Day 44 of self isolation/lockdown and I awake to the news that our Boris is a father. Again! I didn’t realise that the birth was imminent. A little Boris apparently. How many kids has he got now? Is this the fifth?

The trend for UK deaths seems to be coming down but we still have to factor in the care homes so let’s reserve judgement for now. On most graphs that we can understand, the UK is not doing as well as most other countries.

Had another walk where we passed the local garden centre yesterday and the queue to pay was horrendous. There was no social distancing and goodness knows what it was like inside. Although we are itching to get our planting started in this good weather, it is not worh picking up the corona virus for a couple of of pansies and a rose bush.

Set up the Wii in the extension and tested it with a quick game of 10 pin bowling. I cannot play normal bowling as the ball is too heavy for my fingers so this is a good compromise. We will dig out Wii fitness tomorrow and start to do indoor excercises as we cannot use the gym at the moment.

Good news that Trump announced that he was only joking about injecting bleach direct into our veins. Yeh, right! And what was Ivanca(?) doing stood next to him. Ah! She’s helped to create 15,000,000 new jobs. Really?

UK deaths Monday 27th April          360

UK deaths Tuesday 28th April          586

UK deaths Wednesday 29th April     578 (Hospitals only. Total actually 765 including care

homes)

 

 

 

 

41 days now in isolation/lockdown but we had our first visitor. Cousin Pamela came to pay us our refunds for our “Fascinating Aida”  and “Upsart Crow” Tickets and London railfares. A total of £195. Very useful. The weather was nice so we could sit in the back garden with a cup of tea but maintining an excess of the 2 meter social distance. It was a very welcome change.

On one of our walks we passed our local garden centre. If it had been empty we may have called in for some bedding plants but it was like a busy railway station and we carried on walking. We resolved to try making a telephone order. It will be nice to get some shrubs, plants and a couple of hanging baskets ready. We will be around all summer to look after them!

We heard that our granddaughter, Thea, had fallen off her bike on Friday and had to go to Accident and Emergency. She had torn muscles in her shoulder and has to rest and wear a sling for 3 weeks followed by physiotherapy. Hopefull she will be fit when she starts swimming again, whenever that might be.

Our saviour Donald Trump has saved the world with his solution of injecting ourselves with bleach and standing in front of a bright light. If laughter is a cure for anything, then our dear Donald has provided us with enough for a world wide recovery. What an idiot. Talking of which, our own Boris is threatening to return to work tomorrow.

Sally’s newborn kittens are progressing well and their eyes are now open. Jim had to go and find a bigger cardboard box for them as hey have learned how to climb out of he old one.

Did lots of baking today. Jenny baked an orange sponge and I did savoury scones. Maisie cannot get her head round the fact that there is no sugar or raisins in. Instead there is cheese, onions and mustard powder. David likens it to having apple pie with greavy.

I fixed the tv/dvd player today so we can watch some of our many dvds and at last listen to cds through the tv. The next job is to move the Wii into the extension so we can do some excercises and Ronnie can, in the future, play 10 pin bowling. Me too.

As I am writing this, it has started to rain. Jenny had to go and fetch the washing in. It is only a shower but most welcome. We will not need to water any plants today.

We have heard from Manfred and it is great that he and Petra are well. They are going for walks and have got hold of personal face masks.

I filled the car up on Thursday when I went to see mum. It was cheap but we have only driven less than 100 miles in the last 4 weeks so will not need any more fuel for a very long time.

The statistics today reveal drops in daily deaths and new cases etc and we can be a little bit more optimistic. We need a few more days like this before the government should open too much up and we should maintain social distancing for some days yet. They are talking about opening garden centers and some smaller shops. Tatoo parlours have also been talked about. Are we mad? Watch this space.

UK deaths  Saturday 25th April…..813.

UK deaths  Sunday  26th April…….413.

 

 

Lockdown continues today (23/04/2020). We moved into this house a year ago this week. The weather was similar but if anyone had suggested we would be “trapped” inside in 12 months time we would have called a mental nurse. But here we are. Locked down for 38 days, the first few being a voluntary isolation. This is not something you can ever get used to but you look for little snippet of anything new that happens to yourself or someone close by, geographically or otherwise, for example family and friends.

