Lockdown 11

                 

Hello Peeps,

It is now week eleven of lockdown albeit with some easing of restrictions here in the UK. Personally, I feel it is too early and am anticipating a second wave and return to a more severe lockdown. Just hope I’m wrong.

The pics? Thought I'd share my children with you! I'm afraid that's the way authors see their books; as their babies growing through to adulthood. We think of that little idea at conception through all the writing, editing to publication or birth. Then, we watch them grow, with pride.

Sadly, another incident occurred last week which has given rise to rioting and unrest initially in Minneapolis but now across the States and worldwide. A black man, George Floyd, and yes I’m now allowed to use the word ‘black’ in relation to a persons colour. Anyway, Mr Floyd was arrested, held down for over eight minutes by a white policeman, who had his knee on his neck, making it impossible for Mr Floyd to breathe properly. He could be heard saying he couldn’t breathe, and pleading for his life. I can only imagine the fear he experienced in those last minutes. However, we all know my belief that everything happens for a reason. This racist incident has given rise to a strong movement among the black people and with much white support... Black Lives Matter.

Anyway, this week I have two of my posts from Lockdown to share with you. Hopefully, next week things will be looking better.

I’m working at snail pace, too!

Here’s last Thursday and Friday’s posts. Enjoy!  🥳🌈🍷🍁💕🍷

Day 66, Thursday, May 28th Groundhog Day 9999! Who cares?

I woke up early this morning. Possibly because I was going out and meeting a friend at 11.00. I know that’s usually brekky time. Not today. It’s a wonderful day. A day to be grateful and appreciative for what we have. One of those days to go out and smell the roses.

Now in my youth I was a Brownie and a Girl Guide. I learned to “be prepared”. So yesterday I put two cartons of juice in the fridge, cranberry/raspberry and orange juice. This morning they were nice and cool. I put them in a bag with plastic beakers. Set off, wearing shades, and headed for Forge Mill car park. Met my friend at 10.50. I was early. Miraculous! She was already there. We got tickets from the machine. Surprised it was working. Two peeps ahead of us but social distancing by the machine. There were about thirty cars on the park, and a lot of peeps around but behaving sensibly and keeping apart. Seems like we’re all learning although no one wearing masks. We sauntered down to the lake and sat on the seat. Beautiful. Yes, we were apart. She at one end, I at the other. Separated by the distance of my stick!  Time to catch up and put the world to rights. Then, back to the car. We parked with a space between us. The drinks were still nice and cool. I poured two beakers of raspberry and cranberry juice. Put a beaker on the floor between us for my friend to pick up. We sat in our respective cars, drank and continued chatting until it was time to leave. A great morning.

Since then, I’ve enjoyed the sun, worked, made my phone call, had lunch and about to watch the update.

Something new comes into force today. “Test and Trace”. If you think you have the dreaded lurgy, you get a test. If it’s positive those you’ve been in contact with are traced and will be asked to self-isolate. Pardon my ignorance but why have we only just got this? Dominic Cummings is still news. Durham Police think he may have broken lockdown rules when in Durham, by driving to Barnard Castle, but no action will be taken. We are talking about the senior aide. Looking at the number of deaths, severity of the situation, and the fact that he seems to have followed the science and not common sense why is he invincible?

The Premier League is to restart from June 17th. We only have 377 Covid deaths today. It’s a lot more than 2 isn’t it? Ah, first important figures given by Boris… testing. 3,000.000+. Why do they always start with those figures? Trying to impress? Now, he’s back to those first five tests.  Yes, figures prove we are succeeding. The death rate is falling. Rate of infection is also decreasing. Why am I reminded of Nanny McPhee, tests being met? Whatever Boris says it does not change the fact that we were slow to go into lockdown, slow to start testing, and have more deaths than any other European country. If we had not followed the “science” presumably advised by D.C. who took a trip to Durham would we have so many deaths?

