31st March, 2021. 12th to 17th days of isolation.

Today, the rules have changed in England. We can have up to six people at a time, from two households, outdoors for a chat and a coffee. We are hoping, therefore, for a visit from David and the grandchildren. It’s been quite a while. So I may have to go to the shop to get some pop etc. We haven’t bought anything for some time. Hopefully we can get out and visit our friends and family. Especially as the weather is going to be warmer.

I have heard from Donna in Spain and they are similarly restricted but the have managed a weekend away. The situation for British immigrants abroad, is getting difficult, especially for those, and there are many, who stayed “under the radar” who now find themselves in a bit of bother. The “evidence” would suggest many of them voted to leave and it is now coming back to bite them. Awww! I always believed that things would be made difficult for Brits and never believed the lies from Michael Gove who promised us all that nothing would change and our rights would be retained as if we were still in the EU. He knew he was lying, or at best guessing, leaving tens of thousands of Brits in limbo. It’s a real “Eton Mess”. In the EU they would probably say that revenge for leaving, is sweet! Nothing will ever be the same again and I don’t know when we will safely be able to visit Sally and Jim in Bucharest.

At last, The Ever Given container ship has been freed today, so the trainers and wicker chairs I ordered are now on their way. (Not really). The ramifications of this accident will be felt for months.

Had a phone call from the NHS changing the time of our second dose of Pfizer but only from pm to am on Sunday. Phew!

The number of Covid deaths continues to fall as the vaccines done gets up to nearly 31 million. Also in addition, 3.5 million have had their second doses. Obviously this is not a coincidence. It also looks as though there are contracts pending to ensure vaccine supplies.

With restrictions on outdoor activities being eased, I may be able to go and watch Ronnie play football and cricket. For our part, we will still respect the old rules, masks, hand washing and social distancing. We cannot allow the virus or any of it’s variants to fight back and put us back into lockdown/isolation. It will be interesting to see how many of the population stick to the rules. I am sure that many will not!

We are likely to hear from our gym soon as they are also likely to reopen. I shall certainly rejoin and check out the availability of a personal trainer. The visits to a chiropractor have had little effect and I am hoping that I will see an orthopaedic consultant soon.

Why do journalist ask such stupid questions, especially at the daily briefings. The questions are clearly rhetorical or closed, requiring only a yes or no answer. And when they ask a yes or no question, why do they allow the respondent to waffle and go of at a tangent without replying to the point. I would love to see Boris be interviewed by Andrew Neil. Of course it will never happen. Mr Neil is always too well prepared. I cannot wait for the new news channel “GB News” to begin broadcasting. It will be on Freeview on channel 236. It will be worth a look if for no other reason to watch Andrew (Rotweiler) Neil in action.

25th March, 2021. 10th and 11th day of year 2 of isolation.

Scone Day today! I really felt the need to get some flour up my fingernails today so baked a couple of dozen fruit scones with raisins and glace cherries. They turned out surprisingly well and I have frozen ten for the four Clark’s.

I was very saddened to hear of the death of Frank Worthington yesterday. He played 8 times for England, scoring twice. Not a big achievement on paper but he move clubs too often to be noticed I suppose. I always wished I could play like him. He scored goals at almost every club he played for. Most of his goals (267) came playing for Huddersfield, Leicester, Birmingham City and Bolton. He was always entertaining and worth watching at all the 25 clubs he played for. A flamboyant player with a playboy lifestyle, who will be sadly missed.

Last Chiropractic treatment yesterday. Only final analysis to go next week on the day I have a Drs. appointment. I shall not do any more. Hopefully the gym will reopen soon and I will try for that with a personal trainer. I need motivation!

Went to Mum’s on Tuesday and Wednesday. Jenny had again done a load of washing for her. There appear to have been a worry that she has been trying to use the cooker?hob. It is not needed and I intended to switch it off. I could not manage to get to the fuse box so my nephew is going to sort it. Personally I think the whole house needs rewiring after the floods of 2007. Jenna was there and I had a jar of home made whiskey marmalade in the car, which I had promised her. She was absolutely ecstatic. Some women are easy to please.

