Romanais Blog

March 31st, 2020

31/3/2020

5K ran before breakfast. A cold morning again.

End of the month running stats -
* ran 20/31 days
* time spent - 14 hours, 34 minutes
* Distance - 137KM (85.1 miles)
(Quite pleased with this as I had four days "off" at the beginning of the month due to "overuse" when I used the mini cycler too)

389KM (242) miles ran so far this YEAR!

It is our house anniversary today, TWENTY YEARS of living here.

A crochet cactus made. Pattern here.

New project, Cosmic Cal. Got this far -

Discussed at todays family meeting, Roman missed not going for a walk today and yesterday so Mark is going to take them for a walk tomorrow.

March 30th, 2020

30/3/2020

I had a lie in until 6.30 and left the house at 7.15. Mark said he felt up to a run too so thought we would just go out for a short 3.5K. It was cold and overcast this morning but thought we would keep going until we hit 5K and then came home.

Bad point of today - thought I'd do a cross stitch. This one came on the front of a magazine. Made a mistake, tried to correct it, messed it up even more, cut it up, threw it in bin. Never doing cross stitch again. Hate them. End of.

Good points of today -

Finished my book, a very predictable plot.

An apple crumble made for pudding to use some apples up out of the freezer.

Another crochet rainbow made with tassels. Another one to hang in the window for people to spot on their daily walk.

Thoughts on our first week of lockdown. No-one has argued or bickered with each other, our family meetings where we discuss how we feel means everyone is aware and respectful of everyone else. I miss mom and dad coming round after school xx I miss seeing my crafty friends. I miss jumping in Cassie and going to the shops as and when I want to. I am pleased I can still get out for some fresh air and go for a run. I am grateful that we all have our health (and loo roll!).

March 29th, 2020

29/3/2020

The clocks went forward last night. I really didn't fancy going out this morning but dragged myself out for a 5K and felt better for it afterwards. No-one about, very windy and icy cold.

I finished the other "Call the Midwife" blanket.

Anais finished her car.

Roman (with Marks help) made a sonic screwdriver (from Dr Who).

Chocolate pots and strawberries for pudding tonight.

Before tea Mark took Anais and Roman for a walk as their daily exercise.

Thanks Jenny for the info, all mobile phone contracts sorted for the next twelve months.

A click and collect order made for Tescos to be collected on Friday morning.

March 28th, 2020

28/3/2020

We had a lie in until 7am this morning. No run as did 10K yesterday.

Shopping done and pleased with the things we got. We are well stocked for the time being.

We had some pallets in the garden, Mark took the opportunity to chop them up for kindling for Fred. We had the idea to keep the nicer pieces and try to make something with them at Easter when everyone is off, maybe a bird box or storage box?

After lunch we went on a walk to stretch our legs and get some fresh air, down the reservoir and to the park and back again spotting rainbows on our way. Approx one mile and we only came across one other person walking their dog. I hope the restrictions do not get any stricter where we cannot go out at all.

More done on the "Call the Midwife Blanket". To be finished tomorrow.

My contribution to the rainbows, a crochet rainbow, to go in the window tomorrow. Pattern can be found HERE.

Anais got this far with her car.

Simple pleasures for today -
* a scented candle
* watched "The Lion King" while we ate tea

March 27th, 2020

27/3/2020

Me when I left the house at 6.30am - "I'm only going to do a short run today"
Me when I was out - "Keep running"!

10K done!
Nice and cool, no wind, no-one about and blue sky.
Missing my running buddy now Mark is out of action for 2 weeks.
Day off tomorrow to rest my legs.

Started another "Call the Midwife Blanket". Four of twelve rows of blocks done already.

45% of my book read so far.

Roman has been continuing to do his school work. Anais didn't do any college work today.

After tea, Mark took Anais and Roman for a walk. They spotted eighteen rainbows in peoples windows today.

I had a cheeky nap in the conservatory this afternoon, think all the 6am starts and the long run today finally caught up with me.

This evening we all sat down to watch a film "Avengers", concluding with our family meeting where we discuss -
* things that work and went well for us
* things that didn't work that we can change
* things we are grateful for
* things we are worried about and try to alleviate our worries

Week one of everyone being at home and it has been quite a pleasant week.

