There we all were plodding along, trying to avoid the virus but living our best lives, the best way we can. Then Boris plays a blinder with lockdown 2.0!
Last week I had a funny feeling, a bit like anxiety but not quite. It was just a very odd impending doom feeling.
I don’t think it helped that the Labrynthitis that I had very severely 4 years ago reared it’s ugly head again. Not anything like as bad as it was in the original attack, but definitely enough to cause me to feel yukky.
It happens every now and then, I can be merrily getting along, minding my own business and then bang! Vertigo city for a few days.
So mostly I didn’t do much of anything for the first part of the week.
Friday I must have been feeling a bit better (vertigo wise), I hadn’t slept well and woke up really early in the morning. Anyway I bounced out of bed (pretty impressive for an insomniac thank you very much!). I’m always grateful that I get to wake up at all, so I can’t be doing with worrying about not getting much sleep.
Anyway, I woke up and felt a sense of purpose. I have been fretting for some time about Christmas. Mainly the loneliness…oh lord, don’t get me started on the sadness of children flying the nest again! Hahahah
So, if we’re allowed family over at Christmas, my mum and dad and Ben will be coming Christmas Day. But my concern has been how will I do the food shop? My annual trip to the butchers is always fun as I go with my best friend, but this year is a very different prospect. I didn’t feel comfortable with the thought of queuing for an hour or more with all those other people.
Well, problem solved! I was up so early on Friday I headed to the butchers, so early, in fact, I was the only one there. I bought all my Christmas meat, my turkey, beef and gammon and came home and froze it. :)
I then went to Marks & Spencers and bought all the rest of the pre prepared trimmings, the roast potatoes, the Yorkshire puddings all the veg and froze that too!
I told my friend Kim what I’d done and she said I’m now ‘the mum that goes to Iceland!’ Hahahah. I really am.
I’ve never done a frozen foods Christmas before, but if it goes well I will be doing it every year. saves so much bother.
I literally feel like a weight has been lifted. Although that said, and proof were it needed that I like to have something to worry about, I’m now terrified that I’ll accidentally leave the freezer door open (which is why it was fortuitously empty for me to fill with Christmas fair to start with, I left the door open when we went on holiday last).
So that’s me done, Christmas food shop is complete.
I made the most of feeling better at the end of the week and spent a few days out and about getting started on Christmas present shopping. I know, I’m on fire with organisation right now. This is me sleep deprived too! Just imagine what I could be capable of if I slept all night! I’d be running the world no doubt! Hahahahha.
I’m really enjoying wearing soft trousers, not quite a legging and not quite a structured trouser. They are hybrids if you will.
Pretend shirt from Cos, Jumper from Ralph Lauren, Pointe leggings from Next, Slippers from Ugg.
These trousers are great, smart enough to dress up, casual enough to dress down and most importantly of all stretchy enough to poo in. It never fails to make me laugh that this is something I now factor into clothes buying.
If you do not have a stoma please don’t copy this fashion advice. Hahahah
I think Chris was pleased to see me in actual clothes. When I wasn’t feeling too chipper I was mostly in his T shirts and track suit bottoms. What? I was feeling grotty ok, I wasn’t really looking to win ‘The best dressed to the living room prize’ :)
Anyway I felt pretty darn good by the weekend which was handy.
Top from River Island, Pleather trousers from Quiz, Boots from Russell and Bromley
I love this outfit! I bought the jumper the other day having seen it on a celebs Instagram. They do it in 4 colours, but the only colour they had left was this one. But actually, I love it!
I love the modern twist on a classic Aran knit. It’s just a little bit sassy but cosy all the same.
The trousers are perfect, loads of stretch for poo room, and a nice shape. I noticed they’d gone down in the sale in Quiz, so I bought two more pairs. When I find something that works I tend to buy multiples. Which in the case of pleather trousers is very important. They aren’t breathable, so I tend to only get one wear out of them and then wash them. ;)
So following on from my sense of impending doom, I suggested to Chris that we go to Costco to stock up on essentials, if that is even something one can do at Costco! Hahahah
We got down to there about 20 minutes before opening and joined the already fairly long queue, which actually dissipated very quickly once the store was open.
