lifestyle, Musings

If We Were Having Coffee – Life Musing #9

Gemma - Wheelescapades

If we were having coffee it would again be virtually. How’s lockdown 3.0 going for all those in the UK? Not much different for me so far, as I’ve been shielding since March 2020.

If we were having coffee I’d ask if you can believe it’s 2021?! I don’t know how that happened.

I thought 2021 was going to be our year. I’m already waiting for 2022.

If we were having coffee I’d ask if it’s really still January? It has felt like forever. I don’t know why, when the past year just flew by even though I hardly left the house. We must be on day 3952 by now…

If we were having coffee I’d tell you I need to get out more.

Yes I’d love to be gigging and fine dining, obviously. But right now I just mean going outside. I’m not one for winter at the best of times. It’s cold. I’d never hang around long, but I had to venture outside to get to the places I wanted to go. But now there’s nowhere to go, there’s no reason to get cold. Hence I’ve been inside for way more days than is healthy.

If we were having coffee you’d know that now is when I’m usually thinking about my aims for the year, the things I have planned. Well, plans are something I’m not really into right now. I’m not jinxing the year. I’ve already had rescheduled gigs rescheduled.

I have an Emily Dickinson quote on my Instagram bio that I’ve always loved, being a fan of the small moments. I think this means more in current life than ever.

‘Forever is composed of Nows’

Like. It snowed!

The ground covered in thick white snow. There is one track of footprints.

If we were having coffee I’d tell you how much I love snow, and it’s even more exciting because we have it so rarely. It’s weird how the world just looks so peaceful when it’s covered in white fluff. It does, though, doesn’t it? Before it turns to grey slush that is. But that didn’t happen. Because although we had a good few centimetres, it was gone by the following morning.

A three tired planter in the garden. There are a few twigs and leaves poking through the snow. Close up of a hedge covered in snow with leaves weighed down by the snow. Some green can be seen.

If we were having coffee I’d tell you I learned something new the other day that I shall share with you now. Who knew triple tapping a paragraph selects it all?! This is on my iPhone and may well be the case for other devices.

Selecting and editing text can be the bane of my life. I type much of my blog posts on my phone, you see. That may sound a little crazy when I have a perfectly good MacBook, but there are two reasons why. One, I find it much quicker because it’s a tiny little keyboard that my fingers can reach without too much effort. Two, I don’t set times to write, I write as I think. Sporadically. As I can’t get the MacBook set up myself, it feels quite the palaver sometimes. So I use that for the big stuff. Stuff that needs looking at on a big screen or an actual properly formatted website.

Working in miniature is ideal for me, until it comes to selecting text. Those little draggy dots can be a fiddle.

By accident when editing a piece where I wanted to cut, paste and play with font I had the shakes and selected a whole paragraph. Frowny faced, I wasn’t sure how so carried on typing until the twitch happened again and I realised I’d triple tapped! So there you go, if you want to select a whole paragraph give it a triple tap. You already knew this though, right?

If we were having coffee I’d tell you I did a jigsaw. A real life one. You may remember my slight obsession with a jigsaw app last year? Well secret Santa (that isn’t very secret) must have known, as I received an actual jigsaw puzzle for Christmas.

I used to enjoy jigsaws as a child, and have fond memories of doing giant ones with my Nan. The kind that took days if not weeks to complete and had many shades of blue sky.

This jigsaw wasn’t quite that kind of challenge. With 100 pieces, cartoon animals and fuzzy textured pieces I have a feeling it wasn’t aimed at a nearing 36 year old! But that’s good by me.

Completed jigsaw puzzle of cartoon character animals including a giraffe, pig, monkeys and birds. The puzzle has 100 pieces.

If we were having coffee I’d tell you I’ve joined an online SMA craft group, (SMA as in Spinal Muscular Atrophy). The online community has been fantastic during the pandemic. With many of my SMA pals shielding too, it’s been full of advice, supportive ranting and motivation.

If we were having coffee I’d tell you I think I’ve lost more during this past year than I’d realised. Ok, so I’ve obviously missed friends and family, we all have. I’ve missed concerts and festivals and lunch out and theatre and shopping trips and road trips and a holiday to Disney. And what this means is missed exercise. Not in the running and weight lifting kind of way. That’s not very me. But in the doing stuff way. Driving my wheelchair around a field for 14 hours. Trying to eat lunch at an awkward table. Catching the bus. It all sounds rather exhausting right now.

