Surviving Lockdown 2.0 – Reasons to be cheerful No.1 – Exercise

There are no time limits on exercise for Lockdown 2.0. 40 minutes of fast walking or gentle jogging will be more than enough to get the blood pumping and those endorphins released!

There are no limits to the amount of times you exercise so you can mix it up:

You could start the day with some gentle yoga stretches to wake up your body.

Escape from the workload at lunchtime with a dog walk, you don’t need a dog but I find it helps get me out of the house everyday whatever the weather.

Maybe sneak in a quick kayak on the Yealm before sunset or a gentle jog with the head-torches on Revelstoke Drive.

Surviving Lockdown 2.0 – Reasons to be cheerful No.2 – TV

As if you needed an excuse to hunker down and get stuck into some TV!!!

We started watching His Dark Materials on Sunday, it’s not everyone’s cup of tea but as afamily we’re hooked! I’m still enjoying Strictly Come Dancing despite the it being a bit odd, you’ve got to love Bill Bailey. Working our way through Roadki – is it just me who is finding it harder to tell the difference between Hugh Laurie & High Grant??? Talking of Hugh Grant I’ve lined up The Undoing for a binge watch this weekend, has anyone started it yet?

OK so we can’t go to the cinema at the moment, to be honest after watching Saint Maud at the Vue Plymouth before lockdown I’m not as bothered as usual. It got rated 7.1 on IMBD – I mean really??? I loved the reclining chairs though, it’s worth a visit for them alone. Let’s hope that they don’t push all the big films back to 2021 .

Anchor Cottage has a brand new Panasonic TX-50GX800B 50 inch LED 4K Ultra HD HDR Smart TV with Dolby Vision & Dolby Atmos Sound with Sky so you’ll be able to download all the box sets or sign into your own Netflix or Amazon account – you’re welcome!

Surviving Lockdown 2.0 – Reasons to be cheerful no.3 – Food

Lockdown 2.0 isn’t as sunny as Lockdown 1.0 so we’re going to need to boost our Vitamin D, and did you know that we need vitamin C to absorb vitamin D? Me neither! So it’s time to get all the lovely green veg down us, kale and greens are super cheap at the moment and make the perfect sides for all the wonderful comfort meals like roast dinners, sausage and mash and pies.

My lovely sister gave me a discount code for Gousto just before lockdown and I have to say I’m loving it. It just takes out all the thinking of weekday meals. One of my twins has been veggie for just over a year and despite having once been a vegetarian for 17 years I had completely run out of ideas. The whole family are vegetarian during the week to cut down our meat consumption and we were just cooking the same old meals.  Gousto has revived our menu with loads of great ideas, we had marmite and tofu teriyaki last night and it was delicious – I know!!!

We are also incredibly lucky to have a great veg shop, bakery and deli nearby and our new zero waste shop opened at the weekend so no more supermarkets for me :). I think one of the lasting positive benefits of Covid-19 will be shopping locally at lot more. It really helps our local businesses and is much less stress.

There is a wonderful community shop in Noss Mayo selling lots of beautiful bread from Salcombe bakery including their amazing sourdough loaf, they pulses and lots of genera provisions and if you need more there’s a co-op just up the road. We can also arrange for outside caterers for that special occasion or food deliveries from some fantastic local delis – just ask.

Surviving Lockdown 2.0 – Reasons to be cheerful no.4 – Working from home

I opened Anchor Cottage in early March 2020 and had my first bookings for Easter, two weeks later I closed Anchor Cottage and cancelled all bookings, all money refunded back into my guests accounts. I made use of the time to paint and deep clean and get used to the cottage. I replaced the fridge and freezer, I upcycled chests of drawers and I framed my pictures.

This time round in Lockdown 2.0 my three boys are in school/college so at least I don’t have to juggle the home schooling! I’m making the most of the time getting Anchor Cottage ready for Christmas – follow @HolidayCottagesNossMayo to see the latest photos. I’m a complete Christmas devotee so being able to decorate this early in the season is excellent!

Anchor Cottage has free WiFi so you can work remotely if you need to, you could treat yourself to a post Lockdown 2.0 break and after a day’s work get on a kayak and paddle to The Swan for a glass of red or a Christmas Bailey’s – go on you deserve it!

Surviving Lockdown 2.0 – Reasons to be cheerful no. 5 – Sleep

I really struggled with my sleep in Lockdown 1.0 I think I was worrying about Holiday Cottages Noss Mayo and whether we’d ever be able to open, the impact on the kids, my ability to home school, the heat…

Lockdown 2.0 feels much easier, it’s cool enough to run and I’m getting out there at least once a week. I’ve also taken up wild swimming which is doing wonders for my general mood. And baths, the darker nights mean I can’t wait to get the candles lit, the Neal’s Yard geranium bubble bath poured and slide into the bliss with my book. I always sleep so much better after a long soak in the tub.

Can we talk about mattresses? After investing in top quality mattresses at Anchor Cottage I am now saving hard to get my own mattress at home replaced. It makes such a huge difference. I think being able to open the balcony window at Noss Mayo and hear the water also helps…