As of today I am fully covered against covid. My second dose was 2 weeks ago now, which means I’m fully vaccinated and protected from harm.
I could not feel more at peace if I tried. Chris will be in the same position in 2 days, so all in all I feel really very happy.
I volunteered at the vaccine centre again last week. I had such a nice time. I really love the energy from it. People on the whole are excited to get it done. That said I had one person who was very unhappy about having it (which begs the question why would you?) and one person who was terribly terribly nervous about needles, but was still brave enough to have it. I take my hat off to needle phobes that are selflessly getting vaccinated. You are heroes!
Anyway, during my shift Ben text to say ‘can you ask if they’ll have any spares later?’.
I really didn’t feel comfortable queue jumping for him, I love him more than life itself, but jumping a queue didn’t seem right. I’m there because it makes me feel good inside to be helping out, not because I can use it to my own advantage. That said Pfizer can’t be stored so if people are using them up on walk ins that is a very good use of medicine.
Anyway, Some girls turned up, they looked incredibly young, so I asked them how old they were. They were between 19-21.
I said “wow, that’s fantastic! How did you get the call?”
They said they had applied via the pharmacy website.
Long story short, one of the girls very kindly sent me the link and I then sent it to Ben and Kaitlyn they applied and…got a text back, almost immediately saying they could get it at 6.15pm that night!
I couldn’t believe it! What a fantastic system. Nothing going to waste. No one missing out. And no one jumping queues, it’s a legitimate list open to anyone.
So now we’re just waiting on Milly to be done this week, and then Sam next Tuesday and we’re sorted.
Life is feeling like there’s a chance we could get back to something near the old normal again.
We’re getting out more, we’re socialising more, we’re eating out more. And that is wonderful.
Vaccine centre chic! Dress from Sainsbury’s, Shoes from Hermes
Hand gelling my baby boy is going to be one of my lasting highlights of the pandemic. Xx
The flip side to the world returning to normal of course is I’m now going to be home alone a lot more. Chris has worked from home for the last 15 months. He works, tucked out of the way in a garden room, so it’s not like I’ve been staring at him, using the dining table as his office…thank the lord!!
Things would have been very different here if that was the case. Hahahahaha
But I’ve very much enjoyed the intermittent company throughout the day. He’ll pop in for the loo, or lunch, or a snack. It wasn’t like spending the day with him but it certainly did break up the day.
I am now faced with the prospect of him returning to the office next month. And I appreciate you could say to me ‘well toughen up buttercup! It’s what used to happen!’
Only I will never have been this alone and isolated in my 48 years on the planet.
When Chris used to work in the office at work in the olden days I had kids and dogs to care for.
Then Ben moved out at the end of last January and Chris started working from home in February and then we went into lockdown in March.
What with my final baby bird leaving the nest and my beautiful Pepper dog dying last August, I am going to be completely and utterly alone when Chris goes back to work.
I have never experienced such an empty house. Chris has been out for a few meetings this week and I got a vision of the future…this house is too big and too empty. The silence is deafening. I’m not a fan.
I’m not even sure moving would help as the silence will just follow us.
I’m definitely not temped to get a new dog, that has been suggested to me by multiple people now. It’s hard to communicate, but I don’t want a new dog, I want my dog back.
I was however tempted to get some little finches or love birds, and then I remembered how messy my budgies Holly & Rudolph, used to be in my bedroom and thought better of it.
No, I’m not tempted to get an actual job in the real world. I have loved volunteering at the vaccine centre so maybe that’s something to look forward to. But I’m only on standby if they are short staffed.
Once we can fly off again I will be! I’m even thinking of treating myself to lunch in Venice, if I can’t find anyone to go with. I’ve flown over for lunch a few times now and have loved every minute of it.
Fly out of Stansted on the 6.15am flight, fly home on the 10.30 flight. A full day in Venice, including lunch and dinner. Absorbing the beauty, wonder, culture and the food. God I long to go back. And I will, even if it means going by myself. I don’t have any concerns about that at all, it’s very safe and I sort of know my way around now.
But it’s not a weekly plan, if only it was.
I do intend on going back to our Spain house more too, just as soon as they let us leave this island. Hahahahaha
Which means an actual job isn’t an option, as I’m not sure anyone will let me take time off every 6-8 weeks like I used to go there.
I very easily do my social media job for Neptune Colchester from anywhere in the world…my bed, the dining room, New York and even India.
So returning to normal, in the real world, is both exciting and daunting for me right now.
I’m excited by the prospect of seeing friends, eating out and going to exhibitions.
In fact we went to one on Saturday and I’m going again this Saturday.
I saw an exhibition at Kensington palace advertised. You get to look round some rooms of the palace itself, plus Diana’s wedding dress went on display as part of the Royal style in the making exhibition.