We bought 1 pack of loo rolls (there’s 48 in a pack), some people were loading pack after pack into their trollies, I thought oh god, here we go again!?! Who needs all that loo roll?
There’s a difference between buying in bulk: 1 pack of 48 loo rolls) and stockpiling/panic buying (multiple packs of 48 loo rolls). Can we please get a grip again - pleeeeease. Toilet paper is made in Britain, we will not run out.
Anyway once we’d bought all the essentials, washing liquid, loo roll, 2 kilo tub of peanut butter etc we came out and notice that there was no queue for IKEA.
Well, I said to Chris, while we’re here we might as well go and get the little junior bed for Zak, for if and when he comes next.
Saves braving a likely queue next time.
So in we go and we piled up our trolley with the bed, a chest of drawers for Ben and Kaitlyn. A small chest of drawers for when we drive to Spain next year (you know, essentials), and loads of other things.
We pay for our goods, we leave the store, in what is now a horrendous storm. We get to the car only to realise that we no longer have the BMW X5 that we used to have, but swapped for a family saloon.
In the pouring rain we had to load an already very loaded car.
We eventually decided the only way to get it all in was to unbox it all. Hahahah.
Very safe I’m sure. Actually it was safe, it was all wedged in so tightly, nothing was going to move.
I was really pleased that Chris put Zak’s bed up straight away when we got home.
It’s such a clever bed, yes, it’s a thing, beds can be clever.
The guest room is ready for guests, should any be allowed to come. ;)
What’s so clever about this bed I hear you cry in your masses (a girl can dream can’t she?).
Well it starts off as a very cute junior bed, and it grows as the child does. With mattress extensions.
Little…
Slightly bigger…
…and big.
How clever is that!? We bought him a comfortable mattress too. So hopefully he’ll sleep well when he comes next.
Then Saturday night Boris made the announcement that we are going into lockdown again. I will do what it takes to protect the vulnerable (mainly because I have a heart and I’m a decent person) (but also because as friends of ours, and friends of friends have found out (sometimes too late) that you don’t know if you’re vulnerable until you get it and find out).
So yes, I’m all in for lockdown part 2. But it is going to be hard going.
I miss my boys so much.
I had a bit of a wobble after the announcement, I’m pretty tough, but yes, even people that are dead inside like myself still wobble on occasion. Hahahah.
I gained about 7lbs over the last 9 months. The uncertainty, the boredom and the fragility of the moment took its toll on my mind and body.
Now don’t get me wrong, I actually like what I see naked in the mirror, I’m not panicking because I think I look bad,
I’m panicking because I don’t want to end up looking bad. I’m very blessed that weight gain goes in “all the right places”. I have what is known as a voluptuous figure, I’ve got natural big boobs and bum.
Very lucky that I am, I have a husband that very much likes that shape.
But I can’t keep gaining half a stone every time we go into lockdown. I’ll end up looking like Hattie Jacques (god rest her soul). :)
So my wobble was both physical and emotional! Hahahah.
I have a very supportive husband, he’s a keeper alright. I asked him to join me to a diet behavioural app called Noom.
I don’t have much faith in it (or me I suppose I should say as it’s a psychological weight loss app) but I can’t sit by and do nothing). :)
Anyway, joined a diet app Saturday night…went out for a massive blow out curry on Sunday! Hahahah
I had a feeling lockdown 2.0 was on it’s way so I booked Chris and I into Chutney Mary for one of our last meals out. Turns out it wasn’t one of the last, it was definitely the last for one month.
We love Sundays in London. It’s free to park, it’s lovely and quiet. We feel at peace there. It is our happy place.
We had a fantastic time. We went to Fortnum & Mason to stock up on biscuits, pickles and buy a Christmas pudding.
