Day 31 - Saturday 18th April

It's now a whole calendar month since we isolated as a family. It actually doesn't feel that long to me. I'm feeling productive today and since it's overcast I set up my photographic equipment next to a window and use a combination of natural and artificial light to photograph products for my web shop, focusing on combinations of products that are ideal for gifts. I've been meaning to up my game on Facebook, and start to use Instagram and Pinterest properly and while we're locked down I think gift sets by mail will be something people need, as they can't visit their friends and family to celebrate with them. I also Google how to post photos on Instagram from the PC - it turns out I need to use the developer tools in Chrome to emulate a mobile - it's past lunchtime before I get it working but it's very satisfying.

We have a couple of aubergines that are going soft, so I make myself a late lunch of spaghetti parmigiana, saving some sauce for later, and prepare a melanzane parmigiana for tomorrow's lunch. Then I go back to my PC and do some research about the optimum image sizes and content types for the various social media platforms.

Hubby is meeting up with his friends online tonight - they were planning a barbeque but the weather isn't good enough. My friend and I spend a while trying to set up TwoSeven so that we can watch an Amazon Prime movie together online but it's not working and we give up. She goes off to watch Britain's Got Talent and I suggest to my son that we cook together - he was going to cook for us both while I watched the movie but now I'm free I can be his kitchen assistant. I do the chopping while he handles the recipe, which is one he has adapted from Mob Kitchen and cooks frequently at uni. We listen to Alexa and chat while we're preparing the food and I really appreciate the time spent together.

After dinner I am drawn back to my PC where I have been reviewing the photos I rediscovered yesterday, of our holiday in the Caribbean to celebrate my 50th birthday. There's a big gig being streamed tonight, with performances from the homes of high profile performers like Elton John, The Rolling Stones, Billy Eilish and Lady Gaga but I'm not in the mood to watch it - I feel like I've been in front of a screen all day. There's a highlights programme scheduled for tomorrow.

Today I am grateful for memories.

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