96 days in isolation/lockdown.

Boris has all of a sudden become a football fan. But whilst we were all aware of Markus Radford’s campaign for free meals in schools throughout the summer and beyond (he hasn’t finished yet) Boris only heard about it yesterday. Where has our resident numpty been in the last week? Doesn’t he have a tv? I think we should be told.

This morning it was announced that Oxford university research team has tested an existing drug, DEXTAMETHASONE which, although not a cure or vaccine, does reduce deaths in hospitalised patients by a significant percentage. At £5 a dose it should be available to the NHS to treat UK patients soon. It is a well known drug and there should be no restrictions to every country in the world making their own. Worth keeping an eye on and well done Oxford University!

Started moving furniture out of the lounge today, ready for the laying of a new wooden/laminate floor next Wednesday. The boxes of laminate arrived today. We now need to start cutting up the carpet and underlay and removing the carpet gripper strips. I feel a few trips to the local council tip in Hessle will be required.

Premiership football is back today. I’m not really interested other than to see how many turn up at the ground anyway. Apparently, Aston Villa have said that once grounds are fully opened to the fans, they will give 1500 free tickets to the NHS for every home game remaining.. An NHS spokesperson has thanked the club but said “Haven’t we suffered enough?”

“Normal Day” deaths are down today so that is good news. If the trend continues, especially with the use of DEXTRAMETHASONE, I will be very relieved but we will stick to Lockdown rules in our house. We are both very well and I have no trouble falling asleep in the evening. I wake up early and I think it is the daylight but fall asleep again almost immediately. It would not be quite the same in Spain as the neighbouring cockerels would be very noisy and the heat would be uncomfortable. 20C to 25C at this time of year. For lots of reasons, we would both rather be here. The tit for tat rules for tourists between European countries is alarming but not surprising given we are no longer in the EU. If we are not allowed easy access to Spain for a holiday, we will stay in the UK. Their loss, financially.

How does a wind section in an orchestra, play their instruments with a face mask on?

UK deaths Wednesday 17th June     184

95 days in isolation/lockdown.

The news over the last few days has been dominated by the riots in the UK and the USA. A great excuse for the anarchists and far right to infiltrate and create problems for the causes thay are saying the support. They have done the same with Brexit and other major peaceful protests over the years. But we all know who they are and they will not divide the good people of this world who observe the rules, help their neighbours without expecting a reward or even thanks. The NHS is the prime example.

There is a sort of middle ground of people who do what they like despite the dangers to themselves and others. I cite as examples those who queue from 7am for knickers from Primark and who may go on road trips to Barnard Castle. This proves to me that intellegence does not translate as common sense. Although the Covid 19 deaths continue to fall, I shall look closely at the figures in 2/3 weeks time to see if the current “freedoms” will result in a second wave in the number of infections and deaths. I don’t want to say that I told you so or that it serves them right because it would not necessarily be those who spread rhe virus who will succumb to it.

My 1000 piece jigsaw of New York is two thirds complete. I had a bit of a scare when the last piece of the Hudson River was not to be found. This morning however, I found it in the leg mechanism of the kitchen table. Just the sky left to do. This is what counts as excitement nowadays.

David and the kids came on Sunday which was a lovely day and we all sat in the back garden, observing social distancing, of course. I wish we had a bigger garden to have a kick around but David is always taking them to the local parks and are getting lots of excercise and are also doing all their homework. They are great kids. We have had good long WhatsApp calls with Sally and Jim who are keeping themselves busy and of course are occupied with the kittens who are coming on a treat.

Our hanging baskets are looking great now and the weekly feeding with “Miracle Grow” seems to be working. So much so that our neighbours have commented on them. S & S next door, are expecting their first child in 3 months time. They are a really nice couple and we have found that all those who live around us are the same and we have had three offers of help to do shopping etc. We didn’t need it but it is nice to know that good people are around if we need them.

