Sarah McDonnell, Editor

Stretching … with Milena Jaksik of Platinum Pilates at Virtual Mat Pilates via the Zoom app at ouch, 7am, or in the evening;  www.platinumpilates.ie 

Walking & Listening to … West Cork, the podcast about the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier –  so late to the game on this but it’s brilliant and at 29 minutes per episode, two episodes last all the required steps for the day. Brilliantly told, gripping and chilling, all at once; on Audible.co.uk.

Watching … Madame on Amazon Prime with Toni Collette as an ambitious American hostess living in Paris who, faced with a table of 13 guests, has to ask the Spanish maid (the brilliant Rossy de Palma of Almodovar movie fame)  to even up the numbers. Prepare for serious house envy – the interiors (and clothes) are gorge … and Harvey Keitel is brilliant as Collette’s philandering husband. 

Reading …  Dinner with Edward, A Story of an Unexpected Friendship by Isabel Vincent. A true story. The writer’s friend has just lost her mum and living far from New York, asks the writer to look in now and then on her lonely father. What begins as a favour to her friend develops into a sustaining and healing friendship for both the older man and the writer, conducted over sublime dinners, good wine and potent martinis. Edward’s sense of style and philosophy on life is buoyant and brilliant and it’s an uplifting read.  

Planting …two small kitchen garden beds, with bulletptroof, impossible-to-kill salads, carrots and radishes and some chilli plants in pots too – last year’s Apache variety had the most beautiful taste. As much for the pleasure of growing and eating (Watching Grow, Cook, Eat on RTÉ 1 on Wednesday at 7.30pm for inspiration too) … as for the “promise of tomorrow”. Every inch of growth takes us closer to this challenging episode in our lives being over. 

Sarah Halliwell, Beauty Editor

Reading …  Actress by Anne Enright and enjoying the evocation of a life lived in the wings, just one of a pile of books to tackle including Eimear McBride’s Strange Hotel and William Feaver’s chunky Lucian Freud book.

Tuning in … to Anna Frankland at Reform Pilates, who is now running classes digitally. Book in online at www.reformdublin.ie for details of how to get a class beamed into your sitting room. It’s a great time to take up a new skill and keep fit, and the Reform team are experts – plus you’ll be supporting a small local business. See @reformpilatesdublin

Supporting Irish business … we are absolute devotees of Lou Brennan’s exquisite designs at The Gloss and she has just announced a 30 per cent discount online www.loubrennan.com. Hurrah!

Playing the piano … now’s the time to master that Chopin Nocturne at long last – though we’re driving our entire family mad with badly played scales to start with. 

Watching … if you haven’t yet seen Succession (SkyAtlantic and Now TV)  I envy you. With the luxury of time to watch endless TV without feeling guilty, I might just watch the whole thing again – it’s as good as everyone says, and better. We’re also having a family film night, which started in style with Ferris Bueller.

Listening … to Stormzy Heavy is the Head – the perfect fast walking alone soundtrack.