This week we discovered that many of the people who live in countries in the EU don’t really want the UK developed Astra Zeneca jabs. Vaccination centres are not filled to the brim with people waiting to receive the AZ vaccine. In too many EU countries vaccines are sitting in fridges instead of being pushed into people’s arms. Despite test after test clearing the Astra Zeneca vaccine for use, some European countries are refusing to use it. Yet, they don’t seem to want us to have it in the UK either!
Sir John Bell, a member of the UK Government’s vaccine taskforce when asked about the French approach to the AZ vaccine said, ‘It doesn’t make any sense – the whole thing looks completely crackers. They are changing the rules almost every week.” They don’t seem to be guided by the science. There is a huge amount of data available, and visible evidence of the effectiveness of the vaccine here. Nearly half of over 18s in the UK have received their first dose of the vaccination since December. Nearly 29 million people! Here, the death rate, hospital rate and case rates are dropping rapidly. Yet recent figures show just 12.9 doses of vaccine have been administered per 100 people in the EU compared with 44.7 in the UK and 37.2 in the US.
The UK leads Europe…and yes, last I looked, we were still on the continent of Europe…in vaccinating its population.
Today, the EU are holding a video conference to discuss what to do about exporting vaccines to the UK and elsewhere. Apparently, the vaccines, including the one they don’t seem to want, the one sitting in fridges, may not be shipped to the UK. In EU speak, however, this is not about an export ban. Could it have something to do with the fact that many in the EU are unhappy with the British success? Or politicians diverting attention from their own failures? One does wonder. We wait to see what the outcomes of the latest talks are. We could do with a sensible European Leader on this issue. Perhaps we should send them to watch the dogs….
In Bristol this week the worst riots in over thirty years occurred. A dreadful time for the city. The irony of this is that the protestors were protesting about the right to protest! Crackers again! What started as a peaceful protest turns ugly and those who threw stones and bottles at the police injuring over twenty officers are now being sought via social media.
Here at Chez Feest, we have been tearfully riveted to the documentary, “Football’s Darkest Secret” on BBC. This documentary powerfully details the horrific abuse of young footballers all over the country for many years. We were proud to see Adam Feest appear in the second of the three instalments in his role as QC. It was the first time I had seen Adam since July. More tears.
The pandemic isn’t over yet but we are moving in the right direction.
Twenty one days. That’s how long it takes to form a new habit. Then if you carry on doing whatever it is for ninety days it becomes a part of you and you’ll miss it if you don’t do it. That’s not long. In the scheme of things what’s three weeks? The other little tip on making new habits for yourself is that you don’t have to begin with more than a little bite. Teeny tiny steps are the key to setting a foundation for whatever it is that you want to do.
I’ve been writing to you for five days a week for a very long time. Now that I’m changing that to once a week I need to adjust. I forgot it was the day to write! I didn’t put it in my diary because – heck – I know I’m writing to you don’t I? I changed my habit and along with that change comes, well, the requirement for more change! We are all about to change our habits. We have been given a roadmap out of Lockdown that means we will change what we do. Or will we? How have we changed over these months and what new habits do you want to begin to think about for your future?
The shenanigans of the Europeans possibly withholding vaccines aside (and that’s admittedly a pretty big aside!) and no new major outbreaks, or virus mutations (!!) we will hopefully be out of lockdown by June. That gives us all plenty of time not only to think and plan, but to begin to bed in any new habits we might like for the future.
Now’s the time. It is never ever too late to make a start. Small steps. Five minutes a day. Put your plans in your diary. Write them down. Remind yourself what they are. You can do it. The clock is ticking. We will hopefully soon be sitting in packed restaurants once again. Travelling here and there and rushing about. Start those new habits now, that will take you past lockdown and into the rest of your life. As they say – there’s no time like the present! This adage was first recorded in 1562 and it remains true today. John Trusler, a compiler of proverbs, noted “no time like the present or a thousand unforeseen circumstances may interrupt you at a future time” in one of his many books, Proverbs Exemplified, in 1790.
The present is a gift and it’s yours. Twenty-one days later and that new habit is also yours. Go for it!
