A Lockdown well-lived..

 .. is a Lockdown well-planned.  

Do you think this could become a modern day idiom?

I am a true idiom user, I don't mind saying so.  I think they are part of our tradition and shouldn't be forgotten nor lost in the newer language added each year, such as covid, freegan or hellacious.

But I digress.

During the first Lockdown, I'm sure many readers - like me - will have planned to do something momentous.  Finally we had the time to...

• lose half a stone in weight by exercising everyday with that young fellow on youtube
• read War and Peace
• make new Lounge curtains out of patchwork scraps
• brew own wine/beer
• re-tile the roof with vintage tea-towels, etc

Instead what we achieved was:

• putting on a stone in weight because the only exercise we had was walking from the sofa to the fridge and back again (and reaching up high for a new packet of biscuits didn't count as 'lunges') 
• reading healthy recipes while eating bowls of homemade chips
• making a mess of bits of thread/empty crisp packets/crumbs in a semi-circle around where we sit on the sofa
• brew own wind.. *parp*
• re-tiled hair into a bird's nest due to no hairdresser being open and using elastic bands rather than hair bobbles

Of course, I am exaggerating (some) of the list above! (Ahem..)

So.

Lockdown 2.0

I genuinely have a plan this time.

Food: Like many people I had an inkling that this was going to happen again, so I bought a few items extra each week and we have a well-stocked larder of healthy foods.  We have a weekly box of fresh veg and fruit that is continuing.

Exercise:  between the lockdowns (ooh that could become a new phrase..or the Title for a new book..hmm) I joined a local ladies-only gym and was exercising Monday to Friday 30 minutes a day.  I'm continuing this at home with their online daily exercise workouts.  (Before I joined this gym I thought the only things you worked out were crosswords or monthly budgets..)  

Hair: Since age 17 I was my own hairdresser - naturally curly hair sounds better in words than it looks when you wake up looking like a cross between a lion's mane from behind and a haystack.  For the last  two years I have had 'free' hair care (I teach the hairdresser's daughter piano lessons), I usually visit the hairdresser every six weeks and have products here and advice to a manage the mane.  

Diet: Since the last Lockdown I went on the FODMAP diet to find out exactly what my body didn't manage well.  It sounds a bit cheesy, but I did heal my gut, and have found out which foods and preservatives upset the balance.  If you struggle with gut issues I can totally recommend this - I read online and we did it at home.    Consequently, we have a plan to follow to help shift some of the excess weight I am carrying along with the daily exercise.

House:  Settee 1 went to the tip - it had been second/third hand to us three 1/2 years ago, and after advertising it as FREE, nothing.  Settee 2 is creaking like my knees when I get up to the loo in the night (only half-joking) but will be advertised as FREE in the New Year as we have two NEW sofas coming then.  The carpet is being replaced on insurance (thankfully) and we have bought a NEW bed coming this week as we broke ours about a month ago.  The bedroom is almost finished being painted.  So.

Plans.

Yes.

What are yours for this Lockdown?

Take care,

Tracey xx