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