Vaccinations in the UK are still moving on with some speed. There is no good news from the EU and Petra has told me that only 10% have received the first dose. Almost every EU country is falling behind and are holding back doses ordered by the UK but still not giving their own citizens the vaccine. I don’t think we shall get to Germany this year. I just don’t think it will be designated as safe to travel to any European country. At least we can look forward to not winning the European Song Contest again.

23rd March, 2021. Days 8 to 9 of year two of isolation.

Car Spray day today. The damaged panel looks superb and Erik, the sprayer also put the new lighting unit in. There was no charge for the latter and it was a bit awkward so worth a £20 tip. I’ve got some business cards from him for friends and family. I cannot recommend him highly enough. I went on the bus in the morning to fetch the car. It was before 09.30 so I had to pay £1.50 which went against the grain a bit.

Germany’s vaccination policy is a bit baffling at the moment. They seem to be on the side of restricting exports to the UK and yet they cannot get people to go for the Oxford jab. In Bremen, the largest vaccination centre in Germany, could vaccinate 2000 people a day but are only doing about 20% of that. Pathetic. The attitude of the French is totally expected but I expected better of my birthplace.

We have started putting together the Jig Saw we got from David and the kids for Christmas. It didn’t look that difficult but as it’s from a photo, there is very little shading and Davids black t-shirt (the picture is him and the grandchildren on a beach) is all black so I am having to fit the pieces together by shape. A challenge but good fun. Most pieces are very slightly different and should slot in easily to it’s neighbour. It wasn’t always like that but major manufacturers laser cut their puzzles now which keeps the process cheaper. In fact, it should be possible to do a puzzle upside down but which numpty would try that?

There is ongoing improvement work on four neighbour’s houses nearby. We have moved to a good area where everyone seems to be happy to update their properties. All our neighbours are very friendly so I think we picked a good spot to live.

There is talk today of being find £5000 if you travel abroad without good reason, a holiday is not a good enough reason. So it seems to be a no no for our trip to the Harz Mountains at the beginning of June. It remains to be seen if visiting a relative who lives and works abroad and who we have not seen in over a year, is reason enough to travel abroad. Sally has been for an anti-body test in Bucharest today. She is determined to come to see us soon. She gets the test result by Email tomorrow.

21st March, 2021. Days 4 to 7 of year two.

Thursday, I had an appointment with my dentist to examine a broken tooth, upper left back. Some weeks ago a large chunk broke off and needed filling. No problem but the routine x-ray showed a wisdom tooth removal. Appointment made for the end of May.

I have also sourced a new rear lamp for the Kuga and booked it in for respray on Monday morning. I went to fetch the lamp this morning. The supplier was behind the railway station in Beverley. There is also a branch in Hull so either will do in the future. The click and collect web site was not an easy site but I got it to work eventually and got a 40% discount as advised by our neighbour, Dave.

What is going on in Europe with their vaccination programme? They are denying us the doses that were ordered by the UK and at the same time, not administering that vaccine because of what can only be described as “fake news” about it causing blood clots. There have been no more than one would normally expect from 17,000,000 people. This means that there may be some problem with our second jab on the 4th April. Meanwhile, the UK programme gather pace. The last 24 hours heralded 844,285 jabs. Who needs Europe? Two weeks today we both get our second jab and we can’t wait.

Went for a walk yesterday. Did 7000 steps resulting in a seized up and very painful right knee. I will continue with the chiropractor appointments but will ring my GP for an appointment to start the process to see a consultant. It could be a while.

Everything is looking good with Sally and Jim in Romania and with all our family in the UK. Our holiday on 31st May is looking increasingly doubtful.

17th March, 2021. Days 2 and 3 of year two of isolation.

