The Quarantine Diaries

I'm up just before 9 and ready for my final day of either freedom or incarceration, whichever way you look at it. I have breakfast and then marinate a chicken and peel some potatoes then shower and dress for my 11am writing workshop. Today we are looking at how to edit the pieces we drafted during the first workshop two weeks ago. It's enjoyable stretching my creative muscles; although I write a lot and find it relatively easy to compose prose it's usually non-fiction. By the time it finishes the teens are up and hungry so I make them lunch and then grab something for myself. Our daughter is coming over later so I continue to prepare ahead for dinner, stuffing some peppers and battering some cauliflower for the vegetarians and transferring the marinated chicken to a suitable tray. I transfer the sourdough I prepared last night to a floured tray; it's stickier than usual and my hands end up covered in sticky dough. I have a zoom call with a friend at 3; while we're...

This feels like quite a milestone - 100 days in quarantine. And the last weekend before I start a job that seems perfect for me, after 3 years almost to the day of trying to make a living as a freelance. It's not that I'm not good at what I do - I love my work and I know I do it well - but I always struggled with sales, and balancing current projects against prospecting and voluntary commitments. In the end, the uncertainty of a post-Covid world just made me feel to vulnerable as a sole trader and I wanted the security of a pay cheque and the community of colleague. And simultaneously hubby is launching his career as a contractor after having been out of work for 18 months. I'm pretty sure this isn't typical during a lockdown, but we've both been fortunate. It's a rainy morning, although not much cooler. My friend who runs a hat shop starts her closing down sale today, so I am to be there for when it opens at 10.30. Following a moped rider and then a cyclist a...

Another bright, sunny day although with a little more cloud. No early morning walk today; instead I walk to the GP surgery for my appointment with the nurse. It takes exactly an hour to walk there, get a pneumonia jab and walk back. She unsettles me by asking if I've been shielding - the really extreme isolation recommended for people considered very vulnerable. I reply that I haven't because I wasn't officially advised that I should. Her skeptical look makes me think she considers I should have. I have lunch with the teens - springtime jumble, which is a favourite Hello Fresh recipe of my son's, adapted to use up veggie sausages left over from last night's barbeque and toasted veggies from uneaten kebabs. I have a webinar at 2pm - a climate change organisation has arranged a virtual lobby of MPs on Tuesday of next week to raise the importance of an ecological and socially just recovery from Covid-19 and this is training on how to maximise the opportunity. I have ...

Up at 8 - hubby has decided to come on my morning walk today and we set off about quarter past. I wanted to check out the woodland walk behind the new development that replaced a Victorian reservoir near us; I hadn't wanted to risk it alone yesterday. It was underwhelming - a narrow strip of trees, with a dried up pond and evidence of a party. It looks much better from the outside. We get back around 9; I do some laundry and catch up on emails, plus a burst of social media for the climate change consultation which ends on Sunday. I spend a couple of hours on collections and deliveries - to one friend's house to pick up the flour I ordered from her online shop, to another's to deliver the caesar salads I ordered with my groceries and forgot to give her when she picked up yesterday, to my sister's to drop off a drill, Mum's to drop off groceries, and another friend's house to give the laminating pockets I found while having a clear-out. I get back at 1pm and mak...

I've decided I need more exercise but it's too hot during the day so I'm up and out at 8am for a brisk walk. I head for the new development that was built on the site of a Victorian reservoir and which I campaigned against at the time. It's actually not too bad now it's there, they retained the interesting buildings like the pump house and converted those and the new build is sympathetic. There's a small copse at the back which people were keen to retain for wildlife but I don't feel like venturing in alone. I receive an email from my new boss - he expects me in the office three days next week. I'm not sure how I feel about that; obviously it will be great to meet all my colleagues but it will be the first time I have been in such close proximity with strangers. The sail arrives and we gather in the garden to work out the logistics of installing it. There's a lot of trigonometry. We're hampered by an electric screwdriver that's not fully ch...