I asked Michelle if she fancied it, but she didn’t as she apparently hated Diana’s wedding dress anyway.
I then asked Chris if he’d like to go on a tour of Kensington Palace…leaving out the wedding dress exhibit part, no need to overload him with information. Hahahahaha.
He said yeah why not, so I booked it for the Saturday.
I did however book us into Chutney Mary afterwards to soften the blow. :)
It was only after I booked that I was speaking to Ben and he said “oh you should have asked Kaitlyn, she loves Diana!”
Well this is information I wasn’t aware of. She couldn’t make the Saturday I’d already booked Chris and I into.
So I invited her for this weekend instead. I shall be exactly replaying last Saturday this Saturday!
Breakfast at Pavilion, by the palace, tour of the palace (including wedding dress) and then followed by Chutney Mary after. And I couldn’t be more excited or happy about it.
The tour of the palace is really good to start with. Well, Queenie has to pay her gas bill somehow, so why not open the doors and get the paying visitors to sort that out for you. :)
The dress, is mesmerising! I can’t fully articulate how spectacular it is. And if you intend to visit the exhibition at some stage stop reading this blog right now!
Spoiler alert!
Dress from Oasis, Shoes from Christian Dior, Bag from Burberry
What I wanted to wear, opposed to what Chris said he would be prepared to accompany me wearing! Hahahahaha
Apparently he has a very strict no tiara policy in place. Who knew!? Hahahahaha
Funny story with this dress. I saw it online and absolutely fell in love with it. It screams summer! I bought it a few weeks ago. I absolutely loved it. I appreciate my boobs don’t fit in it very well, hence the vest! Can you imagine me in this dress without the camisole under it?!?…actually don’t do that, you’ll lose your lunch! Hahahahaha
When I ordered it and tried it on ages ago it was perfectly fine.
But Saturday as I put it on I got stuck. Really really very stuck. So stuck I had to call for assistance, arms stuck in the air, as if I was part of a Mexican wave stuck!
(And then stuck again trying to get it off in the evening. Chris had to help me both times. I was sweating with panic that being trapped in a dress causes. Far worse in a dressing room of a store of course but definitely not fun in one’s own home either).
I felt so awkward all day in the dress because of how stuck I was putting it on, and Chris having to save me. I loved it when I bought it. But decided after that incident I’d have to give it to Kaitlyn, seeing as it clearly didn’t fit me. I felt so self conscious all day, knowing I was trapped in my beautiful tangerine dream of a dress.
Come the evening Chris helped me take it off…at which point I found the zip!!! The very very long zip!!
I wasn’t stuck, it didn’t not fit me!! I was just trying to get in it the wrong way!!
Ps, in the morning’s dress struggle I had asked Chris to find a zip or something. He reckons I was struggling too hard to find it!!
Such a help!! Hahahahaha
Anyway on with the day and the visit to the dress…
The palace tour is really very good. You are allowed to take photos, they’ve set up the rooms beautifully.
Bear in mind many royals still live in Kensington Palace it gives a wonderful insight into how the rooms look and how they make up the individual apartments inhabited by Kate and Wills and other royals.
They are called ‘apartments’, but I believe 1a, where K & W live, is 22 rooms, so it’s not quite like any apartment you’ve ever visited before I’m sure.
I love having a nose round RightMove online, looking at peoples homes. I very much love a house tour too!
And then we get to the really good bit. Out of the palace and into the Orangery, is where you’ll find the Royal style in the making exhibit.
It is stunning, it is so so beautiful. I know a lot of people were ‘appalled’ by how creased up it was. That aspect actually took David and Elizabeth Emmanuel by surprise when they saw her step out of the carriage too.
It wasn’t intentional, it was unexpected and unfortunate, but it was unavoidable, unless of course she’d turned up to St.Paul’s cathedral on the bus, standing the whole way.
It was a voluminous dress and a small cramped carriage that caused the issue.
I remember watching her arrive at St. Paul’s, on the telly, in the dress, walking up the steps, I was besotted by her and the dress.
I didn’t care that it was creased. I just cared that I had seen a real life princess, and forever the joy of that day will be etched into my brain, probably more so because I was dressed as a royal bride myself at the time. We had a fancy dress. street party. And I happen to be very lucky that I have an incredibly talented mum that made me a wedding dress too! I was 8 years old. It was one of the happiest days of my childhood.
I did unfortunately gorge on those chocolate and coconut covered marshmallows cakes (Snowballs) and was very sick. But hey, nothing new in that! And possibly a reason I feel even more of an affinity to her.
I couldn’t drag myself away from Diana’s dress’s orbit. It is stunning and heartbreaking all at once.