This morning we got a WhatsApp video call from our daughter Sally and Partner Jim. We are lucky to have modern technology. It would be almost unbearable to rely on letters, even if they could get through from Romania. Anyway, their news is that they have two new residents in their flat. Two kittens of about 8/10 days of age. They are brother and sister and they found them by a lake on a walk they do most days. The kittens were abandoned in a plastic bag which was tied up so they must have been short of air. They were both ok although clearly hungry. Sally and Jim took them to a vet who pronounced them fit and well and advised them how to look after them. With that information and google research the kittens are now esconced with Sally and Jim. They think they will nurse them until they are old enough to get all their jabs etc. and then see if they can be homed using facebook or something. Watch this space.

The government still don’t cover itself in glory and we still wait for PPE supplies to come through in sufficient quantities. Still, I would rather be here than in the USA. It is great entertainment watching Trump on the tv. At least he can boast 1st place in the league status for something, even if it is total deaths of 47,659. The deaths per million is however very low at 144 compared to the UK at 267 with Germany at 63. Spain, Italy and France have 464, 415 and 327 repectively. These figures are as of yesterday. The UK definately need some good news soon. We have had too many false dawns.

UK deaths today      638

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

37 days of isolation. Although we have contact with most of the people we love, we miss the hugs. David came with our grandchildren on Monday afternoon. They sat on the wall in the front garden whilst we stood at the front door. It was lovely but just not the same. I also popped to Mum’s yesterday to take the clean washing back and also took a squirty cream for her strawberries which she loves. Her cupboards are full of food. It includes a fantastic selection of ready meals. Jenna the carer came while I was there and made a coffee for mum and prepared her lunch. Jenna and all the other “girls” are great. Seeing her working,  one can appreciate the risks they are taking visiting several homes a day with just a mask and apron for protection.  We hope they all stay safe for as long as this crisis continues.

They are all heros and heroines in my eyes. Especially as the powers that be, don’t really seem to care, particularly in the case of shortages of Personal Protection Equipment. This morning on the tv there was a company that had offered to make and supply the NHS and has heard nothing since, from anyone. He is still manufacturing the equipment but is supplying all he makes to Eire. And we rely on a delayed plane load from Turkey. Pathetic. When this is all over, heads should roll.

Coming home from Mum’s I noticed that Lidl was open. There was no queue and hardly anyone in. So I did a quick random shop for essentials such as bleach, bread, milk, kitchen roll and some food such as ham and beef and a steak pie which we are having today with cabbage, carrots and roast potatoes and gravy. (Jenny has been baking so there will be pudding too). Other essentials included peanuts, chocolate covered raisins and biscuits. It was not a panic buy as I only spent £26.

The weather continues to be bright and sunny although there is a cool breeze. We get out for a daily walk which would be difficult if the weather was poor. We are even having to water the few plants we have managed to put in the garden.

We have heard of our first two corona deaths that are “close”. One was Davids immediate neighbour. He was 74. The other was my cousins Uncle, her mum’s brother, who was 90,  we think. We had met him and he did have an underlying medical condition. A really nice chap and it is sad to think that only a handful of family will be allowd to attend the funerals.

Yesterdays death toll was a disappointment after two “good” days. The experts view is that the situation is plateauing. We shall see.

UK deaths  Monday 20th April                449

UK deaths  Tuesday 21st April                 828

UK deaths  Wednesday  22nd April        763

 

 

35 days since self isolation and 4 weeks of lockdown. When will it end? We are all muddling on regardless and latching on to events that make us feel better.

The weekly applause continues on each Thursday and it is a joy to see every neighbour on their doorsteps and in their front gardens, clapping enthusiastically for a minute or two and then engaging in conversation, asking everyone how they are coping. Long may this cameraderie continue after the crisis has finished.

Captain Tom Moore is and continues to be an inspiration. Not necessarily his walking efforts but his humility and modesty for what he has achieved. What he has done has, by chance, tapped into an underlying need by the British population, to do something concrete for our beleagured NHS other than praise them. It is almost pointless stating his total fundraising effort as it keeps on going up but as this blog is published the amount raised is over £26, 000,000. Not bad for walking a thousand yards over 10 days with the aid of his walking frame. I salute you captain.

The weather continues to be sunny and warmish allowing us to walk some daily steps to keep fit. Jenny misses going to the gym for her fitness classes and swimming. We now want to in put some bedding plants. Winter has gone and the wild life is beginning to emerge from it’s winter slumbers. We have had two squirrels (grey) at the bottpm of our garden and the bird song at dawn is amazing. We have been doing some small jobs around the house including sealing gaps in skirting boards and putting up a new spice rack. Today we are going to try and bake some bread. We have bread in the freezer but you can’t beat a fresh loaf while it is still warm. We have plenty of ingredients but lack rye flower. Nobody has any of that so it is going on our “long term list”. Jenny spring cleans the whole house evey few days and all surfaces are lovely and clean and hygenic.

