Who thought when all this started that we’d be in June and still locked down. There are glimmers of life returning to the cities and towns – but not as we knew it. Shops have plastic barriers between the staff and the customers, staff have protective shields on their face – so no droplets get through. We have signs on the floor to stay 2 meters aside, and in the opposite of how it used to be when a face mask was frowned on (you could be a burglar you know), they are now required….or you face a fine.

I find it all a bit scary and odd. At the same time as the world around me has changed almost beyond recognition, so has my life. Having been a city dweller for over 20 years, my husband and I have found ourselves doing what we had been talking about doing for years and moved to the country.

This wasn’t deliberate – we were here when lockdown started, and here we’ve stayed. And yet four months later, instead of packing up and heading back to our London home, its on the market and we won’t be returning beyond to move our belongings out.

Its been an odd few months. We found ourselves at the start of Covid, back in March, stressed, tired and burnt out – not that we had the time to recognise it then. We were happily on the London wheel of life. Up early, work long hours, commute for nearly 3 hours a day, drinks with friends when we could, the odd visit to the gym squashed in between the commute and collapsing exhausted on the sofa after a long week.

My husband won’t be going back to work in the City. His job has come to an end and for the first time in his adult life he is going to be redundant. Me? Well I don’t know the status of my job in the long term. For now I am still gainfully employed, however due to the restrictions of Covid I’m working from home. Even in pre Covid times I worked from home two days a week, so I don’t see me going back to more than a three day a week in the City. Possibly less given that my Company has announced its shutting its HQ – my office. So either way, we have no need for a London house. It’s on the market for sale.

The last four months have given us space to breath and to think. Yes we’ve worked hard, yes we’ve still done long hours (even my husband in the last few weeks of his role has been working hard). However, we’ve gained 3 hours a day back….and the London stress of commuting and trying to fit our life into the 8pm-10pm shift has rolled off. The lack of commuting has opened up a world of walking, fitness and time. TIME ! I can’t remember the last time I had that. Genuinely to close my laptop at 7pm and know I have all evening has been a treat.

So whilst Covid and all it has represented for so many has been horrific in so many ways, there is a tiny silver lining in our lives….it has given us the time to really look at what we are doing with our life. To think about what we want to do in whatever time we have left on this planet of ours. It enabled us to offer to look after my brother and sister in law’s children so they could work on the Covid wards without worry, it gave us time to get to know them better over a 3 month period – before they then went back home. It gave us time to get off the London wheel and step back.

Are we done with London forever? Who knows. Whilst the house is on the market, there is always the possibility it won’t sell. It maybe work in the future ramps up again in the office and we will need somewhere in the City to lay our head. What I do know is that never again will London be our home. We’ve found that in a small village in the Countryside, that has a community, a heart and a hundred fields outside our front door.

Oh and the last sliver of silver lining…well we have always wanted a dog. Never had the time. Now – guess what ? Luna the labrador puppy arrives in two weeks ….my husband and I can’t wait. Our two cats aren’t quite so enthusiastic, but they will come round in time.