The tv and radio is full of warnings of how to deal with scammers who are “riding the wave” of vulnerability caused by the Corona Virus. For some reason, thankfully, we have not been caught out by any scammers despite a couple of attempts, including the usual emails from Nigerian princes or senior poititians or ambassadors. We should be even more on our guard though, for that very reason.

Went to see mum this morning and took bread and kitchen roll which are running out. Took a photo album of black and white photos and it kept her very amused for 45 minutes. She still remembers everyone, even the most recent pictures of them.

Had Jenny’s cornish pasties for lunch. Really delicious.

Watching alot of Test Cricket and International football at the moment. It’s amazing how the excitement comes back. I remember every minute of the 1966 World Cup Final, watching it with Tez Tindle, Wally Walford and Nelly Norton. We got drunk on cider and staggered through Anlaby singing. A bobby on a bike stopped us and said we should go back home, have coffee and toast and maybe have a sleep. We did just that at our house without the coffee and then settled down to watch the whole game again. With more cider Parents and sisters were in Germany and I had just started going out with Jenny. What a day. I still have contact with my old school chum Maurice (Nellie) Norton.

UK deaths Saturday 13th June  181

UK deaths Sunday 14th June       36

UK deaths Monday 15th June      38

UK deaths Tuesday 16th June    233

92 days in isolation/lockdown.

It’s been a while but so much is changeing. The world is going mad. Riots in the USA now spreading to the UK and elsewhere. People are totally ignoring lockdown rules. They can’t wait to get into the shops for a new pair of socks. We are going to keep washing the old ones. Trump is getting madder by the day and Boris and his cabinet continue to be indecisive. The rules about who you can or cannot be with are so complex and contradictory that we are just sticking to virtual isolation. And I don’t understand “bubbles”. Does anyone?

I’ve started a jigsaw. A 1000 piece picture of New York. Rather ironic given the situation there. The puzzle is very relaxing and my aim is to engage with it in short sessions, for my back’s sake. There is alot of sky in the top third and water (Hudson River?) in the bottom third. in between is Manhatten which is now one third done. All shades of orange for the skycrapers makes it very difficult. It’s a brand new puzzle so I am hoping there will not be a piece missing at the end, I remember my last ever jigsaw which I did over 50 years ago and was a British aircraft carrier with jets taking off. I seem to remember they were Hawker Hunters.

The weather has been awful so no plant watering required. We did a very big shop at Aldi. We thought we would just nip in for a few things but the shop was empty so ended up spending over £70 which is probably  equivalent to over £100 at Sainsbury’s. Mind you, there was wine and gin in the basket. We have arranged for our laminate floor to be laid at the end of the month and my niece’s husband, Richard, is fitting a new door into the side of the garage.

Since the 15th March, only two people other than us have been in our house. A plumber and an electrician for a total of an hour. We are definately doing our bit to stop the spread of coved 19. We are awaiting delivery of another 30 face masks. There was a facebook photo on my site of a mask for the ears so you don’t have to listen to all the bull#### spoken by some people. Excellent.

Petra and Manfred have now cancelled their trip to the UK for our golden wedding celebrations. Very wise given they would need to quarantine for 14 days. I think that is the last nail in the coffin for the party and we expect there will be more cancellations from abroad and Scotland. We have heard nothing from the venue or the band so we will have to contact them with the bad news but we will give it another week.

UK deaths Tuesday 9th June             286

UK deaths Wednesday 10th June     245

UK deaths Thursday 11th June         151

UK deaths Friday 12th June               202

83 days in isolation/lockdown.

Is my pessimism about to shown to be misplaced? Not only is the number of deaths the lowest since before the lockdown but it was announced that the “R” number has fallen below the magic #1 in all regions which are showing 0.7 to 0.9. This is good news and I will monitor this with interest.

Had a good walk today calling at the chemist and then the garden centre for my pills and a new plant pot. The garden centre had marzipan so I treated myself to a couple of bars.  How naughty. Had a trip out in the car this morning to the Laminate Flooring shop to arrange for an estimate to floor our lounge. They are coming tomorrow and will be wearing full PPE.

