Coronavirus lockdown diary week 7

Yesterday the government gave a much anticipated update on the current lockdown situation. Unfortunately however, not much has really changed. In short, there are fewer restrictions on exercise now, with the exception of team sports mostly, but otherwise not much has changed. I don't think it is surprising but it is hard to remain optimistic. That said, I had a nice chat with the cashier in the supermarket today who was so upbeat that it was uplifting and for that I was grateful. It has been another slow week, but not totally unproductive, so that's a positive.

1. Gardening
I planted out some sweet peas into the border on Saturday where I'd already set up an obelisk for them to climb up. The temperatures have dropped this week so yesterday I went out with some homemade cloches repurposed from plastic bottles to keep them happy. So far, they seem to be working. I have some more sweet peas in pots but want to be sure the first lot settle in OK and don't need replacing before I find places to plant them.
I managed to get some more of my runner beans planted out into a big tub but still have four plants that need a home, so this week I need to find another tub or see if I can fit them in amongst the others. Everything else has been growing nicely this week, although the spring onions are starting to struggle and a few have gone limp, which could be from overwatering them or maybe the change in weather, I'm not sure. I still have plenty of seeds anyway so I'll sow more every couple of weeks.

2. Reading
I tried reading some more of the book is started a couple of weeks ago but it wasn't for me, so I've decided to put it aside for the charity shop when the re open and this week I'm going to pick out a new one from my book shelf. It's good to finally be getting through my stack of unread books, even if I don't enjoy one book, if it gets earmarked for donation at least I'm decluttering.

3. eBay
Over the past two weeks I've been busy listing items in eBay to declutter. I've only sold one item but I have a bid on another and a few watchers on others. I have some more to list and will be going through my wardrobe again to see if there's anything else to go.

4. Baking and VE Day
This week I baked a sponge cake, iced it and decorated it with raspberries. It was so tasty and we saved half to have a cup of tea and slice of cake to commemorate VE Day.

So that is mostly it for last week. It is quite repetitive and monotonous but there's hope that things will start to improve with a provisional date for the reopening of shops and the hospitality sector. In the meantime I hope the sunnier weather returns so we can spend more time in the garden.