Naps

After a really bad night sleep wise, and a week where I’ve barely left the house, my hubby got me up and out for a walk today.  It was lovely we went down to the nearby estuary for a wander. The sun was out, the tide was out and so were we.  There were a few others out and about too, noticed it was only the groups of all men who gave no quarter for social distancing, but that’s not a surprise.

Anyway, we walked. It was nice.

I came back and tried to do a bit of writing.  Did a bit, but bugger all, and I could barely keep my eyes open. Eventually, around half 2, I had to give in, and go to the sofa for a nap. 

The thing about day-time naps is that they don’t do me any good.  I know load of people who are advocates of the power nap, but they don’t’ do it for me. All naps do for me is mean that I wake up with a fuzzy head and can’t sleep the following night.  But I had to give in, and was pretty much out like a light and gone for an hour. 

Since then I’ve had a fuzzy head.

Hubby is on a night shift, so I’ve decamped to the bedroom, where there is no possibility of being distracted by the TV (I won’t have one in the bedroom), and I’m trying to write.  It’s working too, because in the hour and a half I’ve been up here, I’ve written nearly two thousand words.  Hope to get at least a few more hundred done before I settle down for the night.

So that’s me for the day.  Hope you had a successful day too.

One Step

I’ve been saying for a while that I need to exercise more, so after work today, went with hubby on another hour-long walk.  We’ve found a different route and this one is flatter, which is just as well today. After yesterday’s attempt at cycling, I’ve been struggling with my ankle. To be fair I don’t think the cycling did the damage, I think the walking up the hill in cycling shoes is what did me in.

For those who’ve never had cycling shoes, they are very rigid, the soles don’t bend like a normal shoe does. It means that you can’t walk properly in them. That’s what’s really hurt me. If you’re wondering about triathletes, apparently they swim barefoot and change their shoes between cycling and running.

So today we followed a flatter route. I took a cardigan too, and my good it was hot! I sweated buckets. Yes my ankle is complaining now, but this is the sort of thing that I need to be doing for my health. Tomorrow I may go for a WiiFit start low and work up.  The only thing with that is that I don’t want to do the weight thing, because I suspect I’ve put more weight on since last I tested.

But anyway, got to get on with doing the something active everyday and get a proper work-life-exercise balance going.

Stupid

Today has not been the best. I am so sick of the selfishiness of the general population.  The First Ministers of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have all said that lockdown is to continue for another three weeks, and that idiot Prime Minister of England loosens everything, leading to confusion and to the stupid breaking lockdown for the rest of us. Never mind that over 30,000 people have died in the first wave and that the second wave is bound to be worse.

Since I’ve only been out of the house to go to Tesco for the last week, went for a walk with my hubby today.  Usual route, not too many people out.  Most – but not all – giving space.   Got home and sat down, then dozed on the sofa.  It’s not like me to have an afternoon nap, which is a stupid move because it tends to mean that I won’t sleep tonight, but there again I have been awake since four this morning. 

I didn’t want to be, I just was, and I got up with a sore throat. My sinuses filled with hay fever, and the only eye has been running all day.  Luckily, I recognise that this is hay fever nothing more serious.  I did take the vitamins, (and eventually an antihistamine), got dressed, and sat down to write. I’ve managed 2k words today, which is a good achievement.

Steps

Today I took the tablets, did some ironing, acted the taxi, cooked a meal, was cat slave at the back door for our mog and generally kept myself busy today.

Did go out for a nice walk.  One of the old paths I remember being a bit grotty and muddy to walk through, has been properly surfaced. It made it a very pleasant walk.  A lot of old scrub has been torn down too, and now you can see into some fantastic back gardens.

I know that it’s terrible to be nosy, but be honest, who doesn’t look when they can? Some of those gardens are just lovely – really beautiful.  And a lot of them are longer than they look from the front of the houses.  Rather jealous in a couple of cases. I may have been pottering with bedding plants and the like, but I’m not a good gardener.  More a minimum doer because I have to.

