10th September 2020. 180th day of lockdown/isolation.

I realised that we could check in with Easyjet for our holiday flights on 3/9 and 7/10. Log in was easy except that there was a notice that our flights there and back had been cancelled. Their web site offered a change of flight to another date or a voucher for the full cost. It took a few minutes to find that they also offered a refund but it looked deliberately hard to find. It was not given as one of the initial options. However, once found, it was only a click away to very quickly claim the refund which should take up to 30 days. An email confirming all of this was in my inbox within seconds. I then cancelled the hire car at Munich airport. Very simple and a full refund will be with me soon. This was quickly confirmed by Email. I also cancelled the accommodation through Booking.com. I had paid no deposit and I was six days inside the time where there was free cancellation. Again an Email confirmation followed within minutes. All very satisfying and surprisingly stress free.

The only complaint I have is that Easyjet never informed me of the cancellation. If I had not thought to check in I would not have found out in time to qualify for free cancellation of our apartments in Salzberg which would have cost the four of us over £1000. Very naughty. When did they make the decision?

Went for tea and cake to see Auntie Phyllis and Uncle Raymond this afternoon. Cousins Pamela and Carol were also there. We were all socially distanced and the sun behaved itself for us to have a lovely afternoon in the garden. We all had our stories to tell but the main thing is that we were all well.

Good news. We have booked a weekend away in Eyemouth, north of Berwick. Andy and Lindy have been before and recommended it so they got us all booked in, in October. I hope the sun comes out.

The Pound/Euro exchange rate is very bad at the moment at 1.08 so maybe a good thing not to travel to Europe. I think the rate for the Scottish Pound is favourable.

We had a quick visit to Morrison’s this afternoon. Jenny is baking again.

We are booked in for a flu jab in October. Is it too much to hope for a Covid 19 vaccine to be available?

9th December 2020. 179th day of isolation/lockdown.

I rang the Austrian Embassy in Manchester regarding our forthcoming trip. It turns out it was a Consulate and I should ring the London Embassy between 2pm and 4pm. There was no reply so I sent an Email. The way things are moving in the world at the moment means, to me, that the odds are against us going later this month unless we drastically amend our plans and possibly change the accommodation to Germany only and leave Austria for another year. The Embassy replied by Email (the Ambassador himself) and said that as of this moment we can cross the border both ways and we should not need to self isolate in the UK on our Return. But we should remain vigilant as this could all change in an instant. If Easyjet cancel the flight to Munich, then the holiday will all be cancelled anyway and then we will have to fight for a refund. I have confirmed that the conditions of car hire mean a free cancellation up to 48 hours before booking due.

I went to my Mum’s yesterday. She was very alert and any random visitor would have found her quite switched on and normal. It’s such a shame that we cannot all go to visit although she gets enough daily human contact to keep her alert.

Finished Series 2 of “The Bridge” and would have loved to see series three but, as is common nowadays, can only be seen on Satellite TV which I refuse to subscribe to. Maybe in the future it will find it’s way back to BBC 4. So I have started rediscovering all series of “Luther”. After episode 1, I cannot wait for the rest.

Trump’s position looks more and more precarious. He is down on Biden in many marginals by a fair bit, by USA standards. Of course you cannot believe ALL the negatives in the news. Trumps opposition is just as capable of fake news but the polls do show a fairly consistent pattern with Biden ahead in most and in one or two states, way ahead. However, with the USA system, nothing can be clear until the day, unless Trump’s vote totally collapses. We can but dream.

We collected David from Castle Hill hospital after a minor operation and two nights in Ward 10, for observation. He’ll probably need to rest for a week or so. It’s good that we are able to help with transport etc. but he is being looked after on a day to day basis.

Oh Boris! What are you up to now? You have put through a Bill which is apparently illegal and which will, apparently, be tantamount to creating a “rogue” state. Also, why do all four nations have different rules for gatherings? Is it not beyond those that make these decisions to have a quick conference call and come to an agreement to all be the same? As for the rules for pubs and/or a potential curfew, just shut all the pubs. Simple. I do not care about the louts who don’t socially distance when they are drunk. Let them buy some cans at Tesco and get drunk in their garden shed. There is now some evidence that this group’s infections are on the increase. Good!