The progress of the virus is a little confusing at the moment is a little confusing. The number of daily deaths has apparently levelled out a bit but as not all deaths are included, I will reserve judgement. Or at least save any euphoria until another day. Plus the interview with Michael Gove today was both evasive and very patronising. I neither like nor trust that man and am amazed he is allowed on tv as a spokesperson. He never answers a question fully and Andrew Marr on BBC 1 seemed to be very frust rated with his vague, tactical non-answers. Considering the length of time he spoke, I learned nothing!

UK deaths  Wednesday 15th April  761

Thursday 16th April     861

Friday 17th April          847

Saturday 18th April      888

Sunday 19th April         596

 

 

 

 

31 days since self isolation and another couple of days trying to fill in time. We are enjoying concocting new meals and today we have defrosted a nice home made pork casserole which I shall spice up a bit for our main meal today. Jenny is wiping all surfaces down with disinfectant which she does dilligently every couple of days.

We went for a nice walk yesterday which coincidentally went past ALDI. We joined a fairly short queue and did a shop of essentials includung some fresh fruit, bananas, plums and strawberries. Also some baking essentials, yeast etc so we can do some bread baking. All the rules were being observed and it was not a long wait to get into the store. Everyone was on best behaviour.

I went to mum’s house yesterday and took bread and bleach. I also picked up a bag full of washing including a full bed change. She is, as usual, in good spirits although I was only talking to her from the kitchen. I checked food levels and she has plenty including 18 or so packs of various ready meals which do not need freezing. 15 minutes in the microwave and they are done. There were many different and tasty options including, sausage and mash, lasagne, cheese pasta and more. Angela had them delivered so I must find out where she got them from. They look like a really good standbye. They are all single portions with a sell by date well into 2021.

Trump has been at it again. Slagging off journalists in general and one in particular and dumping their {USA) support for the  WHO (World health Organisation). The man is mad and those who voted him in must hang their head in shame, No matter what anyone thinks about Hillary Clinton, she does at least have most of her marbles left. Trump lost his years ago. He makes our Boris look like a benevolent uncle. He (Boris) seems to be on the mend so we look forward to him going back to his role of bumbling buffon. Sorry, Prime Minister.

99 year old Captain Tom Moore goes from strength to strength with his fundraising effort. His intention was to walk 100 “laps” of his home with his walking frame to try and raise £1000. This morning his “Justgiving” page had passed £5,000,000. At 12.15pm it had gone over £6,000,000. Six million quid!!!! The man is an inspiration. Who knows where his final tally will end up. What an inspiration to us all. I see a “gong” for him at the very least in the future? An MBE maybe? They need to be quick. He is 99 after all. The total at the time of publishing this page is £7,427,485.01. Which stingy bugger put in 1p.

UK deaths over the last couple of days are giving us some hope but lets not jump the gun. As long as any people are contracting the disease we need to take care. A second pandemic would not be impossible if we become too complacent.

UK deaths Tuesday 14th April   778

UK deaths Wednesday 15th April    798

It has been exactly three weeks since the official UK “lockdown”  but 29 days since we voluntarily “self isolated”. It has passed quickly and there are more weeks of the same challenges to come. The number of deaths has had another lower day today but without recording and reporting the non hospital deaths, we can take nothing for granted.

Amongst the 11000+ that have died from the virus, we heard yesterday of the sad loss of  Tim Brooke-Taylor, comedian, comic actor, writer and all round nice bloke. We had the pleasure of seeing what turns out to be one of his last stage perfomances at The City Hall in Hull as a panelist on the live “I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue” touring show. Tim had been a panelist on the radio show since it started in 1972 with other original panelists, Barry Cryer, Graham Garden and Willy Rushton and pianist Colin Sell. We have been lucky enough to also see Barry Cryer at the Hull Truck Theatre and Colin Sell at The East Riding Theatre, Beverley. Classic performers all.

