Beautiful spring day looking up from a stroll down the lane yesterday. Which is about the only place I can go safely. I have gone out to do the odd bit of food shopping but I have to stop that now and remain self- isolating for twelve weeks. I am one of the 1.5 million people at most risk.
I’m counting myself lucky that I’m probably in one of the best places to self isolate and that I can hopefully paint my way to the other side. Even Papworth has closed their outpatients so I don’t have to go this week. All social activities too so no art groups and no reflexology or Pilates.
What the other side will be I can’t imagine. I am not so much worried for myself as for all the people in London for instance who seem to have no idea of the seriousness of the situation and who have been happily mingling all weekend. I hope I’m wrong but it will potentially be horrific in a couple of weeks time.
M has just gone to let the cleaner know that we can’t have her round. Housework!! I will have to go on a binge in Lakeland.
There are a thousand and one things to do around the house all of which are tedious, which is why they need doing, eg a cull of the spice drawer and the pantry. Putting paintings up; we still have a hall full stacked up.
Strange times; feels odd blogging. I feel as if I should have some sage message to give. Nothing like anything we have faced before but have been sleepwalking towards. Where are the plans for the country in this eventuality; that is government's job and should have been ready for implementation, Instead we've had weeks of prevarication and mixed messages. Or not so mixed; i believe the bit about herd immunity and letting old people die as that explains the delay in actually doing anything.
Enough said. Turning to better things spring is waking up and even the weeds are looking good in the sunshine:
I’ve been painting spring flowers:
My artist this week as I feel like a blaze of colour is Patrick Heron:
I suppose I have no structure at all now other than getting up, eating and going to bed. So my blog, painting, cooking, Instagram are all my life raft things. Ralph is also very time consuming as he likes attention pretty much all the time. I got him to go in his harness yesterday and we went for a walk in the garden on the lead. He has his own little foam rubber ball that he plays fetch with like a dog!
If it warmed up a bit I could also put the garden in my life raft; we have just had a raised bed built for vegetables. May be more timely than we think. although you can't love on borlotti beans and treviso. I want to grow things we can't generally get such as the lovely pink lettuce Castelfranco but at thus rate we'd be more sensible growing potatoes to live on if people keep hoarding.
I'm grateful we're not in the panicked areas where I hear of pushing and shoving and hysterical queues for things there is no shortage of! My underlying anxiety keeps showing through so I'll go back to my self-isolation, albeit with M and Ralph to keep me company.
Be careful out there x