The last couple of days I have done very little and have been very content lounging around, reading, watching shows about renovating chateaux, chilling with the boys (Brian being one of them), baking, consuming the baking and pottering around transplanting my seeds which are growing up nicely. We are incredibly lucky to have escaped the great sadness and adversity that many are facing, so far.

My life has always been incredibly busy. I had a busy childhood, always had a busy job as a teacher, a busy family life with 2 energetic boys, husband and dog, made precious time to spend with my friends (we have now sustained 37 years of friendship through good times and bad), was a partner in a business, had adventures in holiday times, renovated our home over 12 years and generally, was always on the go.

When I left teaching as you know I was not in tip-top health. Jamie was living abroad and we took 6 weeks out of our lives to visit him, chill and recuperate. We all travelled together, rested and laughed. I feel very privileged to have been able to do that.

When we returned home we then started on the cabin build. That was really hard – much harder than we expected it to be. It was physically and mentally demanding, financially scary as we sank savings and pensions into the build and we were entering a new phase in our lives – well I was, not being a teacher anymore.

Like anyone who loved their job there was a certain period of readjustment when you loosen the bonds you had with your pupils and colleagues and develop new life patterns. My new life was busy but not in the crazy-busy way it is in school. Maybe I will chat about that another day. My new life was so much more flexible, no bells or other work type restraints. I was settling into it nicely. It still had busy times though.

We were gearing up for a very busy summer. We had ordered a van and booked it in to be converted in the Dreamcatcher theme which we were very excited about, I was working on route planners and other things to make your journey extra special.

The campervan was part of a broader Dreamcatcher Honeymoon Package we had just launched and I had started “custom-building” 3 honeymoon packages for couples getting married at the end of the summer. Jamie was living in Rio and Ross was due home from South America to be on-site during the summer season allowing Brian and me some time away to tick some of the things off on our “bucket lists”.

Then came the virus. Life abruptly stopped. The van was cancelled, Dreamcatchers closed, our income stopped, our trips had to go on hold, Brits abroad were called home, weddings were cancelled, bookings were rearranged, people with underlying health issues were told to stay in (me), Nicola stopped all construction and building work in Scotland so our new cabin had to stop in the very early stages and we were then “locked down” like everyone else in the country.

The first wee while I tried to “keep busy” as was a habit of a lifetime. I was content and as I have said before all we have to do is stay at home – my Dad had to go to war and saw things that “were better not discussed”. We are incredibly lucky also to have space outside which helps enormously.

My main aim for “lockdown” was to come out of it fitter than I went in. It was also a line of defense against the virus as my lungs would be as strong as I could make them if I did catch it. Most days I have been out on my bike or doing pilates or some other type of physical exercise. Some days though I have been very busy doing very little.

In the last 2 days, I have done nothing and I am very happy with that position. No cupboards have been cleared, no floors washed – actually, nothing has been achieved. It is a wonderful feeling just to sit and enjoy doing absolutely nothing with no regret for what could have been achieved.

I have had great conversations, eaten some lovely food, read some wise words, watched some rubbish Netflix, some hysterical YouTube videos (Jane Godely I love you) – it has been marvelous.

I have learned another lesson during “lockdown”. “Doing nothing is better than being busy doing nothing”. Tomorrow is another day. I remain incredibly grateful we are all in good health. I hope you have also managed so far to be spared the dreadful sadness that many are suffering.

Stay safe x