Just when we thought we were managing well, Covid-positive cases exploded out of control. We are now facing a total lockdown again come tomorrow for two weeks. So all that discipline staying home since the beginning of May has come to nought.
We now have another week of staying home instead of until 7 June with this total lockdown imposed. The new lockdown comes into effect from 1 June until 14 June.
What can we say or do except to be good and stay at home?
DIY project number 13, otherwise known as 12A, to avoid superstition, is finally a wrap! Yay. This project took a long time, almost three months. Typically I would take about five weeks to finish a DIY miniature but not this one. Jinxed from the beginning, I encountered a lot of hiccups and distractions to stay focused.
But I’m glad I managed to complete the set during this lockdown. With no golf and hardly any work to do at the office, heck, we don’t even physically go to the office anymore; I had all the time in the world to work on it.
I customized a lot on this set, changing it from what it’s supposed to be, and it has turned out very different. I like it very much as it is now my little masterpiece personalized right down to the name!
The next day, without sitting on my laurels, I started on DIY project number 14 or 12B, as 14 is also a superstitious number. Let’s hope the timeline to work on this one will be better.
Our doing something during this lockdown is the daily baking and cooking; throw in the daily efforts on the DIY project and chipping in the garden is not sufficient to pass the time. And we don’t sweat enough but end up eating more instead because of all the food efforts.
We decided to work on the garden again, focusing on the area at the side of the house. The plan is to convert a tiny plot to become a vegetable patch.
But before we could sit down to work out the idea, we jumped ahead and made another area into a pineapple patch!
Hubby relocated all the pineapples to one plot instead of being in pots and scattered around the garden. I think they look good being there. Furthermore, the plot is easier to protect from the squirrels. Remember that one time, the rascal of the squirrel ate our pineapple right in front of our eyes?
We look forward to the day the pineapples are ready to be harvested for our consumption.
My recent improvement in golf is due to the YouTube golf instructor that I have been following for the past 11 months. There is an abundance of golf instructors out there on YouTube. It’s just a matter of preference and style, and whatever suits your ability.
Initially, I followed Shawn Clement but, later, found his methods do not quite suit my ability. So I surfed and discovered two other instructors, Danny Maude and Chris Ryan. However, it was a toss-up, and I ended up with Chris over Danny. And I’m glad I stuck with him.
My short game improved, my drives are further than ever, and my ball striking is getting better. Pretty amazing what one can find on YouTube for self-improvement and self-enrichment!
But with the current MCO in place, all that improvement has been wiped out, having to stay at home and no golf ever since my last game on 4 May. The only consolation is I can still do chipping in the garden for up to a 20-feet distance.
Earlier in April, I talked about the Iron Challenge in my golf club and was excited about the tournament. For a couple of games, I even resorted to using only my irons to practice and kept the driver, wood, and utility clubs out of the bag. It was going well, and the mind frame was ready until the recent lockdown.
This morning, I looked at my calendar and realized the tournament would have been tomorrow if it wasn’t for the lockdown. Somehow, I overlooked removing the event from my calendar. And how unfortunate that it has been postponed again for the second time.
I hope when the pandemic situation becomes more manageable and the lockdown lifted, we can go back to playing golf. And hopefully, the Iron Challenge tournament will be reinstated. Is this wishful thinking as cases are soaring beyond control?
The past year I played so much golf, I improved by leaps and bounds. It was during the CMCO phase that I spent more time on the golf course than ever before. And that was because there was hardly any design work in the office, and outdoor activities, like golf, were allowed.
Towards the end of last year, my handicap came down, and there was a sense of achievement. I was also breaking 100 for the gross scores now and then. At least something good came out from the lockdown phases last year.
This year, there is further improvement! I have almost broken 90 as far as the gross score is concerned. I had two excellent games recently, returning with a score of 92 and 91 at two different golf courses, respectively. But this was before our latest MCO lockdown. While I am thrilled about my vast improvement, I wonder if I can reach this level again when the MCO is over. Only time can tell.
It has been an eventful 2021 amidst the pandemic for festivals and occasions with so many restrictions and lockdowns. I will remember Mother’s Day 2021 for the wrong reasons.
It was a botched celebration last weekend. The sumptuous seafood dinner ordered from a Facebook promotion never arrived for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, the MCO strict restrictions to cross districts. No delivery riders were willing to send the food over because of police roadblocks. Secondly, it was raining heavily and the timing to deliver. All went awry.
Then the flowers that were ordered online by the girls arrived two days after the auspicious day! Hahaha. With two fails, I think I will remember the occasion far better than all previous celebrations.
Well, the next day, we got a full refund for the botched dinner delivery. Plus, I had lovely flowers to look at the past few mornings! At least something positive from the occasion. Thank you, nonetheless, for the effort and love.
We decided to take the days by the horn and keep busy. Doing something is better than doing nothing. Hubby would bake while I worked on my DIY project are the given.
We even started chipping in the garden, trying out the various wedges that we have. And we experimented with new menus for our meals.
The no-cheese pizza was simply delicious last night and the pancakes this morning were so satisfying. Now, if we can keep up the variety and activities, we shouldn’t worry about the remaining MCO days ahead.
Yesterday, on Day Five of the targeted lockdown, I felt that it was taking a toll on us. It’s a challenge to be optimistic, and I was willing the days to go by quickly. One more week to survive is not too long.
Come evening, the situation changed. A nationwide lockdown was announced, and a reset on the duration as the past five days do not count! Oh, dear. The new nationwide lockdown will begin tomorrow and end on 6 June.
With the new 26-day lockdown ahead, we better ramp up our creativity and activities to keep ourselves sane. God bless us all.
I feel this round of MCO is taking its toll on us. It is only Day Five, and we are restless. Although hubby did bake, and I did work on my DIY project, it is not enough. At times, we feel as if we are doing nothing.
Thank goodness for my Apple Watch and the Activity monthly challenge. Without this, I would have been an assured couch potato. The Activity challenge keeps me on my toes to exercise and stay fit.
The days better hurry to go by quickly, for we can’t wait to go back to interacting with people, playing golf, and having more productive days.
Angieneering 
Remarks