Oh November, you didn't start off too good did you? Being plunged back into lockdown was not how I wanted to spend this month but hey ho ...
Day 1 Had Rachel and family here for our last Sunday lunch for a month, feels a bit unreal to think that we are heading back to lockdown in a few days time.
Day 2 Went into town to pop into the 'non essential' shops that will be closing on Thursday.
Day 3 Childminding for Leo and Rosie, haven't mentioned to Leo that he won't be able to come to Nanny and Grandad's house for a while as I don't think he will take it too well.
Day 4 Looked after Max and felt quite emotional when he went home as we know it will be four weeks at least before we can see him again.
Day 5 Guy Fawkes night, no organised firework displays this year so a few people nearby are having a few fireworks in the garden - we have an unhappy dog.
Day 6 There was the most beautiful cloud formation in the sky this morning as I took Coco for her walk, had our 3rd Covid test in the afternoon, takeaway pizza from our favourite local Italian restaurant (good to support local businesses that can open for takeaways during lockdown)
Photo taken on my phone with no filter - it really was this beautiful!Day 7 Saturday - which is much like every other day when you are in lockdown! Baked a coffee and walnut cake - must remember not to do too much baking this time around.
Day 8 Lazy Sunday, dog walking, lunch, jigsaw puzzling, catching up on programmes we had recorded and the Strictly results show in the evening
Day 9 A day for doing jobs I have been putting off for ages - cleared the rather large ironing pile and defrosted the chest freezer in the utility room.
Day 10 In an effort to have a little normality on a day when I would normally be looking after Leo and Rosie, I picked Leo up from school and took him to the childminder, we had a nice slow walk to make the most of being able to have a socially distanced walk in the fresh air.
Day 11 Jon and Max popped over for a socially distanced walk and a visit to the local playground, was a lovely way to spend the morning and almost made up for not being able to have Max in the house all day as normal, also the guy building our decking returned to add the final lattice panelling
Day 12 Zumba on Zoom, and today there was homework!
Day 13 Bit bored today so did a bit of baking - remembered to freeze half the rock cakes so that we didn't 'accidentally' eat all twelve.
Day 14 Went to a new farm shop which has opened fairly near to us - they sell my favourite locally produced ice cream - so happy!
Day 15 Quiet Sunday just the two of us, had a little visit from Leo who was out on a bike ride with his dad, that cheered us up!
Day 16 Car went in for service, batch cooked some ragu, finished a jigsaw, had another Covid test
Day 17 Finally got my car back - they were short staffed apparently which is why a standard, minimal, first oil service and software update took 2 days instead of one morning!
Day 18 Went to pick up Max to take him for a walk and run around the playground.
Day 19 Zumba! Went to Rachel's garden in the afternoon to dismantle the playhouse in preparation for their move next week.
Day 20 It was more than a little bit chilly this morning, I needed a hat, a coat with a hood and my gloves for the dog walk
Day 21 Rosie's birthday! There was cake, there were candles, there were balloons and there were presents - I don't think she realised that anything was out of the ordinary with her lockdown birthday.
Day 22 Gloriously sunny morning, nice relaxing day, just Paul, me and Coco here for a roast chicken lunch - guess who was first in the queue for dinner ...
Day 23 Had to clear frost off my car - that's a first for this autumn
Day 24 Trying hard to convince myself I haven't chipped a piece off one of my back teeth (spoiler alert - it's no good being in denial - it is chipped and I have an appointment to have it looked at on the first Monday in December 😢)
Day 25 Rachel and James got the keys to their new home - now the unpacking begins
Day 26 Spent the day stripping wallpaper and painting to help R&J get their new home ready for carpets to be laid on Saturday
Day 27 Popped into town in the morning - lockdown means that the shops are all closed except for click and collect and essential items, have decided to put together a food parcel to take to the Food Bank - collecting 24 items during November to hand in for distribution in December
Day 28 Had Leo and Rosie here for the day so that the carpets could be laid and unpacking continue in their new home
Day 29 Our house is nicely emptying of all the things Rachel has been storing here ready for the move, I'd forgotten how nice and clear the garage used to be.
Day 30 Popped over to Rachel's to play with Rosie while she got on with even more unpacking - I see they have their priorities right, boxes of essentials still waiting but the Christmas tree is up!
All we need now is the monthly video ...