Took the car in for an estimate yesterday for a scrape on the back wing and a new rear lamp. Over £1500. I think I will look elsewhere. They were even charging for a new “Kuga” logo which is on the opposite side to the damage caused. They even priced for a new bumper. I can see no marks on the existing one. I think they have confused my car with one that has had a rear end shunt on the M1 motorway. At the repair shop the “estimator” only took photos of the scratches. I think it is bordering on a con as I think they expect me to claim this bill on my insurance. Instead I am taking the Kuga for an estimate to a paint shop in Hull. Our neighbour Dave recommended him.

Had another session at the chiropractor’s today. I don’t know what good it is doing but I will stick it out for the remaining two sessions.

Had a different estimate done by “Chips Away” in Hull, The paintwork estimate was £190 and if I bought the rear light array, he would fit it. Estimate accepted. Eric, the boss is clearly an expert and had a beautiful clean and tidy workshop. He was just finishing the front of a white VW and it looked really good. He could not believe the estimate I had got yesterday. It was “laughable”.

Afterwards we went for a drive to visit sister-in-law Carol for a cup of coffee. We then drove home, calling at the garden centre in Cottingham for some bedding plants and, of course, some carrot cake.

15th March, 2021.365 days of lockdown/isolation and day 1 of year 2

It’s almost unbelievable that it is a full year since we started a blog and lockdown/isolation at home. Today is my son’s 48th birthday so it is not an easy anniversary to forget.

So it seems strange to talk about a non-Covid news story: the Oprah Winfrey interview with Prince Harry and his American wife, Megan. I did not watch the programme . I didn’t want to watch it and I still don’t. However, I have seen snippets on the news. It was inevitable. I don’t like the woman and think she is a narcissist who cannot be believed, and Oprah was complicit in what turned out to be a devastating programme for our royal family. During the interview, Megan was never really challenged on her accusations and she was given free reign (no pun intended) to bad mouth any body in general and nobody in particular. All the accusations implied our Royal Family said and did horrible (mainly racist) things without saying who. So, I have looked to see the main traits of a narcissist. Here is what I found.

A Narcissist has/needs:-

Grandiosity. An exaggerated sense of self importance

Excessive need for admiration

Superficial and exploitative relationships

Lack of empathy

Chronic feelings of emptiness and boredom

Sensitivity to criticism

Passive aggression

Long held grudges

Sensitivity to what others think of them

Frequently demeans, intimidates, bullies or belittles others,

Feelings of emptiness and thoughts of suicide are associated

Do any of these ring a bell. Watch the interview again. Also she is a second rate actress but an actress nevertheless and I think she put on a decent performance. What is really sad is that many people fell for it. Our Queen remains dignified as Megan Markle’s popularity ratings plummet.

Our “friends” the EU, are at it again. Apparently, the Astra Zeneka Vaccine can cause blood clots. 37 cases reported out of 17,000,000 who have been given the vaccine. Give me strength! How many of the 17 million fell down the stairs, defecated in their pants or got hit by a bus? Are they going to blame everything on Astra Zeneca? Sour grapes again which will result in more deaths if they carry on. Idiots.

In 5 weeks, we will be able to socialise again, albeit in a restricted way. David called round yesterday to see Jenny for Mother’s day. We had a good chat with all of them. Sally also made a video call later to speak to her mum.

We went to Chris Leach’s funeral in York today. We left in good time and got lost in Bishopthorpe. It was a lovely but short service with covid distancing in place. Only 18 mourners were allowed and we were privileged to be two of those included.

Maybe, just maybe, things are getting better but we should not let the Covid situation make us believe that Brexit has gone away or is actually a good thing. We shall find out soon enough.

9th March, 2021. 359 days of lockdown/isolation.

It’s been a while and lots has happened since my last blog. All our closest family have now had their first vaccines. David being the final one, today. Sally and Jim had to drive for over one hour to get theirs last weekend but it was worth it. Perhaps they will not have to travel so far for the 2nd one. The grandchildren are back at school and the two girls are getting tested there. We got David some free testing kits so he is testing Ronnie at home.

