Covid Chronicles 3

Memory, afternoon tea in Blackpool

Hello Everybody,

Lady M here. It is Tuesday 3rd November but when this is published on Friday we, here in the UK, will be in lockdown again. In America? I am not sure what will be happening. Today, America decides. Trump or Biden? Elsewhere, there are floods, fires, earthquakes, typhoons, rioting and shooting. Things are not good. I am sharing last weekends posts with you and I wanna say to all please stay positive and choose to be happy. Somehow, someday we will weather this storm but only by working together, by kindness and consideration to others. Stay safe, my friends.

Day 222, 31st October, Saturday. Halloween!

Good morning!

I am half-way through my reading of the print version of my next book. So far, all is good. No serious errors. Must not speak too soon. (Bus alert! I’ve seen a few pass by while I have been seated here. Most have passengers today. Possibly because it is Saturday.)

I was thinking earlier. Who remembers Louis Armstrong’s song, “What a wonderful world”? Now, it seems to be more of a disastrous world. We have raging fires, floods, earthquakes, and a plague. What is the main news item? The US election. Where will it all end? I think my iPad is in sympathy with our dire situation; it died yesterday. I looked online for a new one. The delivery dates were for late November. Instead, I shall brave the elements and venture out on Monday to the store and hopefully purchase one. That is if the store is still open.

Covid-19. What have I always said about our Boris being slow? He is having a meeting with his Cabinet this afternoon over whether we should have a full lockdown for November in the hope of saving Christmas. This is after Belgium has followed Germany into a full lockdown and Greece is in partial lockdown. Europe has passed the 10,000,000-case figure. Will our Boris be able to make a decision? The news took us back to Boris in March of this year with his slogan “Stay home. Protect the NHS. Save lives”. Back to square one.

Sad news. Sean Connery has passed away at the age of 90. Memories. Those James Bond films and the sixties.

Okay. Back to work. Must finish reading “The Singing Horses”. I will not be back until it is complete.

Completed. Maybe one day it will get published. Publishers! They always do things in their own way and time regardless of what you say or want. Conversing with them is like the proverbial brick wall. I have had numerous conversations with authors who think the same about publishers. The whole book publishing process has changed beyond all believe in the last two decades.

Bus alert. A double decker one passed by this afternoon. They are usually single decks here.

Okay. Right now, I have the television on waiting for a Downing Street Briefing. Boris is about to announce our, not totally unexpected, full lockdown following France, Germany, and Belgium. Breaking news earlier this afternoon, as I said earlier in the week, the UK has passed the 1,000,000 mark in cases. Waiting! Waiting! Waiting! We keep being told the briefing has been delayed. First 4.00pm. Then 5.00pm. 6.00pm.

Just after 7.00pm. yes. We are taken to Downing Street. Boris and two other figures walk in and take their places behind the podiums all with the symbols and words ‘hands, face, space’ on them. I think it will be the last time we will see those for a while. Boris has done a U turn. He has previously stated that a full lockdown would be inappropriate for our country (presumably he means England, as opposed to Wales, Scotland or the UK) and disastrous for our economy despite the advice from SAGE and request from the Labour leader. All almost pleading for an earlier lockdown in September to save Christmas and lives. Now he says we must all stay at home. We may only leave for work, (if we cannot work from home), exercise, shopping for essentials, or to volunteer and care for loved ones. The hospitality industry will close apart from take-aways. The over 60’s must be extremely careful. (Oh dear! Woe is me!) There will be no shielding this time. Presumably, the government cannot afford it. Professor Whitty stated that the virus had been accelerating at an ‘extremely rapid’ pace in recent weeks. Wow! What an observation. So, action must be taken. Let us look on the bright side, we do not need to know how to escape from tier 3 anymore. Schools, colleges, and universities will stay open. Non-essential shops will close. Supermarkets will stay open. Households must not mix. This will start on Thursday 5th November and last for one month initially, it will be reviewed. Peeps. Observations. I note the date, Bonfire Night! Secondly, if you think it is all going to be over in a month, I fear you are going to be disappointed. My guess is it will go on into 2021. There will be a lull before the third wave. You heard it here first, just like FOGO and the second wave. Boris’s final statement was that Christmas would be different this year, but he hoped families would be able to be together. What happened to his roadmap indicating we would be back to normal by Christmas? The only difference I can see from last time round is that education will continue while everything else stops. The Nightingale Hospitals are on standby again and close to being used. We are back to our concern over the NHS. “Stay home. Protect the NHS. Save lives.” Who do I blame? Surprisingly not Boris for being tardy but peeps for disobeying or ignoring the rules. Those who must congregate, protest, stand outside football stadiums, and throw parties.

