The yarn bomb lady has been at it again. This time it’s for Saint Georges day. I’m wondering if she has them planned or whether she does them really quickly. She can’t have had the Duke of Edinburgh planned as she didn’t know he was going to die. Or maybe she hedged her bets that at 99 perhaps he couldn’t  go on much longer.

Not a good week. I finished the antibiotics for the tonsillitis. And a few days later my bladder flares up again. More blood. Not as much as last time. But the doctor said if there was any more blood I should get in touch. So I did. Another urine sample to the surgery and another swab test. I expressed a concern for the amount of antibiotics I’ve had in the last six months which the doctor agreed about. However later in the day I got a text from them saying I have an infection and I need to go to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription. I go to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription. But the antibiotic she selected for me is not in stock. So I have to wait now until the pharmacist gets it in and he’s going to try and deliver it tomorrow if it comes in in time. Otherwise it will be another trip up there. Not only do I have a season ticket for the doctors and nurse consultations I also have a season ticket for the pharmacy. I’m sick and tired of it. I just don’t know how to get myself well. If healthy eating and plenty of exercise don’t work. Then what the hell does? On the way back from the abortive trip to the pharmacist I went into the corner shop and bought a packet of digestive biscuits. So there.

It’s a shame because the week started off quite pleasantly. My friend took me on a trip to the nursery. She wanted to get some vegetables for her grandchildren to grow. It was a very successful project last year. I jumped at the chance of a trip out. I sit in the back of the car with my mask on, she sits in the front and opens the windows so we are pretty well ventilated. I bought some Lobelia; normally mine self seed year after year but because of the snow and the cold I’ve none this year. I also bought some insurance sweet peas. Insurance? Well, I’ve grown some from seed but in case they don’t make it I’ve got these so that I’m fairly sure I will have some for the summer. 

I also had my trip to the dentist. And they tried their hardest to make it as Covid safe as they possibly could. They already phoned me as a courtesy to do a risk assessment and put my mind at rest. I arrived I suppose about a minute or two before my appointment, knocked on the door and they unlock it and let you in. Before you can go anywhere you have to put a hat on over your hair and gloves on, then you go straight up to the surgery because they’re not using the waiting rooms. The dentist was all PPE up with a Perspex visor on. He did my checkup at the same time as mending the tooth. Cost me 60 quid which I wasn’t impressed about but it’s done. I feel reasonably safe. But of course the dentist has to put his fingers in your mouth which seems to me to be really risky. He had gloves on but I’ve no idea what he might have touched. 

Not really done anything else except race around to surgeries and pharmacies. And sat about feeling sorry for myself. Downing paracetamol like they are Smarties because I have back pain and tummy pain from this infection. Drinking loads of water to to see if I can’t flush my bladder clean. At least I know from the scan that there was no cancer in the bladder. 

It certainly all takes your mind off Covid. Although having said that I did another one of my home lateral flow tests. Negative. I hope to be in a better frame of mind and a better state of health by next weeks post.
 

 I went to the corner shop this week! It’s the first time in over a year that I’ve been in there. I didn’t go for my early walk, I went later and the notion came into my head whilst walking and it just wouldn’t leave. So I did it. There was no one else in the shop. The cashier was properly masked up. It wasn’t that I especially needed to buy anything so I came out with - chocolate, crisps and bread. All naughties. Somehow it seemed like a hurdle had been jumped. 

My sister came down for a visit yesterday. I haven’t seen her for months so it was quite emotionally  charged. We went to the cemetery. After my Mum died we had her ashes interred in the grave of her parents. It was a costly venture so we have been conscientious about keeping the plot maintained. However that was difficult during a pandemic! One time my sister came down and we did go to the grave but we did nothing other than look. This time we went armed with buckets, detergent and cloths to give it a much needed spruce up. 

