75 days in isolation/lockdown

I’ve been noticing alot of birdsong recently. Is it the lack of traffic generally or just that in the quiet, the birds are more plentiful and are happy to be on a housing estate as opposed to in a park. Either way they are a joy to hear, from early morning onwards. We had the same in Spain but it included cockrels whose racket was not welcome at 4am.

Watching “Have I Got News For You” on Friday night, was a real joy. It sort of became the “Ian Hislop Special Rant” show. Obviously the first question featured the Cummings debacle and once Ian got going there was no stopping him. He tore all the excuses to shreds especially the visit to Barnard Castle. He never used the word allegedly and stated several times that the reasons/excuses given were all lies and that the No. 10 back garden news conference was a sham, hastily and badly cobbled together. Having got through it, both Cummings and Boris refuse to answer any more questions on the incident saying that a line has been drawn under the matter. Not good enough I am afraid. We have not heard the last of this even though Hancock and all the other “henchmen” are doing their best to swerve any questions by saying that the matter has been dealt with.

Yesterday we went to see Auntie Phyllis and Uncle Raymond to celebrate theit 68th Wedding Anniversary. Cousin Pamela had ordered High Teas from a local delicatessen and set tables and chairs out in the garden, all at social distances. It was very pleasant and the first time we had seen them for nearly 10 weeks.

So, sport is back on the menu next week and kids can go back to school. I think this is far too early despite the Home secretary’s assurance that it is a cautious approach and that advice has been taken from scientists. However, many scientist are expressing concerns and I believe there should be no changes until the scientists agree and deaths have virtually stopped. I can live without Match of the Day and the Formula 1 season for a bit longer as can the majority of the population. It will be nice to get back to normal but we do not want to go back to square one because of what is, essentially, a politically motivated decision. We are still on tenterhooks about future plans and in particular, Petra’s visit in August.The situation seems to change day by day and the 14 day isolation which was to be imposed seems doubtful now. Fingers crossed.

I have had a haircut. A number 3…all over. No tapering or style and it looks ok although I note that my hat is now a size too big and sits on my ears.

Surpise surprise. The USA is on fire, literally. One way or another, it is a sick country. Starting from the top down to racist police and to the high proportion of red neck trailer trash (their definition). Where do they go from here and can they be rescued by this year’s election. With luck somebody is elected that is not on holiday from the looney bin.

Todays figures are encouraging with 115 deaths but we should not get carried away. Germany reported just 2 deaths. We still have some way to go.

UK deaths Friday 29th May          324

UK deaths Saturday 30th May      215

UK deaths Sunday     31st May      113

 

73 days in isolation/lockdown.

Downing Street says that the Demonic Cummings (and goings) matter is now closed. Well not for me and millions of others it is NOT. I don’t think it is for Boris to make that announcement/proclamation. It is for the people and/or social media to decide as it is they that have the misgivings that have NOT been answered. It is simply a tactic that avoids the necessity of answering any more questions. I hope it doesn’t work and that the cabinet are subjected to more questions and Cummings to more scrutiny. He would not even answer Laura Kunsberg. Robert Peston tried to push the matter  and got nowhere. Shame, shame, shame on you Boris. Swerving the question is a poor do!!!

Today Boris announced more relaxed rules including visiting family and friends up to groups of 6 in their gardens from the 1st June. Using Demonic Cummings (and goings) as a precedent, I may well break that rule and make a visit to an eldely family member on the 29th May. They have a big garden.

Further questions were raised about travelling across country to see family and the possibility of hugging family and then going on short sight seeing trips. All avoided, even by the scientists who simply categorised the questions as political and as Civil Servants, refused to answer them. I seem to remember reading about similar tactics in Germany  in the 30s where the journalists eventually disappeared.

On a lighter note, our garden plants are thriving and in a couple of days have literally blossomed. Although we have not “landscaped” the garden, the riot of colour will blur the harsh lines of the flagstones which are laid at the moment.

Went out for the “clap for all emegency workers” and noticed the numbers out there were down slightly. There is a move to call a halt to it now. We will see but we would be happy to carry on until the virus is under control.