Thinking of everybody affected by this horrible virus xx

March 26th, 2020

26/3/2020

6K run done before breakfast, left the house at 6.30, hardly anyone out.

I am feeling the benefit of going to bed earlier and getting up earlier and I also prefer running first thing of a morning than before lunch. Grateful for being allowed out once a day and for getting fresh air and being able to stretch my legs.

This afternoon Anais and Roman had an art lesson and made a rainbow each for our windows for people to spot on their daily exercise out.

Went to ASDA before lunch, queues to get in, went to Tescos instead, queues again. Ended up getting some fresh milk from a local CO-OP and went to a local green grocers for some fruit. Will do this again, shop local, support local businesses and avoid the large supermarkets.

Call the Midwife blanket finished. A present for a friend.

Mark took Anais and Roman out for their daily exercise after tea and to go rainbow spotting. I asked them to bring me some twigs back and we made a little Easter display.

This morning we had a Zoom catch up with me, Deb, Gilly, Sue, Sarah, Karen and Rachel which was fun and a nice way to keep in touch.

We are still having our family meetings before bed and find they are working to keep everyone happy and the household running smoothly with no arguements.

Things that we find are working -
* Mark and Roman working at the table in the conservatory so no having to keep moving laptops from the lounge table
* Anais making music in her bedroom so she doesn't disturb anyone
* no playing games on the laptops in their bedrooms until after school/college has "finished"

Things we find are not working and have changed -
* lunch at 12pm was too early, lunch at 1pm was too late, lunch is now at 12.30
* anything messy to be done in the kitchen so its easier to clean up

Things we are grateful for -
* all being able to be at home together
* we have food and loo roll!
* being able to go for a run (me) and walk (Mark, Anais and Roman)
* having the caravan so when restrictions are lifted we can use the caravan and go away
* we and family and friends remain healthy

This evening we all stood on the doorstep and took part with the "Clap for our carers". We are so lucky to have the NHS and they took very good care of Mark on Sunday considering they are all under a lot of pressure and stress right now. We are grateful for them.

Lots of cheering and clapping going on in our street - very emotional!

March 25th, 2020

25/3/2020

6K run before breakfast. Very quiet out though the few people I did see were friendly, smiled and said hello.

An orange and almond cake made.

Today marks two years being vegetarian and last month marked two years of not drinking alcohol.

Another nice day, we had the conservatory doors and all the windows open.

Mark took Anais and Roman for a walk around the block tonight to get some fresh air and stretch their legs.

Up to 23% of my book read and got this far with blanket.

March 24th, 2020

24/3/2020

Last night before we went to bed we had a family meeting to discuss the following -
* things that went well
* things that didn't go so well
* things we could change to make things go better
* things to express gratitude for
We are going to do this before we go to bed every night to make sure we don't end up annoying each other.

This morning I was up at 6.50am, out at 7.10am and 6K run done. Very quiet out. Mark came to meet me in the park to get his exercise in for the day too. Anais and Roman chose to stay at home and have their breakfast.

Anais and Roman have continued to do their school and college work. Roman got down the electronics kit to do when it came to doing "tech" work.

I started a new book "Origin" by Dan Brown and got this far with my crochet.

I sorted the patio furniture out and put it on the patio. It was a lovely warm sunny day.

March 23rd, 2020

23/3/2020

Day 1 - Anais has been in her bedroom doing college work, music making. Roman tried to stick to his school schedule, including doing a dance lesson via "Just Dance" on the Wii. He then made a game on scratch.

I got this far with the blanket.

I went for a 5K run before lunch but ended up doing 6K. Such a nice day.

Zoom! A really good app and was nice to "virtually" catch up with Sue and Gilly this afternoon!

Finally...........................

March 22nd, 2020

22/3/2020

Happy Mothers Day mom and Jenny love you both lots xx

Today didn't go as planned exactly! And dinner has been postponed until tomorrow night.

I had these cards off Anais and Roman,

They made a chocolate cake.

And made me a "Coronavirus Survival Kit"

Which had all of these lovely things in it -
* face masks
* sweets
* a body spreay
* a hand cream for after washing my hands
* soap
* a pack of socks