Friday 17th April 2020

I must say it’s getting harder and harder to report on what we’re up to. Not because we’re doing less now, but because we’ve found a rhythm to a routine so it just flows like every other day. And the last thing I want to do in bore you in a possibly already boring lockdown!

It takes me a while to get comfortable and settled on the ottoman, but once I’ve messed with the pillows and the blankets I can sit there for hours. Hours and hours just completely shut off from the world reading. I couldn’t read before lockdown. I just didn’t have the concentration. I felt like I was wasting time and should be doing something else. I knew mornings were for social media work, taking Rio for a walk and cleaning, afternoons were for working and by the time we got home it’d be dinner, a bit of TV and bed. Weekends were for adventures and going out. Before lockdown I couldn’t remember the last time we’d eaten dinner in the apartment during a weekend. Perhaps instead of scrolling social media on the way to places, I’ll read some of a book.

I do think we’ll all end up learning something or other from lockdown. I’ve learnt I could still better my time management in a day, I’ve learnt that we spend a lot going out at weekends, I’ve learnt that you can put your heart and soul into a job and they’ll still screw you over in the end because it’s all business.

I haven’t fallen into the online shopping trap yet, which I’m pleased with. There’s been nothing I’ve bought online all through lockdown so far. I am thinking I want some more Adidas leggings and sports bras and a comfortable hoodie, so we’ll see!

There’s been an ominous grey cloud settled over the sky for the past few days. It’s sometimes burnt away later on in the afternoon, just another subtle reminder that summer is still on its way. Even if we can’t feel it. April and May are my favourite times to go on long walks. You see the flowers in bloom, the weather is warm and sunny without being exhaustingly hot, the sky is usually blue and the light is good for photos. I don’t think we’ll be heading out on any walks any time soon though.

The Valencian government announced that on Sunday 19th April there will be an official day of mourning for those who’ve lost their lives to COVID-19. It says that the flag will fly at half mass outside official buildings and residents are invited to uphold a 3 minute silence on their balconies at 12 noon. They are hoping it will bring an element of solidarity, serenity and hope like the 8pm clap every night.

We’d done Just Dance for about half an hour today. Alex was shattered from his workout and as we’d danced a playlist I think we actually moved for the same amount of time, we just didn’t waste time in between searching for songs. I did my 5 minute ab workout which seems to be getting much easier as the month progresses. I’d also done my yoga workout for flexibility which was a 17 minute muscle stretching yoga practise.

We’d had 3 meals today, which means the increased exercise must be helping. Bacon cobs (who is shouting at their device now because they call cobs something different?) for breakfast, chicken soup for lunch and then Alex made a new dish for dinner. We had loaded sweet potato fries which had peppers, onions and chicken. There was a new Tiger King episode uploaded to Netflix interviewing some of the people so we gave that a watch whilst we were eating dinner. It was interesting to see how some of them felt the show reflected them and their opinion on Joe Exotics’ prison sentence.

I’m glad I finished The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year. I wanted it to end by about chapter 3. It got better with drama going on but I just didn’t enjoy it. She refused to get out of bed and had everybody waiting on her. Some drama goes on around her, people think she’s the next risen god and then suddenly it fades to nothing and the ending is just blergh. I’m now reading The Switch by Beth O’Leary, the author who wrote The Flatshare and it’s much better. I’m a third of the way through the book now. It’s about a grandmother and her granddaughter and they swap lives for 2 months to allow them both to find, centre and connect with themselves.

We tuned in to Asa’s Lockdown TV at 7pm GMT. I love having a good old karaoke session. He sings a couple of songs and shows some photos and chats away so it’s definitely a good way to spend an hour on Facebook on Monday, Wednesday and Friday night.

Alex took Rio for his nighttime walk and said there were balcony parties going on. There have been a lot more cars on the road this week and now construction work is back up and running it’s a lot noisier. The Delfin Tower and InTempo are both being worked on and everything else is silent so the sound of cranes and clattering rumbles along the coast.

Everyday is a new day.

Stay safe,

L x