WE'RE HOME ALONE...

but there are creative ways to beat cabin fever, says Helen Tidy

Well, the current lockdown situation created by Coronavirus has totally scuppered our plans for the year – but we are not alone in that, are we? Or rather we ARE alone, but together in a metaphorical social distancing kind of way, right?

Like many of you, Andy and I have been unable to take to the waterways. We were on the verge of moving back onboard for our usual six months afloat when the lockdown became imminent.

We also have vulnerable members of our family that we need to be on hand for so there is no question of leaving our bricks and mortar dwelling until it is safe to do so.

So how to keep creative during this period of isolation? Initially, my thoughts were entirely focused on keeping my family safe and preventing infection spread as far as possible.

To this end, I began to consider our current handwashing facilities. Given that we are in a house, there wasn’t a great deal to consider but one thing had always bothered me. Our loo is totally enclosed with no window to the outside and only the tiniest of radiators over which the hand towel hangs.

Under normal circumstances, this not a problem. The hand towel never dries especially well as the radiator rarely turns on – such a small room does not need a great deal of heating. However, in these days of more enthusiastic handwashing, the increasingly perpetual dampness of the hand towel was causing me concern.

After all, there is little point in removing germs from our hands only to wipe them all back on again by attempting to dry on a damp towel. What was required was a system of hand towels for using once and then washing.