I craft, and I get my fingers working where they can. That’s not real life fitness though. The exhaustion of just going out on Christmas Day hit me harder than I remember. I’m weakening and the stamina is low. Nobody knows this better than the SMA community, and the support and motivation within the craft group is sure to get me working harder on the things I can do.

If we were having coffee I’d tell you not to let me slip. To make me get out of the house more for that essential exercise (when the weather is nice!). Just because the exercise isn’t conventional, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. There’s hopefully more on that coming soon.

If we were having coffee I’d also tell you this crafting group is going to be dangerous for me. I already have cupboards full of craft supplies and way too many projects in waiting…!

Which reminds me. This crochet wheelchair I saw on Instagram made my day!

This guy crochets dolls of people with skin conditions and disabilities.

A crochet doll with brown curly hair in a crocheted green and orange wheelchair.

If we were having coffee I’d tell you I’m going to be taking part in #The100DayProject again. Last years project was timed perfectly, beginning just as lockdown 1.0 was starting and when I was advised to shield. It gave me a little something to work on everyday, a routine, continuity.

This year’s project was influenced by a Christmas gift and a craft I haven’t tried before. I’m getting a little obsessed though. Because I started early, as that’s the type of person I am. Early even when there isn’t anywhere to be.

It’s stone painting, and here’s a little preview.

Three painted stones. One grey with blue and gold circle pattern. One black with gold and silver clusters of dots. One white with purple and black mandala designs.

Follow my creations and take part yourself over at Instagram. The project officially starts on 31st January. My hashtag will be #100DaysOfRocking

If we were having coffee I’d ask what your favourite dinosaur is?

My friend shared a meme recently that said ‘When you become a grown up, people stop asking what your favourite dinosaur is. They don’t even care.’

Mines a Diplodocus, purely because of the name and that were I a dinosaur I’d probably have been that. The one that’s always a little bit behind everyone else, with its head in the clouds.

Us adults need fun questions like this. So, what is your favourite dinosaur? And what question would you ask?

If we were having coffee what you tell me?

If We Were Having Coffee - Life Musing #9 is imposed over a photo of a glass cup filled with dark brown liquid, placed on a white marble surface.

Published by Gemma - Wheelescapades

Whenever friends and I are out we always end up discussing, critiquing, analysing where we are and what we are doing. From talking about the food we are eating, the soap in the toilets, the awful bus journey to our destination, anything and everything we encounter. Because of my disability (SMA type2) many of the situations we get into, issues we discuss and laughs we have can be due to wheelchair access. Often me getting stuck in mud or shingle, or me making my way through the most cram packed shop you can imagine, wondering how I am ever going to find the way out again! I aim to write a blog that describes these dramas, tells stories of our laughs, adventures and frustrations, while giving detailed information on accessibility and wheelchair access. Also I like tea. ALOT. The quality of the tea often determines my return just as much as the accessibility.

32 thoughts on “If We Were Having Coffee – Life Musing #9”

  1. Pingback: Twenty Questions With – Kerry Thompson – Wheelescapades

  2. If we were having coffee Gemma it would be an iced one…too warm for hot drinks…Love your snow pictures but not slush I remember that not that I want to…You need to get out because Norwich from memory that is where you LIVE… near? I loved Norwich and have many happy memories of Christmas shopping in Norwich with my daughter when she lived in Hunstanton…we both live miles away now me in sunny Thailand and her in sunny Oz…but its a straight run or it was until the airlines changed it…sigh…and we both loved Norwich and the beach at Hunstanton with the donkeys..so weather permitting I am relying on o you to show me the sights of one of our favourite places in the UK…X

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    1. I wish it was iced coffee weather here! It’s been minus temperatures again.
      Norwich is a fantastic city, I do miss it. I live about a 25 minute drive, but we are currently locked down in England for the third time.
      I’ve not been to Hunstanton in a long time, I shall aim to get beach photos for you this summer if life returns a little to normal.
      Thanks for stopping by.

