Rainbow colours - Day 28 & 29

Having acquired face paints whilst shopping for essentials I attempted a Moaning Myrtle look:

This let me have another go with the TikTok water effect:

@lakessinglemum Channeling my Moaning Myrtle ##harrypotter ##moaningmyrtle ##fyp ##over40 ##mumsoftiktok
♬ Harry Potter Theme Song - Ost

After a couple of hours of tutoring I headed out for a run around town:

PJs and Synchronised Swimming - Day 23

As you may have noticed I have had a few manic days, so I decided to make sure today was a bit more relaxed! I started by experimenting with the water effect to create a synchronised swimming TikTok. Then I ran a shortened gardenrun in my PJs:

I had kept the run short partly because my son had asked to walk up our nearest hill the Helm:

Whilst up there I actually created a singing TikTok! All of the shenanigans are on my YouTube channel:

TikTok time for reasons to be Cheerful #R2BC

 
Welcome back to reasons to be cheerful. I am loving reading about all the things you have been doing to keep smiling in these testing times. Maybe someone else's ideas have inspired you? So please do join in!
What do you have to do? Simple:

1. Link up a post about something that is making you happy or grateful. It can be a list, photos or any way you fancy

2. Add the #R2BC badge (at the end of this post) onto your post or blog so that people can easily find the linky and join in too if they want to

3. Share the love. This is the really important bit. Please don't just link and run, comment on at least a couple of posts and why not share with #R2BC too?

I'll stop by all linked up posts to comment and I'll share on social media too. Meanwhile here are my reasons to be cheerful for this week:

1) TikTok

Regular followers will have spotted I am now on TikTok! I am having so much fun trying to workout how to create a variety of videos. My daily doses of silliness seem to be making lots of other people smile too:

So many plans for more ways of making a fool of myself on the Internet!

2) Out, out


After 2 weeks of quarantine I was allowed out again on Friday. This means that I can now look after all my self isolating relatives by doing their shopping and having the excitement of the new queuing systems (and yes I am going out dressed up!):

3) Feeling loved

I have had some lovely compliments on social media this week. It's quite daunting to post pictures and videos when you don't look like a cat walk model! However, I apparently have a lovely smile:

Special Deliveries - Day 20

I am embraced my inner cow girl today with my outfit (just missing the hat!). This was partially chosen so that I could do a dance routine for one of my TikToks:

@lakessinglemum My first dance routine. ##imsolonely ##mumsoftiktok ##over40 ##isolation ##fyp ##dance ##mumdance
♬ duet me pls im lonely - xoxosamko

Sunshine and sharpening - Day 18

It was a day to don my Victorianesque teacher garb with long skirt and lace up boots:

After more than 2 weeks of social isolation I think it got to me a bit today as I wasn't feeling much motivation. I did rustle up crumpet pizzas with, for me, a cold chicken salad:

My only successful mission was to empty out my school bag and sharpen all the pencils!

Open All Hours - Day 16

With it being Saturday it was time for my 3rd gardenrun to make up for not being able to do a parkrun. Jason seemed happy to be marshalling again:

I can't seem to get up any pace as its lots of twists and turns! If you are unable to sleep then you can watch my full live video from this morning... A virtual prize for anyone that can tell me how many laps I managed:

Garden run #3
Posted by Lakes Single Mum on Saturday, 4 April 2020

For my outfit of the day I chose to dress like Arkwright from Open All Hours:

Feeding the ducks - Day 14

The daily Joe Wicks' session had an added dose of cuteness when his little girl once again joined in the cool down:

My outfit of the day made use of my ex husband's old re-enactment padded jack and helmet:

q

I decided to join in with the duck feeding by taking care of our own flock of ducks:

Keep on Smiling #R2BC

 
Thank you so much to everyone who joined in with the relaunched linky last week. It was great to read posts from old friends and new. I hope folks managed to visit everyone else that linked up? Let's keep it up and help to raise some more smiles this week.
What do you have to do? Simple:

1. Link up a post about something that is making you happy or grateful. It can be a list, photos or any way you fancy

2. Add the #R2BC badge (at the end of this post) onto your post or blog so that people can easily find the linky and join in too if they want to

3. Share the love. This is the really important bit. Please don't just link and run, comment on at least a couple of posts and why not share with #R2BC too?

