Harold, The Ghost of Lost Futures, & New Normals

On Wednesday 3rd of June, the day before William went back to school, we finally finished the ColdwarSteve collage. If you're not aware of this endeavour you can read about it here, and here. It's been a brilliant thing to work on over the lockdown and beyond as we could easily dip in and out of it but latterly in its creation, I must admit that it became a bit of an eyesore in the dining area and I felt that the return to school marked a perfect opportunity to put the whole thing to bed. Some unexpected extras made the cut right at the end of the process namely a labrador, a frog, and a rabbit and I think they all add those little things only a four year old can bring. Here he is with it:

It's now got pride of place on his bedroom wall. 

The following morning was a bit of shock to the system for us both as we needed to set an alarm, get up early and get William to school for 8.10am! He was genuinely excited to be going back which made things so much easier but it was all very different at the school gates with markings on the ground to keep families separated as well as not actually being able to take him into the building anymore but instead saying goodbye at the gate. However, it also let me see just how quickly he settled there after all my concerns about him moving school last year. It's a great school. We reckon he's also grown heaps in during lockdown and that the staff must see a massive difference in him. Here he is, amped to leave.

The rest of the last two weeks have really been a blend of William being back at school (three days per week now due to the lifting of restrictions); me trying to get back into my running (I've reverted to my old trainers and I did a 4k and a 5k last week, and did a 6k this week with no toe issues); spending a lot of time on the bikes due, in the main to finding a MTB park just beyond the gold course in Billère; and both Iain and I beginning to start socialising again. I was even out Thursday, Friday, Sat last weekend! (Thursday, Arianna's baby shower at Beanz; Fri, dinner for Alisha's birthday; Sat, we went to Brasserie Royale with Jonesy & Sophie!). Shops, bars, restaurants etc require masks when you're wandering around but if you're sitting down, or in the beer garden, you can take them off. There's all sorts of measures in place to try and maintain social distancing but some are pretty pointless, especially in Auchan. Finally, the playgrounds reopened at the end of last week. That has been a game changer. 

Here's some photographic and video evidence of our new normals:

Finally, before signing off, Blogger has had a massive update and I've been very frustrated with the changes and the difficulty in editing photos that I've uploaded. Hopefully more changes will come and I'll be able to tidy up this post. Sake.

Lorna :)