31st January, 2021. 323 days of isolation/lockdown.

The row about the UK pre-ordering vaccines has escalated with an announcement by Ms Van der Bossy that the EU should not allow our contractually agreed supplies to come through Northern Ireland. They want our orders to go to other EU countries who did not have the foresight to order as early as we did. I don’t understand all this stuff about hard borders etc. but I can understand that the EU is acting in a bullying manner and it turns out , most of the rest of the world appears to be on our side for a change. Even the troublesome Barnier has told the EU to step back from the “vaccine wars”. Miss Bossy’s statement was withdrawn in a couple of hours but the damage had been done. Yes, we will have millions of doses more than needed but we have contractual arrangement with other countries to supply them and I believe it is the UK’s intention to help out other poorer countries. Say what you like about the UK but that is what we do.

The UK are famous for standing inline and queuing. Please understand it’s a tradition we honour, but jump that queue and we will surely let you know.

That statement, having been made by Miss Bossy, will not easily be forgotten. I always said that the EU would punish us one way or another and it is happening. All the paperwork needed for exports and imports they now require (up to 400 pages to export lobster to the EU from Bridlington for example), extra taxes for having a second home in Spain, restrictions on the time we can stay in 2nd homes in Spain and now they try to dictate our buying policies and we don’t even belong to “the club”. What sort of a deal was struck with the EU that they think they can legally interfere? I voted remain and am still a Remainer as I still firmly believe I am a European but many are now changing their minds and I wonder how much more emphatic the Brexit vote would have been, had we known the shenanigans the EU would be up to after the agreement was signed. Clearly they hope to kill off what is left of our fishing industry.

Are we becoming vegetarians? This week I have made Glamorgan sausages (leek based) and Kenyan masala chips with fried leeks as a side. All very tasty. We will have some cod patties today and had fish and chips on Friday to balance things up. The Glamorgan sausages were tasty but complex to make. I hate separating eggs. The Masala chips were simply fabulous. They were a bit spicy (less chilli next time) and very simple to make. Only one mixing bowl for preparation. I will make them again, definitely. (YouTube…”Kenya Masala Chips”)

There has been a fair bit of live football on TV recently and with the pandemic, I thought I would be watching most of it. I have to say that without the crowds there is so little atmosphere that the deliberate falling down (AKA cheating), the histrionics and childish celebration are highlighted even more so I now can’t be bothered to watch any more.

Went for a walk today to “prepare” my knee for the chiropractor tomorrow. It is so much easier to describe the problem whilst it is actually there.

26th January,2021. 318 days of isolation/lockdown.

Went to visit Mum Tuesday and Wednesday. She was fine but had not had her Covid injection yet. Confirmed by carer, Jenna, later. Leaving any telephoning will be left to Angela who has called them a couple of times. We don’t want to be a nuisance. Angela persisted though and we now know that Mum will get her first jab on Thursday 4th February at 2.30pm. I will probably be there and will check when her 2nd vaccination is due.

Arguments are raging in the EU over the UK stealing a march on getting 1,000,000 vaccines before them. Tough. As it happens, Germany has done separate deals with the pharmaceutical companies forgetting they are all in the same club. It looks like it’s every man for himself. But we are alright Jack!

Scotland wants to go the opposite way to England by being independent and then joining the EU. Well, good luck with that! I wouldn’t trust the parish faced Nicola Sturgeon as far as I could caber toss her. With the Alec Salmond affair I think there is a lot more to come out there. Something is very fishy with those two and they want to take Scotland into Europe. Bon chance!

Sally and Jim called tonight. They are starting their powdered diet tomorrow for two weeks. They are still busy with lessons and Jim has been doing and passing teaching courses.

David had to have a covid test yesterday, work related. The results came today and it was negative. Grandson Ronnie also had a covid test through school and the results will be available in a day or two. Hopefully it was just a cold and sniffle. He’ll be eager to get back to lessons. Won’t he?

25th January, 2021. 317 days of Lockdown/Isolation.

