Day One Hundred and Seven - Briefly

I don't believe I have much to say today. I've been for my walk. I enjoyed it. It's been a dull day with outbreaks of rain. Hasn't been a productive day for me. As far as news go what is interesting and quite unnerving is that the city of Leicester has had to be put into a local lockdown. So many of the lockdown easing measures that were to come into force won't now. Schools are shut again, non-essential shops are shut down. The tightening of these restrictions will last for two weeks initially. There are various theories as to why cases have increased in just this one city. But I wonder if this is going to be a growing trend in the coming weeks. Pockets of infection for varying reasons, presumably. But that's it for today. That may be how things roll from now on. I don't know. Watch this space.

Day One Hundred and Six - Something's Afoot

Today my chiropodist friend visited and did my feet in the garden! And she wouldn't take a penny for it. She said it was a birthday present, bless her. It was wonderful to see her and we talked about everything under the sun including coronavirus. We both think there is something odd about it all. We started going down the conspiracy theory route. We also wondered whether it was a global plot to try and deal with the environment and global warming. Keep people indoors. Stop them travelling. The statistics for CO2 emissions should certainly be improved this year. But I reckon that if that were the case there would be at least one whistleblower? But we both felt that with the recent protests and riots and the mass exodus to the beaches should have seen a spike in infections. But that hasn't happened. Why? And yet there has been a flareup in the city of Leicester. Why? We both decided that we may never ever know the truth about this virus,  it's origins and how it really truly behaves in the long term.

The window cleaner came as well. Peculiar isn't it? I've been in lockdown for weeks I've had hardly any social interaction and then in two days I have two visitors and the window cleaner. Funny -  that buses come along in threes thing really does seem to apply. I expect I shall be solitary now for the foreseeable future.

A change in the weather. Very breezy today and a tad on the chilly side. I am resolutely continuing to wear my summer shorts but I would admit to being a tad cold today. I had considered whether to get all of my Wimbledon gear out. Today should've been day one of the tournament. But I don't think I want to be reminded too much. It makes me feel sad. I think about past years of the tournament. I think about how for so many years I couldn't follow it as devotedly as I would've liked because of my work commitments. And then when I quit teaching and had an office job I had that freedom to not only attend the tournament but to take the whole two weeks off work. I'll never forget the first year I went to Wimbledon. It was the men's quarter-finals. My sister and I had ballot seats on centre court a few rows in the front. We saw Marat Safin and Goran Ivanisevich. We saw Tim Henman and Roger Federer! Lockdown has often meant I go back and think about the past. I think I've said it before the present isn't amounting to all that much. I can't particularly see a future and so I look backwards to when things were good. Wimbledon was one of the good things. It became quite a ritual. For several years we were very lucky in securing ballot tickets.  I would go and stay with my sister. If we had Monday tickets I'd go for the whole weekend. But I'll still remember that very first time. It was such a hot day and we stayed right till the end. By the time we got back to her flat in Paddington we were tired and instead of cooking we had this lovely meal in an Indian restaurant just round the corner to her flat. We sat out on their terrace. If I close my eyes I can still feel that warm, balmy summer air in that curious time on a summer evening as it starts to get dark. Oh, if only I could invent a time machine that would take me back to when things were good. I suppose I'm thinking about that more because of my sister visiting yesterday and Wimbledon, which should be starting today.

But it serves no purpose to become too morose about what's been and gone. I have to be grateful that I did do those things. I have to enjoy and revel in the memories rather than keep wishing I could go back. I suppose that one day this will all be a memory? We'll talk about the days of coronavirus, days of the lockdown. Will children be asking their parents, what did you do during the lockdown mummy and daddy? But I wonder if things have changed irrevocably. Only time will tell.

Day One Hundred and Five - Sunshine, Showers and Sisters

I suppose the whole day was given over to the anticipation of my sister's visit. After another very bad night I debated the wisdom of going for my walk but of course I did and I came back to enjoy what I thought might be a leisurely breakfast and read. At 7:30 I got a text message from my sister saying she was about to set off! I hadn’t expected her to leave quite as early as that. She then sent me an additional text to say that depending upon traffic and numbers of people she might stop and have a wander by the sea.So I went into hyper mode making sure that everything was all sanitised and in place for us to enjoy some time together in the garden, socially distanced of course. Just after nine I received another text from her saying she had parked on the Esplanade. she paid for an hours parking but she didn’t think she’d be that long as she just wanted to see the sea. She was that long! So it was nearer 10.30 by the time she actually arrived.

It was curious because I haven’t seen her since February when I went up to spend the day in London with her. And I hadn’t realised that we’ve both been viewing the visit with some level of not anxiety exactly but wondering what form the day would take. There was plenty to talk about surprisingly, considering we had with been in lockdown for months! We both had things we saved up for each other so that it was almost like Christmas! She brought her portfolio of artwork for me to look at. We discussed stuff in the garden. We had our lunch, she brush hers with her.  We sat int he sun and applied our sunscreen then we dodged the rain showers. We discussed coronavirus endlessly. And then all too soon the visit was over.

She said that she’d made a note to herself that she wanted to leave by about 3 pm to avoid any traffic exodus from the seaside. She doesn’t normally do that even if she just comes for the day she stays into the evening. So that felt very weird her leaving at three. In fact the whole day has left me curiously unsettled and dissatisfied. As if there was much more to say than we actually said. We are both probably over anxious about lockdown and all the protocol ss associated with it. I think we are both disproportionately frightened of this bogeyman virus. And I think we both know that we need to address these issues somehow if we are to progress into a life that will always probably have coronavirus in it.

We had hoped to call my brother up and have a three way conversation via the speakerphone. But phone calls in the garden aren't really my thing so we decided against it. I phoned him straight away after she left to try and fill the space that had opened up with her leaving. In life B.C. (before coronavirus) she would come down on a Friday or a Saturday and stay for the weekend but I always felt the same sense of loss and emptiness when she left. The same goes for my brother. Always that sense of when will I see them again? Life is so short. Time is so short now that every moment is precious. This pandemic has simply intensified the feeling. There's a profound sense of loss inside me at the moment. Tomorrow a new week will start and I'll go back to "normal". But I'll long for my life B.C.

Day One Hundred and Four - Broom, Hazmat and Monotony

With some dark gloomy skies that made me wonder if I'd got up way, way too early I set off for my walk with trepidation this morning. If I hadn't missed yesterday morning because of the thunderstorm I think I might have stayed indoors. I had a really bad night but I was desperate to keep the momentum of the walk going. As it was I didn't get wet at all! The rain kindly held off until I was safely back indoors. Then, boy, did it came down! Today is a real contrast weathewise, it's very windy, much cooler and quite dull. But the respite from the heat is welcome.

My cliff top walk is now resplendent with restocked flower beds which should progress a treat in the coming weeks. I look forward to seeing them. But there's also lots of established trees and shrubs. Several of the oak trees have the most glorious shapes. But on the last little leg of my walk, which is still relatively new to me, there is the most gorgeous tree. I'm not sure but I think it's a yellow broom tree. I took a photo of it the other day because there were two, perfectly socially distanced, crows sitting in it.


My friend sent me some photos through today of her daughter in a hazmat suit cuddling the grandchildren, her daughter's nieces. I'm not sure if I approve or not. I feel though, since according to the government guidelines she should actually be self isolating, she should've at the very least stayed in quarantine for the minimum of a week before even attempting something like this. But am I a killjoy? Time will tell I guess. I think she still poses a risk to her mum if I'm absolutely honest but that's just my opinion and it's not my place to interfere, it's a delicate situation. And I am a natural worrier and not a very good risk taker.

I don't think I've got a great deal else to say today. I feel that that's somehow inevitable. But if I'm truthful I didn't think I'd keep this going as long as I have. There is a danger and I think I'm guilty of it already, of being monotonous and repetitive. After all in lockdown there is not going to be a great deal of variety. I think even my thinking doesn't vary that much!

