Covid Chronicles 2

                                                      

Autumn colours!

Hello Everyone,

Lady M here. The Covid situation is far worse than last week but we must remain cheerful and hopeful. I have selected the top pic from my pics because the autumn colours are bright, vivid and help lift the mood. Today, we hear that herd immunity is unlikely to be an option as tests have shown that peeps who had the virus earlier in the year are no longer immune. What next? Wales is in lockdown. Scotland has a different tier/level system from England and more areas of our country have been put in tier 3, very high, with severe restrictions. Personally, I have reached the stage where I don't want to go out anyway. It is not FOGO but just a case of I don't fancy it. However, on Monday I had a RED LETTER day and I am going to share it with you. Stay safe, folks.

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Day 216, 25^th October, Sunday (First day of Greenwich Mean Time… winter)

Good morning. I have put two of my clocks back, and onto wintertime. The rest stay on summertime. I stayed up late last night savouring every last moment of summer. This morning I see there are very few leaves left on the trees. Tonight, it will be dark at about 6.00. Yuk! What am I doing to stay cheerful? I am putting my first Christmas tree up this afternoon and it will remain in position until after my birthday in February. Also, you know my friends I have two advent calendars with exciting pressies in to keep me amused during December. I choose to be happy. We all owe it to ourselves to be happy and ensure we survive these trying times.

I admit, this morning, it was difficult to move myself from a horizontal position to a vertical one, and push those covers back before swinging my legs out of bed. They really were objecting to movement, but I am not a hibernating creature, so I made it. Out of bed. Look out of windows. Sunday, so no visiting cars on our street. Tesco’s car park is free on Sundays. Dressed. Downstairs. Alarm off. Tv on. Andrew Marr and politics.

Brekky, iPad, coffee. There are four main topics of conversation. Brexit. School Dinners. America’s election. Covid-19. Yes, I mention school dinners. This has been a topic of concern since lockdown when schools closed. You may be forgiven for believing that school is about receiving an education. It is about so much more. Feeding children and providing them with computers and laptops. When schools closed those who were receiving free school dinners were left starving apparently. The footballer Marcus Rashford started a campaign calling on the government for more of those magic beans to prevent child hunger. In some areas individuals and businesses stepped in to provide food for the needy. I believe the government did make some provision, not to sure of the amount or how long it lasted. Now, more businesses have signed up to cater during half term. I, and some are thinking, wait a minute whose responsibility is it to feed these children? What used to happen during school holidays? Why is this a sudden emergency? Additionally, when schools close all children are expected to work from home via the Internet. Many have access to neither the Internet nor computer. The government must provide. Schools are complaining they do not have enough for all children. Has it reached the stage where peeps just expect the government to provide? I am talking about those who were receiving government funding prior to lockdown not those who the government have prevented from working and have always provided for their families without state handouts. What have I just heard? A Councillor in Birmingham, I think, has said that they will be texting all parents regarding where they can get their free meals. So, let me get this right, parents who cannot afford to feed their children can afford smart phones! This reminds me of an occasion when I purchased a copy of “The big Issue” off someone I assumed was homeless and later, I saw her chatting on a smart phone. I guess she could have borrowed it.

Brexit? I think this is going nowhere fast. A big disaster. My prediction is a wake-up call to reality on January 1^st when the transition period is over, and things really change. Will Brexiteers be lynched? Feel embarrassment? Deny their choice? Or, for all our sakes let’s hope I have this one wrong, and everything goes swimmingly well. We can live in hope. Just thinking of earlier ramblings and predictions. I predicted FOGO, the second wave and high suicide figures amongst the young.

America’s elections. Will Trump make it? Will Biden pull it off?  Democrats or Republican? America will decide. Both candidates will be playing their ace cards as they approach the day. Baruch Obama is supporting Joe Biden. President Trump has his family and empire behind him. The polls are placing Joe Biden in the lead. I am thinking, how many of the population will not vote and we already have 37% of the population’s votes. Maybe that is already more than half.  Watch this space.

Last, but not least, Covid-19. Not good. Global figure is 43,169,091. That is 3 million new cases in one week and 50% up on last week. If you remember last month, I predicted 60 million by Christmas updating it from 50 million. Maybe, I am still underestimating. I hope not. 8 countries have passed the million mark… USA, India, Brazil, Russia, Spain, France, Argentina, and Colombia. We have 19,000 new cases and 151 deaths. This second wave has taken hold and is far worse than the first, I still think it will get worse and late next year we will be faced with the third wave. Breaking news… Thousands are protesting against lockdown by breaking the rules in London. Guess that means the figures will rise. Brussels is close to lockdown.

Okay, enough. Second cuppa and then I shall put the tree up. 

At 1.15 I will be back for “Songs of Praise”.