Boris took the Downing Street briefing this afternoon and I learned very little except a new phrase that kept being repeated. It was all to do with the six people maximum that can gather together. His speech consisted of “waffle, waffle, waffle, rule of six, waffle waffle waffle”. And no amount of public praise can hide the fact that we are not doing very well.

6th September 2020. 176th day of isolation/lockdown.

I started the day with a nice little drive to watch Ronnie play for Tickton under 11 football team. Really enjoyable. Particularly as he played at centre forward in the first half and scored. In the second half he played in goal (he is good at that too) and earned an assist with a clearance that went straight to a Tickton player who easily slotted home. Eventually they won 3-0. Whilst I was out Jenny polished all the wooden floors.

After that a quiet day in watching England v Australia T20 cricket and then the F1 Grand Prix in Italy. An easy win for England followed by a bizarre race for Hamilton and the rest of the drivers. Hamilton came from last place to seventh and therefore get some points. I don’t particularly like him but that was a hell of a drive.

It’s getting close to decision time about our holiday to Salzburg. Assuming that Easyjet don’t cancel the flight, everything hinges on the situation about criss crossing the Germany/Austria border in the hire car. I am tempted to base the whole holiday on the German side and cancel the Salzburg apartments and book new ones around Berchtesgaden. I am awaiting the result of enquiries made by Manfred and Petra.

I see the figures of new cases in the UK are up to nearly 3000 today. Ironically the majority of them are under 50, probably those that believed they were immune because they were younger and never wore masks. 18 to 30 holiday participants spring to mind. Serves them right. Now we must persuade those morons to stay away from their grandparents!!!!!!!!

5th September 2020. 175th day of lockdown/isolation.

The travel situation is becoming comically confusing. We may know that we can fly back from certain countries but whether or not you isolate depends upon where in the UK you are flying to. Scotland and Wales are imposing isolation whereas England and Northern Ireland are not. This is what having devolved parliaments was always going to result in. A shambles. As far as Scotland is concerned, it is a foretaste of things to come if a referendum, if held, results in full independence. I still hope that common sense prevails and a referendum does not happen. However, the pandemic has resulted in common sense flying out of the window. The idiots of “Extinction Rebellion” are a perfect example which, sadly, includes an Archbishop of Canterbury.

Ronnie’s final cricket matches have finished for 2019. His last 2018/19 football finishes tomorrow and the 2020/21 should start soon. Swimming training starts in Beverley for our three stars, tonight. There will be a social distancing plan in place and they have to go already changed. A logistical nightmare but at least they will be back in the water on a regular basis.

Normally, we would look forward to a Saturday night at home with a glass of something nice and watch some decent TV. Britain’s Got Talent is back so that’s ITV that won’t get switched on. I really dislike Amanda (No Talent) Holden. The rest of the main channels are littered with repeats. Dad’s Army, Total Wipeout, Would I Lie To You, Great Continental Railway Journeys, to name but a few. Thank goodness for our Smart TV and catch up TV with it’s European murder mysteries.

3rd September 2020. 173rd day of lockdown/isolation.

The day got off to a great start in the early hours. ERNIE had delivered 4x £25 wins for this month. It will go straight into the holiday spending fund. Goodness knows when I shall be able to spend it.

Like everyone else in the UK , I have a lot of admiration for Sir Colonel Tom who managed to raise (with a huge push from the BBC) over £33 million. One heck of an achievement, it has to be said. The government, and particularly Boris, jumped onto the “praise bandwagon”. An interesting statistic about the total raised tough, is that the government could have more than matched that figure by putting 0.005 pence onto the basic rate. That’s five thousandths of a penny. In other words, by putting 1p onto the basic rate of Income Tax, they could raise an extra £6.5 billion. That would sort the NHS out. And leave a bit for education, the homeless and other things. No further comment necessary except I expect they will increase the basic rate to cover the cost of the pandemic and the “help schemes” like Eat Out to Help Out and Furlough.

I saw the consultant about my knee today. He had a good look and in the end said that I should live with it and go back to the GP for a referral if the pain increases and/or it “gives way” more often. Thanks very much!! I think on reflection that the appointment was to get me off the list and NOT to offer a solution. He admitted there as a problem and the only solution to identifying it was a bone scan yet he gave me a form to hand in at reception. He had ticked the box marked “Discharged”. S when I see the GP again it will be a NEW case.