Day One Hundred and Three - Thunder, Lightning and Video Calls

Life is a funny old thing isn't it? It was a very noisy evening, yesterday. My rear neighbours appeared to be having some kind of party which was quite disturbing, particularly so, as I go to bed so early now. Sleep was elusive. And although it's more by luck than design I seem to have one day a week when I don't go for my walk. When I was a gym junkie and fitness freak I did a fitness instructor's course. One of the things I learnt was that you do have to give the body time to rest. I always thought that related more to intensive workouts and overdoing it with certain muscle groups but, you know, maybe it's the same for this ageing body, maybe it  needs a day off. Well, it certainly got one! I fell asleep again at a time normally I'd get out of bed to get ready for walking. When I next woke it was thunder, lightning and torrential rain. I'd been saved a very wet and perilous expedition.

I don't like thunderstorms.They never used to bother me for years until my house got struck by lightning. I can tell you exactly when it was, it was June 19, 2003. The date that etched on my mind. I remember waiting at the bus stop to come home from work and witnessing the storm in the rain. By the time I'd got home it was brilliant sunshine again. And all I could think about was that it wasn't long until Wimbledon. When I got in the house there was a stillness that I couldn't put my finger on. And my cat was nowhere to be seen.I went to open the fridge and the light wasn't on so I thought the bulb had blown. It was only when I went into the lounge and I saw that the display on both the hi-fi and the VHS recorder were blank. As I looked around the house I thought we had a power cut. Radio displays had gone out, couldn't switch lights on, and then my next door neighbours knocked. They said we had a lightning strike. Their son, who was a trainee electrician at that time, came and had a quick look at my fuse box and found that it had practically melted! He managed to get me some power. The strike had gone into all the houses served by one of the BT poles in the street. So I wasn't the only one. But I was the only one who also got struck down the TV aerial. So mine was a double whammy. It blew my boiler, my hi-fi, my TV, my video, my computer, my lights, my fridge, my phone. And I also saw that the lightning had come down through the spare aerial, hit the cats wire cage and singed the carpet. I know that I was very, very, very lucky that the house didn't go up in flames. Nevertheless it took months to sort everything out. The cat was unimpressed as well.

Today I had a video call from my friend and her daughter. Don't actually like video calls. I don't like how I look on the screen. It seems to highlight every blemish and wrinkle and I'm no oil painting to begin with but this seems to make it even worse. But it was good to see them both. And have an actual chat with my friends daughter who I haven't seen since last September. She was very grateful for the meals that I cooked. So we chatted mostly about lockdown and the virus and social distancing. But my friend had some more dreadful news. A friend of hers, who I know vaguely as well, has been diagnosed with lung cancer. Not a smoker. Fitness enthusiast. Healthy eater. It's just so alarming. How do you protect yourself? It's almost as if cancer is more of a problem than coronavirus right now.

You just thought the thunderstorm might have cleared the air a bit. No such luck it's still very heavy and humid and very hot outside. I don't believe it's as hot as yesterday but the buildup of the heat makes it seem so. I haven't done a great deal. I do domestic stuff as early as possible before it gets too hot. Today I cleaned the kitchen floor And used the last of the window cleaner on some picture frames to smarten things up a bit. I did a little bit in the garden. Can't really call it gardening, I was not there for long enough. There was some socially distanced conversations. In actual fact there is no social distance now, people just shout.

The fallout from yesterday's beach fiascoes continue. And there seems to be an increase in violence across the country . I think really it's about social unrest. Confine people for a certain amount of time and they start to lash out when you set them free This is what happened. Another reason to remain cautious and remain in lockdown.

Day One Hundred and Two - Immunity, Heat and Beach Bedlam

I will confess that I nearly turned back on my walk today. I wasn't feeling good. And I was starting to perspire before I'd even got started. Don't mind that by the time I've walked there and back but it doesn't seem a good thing just a minute or two outside my front door. However I'm no quitter, so I carried on and the only bit I cut short was on the return route where I go round the roundelay and up to the end and back again. I left that bit out. My tummy has been playing up a bit. It's bothering me because it can't be a tummy bug. I haven't been anywhere to pick anything up. So it must be something else. Blaming the heat, that will do. When it cools down I feel better. There. I feel better already.

I've been thinking about immunity. I'm just wondering how people will succumb to other germs and bugs when they come out of lockdown. It is my understanding that for an immune system to work efficiently it has to encounter all manner of germs in order for the bod defences to identify the good guys and bad guys. In this lockdown with the extensive sanitising and hand washing it hasn't had a chance. It hasn't had a good workout. Wouldn't that ultimately mean that we are making ourselves even more susceptible to COVID-19 than we were before? 

It's been a very hot day today. I think it's 26 degrees in the shade currently. Haven't been outside much. I had my breakfast out there first thing because at 6:30 in the morning it's pretty cool and pleasant. But I end up wondering sometimes if I'm living on a council estate or a building site. In spite of the heat the power tools are going, music is playing and the exchange of estuary English opinions are thrown across the neighbour waves. It's cooler inside in every sense of the word.

But the heatwave problems cast a wider net as this headline from the Independent tells us -

'A major incident has been declared after thousands of people flocked to beaches on the south coast of England during this week's hot weather.

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council said services were "completely overstretched" as huge numbers of visitors defied advice to stay away.'And praise the perpetrator saying we need to lighten our lives at the moment.
 

I wouldn't be at all surprised if similar stories are reported from coastal resorts all around the country. And that will include where I live too. I can't help wondering what is in people's heads when they behave like this. They clearly cannot believe themselves to be at any risk from coronavirus. However, something strikes me as a little odd here. Every time we have a heatwave or good weather, and we've had a fair bit during this lockdown, a different coastal resort is identified. My own hometown featured in May as the bad boy hotspot for people ignoring social distancing. Today it's Bournemouth, Poole and Dorset. Am I still being cynical and sceptical? Because my commonsense tells me that if it's hot every damn beach in the country will be under the same pressure. Why is just one being singled out as the place that everyone is going?

Day One Hundred and One - Plans and Arrangements

I estimate that my daily walk now is in excess of 2 miles. Unless I have the right equipment it is impossible to calculate it exactly. But I was interested to consider the distance I cover. So I checked on the house numbers towards the end of the walk and looked up the postcode. I did a Google search from my postcode to that postcode to get the distance. (2.2m) But of course I do walk further because I go round all my little paths and markers and I do some of the walking in a different direction which of course a postcode search like that wouldn't calculate. So on the whole I'm pretty pleased.

My friend is coming round on Monday at 2 pm. She is my friend but she's also my chiropodist. She's going to do my feet in the garden. She said she has an extension lead and she's treated several patients this way. It all seems to have gone very well. She'll  wear a mask. And she always wears gloves. So I think I'll be okay. She's somebody I trust to do the right thing.

And, on Sunday, I think my sister may come down! There are a number of variables at play. I've left it entirely up to her. I'm in lockdown. I'm going nowhere. I'll be here whatever she decides to do. She said she'll bring a snack and a flask. I'm hoping it won't be quite as hot as it can be quite uncomfortable trying to find the shade. And trying to move the chairs into the shade! She's also keen to see the sea. So I don't know whether we'd actually go out maybe she'll just drive by the sea.

So after all this time I now have a couple of plans on the horizon. I know they're not much but it's really kind of weird to make arrangements after so long without any.

The daily briefings by the government have now stopped apparently. I don't know if they're going to do them on a weekly basis or what. I need to look that up. I suppose it's inevitable. What is there to say day after day after day?  Infection and death rates appear to be dropping at the moment. May I stress at the moment. I just looked it up. There will be briefings on an ad hoc basis. The news today seems to focus on the risk of a second wave. And how the changes in the lockdown may affect the country's ability to deal with it.

If there is a second wave  an attempted second lockdown might not be successful. In fact I wonder if they would even attempt another lockdown if there is a second wave. People have had the virus will be thinking I'm okay, I won't get it again. And people who didn't get the virus the first time around might be thinking, I'm okay, I didn't social distance, I didn't lock down much, I'll be fine. Hey presto. It will be interesting but I really really hope it won't come to that.

Day One Hundred- Landmark Blog Post?

