Derby Arms, Witherslack

Going to the pub since lockdown eased has not been at the top of my priority list as they seem to be places that potentially cause outbreaks. Also I didn't go to the pub much before lockdown! However, as we had parked next to The Derby Arms for our walk to Halecat House, it was the obvious choice for a late lunch.

It was very reassuring to see all the COVID-19 safety procedures with a one way system into the pub and hand cleaning as you came in:

One person had to register our group for track and trace. There was only table service able, only max 2 households at a table, and the menu was on the wall and not as one you held. We were verbally told the sandwich options:

All over the floor there were markers to show the one way system and lines to keep everyone socially distanced. Luckily for Sherlock the rules don't apply to dogs and he made a new friend:

Free School Meals during lockdown

Free school meals first appeared in Manchester in 1879, another reason to be proud of my Mancunian heritage! However, it took until 1906 for the Liberal government to introduce legislation allowing local authorities to provide meals. Due to the lack of provision more legislation in 1944 made it compulsory for all authorities to supply nutritious meals for all pupils. Over the 1980s and 1990s the emphasis switched to keeping meals as cheap as possible and making it harder to qualify. It wasn't until 2001 that food standards improved again.

The way they are administered as also change. It used to be obvious which children were getting their school meal for free which caused embarrassment for some. Nowadays, in normal times, lunch systems are electronic and pupils are credited each day. No one needs to know who isn't paying for their own food.

During lockdown most children have not been in school and so new systems have been developed.  Some schools chose to make food packs for pupils in receipt of free school meals. Others made use of the government voucher scheme with supermarkets. Like any new government computer system this had big flaws to start with.

Like many families an extended period of furlough, with vastly reduced income from both employment (as a supply teacher) and self employment, has pushed us under the threshold for eligibility for free school meals for my son. I applied via my county council and this week I was sent an e-mail to claim the vouchers for 3 weeks. The web site gave me a choice of a range of supermarkets. As I shop at Asda and Morrisons I selected these two.

The Asda one is very flexible and I was able to use it when I did our click and collect order. I just had to add in the code and the PIN at the checkout.

The Morrisons one can only be used in the store which is less flexible. I also hadn't got it up and ready on my phone before I got to the checkout... It was a good job there wasn't any one behind us!

As my furlough has been confirmed until the end of August I am grateful that Marcus Rashford successfully campaigned for free school meals to continue over the school holidays. This means one less thing to worry about whilst seeking out a permanent job.

Pool and prizes - Days 35 & 36

As we are going to be stuck at home for the foreseeable future I bought us a replacement pool which arrived in the morning. I set it up in the garden and my neighbour let me fill it up with her hose. Whilst the water was warming in the sun we walked up the Helm:

This time we went all the way along the ridge and met friends on the way. When we got back I was so hot I tested out the still freezing cold pool:

I had to let the water out whilst in it as the pool was on too much of a slope! My son brought me tea whilst I was there:

Sherlock and Cookies - Day 33

This morning I was tutoring and preparing my lessons for the week. Before I started I had another experiment with the green screen on TikTok:

@lakessinglemum My heart will go on ##myheartwillgoon ##celinedion ##titanc ##fyp ##mumsoftiktok ##mumsontiktok ##over40club
♬ My Heart Will Go On - Love Theme from "Titanic" - Céline Dion

We were a bit short on lunch options so we made simple pizzas and cheesy, garlic bread with tortillas:

Then I headed off Morrisons to get shopping in for folks who are shielding:

Tiling done and a local hike - Day 32

Having discovered the Green Screen effect on TikTok I had a go at being Moana before breakfast:

@lakessinglemum Moana ##moana ##howfarillgo ##mumsoftiktok ##over40 ##fyp
♬ How Far I'll Go - From "Moana" - Heartfire

Once I had eaten it was time to tackle the last of the tiling around the loo. Its so hard (without a proper measuring tool) to accurately cut the tiles. Any how it looks a lot better than the old lino:

My reward was a penalty shoot out with Jason, have to admit I actually missed the goal on my first shot:

Rainbow running and floor tiles - Day 31

As I had a second coat of paint to get on the loo walls I was up pretty early this morning. I needed to get it done as I had my violet rainbow run to do! In the end I headed out for a 10 km run at 11 which was pretty warm. I loved running out along the canal and river with my fairy wings on:

Having broken a few Strava segment PBs I was ready for a lovely cold Erdinger as not only is it alcohol free but its isotonic so perfect after strenuous activity:

After lunch I was able to put the shelves back up and put the tents and camping gear away neatly. Then I braved tiling the interestingly shaped section of the floor (I need to be brave about the skirting boards at some point!):

