As the political climate intensified further less than half of Britons now trust the government to provide accurate information on the pandemic after the whole Dominic Cummings fiasco last week.
Black Lives Matter
Those April showers
Isolation stories: week six
We made it to week six of lockdown and the heavens opened… those April showers finally arrived! As had Boris and Carrie Symonds baby boy.
My week got off to a wobbly start. My morning routine had taken a back burner and I was struggling to get myself out of bed much before 9am. Sometimes 10am!!! Am I the only one?
I spent both Monday and Tuesday morning cosily under the covers editing photos, writing and drinking tea until noon. I absolutely loved being still and listening to the rain fall outside my window though, it transported me right back to my travels in 2017 where I stayed high up in the rainy mountains of Dharamkot, India.
As the week progressed and the rains faded away, I was really fortunate to be commissioned for a photo project by All Points East festival - they’ll be posting a collection of the images I captured around east London on Instagram over the coming days.
I started Charlie Morley’s Embracing the Shadow course which I’ve been meaning to do for over a year, experimented with food photography for my housemate Mike’s new venture and took photos of Michelle’s African sound journey. I also experimented with some self portraits (nude!), because well why not? One of the things I’m really enjoying about lockdown is having time to be creative and try out new things… a macrame kit is on its way!
Eira (the pup) enjoyed life in her new sofa playground (we’d removed the covers to wash) and our neighbours (the heroes who saved her when she escaped last week) were delivered some chocolates by Charlie as a thank you.
Have you seen Normal People yet? I binge watched it over the course of a week and it is so beautifully written and raw, but wow it brought up all sorts of old teenage feelings. I cringed, laughed and cried my eyes out, remembering how confusing it was navigating that first love.
I ended the week getting myself knee deep in nature… one of my favourite things to do. It’s always the best cure!
Here’s week six in photos, thanks for taking the time to read.
The puppy escaped!
Isolation stories: week five
As we entered week five of lockdown, people seemed a bit restless and lockdown fatigue was definitely setting in.
Boris was still nowhere to be seen... did he actually have Coronavirus or was he just hiding away from his responsibilities? Bit like that time he hid in a fridge to avoid the media? Retailers were really suffering and Cath Kidston closed all of its shops, plus loads of Brits were getting pissed!
It was a dreamily warm week, filled with long sunny days. I ventured out on my bike cycling over 40 miles in a week… exploring an eerily quiet central London, taking a peek in Soho and Hyde Park, finally realising where the Royal Albert Hall actually was (after living in London for 15 years!) and even stood at the gates of Buckingham Palace (never been there before either). My bike has been a total lifesaver and lockdown has actually given me an opportunity to discover new places and enjoy London’s roads which are so quiet.
The BIG news in our house was that the puppy escaped! After ten minutes of frantically searching for her, we heard a voice outside shout “we have your dog here, in the end house”. Eira’s first big solo adventure! She didn’t seem phased.
We went for a house jog together one day, relaxed to Michelle’s fully immersive and beautiful online sound journey (she’s doing them every Tuesday at 8pm if you fancy it) and joined a new moon ceremony manifesting all kinds of good stuff.
I took some socially distanced portraits of my pal Laura who has written this beautiful article about living with MS, enjoyed the NHS clap from my mates front stoop and finally finished reading A New Earth which is a book i’m gonna treasure and read over and over.
Week five in pics (click to enlarge the images). Thanks so much for reading.
The weeks are flying by
Isolation stories: week four
Lockdown was extended by another three weeks, Boris was recovering at Chequers and a YouGov poll reported that only 9% of Britons wanted life to return to ‘normal’ once lockdown was over… oh and a bird poo’d on my head (but I’m taking that as a good omen!).
The weeks are flying by… once I’ve done my morning routine, prepared breakfast, gone out for some exercise, eaten lunch, done a bit of work and then cooked dinner… well there’s not much time left in the day is there?
In between meals (really recommend trying this tasty root vegetable pilau), I spent time exploring on my bike, climbed some trees in Hampstead Heath, practiced Wim Hoff’s breathing technique and dropped by Bill Murray’s place for a chat. I also bought a cool NHS social distancing scarf with all profits going towards providing food for health workers… shame it’s a bit too warm to wear it.
As a house, we did our fortnightly trolley dash in the supermarket, cooked a big family nut roast, started what must be the hardest jigsaw in the world and the puppy found herself in the kitchen sink having a bath.
Week four in photos, thanks so much for reading.
Have you looked up at the night sky lately?
Isolation stories: week two
Week two arrived and it felt like the energy had shifted somewhat… it was slightly less frantic and people seemed to be adapting to life inside and online, apart from those 3,000 people in Brockwell park on Saturday!
it’s totally magical
It was a week of ups and downs for me, from feeling super creative and totally in flow one day to having waves of tiredness and low energy the next. Monday (post birthday) was spent in my PJs hiding under the duvet watching films all day, whereas Thursday I was on a high dancing around my bedroom to Madonna. An absolute rollercoaster ride isn’t it? I’ve started taking time to really slow down (and not feel guilty about it), feel into whatever comes up and focus on one day at a time.
Aside from riding that rollercoaster, I finally got back on my bike after several months and visited a couple of pals for doorstep chats, enjoyed online coffee catch ups in bed, spent hours art directing a photoshoot of us in the garden and shot a self portrait with one of the cats. You know, just regular things!
As a house we brainstormed ideas around our work (we’re all freelancers so times are a bit tricky), attempted to give the puppy a new haircut, started an online tarot course together, did a somewhat scary supermarket sweep all masked up, watched Fantastic Fungi twice (it’s amazing, check it out), lit a bonfire and spent hours looking at the moon and stars. Have you looked up at the night sky lately? It’s so unbelievably clear and pollution free here in London, you can actually see stuff. It’s totally magical!
Scroll across to see week two in pictures. Stay safe and thanks for reading