Is this a landmark? 100 days of maintaining a blog. I'm not sure if I believed it would go on this long when I began it. But now it's become a part of my daily routine.  Interesting to look back over it and see how my, perhaps flippant, jocular, superficial attitude at times has all but disappeared. And I've become sombre and introspective. But some of that is born not merely from out of the pandemic but the events that have befallen my friends and family. Auntie Pat's fall and decline. My cousin's fall and the injuries. And my dear friend's metastic cancer diagnosis which now may 'just' be cancer. No spread. Fingers crossed.

As for lockdown. I suppose I don't mind it. It takes all the decision-making out of life other than what shall I have to eat today! But I know it's not healthy to have become quite so reclusive.  Anxieties and mistrust persist perhaps disproportionately. And my previous routines have not returned. I avoid social media whereas at one point I would engage quite regularly.  In my other blogging role as a book blogger it's actually crucial. I've done myself no favours at all. And sadly the world is a fickle place. You have to impose yourself if you want to remain in the mix. But its not something I'm good at. I'm uncomfortable with self promotion. 

Physically lockdown has been good for me as I've mentioned in previous posts. And as far as routines go my walk has become part of that daily routine. One of the most enjoyable I hasten to add. If you told me this time last year that I could walk for 40/50 minutes without sitting down, without a stick and without needing painkillers I would have laughed at you!

So, I think I'm locked into lockdown. And I don't know if I can be unlocked! And I do wonder what it is doing to me or has already been done. I sense, to a degree, I'm institutionalised. In my own institution! And it's not an unpleasant institution. Like I said, lockdown has been good to me physically. I'm terrified of losing that. I don't want to go back to eating painkillers like sweeties and weighing up where I can sit, whether I should attempt a journey, blah blah blah, not to mention carrying a walking stick everywhere I go. Mines got dust and cobwebs on now! Is that a good enough reason to stay locked down? Am I more frightened of that then contracting the virus? In the isolation and loneliness? What is that doing to my mental state? What HAS it done to my mental state? How am I going to engage with people again?

I realised that I have created little markers on my walk, that I give affectionate names to, along the cliff route. I begin by heading for what I call the roundelay. It's a circular flowerbed circumvented by a cinder path. The next marker is the peacock tree. I call it that because it's the oak tree that looked like a golden peacock when the sun rose one morning and beamed a golden light that made the tree look as if it was in the middle of autumn. And then there is the Bermuda Triangle. That’s where paths from the east and the west converge to make a triangle, the apex of which takes you to the steps to go down to the station. I walk round the little triangle every day. More recently, the Covid snake that is growing on a daily basis. (147 paces, actually,I think I mean steps, today) Then there is the shelter. It’s one of those traditional rectangular roofed and partitioned shelters that you get in seaside places, but it’s up on the cliffs for people to sit and rest. Next there is the Holocaust tree. A couple of years ago, on Holocaust Memorial day,  my town planted a tree with a plaque to commemorate the tragedy. Continuing onwards is the magic tree. That's because the trunk seems to be cleft in two and it offers one of those deep crevasses in the bark where you could hide something if you wanted to, or it's a portal to another land where the fairies, the elves and the gnomes live. Next the 'triangulay' ! That's like the roundelay except it's a triangular patch of grass bordered with the cinder path. Onward to the traffic lights where I have to negotiate the most major junction on my walk. This used to be where I turned around and came back. When I started to increase my walk I crossed over these traffic lights and set up a new series of markers to make sure that I was extending my walk on a regular basis. So first up there is a tree stump. I used to go as far as the tree stump walk round it and return. Next it was the cherry tree. Then a bench. Then one wild bed full of grasses and wildflowers. There's two of them.  There is another flowerbed. The final marker, which was my ultimate goal, is the view to the castle and the end of the road. Beyond it are fields. You can see the ruins of a Norman castle in the distance. There is a public footpath to the castle which you can access if you go down the cliffs to the station.. I used to go there quite a lot when I was younger, it’s a lovely walk. You have to be careful though because there’s lots of snakes there in the summer, adders. Here is the photo I promised yesterday.

I'll have to think of new ways to extend my walk. I'm thinking of trying to add some steps into the mix. It might help train and condition my body if I ever decide to emerge from lockdown. All along the route there are various flights of steps to take you down from the cliffs to the road that leads down to the station I'll look for the shortest flight to begin with and see how I manage. But it will be a week or two before I do that. I’m already a little fearful In my view in haste to reach the summit I wasn’t as gradual as I’ve been up to now. I struggled a bit today. But hopefully my body will get used to it and I will be even stronger.

Interesting that as this weather heats up people are coming out earlier. There was an increase in the number of joggers this morning and it reminded me of the early days of social distancing and lockdown. Total disregard for anyone but themselves. Performing elaborate stretches on paths, blocking the way. Refusing to move. Funny. They must’ve got through the whole of lockdown without adjusting or compromising their attitude at all. 

Today’s government briefing announces that there will be major lockdown easing on the 4th of July. Part of me is filled with dread. The two meter rule is eased. It is now is 1 m plus. Two households in England will be able to meet indoors and stay overnight with social distancing. Good luck with that one. Pubs, bars and restaurants but only with the tableservice indoors will be able to reopen. Hotels, holiday apartments, campsites, caravan parks  but shared facilities must be cleaned properly. Theatres and music halls but they won’t be allowed to hold live performances. Weddings can have 30 attendees and places of worship will be allowed to hold services but singing will be banned.Hair salons and barbers will be able to reopen but must put protective measures, such as visors, in place. Libraries, community centres and bingo halls. Cinemas, museums and galleries. Funfairs, theme parks, adventure parks, amusement arcades, skating rinks and modern villages. Indoor attractions where animals are exhibited, such as zoos, aquariums, farms, Safari parks and wildlife centres.

Second wave here we come!

Is that unreasonably cynical of me? I’ve also read in today’s news that a tennis tournament arranged by Novak Djokovic has seen no less than four of its players test positive for the virus after the event. If that doesn’t show you how quickly this thing spreads I don’t know what does. 

I know that one of the main reasons for the lockdown was to ease the pressure on the NHS. With current figures the NHS is coping so I can see why lockdown is easing. But my instinct is telling me it’s not over yet.

Here endeth my 100th blog post.

Day Ninety-Nine - The End of the Road, A Summit Reached

Well today, friends and countrymen, I reached the end of the road. I can go no further in that direction on my walk. But my attempt to take a photograph of the beautiful view was once again thwarted by my phone telling me that I was out of memory. I'll try and sort it so that I can add a photo tomorrow.
I also saw one of my absent wavers today. I haven't seen her for a few weeks. So I actually spoke to her today and said I hadn't seen her for ages, I was worried about her. She said it was very sweet of me. We exchanged some pleasantries and found out that we are both early birds, both enjoy that part of the day the best, both in the vulnerable age range and are both fairly cautious about what might be ahead. We agreed that doing this walk in October or November at this time in the morning might not be as much fun as it is now! She said it was very nice to talk to me after all this time. So I came home pretty buzzy.

I'm going down to see my friend later. I'm going to take some of the meals I prepared for her daughter. And I'm going to be quite emotional I think because it could be sometime before I can get to see her again. If her treatment begins in the next couple of weeks, and I'm pretty sure it will do, it may be that she has to shield for several weeks after or during the treatment. I've said that I will help with any shopping they might need because I can order it. I don't want to start going to the shops. But what my friend had to say about shopping in the town was quite interesting. She always tells her daughter to travel light and she buys toiletries for her daughter here in England. She went to our branch of Superdrug and said that was all perfectly fine. Only two people allowed in the shop at one time and a two meter social distancing queue. When she got there there were only four people in the queue. She said the problem is the pavements. They're not wide enough to allow social distancing and people just do not seem to be observing it so whilst the shops are all playing their part people are not. And because there's more traffic on the road now the option to walk in the road, which was a very viable option at the beginning of lockdown, is no longer safe. It made me decide that I really, really don't want to delve into shopping unless it's online. And I'm less enamoured of that lately after the shenanigans with DPD and one of my deliveries!

