Its day 38 of social distancing for me and another 3 weeks of lockdown has been announced.
That being so, I thought I would share a few of my ‘Lockdown’ faves that have been keeping me going and keeping me sane during this crazy time.
I’m not posting these to show off all the lovely things I’ve been doing, trust me there have been plenty of very unproductive days too.
Lets take a look!
Books, Books, Books
This is my ultimate, favourite hobby anyway but it is so nice to have the time to finally indulge in it. I do a reading challenge on my blog anyway and my aim is to read two books a month… I read two books last week… and I got so stuck into them I couldn’t put them down.
I know this is such a luxury, especially without having dependents, I have lot more time for me, but I’m taking full advantage because we are unlikely (fingers crossed) to be in a similar situation again.
Plus, I get alot of enjoyment out of immersing myself into stories, its a great way for me to relax, feel happy and less anxious about the current COVID situation.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
I entirelly blame my friend Dan for this new obsession haha!
I was always a Harvest Moon gal, back in the day, and I loved playing that on my DS, so, whenever Animal crossing came out I never got it as they are quite similar games.
We’ve had a Switch for a little while and lockdown was the perfect time to get stuck into a game like Animal Crossing, and I have to say, I am really enjoying it. Its right up my street and its really getting me through the long days.
Plus, there’s a nice little community and me and my friend Dan have been playing together which is really nice when you are so disconnected (physically) from everybody at the moment.
TV
I have been re-watching Glee since it came onto Netflix in Oct/Nov time but I am very thankful for its familiarity and awesomeness right now. Its nice to be able to just pop it on and watch and enjoy something without having to think too much about it. The same goes for Friends too. I have also really been enjoying Disney + which we got at the start of lockdown, as well as Jamie’s ‘Keep calm and cook’ on program on channel 4. TV is probably one of the things I have been using the least but its great to have a few firm favourites to pop on if needed.
Learning Guitar
As part of my ‘Things I want to learn before I’m 30’Β I started to learn to play the guitar just before Christmas. I didn’t really have the time to properly do it then so it was a bit of a non starter, However, since I started social distancing I have been able to focus on it and have made lots of progress so far.
My brother in Law showed me a subscription website that does online guitar lessons (Fender Play) and it is really good. I feel like I’m learning so much and really understanding the basics, creating a good basis to really learn the guitar.
I’m trying to take my time and enjoy the learningΒ aspect of it as I often get a bit impatient and skip ahead. I’ve got plenty of time anyway!!
I’ve enjoyed learning guitar tab in my last few lessons and have been learning the Harry Potter theme tune (Of course!) as well as nursery rhymes to play for my nephews.
Enjoying the little things
Although this situation is less than ideal it is nice that the extra time and the restrictions have given way to a appreciation of the little things. Taking 5 minutes to sit and be calm, sitting in the sunshine and fresh air, journaling, listening to a podcast, having a relaxing bath…
Β We are often rushing through our days soΒ being forced to slow down has really made me appreciate and enjoy them and they have become a great source of comfort and wellness in this strange time.
Yeah, we can do all of these things normally but maybe we will remember how they made us feel in lockdown and this will bring extra appreciation and comfort to them once we are back to ‘normal’ life.
I for one have enjoyed the sunshine and fresh air in particular… Being in a flat means we are stuck inside so I am really enjoying having the double doors ,in our lounge, the fresh air rolling in with the sunshine, at midday feels lovely.
Quizzes
At the start of the social distancing time it was my brother in laws birthday so we did a family skype quiz, which I wrote.
Since then we have made it our little Friday night activity, we take it in turns to write the quiz and the winners and/or losers choose a category for the nextΒ weeks quiz.
This has been really fun and its so nice to see all the fam.
Me and my twin sister Sarah have also been doing some online quizzes that people have been posting online and Youtube. We have done a couple of Harry Potter ones, a Disney one and a Gavin & Stacey one.
I’ve always loved a quiz so I’m quite enjoying all of these being available.
Video chats
What would we do if this wasn’t an option!! These have been a god send.
Its so nice to still be able to see peoples faces and chat! We are so lucky that there are so many different platforms to do this on too, I mean before this I only ever did the odd Whatsapp video call! Now its all skype, Zoom, Facebook, Houseparty and Whatsapp! Its all going on, but it is definaltyΒ the thing keeping me sane the most.
As I am a Learning support assistant in a Primary school (Reception) I have been doing phonics lessons for my nephews via Skype so that has been nice, I feel like I am helping them and I really miss my job so its nice to have that each morning.
Baking
I love baking so I am enjoying having a bit more time to just do some random baking if the fancy takes me. Usually its for an occasion so its more time pressured, so its nice to just be able to enjoy it.
Thank goodness there is lots of extra exercise content available otherwise Im sure my waistline wouldnt be enjoying it all haha.
So far I have made Two banana breads, double choc chip cookies, chocolate orange cookies and mini cheese scones! YUM!
Craft
I’ve always enjoyed crafting anway but obviously now that I have a bit of extra time I can do a few projects.
I have started making cards again recently and I am trying to make a big batch so that when I can actually start giving them/posting them again, I have a load ready to go.
I was thinking about co ordinating with mt birthday book to sort out how many I need for each month and then maybe make a few extras too.
I also bought a little scrapbooking project for me and Tim to do, on our wedding anniversary in June, as I pretty sure this will still be going on then!
I’m going to do a post on this so keep your eyes peeled for that. Its a really cute idea and I thought it would be nice to have something to do together. We have loads of random photos and bits and bobs from when we were dating.
We usually go away for our anniversary whether that be on the day or the nearest weekend so I thought it would be nice to still have something special to do, to mark the occasion.
Extra content
As I said , I am loving all the quizzes online, but also there is loads of extra content on online platforms too. PE with Joe Wicks, Cooking with Jamie Oliver, Instagram lives, video interviews, workouts, online parties, just loads of fun extra things that you can do whilst staying at home. Its been great!
Podcasts are amazng too. Any fellow Gleeks out there, check out Kevin & Jenna’s Showmance Podcast Glee Recap Edition. They are still putting them out remotely so these have been great to listen to each week.
What are your quarantine faves?
Stay safe and stay home!
Until next time,
Roseanne π
Roseanne Byford 