I saw a chiropodist for the first time ever and only had to go around the corner to her treatment room which was a converted garage. It had been very well done. The verruca I thought I had turned out to be a blister that had gone hard and was very painful when walking. She cut it out and dressed it and cut the toe nails and gave both feet the full treatment and removed lots of dead skin. It was a good job and their will be no further need for me to go unless there are any problems. All in all a very pleasant experience.

It’s all go in our neighbourhood. Number 25, opposite, are building a “mancave/shed”. Both immediate neighbours are respectively, putting in a new bathroom and landscaping their back garden. We feel a bit left out although we are having a kitchen designer round later in the week and may also get a landscaper in for the back garden which has been in the plans for a while.

The UK vaccination programme is gathering pace and most over 50s are now waiting for a date for jab number 2. The EU, having turned against the companies that the UK used, are now buying the Russian vaccine “sputnik” which doesn’t have full approval. I will need convincing that the EU is just vindictive against the UK but their delays are going to haunt them.

I didn’t watch the Megan /Oprah interview but it has grabbed the headlines in the newspapers and on TV. I never could stand the woman and her interview with Oprah has confirmed that dislike and mistrust. She is a second rate actress (a smallish roll in a poor US series..”Suits”) and a B/C list, celebrity. I have always believed that she was always looking for a “promotion” via our Royal Family but they saw through her. Her revenge was to mimic Diana in as many ways as possible including the upward looking gooey eyes and the clothes she wears. This is someone who complains incessantly about lack of privacy and press intrusion and then arranges/agrees to an interview with Oprah Winfrey which guarantees her maximum publicity in the US (and large sums of cash) and in the UK. Apparently there were over 11,000,000 viewers of the documentary in the UK. I don’t understand that, given that Master Chef was on the other side. During her interview (apparently) she spoke at length about our Royal Family and how they never really embraced her into the family “Firm” and even suggested they were racist. Such balderdash. Clutching at straws whilst hardly mentioning her own dis-functional family. Good riddance and with luck she and her husband will fade away into anonymity, which, after all, she maintains she craves.

David brought the grandchildren round for a quick forecourt visit and we were able to give Thea her birthday presents which included a Billy Eilish vinyl LP. I actually ordered the CD for myself at one third of the price. It’s quite good actually. Anyway, Thea was well pleased.

My visits to see Mum are all positive and she continues to be well. I told her I had made Whiskey marmalade. I had to promise her a jar and Jenna, our favourite carer, was licking her lips behind her mask so I had to promise her one too. I’ll do some decent labels and take them next week.

Our Kuga went for it’s annual MOT this week and passed. Not surprising as it’s only done just over 2000 miles in the last year. The end of February and early March is an expensive period for the car which is due it’s MOT, Car Tax and insurance all at the same time. If there are no faults with the MOT, the total cost is around £550. Still, ERNIE came up with £75 worth of winnings this month.

The authorities are predicting that there may be a surge of Covid Virus cases at the end of summer. The 2nd vaccinations are predicted for the end of October so with the relaxation of lockdown restrictions before then, there will be plenty who are still vulnerable. They will be mostly the younger population. Let us hope not but travel outside the UK will still not be straightforward. Either way, we will try to get to Romania to see Sally and Jim. It would be nearly a year by them without seeing them. Far too long.

During the pandemic I have been watching lots of sport. The live transmission of the test marches between England and India was an unexpected bonus. It proved to be an anti climax as England were awful. The European athletics championships were excellent with some great young talent shining through. Watch out for Keely Hodgkinson in the 800 meters. Football has become boring, as without the crowds, the play acting (cheating) has become worse, or at least is easier to spot.

The spike in deaths caused by Boris not wanting to spoil Christmas. I don’t trust anything he says.