The BBC have made a U turn. Not, sadly, over the license fee but over the singing of the lyrics to Rule Britannia. The lyrics, and more specifically, the line “Britons never, never, never shall be slaves”, were deemed to be racist by the mention of “slaves” Absolute poppycock and at least the new Director General of the BBC, Tim Davie, has reversed the ruling. Thank goodness At last some common sense about the poem written and put to music in 1740. Ironically, one of the co writers of the original poem was James Thomson, a Scotsman, who spent a large part part of his life in the pursuit of fostering a British identity, transcending the older English, Irish, Welsh and Scottish identities. Good for him.

I watched the last of 154 episodes of Hill Street Blues today. A highly satisfying time watching them all. However, the final episode had so many loose ends, they could have made more episodes. There were so many characters I had come to love, I suppose it was an impossible job. There was not even a book to go and buy to find out what happened to Mick Belker, J D La Rue, Captain Frank Furillo and dozens more. As the series ran from 1981 to 1987, It will never come back. It was so interesting though, watching police work without computors or mobile phones. I shall miss it.

2nd September 2020. 172nd day of lockdown/isolation.

It looks like this madness is set to continue for a while longer. I think we will be walking on eggshells until Christmas and beyond.

Some kids are back at school and some are not. Some parents are allowing their children back to school and some are not. Many people are wearing masks in shops and some are not. Why can’t people just do as they are told?

Every day, some countries go onto “the list” and some are taken off or the rules change. Nobody can plan ahead and so be it. We are all in the same boat and we accept it. It will all work out in the end but we have to help each other.

I saw on the news an item about illegal raves. The 16 to 25 age group are apparently missing dancing, having a drink, cuddling and chatting. Poor things! And he forgot to mention the sex and drugs. It seems to me that this age group is the one that will extend the pandemic. They are the ones we often see in large groups in their hundreds, drinking, jumping into fountains and involved in general debauchery. The police should use their full powers and impose maximum fines.

We had a lovely day on Saturday with David and his three little terrors, I mean darlings. They went swimming at our gym and then came to us for a curry. We played dice and Scrabble and Ronnie downloaded the solution to getting solitaire down to one marble in the middle. Thea and Maisie worked on a training programme for their swimming. Ronnie is not as concerned as he is now in the middle of playing lots of cricket and football. All a very welcome change from the doom and gloom around the world.

And don’t get me started on loony tunes Trump. That man gets more unbelievable (literally) every time he opens his mouth. He is accusing Democratic mayors and governors of mishandling the violence and it seems to me he is the one stoking the tensions. He refused to meet the family of Jacob Blake as they wanted lawyers to be present. So he’s a coward too, it appears. Although we all know he hasn’t got the capacity to deal with intelligent people. The nearer we get to the US elections the more exposed he is going to be to people who have a higher intellect. Mind you, we all said that last time and look what happened then.

Winter is coming in the UK (although not in Romania yet) and we are starting to get ready. We’ve bought teak oil to treat the garden bench and bulbs to put in ready for spring. On Sunday morning, the heating came on albeit for just 30 minutes so it won’t be long now although we may still get an “Indian Summer”. We have 14 days to decide whether or not our Austria holiday will go ahead. That would give us time to cancel the accommodation in Salzburg and re-book apartments in or around Berchtesgarten. We would the keep the car hire booking and obviously, if Easyjet don’t cancel the flight we will still fly to Munich.

163 days since lockdown/isolation.

There seems to be a lot of mass protests/rioting at the moment. All over the world people are taking to the streets. Hong Kong, Wisconsin USA, The Lebanon, Spain, Bolivia, Egypt, Iraq, Bolivia and others. The reasons have been varied ranging from corruption to climate change to a lack of democracy. Many of the protests have been legitimate and peaceful. At least that is how they begin. It doesn’t take long for trouble to break out (anarchists, right wing extremists etc.) and extreme violence to ensue. Occasionally resulting in deaths. I have never been on such a march and even if I had, at the first sign of any non-peaceful/extremist group participating, I would have been hurrying home. These people will take any opportunity to further their cause by turning to the protests from peaceful to violent. My view is have your march but keep it short and go home. Leave the police to deal with the trouble makers.