It gave me goosebumps to think of what followed.
I would definitely recommend a visit if you’re in town.
The tickets are actually reasonably priced too. And they allow photography which is very cool and quite generous really.
There’s a lot to take in. I personally was pretty smitten with this suite of jewels.
It’s my birth stone so it’s almost as if it’s waiting for me! ;)
So if anybody wants to buy this for me - Chris Doré - please feel free. Hahahahaha
There are a few other dresses on display, not as many as there could have been. There must be thousands knocking about.
But they do have Diana’s going away outfit which was very cute and very tiny.
They had two or 3 other royal dresses, but nothing to write home about. That bit was slightly disappointing I suppose. But the wedding dress is the big draw.
I had a lovely time and I’m equally looking forward to going back again on the weekend.
Afterwards we had a quick look in a couple of shops on High Street Kensington and then headed over to Chutney Mary.
The day had something for everyone, I saw the wedding dress and Chris had the corn ribs he’s addicted to in Chutney Mary. :)
All finished off by a trip to Fortnum and Mason. A friend of mine mistook these for Tiffany bags…I wish!! I bloody wish!!!
But I’m perfectly happy with the contents of these bags; jam, pickles, biscuits and sweets. Yes please!! :)
We came home full to the brim, overly so. We battled off my dress and chilled out. It was a very good day back in the world.
Sunday I left Chris to his own devices and I took Kaitlyn to a stately home near by. Having just discovered her enjoyment of them I decided she definitely would enjoy Audley End House.
It’s nice, but I’ve got to be honest the rooms available to view were limited and photography is banned. So it was a bit of a come down for me from the day before, but as Kaitlyn had never been it made no difference to her visit.
Top tip for ladies with big t…boobs. I wore a minimiser bra with this dress. The style generally suits the flatter chested woman better. But I refuse to be left out. A minimiser bra squashes everything down a bit and allows the dress to hang better.
On our little shopping expedition on Saturday after the palace I found a fantastic TK Maxx in Kensington.
The only problem, well two actually. 1, I thought I was trapped in my dress and therefore couldn’t get it off to try anything on. And 2, the dressing room was closed.
So I had to buy 4 dresses the same of one style as I had no idea what size I would need in it. Plus a few others that I took a chance on as they only had the one size available. This was one of those dresses. It’s so comfortable to wear. It’s like wearing a nightie but in the day-ie. :)
The rest I had to return to my local store having picked out all the ones that fit me best.
It’s so weird that some stores have the dressing rooms open, for example Ralph Lauren, Kate Spade, Phase Eight. And then some stores have them all locked away. It makes no sense. It’s either safe or not safe. Make up your mind and either open all or close them all!!
As someone with an uneven body shape I need to try on all clothes on when buying.
Last week I bought a selection of dresses from Sainsbury’s. Multiple sizes of each.
The dresses I kept range from a 12 uk to 16 uk. Everything fits a little differently. If I was a straight up and down 10 or 12 uk it would be easier. But actually, I very much like all my lumps and bumps. They are what makes me me!!
We headed off for a day of fun. It is a beautiful stately home, but I found it just a bit too stuffy. Both physically, the rooms are very dark, and restricting photography seemed mean spirited. It didn’t feel as pleasant as Kensington palace.
I had tried to get tickets for Buckingham palace for Kaitlyn’s birthday, but as I was on the site booking it the tickets sold out for the only weekend date available.
The tickets to view Buckingham palace are £60 a person, so it is a bit on the spiteful side. But like I said, she has to pay the gas bill somehow. :)
It was a nice enough day out. We had a cream tea so how could it fail to be nice?
I came home and helped Chris with some indoor DIY jobs that needed doing. Alright, so, needed is a bit strong, and ‘helped’ might be an exaggeration too. But we had some things that could do with being done. One of which was hanging the new mirrors I bought for the hallway.
I created my very own hall of mirrors. :)
Buckingham mirrors, in 3 sizes available from Neptune Colchester, where else? ;)
Dress from Ghost x Marks and Spencer
This dress is ideal for sitting attending Zoom meetings. Sitting for prolonged periods can increase the risk of leaking. Add in trousers to that and it’s game over.
I tend to go for lose fitting dresses or skirts.
I appreciate that a leak at home during a Zoom meeting isn’t terribly worrisome, but I am incredibly lazy, so anything I can do to avoid mishaps the better it is for me.
I’ve had a pretty good week so far. I popped to work for some candles and for some inspiration. I saw a table display in there, on the same table that I own at home.
I came back home and attempted to recreate what I had seen.
Above is theirs….
And my take on it…
I was pretty pleased with how it turned out.
Wishing you a happy week back in the world…