The Morrisons grocery delivery arrives right on time but unfortunately without the halloumi which we eat a lot of now there are three veggies in the house. Hubby informs me that our toaster - which he had just tried to clean due to it smelling of burning when we use it - is not working properly. I look on the Tesco website to see if I can find a delivery slot - bingo! There's one tomorrow evening between 10 and 11pm. I find a toaster and then add halloumi and a few other bits and pieces I think we might need. Before I know it, I've spent £160. The fixings and pole for the shade sail arrive, but the sail itself won't be here until tomorrow. Other than that it's a fairly standard day, slogging through paperwork interspersed with laundry. Then the daily briefing - the final one apparently - reveals some substantial changes to the Covid-19 restrictions, applicable from 4th July. Pubs, restaurants and accommodation will be able to open, as will hairdressers and barbers, a...

We're in last week of freedom territory now - one week today I start my new job. I have a few bits and pieces to tie up before I start, but the weather forecast for the week is good and I want to enjoy my free time while I can. First, though, I have a zoom meeting with somebody who was looking for some consultancy before lockdown. It's a good conversation and we agree that there is the potential to work together, although I'm open about the fact that it would either have to be done in the one day a week I have free or through my new employers. I agree to go back to her with a proposal in a couple of weeks, once I've started the new job. My son and his girlfriend are up in time for lunch and I make a spicy noodle salad that we all enjoy. They are in shorts and intend to spend time outside - I'm happy to see this as he's normally inside pretty much all of the time. I've had the idea that we might put up a shade sail over the barbeque, having been under one t...

Woke up too early but managed to get back to sleep before waking again and remembering what happened last night. Checked the news over breakfast but there's no new information beyond last night's speculation. No statements from official sources at all, in fact, beyond tweets from the PM and Home Office minister and a rather lame TV interview with the local MP who seemed not to be familiar with the town at all which was surprising as he seems pretty good normally. With cruel irony, while looking for more information from social media, I learn that yesterday was World Refugee Day - my town has a reputation for welcoming refugees and being a vibrant multicultural community but I fear that this will be compromised by the fear that follows events like yesterday's. Some of the comments left on social media blame the attack specifically on these factors. I had registered for a yoga class to celebrate World Yoga Day and I dress in my exercise gear without showering but I couldn...

I wake with a sense of anticipation - we're not only going out today, we're going on a proper expedition! First, though, we have to get our son out of bed. I begin to call him at 8am, repeating the process in between breakfast, baking a sourdough loaf and getting myself showered and dressed. I hear him in the shower at 8.30. I start my own shower and his is still running long after I finish. We're due to leave at 9 but it's actually 9.30 when I start the car. Our niece is leaving for London late morning so it's important we get there before she goes. Son had felt carsick on the 15 minute drive home from our daughter's house so he's in the front; hubby gives him the postcode for the satnav and then immediately starts to dictate the route. I find it irritating that whenever I drive he wants to decide the route, especially when we have a device that works out the quickest way based on current traffic reports. I bite my tongue - it's not worth destroying t...

I wake up at 6.30, earlier than I wanted, so I listen to podcasts and doze until 8. First job is to bake the sourdough. Breakfast, and then some final promotion for the Fathers Day offers on my web shop. I avoid Facebook with the campaign, as my friend lost her Dad this week and I feel it would be callous to put the message where she might see it. I have a morning Zoom call with a contact I've been introduced to by somebody in my network. She's involved with Extinction Rebellion in Henley and is also trying to get the wider town engaged on climate change, although she's an executive coach by profession. She tells me about her work in Henley and I explain what we're doing at the climate change partnership. She outlines the concept of Climate Emergency Centres, including a funding model we may be able to use in Reading.It's a good conversation and I think we'll be able to co-operate. At lunchtime the charity I chair has a networking call for its members. It...

Our son appears late morning to say he hasn't managed to sleep. I fix him some breakfast, and a while later we notice he's missing - he seems to have gone back to bed. I had been due to meet my friend for a coffee in her garden today, but the weather forecast is against us so we postpone until tomorrow. Hubby has had a couple of calls with a potential client today which he feels went really well. He's hoping to find out by Monday whether he has a few months of project management work to start off his project management consultancy business. The good news is tempered by a message from a friend letting me know that her Dad died yesterday - he'd been ill for months with cancer but she's clearly devastated. At lunchtime I have a call with a fellow trustee who is planning her exit from corporate life and wants advice on setting up a website, then I attend a webinar on managing difficult people run by an ex colleague. Another contact lets me know that Al Gore's C...

