happy bunny

Oh what bloody amazing weather.

day tripping

We had a family day out yesterday. To make the most of lockdown and sunshine. And as a delayed Father's Day treat cos we figured it would be rammed on Sunday. We went to Malham Cove so the OtherHalf could see the peregrine falcons. They're his favourite bird. Apart from me. Obvs.

It's gonna be a shock to the system when we have to go back to real life.

catch up

Wednesday was WalkInTheWoods day. Again. Seems to be a thing we do on the regs at the mo. With an ice cream stop. Obvs.

Thursday: It chucked it down all day. Like loads. 

Good for the garden. NOT good for sitting in the sodding garden.

Friday: Nothing exciting. Trip to M+S. Small queue. Bought picnic food.

Saturday: Very exciting trip to the seaside with my mates and our kids. So fab to go somewhere other than Tesco/M+S/woods/ice cream parlour. 

Spent the day on the beach at Sandsend then walked into Whitby, where it was v. busy and social distancing was clearly considered passé. Had fish and chips, after queuing 20 mins, then walked back. Via the sea. Cos the tide had come in. Shoes and socks were removed and jeans were rolled up where possible.

Today: Fathers Day. Met my sis at the parent's, where we sat outside at a safe distance while Daddio opened his pressies.

Then went for a walk round a lake with the OtherHalf and the Youngest. (The Eldest has an ear infection and had used all her available energy up on the beach trip so she stayed in bed.) Followed by a Japanese takeaway.

So that's me up to date.

Who knows what excitement next week will hold...

shop till you drop...or queue till you need the loo...

The shops reopened yesterday.
I haven't been.
But I did see the queues on telly.
Life is just too short to spend all day queuing outside Primark isn't it?

locked down in the rain

It hasn't actually stopped raining all day.
And it's freezing.
And the youngest should have had his last exam and left school today.
We were meant to be going on our first OutOfSchoolHolidays holiday in 15 years in a couple of weeks. To New York. 
But we can't go anywhere.
And it's all just a bit shit.

rain stops play

Lockdown was going well till bloody winter came back.

life in the slow lane

Latest update:

Went for a walk on Sunday with the OtherHalf. 
Went for a walk on Monday with the Sister.
Went for a walk today with the OtherHalf and Sister-in-law and 2 offspring.

Also the Sister and the Sister-in-law had their special birthdays. They were born 3 days apart and were in the same class at school.
But they weren't allowed to do much.
So not very special after all.

Also, also I haven't got any work on so I drew some pets on skateboards.

Such is life in the slow lane.

happy haircut

The dog had a happy haircut this week. So that's just me who needs one now.

back to life...

The world is opening up again. A little bit.

This week I went for a walk with my sis, our friend and assorted offspring. The cafe was still closed but we saw a rather lovely duck family.

I went to the garden centre with the OtherHalf and the Youngest. They made us have a trolley each to aid social distancing.
What a pain in the arse that was round the one way system.
They have also got rid of the shed section so it was basically a waste of time.

McDonalds reopened yesterday. Drive-thru only. Apparently the queue was so long that the police had to come to stop people joining it. So we won't be going there.

This morning we went to a proper shed place. Where they DO still sell sheds. But it was closed to the public. You have to just buy online. Which is a bit shit.

And this afternoon I met my friends in the park for my sister's birthday. We had afternoon tea in the pouring rain.
You still can't go in people's houses so it was our only option.

It's life. But not as we knew it.

too chilly to chill

Just as I was getting used to lounging about in the garden every afternoon the weather goes all British on us and it's back to being bloody freezing. And it keeps chucking it down.
FFS.

I drew this pic for instagram a couple of days ago but it didn't feel right posting it while everyone else was posting 'black lives matter' stuff. 

I don't draw actual people for insta that much but when I do they're nearly always white. That's because they're used to tell stories about my own life. When I illustrate kids books my people are all different colours. But if you look at my insta feed there's not much in the way of diversity.

I've recoloured this one to see how it looks...

may 2020

This was May.
In Lockdown.
In a pattern.

I feel really lucky that I don't personally know anyone who's suffered badly from Covid-19. I don't have small kids to educate and entertain. We have a massive garden. The weather has been bloody amazing. And we live near to my family and in-laws. I've been able to see them. Not close up. But close enough.

I do realise that not everyone has had the same experience so don't want to witter on about it.

But I've also realised that the very fact that my life has changed so little in an international lockdown probably suggests that I need to start living a little more when the world gets back to normal. Maybe I'll step away from my desk a bit and do something other than work and feed people?

garden excitement

Still lockdown. Day 69

Our garden has never seen so much action. 
We've had three barbecues this week. And today...two garden haircuts.
I'm a hairdresser now you know. 

lazing about

Lockdown Day EightHundredAndFortySomething?

I've lost count.
But who cares. It's amazing weather.
I've been spending much of it lounging around in the garden.
I don't want to be regretting anything when the world is back to normal and I'm working my arse off again do I?

very long weekend

Lockdown Days 62-64

It was another bank holiday this weekend. 
Like we actually needed another one. 
We decided to do a family DriveAndWalk.
But we figured that on bank holiday Monday it would be rammed everywhere. So we did bank holiday Tuesday instead.
We walked 22,469 steps and saw 22,470 sheep.
And only had 2.25 arguments. 
Gotta love a long weekend.

bird traumas

Lockdown Days 60-61

It's been a sad couple of days for birds round here. They keep flying into the Eldest's bedroom window. We have found 3 on the decking since yesterday.
Dead.
The Eldest is traumatised.
Our resident bird expert (the OtherHalf) says they're baby starlings just learning to fly.
How sad is that?!