I'll stop by all linked up posts to comment and I'll share on social media too

1) Dressing up

I have been carrying on with the dressing up. Some outfits are definitely more practical than others! Here is a selection from the week:

Any ideas for things I can do with what I have at home are welcome!

2) Uplifting online community

We are so lucky to be on lockdown in a digital world. So many people putting things online to help others. I have been taking part in the Joe Wicks PE workout on each week day. Having a boost of endorphins to start my day really helps:

There are so many other groups and free classes that its possible to be busy all day!

3) Cooking

I am really enjoying all the home cooking and making the best of all the fresh ingredients I have been able to get delivered. 

Cooking with mother - Day 13

It was once again a Joe Wicks start to the day and I live streamed my workout - one way of encouraging myself to get back in to better shape! Then I had decided to go for something simple in the fancy dress and chose Rosie the Riveter from the US WW2 posters:

If anyone has any sensible suggestions for costumes then please comment! I have no idea how long I can keep this up....

After a maths tutoring session I had a lovely virtual tea break chatting to a friend in Lancashire. I am finding that I am speaking to so many different people whilst alone at home!

This afternoon I decided to use up some of the slightly stale bread to make another bread pudding. As my son won't eat dried fruit I decided to make a chocolate one instead. I modified the Delia Smith recipe to make up my own:

• 110 g (4 oz) bread with crusts cut off
• 135 ml (5 fl oz) of milk
• 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
• 25 g (1 oz) of melted butter
• 35 g (1.5 oz) soft brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons nutmeg/cinnamon or mixed spice
• 1 medium egg beaten
• 100 g (3.5 oz) chocolate chips

1. Break the bread into suitable size pieces and put in a bowl.
2. Put the cocoa powder in a bowl and add a bit of the milk and mix to a paste.
3. Slowly add the rest of the milk and stir until mixed.
4. Pour over the bread, mix and leave it to soak in for about 30 minutes. [rest of recipe further down!]

I didn't want to waste the crusts I googled how to make croutons in the air fryer whilst waiting for the mixture to absorb. At this point my daughter FaceTimed me and decided she wanted to make some too. So I talked her through it whilst I was cooking:

Home cooking - Day 12

Well this morning I once again joined in with Joe Wicks and he had permission from George Ezra and Dua Lipa to use their music. It meant that not only did we have silly moves but a chance to boogie as well:

View this post on Instagram

Today’s @thebodycoach workout I’m a rabbit/kangaroo #isolation #quarantine #stayhome #pewithjoe

A post shared by Becky Willoughby (@lakessinglemum) on Mar 31, 2020 at 1:49am PDT

For my costume today I decided to try and do something a bit different. So here I am as Frida Kahlo complete with a monobrow:

It turns out that I was very lucky to get an order in with Parsons for a home delivery of essentials as today was the last time they were doing it. Lots of fresh produce for the week ahead:

We're going on a bear hunt - Day 11

After yesterday's exertions I surprised myself by mostly managing the Joe Wick's live workout:

It then took me quite a while to decide what I should dress up as today... Decided on something comfy and practical so went for a Mallory Towers inspired school girl look:

After I'd done some chores and my son had done some school work I turned our last (rather ripe) banana into pancakes for a lunchtime pudding:

Climbing Scafell Pike - Day 10

Today's fun and games started in the early hours as I had been in a zoom party that included looking at the Pylon of the month. Did you know there is a pylon appreciation society?

Not surprisingly I had a lovely, long lie in this morning and then chilled watching Mary Poppins Returns!

This afternoon I took up the challenge of ascending the equivalent of Scafell Pike on my stairs. It was a major workout! I was glad of a soup break at the half way point:

I am also trying to grow carrots from the tops of the ones we have eaten. No idea how successful this will be:

Gardenrun and air frying - Day 9

It's hard to maintain normality when the world isn't normal but it's Saturday which means parkrun - though obviously we can't do one of those. So instead I did another gardenrun this time assisted by Jason Momoa:

Here is my full run report:

Today's outfit was lady in need of a hairdresser after 12 weeks of isolation:

It did turn out that I had it on back to front:

Gardening and cooking - Day 8

We are now into the second week of isolation and still surviving! I once again kick started my day with a Joe Wicks live workout (how will we survive without him over the weekend...) which gets you feeling energised. Then I had another successful video tutoring session over zoom. I really think I will be using it when life gets back to "normal".