I’m having trouble with my left hip which is in constant pain. I struggle to get my leg over the sill of the car and have to grab my pants and lift it in. Very awkward. The hip replacement is 20½ years old and I am waiting for the consultant to call me in, having had x-rays in February. Clearly it may take some time but it cannot come soon enough. The pain in the replacement right knee is to be reviwed at the same time. What a mess. Thank goodness Ibuprufen and Paracetamol are cheap in the supermarkets. And they work.

UK deaths Monday 8th June       55

82 days in isolation/lockdown. Nearly 12 weeks.

Looking back there have only been two visitors to our house in that time. These were in the first couple of weeks so we have done our bit in the lockdown. We have been shopping half a dozen times and have done several excercise walks but observed all the rules when, quite clearly, many have not. Watching the news in the last few days has become ever more frightening. Especially with all those thousands of protestors around the world totally ignoring the fact that there is a pandemic at all. Don’t get me wrong, they are right to protest but if “all lives matter”, then what about mine, my familiies and everybody else who is observing the rules? Don’t we matter? Of course we do and if those people on the streets are angry then so am I because of their stupidity. Stay at home and sign a petition or something but don’t give this virus the opportunity to spread any more.

I am now reading alot more and have started a 1000 piece jigsaw of New York. Not an easy task with varifocals. There is a lot of sky and water so I need to identify dozens of shades of blue in the picture. It is a great picture and identival to some I took on our visit there in 2016. It’s a shame that we will never go back. In fact we will almost certainly do no more long haul flights. Europe is accessable by car and there is so much of the UK that we have only seen on the tv.

Petra has written to tell us that it is unlikely they will come in August and I don’t blame them. She rightly points out that Germany is dealing with the pandemic much better than us but the main thing is the quarantine they would be subject to and there is no point in even getting on the plane in Hamburg. With the restrictions I don’t think we would be allowed to pick them up in our car. It’s a crazy world.

Another hour of bluster from Boris the other day does little for my moral and the stuff coming out of the USA actually makes me feel sick. Nobody seems to know what they are doing and the daily briefings are a waste of time. None of the government men and women tell us the whole story/truth and they have even stopped the event/farce at weekends. Watch out for the “second spike” in new cases soon!!!

My nephew and his wife have adopted their second child, an 18 month old boy. Some nice news in amongst all this madness.

UK deaths Thursday 4th June    176

UK deaths Friday 5th June          357

UK deaths Saturday 6th June     204

UK deaths Sunday 7th June          77

78 days in isolation/lockdown.

Despite finding odds and sods to do, I am getting fed up. Perhaps the weather has been unseasonably warm and I am genuinely  pleased to see the rain today and the reduction in temperature. The rain has been persistant but fairly light. No need to water the plants today.

One ray of sunshine which is always welcome is the £50 win on the Premium Bonds. Not much admittedly but a win is a win and it is still paying out more than we would get on our bank account. We still hope for the big one some day.

I went to Hull City Centre today as I needed to bank three cheques that I have been unable to deposit for 8/9 weeks. I took the bus which actually had half a dozen passengers on it. They all kept a social distance but I was the only one who wore a face mask. It was the same at the bank which had also run out of money in it’s own ATM. Hull Centre was almost a dead zone. Shops were mostly shut and the only people around seemed to be office workers going for a sandwich. The bus/train interchange was virtually deserted and reminded me of scenes from the films “28 Days After” and “The Day of the Triffids”. There were a few people in the interchange but the majority were not wearing masks. The floor of the interchange was marked with arrows two meters apart and going in opposite directions for the publc to follow and maintain social distancing.

Boris led the Government Briefing today. Mostly it was bluster and I tend to concentrate on the statistics but I have no confidence in them either. Some time was given to what happens when UK residents come back from a holiday abroad. Nothing was said about foreign tourists. So we are still in limbo about Petra and Manfred coming from Germany  at the end of August. I think it is likely thay they will not come and that our Golden Wedding celebrations will not take place. If that is the case then hopefully their flights will be cancelled in advance so that they get their ticket money back.

