The Easter bank holiday gave chance for a short break. My partner and I made the decision to do everything as close as possible to what we usually would. A nice meal, with a leg of lamb, flowers and an egg hunt around the garden. The biggest absence were the wider family but video calls meant that everyone could feel connected virtually.

Our family became a bit bigger on Easter Monday, as we welcomed new member George Patrick into the world. A symbol of hope in uncertain times, an appropriate Easter metaphor too.

The joyous occasion is also a reminder that, alongside helping coronvirus patients at increased capacity, NHS staff are still dealing with all the usual hospital admissions and doing so to an incredibly high standard. The service which Britain is so proud of.

We can’t visit baby George, he’s home and well, but has to isolate with his parents for 12 weeks. I’m further along the self-isolation timeline at four weeks plus. It’s going as well as it can do. The main side effect for me has been swollen feet. I’m not the most avid of walkers at the best of times but even walking around work and Carlisle city centre offers more daily exercise than working from home in a bungalow does.

As I’ve taken the decision not to leave the house at all during lockdown, I can’t make use of the Government mandated daily walk but have been trying to exercise at home. One thing I will never take for granted is how lucky I am to live so close to Morecambe Bay. There’s so many places I could aspire to visit once the peak of the virus has passed. What I would really like is to walk along the coast and soak up the views of the a Lake District fells in the distance once again. That’s first on a long list of things to do. Visiting the local takeaway for a kebab comes a close second though, I must admit.

A computer from work has now been delivered so, when that’s set up, I’ll be able to access the internal BBC systems a lot easier than I do currently, while working from home. A big thanks to my colleagues back at base who have input audio and scripts into the play out system and enabled me to help produce the breakfast show. When I’m up and running on the new kit I’ll be able to do everything I can usually do in the office.

However, I’ll be spending my fifth week of self-isolation on annual leave. It’s been booked for a long time because I was meant to be flying to New York. Once it became apparent that my holiday of a lifetime wouldn’t be taking place yet, I decided to keep the annual leave because it’ll be good to have time off and mental break, if nothing else.

My week “off” will mostly be spent in the back garden, where the weather forecast looks good. It offers time for quiet contemplation, to make sense of this strange period of time we’re living through. Those personal admin type tasks, that always seem to get put off. And to jump on the baking bandwagon, after managing to somehow get hold of some flour. I’ll share how successful my attempts are with you next week. Until then, take care.