Are we getting a bit low?

If you're trying out new recipes, we can always do taste testing on GN felice.

Mini sausage rolls, mmmm, I have a yen for some right now.

Yes I know Hetty, which is why I do not understand why I am feeling like this.
I have been trying to keep busy, getting Quizzes done and stored, planning new menus and trying out new recipes with DGS, he makes mini Sausage Rolls to sell for Christian Aid every year and we have been trying variations on a theme.
Son-in-Law is off this week, he is burned out, so taken a week off. he is a grumpy bugger at the best of times and can moan for Belgium so that is not helping !!!!!!!
Ach,,,,,,, thanks for letting me have a moan, it will all come right in the end I am sure, stay safe.

What are these 'cracking series' on TV? I've not found any - and I'd like to!

This is my mantra ....

I think this post may be in itself depressing to some people.
To be alone and not know when that person will see family again is very challenging regardless of how resourceful they may be.
To be together with a much loved partner can seem like an unexpected bonus ( the reason for it is very frightening of course) but hiding in the self-made bubble can be very comforting.
To be stuck indoors with a disagreeable and unpleasant partner with no let-up, is probably the worst scenario.
But at the end of the day we must do what we must do to pay homage to the brave people risking their lives for us on a daily basis. Staying in is not the worst option on offer.
We've all had a chance to have a moan, and that can be very therapeutic, but now it is time to 'grow a backbone' and make the best of things.

Reading that other Grans are feeling the same (or very similar) as me is comforting - I've never found the phrase "there's plenty of people far worse off than you" any help at all throughout my life - that is a fact and we know it's true but not particularly helpful when one is feeling particularly down. I think that's why these posts are helpful/comforting because no-one (so far - I might be wrong) has been patronising and saying "pull yourself together" type things. I'm having down days and ok days - I can't say I've had any particularly uplifting days since the lockdown but have had found my inner actress when it comes to facetime with 7 year old grandson, which happens most days, so those moments are definitely uplifting come to think of it. I'm rambling so will stop now.

Trying to keep positive but weather has changed to day.
I know w e need the rain for the gardens but I won’t be able to do my half hourly walk if it keeps hammering down like it is.
Supposed to be better by Friday, fingers crossed.

Well said sarahelenwhitney. I know I am in a very good place for this lockdown and thoroughly enjoying it, a lot of it due to bring a cockeyed optimist and pragmatic, I can always find something to keep me occupied, in fact I am worn getting on with things! And I do have DH with me a lot of the time.not

I have not been out,except around the fields , for six weeks, hasn't bothered me one bit.

Only big sadness is not seeing my family in reality, and I don't know when I will be able to travel to England, nor if they will be able to come to France at the end of July as planned.

However, in the big picture taking on these limitations for a few months is very little to as k of us. Once again I quote Anne Frank and her family who in the end did not get the happy ending that we are all hoping for.

I am loving the lockdown, and have never felt healthier and more relaxed and 'at home'. Usually I am dashing about all day every day, and have realised how unnecessary most of that was. This has been a bit of a wake-up call and with numerous chronic illnesses to live with, life for me is now going to change dramatically.

felice, just one day at a time really is the best approach. Thinking about the uncertain future and dwelling on what we miss will only feed feelings of sadness.

We should be so glad that we haven't caught the virus yet!

It’s not pessimistic to say that we’re not nearly there - it’s reality.

The world survived 39-45 .Millions NOT thousands having paid with their lives No doubt many in those six year felt as we are feeling now.How long is this going on.?I dislike having to queue outside a supermarket waiting to be told when I can go in ok .Tough get used to it.This IS for my safety. Can I get a 'slot' to obtain a food delivery ?only if I want to sit up all night glued to my computer.I enjoy having friends round for coffee which now I cannot or should not do do. If these inconveniences is all it takes for normal service to once again be resumed then a small price to pay.

I am fed up with being shut in. Know its for a very good reason so that not too many get the virus & overwhelm the NHS. Fine but most people under Lockdown are young enough to have a long life after it is slowly lifted. What many, not most GN’s, do not understand is that those of us over 70 who have young GC fear that they may never see them again. Either the virus or some other ‘old age’ illness can kill us off before we are able to mix freely with the rest of Society. We have to face the fact that the younger people will be entitled to a vaccine before those of us older & more useless will be.