Here’s a little something to enjoy while you think about what it is you want to do next…thanks to Mike in Exmouth for this one…
The saying “the first day of the rest of my life” seems appropriate on the first day of the second year of lockdown. Officially lockdown began in the UK on the 23 of March, but we started early, so year two begins early as well!
When I started writing Feest Isolation Days I had no idea how long I would be at it. And now the question is – when should I stop? When does it make sense to say goodbye and return to keeping in touch with all of you in a different, more conventional way? As we begin to take small steps to entering some of the ways of our old life, my plans for writing will also take a different turn. Many of you wonderful friends who have been reading these missives tell me that they have helped you during this lockdown time. For that I am truly grateful!
As we move into the next phase of Covid, we are all going to have to make some adjustments to our routines once more. The roadmap that has been set out for us in the UK is gradually moving us forward into society. As there is a plan for unlocking our future, I, too have made a plan for Feest Isolation Days. Most of you seem to be reading these words on a weekly basis. From this week, I will begin to write on a weekly, instead of daily basis. I will carry that on for the next few months and hope to end with a fanfare when, hopefully, restrictions are lifted for us all in June. From this week, you will find an entry every Friday. Perhaps it will become part of your end of week routine!
Thanks so much for continuing to read what I am writing and for your many kind words over the year. I’ll see you on Friday!
In the meantime, have a great week, and don’t forget…it isn’t quite over yet but we are getting there! Wear those masks, wash those hands, socially distance and Enjoy!
I’m lost for words. I know, I know that doesn’t happen very often! But I really don’t know what to say. It’s been a year. A whole year. An entire year of our life spent in Lockdown.
For us, that’s meant a great deal of time spent not seeing family and friends, not travelling, or going to the theatre or out to dinner or to concerts or swimming or to cafes or having friends over for dinner or going to their place for a meal. No impromptu breakfasts out, or pub lunches after walks in the country. No visits to shops to buy the weekly food or the occasional shop to try on the latest outfit. No choir concerts or weekly rehearsals among friends. No chats with shopkeepers about this or that, no people. This year was NOT in our retirement plan!
How have we managed?
After an entire year, we are thankful that we have made it so far without picking up Covid and having to deal with all of the horrific ramifications that could entail. We managed because there is nothing else to do but carry on. However, not only have we managed but somehow we seemed to have grown and thrived during this strange time. How does that happen? We are fortunate. We are a happy caring couple and are grateful that we had each other to spend the year with. Somehow an excellent relationship deepened in ways we couldn’t have imagined. Creating new routines both together and separately helped us to readjust to a new life. After the realisation hit that we would have to dramatically change how we live, we did. There were a few tears at times as the frustration of what we couldn’t do needed to be accepted, but then we set about our “new” Lockdown lives.
We have the sort of resilience that comes with age and experience. We also have the good fortune of living in a big happy house with a magnificent garden. We learned that if exercise couldn’t be swimming it could be cycling indoors and out, if we couldn’t do our Pilates in class, we could do it at home. It isn’t the same, but we could keep in touch with our family and friends on Zoom, or by phone or text or What’s Ap or even write to them regularly!
This blog project belongs to us both. I do the lion’s share of the writing, and Terry posts what I write. I haven’t a clue how to do that after a year as I never have done it! That’s what partnerships are about – not being clueless but about having roles that work for each of you. I wash, you dry, I shop you cook. I collect the bins from inside you carry them out. These activities develop, we play to our strengths and importantly we share the load. We are still, after all these years, very much in love. How does that happen? One of the enduring and beautiful mysteries of life. You know it you’ve got it, and can’t imagine it if you don’t. I hope your Lockdown time has also helped you to thrive and deepen your relationship.
The next hurdle for us all now is going to be unlocking! We are exceedingly pleased to have had the first dose of the Oxford Astra Zeneca vaccine. Covid numbers are falling in the UK. The roadmap to Unlocking has been published and each increment means more easing of our situations. What will we be happy to do?
