Yes, I’m at home and grumpy about the cold wet weather which is preventing me from doing anything outside, again. There are days when I go to work and pretend to do something or work slowly in order to not put too much stress on my painful hands. There are always some plants demanding attention, a bit of spot watering to do, some general tidying, cutting dead stems back in the garden and so on. But the motivation is lost and that is in part due to the heavy grey days plus the increasingly soggy ground. It is immensely frustrating to be dictated to by conditions which are beyond my control. The rainfall this year is about 10 inches higher than last year so I will have to try hard to divert my attention to anything which can be done through the next few weeks.

We have just come out of the second lockdown and straight into Tier 3 measures which looks quite restrictive at first glance but really are only guidelines so many people will interpret them to suit themselves. I predicted that a lockdown in winter would be much much harder to cope with. People are weary of living this way, we have become wary of other people and most social interaction is cautious and careful. My main release and way of coping has been to keep busy, to keep working in the garden and to plan ahead but that’s just not possible at the moment. I’m having to adjust so took my self off to the library this morning.

I had done some homework and had looked online for books I’d like to read and had made a list. The library here in Southam is a small branch which we are lucky to have but the selection is limited. At the moment it is not possible to browse. One enters the doors and stays behind a screen while the librarian does their best to find the books you want. My list yielded just one book, the others are to be reserve for me but I came away with 4 others. I might have already read 2 of them and the other two, chosen by the librarian, I don’t think I will like. He kept telling me that there was only one copy in the whole county of the books on my list and that there were ‘a bit niche’. I think I will go back tomorrow and have another stab at finding a few books to read. Then I could also call in the charity shops and try my luck there. Meanwhile? I will watch more series on iPlayer. To pass the time and maybe phone a friend or two who I can’t go and see because of the restrictions.