Jenny did more baking today. Cookies and a victoria sponge. Bye bye diet!

UK deaths Wednesday 3rd June     359

77 days in /isolation/lockdown.

Despite all the rhetoric and lies, I am not convinced that all is well, not happy with all the figures that are being passed on and am nervous about the spread of the contra virous and what appears to be a relaxation to the lockdown that is politacal, far too early and not based on the science. We shall certainly not take much advantage of the extra freedoms that are being bestowed upon us. The “R” number is still far too close to the magic “1” figure, the latest being 0.7 to 0.9.

Our esteemed Health Secretary seems to be a bit economical with the truth and like his boss, is reluctant to answer  questions fully, if at all. At first, 70 odd days ago, I thought heg was OK but I have changed my mind. His performances at the briefings are poor and very similar to those of his leader. His handling of the phasing out of the lockdown is wishy washy with no clear explanation of what is allowed and what is not. The briefings have now become so uninteresting that it is hardly worth watching them or taking any notice of the graphs and figures presented to us each day.

Our grandchildren are more interested in the date that swimming pools will be re-opened. They say that swimmers will have to arrive in their costumes, numbers in lanes will be restricted and social distancing will need to be observed. None of this is any use to swimming clubs who could have up to 8 lanes with 10 swimmers or more in each. It is unworkable. Even though it is thought that chlorine would kill the corona virus, there is a warning that a “stricter regime” will still have to be enforced when pools do reopen. Swim England has warned that up to 500 pools could be closed permanently.

As for football (and cricket), social distancing will still be required so no change there. A kick about with dad may still be OK but any competitive marches would be out of the question.

Indoor sports like snooker are now playable but in front of empty auditoriums. Horse racing started under similar rules yesterday but it was not the first sport to be re-instated. Pigeon Racing beat it, by a nose.

My niece’s husband came to price a new side door for the garage today. We definitely need it so there is no need to hang around.

Went this morning to see mum. She was absolutely in form and I stayed for quite a while having a chat. I just missed her lunchtime carer, Jenna, who was just cycling into Anlaby. Her gardener has started doing the garden again and has begun by tidying up the borders. The lawn will be OK for another week. It is already looking better.

UK deaths Monday 1st June        112

UK deaths Tuesday 2nd June      324

75 days in isolation/lockdown

I’ve been noticing alot of birdsong recently. Is it the lack of traffic generally or just that in the quiet, the birds are more plentiful and are happy to be on a housing estate as opposed to in a park. Either way they are a joy to hear, from early morning onwards. We had the same in Spain but it included cockrels whose racket was not welcome at 4am.

Watching “Have I Got News For You” on Friday night, was a real joy. It sort of became the “Ian Hislop Special Rant” show. Obviously the first question featured the Cummings debacle and once Ian got going there was no stopping him. He tore all the excuses to shreds especially the visit to Barnard Castle. He never used the word allegedly and stated several times that the reasons/excuses given were all lies and that the No. 10 back garden news conference was a sham, hastily and badly cobbled together. Having got through it, both Cummings and Boris refuse to answer any more questions on the incident saying that a line has been drawn under the matter. Not good enough I am afraid. We have not heard the last of this even though Hancock and all the other “henchmen” are doing their best to swerve any questions by saying that the matter has been dealt with.

Yesterday we went to see Auntie Phyllis and Uncle Raymond to celebrate theit 68th Wedding Anniversary. Cousin Pamela had ordered High Teas from a local delicatessen and set tables and chairs out in the garden, all at social distances. It was very pleasant and the first time we had seen them for nearly 10 weeks.

