Coronavirus entry 27: Are we going into a local lockdown?

Northampton has been on the Government radar for a potential local lockdown now for a couple of weeks, and it looks like we may have well and truly shot ourselves in the foot after local food factory, Greencore, announced 300 members of staff have tested positive for Coronavirus.

Greencore manufacture food for M&S and have 2,100 members of staff working for them. They decided to start testing people because figures in the region were going up, hence why we are under the watchful eyes of the higher powers!

The scary thing is that Greencore's factory is round the corner from where I live so does that mean I am now at even more of a risk of getting this virus? As per usual there are rumors that local residents will be invited to have a test done, but given those 300 people have been sent home to isolate for 2 weeks now, I wonder if that will happen. I guess for now, all I can do is continue to do as I have been and IF I do get any symptoms, get a test done.

I really hope we don't go into another lockdown though; I'm not sure I'll cope!

Coronavirus entry 26: Enjoying some sunshine!

This week has been a quiet one for me as my family have been busy doing their own thing so I thought I'd make use of the time on my own to rest and most importantly, enjoy the sunshine. 

In all honesty, I have switched off from the Coronavirus news for a bit now. I don't want to lose track of what is going on completely, but it does get you down listening to the negativity every day. Once again, there was a lot of criticism against people who spent the bank holiday weekend at beaches. Many people think it's too dangerous still and also, the amount of litter that has been left has been really sad to see. Suffice to say, it's caused a lot of anger from all over the country and to be honest, I just don't want to hear it right now so I have been taking some time out to potter in my garden, tidy my house and enjoy a bit of down time, and it's been lovely. 

Friday was particularly unexpected! I was invited round to my neighbours house for a few drinks at 8pm, and I think I ended up rolling in at 2.30am! It was only meant to be a few drinks and a little catch up, but turned into quite the sesh! I was so hungover yesterday, I could barely do anything. Infact, I spent most of the day lying on the sofa feeling sorry for myself! It was such a funny night though and no doubt will be having more nights like that! 

Coronavirus entry 25: Happy Birthday Daddy!

Wow, what a lovely couple of days I have had, and what a cracking way to start the week too! On Monday it was my Dad's birthday and he came up to visit us from Bath for a couple of nights so we could celebrate. 

The plan was to BBQ at my house with my brother and sister and their families - 10 of us altogether - but I was hoping the weather would be nice so we could enjoy some sunshine and garden time, however mother nature had other plans and instead we had a lot of rain and a lot of wind. 

However, that didn't stop us! Oh no, we still of course did the BBQ and it went down an absolute treat! Thankfully we caught a gap in the skies where it wasn't raining and my brother took the reigns and cooked the food for us, but unfortunately, by the time we sat down to eat, it was raining again. It didn't stop us from having fun though! 

Yesterday everyone was back at my house and we went to the park near my house for a game of cricket - ironically, the weather was so much better, but still a little windy. I however, didn't get involved with the game - I was having too much fun rolling down hills with my niece and nephew! Talk about a blast from the past! 

Everyone came back to mine again afterwards for left over bbq food and more drinks and even ended up getting a takeaway too! Once again, it was so much fun and I really enjoyed the quality time together with everyone. 

Today I have been feeling a little bit sad. I always hate saying goodbye to my dad and got a little bit upset when I said goodbye to him today. Thankfully my sister and niece stayed with me for a bit after they had gone to keep me company. 

It feels very quiet in my little home now. I live in a two bed end terraced house which I absolutely love, and when I have days like the last couple with everyone here, I love how busy, loud and manic it gets, but I do always feel a little bit sad when it comes to an end. I'm not going to dwell on it though, I have another lovely day out planned tomorrow and I'm reminding myself everyday just how grateful I am to have such wonderful people in my life, and how happy I am that we can now see each other again. 

Coronavirus entry 24: Back to the hairdressers!

So now that hair salons are back open, I finally made it back to my favourite hairdressers, Octopus Hair this morning for a much needed cut and colour. I have been contemplating what to do with my hair for a while as I like to shake things up a bit every now and again, but I decided to stick with simply adding some more blonde in and getting a good cut done. 

There has been much talk about whether or not it is safe to go into salons over the last few weeks, and there have been some strict rules (obviously) around what we need to do to stay safe, but if I'm being honest, I wasn't at all fazed by it. 

Since lockdown, my hairdressers have done an amazing job at keeping their clients up to date with their plans to keep the salon safe and clean and I can't fault them. They have redesigned the salon to ensure all clients are within a safe distance of each other and we have been fully updated with the rules that we need to adhere to. 

Obviously, it did feel a little different given we had to have our temperatures checked and wear masks throughout, but I never for a minute felt unsafe and as usual, the staff were their normal upbeat and happy selves. It was so nice to go back and catch up with them and know that everyone was ok. 

Coronavirus entry 23: A lovely day

I am so happy. REALLY happy! Today has been wonderful and I cannot tell you how grateful I am feeling right now. 

I have been out today with my family spending the afternoon at Abington Park, a local park not too far from my house. This is the first time we have all been together since lockdown and it was lovely. We all brought food and drink and had a picnic, played cricket, rounders and football and bought ice creams for the kids, who absolutely loved spending time together. 

Everyone was in such good spirits and the park was full of people enjoying the sunshine, and more so, enjoying being outdoors and with other people. It was so lovely to see smiling faces and hearing laughter.

We all stayed together and everyone was respectful of each others spaces so there was no bother from anyone else in the park. I haven't laughed so much or talked so much for such a long time. It was a day of pure happiness and one I will forever be grateful for! 

Coronavirus entry 22: A month of furlough

It's been 4 weeks since I was furloughed, and I have to say, I've really enjoyed having some extended time off. I have spent a lot of time looking after my niece, Ella, catching up with my mum and sister, and today I met a friend of mine for coffee. 

Shops, pubs and restaurants are slowing starting to open up again, but it seems there are also a lot going into administration too. At the moment, I don't have any desire to go shopping or meeting friends at the pub; I feel safer doing it in the safety of my own home. I'm sure it will settle down soon, but I still feel we are doing all of this a little too soon. I know we have to start somewhere, but for me, I'm going to stay close to my family.     

It is nice seeing people out and about more now but I can't help but think it's all happening too quickly. I know it has to start somewhere; maybe I'm just a little bit nervous about it all still. The Governrment are talking about reopening gyms and beauty salons too. I'm just keeping everything crossed that this doesn't backfire on us.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Coronavirus entry 21: A visit to the Doctor

Today I had to go to the Doctors to get a blood test as I am due my yearly review. I wouldn't normally blog about this but given the crisis we are currently in, I have to admit I was a little apprehensive about going. 

There were quite a few rules to follow, but I wasn't complaining:

1) only turn up at the exact time of appointment

2) you MUST wear a mask

3) you MUST use the hand sanitiser 

4) don't try and attempt to enter the surgery - a member of staff will let you in

5) sit 2 meters apart

6) do not use toilets

7) do not attend appointment if feeling unwell 

As soon as I was there it was probably the best appointment I've ever been to! It was so quiet and hardly anyone there - definitely the way forward for future appointments! If it wasn't for the massive coughing fit I had whilst in the waiting area, the look of pure terror on the faces of the receptionists, followed by a quick exit to clear my throat and an explanation that sounded like I was making up the world's worst excuse, I think it would have been quite a successful visit! 

Definitely one visit I won't forget in a long time!