Contact tracing is now happening. It is unlikely that we would be named as we don’t have the relevant contact with anybody. Even when I go for milk I am in the shop for 5 minutes, ALWAYS keeping my distance. I went to Boots for Jenny’s prescription and there was no queue and indeed no other customer in the shop. The only queue I have seen this week was for an ATM where at least 20 people were waiting to draw money. There is never a queue under normal circumstances so what do these people need money for? Especially with contactless payments now being the norm.

UK deaths  28th May      377

 

 

72 days in isolation/lockdown.

Not much happened before the daily briefing although some 40 tory MPs are unhappy with what’s going on and are quietly suggesting that Demonic (my joke) Cummings (and goings) should resign or be sacked. If Boris was in any doubt about his advisor, he would have let him go by now. Sadly he does not appear to have the intellect do produce policies on his own.

We have just had a fantastic walk of 3.5 kilometers. It is a bit hot and not too many people about but the number of cars on the road seems to be slowly increasing. We noticed a lot more aeroplane activity today. Nothing shown on “Flightradar” so it would seem to be Military activity. The majority of planes shown flying over the Atlantic are freight, Fedex etc. They are shown as blue as opposed to the usual yellow. Over Yorkshire, the only planes in the air are gliders, light aircraft and helicopters.

UK deaths have increased today. Although we expected the usual higher weekend “bounce” the figure of 412 is disappointing. Test and trace starting tomorrow. So our street can be locked down if required. It’s all go now.

UK deaths 27th May     412

 

71 days in isolation/lockdown.

An unauthorised Civil Service tweet has been withdrawn very quickly but not before it was screenshot and shown all around the world. It read, “Arrogant and offensive. Can you imagine working with these truth twisters”. The brave person posting this tweet has already become a Civil Service legend. So much so that J. K. Rowling no less, has offered to pay that person’s salary for a year if they are ever identified. Well done that person. If they are disciplined or sacked we should open a fundraising page to make up for any lost salary.

There have been no changes to the stand made by Dominic Cummings. What a surprise. However, a junior minister (Con) has resigned and he may not be the last. The whole thing is just a mess and something has to give. Heads must roll. Even a former Attourney General has said he should go. This rolling stone is gathering a shed load of moss!

James O’Brien, on twitter has given a powerfut response to the events of the last couple of days and in particular criticising the inconsistencies of Johnson’s and Cummings’. explanations. ..@mrjamesob 

 Boris’s approval rating has dropped to   -1% and the Tory party to -2%. I dont know how a minus ensues but clearly it is looking very bad for them. How about a General Election.

The number of deaths are encouragingly low again today. Let us see what happens during the rest of this week.

I have now reaquainted myself with that wonderful series and the characters of “Hill Street Blues” Just under 150 episodes to go. Wonderful!! It is very interesting for us to see them looking for street telephone boxes which all seem to have been vanalises. No change there. How did we all manage without mobile phones. Or as they call them in America, “Cell Phones”.

We walked to the garden centre again and got another £70 worth of plants, a big pot and compost. I’ve not kept track but from memory we must have spent over £200 on the garden so far. It’s looking good though and in a month or two should be a riot of colour.Thank you Jenny.

UK deaths 26th May    134

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

70 days in isolation/lockdown, but I am not called Dominic Cummings.

How many more lies and lame excuses do we have to suffer from this man. It is made much much worse that Boris keeps on, unsuccessfully, defending him. Other MPs are also doing so. Afraid of their own futures no doubt. It is already telling that Boris appears at the podium very rarely. Scared, no doubt, of the questions he has to field from journalists and the public. He cannot handle it which is probably why he relies so much as someone like Cummings to explain to him what he needs to say. There are many calls for Cummings to go. Either a sacking or resignation. Nobody cares which. It is possible that the same fate should befall Boris.  He sames incapable of gauging the mood of the public. Especially the ones he admitted at the time “had lent the Tories their votes”. Well they will want them back now!!!

Because of Cummings’ behaviour, the whole of the lockdown message could be undermined. People (some) will take the view that if he can bend the rules and get away with it, then why can’t I? Many of Boris’s supporters, who use twitter alot have gone strangely silent for up to 40 hours. This is evidence to me of a great deal of unease in the Tory party. The downward trend of the graphs is also a red herring if you listen to independent experts like Dr Hannah Fry who have described them as “rubbish”, misleading and incomplete.