So, sport is back on the menu next week and kids can go back to school. I think this is far too early despite the Home secretary’s assurance that it is a cautious approach and that advice has been taken from scientists. However, many scientist are expressing concerns and I believe there should be no changes until the scientists agree and deaths have virtually stopped. I can live without Match of the Day and the Formula 1 season for a bit longer as can the majority of the population. It will be nice to get back to normal but we do not want to go back to square one because of what is, essentially, a politically motivated decision. We are still on tenterhooks about future plans and in particular, Petra’s visit in August.The situation seems to change day by day and the 14 day isolation which was to be imposed seems doubtful now. Fingers crossed.

I have had a haircut. A number 3…all over. No tapering or style and it looks ok although I note that my hat is now a size too big and sits on my ears.

Surpise surprise. The USA is on fire, literally. One way or another, it is a sick country. Starting from the top down to racist police and to the high proportion of red neck trailer trash (their definition). Where do they go from here and can they be rescued by this year’s election. With luck somebody is elected that is not on holiday from the looney bin.

Todays figures are encouraging with 115 deaths but we should not get carried away. Germany reported just 2 deaths. We still have some way to go.

UK deaths Friday 29th May          324

UK deaths Saturday 30th May      215

UK deaths Sunday     31st May      113

73 days in isolation/lockdown.

Downing Street says that the Demonic Cummings (and goings) matter is now closed. Well not for me and millions of others it is NOT. I don’t think it is for Boris to make that announcement/proclamation. It is for the people and/or social media to decide as it is they that have the misgivings that have NOT been answered. It is simply a tactic that avoids the necessity of answering any more questions. I hope it doesn’t work and that the cabinet are subjected to more questions and Cummings to more scrutiny. He would not even answer Laura Kunsberg. Robert Peston tried to push the matter  and got nowhere. Shame, shame, shame on you Boris. Swerving the question is a poor do!!!

Today Boris announced more relaxed rules including visiting family and friends up to groups of 6 in their gardens from the 1st June. Using Demonic Cummings (and goings) as a precedent, I may well break that rule and make a visit to an eldely family member on the 29th May. They have a big garden.

Further questions were raised about travelling across country to see family and the possibility of hugging family and then going on short sight seeing trips. All avoided, even by the scientists who simply categorised the questions as political and as Civil Servants, refused to answer them. I seem to remember reading about similar tactics in Germany  in the 30s where the journalists eventually disappeared.

On a lighter note, our garden plants are thriving and in a couple of days have literally blossomed. Although we have not “landscaped” the garden, the riot of colour will blur the harsh lines of the flagstones which are laid at the moment.

Went out for the “clap for all emegency workers” and noticed the numbers out there were down slightly. There is a move to call a halt to it now. We will see but we would be happy to carry on until the virus is under control.

Contact tracing is now happening. It is unlikely that we would be named as we don’t have the relevant contact with anybody. Even when I go for milk I am in the shop for 5 minutes, ALWAYS keeping my distance. I went to Boots for Jenny’s prescription and there was no queue and indeed no other customer in the shop. The only queue I have seen this week was for an ATM where at least 20 people were waiting to draw money. There is never a queue under normal circumstances so what do these people need money for? Especially with contactless payments now being the norm.

UK deaths  28th May      377

72 days in isolation/lockdown.

Not much happened before the daily briefing although some 40 tory MPs are unhappy with what’s going on and are quietly suggesting that Demonic (my joke) Cummings (and goings) should resign or be sacked. If Boris was in any doubt about his advisor, he would have let him go by now. Sadly he does not appear to have the intellect do produce policies on his own.

We have just had a fantastic walk of 3.5 kilometers. It is a bit hot and not too many people about but the number of cars on the road seems to be slowly increasing. We noticed a lot more aeroplane activity today. Nothing shown on “Flightradar” so it would seem to be Military activity. The majority of planes shown flying over the Atlantic are freight, Fedex etc. They are shown as blue as opposed to the usual yellow. Over Yorkshire, the only planes in the air are gliders, light aircraft and helicopters.

UK deaths have increased today. Although we expected the usual higher weekend “bounce” the figure of 412 is disappointing. Test and trace starting tomorrow. So our street can be locked down if required. It’s all go now.

UK deaths 27th May     412