Marks Grans Blog

I've not been on the computer as much as I normally am lately.  Usually in the summer months I'm not on the computer as much for various reasons.  It's very hot upstairs in summer where my laptop lives; I'm usually to be found pottering about in the garden in the summer months; I'm very busy reading a book or magazine (hopefully in the sun in the garden) - you get the picture. Now, I'm not complaining, but the weather so far in July has been pretty abysmal here in central Scotland.  My vegetables thought we'd moved to the Mediterranean in April, May and parts of June.  It was almost wall to wall sunshine during lockdown (and thank goodness for it!)  but now its gone all normal on us and we're taking it badly, as are my vegetables!  My poor sweet corn is sitting glaring at me, refusing to produce any stalks of corn.  Not to mention the giant snails are thoroughly enjoying eating all my lettuce as they march around on these wet nights!   ...

In the words of a song by Joni Mitchell we don't know what we've got till its gone.  How evident that has become just now. I was out walking the dog and noticed how long all the 'public' grass has grown.  I noticed trees in the parks and pathways are all hanging much lower than I ever remember seeing them.  It made me realise the job our council workers do without us really noticing very much. This is just a random photo of my garden - its as overgrown looking as the roadside verges! Certainly the praise heaped on the NHS workers and Care Staff recently has made their work, normally fairly unrecognised,  much more noticable to everybody.  There has been a call for them to get a pay rise to recognise the hard and sometimes dangerous work they do (I can't see that happening!)  When our bin lorries didn't turn up at the beginning of this we panicked.  How would we cope without our bins getting emptied.  The recycling centres and charity shops ...

Suddenly yesterday afternoon I felt quite down.  Most of the time I've felt fine throughout this weird and not so wonderful lockdown but yesterday it got a bit on top of me.   It might just be because I had to go and shop.  I'm now managing to eek out the shopping to once a fortnight with my daughter bringing us a loaf at the halfway mark.  I also make my own bread but given the shortage of flour just now, I'd soon run out of flour if I baked my own bread for the fortnight.  I usually bake one towards the end of the first week until my daughter is back in work during the week and she brings me a loaf which does us till the next shop usually.  If we run out at that stage I just use crackers instead!  Shopping at our local shop is actually not that bad.  I've managed to find a nice time to go when its pretty quiet and people are generally pretty good with social distancing  However, I still find it a strain to keep on top of avoiding peopl...

Today was what I call an eventful day.  In lockdown times any event is eventful but today has been exceptional and I feel my day has summed up lockdown. First thing I had to rush upstairs to make a birthday card for my aunt! She was 80 today and should have been heading to Southampton to go on a Mediterranean cruise with the prospect of a party on her return.  Instead she is locked in at home with her daughter with no thought of a party any time soon.  My brother and his wife, my husband and I and my mum were all going to make our own way to her house to sing happy birthday to her from the garden and she loved it.  It brought her to tears.  At the moment, I cannot think to make any cards and this month and next is the busiest in our family for birthdays!  Having just spent £20 in a local shop to get 7 cards to send to a friend, there is good reason for me to make my own cards with all the 'stuff' I have accumulated for years.  So, the card was duly...

I've been busy making masks.  I have loads of fabric, mostly saved from the 80's when I used to make all sorts of stuff for people, cot mobiles, padded pictures, advent calendars to name a few.  I also have some of my granddaughters baby dresses, I have a couple of my daughters dresses from childhood, I have a couple of kilts which I found in properties my husband was clearing out for a landlord, I have wadding in anticipation of making a quilt I never did, I have netting, I have old sheets, duvets - I am a fabric hoarder!  However for now it is coming in handy as I make my masks for friends and family.  Everyone is choosing their fabric from photographs I send them.  My granddaughter picked fairy fabric, bought for a quilt I had intended to make her - oops!  My grandson, who's 18 I might add, has chosen Thunderbirds material from an old duvet cover of my sons - the original Thunderbirds so its retro!  I made my mum one from some elderly Laura As...

Another 3 weeks of lockdown here in Scotland at least.  Bojo hasn't declared it yet but he probably will although I think he's trying to ease the blow by asking us to stay safe instead of just telling it like it is - BLOODY STAY HOME! It's hard for everyone but you also begin to realise that life is going on regardless.  Its not all about Coronavirus. One of my neighbours died this week.   It was expected.  He's had cancer and has been ill for a while.  However, having died now means his wife, who is a devout catholic, won't be able to have the big mass for him she had planned or indeed the funeral she planned.  The family haven't been able to come to comfort her as they would normally.  Her friends and neighbours can only wave to her and wish her well from a distance. Another neighbour has a sister who is severely depressed.  She was attending an NHS psychiatrist until Coronavirus hit.  Now she can only have telephone conversations w...