A busy day, starting at 10am with a meeting about the ethical property project that a local group has proposed, and which has some overlap with the climate change action plan. Then I have a call with a colleague from the resources task force to whom I hope to hand over the theme co-ordination role; he's interested but concerned about the workload and time commitment. I tell him everything he wants to know, being as honest as I can about what is inevitably now a bit of a moving target, and he agrees to come back to me next week. After lunch we have the first meeting of the climate change comms and engagement team. It's quite productive, and we arrange to meet in a week's time and complete some follow-up actions. Then I drive over to Woodley to deliver a Thermomix that has been taking up space since a friend gave it to me at least 10 years ago. They hold their value well so I sold it on eBay and she has insisted I share the proceeds. I catch up on email correspondence and f...

I wake after a solid eight hours sleep to a tickly cough which I immediately find alarming. I remember lying on my back before I went to sleep and hope it's just a bit of post-nasal congestion. My sinuses feel a bit creaky so it seems plausible. I have to take my Mum to the surgery for her blood test this morning so I shower and wash my hair after breakfast, waking hubby up in the process. Our son wants to be woken at 12, as his girlfriend is due over at 2. I put my Mum's groceries away for her, then drive her to the surgery where she goes in alone, once I've checked her in at a window she can't reach with her wheeled walker as it's approached over gravel. After her appointment I drive her home and do some chores for her while we wait for lunch time. She needs some help with her computer and her printer. I've offered her a fish and chip lunch, which she's looking forward to, but when I get to her favourite fish shop it's closed. A quick look on Faceboo...

Ugh. I wake soon after 4; it is already light and despite best efforts I didn't manage to get up to sleep. At 6 I give up. Since hubby admitted that he had watched Snowpiercer without me I have been regretting not having seen it so I buy it from Virgin. It's a sobering and thought-provoking watch. From today masks are mandatory on public transport, and also today non-essential shops are opening - the news reports long queues at stores. I really can't imagine why people would want to queue up to buy anything non-essential at the moment. It really underlines how deeply consumerism has become ingrained in society. Despite a lethal virus people still need to shop that badly? I honestly don't understand it. I'm feeling anxious now about yesterday's visitors - I was very scrupulous about hygiene when preparing food but I can't remember washing my hands after loading the dishwasher and there's a niggling worry at the back of my mind that I might have become i...

Another day entertaining family today. But first - climate fiction. I signed up for a workshop today, writing flash fiction on the subject of climate change. The Cli-Fi genre is a sub-group of the Solar Punk movement which uses the creative arts to inspire people to imagine a climate positive future. It's a small Zoom group - 9 of us in all, and although it's pretty well organised it runs over the 1 hour meeting that was billed and I have to leave after 75 minutes to prepare for our lunch guests. During that time we had introduced ourselves, written a short practice piece and then begun the main writing challenge. I missed the part where we shared what we had written but there will be a second session and I'm definitely up for it. The weather is not so good today - more cloudy and a bit cooler - but at last it's dry. My nephew, his wife and two children are coming over - that takes us above the 7 person limit but our son is still working on his exams and won't be ...

I haven't slept well but I have a lot to do today so I'm up early to prepare. Today is the day we start to socialise again - so exciting! We have our daughter and her family coming for a barbeque this evening and my side of the family in two groups tomorrow - the weather forecast is on our side, warm with sunny periods, typical English summer in fact. I start by having a bit of a freezer clear-out, labelling and re-organising the contents so that we can find them easier. We have a lot of mystery items which are never going to get used unless we know what they are. Then I do our online shop, which is due for delivery on Monday but needs to be confirmed by this evening. I haven't heard back from the plumber - that will have to wait I guess. Late morning my son appears. He hasn't managed to sleep and seems very awake and a bit anxious. He's concerned that in his sleep-deprived state he won't be able to complete his remaining maths paper to a high standard. I ask ...

There's a lot to do today, starting with tidying up the hall and veranda which have become dumping-grounds for decorating materials. The charity I chair is having a meeting there this morning and I'd like it to look tidy; the hall leads to the downstairs loo we offer to visitors if they need it. The whole house is pretty dusty but I don't think anybody but me notices it. The plumber was due to come this afternoon but just before 10 he messages to say can he come at 10.30 instead. That's when my meeting is, so I have to say no and offer him any time after 12. I was half-expecting this after our daughter mentioned he was fitting her outside tap today, but I was also hoping he'd manage to find time for both. It's not too urgent now that we don't need the heating on, but it would be good to know whether he can do the work or not. The meeting goes well, and it's lovely to be actually working with people face to face, albeit at a distance. It's almost no...