Going by the pictures of the traffic on the M25 this morning a lot of people are out of lockdown already. People are beginning to find justification for doing things eg a friend on her own has started going round to a friend of hers for some of the day, friend has over 70's husband not very well (heart problems), this could be fine if she was isolating otherwise but it appears she has been somewhere for coffee and made journeys to the supermarket, not sure how she justifies this in her own mind.

I have good days and bad. I agree with 1 post that we are not being isolated to save us, it's being done to spread out the rate at which we will catch it and I try therefore to be positive about shut-in activities as there may come a day when I can't do these because I'm sick with the virus or dead. However I am not a couch potato TV watcher and have spent so many years shackled to a computer screen through work I have absolutely no inclination to do on line learning. Yes, I do have many handicraft interests but normally these are interspersed with outdoor and out of the house activities and interests and I am finding the enforced incarceration very hard. It feels like we are all sitting in God's waiting room, albeit our homes have now become overspill parking for that.

Thank you Craftycat, for being positive. I began to think I would stop reading GN posts for a while because it has become so gloomy, and sometimes spiteful.

Glamgran59, ‘some folk prefer to have a more pessimistic view of life’ really insensitive comment. I do not prefer to have a pessimistic view, but as a widow of 15 months, in poor health and in constant pain, I can feel nothing but pessimistic. I really do feel that there is no point being here and feel guilty that I am stopping my children gaining the financial benefit that would come with my demise.
I am clinging on by my fingertips and trying to stay positive and joy in little things. So your comment is very hard to take. I do not enjoy being depressed.

Yesterday and today I am feeling very low and tearful, don’t know why, it just came over me and I can’t seem to shake it off,
I have a lot to be thankful for , I have my DH with me and I know a lot of you haven’t so I should be thankful for that, I can sit and potter in my garden wealthier permitting and I can always find something to do in my sewing room , We are isolating as we are both 70+ with health problems but not serious , so we haven’t been out since the start of lockdown,
I am missing my family andGD so much , we FaceTime weekly , I miss seeing my friends too, I am happy to stay in and protect the wonderful NHS , I have a lot to be thankful for really , but I just feel so down , I realise this feeling could apply to many grans and I apologise for being glum. I am normally upbeat, optimistic, but the future doesn’t look good , and the death rate is so sad,

By the way I am usually a very positive optimist and I don't think friends realise how i am feeling.

I was ok until about 3 days ago, then suddenly felt really down, as it is now raining that is making it worse.
I live in a Semi Basement garden flat and if I get any lower I will be digging a new basement.
I have tried to speak to DD but she always works from home and is really busy just now so she is sort of enjoying the lockdown. She has the best excuse now to sit at home and just do what she loves.
Our Government has set out an exit strategy depending on the circumstances, fine but all the stuff I do will be last to be lifted.
I would normally be planning lots of events, charity garden parties, BBQs, Quizzes etc, and feel really quite lost.
I need a good kick up the backside I think.

Craftycat, what's all this about getting back to normal? That's exactly where we were when this all started.

Surely, by now, we've realised that drastic changes are needed to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again?

There will be other new viruses. Next time we need a solid action plan, equipment and resources ready to prevent all the excess, unnecessary deaths.

Nothing wrong with a bit of optimism @CraftyCat. Things will get better, sooner or later. Some folk prefer to have a more pessimistic view on life.

Nice to be an optimist and look for positives, but it's true that we're miles away from normal, whatever that may be months (probably years) down the line. I agree with others on this and of course, as has been pointed out, lockdown is not to protect us but the NHS.
Maybe look for the positives in the peace and quiet around us, the way nature and wild life is having a chance to recover from us humans, the clear blue skies with no vapour trails, the vastly improved air quality ... and the fact that you can still get plenty of wine at the local shops! ?

Who is the ‘us’ your talking about? We are not nearly there, there will not be a ‘normal’ as we previously knew it for an extremely long time. If you are enjoying tv and the sunshine that’s great. I am sorry but you sound to me like you are having a tantrum, with “it’s gone on for long enough”. Clearly you have been extremely lucky and not had the covid 19 or a member of your family died from it. All you are being asked to do is stay in and wash your hands, sit on your sofa and watch TV. Learn something new, there is lots on offer. Surely one look at the state of the medical workers would make you realise not much is being asked of you.

Oh well- just me then!
My Mum always said I was the eternal optimist.