Years ago, long before we were married, Terry made a series of educational videos for transplant patients, and I was the presenter. There was one scene that stays with us now. A man who had home dialysis returns from hospital after having had a successful kidney transplant. His dialysis machine is still in the room. His wife asks him if he’d like a cup of tea and a biscuit? “No dear, I can’t, too much fluid”. How about an orange? “No dear, I can’t, too much potassium”. Some cheese? “No dear, I can’t, too much salt and protein for my kidney condition “ the man says. The wife looks at him and says, “you did have a transplant didn’t you dear?” He had not come to terms with his new reality, his new normal.
We are all going to be stepping gingerly into the next phase of our life. We will all have to tiptoe into the things we feel comfortable doing and accept that we can move forward out of lockdown. Slowly, carefully and deliberately. After an entire year and then some, we will have to learn to once again live together in a different way.
We are vaccinated and ready to move forward. Who knows what we will be getting up to in the months ahead? Whatever it is, we will do so feeling pretty certain that we will be fine. We’ve managed a tough year with aplomb (great word).
If I had to give us a grade on a scale of one to ten, I’d say we both come out with tens! Not bad for a tricky year. What would you give yourself and your partner for these many weeks? Don’t be hard on yourself. That’s one thing we don’t ever do anymore. And we try not to be too hard on others either. Everyone has struggled in one way or another with this year.
Love and being loved is never ever to be taken for granted.
You’ve helped to give me focus. Thanks for reading. Let’s see what next year brings!
Enjoy and keep up the good work. We aren’t out of this yet but we are getting somewhat closer as each day passes.
With love,
Kathy x
And to all of you Mothers out there….Happy Mother’s Day! Here’s a little extra something all about that for you which I wrote for today on the Joy Club
Joy Club Blog – Thoughts on Mother’s Day
Anna Jarvis, founder of Mother’s Day in the United States
March 14 2021
It’s not Mother’s Day yet! Surely there are nearly two months to go until Mother’s Day! It’s the wrong month, it’s only March, Mother’s Day is in… Ahh… “Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore!”
It never occurred to me in a million zillion years that I would be a Mum and not a Mom for a start. Or that my son would have an accent that would make American girls swoon with delight when they heard it. I grew up in America, and moved to the UK when I was twenty six. Marriage wasn’t on my mind then, let alone children. Sometimes these things just happen. And happen they both did. But March for Mother’s Day? Nope that’s held in May! If you reside in the States that is. As it happens, Mother’s Day occurs somewhere in the world in all but three months of the year, January, April and September.
Where did this celebratory day come from? In Britain, along with so many British traditions, it’s been around for a long, long time. Since the Middle ages in fact. In the UK, Mothering Sunday always occurs on the 4th Sunday of Lent. Originally, the celebration was about Mother Church. People went to the church they were baptised in, or their local cathedral which was the “mother” church for all of the parish. In 1644, “Gone Mothering” was a phrase that people used to describe what eventually become known as Mothering Sunday, or more recently, Mother’s Day.
Constance Adelaide Smith, UK Mothers Day founder
Inspired by the American Anna Jarvis, who was lobbying for a Mother’s Day celebration there in the early 1900’s, Constance Adelaide Smith wanted to extend the celebration in Britain beyond the church to include all Mothers, and Mother Earth as well! We have these two women to thank for our modern Mother’s Day festivities.
Ladies both, I ask you, why only one day? Do these women have ANY idea how hard it is to be a Mother? Actually, they didn’t. The modern founders of Mother’s Day on both sides of the Atlantic were childless.
I bet I’m not the only Mother who has kept those Mother’s Day cards that were given to her over the years. They remain stored away along with the memories from another time; all those nights of lost sleep in the early years, the tricky bits later on when a thousand and one things conspire to convince you that you haven’t a clue how to be a Mother.
It’s not always easy trying to figure out what on earth you are supposed to DO in order to be a good mum. One of the biggest lessons of Motherhood, especially as the kids get older, is that, sometimes, what you need to do is absolutely nothing. Nada. Zilch. For so many Mothers, this one included, that was the most difficult Motherhood lesson of all! Mothers all over the globe want to race in there to fix, to help, to support, to make “it” better. Whatever “it” is that needs to be made better.
