Life on lockdown......

How are you finding lockdown?

For extroverts it is quite a difficult time but many introverts are loving the shutdown and the going out ban - their natural habitat is indoors away from others!

For me, I found it very difficult to work from home on Tuesday so I was glad to get in to the office on Wednesday and Thursday (I am working on an essential service community helpline) but will be back working remotely from home tomorrow.

Here's a few suggestions of what to do if you are cocooning at home and staying safe and well indoors away from risk of exposure 

• Play cards
• Bake a cake
• Learn a language (courses available for free through Irish Libraries)
• Study online
• Paint
• Sew bunting and hang out in your front garden for neighbours to enjoy
• Blog
• Enjoy art 
• Download an eBook or eMagazine (check out your library website and get these items for free)
• Rearrange your book shelves - but them in size or colour order
• Virtual meetups with friends through apps like Zoom - why not organize a brunch, afternoon tea or themed meetup - 80's themed sounds fun!!

Light a candle and relax and enjoy

Or maybe the most useful of all thing to do is to volunteer.  Even if it is just a case of calling to elderly neighbours and volunteering to do a bit of food shopping for them.

Can you think of anything else you could do? 

One thing you certainly shouldn't do is attempt to cut or dye your hair yourself at home.  Don't do it folks!  Just wait until the hairdressers reopen......

Put a little Joux in your life!

Introducing "Joux"

This is my sister Lydia's cat.  He lives in The Netherlands after travelling from Muscat, Oman with Lydia in the cabin with Turkish Airlines.

He is an indoors cat and never ventures out.  His only experience of the outside is looking out Lydia's apartment window and chattering at birds. He is quite adorable and makes the funniest little sound when looking at the birds. 

Other than that he sleeps.....a lot......and then wakes up and begs for treats and food.

Quite the indulged little guy but an absolute gorgeous fur ball and great company.

Weekends are for Takeaway!

Since all of our favourite restaurants have closed we have been eating at home every evening. I've been cooking simple items like meatballs, chicken, baked broccoli and cauliflower cheese. I generally have cooked one night and then eaten the same meal over two nights. It makes sense to do this when cooking only for two and it saves on the clean up.

Here's some of the items I cooked......and I also bought some L'Or coffee for my coffee maker - I'm saving a fortune by not buying takeaway coffees!

The below are puff pastry with cream cheese, tomato puree and chorizo. Delish!

However, when the weekend came it was time for a takeaway!  We got Rasoi last weekend which is an Indian takeaway restaurant in Ranelagh and it does amazing food. So tasty and travels well in comparison to some takeaway food.  I had biryani for the first time and it was delicious - I'll definitely order it again.

This weekend we plan to order from Dillingers which is were we would generally be found of a Friday night.  So if we can't go to Dillingers it will come to us!

Working from Home

When this Covid-19 pandemic ends, it is going to be a changed world. 

Never could I imagine a few months ago that I would be in a position where I would be working from home. Starting out working in libraries over 20 yrs ago, I generally saw myself  as working in Librarian positions that meant I would be based in a Library branch . However, over the years I moved around and worked in different areas of library services that meant being based in Library HQ and not just branches. The roles were varied and I always thought that there were elements that could be done remotely. My current role is very much desk based in Library HQ and so with the spread of the Covid19 virus and the shutdown of the country I found myself today in the situation where I worked remotely from home for the first time.

I'm sure many companies have found themselves suddenly in the position where they may not have been set up for remote working but they quite quickly had to get set up. It's heartening to see and it is great to see technology being embraced and utilised to allow this to happen. It means that industy can continue while workers are kept safe and hopefully will lead to a flattening of the curve.  Ireland is still a few weeks away from the peak of this so time will tell whether all of our efforts will work.  And when this is all over, we will probably have a changed work landscape and some may not return to the traditional work office setting......time will tell on this one also.

Here's a few pics of my desk set up at home

This was where I set up my desk firstly but then moved to the other side of the room to give me a better view facing out to the stairs

First task of the day was to make a cup of coffee!

 

Working girl!

My view from the studio

For posterity - my sisters  in their homes in The Hague Netherlands, Galway Ireland and me in Dublin 31/03/2020

A fun fact about the picture of the 4 of us - we are all twins!!
Guess which twin goes with which twin!

Group meetups online

All across the world, people are still managing meeting while at the same time distancing themselves physically.  

How this is possible is by using meeting apps like Zoom or group What's app video chats.

I've had lots of meet ups with both friends as well as my sisters who are living in different countries and also in Galway in Ireland.

They are sure are fun (especially if the gathering is over a glass of wine or two) and they definitely keep the spirits up while preventing social isolation.

Another thing that is happening is that choirs and orchestras are putting on amazing performances from their own homes. This is one of my favourites.....Enjoy!

Sunday: Deserted Ranelagh

We walked to Ranelagh this morning in order to give the dog exercise and in order for us to pick up some groceries for the week.

The clocks went forward last night so although we were out walking at 10am it technically was 9am - so perhaps this meant that the village was sleepier than usual Sunday mornings.

There were very few people out on the streets with no traffic.

I went to Supervalu where it seemed like the shop was ticking over with people shopping but with no queue outside.  Ciaran went to Lidl where he found very few people to be in the shop.  Both shops had fully stocked shelves with plenty of food. It looks like there is no need to stock up or panic buy - however it is probably wise to buy enough food for a week or two so as to cut down on the amount of visits you have to make to the shops which should cut down the risk of exposure to the virus.

After doing a separate shop we both met up outside Lidl and walked home promptly.

It was a grey morning (but seems to be brightening up a little now) and the temperature felt noticeably cooler than yesterday which was really bright and sunny.

Here's some pics I took of the streets around Appian Way and Ranelagh - for some of them I stood in the middle of the road which would be unthinkable on other days.

Hope you are doing well during this self isolating period.  Stay safe and stay home!

Covid-19: Ireland is shutdown

Hard to believe in some way, the situation the world is in, with no country being unaffected at this time from Covid-19. From a new virus being discovered in China in 2019, to its spread from China to Europe and beyond over the first months of 2020, we now find our selves in Ireland in a country that has gradually had movements restricted to the current restrictions.  At midnight last night the country was shutdown with only movement of essential workers allowed or visits to the shops within 2km of your home, with the main message being to "Stay at Home".

With over 2,000 cases in Ireland and 22 deaths RIP, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar took advice from Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan to put these restrictions in place.

This is the most sombre blog post I have ever written.....and I know there is worse to come. However, I truly believe that Ireland is in a good position in comparison to other countries. I trust those in charge, they have responded in a manner befitting of the situation and have followed all guidance from the World Health Organisation.  Schools were closed by March 13th and the majority of people have restricted their social contacts over the last few weeks with many only having contact with their close family within their houses. ICU beds have been increased, albeit from a low level with additional personal protective equipment on its way from China with the national airline Aer Lingus commissioning flights for its delivery.  We are strong, we have a decisive caretaker government in place. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Ministers Simon Coveny and Simon Harris are dedicated and experienced and are doing their very best. I am proud of them.

I fear for the UK and USA - I think they did not react quickly or correctly.

I pray Ireland will not become like Italy or Spain.

To end this post, I say that as a world wide population, we are strong, we are resilient and we will get through this.  

This will pass.