29th November, 2021, 617 days since our first lock down day.

It has been a very cold few days with Ronnie’s Sunday football game being postponed due to snow and ice. It will at least allow his knee a bit more time to recover. When David got all the kids out of bed later, they got ready and came to ours for a brunch. As usual, all plates were completely cleared of food. Apart from Ronnie’s black pudding. What’s wrong with the lad? Anyway, his dad polished it off.

There seems to be some confusion between the NHS, Mum’s GP surgery and the company, Rimmington’s, to whom the booster jabs have been outsourced, The latter is based in Bradford and only do Anlaby area on Monday’s. They did not ring me today as promised so I will contact them or Anlaby surgery to sort out Mum’s booster jab.

Sally contacted us from Croyden this morning and reported all was reasonably OK. She is staying in the UK for a week and will come to us for a couple of days on Wednesday. Fantastic. Jim will stay in Croydon to look after his family. It’s the right thing to do but it would be good to see him too.

Racism has been featured heavily in the news recently and Yorkshire Cricket Club and Michael Vaughn in particular have come in for heavy criticism. Vaughn has been dropped by the BBC after the “interrogation” by Dan Walker on the BBC morning programme. He read out old tweets from 2010 and even Walker looked embarrassed to read them out. All this nonsense started with Rafiq who made accusations of racism in he dressing room, conveniently forgetting his own comments on Social media some years ago about Jews. As they were “historic” they were excusable. Why the double standards? A good man has had his life ruined by the BBC and the Morning Live team are culpable. A big story certainly but not as big or interesting as the many stories they do not report on involving our useless government. And about Boris in particular. Thank goodness for Twitter, Private Eye and “Have I Got News For You?”

26th 621 days since our first lockdown day November, 2021

614 days since our first lockdown day.

We went to see Mum on her 95th birthday, Angela and Christina were there too.

We went again on the Sunday when all her siblings and their families were there except Andrew and his family as they are in Dubai or somewhere Arabian. It was a lovely afternoon and as far as all the great grandchildren were concerned, they got on like a house on fire even though they had not been together since last Christmas. It was good to see everyone else, who with one or two exceptions, were fit and well and it was good to catch up.

David and kids came for tea on Friday and we did meatballs in bolognese and spaghetti. Nothing was left on any plate and I had made a lot. I was hoping for a snack on the next day but no!! They even had pudding. Good to see.

We went to watch Ronny play football and Ronnie had a great game (3 all) scoring a goal in the “comeback”. Sadly, he badly twisted his knee and had to miss Cricket in the afternoon and swimming in the evening.

On Tuesday we welcomed Andy and Lindy for three days of fun and red wine. On Tuesday we had dinner and red wine and generally caught up with all our news. On Wednesday we had a drive to Flamborough Head which was bracing. The restaurant that was recommended, was closed for renovations but we found a lovely place at Sewerby called “The Old Forge” which was outstanding. Parking was a problem though and although we could park on the road, it was only for one hour and I moved it halfway through the meal. It was the first time I had driven more than 50 feet in four months. It was fine but I wouldn’t fancy a long journey. On Thursday we went to the Cottingham Market and had a very nice lunch at the Duke if Cumberland. The cheesy chips are highly recommended. Yum!!

David’s financial settlement with his ex wife is drawing to a close. It could all so easily have been settled over a year ago but she changed overnight almost, and became awkward about everything resulting in both of them incurring unnecessary huge legal fees and court costs. In the end, apart from a couple of tweaks, they will end up with a value of assets and income of about half of everything. Precisely what had been provisionally agreed nearly a year ago. Stupid woman.

Sadly, earlier this week, Jim’s dear Mum, Olive, passed away after a long illness. Her last days were spent at home and Jim was able to be with her at the end. Sally will be joining him tomorrow. She was a lovely lady and will be sadly missed by all of us.We send our condolences to all family and friends whom we hope to see in due course. We are hoping that Sally and Jim may be able to pop to see us in the next few days.

Today, I let Jenny loose to go into Hull to do some Christmas shopping. She has cleaned my wallet out.

To finish on a more cheery note, Hull City have now won three games on the trot moving out of the bottom three in The Championship.So the Manager misses getting the sack for now.

And now we have our “boat people” trying to get into the UK. Some are dying and the rest don’t seem to be welcome.Have we forgotten that most British are of mixed heritage and I myself am the son of a German refugee? I despair of the final out come.

The news on Covid is not good but it does seem to be settling down and the numbers are getting worse on the continent.Germany and Spain do not be fairing very well and our holiday plans for the near future seem to be doubtful. Still, we can always go to Scotland, which may be “abroad! in the near future.

Our politicians are still playing silly b’s. I cannot be bothered to comment any more. They are all corrupt liars.

16th November, 2021.

611 days (recalculated) since our first lockdown day

I received an Email from Manfred recently. I had sent him a very long reply. It was disappointing to find the very high number of people in Germany refusing the Covid vaccine and the infection rates, as a result, are worryingly sky high. What is more worrying is that most are very intelligent people who should know better. Including a relative (by marriage) who should definitely know better. Her husband, who is a strong character, cannot persuade her otherwise. There must be a very strange atmosphere in that particular household.

We went to watch Ronnie on Sunday and his football team earned a creditable 4-4 draw. It was all the better as they had been 4-1 down. Ronnie had started the comeback with a goal driven into the corner of the net and in the final seconds could have had the winner. However the opposing coach named Ronnie as Tickton’s player of the match. He said he was a typically robust centre forward who made a great target man who was also a good header of the ball.