I don’t drink, smoke or do drugs, my only vice is F&M biscuits, which I will have to ration, seeing as I just joined a weight loss app and all. Hahahah.
Dress from Dorothy Perkins, Boots from Hobbs, bag from Chanel, Coat from Burberry.
We have a little routine. Drive into London, go to F&M and then best of all we go to Chutney Mary.
One of the most incredible places I’ve ever been in my life is India, actually, probably the most incredible.
But as I can’t afford to go there right now and it’s having a tough time with corona, going to Chutney Mary is a very good second best.
The food is out of this world. The staff are lovely. Everything there is perfection.
This visit came with a little extra surprise. Sitting not 10 feet away from me was Jeffery Archer!! I love his books, at one point in my life I had read everything he had ever written. Well I was swooning from a distance.
(My friend asked me the next day if I went over and told him how big a fan I was?).
I very well would have done if we weren’t smack dab in the middle of a pandemic.
Can you imagine me going up to him, breathing all over him, only to later discover I’ve got the rona, given it to him and he dies!!!!? Oh no, no, no no! I couldn’t risk killing Jeffery. My swooning admiration will have to stay with me.
He seemed really nice though. You can tell a lot about people’s character by how they treat waiting staff, and he was very chatty and polite. So that’s something for my mental scrapbook.
Even if I didn’t get to tell him I’m a huge fan. :)
We had an amazing meal. I, without noticing already changed some behaviour. Usually I’d order a mango lassi to drink. But I chose a low calorie drink. It wasn’t a conscious decision, and maybe I made it simply because I was super thirsty. But my hope is that it was the new app working on my brain. Change is coming. ;)
We ate a lot though, we definitely wanted to make the most of being there.
We were talking about our up coming silver wedding anniversary in February. I reassured Chris that I understand that he lost quite a lot of wages through lockdown 1. And because of that we won’t be going to India, or anywhere else for that matter.
I love lovely things but I’m also a realist. I’m very happy to cut my coat according to my cloth.
Anyway, we leave Chutney Mary satiated for the time being, and decided to go for a walk.
London has been pretty quiet. It’s lovely for us, but not so much for the poor shops.
We were walking past Tiffany and Chris said do you want to look at those earrings you saw online?
I really really did! :)
We went straight in, which was unusual as there had been quite a long queue earlier when we walked past.
We were looked after by an assistant straight away.
She showed us to a seat (you don’t walk round anymore, they bring the bits to you).
The earrings were even lovelier than I had thought they were in the photo. Chris said we’ll take them!
I was a very surprised, but very happy.
The shop assistant asked it they were for a special occasion? Without missing a beat Chris said “because it’s Sunday!”
Which pleased me very much because that means Christmas is still in play! Hahahah hahaha…he doesn’t help himself this one! Hahahah
In fairness, I believe they are because It’s been a long and painful year, what with Ben moving out in January, leaving my nest empty. Plus the pandemic, the first lockdown, the sheer unrelenting stress of life at the moment, the impending lockdown part deux and then of course my beloved dog, Pepper dying (thoughts of her fill my every waking hour, with the all consuming sadness of loss).
It felt so nice to get a surprise treat. I feel very lucky. He’s a very nice husband, I shall probably keep him on even after our 25th wedding anniversary. Hahahah
After that excitement we headed back to the car. By which time it was getting dark and Fortnum’s had their Christmas lights on.
They’ve made a giant version of the advent calendars they sell.
Chris bought us the wooden one from here a couple of years ago. We noticed on this trip that they sell a refill pack for them. But at £29 I gave it a miss. I will fill it with Cadbury’s chocolates like I do every year. Cost? £3.50! :)
Our trip, our final trip of the year possibly, complete. We went home with full bellies, and me with a happy heart.
I feel very fancy now in my new earrings, in the living room, and if you need me for anything over the next 4 weeks this is where you’ll find me, doing nothing, just staying home and staying out of trouble, so please keep in touch. xx
Keep well. Stay safe.
Suzanne x