Running in circles and painting the loo blue - Day 30

This morning was parkrun today so I tried out an improved gardenrun with less corners and using indoor tracking. It gave me a much more realistic 35 minute time:

@lakessinglemum My gardenrun this morning ##bennyhill ##gardenrun ##loveparkrun ##running ##fyp ##over40 ##mumsoftiktok
♬ Benny Hill Theme - TV Themes

I did the best I could to replicate a National Trust coffee and scones:

Then I had to go and get the shelves back up where I painted yesterday:

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:

Ghost town and running - Day 27

Today was so beautiful I decided it was time to go for a horse ride:

@lakessinglemum Lovely morning for a horse ride ##oldtownroad ##horse ##fyp ##over40 ##mumsoftiktok
♬ Old Town Road - Lil Nas X/Billy Ray Cyrus

Then I got myself all wrapped up for a trip into town to get my car tyre fixed and pick up some essentials:

I haven't been into town since before lockdown and it was just like a ghost town with closed shops and virtually no-one around:

Surprises and walking in the sunshine - Day 26

Whilst I was tutoring this morning I jumped at a noise at the window. Turned out our window cleaner is still able to carry on working as he is only outside our homes:

Throughly the freshly cleaned windows our painted window made a beautiful shadow on the fireplace:

I managed to make a couple more TikToks today. It was fun working on my lip syncing for this one:

It's Raining Men - Day 25

As I couldn't sleep in again I got up and tidied the kitchen before setting up for today's big TikTok. This partly involved lowering my life size Jason Momoa from my bedroom window using a skipping rope:

This was so I could shoot an It's raining men video:

@lakessinglemum It’s raining men! ##itsrainingmen ##fyp ##over40 ##mumsoftiktok ##jasonmomoa

♬ It's Raining Men - The Weather Girls

My mission for today was to get my daughter's shopping. I donned a simple outfit but got spotted by a friend who snapped me:

Lazy Easter Sunday - Day 24

It has been a busy few days so I decided to have a completely lazy Easter Sunday. However I did make a couple of easy TikToks:

My son and I played a short game of Dungeon (I lost!):

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:

Fairy enough - Days 21 and 22

As I did my reasons to be cheerful post yesterday I decided to combine my corona diaries from 2 days into 1. 

It was my parents turn for their shopping delivery. This time I used the Sainsbury's app to reduce my stress levels and make for the least human contact possible. Delivering to the house is a case of putting everything on the doorstep, ringing the bell and then beating a hasty retreat:

My reward was a chance to give Sherlock a good tummy rub:

I also spent some time sorting out more of the kitchen, making TikToks and doing my jigsaw!

This morning I headed out for my weekly fairy run:

On a really warm morning it was lovely to make so many people smile and hear some children call out "Hello fairy" as I ran down the other bank of the river. Whilst running I managed to capture some footage:

After a couple of TikToks and some laundry I went to check on my daughter and give her a chance to have time with her dog whilst dropping off some supplies:

She and I even managed to film a socially distant TikTok together after I had taught her the moves! All this video making is giving me practice at my make up and allowing me to embrace my grey hair:

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!

Socially Distant Exercise - Day 17

My son wanted to exercise with me today so we needed to choose a local location that had plenty of space. We opted for the old canal trail which borders our street. At first there were quite a few family groups heading in the same direction, but luckily they deviated to a different footpath. This meant we had time to be careful about crossing stiles without using our hands:

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We alternated between walking and running along the old canal and managed to maintain a safe distance from other walkers. It was only after we got back to Hawes Bridge that the number of other people increased:

It was a beautiful spring day and it was such a pleasure to see all the lambs gambolling around the fields:

Today should have been the Manchester Marathon I've been training for since before Christmas. As that is on hold until October I'm just trying to maintain my base fitness. My son is also trying to not lose his race fitness whilst all his clubs and races are suspended:

As we came back into our street I noticed that our community flower bed is looking amazing with all its tulips in full glory:

As I was only going to be getting the laundry in I decided to have a go at emulating Lauren Bacall in a little black dress and pearls:

The Mazzle is starting to come together. I am learning more about the location of the fells in the Central Lake District:

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:

Fancy Dress Friday - Day 15

Joe Wicks had asked people to dress up for today's workout so I decided on my fairy outfit:

Turns out that fairy wings aren't great for crunches! However they weren't too bad for running in... I was finally out of quarantine so I decided to head for my favourite local cross country route. On the way I went passed a police van. They stopped and asked if I need sectioning! Then I was asked by an NHS worker to stop for a photo:

It was wonderful to a) be out running in the real world b) to be making people smile with my outfit. I managed to get some video clips of myself out on the old canal:

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:

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