Sunday 10 January 2021

Being content...

          I would liken the word ‘lockdown’ to Marmite; 

          you either love or loathe it!

          I’ve always adored Marmite from the very moment 

          that my mum cut a crust from a loaf of bread and ‘crust and Marmite’

          became very much a feature in our diet! Toast, too...dripping with butter

          and Marmite ...yum!

         

          Just like Marmite, lockdown has suited me ...yet I know so many 

          people who have hated, loathed and detested the last year simply 

          because of the constraints placed upon them. It’s not been easy for many. 

          I’m so lucky. And I know it.


          I’ve always been content at home. Being brought up in a place

          where we had the woods, fields, nature on our doorstep, helped. I

          soon understood that the simple things in life are free...and generally

          are the best; well I think so! As a child, I made my own amusement

          and would often escape into the woods or on to the heathland with an

          ISpy book tucked into my pocket...happy days!  Even on a wet day

          ( and we get plenty of those in Devon), life wasn’t boring. I had books...

          and plenty of them;  I collected stamps; it’s how I learned about the world

          as well as how to be patient with stamp hinges and tweezers! 

          I had my old Singer Sewing Machine, I even knitted clothes for 

          my sister’s Sindy and Patch dolls! 


          I’ve always enjoyed a simple home life...gardening, cooking, sewing, reading.

          I suppose because much of my working life was in teaching, to get home

          on a Friday night and relax, was a joy! 

       

          And so I have coped better with lockdown than most and I’ve embraced

          the pleasures that have come alongside.


          Now that isn’t to say that I don’t sympathise with people who are stuck in

           an inner city flat, maybe alone. It isn’t to say that I don’t think about the

          thousands who have passed away from this awful virus. It isn’t to say that

          I don’t grieve. I do. It’s been the most wretched time for so many...

          lost friends, lost relatives, lost jobs. It’s simply awful.There isn’t a day goes by

          when I don’t think about all of that.


           And oh...how I miss seeing family! That’s the worst part. BUT..as my 

           other half  reminds me, when I’m feeling teary, 

           “Be glad that they are all safe and well, Sal.”

           And I am...of course I am..my family being most precious!


            And now, I must away! Time for a cuppa...and some toast..

            (not forgetting the Marmite!) 😁

2 comments:

  1. Did you know M&S and selling a Marmite cream cheese. I will pick you up some next time I go. I have found a lot of contentment at home this winter - sometimes you just have to remind yourself that you're lucky to have somewhere warm and safe (and if that somewhere has a groaning bookcase, so much the better!) X

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