Day 77 - Puncture

One of my car tyres appeared to have a slow puncture, so I had an appointment in the city centre to get two of the tyres replaced today. I hadn’t been in the city centre since March, so I was actually looking forward to having a stroll around while I was waiting for the car to be ready. Unfortunately, due to social distancing and a majorly reduced staff in the car mechanics, it took three hours for the car to be ready! I wandered around the streets in the sun, got a takeaway burrito and then sat for a good while on one of the bridges over the river.

At once point I got a bit emotional at how much the city centre has changed, and a few tears welled up. So many shops are shut, and the ones that are open have queues to get in. It felt kind of sad how quiet everything felt. At one point I went into Boots, the first non-essential shop visit that I’ve done in months. I felt guilty, though, browsing nail varnishes and face moisturisers, so I left after not too long. I’m not sure why I felt bad. Maybe catching covid-19 while shopping for essential groceries would be easier to take than catching it while browsing night creams!

In the evening, we had a lovely BBQ, our first this year. We had vegetarian sausages and burgers, and they were actually delicious. You’d barely tell that there was no meat in them.

Fiona also sent me a little package this morning, which was a brilliant surprise. It contained Avamys spray for my hayfever (which is pretty bad at the moment), a birthday present for Peter, and a big bottle of “Squashies” scented shower gel - my favourite sweets! It’s nice feeling connected to home through these little gestures.Read more