It’s been a weird couple of weeks, hasn’t it?
Like so many others, we have been in self-isolation for the last little while, as both James and I have been suffering from what we are 99% sure is the dreaded Coronavirus. James had soaringly high temperatures, and an awful dry cough, and I had chest pains and difficulty breathing in addition to some other milder symptoms.
Both of us have been exhausted – James basically did nothing but sleep and be bullied into swallowing paracetamol for a few days, and I was stuck in bed unable to get up without gasping – both in pain, and for air. We only had mild to moderate symptoms so everyone who ends up in hospital with this horrid bug has all my sympathy. And yes, that includes Boris. I may not want to clap for him or care for his policies, but he’s still a human, suffering, and had a stint in intensive care. This virus takes time to recover from – even with mild symptoms days later I am tiring quickly, and experiencing chest and back pain still.
So much is being cancelled right now. This week we were supposed to have been heading to a cosy cottage in Wales for a family holiday, but with the ban on non-essential travel there is no way that was going to happen anymore. Even if the travel ban wasn’t in place once we got there, we’d have nothing to do and nowhere to go other than rambling around the countryside around the cottage.
The girls really enjoyed an Easter scavenger hunt yesterday, which was nice. I made up lots of different types of clues, and they also had to complete some tasks before getting the final clue – singing a song, finding objects for each colour of the rainbow, and building an Easter egg out of LEGO.
We had a jigsaw clue, maths, codebreaking, and all sorts – I definitely made use of my clue ideas post to get some inspiration! The whole thing took them over an hour to complete and they loved it. A local shop which sells all sorts of bargain treats has been running a delivery service and we ordered all sorts of little Lindt treats for the girls to find – they definitely saved our Easter from being cancelled!
I’ve spent a lot of the last few weeks playing Animal Crossing on the Switch. The four of us share an island and I do all of the work developing it, while the kids just run around having fun and stealing all the fruit to sell so they can buy crazy clothes and bizarre furniture for their houses. When I manage to get a fruit crop picked and sold, I leave the girls pocket money buried outside their houses!
It’s a really nice escape from the outside world right now. I’ve been visiting friends on their islands, and opening my island up to visitors – both people I know, and people I’ve connected with on twitter who want to come and shop or play on my island. You have two different shops on your island as well as visiting tradespeople, and each day the selection of things you can buy changes, so if you visit someone they will have different options to you.
You also collect DIY recipes and resources from around your island, and on mystery islands you can visit, and create your own furniture. Each player has their own house which can be expanded, decorated, and filled with a huge variety of possessions. There are in-game events and celebrations, and you have villagers that come to live on your island and you can interact with. Unless you cheat by timeskipping, your island exists in realtime, so each day in the outside world is one day in the game, which forces you to slow down and take your time developing your island.
It’s basically my happy place at the moment. For a few hours, I can disappear into the game, where the worst of my worries is breaking my slingshot right as a balloon flies overhead, waiting to be popped. While I was stuck in bed ill, it saved me from hours of uncomfortable boredom, as my brain wasn’t capable of much more than the gentle rhythm of in-game life.
I highly recommend it for players of all ages and genders!
I love the look of that jigsaw – the colours are gorgeous.
Fancy ticker at the bottom! 😀
I wish I was clever enough to write some codebreaking clues for my kids. Sounds great. Get well soon.