Today I chose to dress as Professor Sprout, can't think why a neighbour asked if the stress was getting to me:

The Herbology professor seemed a good choice as I decided to tackle the front garden to give it a much needed first mow and a little weeding/trimming session:

Fairy Stuff - Day 7

It almost feels like we are living in a bubble having not been out for a week. Things in the outside world have turned upside down but we are mostly shielded as we haven't been out. I can't do much to help except by trying to keep everyones's spirits up and give ideas for how to keep sane whilst staying home to stay safe.

I kick started my day with Joe Wicks to help keep fit. It turned out to be extra mood lifting as not only did he accidentally punch himself in the jaw but his daughter toddled in and helped him with the cool down:

All of these sunny days have meant that a rare phenomenon has occurred and the bottom of my laundry basket has made an appearance:

Today's outfit turned me into a fairy:

Reasons to be Cheerful: Return of linky #R2BC

 
I don't think we have ever needed to feel more positive than we do right now. However it can be hard with all that's going on. So I have decided to dig out the Reasons to be Cheerful linky and get it back up and running, on its original Thursday. The linky was started by the lovely Michelle many years ago and many of us have found it helped us through tough times. Therefore I am hoping people will join back in.
What do you have to do? Simple:

1. Link up a post about something that is making you happy or grateful. It can be a list, photos or any way you fancy

2. Add the #R2BC badge (at the end of this post) onto your post or blog so that people can easily find the linky and join in too if they want to

3. Share the love. This is the really important bit. Please don't just link and run, comment on at least a couple of posts and why not share with #R2BC too?

I'll stop by all linked up posts to comment and I'll share on social media too

1) Feeling Loved

Being stuck at home can be lonely but so many of my friends and family are checking in on me and looking after me. It makes me realise that I am not alone even when I can't get out. It's the little extra things like chocolates included in my shopping too!

The online worldwide community is fabulous too with the rainbows spreading around the globe.

2) Making others smile

I've been dressing up in something from my dressing up box every day. It's helping to make other people smile so its a good thing all round:

3) Time

I've been short on time recently due to work commitments and all our activities. Now we don't have any where to go we have so much of it! My son has been baking:

Medieval mayhem - Day 6

It was another glorious sunny day up here so my choice of medieval attire turned out to be a trifle warm today:

I had a pretty busy day of real work as I was tutoring 3 of my regular students. We are all getting the hang of this video conferencing stuff. It's a steep learning curve but its making such a difference to my ability to still earn a little money, despite being confined to the house.

My son decided I had worked hard enough and said I had to come out in the garden for some fresh air:

He had even gone off and made me some peanut butter cookies:

Cooking up some magic - Day 5

The realities of the new rules haven't really hit our home as we can't leave any way. We are settling into our isolation routines and I started off with my Joe Wicks live workout:

Then it was time to don today's silly outfit before hanging out the washing:

I was interviewed by CFR Radio about the rainbow on my window. They used some of it on their news bulletin which I heard this evening. It's great to know that the rainbows are spreading around the world.

My son was more enthusiastic about doing his maths work than his other subjects! He did ask to do some cooking which counted towards his food tech. He rustled up some cheesy crackers:

Into the unknown - Day4

I am writing this just after Boris Johnson announced that the UK is now in lockdown. We are heading even more into the unknown as we battle against this pandemic. I will keep on trying to post positive posts and doing my silly things to try and raise smiles whilst we are stuck indoors! 

So today I joined in with over 1 million people around the world with a Joe Wicks PE workout:

That set me up for the day! As the sun was shining I could also get another lot of washing on the line, today I hung it out whilst dressed as a pirate:

I had been worried about how I was going to top up my electricity meter as it needs to physically be taken to a shop! My lovely neighbour agreed to take it for me and we used sensible precautions to get the card exchanged. It was then time to check out the bread I had baked last night:

Mother's Day - Day 3

Like many people for whom today was Mother's Day it was incredibly surreal. With social isolation and distancing I wasn't able to give my mum her card even though she only lives 1 mile from our house:

To cheer me up I joined the global trend of putting a rainbow in your window as a symbol of hope. There is also a virtual Easter egg hunt. Just hope the paint comes off as easily as folks say: 

In order to raise a few smiles I spent the entire day dressed as an elf! It did make folks laugh on the video chats I had... Of course going out for a Mother's Day lunch was off the cards. I made myself a ploughman's and sat out on the lawn for a picnic. My son also tried to teach me how to play Magic the Gathering: