by Helen Westwood

Glen Coe

Over the last few months I’ve been baking bread, jam making, decluttering and I finally finished painting all the fences in the garden. It only took me 7 months. I’ve enjoyed the occasional virtual get together with my friends on Zoom, after getting the lighting just right avoiding highlighting my wrinkles. Desperate times call for desperate measures as I discovered that one friend had been cutting her hair with dog clippers during lockdown! I just grew mine like a banshee and stuffed it inside a bobble hat but was quietly relieved when the hairdressers finally reopened.

At night I’ve been fascinated watching the hedgehogs running around our garden on our nature cameras and eating the dog food we leave out for them. Spending more time at home has also led to the alarming discovery that the magpies have been pulling the sealant off the top of our conservatory. The neighbourhood cats have provided additional entertainment during the day chasing squirrels which they have no hope of catching. I didn’t realise that one cat likes to spray the front grill of the local cars. I wondered what that funny smell was when I started my engine. I spotted another cat stealing a fluffy paint roller from a workman’s van the other day. It was at that point I realised that I needed to get out more.