On 14^th March we drove back to Cornwall from London after deciding not to get on the plane for my planned birthday weekend in Seville. (A wise decision BTW as the flight back was cancelled.)

Since then I’ve been here in Cornwall.  That’s a first for me, as my habit (and work life) has, for the last 16 years, meant I’ve been in London for 2 days most weeks. Being here, at home, has had a profound effect on me and forced me to learn things about myself I didn’t realise………

Firstly I’ve recognised my frequent absences from home have meant I don’t know many people and have a really small circle of friends, so I need to work on not being lonely.  Secondly, my programme of self-imposed travel meant I was always catching up; getting ready to leave, planning meals, trying to get on top of shopping, laundry and cleaning, and as a result, often feeling tired.  Thirdly I’ve discovered my passion for the sea is much stronger than I imagined.  In those Lockdown weeks when we had to stay near our home base I found myself longing to jump in the car for the short, (but banned,) drive to the sea.  It resulted in some truly dark days and when I could finally walk along the cliffs and beaches, a profound joy.

Back at the end of March I wrote an article for a website on mental well-being  during Lockdown and talked about finding your creative side, reading books, writing, learning a language, painting etc etc.  By mid-April, I realised I wasn’t going to actually do any of those things I’d written about. It was as much as I could do to drag myself out of bed.

…………I thought too I’d write regular blogs, make videos, learn about SEO and growing my following……but that never happened.

Then there was the cooking. Goodness we’ve eaten well! Life and conversation centred on food. What shall we have for lunch? Dinner? Breakfast? Afternoon tea? Which supermarket has a delivery slot? When’s the local fisherman selling his scallops? We’ve been lucky to with a weekly artisan bread delivery from ‘Baker Tom’s’ van, parked in the village pub car park; fruit, vegetables, milk, cheese and meat from the local farm shop and fish from the wholesale fish merchant, whose normal schedule is delivering to restaurants all over Cornwall and as far away as London.  Then there was a point, several weeks ago, when I felt as if I never wanted to cook again. (A friend said it was my own fault as I’d “raised the baton too high to start with”!) ….And thankfully the last few weeks of sunshine and warmth have led to us having an unprecedented number of barbecues, which requires (at least on my part) a lot less flare.

So, five months later, I’m still here in Cornwall and not going anywhere.

And that brings me to this blog.  I started ‘Behind the Woman’ to talk to women, (and anyone who cares to read my ramblings) about style, beauty, makeup and hair, inspired by the knowledge I’ve gained throughout my career……but I’ve decided to add Cornwall into the mix, so from now on, you’ll see snatches of walks I’ve taken, places I visited, restaurants I’ve eaten in and photos of the places I love.  I guess, it’s about a glimpse of my life, and one I hope you’ll enjoy.

So, after 5 months I’m back! Happy days.

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