Life in lockdown sucks. We can’t see our family, we can’t see our friends, our holiday is cancelled, we can’t go out anywhere other than the woods around the corner and that’s just once a day, no picnics and absolutely no lingering…HOWEVER we still have our health and it’s all 100% worth it if it keeps the people we care about safe and well. And surprisingly there have been a few lockdown silver linings.

Being one to look on the bright side of life (sorry if you now have that song in your head!) I thought I would list my lockdown silver linings below:

Time with my son before he starts school

It’s not exactly been easy working from home with my son but at the same time I am so very grateful to have this precious time with him before he starts school in September.

I had nine months maternity leave so he wasn’t yet one years old when I returned to work. I work full time hours with four days a week normally in the office. He’s just turned four so having this time with him at such a wonderful age has been (although challenging at times!) absolutely wonderful!

No manic morning rush or traffic jams

I miss my colleagues and I miss office life but one thing I don’t miss is the manic morning rush every day. You know the one, where you’re trying to frantically get yourself ready for work whilst getting your kids ready for school/pre-school, trying to remember the million and one things you and your kids need for the day and forgetting half of it and having to turn back when your realise you’ve left your phone at home. No time for breakfast but at least you should be at the office in time, that is until you hit the new roadworks and you end up getting stuck in traffic for 20 minutes. No I do not miss that!

Now I get up at the same time. Have time for half an hour yoga on Amazon Prime using the 30 day free trial, take a leisurely shower, prepare breakfast for all of us, eat breakfast together and I’m still logged in to my work laptop and ready to go a whole 15 MINUTES EARLY!! Unheard of!

Reducing my carbon footprint

I’m not driving to work, my other half isn’t driving to work. In fact we’re not driving anywhere except to do our food shop once a week. We’re saving money on petrol and our carbon footprint has reduced massively.

We’re being inventive with our time

From camping in the garden to making up treasure hunts. We can’t go out for the day or go on holiday so we’re using our imaginations and being inventive with our free time.

Discovering new books

I now have more time to read. Something I love but rarely have time to enjoy. I’ve discovered some great new writers and I’m loving the time-slip genre at the moment. Two new books I’ve loved and enjoyed are:

A Shadow Beyond

Secrets of the Mist

Both of these are also available on Kindle Unlimited.

Home Improvements

So no socialising or meeting up with friends but at long last we’ve got through the massive pile of shredding that’s been piling up for months! And have you seen my new gorgeous bookshelves in my bedroom. Ordered from Amazon, on sale at the moment for just £23.99 and delivered in just a few days.

Gardening

We have tomatoes, chilli, basil, coriander, cabbages, lettuces, radishes, carrots, pansies, marigolds and sunflowers all coming up, all grown from seed.

The whole lockdown scenario has made us want to be more self-sufficient. Plus being at home and not going away means that our plants are not neglected. We are literally here every day to water and care for them.

We are already eating our lettuce. My son is so excited to be picking and eating it, the first time he’s ever enjoyed eating lettuce leaves!

Enjoying local wildlife and nature

I’ve always loved the woods near to us but I’ve never visited them so often and so frequently. We now walk in the woods, if not every day, every other day. I have loved breathing in the scent of bluebells, hearing the wood peckers and watching the beauty of Spring emerge.

On the other side of the woods there are fields full of sheep with their lambs and beautiful views over to the South Downs.

We are so lucky to be so close to nature and to be able to enjoy the beauty of the wildlife nearby us.

Lockdown Life

So although times are tough and I have sleepless nights worrying about my friends and family, I think it’s so important to try an focus on the positive where you can.

Let me know your lockdown silver linings and what you have been doing to keep yourself busy. Most importantly of all, stay safe everyone and see you all on the other side of this.

I was tagged by Jo from Rose Tinted World to share my Lockdown Silver Linings. I’m passing on the challenge to:

Kirsty at Navigating Baby, Hannah at Saving Moving Mummy, Lou from Birds and Lilies, Sarah at Sarah Lou Writes, Tiney at Growing Clan and Mark at Big Man in the Woods.

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