Author: Kathy

Feest Isolation Days – 8 May

Victory in Europe Day –VE Day. The Seventy Fifth anniversary of the end of World War Two. A glorious yet also sombre day as we remembered those who gave their lives for all of us. The usual celebrations, and remembrance services, were not able to take place.  No standing at the Cenotaph, no wreaths, no serenade of the Last Post (taps in America).  No lines of servicemen and women snaking through London.  Coronavirus has changed even our most cherished and noteworthy dates. 

But there were imaginitive commemorations….

Victory in Europe and remembering all those who gave their lives in war zones around the world made us all pause for a collective silence at eleven. Except that there is no sound other than bird song as the silence is already there.  We will fall silent on the eleventh day of the eleventh month.  Perhaps we will be able to come together to collectively mark the end of the first World War, when the calendar flips round to November.  We live in hope.

Hope is what has tumbled through the decades to us all from those that served in what was one of the darkest times in the recent history of the world.  Staying home, for however it long it will be, seems a slight and easy task by comparison. There are no bombs dropping overhead, no fires, our food supply continues.

As is the way during these lockdown days, we met with our friends and family on Zoom and we sang the song of hope that Dame Vera Lynn made famous.  “We’ll Meet Again, Don’t Know Where Don’t Know When”.  How true.  And we will indeed.  In the meantime, we are thankful for those who served their countries so ably.

Our house, which is close to the Downs, was requisitioned by the Army during the war. The owner at the time wasn’t displaced, as he rented out the property and there were no tenants living there.  As someone who grew up in America,  it was quite amazing to discover from our deeds that the house I’ve called home for nearly thirty years was once lived in by  American Servicemen! I had heard that the Downs were covered in tents where GI’s billeted, and thought that was why the location of our house was of particular interest. In fact, the reason was that it is only about a five minute walk to Clifton College. 

Clifton College played an important role during the war.  It became the headquarters for the American First Army led by General Omar Bradley.  Bradley and many of his senior men took over a mansion, The Holmes, in Stoke Bishop. The premises  included a ball room, stables and, importantly for Bradley who was keen on delivering excellent cuisine to his innumerable guests, a large kitchen. The house also had plenty of other rooms for the many distinguished military personnel who  stayed there during the war; some for days, others for weeks.

The Holmes now houses the Bristol Botanic Gardens, a University Department, and is also a hall of residence for Bristol University.   Photographs line the entry way walls with pictures of the men who passed through Bristol as they participated in the planning of one of the many extraordinary battles of the war. It is well documented that Bristol was the location for the planning of D Day.  Eisenhower, Patten, Bradley and photos of many other World War Two notables are displayed. In addition, a letter of thanks signed by Dwight Eisenhower is proudly displayed.  Our humble home would have housed officers who were working for Bradley at Clifton College.

Bristol was a welcoming place and Black American servicemen found themselves in a city where many of them were  treated in ways that they hadn’t experienced back home.  They were able to enter and drink in pubs and could ride buses and trams without hindrance. The other (white) GI’s took exception to this, but the people of Bristol did not harbour the prejudices that many Americans did. 

One day when I find my story, I shall write more about this!  In the meantime, a thank you to those who gave their lives so that we can live ours in the way we do. 

We pay tribute to all of them on this important day.

With love

Kathy x

Feest Isolation Days – 8 May

     We left early for our weekly country walk and there were few people and even fewer cars around.  The day was slightly chilly at first but became the most splendid of warm, sunny May days.  We had our breakfast picnic and enjoyed the warmth and the expanse of green all around us.  We happened upon the only bluebells we’ll see this season.  Normally, (that word that no longer exists for any of us!) we would have been seeking walks where bluebells grew plentifully. At least we saw one carpeted spread of the splendid flowers (splendid that is as long as they’re not in your garden).  The walk meandered next to a river Terry often fishes and he would have no doubt preferred spending his morning casting into the water for his trout, but that isn’t possible yet.

Bluebells this year, our only chance…

But last year………..!

   

  The Oxford Scientists have begun a vaccine trial and what usually can take years is being concertinaed into months.  We all hope they can move swiftly as all around us the longer we are unable to move out of lockdown, the more businesses suffer and will undoubtedly fail.  Virgin Atlantic Airlines has let over three thousand employees go and have said they will not return to using Gatwick as an airport; but have held onto slots there just in case.  British Airways has also laid off thousands of staff and they too, are unsure of the way they might use Gatwick in the future.  As we all cancel more and more plans for the rest of the year, it’s hard to imagine getting on a plane for a very long time.

