Tom is still building our kitchen and we’re all feeling the strain. He under the weight of the work. Me being with the kids all the time. Even when they’re at school, it’s still a 7-8 hour day on either side and the continuing restrictions mean activities are still so limited for them.

Today, however, is the second day of our challenge to raise money on behalf of our beautiful niece/cousin Lily for the Teenage Cancer Trust. Together, me, Tom and the boys are walking 1 million steps = 500 miles plus I’ve added an extra 5,000 lunges onto the top as that’s the charity’s spring challenge! Steps are quite easy to add up, lunges are a whole different ball game although I secretly like them as it’s like doing Warrior 1 pose over and over again.

As such we got our skates on and headed out to the park, a space that is quickly becoming a saving grace thanks to its ability to draw most of our shared friends (parents and kids alike) together at the same time. It’s like we’re all pulling our hair out at once and then come to collectively recharge our batteries.

By the end of the day, we had already raised £860 for Lily and the Teenage Cancer Trust, which is hugely motivating. I rewarded myself (pre my daily 100 lunges that the kids made me do to a sea shanty while they lounged in the bath!) by watching the first episode of Gardeners’ World 2021 on the iPad while cooking fish and chips. Particularly loved the reminder to get my dahlias potted up, as they have been sitting in their packaging for several days now. But also that you can take cuttings from them as well.

We then all watched My Garden Made Perfect as we’re all secret fans of the virtual reality function that lets you see how your garden will look. I have to say, I do rate this show as it does show how much it costs to have a garden professionally designed and planted up and there are some nice designs/design aspects. The one we watched today showed a solution to a garden with an eyesore sunken swimming pool, which was also a good reminder to order some ferns and work around the microclimate of our particular plot.

All in all a tiring but turned out okay sort of day.