Things to do while self isolating, adults and kids!

Hi Lass

Keeping busy through sofa days is something I have learned through my years of treatment. My list includes:

1.  My usual crafting. I have looked up some new crochet skills to learn. Bust that stash!

2. Getting out into the garden. The weeds won’t stand a chance.

3. Jigsaw puzzles. I must get to the charity shops and pick up a few - or rather send in my girl as I’m under doctor’s instructions to steer clear of shops.

4. Play my guitar and piano 

5. Sing along a YouTube. Choir is cancelled but I can always sing along with choirs on the computer where I have the music  

6. Write my memoir. I have had an exciting life and my girls have asked me to write down my stories of daring do as a reporter and international Red Cross worker  

7. Finish the memory books for my girls. I am partway through both. I need to print some more pictures and get sticking 

8. Finish the death admin. I’ve done the big bits of work. I keep promising I’ll do things like make lists of the various shop accounts that need to be closed and lists of people who’d like to know of my sad demise.

I think that’s enough to be getting on with  

Hi Daloni,

so far it has only been a day but I am liking being at home.

i can play the piano play my guitar and going to get my art stuff out so I can do some painting. I may start to keep a diary .

i have been so busy cleaning and ordering on line.

i have ordered compost and seed and seed potatoes and we are going to grow food.

seems most things can be delivered on line.

i am going to try and get dog food today.

i love Netflix and have got into breaking bad.

had a video call yesterday with my sister in America both  my children at the same time one in London and one in Bristol we had a great time.

a phone call with my brother in Watford.

My husband loves DIY and gardening and is repairing things and clearing stuff out and is going to,paint the lounge.

i am going to bake some bread and make a quiche today.

Life seems really busy.

i had to get up early as my lenvatinib is meant to be delivered if it doesn’t arrive I will phone the pharmacy. They give me a time slot of before 9 a.m.

i have to walk the dog every morning which I love he is a very friendly Labrador and chases a ball. I haven’t seen one person the last 3 days on my walk at the fields at the back of my house. Good they give me a time slot because he needs to go out for a walk so do I.

i miss my lane swimming so think I will start some exercises in the lounge 

if you can keep busy the days are fun 

keep safe everyone 

love Ruth 

I've been thinking about this a lot.

When I first had a prolonged absence from work it was a revelation to me to realise that I normally fill almost every waking hour with work and activities.

When I imagined reirement I hoped to be able to travel, spend lots of time catching up with friends, joining classes, volunteering, doing up our house....

Long periods out of work and failing health have put the kybosh on some of those things, and 12 weeks of self isolation the rest, so it's time to think outside the box.

your ability to be productive and creative through sofa days (and worse) is astounding. Lass you gutted and transformed a room in your house including laying a carpet and set up potential 'cottage industry' with absolutely b****r all in the tank and no doubt paid the price.

The secret seems to be engaging fully in whatever it is you're doing.

I found a brilliant online beginners Spanish Course through wowcher, and an online guitar course. I've been doing an exercise programme at home. These new guidelines will mean a lot more time to fill, so clearing clutter, spring cleaning and following through some paperwork will be factored in...I've got some good books to read, some plants to rescuscitate, a couple of bird feeders to put up in the garden, the list is endless, but how do people structure their day? Having things in the diary to work around was a big help, but with nothing but hospital appointments it would be tempting to hide under the duvet and watch daytime tv.

I've given myself a couple of days to regroup and make a plan, this thread will help, so thank you!

xx

Updated to here with what you lovely ladies have said. I edited to make it all a bit more generic so that folks reading will be able to relate to it all a bit more, and some of what you said sparked some ideas of my own too. So if anyone has any more ideas, or things they find online or whatever, then do let me know!

And yes Tina, it def took a few days/weeks to recover from clearing the room, learning how to lay carpet through trial and error, then getting all the new furniture in there too! lol. But I love it, and have a bear started - though lots of sweary words have been happening as I'm also teaching myself to use the sewing machine, and it does LOVE to snarl and eat my floofy material! lol. But his head is done, his back is sewn together, I just need some energy to get back up there and get going again. But I've had to clear my kitchen floor ready for it to be taken up and a new one laid. So that's used up my energy for now. But I do know what my next two toys will be once this blasted bear is done...... and they won't be made with this material!!!! lol

As for structuring my day, it's very much fluid. I usually decide what it is I'd like to achieve, or what it is that needs done, then crack on first thing until I need to rest. Then sit and watch some TV, type up some recipes, reply here, chat to folks, etc etc. Then, once I've got some energy back and the pain has dissipated, I go at it again until i again need to sit. And somewhere in there, I stop and eat a couple of times. So sometimes it means I rest, cook and eat, rest - as the standing cooking saps the energy I'd regenerated. So very much, it's a go with the flow type of thing, but if there's something I absolutely must get done, I make a list of it all and then cross it off as I go. Keeps me more focused and on target that way. Like with the wedding cake tastings I've been doing - I've all the recipes in front of me and I know I must make all the cakes and do all the cleaning on one day, then all the icings and all that cleaning up the next day, before 6:30pm ish. So because I have a task in front of me, and a time in which it all needs done, I push through and get it done. Otherwise, it's just as and when.

Hope that helps!

Lass

xx

I have a felting kit that's keeping me busy. Ordered new books. 

Cooking. Renovating some awful melamine bedside cabinets.

Started a history blog, but very early days.

X

Some fabulous ideas. I can’t add much except to say if you want exercise that doesn’t jar, the Qi Gong is ideal. I learned it at Tai Chi class but it’s easily found on line. To really enjoy it, find some soothing Chinese music on YouTube. 

If you feel you have to get out (away from people obviously) the National Trust are making gardens and car parks free for the duration.

If you have a husband like mine who is easily bored, get the paint and other DIY materials in now. He’s already laid a new floor in the dining room. I’ve told him to leave the kitchen until he’s desperate (next week probably)

Keeping out of shops and cafes should mean we have a bit of cash when we’re finally let loose. It’s fun planning treats, even small ones. Those local cafes that survive will need your custom. As will the pub.

Stay safe everyone. We’ve all gone through so much it’s not worth taking risks. ️

Or when feeling low search for ’cute baby animals’ on YouTube.  It’s exactly what it says it is. 

I was watching guinea pig videos whilst at hospital this morning!

 Video chats can be fun if feeling lonely.

Xx

There’s an app that allows a group of people to do video chats. It’s called house party. It works really well

xx

Here’s another idea. A jigsaw swap. I finished the one I bought in a charity shop rather too quickly. So my friend and I are going to swap, leaving the jigsaws in each other’s porches / on the door step to maintain social distance of course