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| A blazing late winter sunrise - our backyard (February 2021) |
Nope. Still nuthin' happening here.
*sigh*
I'm sorry to say this won't be a very cheery read. I had intended to just post some photos of the changing seasons from the past few months (because lord knows we have not been anywhere due to hard lockdown), but I am feeling the need to reflect on the past year.
But first, a few seconds of big, fluffy snowflakes falling on a late January morning here in Surrey...
As Britain tentatively moves towards the very gradual lifting of several months of national lockdown number three, parts of Europe are going back into lockdown for their 'third wave' - just as we emerge from our second. On Tuesday 23 March it will be the first anniversary of the start of the UK's first lockdown, and the nation will be lamenting the nearly 130,000 deaths during that period.
It's difficult to comment on this past year without quoting personal statistics.
Making marmalade kept me busy on one Saturday in January.
Commercially made marmalade is always too sweet and too hard-set for my liking
It's more than 14 months since we attended a gig (the always wonderful Patrick Wolf, at St Pancras Old Church in London), over 12 months since our last visit to a cinema. In August it will be two years since we last travelled abroad.
Of the five meals we have consumed outside our own home or self-contained holiday accommodation in the past year, the most recent was a full six months ago.
My last haircut was in December, and with salons expecting to open in mid April (though this isn't guaranteed), I'll be in a queue for an appointment with my salon, as they painstakingly rebook everybody who had appointments booked during lockdown. So it's likely to be 5-6 months between cuts which I've never experienced before. My hair is LONG. Thank goodness for my mother's genes - she had nary a grey hair well into her 60s and I am lucky enough to have inherited that.
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| The author looking hirsute |
For more than 12 months I've worked exclusively from home, with my work laptop set up on the dining table. For about half of that period Kevin has also had to work from home, in our third bedroom, teaching his students online which has been a particularly frustrating and unrewarding experience as the school made a decision (based on safeguarding) that pupils do not have their cameras on - they are just disembodied and, often, unresponsive voices.
Worst of all, we both have many work colleagues and friends who have had the virus, one of whom had 'long COVID' and was off work for nearly six months; another who tragically did not survive, passing away at the age of 51.
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| This year's personalised Christmas card image? A robin searching for seed just outside our back door - January 2021 |
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| Frensham Heights looking magnificent in the snow - taken from the lawn |
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| Built-in wine cooler on our patio set! |
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| Our friends made an impromptu snowperson with materials to hand. Poor Snowy only has one little rock-eye - but what personality! |
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| Front entrance of Frensham Heights |
The activities that used to punctuate and define our lives - travel, eating out, concerts, visiting galleries and museums, socialising with friends - have disappeared and it's becoming hard to even imagine life returning to how it used to be. Already we are being warned about Britain's third wave, expected in late summer / early autumn, and a fourth lockdown.
Thankfully, both Kevin and I have had our first dose of vaccine (I had Pfizer, Kevin got AstraZeneca) and we have our fingers crossed that supply issues and vaccination hysteria in other countries do not hinder our second jabs.
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| After the snow came weeks of cold weather, and every body of water in the local area froze over. This is a pond on the school grounds - frozen solid |
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| Great chunks of ice that kids have broken up on the edge of the pond, and thrown onto the frozen surface |
Throughout all of this we have been acutely aware of our good fortune to live in such a beautiful place with plenty of space, and both in secure employment. We know there are, literally, millions of people here who are struggling with cramped conditions, limited access to outdoor space, views of brick walls, noisy neighbours... and so on.
So many have lost loved ones, or been unable to visit elderly parents in care homes. People's beloved pets have been stolen to feed the demand for companion animals - and those of you who know me won't be surprised to hear that it's this particular horror that has upset me the most. It has shaken my already-fragile faith in humanity.
And now spring has arrived, which I'm always in two minds about, because it means the end of the cold weather and the inevitable decline towards summer and potential heat. But, as always, springtime in Surrey is glorious. Still early days, but the season is really about to kick off...
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| Snowdrops popped up all over the area during January and February... |
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| ... followed closely by great swathes of crocuses |
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| ... and finally the daffodils |
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| One of our neighbours exercising their ponies |
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| Buds about to burst forth |
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| Cherry blossom already dotting the landscape |
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| Our crabapple reviving after winter |
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| Tulips just days away from delighting us - my favourite flower |
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| White blossom is everywhere - hawthorn and blackthorn that grow wild in hedgerows across the countryside, as well as in people's gardens of course |
Wildlife is also in abundance once again. The other day I surprised five roe deer in the field below our garden. We are regularly visited by a sparrow hawk as well as the usual group of pheasants including Mr P (formerly known as Mr Hoppy).
The badgers have resumed their nightly sorties into our garden for the snacks we leave. They don't fully hibernate over winter, however they do reduce their activity and tend to stop visiting us around late October, returning in February or March.
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| Visiting sparrow hawk on our garden fence, patiently waiting to secure the next meal (ie a baby bird or two... nature is cruel) [Apologies for the rubbish quality of the photo - this is as good a shot I'm ever going to get, using just the zoom on my iPhone] |
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| Freshly scattered earth around a local badger sett, proof that they have emerged from winter inactivity |
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| The badgers are back! Enjoying a treat of seeds and peanuts on our terrace |
Well, that's it for now. Not much to report - hence the title of this post. However I thought I would let you know we are still alive and well, despite the lack of content for this blog.
From April we will be permitted to gather outdoors in a group of up to six people so we hope to cautiously take advantage of that, particularly as all of us have now had 'lockdown birthdays' and some will have had two such birthdays - including two people from our inner circle who turned 50 and sadly had very subdued celebrations.
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| Sheep grazing on lush spring grass - Pitthanger, Frensham |
Hoping all our friends and family remain safe and well, as we pass Covid's first anniversary.
Until next time,
- Maree xo