I have been busy in the kitchen. I have made a massive chilli split into seven freezer packs. I did the same with a huge chicken curry the day before. Jenny also made two huge shepherds pies destined for the freezer. We will not starve, that’s for sure.

We took advantage of the “Eat Out to Help Out” scheme yesterday. Just before the deal ceased. We each had steak pie with chips and vegetables, two soft drinks and Jenny succumbed to a sticky toffee pudding. All for £11. A bargain. Some restaurants are going to continue offering the half price meals as their restaurants have been full Mondays to Wednesdays. We ate in The Duke of Cumberland in Cottingham which was packed with customers.

I went to see Mum yesterday for my weekly visit. She was very well. Her favourite carer, Elaine was there too. It was nice to see her. I went for a second visit in mid afternoon to coincide with a visit from a district nurse who came to do a regular blood test organised by mum’s medical practice.

The weather has been awful for the last few days with some torrential rain which kept us in the house for a while. The plants in the back garden and the hanging baskets are on their last legs and we will take them out soon.

Our garden/paving contractor ran to say he will be coming mid September to pave the front of the house. He apologised for the delay but he has been having difficulties sourcing materials. One thing he will be doing is removing the “triffid” from the front of the house. We have cut it right back twice and it has grown back each time and is currently 4 feet high and growing. I will leave it now, until Jim comes and he will dig it out and put it in a skip.

We took a bus ride (with masks) to Beverley the other day. We bought a new frying pan (a really good expensive one} and had a coffee and cake at a cafe for just over £4. We didn’t realise that the half price government scheme would apply to cafes. Nice one, but sadly the scheme finishes on Monday.

160 days since lockdown/isolation.

What is going on now? Anyone on holiday abroad or who may have booked flights (in our case, well before the pandemic) must be totally confused. In our case the final destination is Austria but we land with Easyjet in Germany (Munich). In the case of both countries we must isolate when we get back which we can accommodate but can we go between Germany and Austria in the hire car? Our accommodation is in Salzburg so should we cancel and book accommodation in Germany? And we must take into account the wishes of our friends who are travelling with us. And will Easyjet even fly and, more importantly, fly back to Manchester where our car will be parked? I have messaged my friends Andy and Lindy, with whom we are going, and we are keeping an eye on the situation.

Being in relative isolation means that your day to day routine is very boring and leaves a lot of time for reflection. A few years ago when I went to sleep I would hope to feel a bit better when I woke up in the morning. Now, at 72, I just hope to wake up. And all the things I looked forward to doing, when I was younger, I can no longer be bothered with, unless it involves sitting down. Like listening to Test Match Special, which I am doing now.

Maybe we could try “glamping” like our esteemed Prime Minister. It looks fun but where is there space for the bar and the jacuzzi hot tub? Why is Boris even there? Churchill had his faults but I am pretty sure he never took time off during times of crisis. Which this is!! The situation changes daily and the public really do not know what they are able to do. Can they go camping in Northumberland or fly to Greece without the fear of lockdown/isolation when they get back? And where is Dominic Cummings in all this? He has kept very quiet of late.

Is Cummings behind the shambles involving evictions? Is he quietly going to protect tenants at the expense of landlords? It is correct to look after tenants who cannot pay their rents through no fault of their own. However, landlords need the rent to pay the mortgages which many of them still have on their properties without getting tax relief on the mortgage interest which has been withdrawn in recent years.

An old colleague of mine, Rhys Hobley, died last week after suffering for some years from Motor Neuron Disease. I posted his passing on an Inland Revenue facebook page and was astounded at the huge loving response. He was a lovable rogue much admired and liked by all. He was 74 and will be sadly missed. We ought to be more thankful that we are in reasonable health and can still enjoy a wee dram of malt whiskey now and again.

Sally and Jim have been having a wonderful time in Spain and Sally flies home today. Jim is staying on in their apartment and will fly home in a week or two to avoid the height pollen count in Bucharest at this time. They have sorted out our Mitsubishi during their stay, sorting out road tax, insurance, MOT and a repair. All the more reason to try to get out there and see some old friends but that is not going to be until November at least.

