This is a short blog on how to survive lock down. Here in France we have been on lock down for 13 days now. The government have been introducing tighter rules each day. Now we couldn’t even run with the dog in the woods behind my house. We are entitled to 1 outing of a maximum of 1 hour within a 1km radius of our house. This is fine for giving the dog some exercise and getting out the house!

Before we complain to much I’d like to be sure that you all understand that I think these measures are necessary. I will be following them to the letter if it helps us get this virus under control and saves lives.

The sooner we get this virus under control the sooner we can all get back to normal.

1. Get all those jobs done round the house

How often does someone say you have have 4 weeks at home? Normally our pace of life is so fast we don’t appreciate our houses and gardens as much as we should. We all have a long list of jobs that need doing.

• Spring clean the house
• clean out the food cupboards
• Sort the garden
• Paint the fences
• Clean the car
• Build some steps in the garden
• service the bikes

Just to name a few of the things me and Seb have been doing over the last few days. We have found that actually its quite satisfying to get your home in order and we hope that using this time to do this will allow us to have clear heads and re attack life and work when we are allowed out again.

2. Get fit

Well this was easy till a week in as we were allowed to run. I ran with the dog each day to keep myself sane and ensure I am fit and rearing to go for the summer season on the glacier. Till Lock down became stricter and running was off the menu.

We were told that this luxury is over so I’ve set up my bike on the turbo trainer and signed up to Zwift ready to join my friends on virtual rides. We will tackle all the big climbs ready to do them for real. My aim is to start the summer season fitter than ever!

I am also doing some core strength training, sit ups, squats, crunches and more. I will write a separate blog about this in due course!

3. Get up to date with all your administration

Well as I’m sure you all know administration isn’t my strong point. But this time I’ve got inside has given me the opportunity to get back on top of everything and have start a fresh. I have new systems for my bookings, new files for my accounts and I’m up to date on all my receipts and invoices …. a position that I can’t remember the last time I was in! It feels good and I will endeavour to stay on top of things as we move out of this period of confinement. With my new systems and organisation this will be so much easier, even when life has gone back to being busy busy busy!

Hopefully  you, my clients, will see the improvement here as well! Emails should be answered quicker, invoices issued and confirmed quicker and everything generally much more ship shape! or TipTop as it should be!

4. Cooking and Baking

I’d forgotten how much I enjoy cooking and baking. We are always so busy and rushing to put food on the table that we forget the art of cooking. We can now use this time to bake cakes, take a little more time on dinner and serve good healthy, nutritious meals to our families.

Here in France we only have one problem. This is the lack of flour in the shops so my cake cooking is coming to an end but my meals will continue to be varied and nutritious! Maybe cake everyday isn’t the best idea anyway!

5. Netflix

Netflix is a godsend! Every evening me and my husband have snuggled up on the sofa, lit the fire, and watched a film.

Apparently the quality of the picture is less to save the bandwidth for those trying to work and study but you can’t tell the different. What a great choice of films and box sets ….. why not add your favourites in the comments box so we can all enjoy them!

6. Catch up with Friends old and new

This might seem a strange one to put up when we are in confinement. But actually I’ve had loads of Zoom chats with my friends both near and far. This is a fantastic video conferencing tool that has a free element. The free bit you get 30 mins and if the person thats hosting has the paid version then you get as long as you want!

This week I’ve had pre dinner drinks with my sister and mum. A pub night with my Guildford friends and an evening gossip session with all my uni friends. This was was especially good as we are all spread round the globe! We had New Zealand, France and the UK represented here!

Sometimes we get suck in the here and now and forget our old friends – this confinement period is an excellent way to get back in touch and catch up on whats happening in everyones lives. Share ideas on how to deal with this time in lock down. Even just support each other from a far!

7. Blog and Social Media

Sometimes it is easy to forget that although we can’t work we can still spread the love of the mountains and keep TipTop in the forefront of everyones minds.

I have been trying to keep sharing the love of the mountains with a great photo per day. This doesn’t have to be a recent photo, its a great opportunity to remember all the fantastic days we have spent in the mountains. It could be of a fantastic view, a great valley or even just a perfect piste! Todays photo was the perfect place to reminisce about all this when we aren’t on Lock Down, The Polar Bear Pub!

I use the Polar Bear pub to do my welcome evenings and video feedback. As well as have a beer with friends and clients of course! Can’t wait to be back this summer!

8. Improve My French

I am using this time to work on my French. You may prefer to learn or improve another language but as a British person living in France, French is my priority.

Some will say that I already speak reasonable French. This is true but grammatically I am not accurate and my written French is still very basic. So I have some work books that I am trying to do a few exercises per day from. I am also on Duo Lingo, Which I am trying to do my allocation of lives per day.

The final thing I am trying to do a bit of every day for my french is reading. I am currently ready short stories as these are more manageable. I have a series of books written by David Gautier about local legends. These are illustrated short stories designed for children, so perfect for me!

9. Read a book

Something in our busy lives we don’t have time to do, read a book. I love reading and rarely have time during the season to pick up a book and have half an hour quiet time. We are always glued to our mobile phones or computers answering emails, keeping social media up to date etc. Now we have been given the time to read as well.

I have a stack of books waiting to be read, both educational and fictional. I am starting with the fictional and will alternate between the two! The current book is a John Grisham, The Guardians.

10. Last but certainly not least – spend time together, as a couple or family

The pressures of work and especially seasonal life mean that we don’t get many weekends or days off together. This is an opportunity for us to spend time together, eat together and just chat! Make exciting plans together for the future and reconnect on a day to day basis.

I believe that one of the positives that will come out of this lock down is the re valuing of the family unit. We sometimes leave our most loved ones to last, knowing they will always be there for us no matter what. Well now we have the opportunity to put them first and do nice things for each other, chat and pass the time of day together. This is a true opportunity and gift!

I couldn’t find a nice photo of me and Seb so thought Izzy our amazing dog demonstrated family time perfectly! 🙂

I’m sure you will have many more Tips to add to these. Why not add them to the comments so we can all enjoy and benefit from each others ideas.

Stay safe and #stayhome ….. let us beat this virus together in our own homes by STAYING HOME.