Vaccination Day!!! Yesterday, Jenny and I were vaccinated against Covid 19. It was the first of two and the NHS staff at the Castle Hill hospital, confirmed that we would receive our second on the 4th April, 10 weeks away. We were given the Pfizer version of the vaccine. There is talk that some might like to reduce the gap between injections by half. We would have no problem with that. The vaccine experience was actually very pleasant and very well organised. The nursing and administration staff were very kind and chatty. My nurse had just completed seven days on the trot. Bless her cotton socks. We had walked there and back which meant my knee was useless until I had a night’s rest It’s not so bad at the moment and am looking forward to my appointment with a local chiropractor.

Sally and Jim had their injection cancelled for this morning. Apparently because of shortage of stocks of the vaccine. They are now awaiting another appointment. Our friend Val had hers yesterday. Nick now panicking. He still hasn’t had the call. Sister in law Carol, has had her first as will Graham and Liz, our friends near York, on Wednesday. Things seem to be moving quickly now. Especially in Yorkshire, and the North East. Long may it continue. With the programme going well, it is so frustrating to listen to the garbage uttered by the antivaxx people. They are entitled to their opinion, of course but they should be held to account for their actions. Obviously, we cannot prove how many deaths they are responsible for but it is about time some action should be taken. I believe that everyone who does not turn up for the vaccination or refuses to go for he vaccine, should have to pay for all costs to the NHS once they contract the virus. Which of course, many of them will, eventually.

There was a nice surprise for Jenny yesterday with the delivery of lowers. They came from David as Jenny had been and tidied the grandchildren’s bedrooms. And done a couple of loads of washing. It seems my putting up shelves must have been included.

Uncle Raymond was 90 on Saturday. Visited his house to deliver his card and a bottle of malt whiskey. Enjoyed a chat (socially distanced outside the front door) with him and Auntie Phyllis and cousin Pamela for 10 minutes. Hopefully the days when we can cll for a cup of tea and a bun, will return soon.

I called to see Mum on Friday as there had been some concerns about her behaviour. visit. I found her to be positive and generally content. Still no news about her vaccination. If we do not hear anything soon, we will have to contact the NHS. We should not but all three of her children have been vaccinated. We are 72, 70 and 62 years of age. She is 94 and housebound. I think we need to be told why or that the doctor WILL be calling soon.

It’s a beautiful day today with nothing to do. We may start the Jigsaw today. I took a frozen chicken curry out of the freezer and supplemented it with carrots and chicken from yesterday. The chicken from Sunday was lovely and with a breast, leg and two wings still to go, it will have lasted us 3 days. In fact topped up with potatoes, peppers and mushrooms, I think we will still be eating it on Wednesday.

The effects of Brexit are being felt everywhere and in particular with imports and exports and travelling in Europe, not including the Covid difficulties. Spain are leading the way in taking revenge on those pesky Brits who dared to leave the EU. They are already introducing laws which make it awkward to own a holiday home there. Do they not realise how much money their country will loose? We can live without chorizo and Spanish wine but can they live without British tourism? No!! They won’t notice it this year but when things are back to normal, we will just go somewhere else. I don’t know the Spanish for “numpty” but maybe “tonto” will suffice.

City win. Top Div. 1

21st January, 2021. 313 days of isolation/lockdown

Unbelievably, we have got our dates for the Corona Virus Vaccine. We get our first on Sunday, 24th January and the second on Sunday 4th of April, one day before my 73rd birthday. Thank goodness! Mum has not yet heard anything but we know that the GP will be doing it in her house. It is a real relief to get on the list but we recognise that we still need to be careful as we can still carry the virus despite being more or less immune. We have just heard that Sally and Jim get their first vaccine jab in Bucharest on Sunday morning so they will beat us by a couple of hours. We have also now heard that sister in law Carol has her vaccine appointment on Friday and our dear friend, Val, on Saturday. Things are gathering pace and I can now see light at the end of the tunnel. I can’t however, see us going to Germany in June. It also seems that the powers that be want to divert our stocks down south as we are racing ahead in the north. So we are delayed here to allow the slow south to catch up. What north/South divide?

