Lockdown Diary - Sunday 24th January 2021

When I pulled back the curtains I was greeted with a snow-covered landscape - it had been predicted but when I went to bed last night the sky was clear, so a lot changed in the early hours of the morning. There is always a beauty to a blanket of snow, but I'm always conscious of the negative side of it, especially the impact on the ability of the carers to get about and do their jobs.  

Not long after the carers arrive for the second call of the day snow begins to fall more heavily - there are very large flakes, maybe one to two inches along their longest axis.  Luckily for the carers on this call it's their last visit of the day, those who come later may not be so lucky.

Naturally I take photos of the snow - it's enough of a rarity to be worth capturing and it does look so wonderful, especially where it lies untouched. Though the carers drove up to the house and walked to and from the front door, the snow fall has obliterated their tracks.  I plan to go out walking at some point, though I had said I'd wait for son #2, which may be a mistake as he'll not emerge this side of midday.

After breakfast I do a bit of online shopping: son #3 needs new pyjamas and I have a £10 voucher to spend on pyjamas; my wife needs some new softer towels and as it's the last day of the John Lewis winter sale I decide to take advantage.  None of it very exciting, but all very necessary.

Talking of towels (who was? why?) I rather foolishly decided to change the towels today and suddenly I find myself with two wash loads of bath towels as all three sons jump on the bandwagon. Getting them dry will be fun.

Just as I'm about to start making lunch, shortly after the carers lunch call (they are running late owing to cars not being able to ascend icy hills nearby) the phone rings and it's my mother-in-law.  A long chat ensues, during which son #2 descends from on high to grace us with presence. He stops to say 'hello' to his mum whilst I continue talking to his grandma.  Son #3 also comes downstairs and starts making lunch, which I assist with after the call is finished.  Son #3 confirms he still wants to go for a walk after I've had my lunch and he's had a shower. As it turns out I also have time for 20 minutes meditation before he's ready.

At about 20 past three he comes into my office and says 'are you ready?' as though somehow, psychically perhaps, I'd have known this was the timer. Regardless, I get my walking boots on and coats on and am ready to leave before half-past three.

Great walk! Got back after just over 30 minutes of walking at a reasonable pace and have seen the assorted snowmen and snow boulders that have been built whilst we've been inside.  I am so glad to have been out in the fresh air, I really feel much better for it. It's worth it for the sound of crisp, untouched snow crunching under foot.

Time to chill (ha!) and read today's paper, before the next exciting chore.

After the final carer call of the day (with substitute carers) it's time for wine and music (the third of the trio being sadly absent), as I make inroads into Santa's plentiful bounty of new music. A couple of albums later it's time to make dinner: we bought some rather wonderful looking haddock yesterday, and I plan to bake that with some potatoes, and some of the surfeit of veg we seem to have.  I've done the potatoes and got them in the oven, now it's time to prepare the fish, at which point I'm joined by son #3, who takes over duties on the remaining veg (kale, leeks and cabbage)

Another episode of 'Mr. Robot' tonight, which includes a rather unpleasant 'Trainspotting'-style scene, not ideal viewing when you are eating. For several episodes now the new theme has dominated the story line and what seemed to be the original story line is now, for the moment at least, a subplot.

Mark Lanegan has written some incredibly uncompromising songs, post his days with Screaming Trees and the Queens of the Stone Age, none more so than on the autobiographical album he released last year, 'Straight Songs of Sorrow', which accompanied his acclaimed autobiography 'Sing Backwards and Weep', published last year. From it this is 'Daylight In The Nocturnal House'

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