It was hot today. Like the sort of hot you only get when you step off a plane in a hot country. Not the sort of hot you EVER get in Yorkshire.
So that was a bonus because it's highly likely that we won't be stepping off a plane in a hot country any bloody time soon. (I'm expecting Ibiza to be cancelled any day now.)
So I spent the afternoon in the garden. On my own. Because as of last night Kirklees, our local council, kind of went back into lockdown. No-one is allowed in my garden. Apart from the OtherHalf and the kids and the dog. Cos it's their garden too. Obvs.
Anyway. Then it thundered and lightened and hammered it down and now it's cold again.
So that was summer.
On Thursday the Eldest and I went to Ikea.
We spent 1.5 hours putting all kinds of essential items, that we have only been able to dream about for months, into our trolley.
We were beyond excited.
Jodes was planning a total revamp of her bedroom at home. Followed by a total revamp of her room in Studentville from September.
Then we saw the queue to pay.
It went from the tills, through the entire length of the Self Service Warehouse, round the extra warehouse corner bit and into Plants where it did a Disney style zig zag before winding it's way through Candles and Miscellaneous Kitchen Equipment then through Picture Frames and Wall Art and all the way to the end of Lighting...as far as the eye could see.
At that point we estimated it would take around 2 hours to get to the front so we had a strop, dumped the trolley of prized possessions and ceremoniously left.
Empty handed.
And very sad.
On Friday we went to the pub for the Niece's birthday.
We'd booked a table in the outdoor dining area and were told we could stay there till closing time.
We had a lovely time.
But we only had 3 drinks due to it being table service only. SLOW table service.
We weren't allowed to move about. And there was a toilet monitor making sure only one person at a time went into the loos.
When it started raining we were ok cos we were under the shelter bit. But the people in the outdoor outdoor area either got wet or went home.
Then last orders turned out to be 10pm.
WTF 🤷🏼♀️
So we just went home too.
Today the Eldest and I painted our new shed.
We didn't paint it these colours.
We painted it grey.
But I have ordered some neon yellow paint for the window frames to jazz it up a bit.
I could've gone to an actual shop for it but honestly I don't have the energy to queue for ages and walk round in a bloody mask for one tin of paint. So I'll just wait a week for it to turn up.
It's the new normal.
And it's slightly lacking in joy.
Who knows what's going on behind all those face coverings ...
Masks are compulsory in shops from Friday.
I have only had to wear one twice so far.
I had to take Minnie to the vets a couple of weeks ago. I nicked a disposable blue mask from the OtherHalf.
The next day I had to wear one at the hairdressers.
I forgot to nick another so had to reuse the vet one.
Imagine my horror when I noticed that my nose must've been a bit runny on vet day because there was a dot of snot right in the middle of the bloody thing. I had to sit there for 2 hours staring at my reflection with a SnotSpot on my mask.
It traumatised me into placing multiple orders of washable fabric "fashion" masks.
I should be the owner of 11 of the damned things by the end of next week.
In any case I'm doing all my shopping online from now on.
And avoiding public transport.
I'm not a mask fan.
Picture completely unrelated to mask chat.
In case you missed my thrilling weather chat on insta...it rained on Saturday in Yorkshire but it was red hot in the rest of the country. And it was sunny on Sunday. But not red hot. Today it's dull with a chance of rain.
You're welcome.
We got an email this week saying that our girl's trip to Ibiza is still on for September.... at the mo....
Woohooooo!
I went a bit wild yesterday.
The OtherHalf is in French France riding his bike up and down mountains with his mates.
So I went to M+S for food and there was NO QUEUE! Then I nipped to WHSmith for a couple of birthday cards. And there was no queue there either.
Then my sis and her eldest came round for curry and watched Hamilton on Disney+ with my Eldest and me. Actually in the house!
Wild, I tell you!
The world suddenly got busy again.
I'm not sure I'm keen.
I wasn't ready for Monday this morning.
Post Lockdown Report So Far...
The weather is shit.
I went to meet my sister and her friend for a coffee in Leeds on Monday.
It's just weird.
There are signs EVERYWHERE telling you to keep your distance and walk one way and no sitting here and no standing there.
I was early so I "nipped' into John Lewis. Just getting there was a ball ache cos the whole city is on a one way system. There was no queue but half the shelves were empty. And they have these massive screens up when you pay.
I had to walk a million miles out of my way to meet her cos I'd gone past the meeting place on the one way system.
Nowhere was open for coffee so we had to get a Starbucks. But we weren't allowed to drink inside and ended up sitting on a bench in the middle of Leeds.
It was all very 1970's Soviet Russia.
I won't be rushing back.
The OtherHalf has gone back to work. (He's a driving instructor)
He has to wear a face shield and the learnertics wear masks.
He's not keen. His head itches after half an hour.
I still can't get a Tesco online slot unless I book in advance exactly 4 weeks to the day. Which I never remember to do.
Our weekly trip to the biggest Tesco in Europe, which used to be a treat, is now a pain in the arse. I'd be happier just nipping to the small one locally but we have my Mum and Dad's and JoyceFromNextDoor's shopping to do.
In any case you can still only buy 85 items online before you exceed the basket limit so we're stuck with it for the forseeable.
The pubs opened on Saturday.
We haven't been.
My friend went. She had to book online for a 3 hour slot in the beer garden.
It was cold. With showers.
We decided not to to bother for now.
I took the dog to the vets today. I had to wear a mask. My glasses steamed up and I wished I'd worn my lenses. But the receptionist told me they steam up too.
I'm having my hair done on Friday. I have to wear a mask and the Eldest's friend told me that she had to sit in her car while her colour developed. So I'm REALLY looking forward to that.
I've stopped nagging the kids to get out of bed till at least 2pm. I cba anymore. They stay up half the night. We wear earplugs in bed. They're both in a different time zone now. They'll have jet lag if things ever get back to normal.
It's post lockdown.
But it's not normal life.
The weather forecast for the rest of July...
It's almost as if it's saying "get back to work" 🙄
Well, it's only taken me 6 years and a global pandemic from first deciding to finally opening my Etsy shop.
I just have a few prints on there at the mo. I'll be adding more stuff. Probably in another 6 years. But meanwhile if you fancy a nosey it's here. And if you fancy 10% off this weekend the code is ATLAST.
This week we had our WednesdayWalkWithIcecream on Thursday.
The ice cream place had a little kid's farm attached. It was closed of course. But you could still see the animals. And smell the pigs.
Today we had Sunday on a Friday cos the OtherHalf is allowed to work again this weekend after 15 weeks off. So he's gonna do Monday on Sunday.
We went to Hebden Bridge with the dog. And got piss wet through.
But we're home now and I'm happy to discover it's still only Friday.
In real life.
We're not getting much in the way of garden action this week. Too cold. Too wet. Summer has buggered off.
I'm being very productive instead.
I may or may not be finally getting round to opening a little online shop. Maybe.