Maybe we should be lobbying for a “kids” day! Turn the tables and tell them how grateful we are for them. Our lives would not have been the same without them that is certain! They helped us to grow, to thrive, to live, and to love. Without our kids, we would be different women. Not better or worse, but different. It’s hard to imagine Mother’s Day without our kids. Yet it was two childless women who gave us our modern Mother’s Day celebrations. Thank you ladies. And to you all, whenever it occurs where you live, Happy Mother’s Day!
Today for the first time in many a year I ran a workshop! It was on Zoom and definitely not something I’ve ever done before. The Joy Club invited me to run this workshop and if you are over 65 (!) and live in the UK, you are welcome to tune in next week through Joy Club Presents. It was great fun and involved writing, and sharing that writing, as well as thinking about a few things when writing for and about yourself. Talking and sharing is always good to do at any time that is for certain!
The winds are still roaring away, and today we have had rain, hail, wind and sun. A totally mixed bag for the day. Apparently this weather is set in for a few days now so we too are set in! No long country walks or meeting friends. But look out next week. So far there are three planned walks with friends. The indoor bike and the exercise mats will have to suffice for the next while.
We are beginning to make longer term plans. It is a strange feeling. We expect to have overnight visits with the family in May, and prior to that, weather dependent of course, in April when it is allowed, we hope to have garden visits once more. What a treat that will be! We are already thinking about an in-house family visit. Probably eight to nine weeks away, but we are inching towards each other. I stared longingly at the many dining room chairs that are lined up against the wall waiting to be used once more.
Everyone has now had a Lockdown Birthday as it’s been a year, and we will have to celebrate those past birthdays and anniversaries when we meet. After all this time, another nineish weeks doesn’t seem too long a wait I suppose.
As Lockdown has been going on for nearly a year and this blog started a year ago Sunday, unusually there will be a Sunday blog. Heavens knows what I will share, but then I never know until I sit down and put keys to keyboard what topics might be covered on any given day. There are probably some thoughts swirling around but they aren’t nailed until I press send and off it goes. Strange how that works. We have all developed new ways of doing things over the year I suppose.
I leave you with one of my favourites…Randy Rainbow! BIDEN NOT that other guy…..
See you on Sunday! In the meantime, enjoy! Stay safe. The pandemic isn’t over yet but we are getting there!
The storm is on its way. It’s dark and a bit windy, but as of yet we haven’t had the full force of the winds. They are heading our way though and today will be an indoor sort of day!
The latest fallout from the Meghan and Harry Oprah interview is a response from the Queen. In sixty one words she answered the two hour interview.
‘The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan.
‘The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. Whilst some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately. Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much-loved family members.’
“While some recollections may vary” is bound to become a response that is used by many over the coming weeks! One of the outcomes of all of this is that Piers Morgan stormed off of Good Morning and resigned over a verbal altercation about this on set. At least all this drama takes us away from Covid for a minute or two.
Professor Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance both spoke to a Parliamentary Committee yesterday about the country’s response to the virus. When asked if the government was following the SAGE advice, Sir Patrick replied, “broadly”. Another response to keep tucked up our sleeves! Chris Whitty explained why the dates for unlocking have been set and why the government won’t change them. Backbench MPs will be pushing at those dates but let’s hope that the response they get remains firm. We all want this Lockdown to end and life to go back to normal, but we must be patient. Follow the science; remember, backbench MPs, it led to that jab in your arm and the fall of cases!
By the end of March, we will be able to visit with another household in our own gardens. Let’s hope the winds and the rain blow themselves out now so that becomes possible in a few weeks. We all need to keep up the effort that has been ongoing for nearly a year for a while yet.
The swimming pools will be open soon! I for one am looking forward to getting back in the water. For now, I will have to settle for watching other people swim. This is an impressive team of Artistic Swimmers at the Artistic Swimmers World Series 2021. No, I didn’t know there was one of those either. The commentary is excellent as well.
!!!! – ed.
Enjoy! Stay safe. The pandemic isn’t over yet but we are getting there!