We picked Ronnie up from school on the 4th and went back to David’s house to celebrate Maisie’s 12th birthday. She is almost a teenager now. David had bought her a make up table which came flat packed in three boxes!! Guess who was nominated to do it. I spent about 9 hours over three days putting it together. It looks great. David sent me a bottle of Talisker single malt for doing it. That was not necessary but much appreciated!!

Val and Nick came for tea on Friday. Jenny had cooked curried chicken breast with the usual trimmings and a wonderful crumle for pudding. It was all lovely. We had been shopping in the afternoon and despite being really tired we chatted until nearly 11pm, which is a long day for old people!!

On the way back from a walk to Cottingham, we remarked on how lovely the village looked with a profusion of golden leaves on the trees and on the ground. Whilst kicking the leaves, Jenny spotted a nice new ten pound note which she picked up and pocketed. There was nobody around who could have dropped it. So, finders keepers I’m afraid.

We have visited Mum twice in the last few days. She is well and told me needs a new strap for her watch. I think this is the one that went missing a couple of weeks ago. So mystery solved. We are on the case for a new strap.

10th November, 2021

600 days since our first lockdown day

Tuesday was a big day. I made 5 large jars of Seville Orange and Whiskey Marmalade. I use a kit called “Marmade”. It is very simple but I boosted it with cheap Aldi whiskey. I’ve done it before but used double the amount of scotch as last time. My goodness, it does taste good. I can’t wait for toast in the morning!

My eyesight can be affected by a Vitamin D deficiency but is rare. Other symptoms can include several that may be applicable to me also. Fatigue, lethargy, breathlessness to name but a few. But my eyesight is still a problem. Looking at a car in front of us with my right eye only, reduces the size of the car by at least 30% so car driving is still a no no for me as I can clearly not judge distances. An eye test and new spectacles, may eventually sort the problem out. But not yet!!

The weather has been very mild for the time of year. So winter may well be the opposite.

We went to watch the grandchildren at swimming training in Beverley. It has been nearly a year since we last went. Ronnie finished his session first and David took him home. We stayed and took the girls home. It seemed strange being there after all this time which has passed incredibly quickly. Nothing much has changed except I think most people are taking more medication than they did a year ago.

COP26 is still going on but without China who are still opening up new coal fired power stations almost weekly, So what’s the point? I’m not in a hurry to take my last breath but I don’t want to wait until the air that I breath, burns my throat.

The pandemic in Germany gets worse with 15,000,000 unvaccinated. We are much better in the UK and those who have jumped on the anti-vaxx bandwagon will, hopefully, jump off when they realise they may lose their jobs for a misguided principle.

8th November, 2021.

598 days since our first lockdown day.

It has been a busy week, one way or another. We were not able to spend any time with the grandchildren as it was not David’s turn for his allotted 2 days out of 10 but we were able to go and watch Ronnie play football. He had put them 3-1 ahead with a great header. To satisfy sponsors and other favoured parents the coach made several substitutions with less than 15 minutes left. I would not denigrate any of them but the team is carrying too much deadwood and they all get a game, no matter what. Suffice to say, Tickton lost 3-5. It’s a shame as Tickton would otherwise have enough talent to win the league.

The Pandemic still dominates and it continues to dominate our daily lives and routines. We still still manage to get one big shop at Aldi and individual items at our local stores and markets. We have had some visitors, namely sister in law Carol and cousin Pamela who we had picked up from Leeds Bradford airport after a three week holiday in Kos, Greece. Lucky thing!! My mate Mike Gibson had also called in while his wife Maria, had an hospital appointment. Mike has had a hard time with illness lately but hopefully he is slowly on the mend. It was very interesting to hear about his holiday in Iceland. He and Maria were very impressed with the island, as were we when we went a few years ago.

Corruption in the government continues to be rife.Having failed to change the rule to protect one of his mates, Boris has done a U turn and not changed the rules, so his mate had to resign. Owen Paterson had allegedly been a in receipt of money to lobby parliament and had obtained contracts to provide NHS equipment without a normal bidding process. A Twitter storm ensued and Patterson has gone. Is it too much to hope that Johnson will follow?

I went for a chest X-ray on Thursday following on from a GP appointment. I can ring for the results next week, unless they contact me first. The X-ray is as a result of reporting a shortness of breath.

Sally and Jim made it safely back to Bucharest and have continued with their lessons on line to students. They keep in regular touch and are both very well.

I am now taking regular Vitamin B12 an D. I can see no noticeable difference yet, although with the B12 pills, my GP advises it could take a while. At the moment, I can still sleep for England.

I have had a lovely Email from my cousin Petra in Germany Who longs for us to visit. The numbers there are going up in the wrong way and I cannot see us going any time soon. Sally and Jim also want to meet us in Germany so there is a long term plan to incorporate both wishes in one trip. We miss them in Laboe and hope to meet soon. I hope Manfred’s eye problems with his cataracts are soon overcome.

I spoke to my GP today about the recent blood test. Apart from the B12 deficiency, all the numbers are normal or within acceptable limits. This includes the prostate test, which is great news. I will have to have another test in about eight weeks.

I went to Mum’s today to tighten the arms on her spectacles. I think mum needs new ones now as the nose support is broken and it is a long while since her last test. She was in good form but as recent visits and phone calls have shown, this can change very quickly.