     For as long as I can remember, we have travelled the world.  We have been to  over a hundred countries and getting to places like Paris, Amsterdam and Venice was once as easy and as economical as getting on a bus.  Over the years we have come to know these cities well. It is hard to imagine that we will not be visiting them soon again.  During the post retirement years when we began returning to New Zealand regularly, we saw less of these marvellous places, telling ourselves that as we got older and long distance travel became more difficult for us, we would visit them once more.  We still go to Europe once or twice a year, but there was a time when we were working when it was more like once a month! Whether for a holiday or work, or various conferences, we were always happy for any excuse to visit.  Who knows when we’ll get there again.

     We never wanted the UK to leave the EU and now that we have officially left, this unreal coronavirus reality has taken precedence over any and all thoughts we might have about Brexit.  But what will happen at the end of this year as our government shifts away from Europe?  It is hard to see how ministers of any country can concentrate their efforts on the UK and their interests rather than concern themselves with their own coronavirus situation. Suddenly we move back into politics.

     My interest in politics has radically diminished over the months since Covid 19 appeared, and as the virus is apolitical, I believe so too, should the solutions to our problems with it.  Keir Starmer is now the head of the Labour party and in a socially distancing Parliament, is holding the government to account. This must be correct in any democracy.  However, my hope is that the parties will all work together with each other to get out of this situation.  All the talk of Brexit for years was weary making.  Let’s hope that the talk of the coronavirus is short lived and we can get back to political business as “normal”.  Politicians debating once more how we should or shouldn’t do this or that. What a luxury!  I tired of Brexit talks early on. The coronavirus discussion is also already getting tired, let’s hope it doesn’t last as long as the Brexit debate did – and has a better outcome!

     To all the Scientists in the world, good luck!  We are on your side, whatever your political persuasion.  One third of Americans polled believe you have already developed a vaccine and are just not sharing it. 

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/04/24/coronavirus-one-third-us-believe-vaccine-exists-is-being-withheld/3004841001/

Politics in America at least has never been more important.  Let’s hope the correct party gets into the White House in November! 

Here, there are whispers that new lockdown plans are afoot.  We have to wait until Boris speaks to us all on Sunday night to find out what they are.  Meantime, the walk was refreshing, and gave us what we needed to carry on in lockdown and keep going. Who knows for how long yet?  Watch this space.

With love,

Kathy x

Feest Isolation Days – 7 May

if you’ve read any of these isolation days entrees, you no doubt know by now that we are enamoured with New Zealand.  We have spent every winter there for eight years in a row, and we also worked there for a year.  We have made many many good friends and it has truly become our second home. Several friends from there were meant to visit us here this year and over the years the traffic has been both ways, Bristol- Auckland- Auckland- Bristol.  Jacinda Ardern the Prime Minister announced this week that it will be a very long time before the New Zealand borders are open. My heart became heavy on hearing that. Not only will not be able to return there, but our friends will not manage to head this way either.

This is not good news for us but we make the best of what  we can. Thank heavens for Zoom!  This morning my pals from Auckland included me in their book group.  When we worked there, one of my colleagues invited me to join the group and every year since our return, wherever we are in Auckland, our house is the place for the summer meeting.  What a treat seeing them all again and connecting with the land and people we have grown to love. They have been on lockdown as well and are beginning to head towards the next phase of awakening.  The same sorts of things we moan about here are irritating many of my female friends there, too.  We all are most fed up with cleaning our houses!  It takes so long and none of us are used to it.  The problems of the privileged.  All I can say is it was all a lot easier when I was younger. 

This evening, there is more from Auckland on Zoom.  My Pilates teacher joins me electronically once more in my garden room and will put me through my paces.  She is amazing and we hope to carry this on for months and months to come.

As lockdown continues our routines are becoming embedded in our way of life and  the new normal includes such different things! I secretly love the chance to see my NZ friends and am delighted that there will be at least one more Zoom book group.  I don’t want them to end…I miss my pals and the thought of not seeing them this year is sad. Zoom beats nothing.

On the positive side, here “Theatre” trips with friends have returned. Friends watch the same performances on line at roughly the same time we do and then we have a meal and discuss it. It worked so well last week we are doing it with a different couple this week.  Roll on Friday!  Friends!  Wine!  Theatre!  (almost) Normal. 

