Face masks

As the pandemic lockdown begins to lift in the UK I thought that I had better get organised. Imagining that there will probably be some situations where face masks are required to be worn and with medical standard masks in short supply and, rightly, reserved for medical professionals, care workers and vulnerable individuals, I decided to make some.

A few weeks ago someone shared a link to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website - an organisation in the US.  Not only do they have a very helpful section on how to properly put on, wear, and take off a face mask safely, but a few ways that you can make one.

There are a number of no-sew options but I decided to give the version that required sewing a go - not least because it gave me a good excuse to dig out all of my fabric!

In the end I made 12 masks but only had appropriate elastic for three.  I have posted four masks to my parents as my Mum said she had some elastic so I'm now on the hunt for suitably narrow elastic. I guess I could always repurpose some elastic bands but don't relish the thought of getting the rubber caught up in my hair (ouch!)

With an outing scheduled for Saturday where wearing masks is compulsory, it seems that my project was completed in the nick of time!

Becoming resourceful

Have I really not written a post since January? Where has the time gone?

I originally started the year with the ambition to find more time to get creative, not least because I had 5 months to create the wedding day of all wedding days. Well, something like that anyway. I also wanted to spend more time at home. Yes, you can laugh at me now but it seemed like quite a challenge back in January!

I was making fairly good progress on wedding preparations but slightly hesitant at sharing things here that I really wanted to hold back for the big day. But then the coronavirus took hold and the landscape has changed.

Firstly, the wedding has been put back by about 6 months in the hope that social gatherings will be both permissible and safe by then. Secondly, I'm fortunate enough to have a job that can, it turns out, as easily be done at home as in the office, so the daily grind for 5 days a week has continued but without the daily commute, saving me around 8-10 hours a week. So, although I am busy for the best part of 5 days a week, I have not only got my wish of spending more time at home but also have an extra 6 months to complete everything that I had planned.

With the pressure off and the sun out, I have very much been tempted out into the garden. And with a new potting shed and a packets of flower seeds purchased last autumn, my evening and weekend obsession has been created.

Things started out deceptively modestly...

... but I'm clearly more green-fingered than I thought as after about 4 weeks the seed trays were looking a little crowded and so I decided to do a spot of potting-on.

But became a little overwhelmed by the result...

... particularly when I began wondering where the next stage of potting-on would go since we don't actually have any flower beds and, because it's a rented house, we can't really dig any in.

But this is were things got fun, and we became resourceful!

I have raided the garage for anything that could possibly be turned into a flower tub (more of which in a later post). We also found three pallets around the side of the house. You know the sort used for large deliveries...

Inspired by a friend, a little dismantling and putting back together occurred ...

... and what is being called a living wall planter was created.

Well, two in fact but we only had enough paint for one of them. Hopefully more paint can be sourced before too many plants get big enough to need permanent outdoor homes. But for now I'm really enjoying the satisfaction of something being made from seemingly nothing or at least things we found lying around. 

Many of us hope that life won't go back to exactly the way it was before the pandemic as we've begin to appreciate the slower pace of life. I know I'm definitely not going to be automatically reaching out for the new before I've exhausted all possibilities of what I can find lying around!

I hope you are staying safe and well and finding as much enjoyment in the small things as I am.