So I skipped my week 9 diary because when it came to sitting down to write it, I honestly just couldn’t be bothered. I didn’t have anything to say and couldn’t really remember anything we’d done – which I think is probably indicative of my mood throughout Week 9! That said, I wrote one of my most successful blog posts ever – Will we be sending our children back to school? Which was widely shared and received so many lovely comments so that was a definite highlight of Week 9!
Week 10, and half term, was sunny and relaxed and if I shut my ears tightly enough I could almost pretend that life was normal!
Monday was a bank holiday which meant we had an extra day of Dave being “at home” – of course he’s at home 5 days out of 7 but what it really meant was he was free to be with us. After Dave and Ben went out for a bike ride, we took ourselves off into town for a walk with Poppy – I even bothered to do a full face of make up. We were working on the basis that on a sunny bank holiday Monday, the city centre (where all the shops and bars were closed) was likely to be considerably quieter than any of the parks we might have liked to visit. There was the added bonus of taking Poppy for a walk somewhere new and different without it being overly busy.
It proved to be a good decision and we had a lovely walk through town before heading up to our favourite brunch place in the Northern Quarter, Ezra & Gil who had recently re-opened for takeaway only. They’ve got a really well organised set up and are offering their full menu for takeaway – I actually branched out from my usual on the basis that it might not be very easy to eat from a cardboard box with wooden cutlery! Turns out the flatbread sandwich I ordered was every bit as tasty as my usual smashed pumpkin on toast! We took our takeaway and sat on the pavement to eat it – not very classy but the sun was shining and there was little traffic.
Once we’d finished eating we walked back towards Cathedral Gardens to sit on the grass – Dave grabbed us some drinks from the CO-OP and we produced some Ezra & Gil brownies from my bag for afters. I could have sat in Cathedral Gardens all day long but Dave and Chloe were both regretting their shoes choices and had sore feet so we headed for home and a BBQ tea!
On Tuesday, as is par for the course, Dave went into the office and we took Poppy for a walk in the woods. It wasn’t somewhere we’d been before – it’s a local spot that the Butlers have discovered during the course of Lockdown. The kids were super excited to explore somewhere new and spent a lot of time on a rope swing (whilst I watched with my heart in mouth – anyone else find them a bit terrifying?) or scrambling up trees or across a stream. They were all utterly filthy when we got home so it was straight into the shower and then they spent the rest of the day in their PJs whilst Poppy flopped into bed exhausted giving me chance to get some work done!
Wednesday was easily my favourite day of half term – we got up early and drove over towards Liverpool to spend the day on the beach. I’d desperately wanted to take the kids (and Poppy!) to the beach for a while but was super conciious of the fact that it could be really busy and also that I didn’t want to be someone travelling to a “beauty spot” and essentially spoiling it for the locals by making it too busy. I had it on good advice that this particular beach is rarely busy so we chanced our arm!
We arrived about 10am and there wasn’t a single other person on the stretch of beach we chose to sit down on. We spent about four hours there in total – there were plenty of people passing by with dogs and children but nobody sat even within shouting distance of us so social distancing wasn’t a concern at all.
The open space and sunshine did wonders for us all – Poppy enjoyed several hours of freedom to run and play, the kids climbed rocks and splashed in the sea and it honestly felt like a completely normal May half term day out.
After our busy day of adventures on Wednesday, we called a lazy one on Thursday – we walked Poppy in the morning but aside from that it was basically a day of screens and play for the kids whilst I pottered around getting jobs done in the house.
Dave had taken Friday off and the kids wanted to go back to the beach but thanks to my lack of foresight and sun cream application, Ben had got quite burnt on Wednesday so needed another day out of the sun. I really wanted for us all to go out somewhere together but through a combination of not really knowing where to go that would be quiet and Ben’s need for shade we ended up staying at home and getting lots done in the garden – we relaid the artificial grass in the front garden as it had never really been done properly – it now has a weed membrane, has been re-cut to fit better and fastened into place. We also added bark to the flower bed I’ve been working on during lockdown and I potted up some sunflower seedlings that Mich had given me. I also braved a trip to the garden centre for some bits for my houseplants.
Today I took Poppy to the park for her usual Sunday morning walk with Edie and then after lunch I drove up to Scammanden Reservoir to meet up with Kirst for the first time in 10 very long weeks. We walked a for a bit and then sat at the water’s edge chatting while Poppy lay down in the sun between us. It was SO nice to see Kirst in person but super hard not to be able to give her a hug when we left. The lack of contact with the people I love the most is definitely the hardest thing about Lockdown for me personally.
Tomorrow sees two of our three children return to school – this is something they are both extremely excited about and whilst I’m nervous, I do know this is the right decision for them at the moment!