We are still fine as are all our family. We are eating well and getting excercise through daily walking. We have discovered “ZOOM”. an app which allows for conference calls with multiple participants on screen. Today, Sally and JIm organised such a call by sending me a link and we had four screens on my tablet with us two on one quarter of the screen, Sally and Jim in Romania on another. Jims parents and sister in Croyden on the third and finally Richard filled the fourth quarter as he was transmitting from his own bedroom. A wonderful thing for families and friends to use in these times when we have no physical contact. I dont know how many can take part but I think it is alot.

We are watching the BBC series “Spooks”which first in appeared in 2002. It was and still is a very watchable series but it is so interesting to see how technology has progressed. Much of what goes on in the series with large main frame computers is now on a mobile phone. I remember reading alot of Arthur C. Clarke science ficiton books as a teenager and into my 20s, in which he predicted the internet and World Wide Web. I loved his stories and regarded them as pure fantasy. How wrong  I was and how right he proved to be.

UK deaths Sunday 12th April    778

UK deaths Today 13th April    761

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s Saturday 11th April. We went into self isolation on 16th March so we are about three weeks in to it now. It has passed quickly which is just as well as we have at least the same again to come. That will take us to the first week in May and my guess is that we will be closer to June before there is any respite. I try to imagine how things would have been, say, 25 years ago. No internet so no online ordering of food.  No Aldi or Lidle nearby so no cheap chocolate bars. No Smart TV so no Box Sets to watch and no WhatsApp so no video calls to family and friends and no swapping of funny photos or videos. It would have been thoroughly miserable. There have so far been two reliable services brought to our home. The postman and the window cleaner. Bless ’em.

The weather at the moment is sensational so Jenny is in the garden digging a couple of holes for bushes which we have yet to buy. We had lunch which was accidentally vegetarian but included spicey potatoe balls from Aldi. Highly reccomended.

Apparently the trends of the infection are said to be levelling off. I cannot see it, particularly with the high level of UK deaths announced today. Also there are still idiots not sticking to the rules. One house in Hull, was reported to have had 15 visitors in one day. Obviously this was a close family unit who missed each other alot, or it was a drug dealer’s house. You choose!!! No police have been seen yet.

UK deaths    917

 

 

Good Friday maybe good for some but not others. Especially as our local Fish and Chips Shop is still closed. It may open next week. I for one will feel alot better with a helping of haddock and chips, with mushy peas of course.

The authorities are still having problems persuading people to stay at home although the last time there was a chance to go out and vote, 17,000,000 stayed at home without prompting. In fact every effort was made to get them out for 30 minutes.

The sun came out in the afternoon and we sat in the garden getting some much needed vitamin D. It is going to be a nice weekend so we could be in for vitamin D overload. We are taking the holiday seriously and doing nothing. We also did a brisk 4000 step walk. Many others had the same idea.

We are hoping for better news on the daily deaths. Yesterday was slightly down from 938 to 881. We also have to remember that the numbers refer only to recorded deaths in hospitals and not at home of retirement homes etc. Worryingly we have 50% MORE deaths than Germany with around 50% LESS cases. There is probably a good reason for that statistic but it is worrying nevertheless.

More Nightingale Hospitals are being finished with Washington in the North East being the latest. A  new one in Birmingham opened today. The building of these facilities, whether they will be fully used or not, is a fantastic achievement. In no small part due to the assistance of our brilliant armed forces. These men know how to really work. Good news that about 3000 people stuck in India are being flown home on a dozen planes.

UK deaths    980

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I woke up to find that Boris was still in intensive care but improving.That was followed later by the  news that he was no longer in the ICU and had been moved to a ward. That is good news. I’m not a fan  of his but he is our PM and we should hope he is the man to get us all through this crisis.

The virus will be beaten, I am sure of that but what will happen to all the workers who have lost or will lose their jobs? I was talking to a friend of mine whose company grow strawberries for M&S. That is bad enough but there is nobody to pick them. Not only that. If the fruit is not picked then the plants will die off!! If they are lost then the company could go under. His pension fund has already gone through the floor as it is linked to the FTSE.  Totally depressing.

Managed a good walk today calling at the post office and an empty (of customers) shop for a few essentials, Wagon Wheels, Toffee Crisps, Mars Bars and Yorkie Bars. Totally essential.

At 8pm we went out to applaud all the essential services, NHS, lorry drivers, pharmacists and all others who are literally risking their lives to keep the country going. I also gave a metaphorical two fingers to those who are not taking the quarantine advice etc, thereby putting our lives at risk. Do they not watch the science on the tv when it is explained? To be fair, they are probably too thick to understamd it anyway!

UK deaths   881