What do you do during isolation?

Hi everyone. Hubby and I are trying to make every Friday night “date” night (married 22 years and kids have left home). We take it in turns to host a themed evening, we put on our party clothes, enjoy a meal at the kitchen table and then have fun - with our own variations of everything from origami, indoor golf to frying pan table tennis. Gives us something to look forward to each week.

I have started the insanity DVD which is 6 days a week for the next 12 weeks

Tophat1900 said:

That's quite interesting and sounds like a lot of fun.. frying pan table tennis, c'mom, who wouldn't be up for a game of that
?

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The frying pan table tennis started out with one big and one small frying pan and I thought I would go big! Big mistake as it was too heavy and unwieldy. Swopped for playing with the back of a small saucepan and it was much better. We used a small rubber bouncy ball found lying around the house as we didn’t.have a ping pong ball. Try it but be gentle to avoid damaging anything!

sleepster said:

I sleep while most people sleep 8 hours a night, I need at least 10 so that means at least 2 less hours of time to fill
I don't work and usually spend a lot of time at home anyway so I chat with my husband, do some cooking, phone or email family members, have a look on social media, do some housework, I play geoguessr and some other online games (I try and play ones that make me think a bit rather than mindless stuff), read, try and do online food shopping for 6 at the moment I don't watch a lot of television, normally a bit of the bbc news channel but lately I haven't been watching that. Usually I go to the shops/supermarket a couple of times a week or go for walks with my husband but we're choosing to self isolate so have only been as far as the garden!

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Had to Google Geoguessr, sounds good. I will try it out.

Tophat1900 said:

@SlimLizzy well, never got around to it when I planned to, but did try it late today. I didn't exactly follow the instructions to the T because I was pushed for time a little, but managed to make one. I ended up adding a little baking powder to it becuase I rushed it and I knew it wouldn't quite turn out as per instructions. So, I managed to turn a cake into a crumpet.

It did turn out good however, pretty easy to do and even if you get it wrong like I did, it still ended up being edible and no one had to be rushed to hospital. Bonus!

Took a few pics, doesn't exactly look good, but it's the ideal size for two people. So, cut it in half and shared it with the wife. No complaints were issued.

Pics, please ignore the fact it looks like some weird toadstool from Mars.

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The recipe https://lowcarbyum.com/egg-fast-cloud-cake/

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not sure what an egg fast might be, but this is certainly not a quick cake. In method " leave to dry for a day" unusual instruction definitely designed to test willpower.

Tophat1900 said:

@Clarkeymusic love the new setting, that is simply amazing work!

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Thanks Tophat1900, looking at your photos you live in a beautiful area. We’re just trying to capture a Mediterranean feel mixed with a little tropical - might not need to go away again!!

Clarkeymusic said:

I was recently diagnosed as T2 (Jan this year) and had other issues with liver/kidney and already have high blood pressure & heart disease. So far so good

So I’d been off work for several weeks and then Covid popped up and I’m advised to shield. So basically I’ve been home since January. Been keeping myself busy losing 2 & half stones, and with a garden makeover involving making a pergola, table, deck and big planters. Also been making a few things like a headboard made from sleepers and a trellis from roofing battens. We are very very lucky to have the garden I know and it has kept me sane and helps ground me. My wife works and 2 kids have flown the nest and the other 2 are at my ex-wife’s as I’m shielding (they’re older and have jobs) - so it’s just me all day. It gives me strength making things to brighten my wife’s day when she gets home.

It’s my first post so Hi to everyone and hope you are all ok and keeping safe

This:
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To This:

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Created a deck on what was dead grass:

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Trellis with Jasmine climber:

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Headboard:

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Sorry for all the pics - I had to show someone in the outside world lol

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Brilliant use of your time. Am sure your wife appreciates it. I certainly would.

Tophat1900 said:

Curious as to what people do during isolation. What do you do for fun etc. I'm not interested in cleaning, precautions and all that jazz, but what you do for entertainment. Can't spend all day on the net. We all have our own routines, so do share if you will.

Some of the things I have started doing that I wasn't before, but used to before the world of social media took over.

Jigsaw puzzles
Board games... remember those?...scrabble, monopoly, etc.
Some xbox games
Researching stuff to cook that I haven't experimented with before (Obviously with myself it's low carb stuff). Trying a Vanilla cloud cake with coffee butter cream today... hopefully it comes out edible and no fire extinguishers are required.
Will post the recipe if it is a success.

So, feel free to share what you do. Ideas are a good thing.

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I know I’m arriving a bit late to the party but during lockdown

We have done loads of gardening - bit of a late start because lockdown came in before we had got the seeds etc that we needed.

We’ve been taking very long walks every day - fortunately we’ve got lots of isolated walks nearby.

Cooking - after a while the excitement wore off - mainly when we had a glut of the crops we planted - and cooking became a bit of a drag.

Decided to revamp the bedroom, started off with a new carpet then it all just grew to nightmare proportions and were still waiting for the carpet to arrive. That has involved lots of de-junking - I LOVE de-junking. Lots of trips to the charity shops once they opened up again.

More gardening. We’ve reached the stage where we are practically dusting the leaves on the plants because everything else has been done.

Reading - have read so many books my eyes feel crossed.

We’ve done jigsaws and we’ve got a kit to build a model - that’s not happening quickly though.

A bit of computing, a bit of photography, a bit of painting.

Speaking to my sons on the phone.

I’ve done Zoom Pilates twice a week fr9m the start of lockdown, so loads of exercise.

When lockdown lifted a bit we met some friends at a large garden halfway between Somerset and Cambridge for a socially distanced chat plus coffee and cake.

We’ve also bought and planted a couple of trees.

We have both worked on LCHF and lost over a stone each.

Our latest challenge though is getting rid of what I suspect must be a family of rats who have moved in to a garden next door in the last couple of weeks. I thought I saw one shoot past but by the time I got the door open to have a look it was gone and husband said it must have been a bird! Then he saw it - he was facing the other way so he saw where it went. They don’t stop in our garden because there is nothing around that they could eat but having read how fast two rats could multiply in a year - they’ve definitely got to go.

So, lockdown has been ok for us - apart from the rats which we could definitely have done without. I’m finding I’m getting a bit weary with it now though, not sure why really.

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Lizzie2 said:

Our latest challenge though is getting rid of what I suspect must be a family of rats who have moved in to a garden next door in the last couple of weeks. I thought I saw one shoot past but by the time I got the door open to have a look it was gone and husband said it must have been a bird! Then he saw it - he was facing the other way so he saw where it went. They don’t stop in our garden because there is nothing around that they could eat but having read how fast two rats could multiply in a year - they’ve definitely got to go.

So, lockdown has been ok for us - apart from the rats which we could definitely have done without. I’m finding I’m getting a bit weary with it now though, not sure why really.

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My family got a few cats, and never saw any rats or mice near the house again.

I've made significant progress on my "books to read" pile and have finally reached "The Mirror and the Light". Boccaccio's Decameron waits patiently on the bookcase but it does look a little daunting. I've kept busy knitting and stitching a birth sampler for my new granddaughter. Yesterday I picked 2 kilos of sloes and started the first batch of sloe gin which will be ready for Christmas.

I've enrolled on five courses with the Centre of Excellence who are running special offers on some of their courses (£29). So far I've completed and passed Embroidery, Christianity Through the Ages, Introduction to the Medieval Period, The Wives of Henry VIII, and am currently working on the Psychology course. If you visit their website you'll see the huge range of courses on offer but be warned ... it's addictive. I have at least 2 more courses on my wishlist!

My best wishes to you all. As we appear to be going into a second phase stay safe and take care.