It started raining early this morning, and it’s been raining for most of the day. That should do the allotment good! I was up there yesterday late afternoon watering, but this should give it a thorough soaking and soften the ground up for digging.
We had bratwurst for dinner tonight – it was very tasty, which is a good thing since we still have 6 more giant bratwurst in a now-open packet, plus several more packs of that and similar in the freezer! I’ve said I’ll go shopping again this Friday, making it a weekly shop, but at this rate we won’t actually need much!
I cleared the piano off for the first time in weeks yesterday and played it for a bit. It was good to get back to a more normal routine. I also did a workout this morning – a bit of corework, a bit of weights work and a cycle ride. Then this morning I baked a loaf of bread, with the flour and yeast that the local baker delivered last week. The yeast had gone a bit lumpy, but it still seemed to work okay and the bread tastes great. I’ve got enough ingredients for a second loaf the same size.
I’ve actually got my writing project open at the moment – the fanfic one. I must finish that story off! We had our zoom meeting last night, just three of us, and only two who had submitted a chapter, so it was a fairly quick meeting, but again it was good to be moving forward with projects.
I’ve put the finishing touches to the writing group anthology, so that should go off to the printer’s by the end of the week, just giving time for a final check-through first. Then we face the problem of how to promote and distribute the copies.
There was a minute’s silence this morning for the key workers who have died during this pandemic. I feel so angry about things like that and the clapping that’s supposed to happen every Thursday evening. I don’t feel they achieve anything. I don’t need to devote a minute to thinking about them – I’m thinking about them most of the time, especially when I’m using my free time to sew clothing for them. I feel it’s a cheap gesture, and what really counts is getting them the equipment they need and funding them properly. There’s a shortage of nurses – the big showcase hospital in London has been turning patients away because it doesn’t have the nurses to care for them.
At the moment I’m reasonably calm. Yes, there’s this big scary virus, but what’s the worst it can do? It can kill me, sure, but I’m going to die anyway at some point, and at least then there’ll be an end to worry and struggle. So I’m being careful but not hysterical over it. It’s a numbers game – I could mix with hundreds of people who aren’t infected and not catch anything – I could mix with one person who is infected and catch it. But each time I mix with people, it’s increasing the risk that little bit. Like in the Hunger Games – you can put your name in the pot lots of times and increase the chances of you being the one pulled, but in the end as long as your name is in the pot even once, there’s a chance it will be you.
This is normal life now, and will be for the foreseeable future. It’s time to settle down and live life properly, rather than feeling like this is a temporary phase. I’m enjoying all the baking I’ve been doing – why didn’t I do it before? I’m enjoying the sewing – I want to do more of that, and then at some point start sewing more elaborate projects for myself. I enjoy writing – when I actually get down to it – so I need to get on with that. I enjoy my work, and learning about how to do it better, so that’s something else I want to get on with. And I must get on with my Peter Rabbit quilt – another four issues turned up last week, so I’m getting really behind now!
The voices in my head 