Wednesday 20th January

The promised rain held off in the morning enough for us to have a fairly dry walk around town and for R to collect some chunky bits of wood he had seen abandoned the day before but had had no means of carrying them back to the boat. They look thicker than his usual logs so I think sawing them up will take quite a bit of effort. That’s his keep fit. Mine has gone out of the window recently.  When we can do long walks and  have locks to operate I feel like I am getting some exercise. However it’s easy to let it slip, especially the prevention of bingo flaps! Part of the problem is the lack of space to move around much. During lockdown 1 I got hooked on an online walking program and ‘Jo Wicks 10mins for seniors’ which I adapted to make harder as I didn’t think I was quite senior enough! I have been making excuses every day not to do them and it’s just enertia. Timing is an issue. If I  do them first thing, before getting dressed, I have to brave the cold. But if I leave them until later I have so many layers of clothing on I can’t be bothered to take enough off to exercise! However today I felt motivated.  I moved a chair and table to create space, R retired to the other end of the boat, I set a timer and found some inspirational music and really quite enjoyed myself. Enough to think I must do the same tomorrow and the day after.  I always feel so much better when I have expended some energy and feeing less like a couch potato I then usually feel ready to tackle some other tasks that need doing. Being self disciplined is quite an issue without deadlines and although I don’t want to be unnecessarily stressed, neither do I want to become lazy. There’s the Martha and Mary issue too – how much is it OK just ‘to be’ like Mary, balanced against what needs ‘doing’ like Martha. I am conscious that I am missing being creative, such as with a sewing or knitting project, and realise I have only recently started to feel this way. It may partly be due to the fact we are not moving much at the moment so there is comparitively little to do, but I think it is also that I have had little inclination to do anything other than that on my ‘to do’ list. I am happy to know my motivation is rising as it might inspire me. Every Friday when I zoom with my isolated friend in Ireland I am inspired (and a little envious truth be told!) by all the wonderful knitting she is producing.  Some of it may be frivolous (I seem to remember knitted hats for Ferraro Rocher chocolates at Christmas!) but at the end of lockdown she will have something tangible to see for what she did with her time. At this rate, I  will just have thoughts!