The walk was a good hour though, and at a reasonable pace (for someone who vaguely remembers exercise).  At least I got up the hill without collapsing, that’s a bonus.  Though I have to say my legs are rather achy tonight, in a good way.

Recent attempts at getting back into exercise fell at the hurdle of technology.  I know I must do better, or as a friend of my told me on messenger – grab it by the throat and get on with it. Maybe tomorrow. Tonight I’m having a glass of wine (only one), then going to bed.

Also, had some bad news today. An anthology I was a part of has been dropped by the publisher. Shame, I really liked that story. So much so, it may become a new stand alone novel or at least a novella.

Another Chapter

Struggling today. Mostly okay, but my mood is low. Motivation is hard to find. Have done chores again today (changing beds and washing the linen) just to make sure that I do more than sit on the sofa all day.

Am totally annoying myself by playing on my phone too much.  Which should mean that I’ll get up and do something soon, just to stop that. Only it’s not working, hating this.  Hating myself, and I know I have to get out of this because it’s part of that damning downward spiral, but I’m not sure what to do with myself. I would happily go for a walk, but of course, that’s not happening with all the isolation measures we all need to keep to.

What I have done today, a first for a good couple of weeks, is that I actually managed to write a whole chapter of my book, that’s around 2,500 words. This was part of book four of a set of five from my steampunk. I won’t advertise it here, for the simple reason that none of the books are available at the moment. The whole series been picked up by an American publisher and will be produced again, hopefully this year, but with the Corvid-19 situation, that may be put off.

This is something else that bugs me about me. I have this voice in my head that tells me I’m crap at everything, but right this second I have publishing contracts for six books. The series of five and a standalone crime novel. That is not crap. That shows that I can write and write well. These are the things I need remind myself of – I have worth.

Right well, that’s it for me tonight. More tomorrow.

Isolation

Given the current status of the Coronavirus, we’re all now being advised not to go out unnecessarily. This is a good thing and advise we should all follow.  It’s not going to be easy for many, and could hit some vulnerable people very hard.

(photo by my husband using a drone)

Today, before this above advise was given out, I went out. We drove to Carreg Cennen Castle, an isolated place on the edge of the Brecon Beacons, and went for a wonder up the steep slope up to and then around the ruins. There were only a couple of people around, but that’s the good thing about Wales, you don’t have to go far to get away from people. I sat for a while up in the castle, and it was odd, through one window was green rolling hills, through the other, blue sky. Couldn’t get a picture because the sun was directly in the camera lens. Then a bus load of teenagers turned up to ruin the tranquillity. Still, it’s a lovely place, if you get the place to go, it’s well worth the effort, and it was an effort. Getting up the slope was tough, but only because I’ve done next to no exercise in years, it was one of the things “I used to do”. Now I have to do better.

It is going to be difficult to do any more walks with the recent government advise, but I will need to find a way to get fitter in the home. I still have various work out DVDs and access to a Wii, so no excuse really.

Whatever you’re doing, stay safe.

Book Walk

It’s reasonably well known that Charles Dickens suffered a bit with depression and used to walk a lot. Walking has always been considered beneficial exercise, and it’s something that I used to do as part of both orienteering and geocaching. ‘Used to do’, I keep coming up against that phrase, shows all the things I’ve allowed to slide over the years.

Anyway, we’re in the Forest of Dean, so a good walk is a natural progression.  It rained heavily last night so the land did what the land does, it got all muddy. In places it was a slippery slog, but I’m glad I did it. Muddy boots dry eventually.

The walk was nice, at least an hour. Saw lots of cyclist who were, to a man, filthy with the mud, couldn’t tell what colours the bikes started out but they all ended up muddy, clumpy brown. On the way around we noticed a number of signs saying that there was a booksale on today in the Memorial Hall. The only problem with that was, we had no idea where the Memorial Hall was.

It just so happened that by sheer luck, we waked past the Memorial Hall, so naturally we stopped in.  A fair while after, I had three “new” books for £1.50. Bargain.  All I have to do now, is read them.