The calm before the storm. We are promised winds of up to fifty miles an hour and lashing rain. But that’s for tomorrow. Today is sunny and ten degrees. The weather is so important to us all! The warmth and sun makes such a difference to our days. Being able to sit in the sun is such a pleasure. We shall enjoy it while it lasts and batten down the hatches that will be battered tomorrow. Just as well the daffodils are a strong tough flower, and the emerging tulips are tas well.
Elsewhere in Europe they have some sun, but sadly they also have much more Covid about. Italy, which was the first country to go into lockdown, has now recorded 100,000 Covid deaths. Unfortunately, they are experiencing an increase in people with the highly transmissible UK variant. So far they have only vaccinated 5 million of the population of 60 million people. Their government is changing tack on vaccinations, as it’s been stockpiling them in order to give two doses. They have now decided to give the vaccines out to as many people as possible and request that people wait for the second jab.
The UK has done this, and the numbers of deaths and new cases are dropping dramatically. All of Europe is lagging behind the UK in vaccinating, and the figures are stark. In the UK the virus is receding, elsewhere in Europe it is growing. The world needs to be vaccinated. And sooner rather than later. The EU officials got procurement of vaccines quite wrong and people throughout Europe are paying the price with illness and death. The UK government and the people of the UK have embraced vaccination and there are now nearly 23 million who have had their first jabs.
It’s hard to open a newspaper, or listen to a news bulletin here at the moment without hearing about Harry and Meghan. I have yet to watch the Oprah interview, but it all seems so sad. A family airing its angst in public is never going to be a pretty sight. With everyone still locked down and with little else to do, 17 million Americans watched the interview on CBS. We wait to see how many people tuned in on this side of the Atlantic.
Here, it’s a delight listening to the early morning sounds of children’s voices again! As they walk by our house on their way to school their excitement reaches our ears. The UK is beginning to open up and there can be no doubt that the vaccination programme has been a significant part of the reason why that’s become possible. As we begin to move forward, it’s hard to watch the huge numbers of cases on the rise in Italy, and elsewhere in Europe. Perhaps people will become less reluctant to have the jab when they see the positive results here.
Let’s hope so. Science is leading the way. And the UK has backed the Scientists.
Enjoy! Stay safe. The pandemic isn’t over yet but we are getting there!
The vaccination roll out continues apace in the UK. Some 22 million people have now been vaccinated and those between the ages of 55 and 59 are being called up this week for their jabs. Unlike the French, the British are responding positively and people are happy to get the vaccine. French GPs are finding it difficult to find ten people a week who will take up the jab. Scepticism and false information abound.
The tourism department however, is trying to sell France to their biggest market, the Brits, but they had better get their people to start lining up for the jab. Such a small percentage of the population is taking up the vaccine that they will not be on top of Covid for quite some time – according to one tracker, at the current rate it will be March 2023 before the population is vaccinated. Interesting to see what the 12.5 million British visitors will make of that information.
Meantime, the Sunday papers were filled with adverts of the sunny beaches and glorious blue skies of Greece. It would seem that appealing to a vaccinated population is a plan that our European neighbours intend to pursue. Last week, Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said: “A vaccine certificate would allow you to enter Greece without being forced to provide a negative test and without any quarantine restrictions and we do intend to go down that path.” That’s not on the EU agenda, but certainly on the Greek agenda. Greece has vaccinated 5 percent of their population to date and at the current rate it will take them another 77 days to inoculate a further five percent. The UK has given first jabs to 42 percent of the population and over a million people have already had their second jabs. It would seem that the sceptical French and the welcoming Greeks might see a few Brits headed their way from the end of June. BUT – before we become too eager, perhaps we should wait and see what the science says about transmission and bringing back unwanted variants even if you are vaccinated. We await with interest the studies that are going on at the moment.
Britain and all those involved deserve a big thank you from all of us for the excellent job they’ve done with vaccination so far. It does feel different going out having had a jab and done the three week wait. Facemasks are still worn, and sanitizer is always in the pocket, but it does feel much less scary. I’m heading to the post office today. Haven’t been there in over a year…that sort of says it all really. Make sure that you pick the important outings when you head back out in the world again. And don’t forget to social distance!