Yea. My tree is decorated in the hall. I am seated with cuppa and candles burning ready for “Songs of Praise”. As October is Black History Month this week’s service is from a museum of black history in Liverpool. I confess to ignorance. I did not know there was one. A few black people spoke of their lives, ancestors who came here, and their history. The service began with that lovely song synonymous with Liverpool, and from “Carousel”, “You’ll never walk alone.” I love it and sang along. It is apt for these times. I was not familiar with many of the other musical contributions, but it did send me down memory lane. This programme used to be a religious service and always hymns as opposed to thematic. Alas, again it is the changing times.

For the rest of today? Admire my tree. Work, rest, and play. Pity I do not have a Mars bar. Remember the slogan folks? Phone call. No answer. Never mind.

Dinner time. Tonight, it’s Hawaiian pizza plus vino. Yes, 6.00pm and pitch-black outside. Drapes drawn. Sigh. Hey, where’s positivity gone? There are only 152 days and nights until summertime again and Antonio! That is not too bad.

Tv and later the Olivier awards for theatre performances is going ahead without an audience and in some cases, recipients will be receiving their award virtually. Oh, brave new world!

 

Day 217, 26^th October 2020. (Week 32) RED LETTER DAY!

Yea, I am excited today. My article a “trip down memory lane” goes live. https://www.peak-advertiser.co.uk/ I am on page 26. Do read it and send me nice comments to make my day! Empty bus alert. They are easier to see now the trees have shed their leaves and are stark naked. Isn’t nature cruel? You would think trees would want leaves in the winter to keep them warm! My little sense of humour comes smiling through. Second empty bus alert. I digress as usual.

In these unprecedented and strange times where positivity is essential to keep us going, we need to find red-letter days and I am happy to share mine with you. I choose to be happy and am finding things to do each day. I am not saying it’s easy but…

I wrote this article after a trip back to the little village of Ashford-in-the Water, which I have mentioned several times, a couple of years ago. It was posted on my blog and then stayed dormant. I retrieved it and decided to send it to this paper. Hey Presto. Success. This leads me to think of our youth of today who are seeing their dreams disappear. Please accept these words from a veteran of life, “never give up hope, turn your negatives into positives”.

The rest of today? I am venturing out to Sainsbury’s because I have a voucher. If I spend more than £50, I get a £7.50 discount. I can get a few bottles of wine for £50! First, brekky, tv, iPad and wash up. Back later.

3.30 pm. I have been out, had lunch and made my phone call to another party who did not answer. I fear she and her hubby may be lost or stuck in France. They have a second home there and popped over as soon as they were able to. I thought it was brave at the time.

Trip to Sainsbury’s. What has happened to life when a grocery shopping expedition becomes exciting as opposed to essential? I was observant as usual. Lots of traffic about and empty buses. Maybe that is why there are more cars around. The tram was running but I didn’t notice how many peeps were using it. A lot of peeps out on the street most were wearing masks. Arrive at supermarket. Lot of peeps. Are they queueing? No, or I would drive on. It is half-term which may account for the abundance of people or it maybe stocking up/ stockpiling time again before lockdown again.

Just remembered. Apologies but I must digress before I forget. A newsworthy item. Wales is in full lockdown and only essential items may be bought from shops. Clothes are considered non-essential purchases at this time, unlike food and drink. One man, deffo thinking outside the box went shopping in his boxer shorts. When asked or told that he could not shop like that replied that clothes, by law, were not essential items. Clever! Has that put a smile on your visages?

Back to my shopping expedition. Park. Prepare. Mask. Gloves. Token. Bags. Trolley. Straight in. Pick up scanner. Scan Nectar card. (Empty bus alert! No, two of them!) First aisle. Advent calendars. Yes, I know I have two but there was a beautiful Ferrero Roche one. I could not resist. On to the other aisles, observing social distance and everyone is polite. A few more tins and packets for my collection, greengroceries, frozen food, milk, and vino. Over £50. Queue at checkout but not for long. Get my discount. Car. Unload. Return trolley. Observe. There is a queue now. I am a trendsetter. Where I go, others follow. Home. Happy. Car happy. Unload and put goodies away. Hide Advent calendar.

Judge Rinder and lunchtime. Upstairs. Work. Play until 6.00pm. Empty bus again. I love my new hobby. Dinner will be an Italian ready meal bought earlier. Ham and mushroom tagliatelle. Yum, yum. Tv soaps and another day draws to a close.

Okay. I have put the bins out and met my neighbour. We have decided to suspend our meetings until the spring. It really is dark out there.

I have two alarming pieces of news for peeps in the UK. Warrington goes into tier 3 this evening and Nottingham is expected to follow soon. Second alarm, I have checked the global situation. The UK is moving back up the league to position 9 and with 894,000 new cases it is going to hit the million mark before the end of the week. Covid does not like us.

Stay safe my friends.

Love to you all, Lady M 💓💓💓