I'm not feeling too great today. I haven't been sleeping well and the atmosphere in the house has been tricky recently. Hubby is clashing with both our son and I; I think the continued lockdown is beginning to take its toll now. It's calmer in the mornings when both are still in bed, although they have both been trying to get up earlier. I'm steadily working through my to-do lists but making less progress than I would like. Early afternoon we have a zoom call with our daughter in which we mostly discuss our plans for the weekend. Prompted by her, and following a conversation with our son, we're going to consciously relax the distancing rules around our grandson. He is due to return to nursery on Monday and, although she's not planning to send him, he would be allowed close contact with the nursery staff despite our daughter having no idea how well they are observing social distancing. Yet his close family aren't allowed near him even tough we're being...

I wake to the smell of freshly-baked bread. Although it hasn't risen especially well, the wholemeal loaf I set off to bake overnight in the bread maker looks like a success. In the kitchen it's another story - my two sourdough starters which I had taken out of the fridge to try and get them started again have escaped the confines of their jars and spread over the worktop. I find another jar and decant some into it, then put them back in the fridge. More baking today, I guess. On the news I hear a virologist explain that there were more than 1300 cases of covid-19 infections being brought into the UK and that the majority of them came in from France, Spain and Italy; debunking the myth of a single "patient zero". The majority of these cases were contracted between late February and late March; reinforcing the view that the UK locked down too late and that many lives could have been saved. Former scientific adviser Neil Ferguson has claimed that deaths could have been...

I wake to the news that the government has reversed its decision to get all children back to school before the summer, after finding that many schools could not operate the required adaptations. More positively, the UK has now passed two months without burning any coal to generate electricity. I'm first up - hubby emerges around 9 but there's still no sign of our son who went to bed at 10pm last night. He gets up before lunch, though. I'm busy all morning tidying up my email lists for the climate change partnership, I'm determined to finish it today. I have a long Skype meeting in the afternoon, and then have to do some quick amendments to the artwork I did for the climate change partnership's ads for the public consultation. Canva automatically charges me for premium as I'd already had a free trial - I'll have to reclaim that but can I invoice for it when I'm on furlough? It's voluntary work I'm doing, not for my business, but I don't want...

Three weeks today I will start my new job. I have a pretty clear week and a long list of things I'd like to get tidied up before I return to full-time employment. I check when I get up and my son is still in bed; he materialises around 8.30 so that's a whole night's sleep on regular timezone - haven't been this excited about him sleeping through the night since he was a baby! Hubby is up by about 9 so that's the whole family on the same schedule - for now at least. I go to pack the orders that came in yesterday and realise that one of the glass jars of hand sanitiser I bought has cracked in transit so I message the seller to ask for a refund. The orders are packed and postage paid online, all ready to go. I get a message from my friend who is feeling worse again, this time with a temperature as well as a UTI. She will need a prescription picked up from the pharmacy around lunch time and I check to see what else she needs - she's not feeling like food but fanci...

I would have liked a lie-in but despite an eye mask I don't manage one - I'm up by 9 and find my son at the computer. He got up at 2am but seems in good spirits and is taking a break from completing another exam online. I have a friend visiting for a coffee at 11 - she has ordered some hand sanitiser from my online shop and will be collecting them. I'm pleased to hear that her house move is back on track. My son, who went to school with hers, stops by to say hi. She's amazed to see a six footer with a beard - he was 7 when she last saw him! I make four portions of sweet leek carbonara for lunch, eat one and save the rest for my son. He's not ready for a meal yet - he had two while I was still asleep. Hubby has a ploughman's. The news is still full of the Black Lives Matter protests; in Bristol they have torn down a statue of a slaver called Edward Colston and thrown it in the harbour. It feels appropriate, although the risks the protestors are taking with the ...

