I stand in the kitchen and stare out of the window sipping my early morning coffee. We started social distancing a few days ago. It’s the weirdest feeling. The lack of social contact feels odd and I wonder how long this will last. I imagine how different we may all feel when we start interacting and opening up again, maybe a little socially awkward initially.

I stick to my usual morning routine and even put my make up on in the same way, although I’m not going anywhere. It sets off a big debate in my head about who women wear make up for anyway; judging from my behaviour, it would seem that we actually wear it for ourselves. I finish with a long spray of Chanel Coco Eau de Parfum to lift my spirits.

After the usual daily writing routine in my study, I think about how I’m going to fill the rest of the day. I naturally have ‘hoarding’ tendencies so decide to be brave and tackle a couple of large carrier bags filled with newspapers and magazines that have been lingering in the cupboard under the stairs for weeks. I make a start and sigh; so many papers that need to be filed or thrown away. It’s all getting on top of me and I try to motivate myself with some music. I dip into a pile of old CDs and pull out one of my daughter’s old Disney compilations. Perfect! Within seconds I’m singing “It’s the cirrccclllleeeee of liiiiffee! And it moves us aaallllll!” papers flying through the air and into the recycling bin.

Suddenly I hear the front door close only to find my husband standing in the corridor with two bags of shopping. I follow him into the kitchen to see what he’s bought; he’s done rather well. I reach to the bottom of the bag to discover two Ambrosia Rice pudding tins! My heart sinks. Ugh! Nooooo, please! School memories of playing with my spoon and staring perplexedly into a small bowl of strange lumps in a white goo; then looking up at the dinner monitor’s harsh expression suggesting I get on with eating my pudding if I want to go out and play with my friends.

“I love it!” My husband beams at me, oblivious.

We have lunch in the garden. A simple egg on toast with a cuppa. We go for a short walk and my husband tells me about the long queues and empty shelves on his shopping trip; on our return he wanders off to his working-from-home shed at the bottom of the garden.

After another 5 o’clock news conference where Sir Patrick Vallance is explaining the frightening ‘upward curve’ I decide to turn off the TV and choose a puzzle that is buried under some board games at the side of a bookcase. It’s only 400 pieces, suitable for 10-year olds; perfect for my IQ level! No point in attempting a 1,000 piece puzzle that would probably take me a decade to finish.

When dinner time comes around my husband reminds us that there’ll be no takeaways for a while.

My daughter suggests, “Why don’t we learn to cook special fried rice ourselves? We have a great big wok in the cupboard!” It turns out to be an easy dish to prepare served alongside some salmon and we wolf it down.

It’s been a pretty active day after all. I certainly haven’t made any impact on the world. I haven’t sent or received a single email, paid a bill or even phoned my mother. I’ve just been ‘experiencing the flow’. Who knows what tomorrow will bring, I may even decide to wear that headband my daughter brought back from a school trip to Peru and bake a pineapple upside-down cake!