OMG! I am back from my friend’s. And I cannot believe the news. The orthopaedic hospital phoned her and said they will do another scan in a couple of months time. That means whatever they’re seeing on the scan isn’t cancer. That doesn’t mean that my friend doesn’t have kidney cancer. She knows she does. But if it hasn’t spread the outlook is much better. The downside is that her urologist has coronavirus. That caused a moment's consternation as she checked her dates to see when the last time she visited him was. Again she think she is in the clear. But we still don't know what's going to happen as regards the treatment. I reckon they'll remove the whole kidney. And they'll follow that with radiology. The big question now of course is when. And I am concerned that any delay gives the cancer a chance to spread. But I won't deny I feel much better today about her than I have done. I wasn’t as emotional as I thought I was going to be. I will have to pop down with some more meals for her daughter and she said that I can talk to them through the lounge windows. If I stand on the pavement I will still be socially distanced and they’ll still be quarantined. And although I did feel emotional it was happy emotion, relieved emotion. I know it's not the end of the story but the future looks better than it did.

And in Covid-19 news the key points today are summarised by BBC News, thus - 

Summary

1. Greatest threat is not the virus itself but lack of global solidarity and leadership - WHO
2. World Health Organization records highest one-day increase in total cases, with 183,000 added in one day
3. Most came from Brazil, followed by the US and India
4. The high level of confirmed cases is partly down to a global increase in testing
5. UK PM Boris Johnson will discuss reducing the 2m distancing rule - decision expected on Tuesday
6. South Korea is going through a "second wave" of coronavirus, officials say, even though new infections are falling
7. France is re-opening cinemas, swimming pools and holiday centres. All children up to 15 are back at school
8. Globally, there have been almost 9m confirmed cases since the outbreak began, with 467,000 deaths

And here endeth today's blog post.

Day Ninety-Eight - Rain Clouds, Car Travel and Second Waves

Dilemma. The forecast predicted rain, an ominous sky creating a black ceiling over my head as I set off this morning. Was I being silly? Fortune favours the brave as they say. Couple of spots of rain as I started out but I managed to get the whole of my walk done before it really started to rain. And I came home, sanitised, then I had a lovely shower. 

I had a long conversation with my friend this morning. She says that people are starting to treat her as if she is ill. She finds it confusing because she feels perfectly normal. It must be odd. To be diagnosed with a potentially terminal illness and yet feel fine. It must be hard to take it in. She's still heard nothing back about her full body scan. So she's going to make some phone calls tomorrow to see if she can set something in motion. 

Her son's youngest daughter will be 1 year old at the beginning of July. They are having a picnic at a recreation ground near to their home. My friend won't be going as she will be in quarantine with her partner and daughter from Portugal. I've been invited but I would have to take a chair and a picnic and get there on public transport as well as a walk to the venue. So I don't wanna go. Am I wrong, paranoid? Even if my friends were going I don't think that going in people's cars is a sensible thing to do at the moment. More paranoia? I actually think I'm going to research the lockdown protocol regarding car travel. 

There will now be a short intermission. ♫♬🎶♫♬

This is what I've found - 

'You should avoid sharing a private vehicle with anyone outside of your household or, from 13 June, support bubble as you will not be able to keep to strict social distancing guidelines. The Department for Transport has provided specific guidance on using private vehicles. Please see their guidance on private cars and vehicles for more information on car sharing and traveling with people outside your household group.

If you do have to travel with people outside your household or support bubble try to:

• share the transport with the same people each time
• keep to small groups of people at any one time
• open windows for ventilation
• face away from each other
• consider seating arrangements to maximise distance between people in the vehicle
• clean your car between journeys using standard cleaning products - make sure you clean door handles and other areas that people may touch
• ask the driver and passengers to wear a face covering'

So I suppose I could travel with my friend and her partner if I follow the above guidelines. I would have to think about it very carefully. Interestingly my friend was saying this morning that one of her surgeons, who she works for, has the virus. And she's seen him relatively recently up at the hospital. Looking at the timeline from when he started to feel ill she thinks she's okay but it just shows this thing has not gone away at all. And if you start to extrapolate backwards I've seen my friend recently too. Yes, we maintained the social distance I would say 99.9% of the time but there is still the potential, isn't there?

Speaking of social distancing. There was a poll on social media asking people if they thought that the social distance should be reduced from 2 m to 1 m. 81% of people said no it shouldn't. I'm one of that 81%!

I've just spoken with my brother on the phone. I felt sorry for him. It's Father's Day today but he won't be seeing his children. I know it's a small thing and he wouldn't see his daughter anyway, she's in Bristol. But he probably would've gone out for a meal with his son. I missed my dad a lot today. That's not to say I don't miss him a lot at other times but your consciousness is heightened on days like these. I wouldn't do flowers for him because it wasn't his thing. I should've gone and bought a box of liquorice all-sorts  He loved them. Like mum loved flowers.

Apparently Spain has now waived quarantine for British visitors travelling to Spain. They say it's to acknowledge the hundreds of expats living in Spain. They hope that the same courtesy will be extended to Spanish people wanting to come to the UK. I'm wondering if courtesy is the right word here. This quarantine thing has only just started in the UK, I really don't think it should be ended yet for people travelling into the UK. Just because one country does it doesn't mean another should. All over the world there are outbreaks occurring in places that maybe thought they were over the worst. There are fears that Italy will see a second wave as there's been a major outbreak in Rome. Beijing reckon they're in the midst of a second wave. We have to remain cautious.

Day Ninety- Seven - Unease, Homeless and an Unsocial distance

In spite of the fact that I do go out every morning so early, sometimes it's before 5.30, I've never actually felt bothered by that. But for the first time today I actually felt slightly vulnerable. I could see something in the distance. Initially I thought it was an inanimate object of some kind. But when I got closer I realised it was a person. A body, I thought to begin with, and my overactive imagination started doing all kinds of cerebral gymnastics. But it was somebody trying to sleep, right out there in the open. I think it was a homeless guy. His feet were bare but they were incredibly tanned so I guess the poor fella had no shoes, maybe no socks either. He raised his head once or twice as I walked by and I have to say I did feel anxious. There was nobody else about. And he was enormous. It's given me food for thought I have to say.

I thought I'd freed up enough space on my phone to take some video of the Covid snake. But after a couple of minutes it just stopped recording and wouldn't do it any more so I guess I didn't free up quite enough space. But the fact that I could film for two minutes gives you some idea of how long the snake is. On my return journey I counted the number of paces I took along the length of the snake, 110. It is most impressive.

The parks department have started planting the beds out for summer. It's already looking very nice. There are geraniums. In another bed there are various coloured Cosmos. Another has purple petunias and white begonias. I feared with lockdown that it might be one of the things that they let go.

It seems very likely that the two meter social distancing rules will be changed next week. Ministers have hinted at it. It's to benefit the businesses who can't sustain the two meter ruling profitably. That makes me feel very sorry for all those businesses that have worked towards the two meter parameters and probably spent money to do so. Will they change it?. I still prefer it to be 2 m. So I'm going to have a really tough time. Probably going to make me become even more paranoid and more of a recluse than I already am.

One of the tabloid newspapers also hinted today that the Prime Minister is ready to end the lockdown completely in a couple of weeks. But I wouldn't set much store by that. Tabloid newspapers seem to have made an art out of reporting inaccurate information. I also read that New Zealand has some new cases of coronavirus. Apparently six people were released on compassionate grounds to attend a funeral and then absconded rather than returning to quarantine. Two of them weren't tested but were later found to be infected with the virus. Doesn't it show how quickly this thing can change and spiral out of control again? No one could've been more zealous than the New Zealanders in trying to stop the spread. One lapse and this is what happens. Do you see why I get so anxious?

Day Ninety-Six - Hair Cutting, Privacy and Bio Security Centres

Well I expect you've been wondering about the hair clippers, haven't you? Thought so. Well, I have tried them. My natural Gemini impatience didn't allow me to wait to read the instructions, oh no, I had to leap in straight away. And I thought they were dud because they didn't seem to clipper anything. Then I did read the instructions. And I realised they needed to be on full charge before there was any chance of them working efficiently. So I put them on full charge. They worked much better. But it's not easy, you know. I won't be taking up hairdressing as a career any time soon, let me assure you. (I remember when I worked in an office there was all kinds of chitchat going on. Makeovers and hair was discussed fairly frequently. And every so often somebody would say my hair needs cutting badly. And I would say I'll cut it it because I'm really bad at cutting hair. It was funny at the time.) I have managed to tidy up the bits that were getting on my nerves. More than that I won't say. I mean, what can you expect, they were only 20 quid. I wasn't going to pay the 40, 50, 60 quid that some of them cost. I think I'll probably get better at it with practice.

