Six months on and a new routine

 Sitting in my art room listening to music and typing away on this computer, I can hear the sounds of the rain as it lashes onto the windows. 

Only a couple of days ago I was sitting in a sundress in the garden catching the last of the summer sun before autumn took its hold, and now its here.

On this day in 2018, I was still in Puerto Cruz, Tenerife.It was a Monday so I was most likely out and about the town and beach having a lovely time. 

The year before I had escaped earlier and had recently returned from the Costa del Sol after spending a really enjoyable time at the Hotel Angela. Catering very much for the English over fifties, it had an old fashioned charm about it and was well placed for all the amenities close by.

Last year, 2019, was a bumper year. Oh, what a great year.

Recently back from the second of two cruises to the north, I was loved-up by everything I'd seen. I'd fallen head over heels in love with the north and was like Tigger, bouncing up and down to go and do it again. I wasn't alone in those who were quite happy to stay on board and go round again.

I'd experienced so much and seen even more that even now, when I look at the pictures I have stuck all over the walls, I remember.

Memories, such important things and the more we have the richer we are. 

No longer do I have to rely on memories of youth to keep me happy, just a matter of six years ago when it flashes up on Facebook of Turkey, Roman ruins, four years ago of dockyards, markets, town squares and coffee houses each with the ubiquitous shot of my coffee cup. 

Memories, which act as triggers and send me back to those particular moments in time and if they are strong enough I can almost smell the aroma of where it was. 

Now?

This strange, static normal?

One day really does merge into one and memories stopped in many ways when the virus hit and we all ended up home alone. 

Six months later and I have much of the money I had invested in new memory creation returned by the travel companies, so it is being placed into the garden and turning that into something which will entertain me whilst I am here. 

I have one holiday left this year and sadly I really don't feel its a good idea to go with the increased infection numbers and that Spain itself is also suffering from what looks like a second outbreak. I am all about making memories but ones lying in a hospital fighting for my life because I walked into the virus is not one of them.

I look at my diary for this year's September month......three visits to my best friend's house, two appointments for nail therapy and paying the window cleaner his next six months of payments. 

Not inspiring when it comes to memory building, but I'm fit, healthy and ready to go. Come the vaccine, I'm all over it and the chocks come off from under my wheels and I'm off.....

......I wonder where ?

First signs of autumn

Between gardening,  reading, crafting and going out for a walk, life carries on as normal. I've established a new routine and it appears to suit me.

Sunday I decided to go for a walk in Kings Hill. It's a really nice area with wide open boulevards, trees and cycle paths.

Parking in Asda car park gives you 3 hours of free parking unless you can get in round the corner in the free all day area (a rare occurrence because of its duration and price), so setting the timer on my phone I wandered.

Walking past the new builds once more, I took a picture; yes, it does bring back so many memories. 

Anyway, intrigued as always by already established paths and roadways which, as yet, lead to nowhere, I wandered down. 

Intriguing.

It looks as if there's a field which could turn into either houses or a mixture of houses and open park land for playgrounds etc. It ends with the main dual carriageway to the M2 so it's not the sort of place if you want quiet.

Looking at my timer I still had another hour and twenty so returning to the car, I made myself a coffee and enjoyed sitting and watching.

Three hours of real heaven being nosy and still practicing maximum social distancing.

The r-rate it between 1.0 and 1.2 so I am quite happy to reduce my contact with others even further. I have a small bubble of two or three and that'll suit me fine.

Roll on some form of vaccine....that works, in the mean time, flu jab booked for the start of October so that'll be one infection I can tick off the possible.

A walk, a building site, a memory

 

Tucked in next to the pergola was my home

I decided the day was a nice one and drive to Manor Park in West Malling. It's a nice little park and has good toilets, nice picnic tables, a large pond with ducks and walks through the more wooded areas of the parkland.

It also connects directly to a route into Kings Hill.

I decided I would take a stroll over the bridge and explore some of the footpaths and bridle ways in the area as I wandered. 

As I walked into Kings Hill I watched as builders were progressing to the second floor of the new builds springing up off the main thoroughfare. 

I smiled.

I was taken back in time to when I was first married and looking for our very first house together. I had put a deposit down on a plan and now as the scaffolding grew to the second floor, we could start to see the front of the house emerging.

Tucked into the corner, our property was beginning to take shape and we knew we would be moving in the fullness of time.

I looked back at these new-builds and thought of those who would be buying these properties and had no doubt done the same as us and longingly looked at the first shoots of the dream they had made.