Back in England, halfway through quarantine...

Back in Oxfordshire in my converted van

I'm back in England now and have a week left to go of my 14 day quarantine. It's been a long time since my last blog post as my laptop had to be repaired and was gone for 6 weeks.  We were out of lockdown by then thankfully, but it did make travel plans very difficult. I was waiting for US flights to open to non-US citizens so that I could use my return tickets but ended up having to book a humanitarian flight via Amsterdam.

However, I found out just a few days later that I would have been able to use my original returns!  Very frustrating, however the journey back went very smoothly without any problems. I had to get a special travel document from the British Embassy to be allowed to travel across the regions of Panama to the city for the flight and arrange a boat to take me to the mainland, since normal passenger services are not running at the moment. I stayed for a few days at a hotel in Panama City in case a Covid 19 test was required as with some European flights, but this was not necessary to enter Holland. The city is still in lockdown with men and women allowed out at specific hours on alternate days, as it had been for the whole country many weeks ago.

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There were few passengers at the airport with few flights leaving the country and on the flight each passenger was separated by an empty seat to maintain social distancing.  I brought only hand luggage to allow for quick transfers which worked well. Quite a few passengers wore full body coverings as well as a mask and a face shield which made for a rather surreal journey. Only masks were actually required by the airlines though,  and I was relieved to find that food and drink was served as normal.

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After a week of rain the sun is finally out, and I've been getting ready to start painting again. So as not to put my family at risk, I'm quarantined in the studio above the garage and sleeping in my converted van just as I do when working at festivals. I've been missing the islands and the tropical temperatures but hopefully the good weather will hold out for a while now! 

All painting supplies sorted and ready for action

Blackberries are out already