I cooked a lentil stew today. One portion for me and three for my friend's daughter which are in the freezer now as we speak. I like cooking. And I never realise how much I do until I actually do it. I've done quite a lot this week so I've got a nice selection of meals ready for her when she arrives on Tuesday. My friend wanted to give me some money for the ingredients but I wouldn't hear of it. I can't do much for her at this difficult time but here is something I can do.

My next door neighbours had a major extension built last autumn. In fact they didn't finish until the end of January/beginning of February. I think it's really lucky that they managed to get it done before lockdown. But they've had a new deck built and I believe they're going to extend it even more. They're real sun worshippers, they've had trees cut down and shrubs pruned to maximise the sun that they get. But it does mean I'm incredibly overlooked now. Even if I go and stand in the bay window of my dining room there he is sitting there.  At this time of day the chairs are facing the sun but that is looking directly at my window. I used to like standing in the bay and looking out over the garden but I feel uncomfortable doing it now.

Britain's coronavirus alert level was reduced from 4 to 3 today. The change was recommended by the new "Joint Bio Security Centre" and endorsed by the four chief medical officers  for the UK nations. It will pave the way for the government to ease even more lockdown restrictions next week apparently. If you're wondering what a Bio Security Centre, or JBC for short, is, it has been created by the government to bring together expertise and analysis to inform decisions on tackling COVID-19. You probably know what I'm going to say, don't you? I'm sceptical. Don't entirely trust it. So my caution remains firmly in place and there will be no easing of it any time soon. Maybe that will be to my detriment. My cynical and mean-spirited belief is that it's all part of the government plan to get the economy moving again and to promote the herd immunity thing. If it was some kind of independent body I might take more notice of it. I loathe the fact that I am so cynical and sceptical about things. My stress levels would be much less if I could be as relaxed and as easy as the people I see walking up and down the street every day.

But some good has come of the relaxation of the lockdown restrictions. The social bubbles which allow one person on their own to mix with another household has meant that my brother's been able to meet up with his wife and son this week. And it seems to have done him the world of good. They went to a favourite family beauty spot where they've been going for years and had an enjoyable hour a wondering on the common. I wish he lived nearer. It's just not viable for him to drive all the way down here just to spend an hour or two and then drive back again, that's about eight hours driving. I couldn't let him do it. But it would be viable for my sister to do it. It takes her perhaps an hour and a half to drive down from London so that will be three hours driving in total however she is less relaxed about things than my brother so she might not feel ready and able to do it yet. It is interesting though all the reaching out that people did in the early days of lockdown when it was a new thing has dwindled just away to practically nothing. You do find out who are the people who really care and who are the people who don't. That does make me quite sad.

Day Ninety-Five - Repetitive, Shopping and Rain

 I realise that I am very repetitive in these blog posts. Apologise for that.  I suppose if people read one post  occasionally it reduces the chance of them missing something. 😂  I laugh because I'm not sure how many people are actually even interested.

It was pissing it down with rain this morning. It would’ve been stupid to go out for a walk,  I would’ve got drenched. So I stayed in bed for a little longer. Usually on days when I don’t go for a walk I try and do some tai chi in the garden but it was too wet for that even. I stuck to my plan to go to the health food store this morning. I was there just before they opened,  got a very nice greeting and thanked for continuing to use the store. Got everything I needed and had a wander back along the cliffs so I get my daily fix of the sea. Because of the rain there were very few people about. That suits me down to the ground.

I spent the morning doing silly little chores of no note or real consequence but they seem to take an inordinate amount of time these days. And I played the Pop Master game with my friend. I’m still waiting anxiously for any news of when and what treatment she’s going to have to endure. I know that once that information comes through it’s going to upset her dreadfully. So I realise she may not feel like talking about it. I just hope someone keeps me updated with what’s going on. I’ve been busy preparing meals for her daughter.

Gosh, it’s rained today. All the saucers I keep my patio pots in with all the plants, are waterlogged so I had to carefully remove them. Some are just too heavy. I’ll have to take a chance. It also brought all the slugs and snails out. I found one cheerfully munching on the sunflower. One has already been eaten into oblivion. At the rate they’re going I may not get one through to maturity, to bloom. I should be sad if that happens. A few years ago somebody in my tai chi class died of lung cancer. And at her funeral her partner gave everybody a packet of sunflower seeds to grow in her memory. So every year I try to grow them, save the seed and grow more than next year. Only three germinated this year. They were pretty healthy plants but the wind broke one down so the slugs and snails pounced on it, the other two have black fly and the slugs had a real go at one today. Fingers crossed.

My sister is a bag of nerves. There is some construction work going on just opposite her house which involves demolition. And the drills going the whole day long are making her whole house shake. It would be bad enough without being in lockdown. But she actually went out in the car today just to escape from it. She went to get some petrol at Asda. She said the system is far better than either Tesco or Sainsbury’s. Interesting how different companies approach things in different ways. I wonder if there’ll ever be a consensus of the one right way to manage this. I don’t even know why I am mooting that because the day anybody in this godforsaken country agrees with anyone else will be a miracle.

My regular postman, Leon, has things down to a fine art. Social distancing, it was as if he was born to it. But today’s postman didn’t seem to have a clue. He rang the doorbell and wanted to hand me my post. I suppose that’s a similar thing to different approaches and different understandings. Despite the guidelines offered everybody seems to interpret the whole lockdown protocols differently. Nobody seems to understand what 2 metres actually is. I see people who believe they are maintaining a social distance but the reality is they only about 3 or 4 feet away. I suppose you could argue that since there is a move to reduce it to 1 m they’ll be doing it perfectly. But I still don’t think it’s right to reduce it. I won’t. I shall still avoid people at a minimum of 2 m, more if I can. There is a mistaken belief that as lockdown is eased it means the virus has gone. In fact one of my friends said her son reckons it’s alright now, it’s all over. I don’t think he is alone in that. I think that’s the danger in lockdown easing. But I also understand you couldn’t continue indefinitely. Unless we approach economy in a radically different way. The trouble is the whole fabric of our society seems to have been built to revolve around money. And to some that’s far more important than health. My sister says  that thousands will die if the country doesn’t pick up economically because of the poverty they will endure. It’s a balancing game. And I seem to be playing a rambling on and on game. So I’ll stop.

Day Ninety-Four - Wood Preserving and Deliveries

Pleasant enough for this morning’s walk.  Managing to maintain the extra distance without too much discomfort. Fewer and fewer people about in the morning now but I did see one of my absent wavers today. I think I’ve freed up enough space on my phone that I might be able to video the Covid snake which grows and grows. Sadly though I noticed some of the stones have washed clean in the rain. Obviously it would depend on whatever medium had been used. My green glitter rock remains!

I think I had the best of the morning too. I sat outside and ate my breakfast with the sun beaming down on me. Wednesdays is my delivery day. And my collection day I guess. It’s the day they collect the refuse. I struggle to remember the days when everything went into the one refuse sack and that was all we had to put out. Now all the sorting means one for the paper, one for the recycling, one for the general waste, one for the food waste, and the wheelie bin for the garden waste. I don’t always put all of them out every single week. When I do it’s quite a task to assemble all of the different rubbishes from all over the house into the right bags and get them out onto the street in time for the collections which do vary.

Also today was my organic vegetable delivery. And I’d ordered more than usual because I am preparing meals for my friend’s daughter when she arrives from Portugal next week. And at the moment of course I am busy sanitising everything that comes into the house. So that’s quite a chore as well. But they didn’t have everything that I needed so I also had an Amazon Prime Now delivery. I only discovered this the other week. I have a subscription to Amazon Prime because I do enjoy the next day delivery feature. I also like the music and  video streaming. But with Amazon Prime Now I can order food from Morrison’s the supermarket. I can’t get to Morrisons very easily unless I get on the bus which I’m not doing anyway at the moment and they do have some things that I can’t get anywhere else so I’m delighted to have found it. And what’s extraordinary is you can have it the same day. And they deliver in brown paper bags so it’s environmentally sound. I have all the ingredients I need.