Maybe we don’t need to go out. I could usesunflower oil instead of olive oil for the biscotti.
When the British get things right, they soar. Here is a wonderful clip from the 400th Celebrations of Shakespeare’s birthday at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in 2016. It’s a total delight and well worth the six minutes of your time today.
Enjoy! Stay safe. The pandemic isn’t over yet but we are getting there!
How much longer will we wash the vegetables and fruit when they arrive by our key person delivery man each Friday? I suspect for a long time to come! This week the baking potatoes I ordered arrived and they looked like they’d just been dug up. I suppose I should be grateful, but I moaned as it takes ages to clean all the dirt off potatoes. However, not only am I going to get used to it, but armed with more information I won’t complain anymore! Mud is good for me and my potatoes! Tesco’s did a trial in stores in Bristol to see how people responded to muddy spuds. Apparently my fellow Bristolians were impressed. Tesco approved and now plan to sell muddy spuds in all their stores.
What I didn’t know before reading about this, is that mud protects the shelf life of spuds. When covered in dirt, potatoes are not exposed to light. That means that they don’t produce chlorophyll and won’t turn green! It means my potatoes are going to last longer. Knowing that, I’ll certainly keep up the newly acquired habit of washing everything when it comes through the door, and when I finally get to pick my own spuds off of a supermarket shelf, they will be covered in dirt!
And on yet other important potato matter, in America, Hasbros, the toy manufacturer, created quite a stir this week when it decided that in the interest of gender equality, it would no longer identify their well known toy as Mr. Potato Head. From now on, it will be merely Potato Head. Hasbros have managed where the Congress could not…they have united Republicans and Democrats! Apparently nobody likes this idea! The Republicans couldn’t agree to an economic stimulus package with the Democrats, but all appear to share the common interest of what to call Potato Head – Mr. I find it extraordinary that there was even one poll done about this issue that asked for party affiliation! I wonder where these two groups stand on cleanliness of spuds – washed or muddy?
Today, kids all over England, some eight million of them, are heading back to school. They will be offered Covid tests twice weekly in school for the first two weeks and then they will be given tests to do at home. One of our grandsons is excited about going back to school and reckoned it will be a great week. He also figures that by this time next week it will just be, well, school again!
Enjoy! Stay safe. The pandemic isn’t over yet but we are getting there!
We had our Pilates last night via Zoom with Auckland. Our teacher was already a bit jaded by the Lockdown – and that was on day three!! I pointed out that we were hitting day 356 and perhaps they should count their blessings. But that’s the thing isn’t it? Five days is tough! You don’t have time to get into a routine, and you expect that life is going to be back to normal really soon – like another few days – so it’s just irritating.
Lockdown is not as irritating anymore, it’s our life. Yes, it’s tedious and yes, we all want it to change, but somehow we’ve all found our routines. Settling into them didn’t take too long did it? After nearly a year there is a rhythm and a tempo to our life that. Yes, it gets a bit samey, but our routines help us to enjoy the day more than I would have ever realised. Our daily breakfast together is often the same and then different on the weekends. The sitting on the swing in all weathers and talking and enjoying the garden and the birds happens every day unless it is pouring. The exercise classes. The writing. For Terry the fishing. We are fortunate because we each have the luxury of a room of our own. Each of our studies belongs exclusively to us. We populate it with what we want. Some days it gets messy and others it is tidied up. No one comments on the state of the room we call our own. Having that place that we can retreat to has been, for both of us, more important than I realised at first. We have space. We can retreat when we need to.
In my sanctuary, music always features. First thing I do in the morning after my stretches and movement, is put on RNZ Concert– Radio New Zealand classical station. My companion throughout the day.
Today I found a new – to me – concert pianist who is worth a listen. He was the BBC young musician of the year in 2004 – when he was eleven. Last month he released a new album. This is him in action with Chicago Symphony a few years ago, Benjamin Grosvenor – Liszt Piano Concerto No.2 in A Major.
Lovely interesting moments even in this lockdown life if you pay attention.
