2020: The Year Also Known as WTF

Hey all! How are you? Grown a few grey hairs? Eaten a lot of banana bread? Drunk lots of arty-farty gin? Yup, me too. Me too.

Well, this has been a strange old year, hasn’t it? Like the rest of the world, the past 4 months have been the most surreal of my life. Basically, I turned 40 and the whole world went to pot.

I’m not going to add to the noise, but I thought it was important to acknowledge what the past few months have been like. Personally, lockdown life has been overwhelming and liberating all at the same time. I’ve enjoyed the slowness of furloughed life and spending focused time with Ste and our dog Polly. But there’ve been days of utter overwhelm as we navigate not seeing family, especially my dad who was admitted to his care home at the start of it all.

My family and I are all safe and well. Dad’s care home has stayed virus free and he is being tested regularly (at last!). We took lockdown seriously and have been in Hebden Bridge since March. The only outing we’ve had is to take Polly to the Orthopedic vet so she could have an operation on her knee. She’s coming up to 5 weeks spent in recovery and she’s itching for long walks and cuddles with the family again!

I’ve just started working at the council again (flexibly furloughed) and will start working at the cinema in Autumn. Ste’s adjusted really well to home office life, but boy does he deserve some proper time off. As I went on furlough, his work went into overdrive.

The past 6 weeks have been more productive than the rest; the garden is looking lush and teeming with wildlife after a lorra work, I got handy with the drill around the house, I’ve completed two online courses on screenwriting and I have a couple more writing courses I’d like to do whilst I figure out some ideas. Then a big thing happened: we have a new niece! Her name is Jessica, and mum and baby are healthy and beaming. It’s been so nice to have something positive to focus on and to be hopeful about.

Oh and just for kicks, have you been making strange purchases during lockdown? My recent buys include a hack saw, a woodworking vice and a box of 5 Thorntons Easter Eggs.

Let’s chat about this blog of mine. Family and work have prioritised my days over the past couple of years, which has meant my blog being a bit of an afterthought, and that’s OK. When you’re not blogging regularly, you lose some of your focus and I’ll admit to not really knowing what this space should be about anymore, or whether I should blog at all. Stuff just got serious for a while and my brain needed time to adapt and focus on the basics.

In 2010 I started blogging because I needed a creative outlet having made a lifestyle and career change, and creating Mathilde heart Manech was just that. Back then I was mostly writing about craft and home projects. Nowadays, well have a look around! There’s lots on the outdoors, creativity and wellbeing, interspersed with outfit posts of me looking nonchalantly into the distance. Yawn.

The time away from normal life has made me feel more motivated about this space though, so I’m back blogging and my main focus over the coming months is to find my writing mojo again.  I could rebrand, maybe choose a new blog name that reflects wise ol’ Lisa?!* Nah! I’m just going to start writing words again, and I hope to see you along the way.

Stay safe all x

*5 Easter Eggs!!! Yes, they were all for me. And yes, I’m 40 years old.