25th July, 2021. 126th to 135th day of isolation.

A lot has happened since my last entry.

Not least with Covid and the Tory government. Freedom day came and went and there were crowds everywhere. Without masks mostly. The “bad” figures are still on the rise although hospital admissions are down.So it is not all bad although the deaths and hospital admissions will take 3 or 4 weeks to filter through. I noticed that on public transport masks were still being worn but in our local mini market, it was about 50%. Those without masks did not look like the type of man (they were all male) that you would chose to argue with. You know for an absolute certainty that they would respond negatively, possibly starting every excuse/reason with ” I was only….”. Numpties. We shall certainly not change our approach to the pandemic, wherever we need to. I thought I might go and see Hull City’s first home game with Ronnie. I shall not bother going to the stadium as yet. Also Ronnie was sent home this week and has to isolate for 10 days so will not be available for this week’s under 11 cricket cup final where he would certainly have been picked to play. A real shame.

Last Saturday I managed a couple of hours, and a couple of pints, watching the !st team beat Beverley by 8 wickets. I stayed long enough to see Dom Rhodes score 30 odd runs with ease including a huge 6 off his first ball. My neighbour, Jame Braithwaite, opens the batting and scored a really useful 40. It was a great afternoon, chatting with some old friends.

Sadly, a couple of days ago, we lost our friend Mike from York, to Cancer. We will be going to the funeral. His wife, Chris died a few weeks ago so a doubly sad occasion except that this time, there are no restrictions on numbers and we will go back to the house for the “wake”.

Sally and Jim are home from Crete and are now planning a flight to Spain from where they may also fly to Ireland. Depending on the rules at the time we may even go also. The rules about the red green and orange countries are changing all the time so it@s anyone’s guess at the moment.

However, we are planning a long weekend in Sutton in Derwent to see Andy and Lindy and we are also going soon to Louth to have dinner at Jan’s. There is a lot to catch up on.

Coincidentally, a 51 year old man from Lincolnshire, who was an antivaxxer has died this week. He appeard on Look North on TV and it was reported that his last words to his family were, “I wish I’d had the vaccination” That bit of film should have been show to all antivaxxers. Such a tragedy and a lesson for everyone.

England lost the European Cup Final to Italy, on Penalties. Nothing more to say. The twitter aftermath against the three England players who missed their penalties, was awful and followed the pattern we have got used to with a certain type of England fan who booed he Italian national anthem and shone laser pens into the eyes of the Danish goalkeeper, Kasper Schmeikel. Pathetic.

Our friend in Spain, Peter Clarke lost his dad, Tony, last weekend after a fall in hospital. A brain bleed would not stop and he passed away. Peter was forewarned so at least he was there. There is to be an inquest so Peter managed to get a flight to Spain and will return when the inquest is over.

I kept an appointment at the eye hospital on Friday. No treatment was give but I had an eye test and photso taken of the inner eye and retina. I now have to wait until the consultant examines the pictures. Meanwhile, as the right eye is so bad, I cannot focus properly which means I have great difficulty reading, writing or typing. if I close the bad right eye, I can “see” better but only in 2D and have no depth of field. I think I may have to provisionally stop driving and more importantly, peeling potatoes with a knife.

The Wren kitchen instalment carpenter came for a final measure on Friday. He confirmed that the new units would be delivered on 30th August. Work would start on the next day.

After all the football, we now have the Olympics to keep us entertained. Japan is 8 hours ahead of us so proceedings commence at 3am. Too early for me. To date we have a Silver and a Bronze. No Gold medal yet and my favourite, Jade Jones is out. Our target is 65 medals. I think we will fall short. Like we do in a lot of things.

16th July, 2021. 125th day of isolation.

MUST wear a mask changes to SHOULD wear a mask on Monday, 19th July, 2021. The public interviewed on the BBC are often thick. One chap said “I’ll wear one if every one else wears one”. Another said ” i’m not wearing one. They are not working so it will make no difference if I do not”. What planet are these people on? It will be called “Freedom Day. I call it Freedom to die and infect others Day” It is dangerous and unethical to give people freedom of choice which is a threat to the world and may encourage new vaccine resistant variants. I’m afraid!

We had some sad news today. My pal in Spain sent me a WhatsApp to tell me his Dad, Tony, had died this afternoon. He was suffering from cancer but had a fall in hospital and died of a brain bleed. Really tragic. Pete is flying over tomorrow to be with his mum. If there is time, I will try to get to the Midlands to see him.