After that we went to a garden centre. Although the car park looked crowded the size of the complex meant that people were pretty well spaced out and it was relatively easy to avoid those people who still haven’t heard about social distancing. The tills were the most perilous thing to negotiate. Although there were markers on the floor (I don’t believe they were two metres apart though) it was too difficult for some people to do. 

We spent a lot of time in my garden but we also did an extended cliff top walk where I showed my sister my silly little landmarks and we explored some ‘secret’ paths. My sister had brought her SLR camera with her and took some wonderful shots both in my garden and while we were out. This photo of a nesting tit was in my neighbours garden, many metres away.

It was a lovely day and she arrived earlier than I thought she would and stayed longer than I thought she would and, indeed, than she intended to but it was such a pleasant time neither of us wanted it to end. And my brother phoned so we had a three way chat via speakerphone as if we were all together. 

Not being used to having company for so long, or going out and about so much I was sooo tired! I tried to have a lay in this morning. I didn’t go for my walk. In fact I haven’t left the house today but it doesn’t matter. I’ve pottered. 

I’ve nearly finished my antibiotics and although the inflammation on the tonsil has gone I still have a vaguely sore throat. Of course as there are still no face to face examinations as standard the tonsillitis diagnosis has never been confirmed. I’m just hoping things don’t follow the same pattern as last time where I was weeks with a sore throat and recurrent tonsil inflammation. It’s being such an optimist that keeps me going.

Walloping Cods

 Two blog posts in one week?! I can hear your sharp intake of breath. But I saw something in the news that just drove me to commit my thoughts in some form or other.

‘ Boris Johnson has warned that the reduction in coronavirus infections, hospitalisations and deaths "has not been achieved" by the rollout of COVID vaccines.

The prime minister, speaking the day after the latest easing of lockdown restrictions, instead said it was the national shutdown that had been "overwhelmingly important" in driving down COVIDrates.’

This was from Sky News. And I challenge it unreservedly.

If the reduction in coronavirus infections were achieved by lockdown we would’ve reduced the infection rate months and months ago. Lockdown might work if it were observed properly by the majority of the population but it isn’t. It seems to me that there are various categories of lockdown “compliance“.

• People who follow the guidelines to the absolute letter as far as possible. (I’m in that category.)
• People who wilfully manipulate the guidelines to suit their own circumstances and desires.
• People who manipulate the guidelines to their own ends because they don’t actually understand the guidelines fully or have trouble interpreting them.
• People who are not complying out of sheer ignorance.
• And then you have the Covid deniers, anti vaxers and refuseniks who would thwart any directive given to them because no one is going to tell them what to do. And they didn’t vote Tory anyway so why should they do what they say. Blah blah blah.

And if I’m not mistaken infection rates started to drop before the easing of lockdown began. So I would say that is purely due to the vaccine rollout. And it’s because lockdowns haven’t worked that we have to rely on vaccines. I am incredibly sceptical and cynical about the vaccines. They’ve not been around long enough to be properly tested. The long-term effects can in no way be known. But where you’ve got a population that simply won’t do as they’re told you’ve got to have some way out and vaccine is the only way as I see it. Unless you live in a country like New Zealand of course. 23 deaths in total from Covid! I know you can’t make a viable comparison between our two countries. New Zealand were able to close their borders because they are a self-sufficient country. Our country is not self-sufficient and closing the borders would have meant an imposed starvation because we don’t produce enough food to feed our population. But national compliance went a long way to make New Zealand a bastion of Covid excellence.

Okay. So I guess this is more of a rant than a blog post. But I needed to get it off my chest.

What a Week......

 Pre-Covid and lockdown I don’t suppose it would have been a week of note at all but in this seriously diminished life we are leading it’s been........quite a week.

Firstly I broke a tooth. I was horrified because I knew it meant contacting the dentist. And of anywhere to go the dentist seems to me to be one of the most risky because the Dentist has to get so close to do what he needs to do.  But it’s not causing me serious pain and it’s not affecting my sleep and my eating so it’s not considered an emergency and they can’t do anything until the 26th of April.