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      1. Sorry to hear that Gemma but your safety and trying to stop the spread is vital…from what I am hearing and reading it does seem as if the vac programme and lockdown is working…Take care and fingers crossed summer brings some freedom of movement for you 🙂 x

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  3. I’m still on lockdown 1 as well, but I’m not entirely sure where January went! The week I had off last week really did me good.
    I love the snow too and think we’re in for some more soon. I managed a short walk in it before it all turned to icy mush!
    I really want to get out more too, but to nice places with no people who forget about social distancing. That muddy field where I went last week is due another visit!
    I’m glad you’re enjoying the crafting – it’s good to have something positive to focus on and some people to share it with. Have fun 😊

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    1. It’s weird isn’t it that the past year has gone so quickly even though we’ve had so few plans?!
      It snowed here again this week, even more than previous but it’s turned slushy already.
      I’m still yet to get out on a walk, I look forward to the warmer weather.
      I hope you get to your muddy field again, there are too many wandering humans around here too!

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  4. I feel for you Gemma, with continued lockdowns on top of shielding. My granddaughter Dottie who lives in Somerset has been shielding most of her life so far and we know we can’t travel to see anytime soon. It’s hard too with the cold weather, although your snow looks so pretty, it isn’t the easiest time to get out and about, even if you could! I like the sound of your craft group and wish you well with your projects and keeping those hands busy.

    We are going OK here in Australia with covid, but we’ve had our fair share of disruptions, lockdowns and state border closures – nothing like what you’ve had to go through though.

    Good to catch up with you over a nice cup of tea! Take care.

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  8. Beautiful post. Hopefully we’ll all be able to sit and keep coffee sometime this year. I’m jealous of the snow! We almost never get any where I live since I live by the ocean.

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  9. 2020, despite being hectic and pretty damn awful, seemed to go incredibly quickly. I’m glad I’m not the only one that thinks that. I can’t get my head around it being 2021 already.

    Love the snow photos! When the white stuff is quite rare these days in the UK it starts to feel a little more magical. I’m sure it used to snow a lot more when I was a kid. There was super deep snow in the winter and much longer summers.

    A triple tap for selecting a paragraph is something I do accidentally sometimes. Until it comes to needing to actual do it, then I can never manage it. I learned the whole drag-the-cursor trick only recently. I can never remember that when I need it either. I think you have to tap in the writing area rather than the keyboard, then just drag and the cursor moves with you, so you can get it into the fiddly places that you can’t often manage by just tapping.

    The craft group sounds great – enjoy! I think the general things we do that don’t get counted as ‘exercise’ really add up, especially when we’re not doing them. I now see ‘exercise’ as any kind of movement, whatever that entails. Hopefully in the not too distance future you’ll be back to eating at awkward tables, navigating your wheelchair across fields and catching buses. I can’t imagine things going back to normal though, I think my brain has been forever bent to the needs of my OCD and I’ll never get back to normality in my head. That said, I really would love not to have to spend two hours Dettol-ing everything I bring home from the supermarket and washing my hands in between putting each item away. xx

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    1. I remember much more snow during my childhood too. I think there was, or is it just our memories are of those fun times?!

      Yes, every movement feels like exercise lately too! I think we are all changed in some way since the longer for return of 2019! Well those of us that take all this seriously. I can’t imagine just going out and not worrying.

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  10. Good catching up–I really wish it was over coffee, in real life person! I’m jealous of your snow, LOVE your stone painting, and am hoping you have a great week, Gemma. My work has totally ramped up (it’s that time for nonprofit development writing) so I’m swamped but still trying to connect with my blogging buddies!

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  12. So enjoy these if we were having coffee so… I love snow also and haven’t had much until Friday around 3 pm it started coming down. Went for a walk Saturday morning – posted on Instagram. I’m thinking of what to do for #the100dayproject this year. I have been lucky during our lockdowns as I have still gone to work (hospital) so routine there. What I found and enjoying are on-line paint nights or YouTube. Not great but calling them paint and pizza night. So take care and yes get out when you get for fresh air physically and mentally!!

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  13. Thank you for the update…living in this #Quarantine In Los Angeles is tough, because the weather demands you head outdoors, and it’s not a city for walking, so the monotony of driving in an enclosed vehicle – where to go? Nothing in open. I loved your quote, and it reminded me of one I read so long ago I don’t know where it came from; “Life is an illusion behind which lies the reality of dreams…” We are all dreaming of a normal life again, aren’t we? Glad you are staying safe!

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      1. Yes it has…I am glad you are staying safe and we will get through this – we have a focused, professional approach now and over the next 3 months we will see how that will make a huge difference – and it’s great to re-join the rest of the world again and work together….we are not all that we have showed over the past 4 years…

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