Staying Home: Day 38

It still faintly startles me that working at home takes up as much time as working out of the home. Quite why I was expecting 15 hours of archive work at home to be shorter then 15 hours in the office, I have no idea! We were all productive this morning, with all four of settled down working by 9.30. We are very lucky that TG is self-motivated and just gets up and gets on with her work without us needing to nudge her.

Today has been a day for battling with technology. This morning the web editor I use for the archives was being uncooperative and I had to get a colleague who has been redeployed to authorise something as it refused to let me do it. Then this afternoon H's coffee machine ground to a halt and we had to give ourselves a crash course in coffee machine maintenance. It turned out the problem was a tiny pin-sized hole where the coffee is supposed to come through which had got blocked up. Online instruction manuals are a boon!

At least we were able to sort that problem. I forgot to mention that last week we pulled the fridge-freezer out to clean behind it, dislodged the pipe to the water and ice dispenser slightly, and caused a leak from the water filter. I think it may just need the filter replacing, but we don't have a spare and in any case we always struggle to fit them. In the end we just turned the water off at the tap and decided to give up on the water dispenser. It is the ice we will miss, particularly while the weather stays warm, but it can't be helped. We have decided that the time has come to replace the fridge once the current restrictions are eased. It is quite old, various bits are dropping off, parts feel much hotter than they should, and I think its fuel efficiency is pretty dire. The leak possibly did us a favour by pushing us into making the decision that it is time for a replacement.

Today's walk was only two miles but with some quite steep bits. Being able to walk to the point where my leg muscles start to feel a bit sore afterwards is wonderful - it feels as though I am finally doing proper exercise. The bluebells are still looking beautiful. We had run out of tea time treats this afternoon, so I had some of yesterday's home-made bread with chocolate-hazelnut spread. Despite the loaf looking flat, the bread was actually pretty good. I think H is planning to make the Pret chocolate-almond cookies again tomorrow.

Disney movie of the day was Inside Out. Dinner was lamb steaks and baby potatoes roasted in the oven, griddled green beans, and courgettes, cooked by H. After dinner we made a start on one of the jigsaws which arrived today, until H went off to do a Zoom quiz with some of her friends.