I would have liked a lie-in today but I wake early and can't get back to sleep. I get up and watch the Story of Plastic movie . I have a call with my daughter about our plans for later - we're hoping to get together late afternoon but the weather doesn't look good at all. I spend the rest of the morning listing new products on my online shop and catching up on social media. My son goes to bed as I'm preparing my lunch. I should be getting on with some outstanding work, but I'm not feeling especially motivated. I set up the new products that arrived recently, including plastic-free hand sanitiser. We had hoped to welcome back our airbnb guests next week - they are contractors working locally who want to avoid a long daily commute - but I find new guidance yesterday that makes it clear that this would be illegal, so I message them to put them off. Mid-afternoon we call off the visit to my daughter's house as it's raining lightly and forecast to continue for ...

After a late night I allow myself to wake a little later this morning - when I do get up, I find my son hasn't yet gone to bed. I have a long and growing to-do list, though, in order to get the decks cleared for my return to full-time employment. Today I am letting people know that I have a new job - although it doesn't materially affect my voluntary activities, since my new employer will allow me to fulfil them as part of my remit, it does mean I have to be more disciplined about now over-committing to those roles. I exchange messages with my co-chair at the climate change partnership, speak to my deputy at the business community partnership and have a call with my primary contact at the council about how to hand over some parts of my climate change portfolio, then begin the process of letting others know. Over lunch I listen to a webinar about the journey to zero carbon, and then I register to watch the Story of Plastic movie which Surfers Against Sewage has made available ...

It took me a while to get to sleep last night so I'm tired this morning. I get up at the normal time but stay in my pyjamas. My son is still up - he had an exam due in today so he stayed up to do it and he's gaming. I see a message from my bestie - her UTI is back with a vengeance and she needs a mercy-dash to the chemist for more antibiotics. She didn't tell me when we spoke last night because she didn't want to burst my bubble. Of course I say yes, then wait for her to let me know when her prescription is ready. I email the other organisation that had offered me a job and ask for a call - fortunately, in light of the pyjamas, she suggests I call on her mobile rather than Teams and I explain that I've decided on the other job. I'm apologetic and we part on good terms. I have messages from the festival crew asking about our weekly zoom, which we all missed. I schedule one for Sunday afternoon. My son emerges in search of food - which meal it is I have no idea ...

As soon as I'm awake I check my phone to see if there's an email from my prospective employer - yes! I race to the PC to read it on a proper screen and he had agreed to all the changes I requested to the contract. This is wonderful news - especially the changed working days which means I can take care of my grandson. I respond to the email and ask for a call to bottom out a couple of final queries and then begin my work for the day. I have a zoom call with my charity and another community group that wants to propose a project, followed immediately by a handover call with the former chair of the climate change charity. The charity CEO messages after to request a follow up call, and I have another request for a call. All good and productive, but it's eating into the time I had allowed to prepare slides for a webinar I have to speak at this evening. I grab a very quick lunch before the scheduled call with the fourth member of the senior management team I'm joining. She...

Another busy day planned today - I'm planning to attend four webinars about how to be a better chair, at 9, 11, 1 and 5. Between the first two I email the MD of the consultancy with some suggested changes to the contract he sent over. Given that I am close to reaching agreement with a potential employer I'm not planning to do much else today ... it will be good to take things easy for a change. I spend some time on social media, and find a thread about local honey which leads to orders for all our remaining jars. I have a couple of orders from my online shop as well, one for collection and one to post. I'm not promoting my shop on social media today - there is a campaign today to black out social media in support of Black Lives Matter. I have to go over to Mum's house to drop off her groceries, and I take the opportunity to speak to her about her hair. She told me she's planning to go to a friend's house tomorrow to have it permed, and I'm worried. She...

I awake with a new sense of purpose and a determination to be productive. I have meetings from 9.30 and 10.30 for the climate change partnership and before that I drop an email to the council that has made me an offer, asking for a call. The consultancy I interviewed for has sent me a contract but I have to leave it until after my meetings before reviewing it; I also send a copy to my friend who is a recruitment consultant to ask for her views on the content. It's a long time since I reviewed an employment contract. At noon I have my call with the council and ask them for more time ... I need to be really sure I am making the right choice and we agree on noon Thursday as the final deadline. They ask if there's anything they can do to help me decide and I ask some more questions ... I have concerns around the fact that it's only a two year contract and also about commuting to a place where I should really use public transport, which raises concerns about the risk of infect...