What are you doing about socialising in autumn/winter?

[Racoonworld]

I have just about been coping with lockdown so far and have been socialising in small groups in gardens or parks. However with autumn getting closer I’m wondering how this will be possible in the bad weather and am dreading months of not being able to socialise. What are you planning on doing? Any good suggestions?

I completely disagree that it’s people in homes spreading the virus & not workplaces. I’m in a locally locked down area. We can do everything except meet people indoors or private gardens. It’s been 3 weeks now & our cases are continuing to rise. So it’s not working. In fact, it appears most cases are stemming from outbreaks in factories & warehouses in my council area..

@gower4

Using Covid as the perfect excuse never to see my extended family!!

I’ll be socialising the same as I have every other year.

@Bol87

I completely disagree that it’s people in homes spreading the virus & not workplaces. I’m in a locally locked down area. We can do everything except meet people indoors or private gardens. It’s been 3 weeks now & our cases are continuing to rise. So it’s not working. In fact, it appears most cases are stemming from outbreaks in factories & warehouses in my council area..

I know.

Matt Hancock says workers should return as most cases are in homes which counter acts that schools are safe surely as, just like in homes, no SD or PPE and higher numbers of people.

Most cases are not in homes. It’s such a lie. There have been SO many outbreaks from factories & warehouses. Obviously, these do translate into home transmission eventually but the outbreak itself is not coming from meeting my mum in her garden. It’s infuriating.

I am concerned about this too OP. Yes as it stands many restrictions have lifted but I am right on the edge of a local lockdown area and so quite likely to be restricted in who I can visit at home/ who can come to our house. Having v young DC means we need to get out and about regularly!

I'm investing in warm coats/suits for DC and a new winter coat for me so we can still get out and walk in all weathers.

We have a gazebo which I'm planning to put at the side of the house so it's more sheltered to use as an all weather outdoor play area.

Other than that I'm keeping my fingers crossed that museums/ indoor attractions manage to stay open as long as possible.

@Tartan333 you’re allowed to buy not everyone wants to and sometimes we want more than one household at a time. Plus possible local lockdowns/additional restrictions.

Obviously I am aware of the above but who can say what will happen. If there are no local or national restrictions in place then it's down to personal choice and perception of risk.

There aren't many options really, see people indoors or stick to only outside.

Carrying on as normal

My DH is building a spaceship in the garden and he's pretty sure it will be ready by autumn. We'll be off travelling the galaxy where corona can't get us (we hope).

Seeing people in the house same as I'm doing now. Or the pub, if they haven't closed again.

I am praying the leisure centre will let us resume our club, as that is how we mostly socialise in the winter. I will start eating and drinking out as soon as my work dries up over the winter and isolating myself for 2 weeks won't matter. We will socialise in each other's houses.

I live alone a long way from family so socialising is really important to me. The early strict lockdown was absolutely awful for my wellbeing.

It's not generally the cold in this country which inhibits outdoor activity. It's the rain, gales and mud!

I’m happy to see people in homes. I imagine people will also do their own risk assessments about mixing three households rather than two if all three are related and seeing each other regularly anyway.

I usually hibernate after my birthday (early Oct) until March, aside from Christmas.

To be honest my friends rarely meet at each others houses, we usually meet in pubs and restaurants so we will continue to do that for special occasions but definitely will be socialising far less than summer.

We’ve got a pretty big garden and a marquee so I guess we’ll get a few patio heaters and continue with what we’re doing now

I haven't been socialising at all yet anyway unless you count work so I don't think anything will change.

This year is a hibernation winter.

I'm planning to declutter the utility.

I don’t think much will change for us. We tend to socialise with friends with young children during the day. We’ll carry on meeting up at places (NT/Country Estates etc) until they close for the winter (usually end of Oct) The main difference for us will be Halloween (no going out as a group trick or treating) Bonfire night (usually go to council run display as a group but it’s been cancelled)
Not sure about Christmas yet but we tend to see family in smaller groups over a couple of weeks. We’ve got a lot of family birthdays in Jan & Feb - I guess we’ll have to wait and see how the pandemic is going by then.
We’ve got a family BBQ next weekend and then everything is a bit play it by ear after that.

We’re investing in a cover for the terrace to extend the time we can eat and spend evenings outside. We’ll just use the Kadai bowl more.

Socialising as normal in houses and as close to normal in pubs/restaurants as I can due to whats on offer. Having Christmas as normal.

The whole thing is a farce. Until the government can tell me what their aim is in the long term I am acting as if there is none so I'm not living my life like this for years, not being able to have a group of my friends and family together in my house.

It will probably depend on the level of cases in my local area. We have spoken of getting a gazebo / patio heater but as long as cases remain low we will probably get used to meeting up indoors again. We are going away this weekend with adult DS and his GF. Originally planning meals / drinks in beer gardens but as the weather is looking rough we are now looking at bars with pool / TV etc. So nowhere near into Autumn / winter but already looking at moving indoors . TBF I don't mind the cold but what else do you do in wind and rain ?

We are trying to catch up with people now in anticipation of not seeing them as winter approaches. We don't tend to socialise very much during Autumn/Winter anyway, so it won't be very different. We normally have a party for DD's birthday with all the family, but won't be doing that this year. Christmas is just us anyway.

We are seeing it as an opportunity to save some money, and get some DIY done around the house.

I haven't been socialising anyway, most of my friends have been the same, so it won't make any difference. Only difference for me is it'll be harder to motivate myself for longish local walks or bike rides during winter.

Everyone i know is planning some sort of cover in the back garden, from a virtual extension through pagoda and shades

We’ll do the same as soon as we figure out how 🤔