The news of our vaccination came just after Northmore Garage had been to fit a new battery in the Ford Kuga. The mechanic was unable to jump start the car with the old battery still in place. Obviously no power whatsoever left. So he had to do the job on site and it proved very difficult and time consuming to get the old one out. With the bonnet up it was even difficult to see the damn thing but after all sorts of cables and tubes had been detached and moved out of the way, it slid out easily enough. Again it was difficult to put the new one in but he managed it. The car started first time and he did warn me that these batteries could be twice as expensive as a normal one. I went to the garage next day and found the charge for the actual battery to be £150. With labour and VAT the total cost was £234. Ouch!!

Apart from signing a dozen or so executive orders. Mr Biden has been very quiet since his inauguration and the predicted “trouble” from Republican supporters has not materialised, thank goodness. Trump is in Florida on holiday. Well, he really deserves one having masterminded winning the title of “The worst president in USA’s history”. The idiot is keeping a low profile at the moment but I can’t see that lasting. He thrives on being in the limelight even if it is to incite the trailer trash mob, to riot.

I have no idea what Boris is up to. I tend to go and make a coffee as soon as he is on the news. It is a more productive use of my time. Even in lockdown.

Jenny went to David’s house today to do some cleaning and I have no doubt bring some washing back. I will go another day to adjust some shelving I put up to accommodate Ronnie’s TV and X-Box.

We got a lovely belated Christmas card from our friend Diego in Murcia. He is looking forward to us going to Spain as soon as possible so we can celebrate our 50th Wedding Anniversary and Vega’s birth. We look forward to it. Whenever it might be.

19th January, 2021. 311 days of isolation/lockdown.

Had a bit of a drama with the car today. I was going to see Mum in the pouring rain and the car wouldn’t start. Nothing at all and the steering wheel was stuck in the “lock” position. As I went back inside the house, the key fob lock would not work, for the same reason. I wasn’t worried as we were insured for homestart etc. I rang the insurance company and all was well until the final bit when they informed me that the car was untaxed. I had been driving around for 10 months untaxed. It is amazing that we have not been stopped in all that time by the police. I therefore had to ring DVLA who were excellent and allowed me to pay the arrears with no penalties. I have also paid up for the next 12 months. I rang the insurance company to tell them but they responded that I was not covered at the time of my call when I was effectively untaxed and they told me I would have to call out a garage. I understood the logic and rang Northmoor Garage who told me it sounded like the battery had died suddenly which is what they can do so they will come out tomorrow with a new battery. They were too busy to come out today. The car will have to remain unlocked on the driveway all night in the pouring rain. I therefore had to go to Mum’s by bus.

At the bus stop, I saw two people picking up litter in the rain. It looked like something they did regularly and I shouted my thanks across the road. When I got home, I posted on the Cottingham Community Facebook site what I had seen and that they were real troopers. So far there are in excess of 70 likes. They deserve high praise.

I went to see mum who seemed well but a bit confused. We talked about Covid and her getting injections at home by the doctor. Later on Angela reported that Mum had been mean to her on the phone. Apparently it can be a symptom of a water infection and the doctor has prescribed medication which will start tomorrow, administered by Elaine a really good carer. Let’s hope it it not the start of something worse.

Last day for Trump tomorrow. Hooray!!!! Sadly, Boris has a long way to go.

17th January 2021. 309 days of isolation/lockdown.

Sunday has come around again, much quicker than I would like. The time during lockdown is flying by and we now learn that the situation may well be going on until autumn. I think that is the worst case scenario given all the new vaccination centres that are opening including on in York. Practically on our doorstep. I had to go to our local surgery for a blood test on Friday. They had given up on my original effort as they could not find a vein after two attempts on each arm. Today, they took it from the back of my right hand and that took two efforts. In conversation with the nurse, she said that she thought that letters would be issued for the Covid vaccination immediately as stocks had now arrived. I wait with baited breath!

Despite the still depressing statistics, vaccinations are accelerating as the supplies and deliveries of the vaccine are increasing. 50% of over 80s have had at least one jab and it is reported that 140 injections per minute are being given. That’s 200,000 per day which ties up with the hope of 1,500,000 injections next week. These figures refer to England. I’m hoping that Mum and us soon get the call. As a key worker, My younger sister has had her first vaccination.