Tomorrow we plan to go for our weekly country walk.  I must admit yesterday when we planned it I really needed the idea of getting out of the house.  For some reason, it felt like time to break out of all of this now, it’s been long enough!  I wanted to go out for dinner and drink my tea in a coffee shop with a girlfriend and go to the actual  theatre, and to the ballet and to London! I want to hug the kids and the grandkids and drive around going nowhere just for the hell of it! But today, after two Zoom book groups and the conversations after with friends on What’s App, life feels fine again. Normal?  Nearly!

My friends with younger grandchildren tell me that a certain restlessness has set in for some of the kids and they are becoming quite fatigued by lockdown. The little ones want to get back to their friends at school and get out of the house. As do the teenagers who are in limbo as their exams are cancelled and the work they’ve done is complete for now. They miss their boyfriends/girlfriends and their life that came to a juddering halt.

Grandparents who are seeing the younger kids electronically keep coming up with different ways to engage with them.  One of our friends is cooking with the little ones electronically, making cupcakes, or small cakes and even pancakes together.  Each person in their own house, mum and dad ensure the ingredients are to hand, and depending on the age of the kids, they can be on their own with grandma.  It’s a way of amusing the kids and keeping up that important grandparent connection.

Conductor Sweet!  Why we love kids. This child was well amused!

The weather here is tempting us once more to be outdoors and by tomorrow for our long country walk it is even supposed to be warm!  I’ll let you know.

Meantime, keep on going everyone, and enjoy the beauty all around you.  And remember, you wouldn’t be “normal” if there weren’t a few down moments.  We all have them. For now, I need to rein in my inner swimmer (really missing those pool moments) and get back on my stationary bike and go and read (or write!) my book! Tomorrow is indeed another day!

With Love

Kathy x

Feest Isolation Days – 6 May

The entire world is trying to figure out how to come out of lockdown. What lessons will we learn from each other and how will it look while we wait for Scientists to develop the vaccine that will ultimately end this Pandemic?  While there is no doubt that eventually a worldwide vaccine will ultimately stop the spread of the virus, what about the next phase? 

It is reassuring that there were so few reported deaths today from the coronavirus, but there was also some published research that suggests that people are unwilling to end the lockdown yet.  Here in Bristol, there can be little “herd” immunity as there have been so few cases – less than seven hundred in the entire city.  Is it possible that we will have a big second wave of illness and death when the next phase of the lockdown begins?  How to move forward is a difficult issue for the government and the many scientists who are working tirelessly on the answers to these problems.

For many, being in lockdown is wearing, but the certainty of the results of staying home far outweigh the uncertainty of what could happen. As Matt Hancock the Health Secretary said a few weeks ago, the best mask for everyone is keeping your front door closed. Of course, the country needs to get back to work, and school, and the rest, and we will eventually. For many of us though, staying put is going to carry on for some time. Let’s hope all goes to plan when the plan becomes known.

When you need that extra bit of grit to keep you going while waiting for that magical vaccine that will change our lives and reopen our front doors once more to family and friends, its often a good time to recount some of those stories that are passed down the generations in a family.  Those stories circulate because they often offer a glimpse of something special in the protagonist.

My Great Grandmother Blosick was a formidable woman by all accounts. She was a feisty lady who left the “old country” and sailed to America taking with her the spirit of the times. During her years in America, the government began Prohibition; the legal prevention of the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages. The dry period, (or semi dry period as it turned out!) lasted for thirteen years.  Our months of lockdown suddenly seem a whole different order than those societal changing times in the States! And Prohibition did change society, but not always for the better. A historian writing about the era reminds us that we need to watch out for solutions that end up worse than the problems they set out to solve. Organised crime got its foothold during this time – think of all those old black and white films and the shoot outs in speak easies that occurred.

“Normal” people, having nothing to do with organised crime, also did what they could to supply the alcohol that so many wanted, while helping them to make ends meet. During the Twenties, a tribe of Native American Indians called Hootchinoos, were known for their drunkenness and gave us the term “hooch”.

Great Grandma was one of those who found a market and brewed her own hootch to order. She arrived outside the coal mine in Pennsylvania every morning and collected up the flasks of the men who were working down the pit, and when they returned each evening black faced, sweaty and exhausted, she would hand them back their flasks.  Instead of a hot beverage, their flasks were now filled with Grandma’s hootch.  When pay day came, she stood outside with the flasks and returned them after she had collected the weekly fee that each man owed her for her troubles. 

