockdown like ours in California (each state was different) for almost a year and a half. Is that how it was?

Floss

Nancy, yes it was, and some areas were in & out like the hokey-cokey! I live in the Liverpool city region, and one weekend when we were "free" I was driving to visit my DS2 & DDiL. By the time I got there, my area was back in lockdown all by itself, due to a rise in cases.

Gers

weenancyinAmerica said:

I noticed by reading the diaries on here that it seemed you were in and out of lockdowns rather than a total lockdown like ours in California (each state was different) for almost a year and a half. Is that how it was?

All four home nations had different and often confusing protocols and lockdowns. We all played 'hokey-cokey' from 23 March 2020 until 17 May 2021. Scotland had weird rules and, I think, more restrictive ones. Schools here closed here on 23 March and stayed that way until normal re-opening dates in August. A lot of what happened was political play. (not for further discussion here!).

My day has been calm and peaceful. My mince turned into a mixture of bolognaise sauce and chilli. I found an OOD bottle of Mutti parmigiano reggiano pasta sauce and added in chilli flakes for some oomph. Soft carrots, lentils and garden peas all make for an interesting and surprisingly tasty concoction. The sun is now at its brightest.