Cummings went into the gardens of Number 10 to answer questions and explain himself. After an hour he had told hs “story” and fielded many questions. He did not adequately explain himself and was not in the least bit apologetic and refused to resign. We haven’t  heard the last of this. On facebook he does have some support, possibly from those that can be found in parks having a picnic and a game of football. He doesn’t come across as a nice bloke We’ll see what happens.

We are hoping for better news on future holidays so we will have a look at the news tomorrow. It seems that Spain may be opening up as is Greece and the UK position will be reviewed on 15th June.

Got every photo album down from the loft today. We are going to have hours of fun looking through that lot. There are about 30 albums to go through.

The deaths in the UK were well down today and despite the weekend always  giving us lower figures, they are encouraging.

UK deaths Monday 25th May   121

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

69 days in isolation/lockdown and still they are lying.

The last two days have been monopolised by the shenanigens surrounding Dominic Cummings, Boris Johnson’s chief advisor. Did he or did he not break the rules that we have all been trying to adhere to? Or at least bend them as far as he could to travel 260 miles in his car for reasons that are not too clear. Not once but twice. What is clear is that Boris has his back and cannot afford to see him go. It looks like Cummings has flouted the rules which obviously do not apply to him. Grant Shapps defence of his actions yesterday was at worst pathetic and at best unconvincing. He left his house twice when someone in the house (Cummings himself) had had Corona Virus symptoms and he travelled to a second home. I didn’t think that was allowed. “He was following his instincts”, said Boris whereas the rest of us are following the rules. When our esteemed leader could not answer convincingly, at the briefing, he simply cut the questioner short after bumbling rubbish for two minutes. Boris’s responses are insulting to the British public who are doing the right thing. The rest of the world must, and do, feel sorry that we have this bloke as our leader. He simply cannot lead. He should sack Cummings. That way we will have more respect for his advice to “stay at home and self isolate”.

In the middle of all of this nobody is mentioning Brexit. Is it going to be delayed? We come out in 5/6 months so what is in place for it to go smoothly.

Summer is almost upon us and the warm weather continues and has meant that my neighbours have had to suffer seeing my very white legs. At this time of year they were usually quite tanned and marginally more pleasant to look at. Temperatures are set to rise into the mid 20s in the coming week.

Had a very clear WhatsApp Call from Sally and Jim today. They are doing well and are now able to cycle to their new Lidl shop for supplies. However they have been getting grocery deliveries which they intend to continue after the lockdown. Uber taxies do the shopping and whilst there is no cost saving, there is the saving of time. Plus another bonus. If the supermarket does not have, for example, Gordons Gin, they will ring up with a picture  of an alternative to see if it is OK. Sounds like a great service.

A concert we should have gone to on 21st October to see Andy Fairweather Low has been postponed until 15th April. No problem. Another concert to see a Travelling Wilburys trbute band has been postponed to the 10th April. It will be a busy week.

Thankfully there is some good news on the death tolls. Weekends always show a bigger drop due to the difficulties in getting information. Nevertheless, it is encouraging to see the week on week reductions. Let us hope that the downward trend continues in the wake of the “Cummings scandal ”

UK deaths Friday 22nd May        351

UK deaths Saturday 23rd May    282

UK deaths Sunday 24th May       118

66 days in isolation/lockdown.

What is going on with our so called experts. The Test, Track and Trace App system seem to be in disarray. Other countries have got their systems up and running but we have to wait (at least) until June. I am happy that the deaths are going down and even with the weekend “anomolies” it all looks promising but there are still warnings. If we relax the rules, which most of us are following, there is a threat of a second spike in infections and conseqently, deaths. If we have avoided being depressed up to now, the thought of a second spike is worrying. The thing that seems to be driving the rush back to normality is tourism. What is wrong with people? If we are all dead or infected, nobody would be on the beaches or in the National Parks anyway!! What is it about leaves on a tree or a patch of grass or a stream that makes people risk their lives? I don’t get it.

Made some scones yesterday. It was a disaster I forgot to put the baking powder in and ended up with 2 centimeter hard biscuits which were pretty awful and I put them in the bin. I will have another go later. Jenny baked a lovely banana loaf which was done perfectly. At least all our new plants are thriving and there is a nice bit of colour now in the back garden. The plants have definately benefitted from being taken out of their pots and being allowed to flourish.