Enjoy! Stay safe. The pandemic isn’t over yet but we are getting there!
I made a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority. I don’t often do this sort of thing but I saw an Ad in the Sunday papers…the Sunday Times Style section…and it was so grim I decided to make a complaint. The Ad was a woman advertising a dress. Apparently, this woman who looks anorexic is selling clothes to other women.
It made me annoyed that some young model turned up looking like this and instead of getting her some help, she was photographed as though it is perfectly normal to look skeletal in fashion magazines. It isn’t. I haven’t yet heard what the ASA will do about my complaint, but at least I made it. It is shocking to me that this is acceptable.
The day is grey and cold and the week is meant to get colder still. Sigh. Just when you are really ready for that blast of Spring, it hides away for another bit. Never mind, it will get here!
Today in the Commons, we have had dishy Rishi’s budget. There seem to be some good bits in it, including an extension to the furlough scheme until September, and a continuation of the Universal Credit £20.00 a week top up for another six months. The NHS and Social Care don’t seem to have had any more money invested in them which is a bit of a shame given that the NHS is helping us all as we are still in the midst of the pandemic. Taxes will rise for business and personal tax will be held to current limits. This all seems a reasonable way forward. The serious problem for governments all over the world is that the pandemic has caused more borrowing by governments than since World War Two. It seems that borrowing was just paid back in time for the pandemic. Let’s hope that the world economy can get going again soon.
Enjoy! Stay safe. The pandemic isn’t over yet but we are getting there!
How local is local? We decided to go for a walk and I was keen to be beside the sea. We looked at the rules and they were fairly loose to say the least. “Exercise
should be done locally wherever possible, but you can travel a short distance within your area to do so if necessary (for example, to access an open space).” This definition doesn’t offer a lot of help on specific distances. An MP when asked if seven miles was too far said the most important thing to do was to follow the guidance wherever you were. Further, “In situations where people are breaching the guidance not to travel out their local area but are not breaching regulations, officers will encourage people to follow the guidance.”
So were we breaching the guidance? We travelled thirteen miles. We went in our own car, didn’t go into any shops or anywhere else, and when we parked next to the Costal Path we walked together. We didn’t meet anyone else. After parking, we headed towards the path without any problems at all. We probably met about six couples on the path in the two and a bit hours we were out and we all gave way to each other. There might have been about three other dog walkers and their pooches, but no one else. When we finished our amazing walk, and picnic, we returned to the car and sat there drinking our thermos of coffee and dunking our digestives like the oldies that we are. We weren’t stopped or challenged as there was no one about. We both decided that we certainly weren’t breaking any laws, and we didn’t breach the regulations. And it was wonderful!
It was only four degrees when we set out but the sun came out so our return walk with the wind behind us was warm and the views spectacular.
There is something about being beside the sea that fills me with the sort of feelings that I will appreciate for days. I don’t need to go there every day or even every week but once every few months I just need to see the sea! As I grew up in a land locked State, I don’t know when this desire arrived, but now that it’s here it will remain forever I am quite certain of that.
Lockdown! The hoops we go through in our own minds to justify a simple trip to the sea! In the end, we both decided it was worth it, we wouldn’t feel guilty and we are glad we went.
Now for my new Tuesday night Yoga class…I shall be knackered of Clifton later this evening that is for certain. And it feels great! I think that was the whole idea!
Enjoy! Stay safe. The pandemic isn’t over yet but we are getting there!
Pinch! Punch! First of the month! Yes I know that was yesterday, but hopefully there will be many more to come. I wondered where this idea of pinch punch came from, so finally looked it up. The consensus view is that it comes from the States, and we have George Washington, the first American president, to thank for this. Every first day of the month, George met with Indian tribes and served them punch with a pinch of salt in it. Pinch punch first of the month!
Firsts are always good aren’t they? New beginnings, starting a fresh. We are all happy to have something new to get into as we head into nearly a year of lockdown…except for those in Auckland who are on Day Two of their latest Lockdown!