Great Grand Ma Blosick

Her basement brewery kept the miners going for years.  One day, while in charge of my father who couldn’t have been more than about seven at the time, she was called urgently away and left him guarding her still.  She handed the little boy an axe and told him if the thing started to blow to hit it with the axe and run like hell! 

I don’t think many of us would leave a little boy on his own or in charge of a still, let alone hand him an axe! I’m not surprised that one of her sons, my Grandfather, raised canaries and sold them to the miners though. Needs must!

It is the prohibition that makes anything precious.– Mark Twain

My hooch of choice is wine.  Pinot Noir especially and I suspect that many more bottles will be consumed while we wait patiently for the virus to leave us alone. I often wonder what my Great Grandma would have made of the times we live in but I’m pretty certain that she would have offered unfailing encouragement and found ways to cope with the situation. As of course we all will! Enjoy your hooch of choice…

A Coronavirus Tale: Had too much wine last night. Have no idea how I got home from the sofa!

With love

Kathy x

Feest Isolation Days – 5 May

Baba’s rugs. Wherever my grandmother lived, she always had a Singer sewing machine and a bundle of clean “rags”. Collecting old clothes and cloth items from anyone willing to donate them to her was the first step in her rug making process.  She would then turn old skirts, dresses, shirts, curtains, bedspreads and any other outdated materials into long strips of cloth that she sewed together on her Singer.  With that first step finished, she would then plait the colourful pieces together and finally, she would hand sew them with a big needle and white thread going round and round and round until she had the desired effect and size she wanted. Some of the rugs were small and others could fill a huge room.  She never sold any of them, but instead gave them all away.  Never learning how to drive, even after my grandfather died, she would often take long bus journeys to visit family or friends and by the time she arrived at her destination, as often as not, she had the address of the person that had been sitting next to her for the four or more hours drive. They would soon be receiving a package wrapped in brown paper and bound in string in the post. She didn’t go many days without sitting at her Singer and creating her rugs.  She had no idea where they would end up, or who would walk on them, only that she knew she had to make them.  She made thousands in her lifetime!

Sometimes I wonder why it is that my drive has always been to write away, and my grandmothers was making rugs?  These musings are to me what my Baba’s rugs were to her. Who knows where our hobbies and passions come from?  One thing is for certain, all those things you haven’t bothered with while at home during this enforced lockdown are things that at some fundamental level are just not that important to you.  I wonder what you have spent a big dollop of your time doing over the past few stay at home weeks and months? If you are lucky enough not to have been working, or home schooling your kids, what else did you get up to besides the cooking, cleaning and ordering of food?  It’s worth checking in with yourself on that from time to time.  Whatever it is probably means it’s your passion. And having more than one passion is not a bad thing either!

One of our friends has found online dance classes and does at least one class most days, another is singing in one choir or another every day, still another is cooking for people who can’t do it for themselves, while another friend is baking cakes; another plays her violin with friends.  Whatever “it” belongs to you, enjoy it and keep going!  These projects and passions enrich our lives in ways we may take a long time to realise.

There were many “last goodbyes” to my Baba which involved trips across the Atlantic.  Inevitably, the real last goodbye was at her funeral.  Coming from a Catholic family means a wake and prayers in front of the open coffin for at least a day before the actual funeral mass and cemetery proceedings.  My Uncle who knew my grandmother well, draped one of her rugs across the bottom of her coffin. I still have one of them at my feet in my study.  Baba’s rugs. My inspiration in life when nothing else works. What’s yours?

With love

Kathy x

Feest Isolation Days – 4 May

Hello everyone!  It’s me again. I think Terry, the husband, editor, techy did a great job yesterday.  Writing once every twenty five days seems to be enough for him though. Bit like me and gardening, once a year I manage to do some pots.  When I say “do” I mean I plop the plants in the already prepared (by the editor) soil in the pots. Good partnerships work well when each person plays to their strengths and then we teach each other all sorts of useful things.  Before I met Terry I could just about tell a dandelion from a daffodil. I’m so pleased one of his favourite pleasures is the garden.  I don’t know what I’d do without it – especially now. (or him for that matter…!) You’ll have to ask him what I have taught him over our nearly thirty-five years together.

