Day 6 of lockdown...

We are sort of expecting more announcements today regarding our day to day activities on the island.  Although there is no curfew or imposed isolation we have been advised to stay in as much as possible.  We cannot believe what we are seeing and hearing on social media like particularly with the situation in the supermarkets back in the UK.  We are endeavouring to keep in contact with Mum as much as possible via video calls so she gets to see me in all my 'bed-head' glory and have begun to extend that to friends and family overseas.  We tend to think a quick text or comment on a post passes as contact and conversation but we are wrong nothing beats face to face interaction so if there is anything good to come out of this horrible situation it might be that is makes people think more about the ways they keep in touch.

There is a slight sense of panic in the Wiseman household in that I have come to the end of her beloved Branston Brown Sauce.  I doesn't like any other!!!  The last time it appeared on the island I did a bit of panic buying but that was years ago - the best before date on this baby was 2017!!!  I haven't seen any in the shops here for months if not years and visitors have either not been able to find it and come empty handed or brought a substitute which just will not cut the mustard (or in this case the brown sauce).  At a push I will use Branston smooth pickle but even that, to my discerning palette is just not quite the same.  I have put a shout out to all my friends on the island so that if they see any they are to get it for me and I can look forward to a time in the future when life returns to some sort of normality in every sense of the word - I will not hold my breath but live in hopes that my once again I can trust in my sauce.  I savoured my brunch today - full English to set John and I up for a day of work in the garden as the sun was shining and we had consulted the To-Do list and decided that we really should find a home for the Kiwi Fruit plant Mum had kindly bought me for my birthday when we went out together two weeks ago today when I was in the midst of my weekend of celebrations.

I had earmarked today to paint the small toilet but as we are continuing to have a wood fire in the evenings will need to leave that until we finish as we realise that it discolours the paintwork - lord knows what it does to our lungs so no wonder the UK government is trying to ban them!!!

We turned our attention instead to the glory-hole by my shed and the wooden arch way that is beginning to collapse.  Our plan was to cut back the orange flowering plant to a more manageable size and clear out the crap that is behind it.  The old archway was to be taken down and a temporary one put in its place to temporarily house the kiwi until John can get to the woodyard for some proper wood - although god knows when that will be - we just didn't want the plant to die in its pot in the meantime.  It didn't look like it was going to be a long job but it took us hours to get the plant cut back and the rubbish disposed of and then to carefully go through what was secreted behind.  We then moved our lovely old door back a bit and removed the old arch and John constructed the new one and I dug a big hole in readiness for the plant.

We finished and have ended up with a ginourmous space now that we have thinned out that bush - there is still some crap put back behind it but we have a decision to make about our traditional Cypriot barbeque which we rarely, if ever, use and which takes up a lot of space - having said that we are a bit loathe to do so.  Kiwi has been given a home where it will get a good amount of sunshine in the mornings and early afternoon and should be sheltered from cold winds.  If it gets going it will have miles to stretch out because apparently they can grow a fair old distance and it is in a place where, should we be graced with fruit, we will be able to harvest it.  I was really pleased with the end result - it is spurring me on to review other areas of the garden and now that I have plenty of time on my hands will work my way round.  

It was a good day and we didn't kill one another working together which is a bonus.  Supper was my super spicy leek, apple and squash soup followed by the remains of the beef noodles, a couple of episodes of The Split and a rerun of an FA Cup match from 1978 - what more could a girl want??