Then my dear friend started coughing up blood on Friday. She was worried enough to phone the doctor right away. The doctor wanted to send her to the hospital for an urgent chest x-ray but she’s only recently had a CT scan. So they told her they would phone her back. They asked to come into the surgery for an examination. I offered to walk down there with her and to my surprise she accepted. So I knew she was worried. We were a little early so we waited outside the surgery leaning against the railings. A lady came out of the surgery and started to talk to my friend. I thought that they knew each other but that was not the case. To my mind she was much too close. So I moved a little further away. Then I realised my friend was thinking exactly the same thing and she quite pointedly put a face mask on but the woman was undeterred. I could see my friend  edging away. And then as the woman took her leave she actually touched my friend! She wasn’t a young woman, possibly older than either of us. And I suppose there’s a part of me that’s not surprised when I consider statistics and how ignorant and unaware people are of how this virus spreads. 

My friend was in and out very quickly. And the diagnosis was an infection and she’s on antibiotics. My friend has been taking lateral flow tests twice a week. They’ve all come back as negative. But the doctor insisted she take a “proper” Covid test! That’s because the lateral flow tests aren’t always accurate! So what’s the point then? I found it doubly ironic as from Friday all households can have their own lateral flow Covid tests. I sent off for mine. They arrived on Saturday. My friend had her test and it’s come back negative. However they still are insisting she goes for a chest x-ray which she’s having tomorrow.

On the way back we went into a............. supermarket! My friend said she wanted some things. I wasn’t going to go in. I was going to wait outside. But then something in me said, give it a try. So I masked up, wiped down my wire basket with the wipes and sanitiser they had at the doorway and because the store has nice wide aisles it was relatively easy to social distance. It wasn’t a sensible shop. I didn’t know what I wanted but I grabbed a large pack of strawberries and some other random items. It reminded me of the last time I shopped in a supermarket before lockdown where I bought the most ridiculous things in a kind of weird panic. 

I have used one of my home tests already. That’s because my tonsil has flared up again. I got scared it might be Covid. It’s quite alarming this time because not only is the tonsil all red and inflamed but there is a huge lump, all yellow and white on it. So I had to phone the surgery again. Another phone consultation with the nurse. No one actually looked at it. They’ve shoved me on antibiotics again. I was worried it would put my scan in jeopardy but the nurse said keep the appointment because they’re hard to come by. I’m not in a very good place, mentally. Some of the discomfort has eased today but I find I’m really croaky so maybe some of the gunk has run down my throat and is affecting my larynx.I hope it heals soon.

In other news Ryan the Window Cleaner came last week. I’ve given his number to a couple of my walking friends. One of them had got in touch with him and given him a gutter clearing job. He was very pleased and grateful to me for recommending him.

Shops, gyms, hairdressers, pubs, and other places as well I’m sure,  all opening from Monday. I shan’t be going anywhere near. Despite having had the jab I’ve not a lot of confidence in other people.

I had an interesting conversation on Saturday morning. One of the regular walkers, who has an 18 month old sheep dog called Tex, stopped to chat as she often does. It turns out she’s a gardener by trade. I asked her if she was taking on new clients and her face kind of wrinkled up so I thought oh it’s no good. But she explained that she is and she isn’t. Since she’s had the dog she doesn’t like to leave him for more than a couple of hours at a stretch so she’s quite selective about who she works for. But what she likes to do is work and garden alongside people. She said particularly for older people who might be finding it hard to manage their gardens, she does the donkey work and they potter about doing what they like. It sounded very good to me. So we’ve exchanged numbers and if I find the garden hard going I know that there’s someone I can call on. She is called Amanda. I told her she could bring Tex. She can garden and I’ll play with him! I didn’t even ask how much she charges. Somehow it seems immaterial. I didn’t get the feeling that she is a sort of person that would fleece me.