The Tokyo Olympics are going ahead. It will be weird with no spectators and the Japanese will lose a fortune. The European Football cup final went ahead with huge crowds (unmasked) so there will be thousands of new infections. Brilliant!

15th July, 2021. 123rd and 124th day of isolation..

Things are set to change on the 19th July. BoJo or the Johnson Variant, as he is sometimes called, has given us guidance to, er, do what we want. We should mostly use our own judgement at a time when deaths, infections and hospital admissions due to Covid, are all rising and FAST. So why is he dithering. He and his Health Secretary (who was it now?) suggested we “follow the science” so why is he not doing that now? He will no doubt watch the figures and when they are sky high, will impose restrictions accusing English citizens of being “loose” with instructions. What instructions? He has a history of blaming others and this time will be no different.

In the meantime, I will continue to wear my mask in all public places, especially inside. Nobody is going to blame me for spreading the virus. Despite all this, it will be impossible to visit Germany, Romania or even France. I think we could go to Iceland but we have been there an done that so the UK it will be. We will look to visiting friends in England and Scotland . We don’t have any friends in Wales. We are still talking to Sally about meeting somewhere in Europe but things can change overnight from green to orange or stay the same colour but have restrictions imposed. So that looks unlikely now.

When we came back from Spain we brought our old 42″ tv back. If I could get Freeview on it, we could use it in one of the bedrooms. However. after being in the garage for two years, all the terminals and the remote, were totally corroded. Also, after trying unsuccessfully to lift it, I realised it was so heavy, nobody would want it anyway. The sound bar and sub-woofer were in a similarly bad state. So we have resolved to take it to the municipal dump over the weekend. Any one in the guest room will have to use their smartphones or tablets to watch YouTube.

Went for an Indian meal at the Madras restaurant in Hull this evening with Mike and Maria. Brilliant and too much as usual. It was very quiet. Hopefully things will pick up soon.

13th July, 2021. 115th to 122nd day of isolation.

Restrictions on wearing masks are to be lifted. They are no longer compulsory on public transport, shops or night clubs and the advice from our government is to be sensible. What a cop out. Johnson and co will be able to blame the British public when it goes wrong and hospital admissions soar skywards. As for Jenny and I, we will continue to wear a mask and if the local bus companies do not impose their own restrictions (which they can), we shall always use the car. If shops allow people to go in without a mask, then we shall shop somewhere else or go on line. I think airline companies ave already suggested they will insist on travelling wearing a mask. Good for them. I believe so many of the British public are stupid and will think every thing is fie and will reduce mask wearing to a minimum. These maybe normally reasonable and intelligent people but are probably of a belligerent nature and also anti-vaxxers. They may well also have the B. Johnson narcissist gene. We will see what develops We will know soon enough.

Racism has been on the forefront of the news this last week. Especially after the European Cup final penalty shoot out. As usual internet trolls have vented their spleen on twitter, Facebook and other internet social media platforms. Anyone can use these platforms to make racist comment almost without any form of retribution although some accounts have been closed down. But that’s not enough!! I am considering coming off twitter. It is interesting enough but in a way, by spending time on it (not much) I am giving the trolls a larger audience. I may even come off face book.

Almost a celebration in our house when England got to the European cup final. Having narrowly defeated Denmark we took on Italy in the final. We lost on penalties as usual and it is the three young black footballers who missed their penalties, who have been the subject of racial abuse. What a shame and an embarrassing end to what was a great tournament. It was totally spoiled for me by the booing of the oppositions National anthems and the shining of laser pens into Kasper Schmeikel’s eyes. I am ashamed to be British. Why oh why are we not able to deal with these idiots?

Ronnie has had a game of cricket for Cottingham where he did not excel. However he played well in a huge football tournament on Sunday. Tickton Cobras got to the quarter final but were all very tired. Ronnie’s legs were aching and it seemed to be in the hamstring area. My view that two hours of swimming training, four times a week is too much. He is only ten and that sort of regime is, I think, excessive but it would not be up to me to change things. Melanie is a coach at the swimming club and would surely be loathe to change things.

I just can’t bring my self to comment on Priti Patel. One should not mock the afflicted.

Pleasingly we have seen a lot of David and the kids and they are often here for meals. David’s house has been sold and they have been keen to help him chose his next one. They all want their own room so it will a four bedroomed house at least.

