COVID-19 Lockdown - Week Three

Has it been another week already? Time flies huh?

I've been overwhelmed with the lovely messages that people have been sending me about these blog posts and it's been really endearing to hear some of your ownthoughts and stories.

This week was much tougher to photograph. I find things often are the more you photograph them. It becomes harder and harder to inject my own ideas and creativity, or even to simply document. Eyes become used to the everyday sights and sounds and it becomes easy to forget to photograph what could have been significant moments. Saying this, I've also remained mindful that now is a crucial time to engage with my own family. Often, by placing the barrier of a camera between our interaction, results in a lack of engagement or emotional involvement on my part. It's very important to stop photographing, but also to photograph the everyday creatively and with insight. This is a tough balance to pull off as I am discovering.

Day 15

Today began the same way everyday does. Porridge club. Always well attended and always a roaring success. All three of our boys LOVE porridge. They eat it every single day. Literally. Ivor was particularly chuffed today because he got to have his with his favourite flavour of fruit mix. Banana and Pod Podge FTW.

After a slow paced morning, Ivor crashed out on me and Dannielle took this lovely shot of us. I don't often get many photographs of myself with the boys as I'm usually on the other side of the lens. It's always a rare treat to get a nice one like this.

Zephyr sulked about the lack of attention he was getting due to Ivor's chosen nap location and Eden and Mummy were busy completing Eden's school work.

The whole day remained fairly slow paced, I think we all felt a bit tired today so we resorted to movies, music and snuggles for most of the day. Ivor was happy to chill in his wagon, which has fast become his favourite spot since he has been able to sit up.

5pm news hits, so the kids disappeared upstairs and left us to take in the daily update. I'm finding these a little tedious at the moment. It seems to be the same questions getting asked with the same avoiding replies from the chosen representatives.

I went upstairs to read the boys their bedtime stories and Zephyr was in a particularly cheeky mood. We had a mini discob and four stories before any signs of cooperation were obvious.

Day 16

After porridge club, I spent some time with the boys explaining how a compass works and how to use one to navigate a map. They both understood this really well. They drew their own compass' and successfully completed a short treasure hunt in our garden. They had to work out the direction to travel from a central point in the garden using various compass bearings and walk the correct number of steps.

They both earned themselves £2.50, but I told them that they couldn't keep it until they constructed a treasure hunt for me, using whatever toys they wanted to hide. They had to write clues for me, demonstrating that they could use their new knowledge effectively. They nailed this, just look at my treasure haul!

Dannielle was busy painting her latest piece of furniture restoration. A new cabinet for our tiny bathroom. We're always struggling against the lack of storage in this tiny house so this will be a welcome addition.

After some grub, Eden and Zephyr enjoyed a bit of screen time and then we decided to go for a wander across the field next to us. There were not many people out today and the weather was boiling, so it was nice to stretch our legs and get a bit of fresh air.

After tea, we watched the daily news update and put the boys to bed.

After editing the day's photographs, I then decided to try and get some shots outside whilst it was dark. I noticed the sky was incredibly clear tonight so it seemed like the perfect chance to get some images that I had been thinking about for a couple of days. I wanted to capture the surrounding houses, showing the lights on inside, whilst also capturing the vast universe above us. The idea behind these, was to highlight that although we are all confined to our own little spaces currently, it's important to remember that there is a lot more outside waiting for us all when this is all over.