We have just finished watching “Call My Agent” and needed something new to get stuck into. We found exactly what we needed and wanted in something called “This Is Us”. We have only seen one episode so far but apparently, there are eighteen more to go and another four series. By the end of Lockdown we may have managed to see them all! I do hope they come to an end as Call My Agent did in the most believable and exacting way.
The Golden Globes were handed out last night and they were mostly on Zoom. A few “Best Moments” are here
The Crown won for Best TV Drama series and three actors who played, Diana, Prince Charles, and Margaret Thatcher all won best Actor Awards. As people picked up their awards from their homes, they are surrounded by family and friends. Very different yet somehow quite special.
A film to look out for is heading to your screens in June. Although it didn’t win any Golden Globe awards, Anthony Hopkins staring in “The Father”, is bound to be electric. It’s a film that began as a stage play. We saw the first theatrical version in Bath several years ago and recommended all of our friends go and see it. We saw Kenneth Cranham as the Father and he was brilliant. He won several awards for his unrelenting performance. We saw it more than once with different casts. The playwright, Florian Zeller, understands dementia and it is powerful as a play, and no doubt will be as a film, too.
With lockdown keeping us away from the theatre at the moment, finding these gems is important!
Enjoy! Stay safe. The pandemic isn’t over yet but we are getting there!
Today is officially, meteorologically speaking, the first day of Spring! These are some of the garden flowers that are telling us in no uncertain terms that Spring is indeed here.
Lockdown is easier in the sun than in the dark and murky days of winter that is for sure. So dear Auckland friends, as you are locked down for the next seven days, spare a thought for your Northern Hemisphere pals who are now in day three hundred and fifty-two! Whatever you do over there, please follow the rules. We would like to return, but it needs to be safe. While you spend the next days in lockdown, enjoy the sun and the moon!
There was a full moon last night. The sun and moon are perfectly aligned and we get the benefit of the brightness here on earth. It was stunning. Called a snow moon in the northern hemisphere, it’s name comes simply from February being the snowiest month of the year and it is the last full moon before Spring. It was full on Saturday, but the brightness will last three more days. It’s worth a look. The clear nights should give you a great view.
When we were in the Southern Hemisphere we discovered that although the moon goes through identical phases as it does in the northern hemisphere, it appears backwards! That is , up North it waxes on the right and wanes on the left, and the reerse in the southern hemisphere. If you are in the Southern Hemisphere and want to see the moon waxing and waning as it does back home here in the northern hemisphere, touch your toes and look through your legs. You are upside down and it won’t be! Good luck on getting this view for a look of the Northern Hemisphere.
As we sat on the swing in the sun yesterday, I started musing about what it must have been like to think about the world as flat, and wondered when it was first discovered that in fact the world as we all know, or most of us do anyway, is a sphere.
Eratosthenes of Cyrene, c 276 B.C., was a Greek “man of learning” or a polymath. He became the Chief Librarian at the Egyptian Library of Alexandria. He is credited as being the first person to calculate the circumference of the earth which he did by accessing the extensive survey results he had access to in his role at the library, and by observing the shadow of a vertical stick at noon. By a series of measurements, measuring the angle of a shadow cast by a stick at noon on the summer solstice in Alexandria he found it made an angle of about 7.2 degrees, or about 1/50 of a complete circle. From this he established the size of our sphere, and was only about ten percent off the actual size. He also calculated the tilt of the earth’s axis remarkably accurately. Impressive!
I then wondered how fast we are all spinning on our planet and the editor did a rough calculation and figures that we are moving at about 500 miles per hour. Half right. We are actually moving at 1000 mph! Just as well we can’t feel the rotation because we’re all moving with it at the same constant speed. The atmosphere, the oceans, and each one of us is spinning along with the earth. The jet airplane that takes us to the other side of the world travels between 440 and 550 miles an hour. Most birds fly between 10 and 40 mph.
I can’t wait to get on a plane and visit the Southern Hemisphere once more. How fortunate we have been to return there again and again! In the meantime, I shall continue to appreciate what is here. The moon, the stars, the birds and the plants. Ahhh.. and the SUN! Hope you do too.
Enjoy! Stay safe. It isn’t over yet but we are getting there!