Spent a lot of the weekend cooking and baking and making soups. We now have the freezers full of chillies, curries and soups. Jenny continues to hone her knitting skills and has completed a really nice winter scar

David called to pick up a load of baking equipment for Maisie and Thea. We had a lot of spare bits and the girls did some baking as soon as they got home. They could not get out of the car so we talked through the windows. It’s a strange world.

As I am going nowhere with hospital appointments for my knee I have decided to invest a few quid on going private. Every time I go for a long walk of about 4000 steps I can’t walk or sleep for a couple of days. I have Emailed a request for an appointment at a local chiropractors.

13th January 2021. 305 days of isolation/lockdown.

A proper lockdown day where we did not venture out. We had a delivery of fresh groceries today. Given the current circumstances, it will no doubt be the first of many. Our local garden centre has most items we will need until it is safe to go out again. In a similar vein, I am awaiting delivery of a new pair of house slippers.

Marcus Rashford is very angry about the food parcels provided for children to have lunch for 5 days. The company given the contract to supply them is given £30 (from us the taxpayer) for each pack in which they have put less than £5 worth of (mostly inappropriate) items. Needless to say, the company involved are donors to the Tory party. B###### profiteers.

A new variant of Corona virus is on it’s way from Brazil. Again we must roll out the vaccine as soon as possible. The new viruses seem to infect much easier and is imperative we are all immune as soon as possible. The UK is now up to 2,500,000 at the moment and is accelerating, hopefully. Infection rates in East Yorkshire and Humberside fell today to 222 per 100,000 population, with the national average being 526. Hope for optimism.

12th January 2021. Amended to……304 days of isolation/lockdown. (2020 = 292. 2021 = 12)

During the lockdown we have watched alot of foreign films and TV series. They have been transmitted in their original language with English subtitles. At first it was difficult but we eventually got used to it and learned to understand bits of Scandinavian languages. Now, in a complete reversal, a Finnish Police series, whilst still having English subtitles, is also voice dubbed into the English language. What is really odd is that the spoken translation and the written dubbing are translated slightly differently. Obviously translations are done by different people and whilst the attempts in translation are similar, there are, nevertheless , slight differences. It is very disconcerting but highlights the difficulties interpreters have in translating, especially things like speeches in the UN, in real time. We prefer the written translations to the voice overs. We want to hear the voice that goes with the lip movements. Voice overdubbing was a big thing in Germany when I was a child and I remember watching “Ben Hur” at Fritz Stuhr’s Cinema in Laboe where Charlton Heston had a squeeky voice. Before the main film we watched a short Laurel and Hardy film and both actors had squeeky voices. The duo were known as “Dick und Dof” in Germany. It translates as “Fat and Stupid” which is not PC today but still hilarious.

I had a blood test yesterday. After four goes, the nurse gave up. She could not find a vein so made an appointment for Friday where she will try again. As it was an early appointment I had got up got washed etc and gone to the surgery without a drink. That was my mistake. I was apparently dehydrated and this slows the blood flow. You live and learn. She also updated me on the vaccination situation. Supplies have arrived and we will shortly be invited in, probably to the De la Pole Hospital (actually now defunct) about two kilometers away.

We have put in our first telephone shopping order of this lockdown. We rang before lunch and the order from our local garden centre will arrive tomorrow. There is no charge for delivery and although prices are slightly higher than the shops, it is so much easier than going out in the cold and rain/snow.

Whilst ordering from Amazon is brilliant we want free delivery, They design the site so as to guide you to signing up for Amazon Prime. This is a subscription delivery scheme. Having worked out how to avoid it we have to go through the process each time. Can they please allow me to opt for my preferred delivery for all time? It would seem not.

We had a lovely Zoom call from Sally and Jim who had received a little surprise xmas package from us. It was nice to watch them open their gifts while we all toasted each other with a glass of wine.