And I was expecting two other deliveries. One should’ve arrived yesterday but the courier  delivered, or attempted, to deliver to the wrong address. It was quite a kerfuffle trying to sort it all out and I was made all kinds of false promises yesterday. It was a delivery from a company in London who imports French foods and delivers them in the UK. And it was an issue for them not delivering it yesterday because I had ordered some yoghurt’s. You can’t get them over here. They made by Nestlé and they’re in these cute little glass jars. They’re delicious. Don’t often treat myself but I had an email from the lady who owns the company so I decided to get some. They are very good at how they send them, it’s all packed in ice but it is dependent upon a next day delivery. Which is why I was so concerned. But of course nowadays no one wants to accept responsibility or be accountable. It’s not that a mistake was made. We all make mistakes. But it’s about how you solve that mistake and treat your customers that I think shows the true mettle of the company. Anyhow it arrived today and I think the yoghurt’s are okay. I won’t know until I’ve eaten them.

And the final delivery was some Amazon hair clippers. Obviously I can’t get my hair cut during lockdown. I don’t even think barbers and hair salons are open yet. I’ve been trimming my fringe rather poorly. So I bought these cheap clippers. It may have been silly I’m not sure if they’re going to be any good or not but it might just tidy up some of the funny ends that I’ve got everywhere. If they are any good it might mean I never have to go to the hairdressers again! That would save some money.

I’ve made a conscious effort to do some more reading and writing today and I’ve succeeded I’m pleased to say. The weather has dulled considerably so I didn’t mind staying indoors. And I believe there is rain forecast tomorrow. If that is so I think I might risk a trip to the health food shop.

I do try to balance out cerebral  activities with some physical or practical activities. So today I gave my garden seat and garden table a coat of wood preserver. My gardener chappy was going to do it this winter but he forgot, surprise surprise. He made a very good job of it a couple of years ago and he said he really enjoyed doing it so I thought he jump at the chance but I was wrong.

So that’s my day today. I haven’t looked at the news.  I don’t know what’s going on in the world. And I don’t even care. Maybe I should but that’s my mood today. My head is in lockdown as well as my body.

Day Ninety-Three - Footballers and Free School Meals

Families whose children qualify for free food free meals have received vouchers or parcels in lockdown. In Scotland and Wales provision was already arranged to continue through the summer but in England it was going to finish at the end of term. The footballer, Marcus Rashford, who plays for Manchester United, posted an open letter to MPs on Monday drawing on his own experience of relying on free school meals and food banks when he was growing up and asking the government to reconsider their stand. He asked people to think about struggling parents whose children are going hungry. The Prime Minister's spokesman has responded. "Owing to the coronavirus pandemic the Prime Minister fully understands that children and parents face an entirely unprecedented situation over the summer. To reflect this we will be providing a Covid summer food fund. This will provide food vouchers covering the six week holiday period. " It's a nice example of somebody doing something and it working. I'm sure it helped that Mr Rushford is a respected footballer and one could argue that there shouldn't have been a need for anyone to have to voice a campaign for something so fundamental as feeding children but it's good that the government have done a U-turn.

Also in the news today a cheap steroid drug, dexamethasone, can cut deaths in severely ill coronavirus patients by a third.

I have had one of those fruitless days where I haven't achieved very much at all. Silly little things that needed dealing with and took longer than I thought with no real achievement by the end of them. Though I did manage to do some wood preservative work on my outdoor table and chair. I'm also preoccupied with my friend's situation and I know that's affecting my ability to concentrate and produce. I've not read or written as much as I usually do in a day.

I had a text message from my tai chi teacher wanting to get people's feelings about whether they would be ready to come back to class in perhaps July/August or September at the very latest. He said that if people are going to be too scared to come back to class then he may have to consider closing up. I replied that at the moment I'd like to see how things pan out because it's only waiting to see what happens after restrictions have been lifted that we can really see whether the virus has stopped spreading. But as far as tai chi goes my immediate concern would be about social distancing. Even if they reduce it to 1 m (which I think is wrong!) it will be difficult to stay apart from people. I suggested he ask me again in another months time. But my gut feeling is that I wouldn't wanna come back before September. Maybe I'm over cautious. I did also say to him whether he'd be open to doing private lessons if he did close up the class. I'll be up for that if he would come to my house and do it in the garden.

Lovely walk this morning apart from a bit of a gyppy hip and a twinging back but it was sunny and mild and there was hardly anybody about. I've only seen one of my "regulars" this week. I wonder what's happened to the others? I pray that they're okay. There are less dog walkers and joggers too. Interesting.

Something interesting came up in conversation I had with my friend yesterday. Like me she and her partner have been eating very healthily. Going to the supermarket once a week and eating regular meals. But this week they happened to stop at a McDonald's and they ordered some food. They ate it. But it didn't really agree with them. My friends tummy felt bloated and her partner suffered, I hope he won't mind me saying this, some protracted flatulence. Their bodies had got used to not being filled with junk. I do have to say that they are, or were, fairly regular McDonald's eaters. I noticed my skin reacting to some of the cake and chocolate I ate during my birthday week. So there are some advantages to lockdown. It's not all bad! And another thing my friend was saying which I found curiously touching. She was missing the early days of lockdown! When everybody was staying in and everything was quiet and still. And if you went out you could walk in the road because there were no cars and no people. I think she feels particularly vulnerable at the moment, poor thing.

I sometimes wonder if I could live in lockdown indefinitely. I don't think it's good for me mentally or emotionally. I was thinking, too,  of the Sunday before social distancing was introduced. My friend and I had been out for coffee and a snack and we walked around some of the shops in town and as we were walking home we got to the junction where we part and my friend went to hug me. I said no we're not supposed to be touching at the moment. And she said sod that. But I didn't hug. And I wished I had. Because I don't know when I'll get to hug her again and I really wanted to comfort her yesterday. And I was also thinking how hard it will be to see people again, my sister for example, but not be able to hug them. Will this thing turn us into a nation of 'touch me nots'?

Day Ninety Two - Open All Hours - Business as Usual

Shops reopened today. And the crowds surged after a three-month lockdown. Queues everywhere. Social distancing? Not everywhere. But you can perhaps understand peoples' confusion as the government is trying to decide whether to reduce the 2 m social distance rule to 1 m.  Of course once that's done this social distance thing will almost become non-existent. Which is why I think it's wrong to reduce it. Not because I think that a 1 m social distance wouldn't work but that people will not observe it.

My friend came round this afternoon to sit in the garden and chat. It was harrowing. She had a call from the specialist nurse and she said that the calls from the nurses and the hospitals always upset her. Because it makes it real. She was very distressed. There was nothing I could do. I couldn't even give her a hug. And I would've done. I would've broken all the social distance rules if I could take away some of the pain. She's also worried about her daughter coming. Worried about whether she's going to be put at risk. I think she hadn't considered that to get here her daughter will be on public transport where the risk is highest. She admitted most of the time she's putting a brave face on it and no one sees how it really is. She said she's really trying hard. I feared this. I feared inside she was crumbling. Who wouldn't? I'm going to cook all her daughter's meals. Her daughter is a vegetarian like me. So I shall cook and even if I have to make a trip to her house every day,  I'll do it. Anything that I can do to help.

I hd a lovely surprise last night. My doctor friend from Boston phoned up. He'd heard about my friend and wanted to know how she was. The last time he and his wife were over here they stayed one night with me en route to a family wedding in Cambridge. And my friend drove them there rather than them having to hire a car or mess about with public transport. They were really grateful. And we actually had a lovely day in Cambridge. So they were very concerned when they heard how ill she is. But he also updated me on himself and his wife and how their granddaughter has just split up with her boyfriend and she's heartbroken. It's got to the stage where you wonder what on earth is going to be wrong next? It's most unnerving. I feel so unsettled the whole time.

In other news I did manage my walk this morning and I walked a little further than usual. I was pleased when I can do that. Very few people about, but more traffic interestingly. The litter bins were overflowing and debris was scattered all across the grass and the paths. Horrible. But the Covid snake has increased by several more metres. I wanted to photograph it again but my silly old phone has run out of storage space. I'll have to try and sort it so I can take another video.

And here we are, late afternoon of yet another day. I don't know where the time goes. Here we are in the middle of June. June!? The year will be done before it's barely started.

Day Ninety One - Playlists and Unlockdowns

I'd like to say normal service is resumed but what the hell does that even mean? I did get some sleep last night and I did get out for a walk this morning and it always makes me feel better. Even sat outside for breakfast and finished a book. That's always the best part of my day. Everything seems to go downhill from there on. I dug up some plants for my friend and I messaged her to see if she was going to do the gardening today because that's what she's implied when I saw her on Friday. But I got no reply and the icons on the app I was using indicated the message hadn't even reached her phone. Of course I was worried. And my overactive imagination went into overdrive. I was convinced she'd received some dreadful news from the hospital and was too upset to even turn her phone on because  she didn't wanna talk to people. In fact what actually happened was that she dropped her phone down the loo! She won't be getting a new one till tomorrow and she texted me on her partner's phone and said I was to use his number if I needed to contact her. I was very relieved to learn that she was okay.

Brief update on my cousin. She can't text but she was thanking us for our text messages via her daughter who she spoke to on the phone. It looks as if she will be discharged next week. I've just spoken to my brother. My sister emailed him with the news but he's not got the email. So I filled him in and he's going to phone my cousin's partner in a moment. They get on quite well and my brother probably sees more of them than either my sister and I do put together. That's locational I think, we're all very, very fond of her.

I did some laundry this morning.I've pottered in the garden. I do enjoy it. The old me, by which I mean the younger me, would've spent all day out there pottering. But the old me now just can't do it. My friend has asked me to prepare some vegetarian meals for her daughter when she comes over from Portugal. So I sat outside and made a plan to see what I need to buy and to create meals that are freezeable. The only problem is I have this horrible fear that I'll buy all these ingredients, make all this food only to be told she's quarantining elsewhere. But no matter it's all vegetarian. At some point it will get eaten. I'm not very good at many things but I am extremely good at eating. 😉

I'm steering completely clear of the news at the moment, the protests and aggression because of the #blacklivesmatter issue just upset me. I can't imagine much will happen as regards coronavirus now. Interesting to consider whether it's time to wind this blog down? It's become a part of my day. Maybe that's a good thing? But the whole point of it was to see what affects lockdown might have on an individual. And all I seem to have done is moan and groan about accidents and illnesses.

Oh, and I have gone on a lot about music! Which brings me to my next topic today. What have I been listening to on my walk? Several years ago when I got my first Mac, when I first had broadband I was very naughty and I downloaded music illegally. I hope there'll be no repercussions from my admitting that. I don't do it anymore, I will stress. I realised the error of my ways. But at the time that I was doing it it seemed like sharing mix tapes online with people you didn't know instead of your friends. I believe it was called peer-to-peer file sharing. And other peoples tastes and choices of music always interested me. So this week I've been listening to one of these illegal downloads. It's called the "Frou-Frou Matinal Playlist". I think the person that compiled it was French because there are some French songs on there but it's a nice eclectic mix of music, it's very pleasant to walk along to.

I think I'm caught in between two households who have  effectively stopped lock downing. My neighbours one side have people there, in the house, in the garden, with some social distancing. My neighbours the other side seem to have stopped insisting people come round the side and they seem to be going into the house now. They set up some chairs which look as if they're socially distancing but then everybody seems to move closer together. I suppose it's inevitable. It's all slowly falling apart. Not for me. Nothing has really changed for me since the early days except for my little trip on Friday, which caused me anxiety. And my friend today said she was dog sitting. Which means she's gone round to her son's house. Am I going to be the only one who can't go back to normal?

Day Ninety - Broken

Never ever make the mistake of thinking that things can't get worse. Because they can. I've had the most horrible news today. I'm still processing it. Last Saturday was my birthday and about this time I was on the phone to my cousin. She lives in Yorkshire. I don't see her very often and it was lovely of her to phone me up on my birthday. Today, just one week later,  I've had the news that a few days ago she fell down the stairs! She's broken her wrist in two places and her neck in two places. The good news is that she is alive and she is mobile, she's not paralysed. But she's only a year or two younger than me and it's going to be a long haul ahead of her. Her daughter said that she had an operation the day before yesterday and so far it appears to be successful. They put lots of pins and plates in various places and she has 20 stitches around her ear. She has some tingling in both hands but the doctors seem hopeful that will go away over the next couple of months. I have no idea when she'll be out of hospital. Her daughter is worried about the recovery, how it will be and what limitations she might have in the future but she reckons even with physio it will be several months before she is back to her old self. Ironically today is my mum's birthday and my mum was very, very fond of her and she was always so good to my mum. Whenever she was down here she always made time to come and see mum. And I'll always love her for that. I've sent her a text message and I will sort out a card that I can send to her partner Richard to give her. He's a lovely man but I bet he's worried sick at the moment.

I didn't walk this morning. Had a very bad night. I can't stop thinking about my friend. I can't figure out what's going on in her head. On the surface she appears to be so positive, talking about a future almost as if  there's nothing wrong with her.Then she'll make some little reference which tells me she knows exactly what's going on and she must be worried inside. I must admit I did come back and feel quite upset, I think that's why I didn't sleep. But I also had cramp again in the other leg. And I think it's because I wore different shoes yesterday as my planter fasciitis has returned too. I've also sat in different chairs without my back cushions. I did on Tuesday when my friend came round. I had the director's chair that I normally give guests but because of social distancing it made more sense for her to sit in my solid wooden chair. And yesterday at her house I sat in one of her chairs and clearly my body didn't like it.  I ended up coming downstairs and having cereal and a drink in the middle of the night! I did do some tai chi in the garden this morning. Then I've done some housework and a little bit of gardening. So I haven't been sitting around on my butt all day, which makes a change.

My friend's daughter-in-law who got my birthday wrong, came round with the three children this morning. It seems ironic that I haven't seen them for weeks, months even and now I see them two days on the trot! It was hilarious because the two-year-old had made a card but she wouldn't give it to me, crying and clinging  onto it harder every time  someone suggested she handed it over!  Kids eh?

But the weather is much pleasanter today. I sat in the garden briefly, read a little of my book. I picked some flowers early because it would have been my mum's 94th birthday today. Usually I buy her flowers . When she was alive I always made sure she had flowers in the hearth.  I bought them for her from various places. And ever since she died, 11 years ago nearly, I've bought flowers for special occasions  - Mother's Day, Easter, Christmas, birthdays and I say a few words and I dedicate them to her . Because I'm not going to any shops I can't do that at the moment so I rummaged round the garden to find something suitable.

Here is a picture of them. The vase was painted by my sister. It depicts our cat Peter. Mum really loved him. He was our childhood cat and he lived to be 21. He was a beautiful cat with such a lovely temperament. We all missed him.


My friend's daughter is booked to fly over here on June 23. She knows she has to quarantine for 14 days. But she's not sure where. I think it will do her mum such a lot of good to have her here emotionally and mentally but I do worry about infection. It's going to be a tough one because if she decides to quarantine away from her mum her mum is going to fret that she's here in the country and she can't see her. She lives in Portugal and Portugal has the lowest rate of infection in Europe. And she's also very clued up about sanitising but she would never forgive herself if her mum caught covid from her. And it will be another great big pickle that we have to unravel emotionally. Gosh, challenging times ahead. Even without lockdown all this would be challenging.

Day Eighty-Nine - A Day of Social Undistance

I thought today was going to be a day like any other lockdown day. I got up went for my walk at five thirty. I ate my breakfast and did some chores. Then I got a message from my friend saying her grandchildren were coming over, would I like to come down and see them. That did pose a conundrum for me. Because my natural paranoia and anxiety tried to persuade me that, children being the vectors of disease that they are, I should steer well clear. But at the moment I'm trying to do anything I can for my friend. So I tentatively said that I might. And it isn't that I didn't want to see any of them. I did. Her grandchildren are delightful. They are such little characters. And I feared that the youngest, who was two in April, might not even remember me .But I haven't been anywhere socially throughout lockdown. And I knew we'd only be sitting in the garden but children being children I was worried about the social distancing. In the end I threw caution to the wind and down I went. I wore a facemask. And I had hand sanitiser in my pocket. And we sat in the garden. And the children did come closer than 2 m.

But they're kids. What do you expect? I do know that their mum has been very vigilant about them not mixing with others. So I think I'll probably be okay. And my friend was so happy.  I'm so worried about her currently that moments like these are so important.

And that's really my day. I don't know where the rest of the time has gone I was very late having my lunch after I got back from my friends and I was fiddling about with computers and photos. Why do these things take so long? I don't know. And I can hardly believe we're in the middle of June.

I was glad to see that on my walk this morning the parks department had been tending to the flower beds. They are a glorious feature of the summer in my town. But they've been overgrown with weeds. So it looks as if they are going to do something for the season.

I haven't even looked at the news today so I don't know what's going on in the world of coronavirus and #blacklivesmatter . I believe they're gearing up for another weekend of protests. The world has gone crazy. They've banned the showing of Gone with the Wind, they've also banned Fawlty Towers because of the episode about the war. Is no one able to look at the bigger picture, ever?

Day Eighty-Eight- Support Bubbles, 2m scrapping and Sunshine

Interesting to see the state of affairs after a) a day of rain, b) a day of not walking. So I was keen to see how full the waste bins were! And more importantly if any stones had been added to the Covid snake. The bins looked empty but the snake! I took a video of it on my not very good camera phone. You can see it below and it looks as if there are purple puddles but they're not that's just my phone. If you're very astute you might spot my green glitter stone. But I hope not. Just focus on the very good ones from other

people.

I'm experiencing a change of mood. But I can't quite pinpoint where it derives from. In part I think it's the change in the weather. For the majority of lockdown we've had absolutely wonderful, warm, sunny weather. We've had several days now of chilly rainy weather and coupled with the anxiety over my friend's cancer diagnosis I think my mood has subtly shifted. I'm still getting this very strong desire to just go out. I'm resisting it so far. I wonder if that will last?!  I reckon if the sun comes back and I get good news about my friend I'll hunker down into lockdown again and continue to ride things out until I'm convinced there is an improvement.

Support bubbles. New bit of lockdown jargon for you this week. The government have announced plans to combat lockdown loneliness with the introduction of the support bubbles beginning at the weekend. Adults like myself living alone in England will be able to spend the night and freely mix with one other household. You are effectively treated as a single household for the purpose of lockdown restrictions so we can visit each other indoors, stay overnight if we wish and we won't have to observe the two meter social distancing rules. Potentially I suppose that means I could have my sister to stay. I don't think she will though. She's still very paranoid about bringing the virus down from London.

However the two meter social distancing hangs in the balance. Because there are calls to scrap it. The WHO's guidance is for a 1 m distance which is followed in countries like France, Denmark and Singapore. But the U.K.'s chief medics advise against the change. They are right because those countries may have a slightly more sensible and responsible population than we do here. Don't forget we boast a high proportion of fuckwits and idiots as was seen by the Bank Holiday behaviours and if you pair it down to 1 m, mate, they won't bother at all.

Pendemic, the initiative created by some Irish writers to get people to submit creative work regarding the pandemic is going to be preserved for the next 50 to 100 years at a library in Ireland! How fantastic is that. Those poems and stories I scribbled will be there long after I'm dead. I get to live on maybe!? http://pendemic.ie/about-us/ You can read my contributions if you type Bookphace into the search bar.

Day Eighty-Seven - Cramp My Style

So if I was still feeling smug yesterday after my hedge trimmer experience I've had the smile wiped off my face. I'd forgotten that it was quite a heavy and unwieldy piece of equipment and at the time it didn't occur to me that it might take its toll on my ageing body. But for the first time in weeks I had cramp in the night. And as always it's followed by a horrible ache the next day. So coupled with some pretty inclement weather I did not go for my walk this morning. I had a lie-in. It was quite pleasant, to be honest. And I did tai chi and some yoga so that I have exercises today. And I played Popmaster alongside my friend. We WhatsApp each other our results! It's really quite competitive.  I've been stressed all day because today is the day of her full body scan. Once results of the scan have been studied we'll a better idea of what she's up against. I just can't focus on anything else. I've achieved nothing today really. It's her granddaughters birthday as well. She's seven. And I've just had a message to say that my friend put on a hazmat suit and was able to hug the grandchildren for the first time since lockdown. There's not a lot else for me to say today. And I doubt whether the results of the scan will be immediate. So I'll leave it here for today. Hopefully I'll be walking again tomorrow and the weather will improve and who knows........... But for now it's a quiet kind of day.

Day Eighty Six - The Year of the Snake

Okay here, so here I am this morning taking a photo of the covid snake. I am standing by my green glitter stone, which you thankfully can't see! Remember I placed it in the snake on Saturday morning? Today is Tuesday morning. This is how many stones have been placed since then. Isn't that great!? I might start taking some close-ups so you can see the creativity people have brought to the exercise.

The day dawned bright but I had no real hopes that it would continue. It has though. It's continued enough for me to sit in the garden with my dear friend. And we chatted quite frankly about what might be ahead. But we also spoke of happier things and happy memories. I think she's being very courageous. She's only going to look at one day at a time. It was good to sit in the garden. It almost felt like old times. Even though we were at least 2 m apart and she had to bring her own flask of coffee! 

Our conversation was sporadically interrupted by some tree felling from my next door neighbours. Not my neighbours themselves but they hired a couple of chaps with very noisy chainsaws to do it. Fortunately it wasn't the oak tree that suffered today it was the leylandii, the conifers. But that inspired me to power up the battery for my cordless hedge trimmer and attack the dogwood. It's another benefit of lockdown to be perfectly honest. This time last year I probably wouldn't have attempted such a thing. Didn't even know whether the damn thing would still work as it's several years since I last used it. But it did.

The racism protests continue. I'm afraid that to a degree it's as if people are looking for a diversion from coronavirus and they've decided upon this path. But I wonder how much of it is real commitment. People are doing such silly things. They fail to look at things in context. What happened hundreds of years ago can't be changed. And the people who perpetuated it then probably would not do the same thing today with the knowledge and understanding that we have now. But no one seems to get that. There's even some shenanigans with Yorkshire tea and PG tips.

Quote from the BBC website.

'Tea brands Yorkshire Tea and PG Tips have voiced support for the Black Lives Matter movement (BLM) after boycott threats from right-wing critics.

It began when Laura Towler, a right-wing vlogger based in Yorkshire, praised her local brand for not having voiced support for the movement. 

Yorkshire Tea said it had not yet commented on the BLM protests as it had been "taking time to educate" itself. 

It tweeted: "Please don't buy our tea again."

In recent days, brands across the world have shown their support for Black Lives Matter following the death of George Floyd, the black man who died while being restrained by a Minnesota police officer.

Yorkshire Tea, which is owned by Taylors of Harrogate, said: "We stand against racism."

PG Tips, which is owned by consumer goods giant Unilever, soon lent its support to its rival as right-wing commentators urged a boycott on Twitter. 

"If you are boycotting teas that stand against racism, you're going to have to find two new brands now #blacklivesmatter #solidaritea," the brand tweeted. 

It prompted a flurry of support online, with some saying the brands had made them feel proud to be British. 

There were also calls for other big tea brands, such as Twinings and Tetley, to show their support of BLM.'

The other big news is that the opening of primary schools has been ditched by the government. Doesn't look like they'll be back until September now. And of course that's met with mixed reactions. But what people do fail to realise is that schools have never actually closed! They stayed open for the children of key workers. Teachers haven't been sitting on their backsides doing nothing.  The actual implementation of teaching children with social distancing and sanitisation in place is currently untenable. I can only presume that those children who have gone back will continue to do so and that secondary school children will be returning at some point. But this whole easing of the lockdown is one great big buggers muddle. I'm staying in lockdown for the foreseeable future. I may have the occasional visitor to my garden but that will be it.