What a hectic and busy weekend we have had!  Hard to imagine I know but it was.  Friday starts with Zoom Yoga then Saturday was filled with two hours of singing along with over one hundred others. If anyone is interested in singing from wherever you are in the world, you too can join. Let me know and I will share the link with you. We sang Jerusalem, I Was Glad When they Said Unto Me, and the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah. It’s surprising how you can imagine being in the same place as all these other people singing away even though what you hear is not their singing, but a pre recorded rendition. The rousing choice of music meant the soprano part of each of these songs soared through my study window and into the garden! (sorry neighbours)

Saturday evening we watched a Hampstead Theatre production of “Ai Wei Wei’s Arrest”.  Another couple we share our love of theatre with watched at the same time and then we had a Zoom dinner party afterward and discussed the play. Inevitably there was also a long discussion about the coronavirus.  We can’t really get away from it can we?  It wasn’t quite the same as having them sitting at the table with us, but better than nothing. The wine flowed, the conversation filled the dining room and the food was excellent, too, and three hours passed.

After all the activity of Saturday, Sunday seemed especially quiet. In a nice-time-to reflect-and-consider-the-week sort of way.  In fact, the world IS quieter than it has been for many a year. There are few trains, not many roaring jet engines, and traffic has markedly declined. Scientists are already beginning to analyze our unprecedented global quieting. Seismologists are looking at the collected data of our hushed planet.  The heightened stillness during lockdown is even enabling them to detect faint or distant earthquakes that they believe they previously could have missed. The quiet might also be helpful in order to study the natural murmurs of our planet, the sounds of gushing rivers, the thrum of the planets other activities.

In all this quiet, can we blossom and thrive? Yes, and especially if we take the opportunity to reflect, recharge, and notice what comes to the surface.  Our busy busy noisy lives have been dialled down and embracing the stillness can be special.

Silence sits between the notes of the greatest music ever written. We don’t always notice because multiple tracks of vocals, percussion, string and horns block it out. But the silence is there. Without it, our music would just be noise. Change where the silent moments occur and the music changes.

Silence is also a feature of most of the greatest speeches in the world. The dramatic pause……..has been mastered by the best orators of our time. Our earth is currently experiencing one of the greatest dramatic pauses of our lifetime. Enjoy the music AND the silence, what lovely gifts! Coronavirus has changed so much, and some of the changes aren’t so bad. Peace.  And quiet.

Charlie Chaplain in the Lions Cage…

STOP PRESS!!!    

AMAZING Theatre!  We watched Frankenstein last night with Benedict Cumberbatch. The performance is spectacular. You have this week until Wednesday to watch it for free on You Tube.  It’s a National Theatre production.  Join over a million and a half people and watch an actor transform in front of your eyes.  We will watch once more on Thursday when Cumberbatch takes on the role of the creator and Jonny Lee Miller plays Frankenstein. This is theatre at its most impressive. To be experienced. 

Love,

Kathy

Feest Isolation Days – 2 May

There are some days when you wake up and forget that there is a pandemic in the world and go about your morning as though nothing is different than it ever was. Terry and I went for a walk together in the early afternoon’s pouring rain and not too many other people were out and about. On our return we had a bowl of leftover nourishing chicken soup to warm18 us and then did the sort of normal house things we would do on any rainy day.

Who am I kidding?  Normal has gone out the window and suddenly I remember that the day is far from normal and wonder what that will look like when it arrives. Several friends have been reporting that they don’t sleep very well these days and I marvel at the eight hours I get most nights. A certain resilience is required during these times and cultivating a spirit of acceptance, not to mention routine, does help.

It also helps to stop looking in your diary. I was supposed to be in Bath having lunch with a friend next week.  Another friend tells me she has a host of wedding and party invites sitting on a shelf and she is letting them stay there as a sort of shrine to her old life. She has cultivated a whole new way of being in the world at home, as we all must.   In with the new and on we go. Life on hold? No!  Life isn’t on hold, it’s changed and changing.  Apparently, we are past the peak of infections.  Let’s see what that will mean.  What will the next phase of “new normal” look like.  We shall find out some of the steps the government have in mind next week. 

At my regular  Zoom yoga class (yes there is a new way of doing things!) one of the women said she heard we were all going to be allowed to choose two people that could join us and come in and out of our “bubble”. She knew exactly who she was going to choose – her hairdresser and her cleaner!  Love it.  I may follow suit if that plan comes to pass.

