Lockdown - what have we been up to?

With the two older ones starting school this week, I thought it might be fun to document what we have managed to do while in 'lockdown' which in my head means all the time since they stopped going to school on March 13th. 

Jeff - put in a front garden; painted the house; re-stuccoed the wall around the back garden; and lost 10lbs doing it all.

Before

After

Alex - started running again (in fact for the first 8 weeks of lockdown I said that on Saturdays I would run a mile for every week of lockdown. This lasted until week 8, when I did an 8 mile run and realized that I never want to do to that ever again. Actually it was just the thought of having to do 9 miles that broke me. I'm glad I stopped when I did, I'd have run more than a marathon by now. No thank you); finished a quilt; 

started another quilt (the top is finished but it's not put together. This will live next to the bookshelves as a reading blanket); 

canned 80lbs of tomatoes; read a lot of books; learned how to cut Jeff's hair (aargh!);  tried to stay sane; and has not lost 10lbs (grrrr).

Adam - spent weeks in the garage building and painting models; expanded his leather working repertoire to include leather carving; has written or arranged a fair amount of music; got a new clarinet; refurbished about half the family's bikes; and is working on growing out his lockdown haircut (ask him about it sometime). 

Ellie - got a new flute; took next year's math class over 6 weeks in the summer and passed with 96%; made voodoo dolls of herself and Kate; 

 

made multiple very cute crochet animals for friends or baby shower gifts;  

finished sewing herself a skirt (we'd started this almost a year before and honestly I was surprised it still fit!), and read a lot of books. 

Kate -  learned to cook - there's a few things she can be trusted with all by herself now; turned into a teenager by stealing my phone all the time; watched vast amounts of cartoons; and is contemplating donating her hair (the lack of available hair cuts over the last six months means it's almost down to her waist!) 

Nicholas - refurbished his bike with Jeff; played more Minecraft than should be humanly possible and survived with his good humour intact. 

He's really looking forward to going back to school - and we finally have a date! November 16th. It can't come soon enough. When school ended they were told it would be shut for two weeks. It's been a long, long two weeks!