I am having trouble with my eyesight, more specifically my right eye. I have had tests and have been diagnosed with a blocked or burst blood vessel in the retina which will need either laser treatment or an injection into the eye. Urrrgh! I cannot see at all clearly out of that eye which is like being under water. I can only read with my right eye closed. Something has to be done and I am waiting for an outpatient appointment. It should be sooner rather than later.

As I have been “discharged” by the consultant in Beverley regarding my knee, I thought I would try one of these copper infused knee bandages. It does certainly reduce the arthritic ache I have permanently but has no effect on the stability of the knee which still “collapses” from time to time and is is still very painful several times a day..

5th, July, 2021. 111th to 114th day of isolation.

Despite all that is going on with Brexit or the pandemic, the last few days have, more or less, been dominated by successful English sportsmen and women.

You would have to have been locked in a very deep dungeon not to be aware of the England football team. After their 2-0 success over a dangerous German team, they followed it u on Saturday with what turned out to be a powerful performance and 4-0 win over The Ukraine. Apart from a nervy period in the latter part of the first half, England were always in control. Four stunning goals from Kane (2), Maguire and Henderson, are worth watching again and again. They now face Denmark on Wednesday and they will be a more difficult proposition than the Ukraine. However, with fantastic players in the whole squad, Gareth Southgate, the manager, has a wealth of talent to draw on should he need it. With only a few readers of this blog, I am happy to predict a 3-1 win for England.

In Tennis we have a new, potential superstar in Emma Radacanu who won on Saturda against an opponent ranked 300+ places above her. Today her challenge was also huge. Too much in the end. She had stomach problems and was clearly exhausted. one for the future I think. She is only18 and will be back.

Lewis Hamilton could only manage 4th place in Sunday’s F1 Grand Prix but the season is only halfway through and next week is the British race and Hamilton always does well at Silverstone so I expect fireworks.

Happy Birthday to the NHS which started in the year I was born, 1948. I have early memories of going to the Anlaby Village Hall/Church Hall for orange juice which was a cordial I think and came in a flat botttle with a cork top. It was probably for Angela who was born in 1950 so it will gave been about 1951/52. I have certainly used the NHS as much as any average Brit over my 72+ years and their work over the past 18 months has been exceptional so getting the George Cross from the Queen is well deserved.

Boris has announced that most restrictions will be lifted on 19th July. I’m not sure it is the right time. I for one will continue to wear a mask as I do now. Shops, public transport, public events yet to come and so on. I have had my jabs so travel abroad may be an option soon. If we can go to Romania or Germany, we will! I think the figures are positive despite the rise in infections. deaths are still “negligible” and most admissions into hospitals are people who have not had vaccinations. These may include some anti-vaxxers so I hope they are being charged. Fat chance!

1st July, 2021. 110th day of isolation.

Had car valeted today by LH Valeting and, as usual, Lee (and his wife Rachel) did a great job and the car looks like new. New mats put in. They were the first replacements we have ever needed.

Andrea, our next door neighbour, had her very expensive bicycle stolen from her work place recently. She works for the NHS in Cottingham. She had locked the bicycle up but the question is, who the hell steals a bicycle from a hospital grounds? Scum. That’s who. With luck. they will be hit by a bus.

I watched a documentary about “The Curious World of Jheronimus Bosch, a Dutch artist who died in 1516. He has several paintings spread around the world but they are seriously weird and wonderful. “The Garden of Earthly Delights” and “The Tryptych of the Temptation of St.Anthony” are two of the most famous. You can look at them for an hour and still miss something. I think I will order a poster from Amazon.

Did a fresh fruit and vegetable shop today. We didn’t need much but it got us out into the fresh air for a bit. When we got back, Jenny started polishing everything.

Boris is taking credit for the announcement by Nissan that up to 6000 jobs will be created by them for a new electric car and electric “gigabatteries” to be manufactured in the Midlands butb at what cost. They were going to leave the UK. Similar discussions are going on with Vauxhall. And no doubt other manufacturers. But at what cost? I think Boris will have had to promise huge subsidies for them to stay. Effectively the UK taxpayer has had to fork out. I may be wrong but time will tell. Boris has taken credit for so many things so why not this. Not persuasion but “bribes”? We’ll see.

Sally and Jim fly to Crete tomorrow for a holiday. They are allowed to go from Bucharest as they are in Europe at both ends and will not have to isolate or go into quarantine. It will be hot in Crete but it is also hot in Bucharest (35C today). I am jealous but hopefully we will get to see them soon. We know they will have a great time. They deserve it. They have both worked very hard in this horrible time.