Easyjet have announced that they are restarting some flights soon. It will be interesting to see if that includes our September 30th to October 8th bookings to Munich. It is a long way off but we are hoping that we can go. We will be staying in Saltzburg. The Munich beer festival has been cancelled but we can go there any time and we have been before. At this very moment we should be near the Harz Mountains in Hannover, Germany with Val and Nick but that was of course cancelled a while ago but we have re-booked for next year at the same time of year.

I see they are trialling an anti Malaria vaccine to see if it can deal with the Covid 19 virus. Fingers crossed but please, lets hope Trump doesn’t try and take the credit. I don’t know the name of the stuff he claims to be putting into his veins now but it certainly impresses his “fellow Americans” who should surely have otherwise impeached this lunatic. Compare him to Captain, honourary Colonel Tom Moore who will be receiving a well deserved knighthood from The Queen. Well deserved!!!

Boris has made a U-turn on fees by overseas NHS workers and carers. I should think so!!!

I may inject mashed up sponge, jelly, custard and sherry directly into my veins. It will make me feel a trifle better. Two batches of fruit scones done. Very tasty.

UK deaths Tuesday 19th May              545

UK deaths Wednesday 20th May        363

UK deaths Thursday 21st May            338

 

 

 

 

 

 

63 days in isolation/lockdown.

Yesterday was a “good day” considering there were “only” 170 deaths. 160 deaths today. It occured to me that if that had been the number of casualties in a train crash (pre corona days) it would have been national news for weeks. But here we are, happy at the reduced numbers, almost forgetting nearly 35000 deaths that have gone before. I think we have become blasé about the spread of the virus. We will never beat it. It will always be there but we CAN control it. Social distance rules and the lock down is the only way until a vaccine is found. Opening up bars and restaurants and telling people they can go to the beach etc is not logical. We’ve all seen the crowds, now ignoring simple safety rules.

Is there a vaccine available against greed and stupidity? No, and it makes my blood boil to see these people going on tv to be interviewed with fish and chips in their hands. They could easily be responsible for the deaths of a few more people. And going back to school for kids is sheer lunacy. I don’t think my grandchildren will be allowed to participate in this madcap scheme. Yes, children are missing out on education for a short while but kids today are resiliant, resourseful and very clever and will soon catch up. I think there is an element of experimentation with the idea.

Walking around the village yesterday we noted that everyone kept their distance. There were a couple of young girls catching us up so we ducked into a driveway and I said “running in, please pass”. That used to be mildly humerous but they gave me blank (who is this nutter) looks when I realised that they had no idea what I was talking about. I mean, how long is it since new cars did not need their engine “running in” for the first 5000 miles? 20 or 30 years at least.

We had a lovely lunch yesterday. A whole roast chicken, roast potatoes, roast carrots, peppers and onions, spring cabbage and sage and onion stuffing and gravy.  Our neighbours, a nice young couple, went  out for a KFC. I know which one I prefer. It probably cost about the same but we have enough left for two more chicken dinners and chicken sandwiches for tea.

We had a WhatsApp call with Sally and Jim who were enjoying a beer on their balcony. Their newly acquired kittens were sleeplng and the sun was shining. They are now allowed to go out without completing a form to show the police if they were stopped. They never actually were. So they can now happily cycle or walk to the new Lidl store which has just opened, not too far away. In fact, the beer they were quaffing was English beer now on offer at that very same store.

Did a big garden center shop this afternoon, Bedding plants (15), herbs, climbers, compost, plant food and ant killer. I thought we’d seen the last of them in Spain. I’ve found the entrance to their nest so their days are numbered.

UK deaths Sunday 17th May     170

UK deaths Monday 18th May    160

 

 

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61 days in isolation/lockdown. Still no clarity. Could not have been better expressed than than the “stars” of Gogglebox on Friday’s Channel 4 tv. Find it on UK catchup tv.