Okay off for a late dinner. Hunter’s Chicken and wedges. Ready meal from freezer with vino. Watch the screen.

Day 223, November 1st, Sunday. Happy November (Lockdown month)

Peeps we’ve hit November. The eleventh month of the year. What happened to 2020? It is kinda sinking down a black hole but sadly leaving Coronavirus behind. Positivity… one week of the awful winter months and dark nights has gone! Furlough should have ended but it is continuing for another month. Many will be pleased or relieved to hear that. Rishi has found more magic beans.

So, I smile as I force my creaking, aching body out of bed. Look out of windows. Bleak. Dismal. Naked trees. Empty buses. Television on. The Andrew Marr show. Listen while dressing. He’s good. Downstairs. Christmas tree and baubles brighten up the drab day. Alarm off. Lounge. Draw back the drapes. Second tv set on. Kitchen. Kettle. Coffee. Cereal. Brekky time. Second cuppa while still thinking about what to do now I have finished reading my print ready copy. Relax! That is what I will do today.

The gardener was supposed to be coming but he is a no-show. Guess it will be next week now. So, upstairs to computer. Email (not exciting) Blog stats. (not exciting) Facebook and games time. Play away until “Songs of Praise”.

Several busses pass by. I need to get a life.

1.00pm. Downstairs. News. Make cappuccino, light candles, and wait for 1.15. Yea. This week it is from The Steeple Church, Dundee in Scotland. Two guest singers Barbara Dixon and Cliff Richard. I marvel at Sir Cliff; he is 80 and fitter than I and probably many fifty-year-olds. I watched and listened but found it difficult to enjoy today because all the music was songs I did not know. Again, changing times. No good old-fashioned hymns.

What next? Tackle the ironing. Iron the curtain I want to put up at the kitchen window. It used to have a blind, but it wore out about five years ago. Because I keep thinking of moving, and the kitchen needs modernising, I decided not to purchase a new one. In the summer I leave it unadorned but, in the winter, I like to hide the miserable, drab exterior and it makes the kitchen feel warmer.

Mission accomplished. Sit down. Relax. Watch “Reach for the Sky”, the film about Douglas Bader. Phone rings. I pick up receiver. Someone starts singing, “It’s your lucky day, lucky…” You see, my friends I have started a trend. Other peeps are now making regular phone calls and telling friends it is their lucky day. This lady was someone I had met on hols in Blackpool five years ago. We have stayed in touch. Chatted and then I watch the end of the film. Afternoon tea-time. Oh, it is great to be British!

Okay, I have left it to the end but what is newsworthy apart from the Trump v Biden boxing match? Wow! A typhoon has hit the Philippines, Typhoon Rolly. Four dead so far. That follows flooding in Louisiana, fires in Orange County and the horrific earthquake in Turkey/Greece area. 51 dead so far in that disaster. Midst all of this we are told that Sir Bobby Charlton has been diagnosed with dementia.

Covid-19. Today’s situation. Globally 46,788,146. Last Sunday it was 43,169,091. You do not need three degrees to see that Covid is out of control, do you? It is almost 4,000,000 more in seven days, if you wanna be pedantic it is 3,619,055. Remember in the summer when it was less than a million each week? Houston, we have a problem. I am not convinced that lockdown alone will sort it because not all peeps obey the rules. We need vaccines and a much better track and trace system. In the next couple of weeks Mexico and Peru will pass the million mark.

I am going back downstairs to watch “Pride of Britain Awards”. I bid you all a fond farewell and stay safe, my friends.

Love to you all, Lady M 💓💓💓💓