Lockdown week 11 - nice walks and neighbourhood cats 🐈

Days 72-78 (3rd-9th June) 

I am trying a new format this week! Just rambling about the week as a whole and focusing on the key moments, rather than robotically recording everything I do each day. When I started documenting lockdown, I thought I'd maybe be doing this for 3 weeks...then it became 5, 6, 8...I never imagined we'd still be here at week 11. But hey ho, I feel a loyalty to this project and can't abandon it now! Let me know whether you enjoy this more descriptive post or not.

I have been for some nice walks this week. Walking familiar routes not far from home but still each time is nice for different reasons. On Wednesday I walked to a little forest and on my way I walked past a box of free books left outside someone's house, it was raining so they were getting soggy. I had a quick look and found a big book with lots of pictures of nature that I thought I will use for making collages. I took it with me to the forest and we had a photoshoot. Then I walked home again (something about the little forest makes me feel uneasy when I'm on my own so I didn't stay very long), and the box of books was gone when I passed the house again.

On Friday I went for a walk to the lake, I took my binoculars and filled a little bag with seeds and mealworms. There were quite a few people walking around and at first I wasn't enjoying myself very much as I had to think about social-distancing and kept leaning into bushes as other people didn't seem to bother. Then, miraculously, I managed to find a quiet place and I spent a while watching this fluffy blue tit fledgling in a tree. I ended up taking photos through my binoculars so I could get some quality zoom. I got so still and absorbed watching the fledgling that when I turned around I was surrounded by squirrels, a robin, a chaffinch, a nuthatch, a pigeon, and even a jay slightly further off! Very magical.

Ed and I went for a walk on Monday night at about 9pm, the sun was just setting (I think that's my favourite time to go for a short walk around the block). We went to see the baby seagulls and found a few wild strawberries but they didn't taste as good as last week. As we kept walking we began to count the cats we saw (as we usually do), and this time we saw 20! That beats our all time high score of 12. It was so fun, there was a point where we had about 5 cats surrounding us at once, some hanging back shyly but some coming straight to us confidently asking for attention. We have a passion for cats.

I found some more snail eggs on Friday morning, I think that's the 4th clutch in 6 weeks! To be honest, I thought I knew a decent amount about snails when I got them but I had no idea they reproduced so rapidly and so...much! I'd read the facts but I think it's something you don't fully get until you see it. Definitely a learning experience, in snail biology but also in responsible and ethical pet ownership. It's quite funny because when I named the snails (back when they were pea-sized) I called the smaller one Sabrina and the bigger one Sebastian. Now I've learned that it is the larger snail that generally carries the eggs, so that's Sebastian lol. The first 3 clutches all came as a surprise to me but I felt like a good snail mum this time because I saw it coming, Sebastian had been completely buried until the soil for a whole day so when he emerged the next day I was sure to check for eggs and I was right!

Sabrina

I have been doing lots of crochet this week, my blanket is growing steadily. It feels so quick compared to my previous blanket made of knitted squares. The sweetest thing happened this week, Tom discovered my crochet was a comfy place to sleep. I just about died with cuteness overload. Speaking of creative endeavours, I FINALLY got round to finishing painting and varnishing the pots I made towards the beginning of lockdown. They are only air-dry clay so I'm not sure whether they'll be able to withstand getting wet so I need to test that. But they make very sweet planters! I've also been loving making mixed-media collages this week, getting my felt tips out and cutting up magazines to create funny, abstract images with something to say.

I planted some nasturtium seeds this week and also made a rhubarb crumble. I ordered a few second-hands CDs online, went for a bike ride and a couple of drives on Dartmoor. One featured al fresco cream teas, and a downpour from on high. Ed and I watched Karate Kid on Sunday night (the 1984 original) and enjoyed it very much. Mostly because of the bonsai. We've also watched some super great episodes of Doctor Who this week, some may say the best episodes ever - think scary scarecrows, the weeping angels (still terrifying), and the flipping Master!!! Yikes.

I've finally completed my Björk album collection!

Lovely Dartmoor.

I have been reading a lot of news this week, whilst also trying to avoid it/social media. It has been A LOT. Engaging in conversations/debates online is the bane of my life but simultaneously can be enlightening and encouraging. It's terrifying and makes me feel sick, but there is a certain amount of satisfaction that comes with sharing the truth (God's truth), even when it is met with hatred. So despite feeling a lot of heaviness this week (sadness at the whole situation in the world right now, and fear of speaking out), it has been a real faith-growing time. I've been massively encouraged by reading the bible and listening to other Christians sharing Godly wisdom in love. I've understood the need for prayer this week more than I have in a long time, I have found a new gratitude for the gospel and a fresh revelation of how much we all need it.

Our setup for church this week.

New fave illustration by Margaret Tarrant.

BIG LOVE.