My other walking friend, Sue, has gone down to Somerset for a week. She and her partner, Ian, have bubbled since people were allowed to bubble so it’s more or less within the guidelines. Together they’ve bought a lodge on a holiday let site and they’ve got to go and prepare it for people to come and stay in. They are going to use it themselves but they are hoping that they if let it out to renters that will pay for some of the costs. Interestingly enough it’s not far from the village of Netherstowe which is where my ancestors come from.

I had my scan yesterday. My friend gave me a lift for which I was very grateful as I wouldn’t have relished having to get a taxi. It was a health care centre the other side of town. I’ve never heard of it to be honest. I didn’t even know it was there. But I was quite happy to go somewhere other than the hospital. It’s a very modern building and it was beautifully airy and spacey so there was no social distancing problems at all. The receptionist was very welcoming and I was seen ahead of my appointment time which,  given how full my bladder was after drinking a whole litre in one go, was good news indeed. In fact I was complimented on the fullness of my bladder! Apparently it makes it easier to see all the organs if they can do the scan over a full bladder. They couldn’t find any anomalies anywhere. So that’s an absolute relief. It doesn’t explain the problems I’m having but as it doesn’t seem to be cancer,  from the scan,  that has to be good news.

The knitting lady has been at it again with another lovely yarn bomb.

And Into April We Go.......

 A startling news report today tells of 50% of the UK population not knowing what the main symptoms of COVID-19 are?! That defies belief. And fewer than one in five people request a test when they display symptoms and  the number who thoroughly self isolate after testing remains low. And that is why, my friends, we have been in this situation for over a year. And that is why vaccination would seem to be the only solution. Because at least people who are vaccinated might have some chance against these cock wombles who still aren’t joining the dots.

On one of my walks I saw where they have relocated all the stones from the Covid snake. I’m so pleased they saved them. I couldn’t find mine, alas, maybe it fell by the wayside. But I like what they’ve done with them. 

It didn’t feel in the slightest bit like Easter. Think I may have said a similar thing this time last year! No Easter eggs! Strange day. It was cold and the Sun was shining. Probably too chilly to be outside although my neighbours either side both had people in. In fact my neighbours one side have had visitors in the garden the whole weekend. Till gone midnight on Saturday night,  their laughter kept waking me. I never feel so inclined to go outside now when there are so many people about. I feel so exposed. I have to get over it. Now that my neighbours work from home and they’ve had that awful Home Office built that faces my house I think that contributes to that sense of exposure.But funny how the whole dynamic of something can change. For my friends popped round and sat in the garden with me for an hour or so in the slightly chilly spring sunshine. And they brought me a Lindt chocolate bunny. So I did have some chocolate on Easter Sunday.😃

But the temperatures plummeted and on Easter Monday, believe it or not, we had a sprinkling of snow! It didn’t settle and it didn’t fall for any length of time but nevertheless it seemed a little perverse for an April day to be a snowy day. And the temperatures haven’t really risen much. It’s been very cold in the morning. I remembered to take my camera with me to take some pictures of the glorious blossom that is very evident at the moment.

I didn’t walk at all this morning. I had a really bad night and I could see the frost when I peered through the curtains. I thought I might go out during the day but I haven’t. And the Sun is gone now so it’s not very inviting. I did spend some time outdoors sweeping up the magnolia petals that fall from my neighbours tree. I have to be careful they don’t get soggy and slippery because they’re on the path to the shed. And now I don’t have my garden fellow I have to keep a careful eye on these things.

A third vaccine is now being used in the UK. Moderna, I believe it’s called. There remain some concerns that the Oxford AstraZeneca causes a rare form of blood clotting. I had the Pfizer and so did my brother and sister. But my friend and her partner had the Oxford so I’m a little bit worried. Funny I really wanted the Oxford Astrazeneca vaccine. I don’t know why but now perhaps I’m a little relieved I had the Pfizer although that may have some unpleasant side-effects, too, in the future. The truth is nobody knows what the long-term effects of these vaccines are. They might deal with Covid in the short term but what do they do in the long term?