Schools, outdoor, and some other retail places are reopening on Monday. Families are also being allowed to meet up but only by observing social distance and outside the home; not inside. Those who are shielding must continue to do so. We are making progress while following his roadmap. All steps taken are dependent on those five tests!

Dinner time. Sweet and sour chicken while watching "Downton".

8.00 pm it’s clapping time. We’ve got used to this now but it’s to be the last week. The instigator feels after ten weeks it has achieved its aim, and should cease on a high becoming just an annual event to remember the basic infrastructure of our society.

I rushed in after the event for a zoom experience and a live interview with a colleague in America. Wow, what an experience. It was super. I talked too much as usual but who cares. Sadly, I realised later that the pic was darker than it should have been due to my inexperience. I had played around earlier and anticipated the fact that it would be getting dark over here but I still didn’t get the lighting correct. Somehow, the lighting on my wall and door was better than on me. Never mind. I’m sure I was informative and at my age darkness is probably better.

So, tonight I retire on a high. It’s been a great day.

Day 67, Friday, May 29th

Another wonderful day. Feeling lazy. Waiting for someone to come and clean the gutters. Watching tv. BA and other airlines have announced redundancies. Some staff are phoning in, looking for help because of anxiety and panic. Suddenly, the comfy lifestyle has been taken from them. Will they lose their homes? Will they ever find another job.? How will they survive and provide for their family? Panic! Panic! Panic! We should never take things for granted. Many will never do that again.

So, 12.40 and gutters have been cleaned. An enterprising local roofer also trying to stay afloat in these hard times was offering front and back gutters cleaned for £30. Usual price is twice that. Now, I like a bargain and I’m helping a business trying to survive when so many are being forced to go under. It was fun as we communicated in social distance. It’s like dancing around. I paid by putting the money on the floor by the door, and moving back so that he could pick it up. Clever?

This afternoon. Pottered and played. Also, popped out into the garden and picked up a few weeds.

It’s 5.26 and I do not think he will come today. Fingers crossed for tomorrow. Ice cream. Temperature? Outside 23C. My temperature? 36.4C.  I’m hot stuff. Just decided to change the BBC weather app to Fahrenheit and that means outside it’s 73°; that sounds much nicer and hotter.

Looking at the update. Dentists are to reopen on June 8th. Exciting. The furlough thing is under debate, and change, but it will come to an end in October. The figures are as predictable as usual. Testing is on the up, as are those indicating positive and sadly, fatalities are still high. 324 deaths today, total now 38,161. It has been pointed out that we are still at 4 not progressed to 3 as the PM planned on his roadmap. So, why are we forging ahead with easing lockdown and making an attempt to get businesses up and running? If we continue to move toward 5 as opposed to 3 are we going back into lockdown? Vague, non-committal answers. No MP wants to think of the probable second wave. Their main answer is that different parts of the country are progressing at different levels.  Rishi Sunak, Chancellor,  (he has a lovely smile) has done a great job of convincing us that we are succeeding. Our country is opening up again. There is reason to be optimistic.

Globally, the picture is not good. USA 1,775,000+ cases and 103,000+ deaths. Russia and Brazil are getting closer to the million mark daily. Brazil has 438,000+ cases and 26,000+ deaths. Russia has 387,000+ cases and only 4,000+ deaths. Sad, but that ratio of fatalities to cases means they are doing something right. Total cases worldwide is now almost 6,000,000. Let’s be positive. A century ago, when Spanish Flu ruled the world, there were an estimated 50,000,000 fatalities and about 500,000,000 cases. That was one third of the population affected and one tenth of those affected lost their lives.

So, for the rest of the day? "Downton" and soaps. Wow! For the last ten weeks all the soap operas began with mentioning Coronavirus and instructions. Stay at home. Wash hands regularly. Practise social distancing. Tonight, the first instruction has disappeared. Just two instructions. A clear indication that easing of lockdown has begun. Just hope that first order does not reappear.

Goodnight!

Love to you all, Stay safe. Lady M xxx