Domestic life during lockdown

It's not just where you work or who you see that lockdown affects, as everyone reading this will be all too aware. It starts to change everything. What you eat and when you eat it, what you wear, how shop, what you listen to. I think we all have that!

So I still work. That's the same! But the how is different. I'm on my own in my house. I have occasionally played music and sung along! At work I've been understandably reluctant to do so. And I seem to need less coffee!

I dress differently too. As long as lockdown lasts, the question of  'can I still wear this garment or is it too smelly?' is answered by 'yes I can still wear it'. Very practical! Just wear the same as yesterday until you decide to do laundry.

I eat a bit differently too! I eat less and earlier. Breakfast hasn't changed, but my lunch has become smaller. I always bring lots of sandwiches to work. They have to last me the entire day, which can get quite long, and also the commute there and back. But now I know I am always close to my kitchen so I don't worry. If I get hungry I can do something about it. So now I have also started the habit of freezing a third or even half of every loaf I bake. Self-baked bread doesn't taste good anymore on the third day!

My shopping, of course, has changed too. I used to shop often; just pop into the shop on the way home to buy my fresh veg. But in the current climate, that's a bad idea so I now go once a week. With only one person in my household it's easy to estimate how much I'll need! And it works fine. The only thing is that that means I handle little physical money. And the polite thing to do is use contactless payment. But that means I am running low on coins! And the milkman doesn't accept digital payment. I'm still OK but sooner or later this will become interesting. Maybe this epidemic will drag the milkman into the 21st Century now too!

I also like to escape the office by having my meals in the garden, but not every day is warm enough for that. It's nice though! It's a good place to feel quite remote from computers and chilly north-facing offices. And although my view is better than in my university office it's not all that still!

What a large part of my day looks like 

My view quite often during lunch in the garden: what the neighbour's dog thinks of social distancing

And I am always home so when I get hungry in the evening I just have dinner. I don't first have to finish working and then bike home! So I eat earlier. Is healthier I am sure! And it also means I can eat in the garden more often, as that gets a bit cold and dark if you leave it too late.

I also saw in the newspaper that people are worried about not being able to go to the hairdresser anymore. Well I haven't been to one since the nineties! So my hair is entirely lockdown-proof. Practical again.

To be honest, I'm quite used to this already. I'll just be badly dressed, having lunch in the garden for the sake of the NHS for as long as it takes!