David took the kids to Beamish last week but it was a little disappointing as many of the attractions were closed. They made up for that with a day at Flamingoland where they had a great time.

I have found an old school photo from when I was 8/9 in Miss Solly’s class and have been trying to fill in all the names of my classmates. I am only about three short with one or two I may have got wrong but what is interesting is the class numbers. There were 36 pupils (more than once I was 35th or 36th in exams at the end of term) and we never thought about it being too many. I wonder where they all are now?

Stay safe!

156 days of lockdown/isolation

We had a lovely day on Saturday, our Golden Wedding Day. 9 visitors called for coffee and cake and some buffet food prepared by Jenny. Not the celebration we had planned for next Saturday with a lovely venue and food and a bar and the wonderful Henry Priestman, Les Glover and friends providing fabulous live music. None the less we got some lovely cards and presents. Thank you very much everyone. Watch out for our Diamond wedding anniversary.

Sally and Jim are having a great time in Spain. We wish we were there too. The weather is fantastic and we miss the fresh orange juice.

There has been a lot of rain over the last few days and my plant watering duties are suspended. Our new wall baskets are all planted and are starting to look good. The same cannot be said about the rhubarb which is looking decidedly limp. I know the feeling.

I am pleased that my children are not having to worry about A level results and the grandchildren are too young. What a debacle. How worrying for the students. Jenny and I predicted a u-turn and so it turned out. They should have trusted the teachers to be close to reality when predicting grades. What a group of idiots our politicians are!!!!!

It’s been a decent few days of sport on TV for English sportsmen. Louise Hamilton wins F1 in Spain and Ronnie O’Sullivan became World snooker champion. Although they are both “personalities” in their own way, I would not invite either of them to my “dream” dinner party. In their place I would rather have Giles Brandreth and Joanna Lumley. Now THEY would have some great stories to tell.

We have ordered a new “fit bit” for Jenny and if its OK I will order one for myself. I lost my other one. It will probably turn up at some point but I cannot wait for ever to replace it.

Still no news on our Easyjet flights to Munich.They are still flying at the moment.

As for the Covid virus the only real news is that it is not about to go away. Masks have to be worn in more places and isolation is compulsory after visiting a growing list of countries. Surprise, surprise.

153 days of lockdown/isolation

After all the sacrifices and changes to our daily life that we have all endured, we at least can look forward to our 50th wedding anniversary tomorrow. It won’t be as we planned. No big party with great food and live music. All were cancelled a few weeks ago and although things have changed slightly today, It was the right decision and sad though it is, there are a lot more people who are worse off. Those who were getting married, for example, almost had to do it behind closed doors with no guests. Funerals became very unusual with few mourners allowed. Services lasted 10 minutes only. Very surreal. So compared to those people in those situations, we have got away with it lightly. We can start planning for our 75th anniversary. I will be 97 then so I think we should aim for our 60th anniversary Which is the diamond anniversary.

We’ve managed to get more gym visits in and have been using our guest passes to good use allowing David and his 3 children some valuable swimming time. As well as that, Ronnie is getting some games of football and cricket so we are keeping them fit.

The latest source of public complaint is the isolation requirement when returning from some countries, including France. Many won’t make the deadline to get back and are a bit miffed. Hang on! Did they not think something like this could happen. Have they not learned anything over the last 6 months? Good grief. We have accepted the situation and have probably lost two holidays but that is the situation and the times we live in. These people should get over themselves, get a life and prepare for 2021 because for enjoyment purposes, 2020 is a write off. I can’t see and end to the pandemic this side of Christmas.

I feel sorry for the many students who have lost their university places because some unknown “expert” has marked down the expected grades determined by those who know them best. Their teachers!! Hopefully they will appeal and get their A level grades back.

My sister Christina has just called to wish us “Happy Anniversary” and bought us a lovely yellow rose for our garden. It was lovely to see her.

I’ve been to see the optician at Boots who told me I may have a detached retina and should keep monitoring the black floaters that are in my right eye. If they get worse I should go straight to them or if they are shut I should go straight to A & E in Hull. All a bit worrying.

Sally and Jim are having a good time in Spain but worryingly there is a problem with our old Mitsubishi. It lost power and they were stuck for a bit. They managed to get it going and will get it to a mechanic in Alhama asap.