Today I have had a lazyish day; I have taken the pressure off myself a bit. I think I have been so concerned I might be bored (and then possibly depressed) with not enough to do at home I have instead put pressure on myself to achieve all that I can in my exercise, sewing, cooking, blogging etc. So today I gave myself a bit of a break.
I got up quite late and spent the morning pottering and ironing while my husband did what I call his old man chat, a Zoom session once a week with his band. They are already planning what benefit gigs they might do when we come out of lockdown. Can’t wait! Although I somehow can’t imagine the end of lockdown either.
For lunch we had the crumbling lamb rissoles which were actually very tasty. I heated them up with some baked beans. We went for a longish walk this afternoon via the post office as I had a couple of online shopping parcels to return. After that my husband did some housework while I lazed in the garden. I NEVER laze in the garden. Maybe I am starting to relax.
It is a very strange feeling that tomorrow is my last day of work before my 10 day staycation. Of course it was supposed to be a proper holiday and I can’t talk too much about that as it’s too sad, but now it’s a staycation. We can’t even go and visit any museums or shows or anything. What are we going to do I wonder?
I have been doing a lot of wondering in the garden this afternoon. After I planted my tomato plants into pots and then just sat and chilled. I still have moments of waves of shock that 2020 has turned out this way. Albert Camus would say we human beings never learn…
“Everybody knows that pestilences have a way of recurring in the world, yet somehow we find it hard to believe in ones that crash down on our heads from a blue sky. There have been as many plagues as wars in history, yet always plagues and wars take people equally by surprise”.
Albert Camus wrote La Peste in 1947. I read it in French for my French A-Level. I have not thought about that book for years, but now it seems so relevant. Apparently a lot of people have been buying it. There is so much we can relate to at the moment in his work La Peste about a quarantined town during plague:
“No longer were there individual destinies; only a collective destiny, made of plague and emotions shared by all”.
We are now constantly being reminded that we are a society and our small actions can affect others maybe in a catastrophic way.
“Thus each of us had to be content to live only for the day, alone under the vast indifference of the sky”.
So true, we cannot plan anything at the moment, just living day by day trying to keep safe.
This is quite cheery, and I hope will prove to be true:
“What we learn in time of pestilence: that there are more things to admire in men than to despise.”
And this one is again the great Albert Camus but from another of his works. I guess this is about one’s inner strength and personal resolve, a word used by HM The Queen recently.
“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.”
I have been reading interesting stuff online about Albert Camus’ daughter. She says that her father nicknamed her and her twin brother sometimes “la peste” and “le cholera”. This actually seems quite sweet and I can imagine a father saying this. What I am not so sure about is the recent news that a couple in India who had twins on 27 March 2020 have seriously decided to name their daughter Corona and their son Covid, as they didn’t want to forget about their struggles during this time. Mmmm, I’m really not sure about that. Having said that I hope they are healthy, happy babies who go on to live fulfilling lives. You can read about them here.
I’ve gone all literary and philosophical on you today, I hope you’ve been keeping up? I’ll leave you with some of our gorgeous blue sky of this afternoon and hope that nothing else comes crashing through that.
The Windsor Waffle 
When it comes to your Staycation, plan each day at home in advance, as if it was a holiday.
Do a couple of things that you have never done before, or don’t do often, in betwern your breakfast, lunch and dinner. Maybe even cook something also for dinner you wouldn’t usually have. Just for it to be different.
You may do this as a couple thing, or maybe at times your own thing.
See what you both can come up with.
I once had a staycation at home. I didn’t have my phone on all day during that time, with exception at times, just in the early evening for no more than half an hour, I may check my emails. But I didn’t do it every night of my 5 day.
Obviously, some of my days including excursions out, but now, that will be difficult. But you can easily discover an alternative.
I have a week off work in May. Originally, some of those days would have involved days out. But if this lockdown is in place still by then, I can see me taking my own advice and creating my staycation indoors, compared to my previous staycation I last did, which the theme I did then for myself, was wellness.
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Thanks Liz for your tips. I like the idea of a holiday from my phone. I may try to look at it just once a day. Although I think I may find this hard at first, it will probably be good for me!
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I thought out of curiosity and looked up ‘staycation ideas’ via WordPress reader and it brought up some good ideas there, that I would never thought of.
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