Brexit continues to cause problems to the UK. The EU is clearly set to punish us despite the fact that more than half of us wanted to stay in. More stories are coming out of Spain in particular of restrictions to be placed on Brits. Those who have a second home there that they like to stay in for 6 months over winter, are to be restricted to 90 days in a 6 month period, even if they have fully registered with the Spanish authorities and pay all the relevant taxes. If you want to move to Spain you need to prove that you as a couple have an an annual income (net) of £24,000. We are oh so glad we sold up when we did. It was put to me that it was healthier and cheaper to live there. Well maybe, but all I really miss are the oranges straight off the tree. Friends and family in these times are more important.

Visited Mum this morning. I didn’t manage to see a carer to get an update on Mum’s vaccination. She has been messing with her TV remote control and all she could get was Sky News. I managed to re-tune it all and she now has all channels. As long as she has Channel 1,2,3,4 and 5 she is fine. Otherwise she was in good form.

7th January 2021. 302 days of isolation/lockdown

In my whole life, in individual challenges, I have rarely been in the top 4 of anything. I came top in a geography exam once and also won the school music prize. That’s about it. So, it is gratifying to know that I (and Jenny) are in the 4th group for Covid vaccinations. I did nothing for the achievement except be born in 1948 and sit at home watching the TV for long periods. Sometimes until 1 am. Oh, it’s good to be old sometimes. Mum is in the 2nd group and we should all be done with the first jab by the end of the month.

I heard from Manfred in Germany today. They are also in full lockdown, only allowed out for a walk. The situation in Germany as a whole is disorganised. Possibly due to the fact that there are 16 autonomous regions. (Take note Scotland). Maybe, just maybe, we are getting something right as the UK is miles ahead of the rest of Europe.

Alongside all this going on, there are the problems in the USA. I can’t say much that hasn’t been widely covered in the press. I always suspected that the USA had lost it’s mind when they elected Trump and as a result it is a very racist country. Look at the soft approach by the security forces against the white facists last night and compare it with the harsh treatment in the (peaceful) Black Lives Matter march. I despair. I have always hated extremism in any form but I’m afraid it has crept into so many areas of our once peaceful existence. From the Republicans in the USA to animal rights protesters including PETA to anti abortionists to anti vaxxers. The list goes on. I need a drink.

6th January 2021. 301 days of isolation/lockdown

1 in 50 people in the UK have had Covid 19 confirmed. This is a worrying figure and serves to fortify our resolve to stay at home. We will up our exercise levels (walking) as we have been a bit too inactive. The trouble with inactivity is that I now weigh 100 kgs. That’s 15.71 stones. I must try to get that down to 90 kgs..

David got us a very warm wooly Duvet for Christmas and we now have it on our bed. It is SO warm it is like sleeping with a sheep (although I have never done that of course).

My Barbers have closed down completely for the lockdown so I cut my own hair for the first time since we left Spain. Didn’t make too bad a job of it and as a bonus I saved myself £8. The lockdown savings go on!

Aunty Phyllis and Uncle Ray have had their 2nd vaccine jab. No instruction as to what immunity they have although they should “keep up the lockdown” for 14 days. They are our family “Pathfinders”.

Our friend Irene rang for a chat. Bill was having a siesta which after his course of radiotherapy, has become more regular. Irene’s sister Mary was buried last Wednesday. It was very soon after her passing so was actually a blessing. Otherwise they are all well. The husband of the couple that bought Bills house in Spain has died so the property is up for sale again. The asking price is not yet known.

Donald is up to his usual tricks. Even at state level, his interventions are disgraceful, trying to “find extra votes”. It looks like the two senate seats being contested will go Democrat and therefore take away the Republican majority in the senate. There are still some results to come in but the few areas to report lean heavily Democratic. Even the US Loonie will not concede, we are surely witnessing his final death throes.

To put our current plight in perspective, this is for those of us feeling a bit stir crazy:-

ANN FRANK and 7 others, hid in a 450 square foot attic for 761 days, quietly trying to remain undiscovered to stay alive. Surely, we can all do our bit to keep everyone safe and spend a few weeks at home?