A different side of Swords Tidy Towners

Coping at home during Covid-19

“Unprecedented” is definitely the buzz word for 2020. The whole world has been brought to a standstill with resulting job losses and social isolation, while we battle the Covid-19 virus. No longer may we just hop on a plane for a holiday adventure abroad, or even take a car or bus trip beyond a 5 km limit. Visits to family and friends are impossible. How can we take care of our mental and physical health under these testing circumstances? Members of STT have risen to the challenge in a number of ways. Social media has been an important means of checking on each other’s welfare, and for sharing our newly discovered or almost forgotten hobbies and interests. This has been particularly important for those who were obliged to “cocoon”. Some STT families and individuals have carried on with many of our usual Tidy Towns activities within the rules of social distancing. The levels of littering and illegal dumping have markedly increased since the lockdown, but undaunted, many of our group have worked tirelessly to improve their local environment by collecting bags of rubbish, planting seed bombs or by grafitti-busting. Behind the scenes, others have been working on our website or participating in webinars. So although our traditional meetings are not currently taking place, much of our work still continues.

Discover your latent talent or brush up on your neglected skills. Our chairman, Ken, has written a poem in response to the lockdown, which reminds us that we all have skills which we need to develop and share. Don’t be afraid to try a new interest or to improve on existing skills. In the absence of classes, try some YouTube tutorials which will guide you through step-by-step. Be inspired by some of our group’s efforts!

Cogs We Turn
By Ken Duffy
 
Hidden inside, deep down in each
Is a talent, that is within our reach
A gift bestowed, to each at birth
Talents that take time, to unearth
 
Talents bestowed, are for us to find
To yourself, always be kind
Talents we have, may try to hide
Take that journey, enjoy the ride
 
We all have a gift, that calls to us
Let it in, and don’t make a fuss
It is your calling; it is who you are
Let it take you, no matter how far
 
With gifts we are born, each and all
No one gift is better, follow your call
Survival is futile, without each other
Cogs we turn, both sister and brother

Many positives have emerged from these trying times. With more time on our hands, there are no excuses for not completing those postponed DIY jobs around our homes. Use those pots of paint that have been gathering dust in the garage during our previous time-poor lives. There is the opportunity to be creative with spare materials lying about, which can be upcycled into something useful. Repairs can be made to existing items rather than waiting to buy replacements once the shops are opened again.

Take a look at some of our small and big projects and get inspired!

Upcycling / woodwork projects

Home improvement projects and maintenance

Despite the lockdown doom and gloom we have been blessed with truly wonderful weather, thus, no wonder that our Swords Tidy Towners turned to gardening. Some of our volunteers have still managed to do some flower planting and maintenance around the town, but most of us had turned all our attention to our own gardens – seeds were sown, flower beds got weeded, grasses got trimmed or maintained long for our pollinators. The best thing about gardening is that you get to enjoy the process without worrying too much about the end result.

Gardening

Isobel & Billy planting at the Highfields / Rivervalley gap

No green fingers? – try some baking! What would the life be without some yummy guilty pleasures? To make it less guilty try baking/ cooking at home – it’s a relaxing, educational, confidence building, fun and absolutely delicious process.

Cooking & Baking

Ramune’s wheatgrass & orange butter cookies

We have some very talented artists in our group and this is the time when we turn to our most loved activities to escape and relax, and be peaceful. Take a look and enjoy!

Arts & Crafts

We are truly blessed to be living in a beautiful historic town with a river crossing through and some wonderful parks to escape to during the times like these. If you haven’t been so lucky to go out for a walk yourselves we hope that these pictures will bring you some joy. Stay safe and stay well!