Today marks 100 days since the UK lockdown was announced. That sounds like a long time but it doesn’t actually feel that long at all as the time has gone pretty fast.
I thought it would be nice to reflect on these 100 days with a list of 100 things that sum up my lockdown life, including what I’ve:
- loved, hated and missed
- achieved and learnt about myself
- small businesses I’ve bought from to treat myself
- enjoyed eating and drinking, including some new discoveries
- watched
Loved
- Slower pace of live
- No commute
- Quality time with Adam
- Saving money
- Being in when deliveries arrive!
- Snail mail
- Exploring my local neighbourhood – Camberwell
- Interacting more with the colourful and creative Instagram community
- Not having FOMO
- #ticklesdailywalks
- Online gigs
- Trips to Fowlds Cafe, my local coffee shop turned grocery store, for tasty treats
Hated
- Working from home everyday (though it’s not all bad)
- Having to cancel plans to see old friends
- Having to cancel a holiday
- Going food shopping
- Being scared to leave the flat during the first few weeks
- Reliance on technology – especially Zoom
- The way government has responded to this pandemic
- The way the press has reported on this pandemic
- Worrying about running out of food (not that it ever happened)
- Not being able to get my hair cut (though I have an appointment for next week!)
- The lack of certainty about everything
- The pressure to get things done
Missed
- My family
- My friends
- The pub
- Adventures on London transport
- The occasional sandwich from Pret
- The office and my colleagues
- Going out to eat
- In person chats
- Evening strolls by the river
- Organoke
- Museums and galleries
- Impromptu nights out and get togethers
- Going out for live music
Learnt about myself
- I hate video calls more than I realised…
- …but phone calls aren’t as bad as I used to think they were – it’s certainly good to talk
- I enjoy cooking when I have time to do it properly
- I enjoy my own company a bit too much
- There are some things I won’t do however much time I have on my hands so I should stop feeling guilty
- I need structure in my day and am not good at setting it myself
- I’m not good at focusing my energies on the right people and things
- I’m at my happiest when being creative
- I can achieve things if I put my mind to it
- I spend far too much time scrolling online when I should read a book
- I can throw together a good meal with random things I find in the cupboard and fridge
- It’s the simple things in life that make me happy not the grand gestures
- I’ve learnt to focus more on what I can control rather than things I can’t, ie other people not following ‘the rules’
Achievements
- Finished three cross stitch projects
- Committed to a mammoth stitchalong (currently 40% of the way through)
- Rewatched Friends (again)
- Completed three Instagram challenges – #britishstitchersonlockdown #jointhepatternparty and #housetourincloseups
- Got properly dressed and made up every day even when I didn’t really want to
- Set up a new Instagram account – @zettastitch
- Relaunched this blog
- Grown sunflowers and rejuvenated my balcony with plants
- Resisted getting the bus to explore, which has resulted in walking 10 miles some days!
- Rode a bike for the first time in over a decade
- Completed a 26+ minute virtual danceathon with Sunday Assembly
- Supported local businesses rather than chains, offline and online
Lockdown treats from…
- Tatty Devine (no surprise there)
- Mapology Guides
- Little Pig Jewellery Design
- You Make Me Design
- The Emperor’s Old Clothes
- Fizz Goes Pop
- Snag Tights
- Liz Harry Design
- Sophie Daly Art
- Poppekins
- Cloudberries
- Rob Ryan
Food and drink
- Sweet potatoes
- Avocado on toast
- Boiled eggs
- Torres ham crisps
- Other Side Fried chicken burgers
- Dauphinoise potatoes
- Scampi fries
- Negronis
- Proper bread
- Homemade vegetable lasagne
- Cauliflower cheese
- Orbit Beer
- Irn Bru
Films
- Inception
- Joker
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit
- Gone Girl
- Marriage Story
- Inglorious Basterds
- 13th
- The Incredibles 1 and 2
- Another 48 Hours
- Can You Ever Forgive Me
- Uncut Gems
- The Foreigner
- Elizabethtown
What have you found have been the good and / or bad things of lockdown life? How have you spent your time or discovered about yourself?
The next 100 (?) days?
As lockdown easing continues this weekend with pubs and restaurants in England being allowed to open, I can’t see myself going back to any of these previously considered normal activities anytime soon. While I haven’t hated lockdown or found it as hard as some people I know, I don’t want us to be put back under a strict lockdown because we didn’t do what we needed to do.
I guess only time will tell how much longer it will be until life is no longer under any form of lockdown, but I don’t expect it to be over quickly.