I am taking less and less notice of polititians and in particular those on the daily briefings and all the ones who come on to political programmes. For goodness sake, can not one of them from any party, say yes or no to any question about the crisis. They are all as bad and each other and tend to start replies with “Well, what we are doing…..” or “That is why we are looking at……” followed by platitudes, statistics and anything else we either don’t uderstand or we have heard before. There is no leadership and all we get are generalities such as “stay alert” and contradictory advice about social distancing. For me it is simple. Stay at home!!!! Stay in the garden if you have one. Go for a walk near your home. Don’t go to the beach! Don’t clog up National Parks! Don’t go to the local tip! It’s not rocket science. Don’t take the chance of getting infected or infecting anyone else.  Bored, dead or fat? The choice is ours. Or move to Denmark if you can.

My German cousin Petra, is now getting worried about flying to the UK at the end of August to celebrate our Golden Wedding. Sally and Jim are also concerned about flying in from Romania as are pals from Scotland and other parts of the UK. At the moment, the party venue has not cancelled the booking and neither has the entertainment. I will try to get hold of them during the week ahead. If we have to cancel the whole thing it will be a big big disappointment.

David came with the grandchildren yesterday. We all kept our distance for 45 minutes although it was too cold for Ronnie who stayed most of the time in the car. It was lovely to see them.

We are still getting our walks in and are staying healthy. The NHS rang me about  postponed appointments with the consultant and physiotherapists. They could not give me any revised dates but were keeping in touch so that I didn’t worry. I’m not but it was lovely to be kept in the loop. Good old NHS.

My  community facebook pages keep me abreast of what is happening locally. There has been a spate of thefts of hanging baskets and being sold on a bench outside Sainsbury’s by local travellers, allegedly. The facebook sites have however kept us up to date on clubs and local societies. They have also unearthed some very funny people who entertain us with a tongue in cheek daily “blog”. Entertaining!! That’s what we need. One day I will meet George and buy him a couple of pints. His alleged long suffering wife too.

The statistics keep showing some improvements, if they are to be believed. Either way I am pessimistic. We have eased the lockdown far too early. I expect a second spike in infections in the future.

UK deaths Wednesday  13th May   494

UK deaths Thursday    14th May     428

UK deaths Friday          15th May     384

UK deaths Saturday      16th May     468

 

57 days in isolation/lockdown. Politically it has been a busy two days with Boris and Loony Tunes taking centre stage. Boris spoke nicely to the nation for over 13 minutes and said absolutely nothing. He thumped his desk for effect and I cringed. When he announced more detail yesterday, it left me and most people I know, totally confused. Alot of the rules have been relaxed but I am unsure exactly what they mean. In the end, Jenny and I are staying in as we are staying safe. Seeing people pile onto trains and buses is frightening. Why is there an easing of the rules? We can now go and visit family  but only one of us at a time and only outside. How do we choose who goes? Barmy. I’ve just watched the news with a piece showing patients who, hopefully, are just coming out of intensive care. One poor chap has not seen his wife and daughter for a month. All the patients interviewed have been through hell and are still suffering in recovery. They were all surrounded by dedicated staf fully protected and wired in to a bewildering array of machines and equipment. And there are still people who think it is not that serious and totally ignore social distancing. Idiots!!! Which brings me back to the racist American President who was caught out at a Whitehoue interview. How can he justify talking to a reporter in the way he did? But she stood her ground and he couldn’t take it and left the stage early even though he had picked his next questioner.

We had a lovely phone call from our very good friends Andy and Lindy who live near Keighley. It was quite poignant as we were looking forward to our holiday in the Harz Mountains in Germany this coming Friday which has been cancelled. We really could do with this holiday but still have our holiday to Saltzburg in September with Andy and Lindy. The intention was to go to the Munich beer festival but that has already been cancelled. I fear for the trip anyway especially as I think there will be a new spike in Corona Virus cases as I firmly believe we are relaxing the rules far too early.

Our golden wedding celebrations here in Cottingham are also on a knife edge. We have not heard from the venue but our band are telling us that they are having gigs in November cancelled.

Good news on the kittens in Bucharest. We had a great video call from Sally and Jim. They are progressing nicely and are becoming like mischievous toddlers. The kittens have been given temporary names, Lucky an Licky but await permanent adoption to be named properly. They are really super cute and I will try to work out how to post a picture on this tablet.

There continues to be an improvement in new Corona cases an reduction in deaths but until we are down to nil in all respects, I just study the graphs out of interest.

UK deaths Monday 11th May    210

UK deaths Tuesday 12th May    627