Yes – they’re still there.
What We Did on Our Holidays – Part 2 by 67 and Stopped Counting
Some of you may have seen my previous blog about being in total lockdown in Mallorca after mis-timing our annual March visit to the island. It started as a holiday and the rest is history.
The lockdown here is much stricter. Businesses have been instructed to shut down. As a consequence we have had to return our hire car which is obviously sensible because we can’t drive anywhere anyway.
A second consequence is that we now have no means of easily getting to the shops. It sure makes things a challenge when you’re trying to shop for a week aided only by a pensioner-style wheelie trolley and a carrier bag (for life of course).
I don’t go out to the shop myself. I had the pleasure of contracting some kind of chest infection/virus/pneumonia thing a couple of years ago on this very island. Seven days in a Mallorcan hospital sorted me out but it has left me vulnerable to such things. So my DH goes instead, but only once a week. The less you go out, the less exposure you have to the virus – a message that seems to have bypassed many in the UK from what we can see.
We spend days preparing a list so that we maximise every bit of effort. I say thank you to 58 and Counting for her Rubber Chicken advice. It has come in very handy.
So DH has to set off with his list, trolley, spare bag, passport and proof of address just in case the police stop him. A lack of any of these items lands you with an instant fine. Just think about what YOU would purchase if you could only go out once a week and only buy what you could transport in a wheelie trolley. What would it be?
One added twist to this little scenario is that our apartment is on the top floor of a three-storey block without a lift. We have a relay system for bringing it upstairs. It keeps us fit. We’ve virtually stopped buying bottled water. We only have it as actual water to drink. We use the Mallorcan mains water for tea, coffee and cooking. We’re still alive.
We are now showering every other day to save on shower gel and shampoo. I’m finding that particularly challenging as a daily shower is one of my particular joys in life – that, and clean sheets. I am reducing the number of times I do laundry and I do bigger loads. Remember the days when you separated whites from coloured? I don’t do that now. If it’s cotton it gets washed together and if it’s synthetic it gets washed together because washing liquid/powder is heavy to cart home and up to the top floor.
We think about everything we eat because there is no trotting out to Sainbury’s to pick up some ketchup or a loaf of bread. You eat what you’ve got, a bit like during WW2.
I can’t tolerate gluten anymore (it’s an age thing) so that makes shopping extra tricky. I could possibly be the only person who loses weight during this crisis LOL!
We have got the wine sorted though. A local vineyard delivers! That saves a bit of weight in the trolley. Well… you’ve got to have some pleasure in life.
67 and Stopped Counting is a Canadian girl transplanted into Yorkshire, England and loving her retired life with her husband. She has many pastimes including reading, lampwork, jewellery making, pottery and her big love, golf. She enjoys spending time in their Mallorcan hideaway and living the good life. The Spanish call retirement ‘jubilado’ – and I’m sure she will be very ‘jubilado’ when they are able to come home.
If you would like to write your own Guest Blog, about your Life under Lockdown, I’d love to hear from you! Click here to see what you need to do. It’s more important than ever that we hear each other. And if you’re reading this, and thinking ‘she doesn’t mean me‘ – you’d be wrong. Get writing!!
Stay safe. Stay sane. It’s not forever. We can do this.
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Photo by Valeria Boltneva from Pexels
