Lockdown

I thought the lockdown would result in lots of blog posts but sadly that hasn't happened. I 'm not sure where the time has gone over the last 9 weeks. Our days have been filled with work, diy, gardening and our daily walk, with only an occasional visit to Bridport when supplies are running low.

We feel very lucky and privileged to be living in a location where we are in such close walking distance to the sea, a flowing river, wonderful countryside and wood where we have watched the bluebells gradually develop, bloom and fade. Nature has been wonderful this spring and it has been fantastic to watch it emerge and really have the time to appreciate it.

Dorset has been extremely lucky with the virus and is towards the bottom of the virus tables for England. Thank goodness the local hospital hasn't been overwhelmed - much to my relief having spent the majority of my working life working there where I still have friends who have been working hard trying to keep us all safe.

Dorset also seems to have become a place to park vehicles! Bournemouth airport has become a British Airways plane park. Weymouth Bay has up to six empty cruise ships in the bay.

We also have an amazing number of local businesses who have pulled out all the stops to support the local population by delivering food directly to the door.

Of course, the lockdown has also brought its challenges, our daughter has been unable to work or see her boyfriend,  we celebrated our son's 30th birthday over the internet, having a birthday tea by using the same recipe for the birthday cake,  The long-planned wedding of our friends has been cancelled and other friends have been unable to meet their first grandchildren because of lockdown.

We all know from blogging how important the internet has been in all our lives and how it has  allowed us to reach out to strangers all around the world who have become friends. The lockdown has shown many others how people can be brought together. Weekly we have been invited into homes of our favourite south-west musicians to enjoy evenings of beautiful music. We have joined in virtual quizzes with thousands of others and have even done PE with Joe Wicks - just as well I haven't had the camera out for that!  Zoom meetings have allowed us to connect with others, despite the occasional interruptions from the dog, cat or daughter!

 As steps are very slowly taken to come out of lockdown the number of visitors to West Bay has started to increase. Many of the car parks remained shut until this bank holiday weekend to try and encourage people to stay close to home. It will be still sometime before we will be able to reopen our visitor centre and welcome the volunteers and visitors through the doors again.

Sarah x