Quarantine Week I
Hey friends!
I hope you’re all well, wherever you are. I hope you’re safe and healthy, and I hope your loved ones are too. Things have taken a turn, haven’t they…?
We self-isolated on Friday the 13th, a couple of days after my birthday. Things were escalating, and we felt that this was the right thing to do, for ourselves, and for others, despite the government not making any decisions. My family back in France was put on strict lockdown around that time, and we did too, on our own accord.
This week on the 24th, which happens to also be M’s birthday, the UK finally decided to put a lockdown in place.. so this is week 2 of self-isolation and week 1 of quarantine for us.
My sister and her boyfriend are stuck here with us in our flat, so we’re learning to get by all 4 of us in our cosy 2 bed flat, to cohabit without killing each other haha no but in all seriousness, it’s been a steep learning curve, from working from home all alone all day long to suddenly having 3 other humans with me at all times.
I’ve stopped watching the news, or reading it, or listening to it for that matter. Instagram is my escape though, and I have to admit I’ve been probably a little bit too much on my phone, but we’re all trying to get by here. My work is mostly on my phone, so I find a balance between escapism, and answering emails.
It’s all been very weird hasn’t it?
The whole world put to a standstill like this. All of us affected by the same tragedy. It’s something I’m having a hard time fully grasping, and I know for a fact it will change me forever.
Overall, the one recurring thought I’ve had, in the past two weeks, is this: M & I want to move closer to nature, and fulfil our dreams of owning some land somewhere far away, growing our own food, becoming more self-sufficient, and living a simpler life, as we’ve always dreamed of.
This virus, has put a lot of things into perspective for me. I find beauty in that. In the power that it could have on the world. On our future. I try to stay positive about it all.. which is also a reason why I’ve stopped sharing anything Covid-19 related on Instagram, because a lot of people get mad about certain things, and it gets really emotionally draining. So I’ve stopped talking about it, and I stick to sharing little moments of joy in our day-to-day and food, lots of food!
On Tuesday we celebrated my loves 30th birthday! His first birthday in quarantine…! We tried to make it fun and combined a dog walk with a food shop by escaping to Epping Forest for the morning (by renting a car on Zipcar - and disinfecting the hell out of it) it was seriously the breath of fresh air we all needed. We walked around the forest (didn’t see a soul) and breathed in the fresh air, sun on our faces, Nemo had the time of his life.
We then went food shopping for the week at a big supermarket, and there was plenty to be had, but a few shelves of essentials were empty and it made me extremely sad and angry for all the people in need (as tempting as it can be, do NOT stockpile, leave food for others who need it and cannot afford to buy ahead of time)
We came home, baked a chocolate cake, played some Catan, and had a lovely tacos night with his family on Zoom, which was hilarious! A birthday to remember!
We are trying to keep our days as structured as we possibly can. This is our quarantine routine :
At the moment M and I both woke up just before 7 AM, we open the windows wide, to let the fresh air in and walk to the kitchen where we make tea, and a green smoothie together. We meditate together in the morning sun on our terrace (it helps tremendously with my anxiety - I like to use Melissa Wood’s app or the Calm app) and after that, it’s time to feed our sourdough starter (this deserves a whole post on its own! It’s our little quarantine project!) with the discard from the starter we’ve been making crumpets every day this week! It’s wonderful. I like to have mine still warm, slathered in vegan butter, and a touch of marmite. I like to eat it while drinking a good ol’ cuppa… M said this morning this is probably the most British side of me… :D after this we go walk the dog together at the park (we avoid everyone, and make sure to wash our hands profusely when we come home), I am so very grateful we’re able to do this, and it’s truly the highlight of my day every day. Then we come home and start work. Both of us sat at the dining room table. We then join all together with Lizzie & Theo for lunch and then continue working through the afternoon. They like to take Nemo out then and have their outing for the day. M & I like to use that time to do a workout (MW of course!), then we work some more, until around 6/7 PM where we all make dinner together. We eat dinner all together sat at the table, and then we like to play board games (we’re obsessed with Settlers of Catan… M got the Knights & Cities expansion pack for his birthday and it’s seriously amazing, it has changed the game completely!) or we watch a movie all cuddled up on the sofa, I sometimes like to take a bath to calm my soul (I do shower every day if not haha) and then we go to bed. and then repeat the next day.
We take it day by day.
We also make it our mission to notice the beauty in our every day. We notice the little things, like the way the morning sun hits our windows at 7:30 AM sharp, or how particularly delicious this morning’s crumpets were. We sit, we breathe and we notice.
I hope that amidst these dark times, you’re looking after yourself, and you notice the little things too.
I’ll speak to you soon,
T
x