Unusually, we decided to share a bottle of Champagne on a midweek night – Thursday. We toasted first our son who was celebrating his birthday in London, and then Captain, now Colonel Tom, who makes us all feel positive, and then another friend whose birthday it was.  I then discovered that our next door neighbour’s daughter turned thirteen and became a Quaranteeny! Champagne and the dining room go together so we lit the candles and held our glasses aloft.  I made one red pepper that we shared before we tucked into the previously prepared food that emerged from our overflowing freezer.  Those of you who join us in Auckland for the annual January summer party will know that  Feest red peppers are always a given for that special lunch date when we see all of our kiwi friends together for the first time each year.  This year was summer party number eight!  It was strange making just one pepper as I normally make at least two dozen. I stop myself from thinking about what January next year will look like. One day at a time!

Tomorrow will be fifty days of lockdown and Terry will become the guest writer for Feest-Isolation-Days.  Every twenty five days he gets a go. I wonder how many he will have to do?  Or me for that matter! I have said I will keep writing as long as the lockdown is in place.  Thank you all for continuing to read my musings. It is such a comfort to know that even though I can’t see you all we are still in touch and I am able to share my feelings, thoughts and activities about all of this with you.

Life has certainly changed, but our close connections have not, we won’t let them!  We are in some ways even more connected to each other than we were in the past and that’s very special.

Amidst the personal trials some of you are facing, we each have a splendid place to live, plenty of food, the odd glass of champagne and each other.  The final toast we made on our special Champagne evening was to each and every one of you. We are fortunate indeed. 

“Always keep a bottle of Champagne in the fridge for special occasions. Sometimes, the special occasion is that you’ve got a bottle of Champagne in the fridge.”
― Hester Browne

And something to brighten the day……..

 Wishing you carefree days and Sweet Dreams! 

With Love

Kathy x

Feest Isolation Days – 1 May

Pinch punch first of the month! Saying ‘pinch punch for the first of the month’ is apparently a way of welcoming in a new month and protecting yourself from bad luck. Well we could use a little of that these days so pinch punch to you all. According to ancient playground rules, saying ‘pinch, punch’ must be followed by ‘white rabbits, no return’, which means you can’t be pinched and punched back.  This is something that hadn’t crossed the Atlantic when I was a child, or at least not that I remember. 

Another month has passed in Lockdown, and it is hard not to wonder how many more there may be.  As yesterday was Wednesday, it was cleaning day at our house.  The two of us set about it and several hours later, we were both knackered and in need of a sit down and a cuppa.  Besides taking a great deal of time, cleaning the house is a destroyer of nails.  I always wear nail polish not just for effect, but because I have very easily broken nails.  One thing I haven’t managed to find on our electronic super market shelves is nail polish remover.  Just my luck I was on the last teeny weeny bit when this lockdown happened. Nothing else gets nail varnish off your nails but polish remover and possibly house cleaning.  Maybe I might put some back on next week and see how I fare.

Meantime, in America the death rate from coronavirus has surpassed the death rate from the Vietnam war.  What a tragedy.  Of course the White House takes no responsibility for any of this.  My head is shaking as I type.

When we travelled to Vietnam a few years ago, we were struck by how gentle, kind and helpful the Vietnamese were.  We had a conversation with a cab driver in Hanoi and asked him how people viewed the Americans since the war. For the first time, I heard the war called the American War.  Our cab driver said that people didn’t hold a grudge, it wasn’t within the inherent nature of his countries people, and anyway they won!

When I was in High School, we marched in the streets against the war, male friends tried to think of ways to keep out of the army, and we watched the television news nightly showing the shocking bombing and the escalation of deaths in a place that not many of us had heard about before. I’m pleased to say, I also made it to Washington once and marched against the war there, too. 

To think that Covid-19 has claimed more lives than the Vietnam – or American -War if you’re from there – is truly heartbreaking.  So much more could have been done in America and sooner. 

Here, in Britain, we listen to the Daily Briefing and see the death figures begin to drop. Lockdown is tough, but when I remember that we are all doing our best to help save lives, it isn’t so difficult.  When we marched through the streets all those years ago we held lit candles and sang “all we are saying is give peace a chance” trying to save lives.  Perhaps our song now needs to become “all we are saying is listen to the science”.

When this is all over there will be plenty of time to consider what was done well and what could have been done better. The UK hasn’t got it all right that’s for sure. The Americans on the other hand at the moment look like they are losing another “war”.  Will they never learn?

Captain (now Colonel Tom) and Michael Ball….Number one at one hundred.  There IS hope for us all!

With love

Kathy x

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Feest Isolation Days – 30 April

Yesterday was rainy and the streets were empty.  A great time for a walk! I kitted up pulling on my raincoat and rain hat and a scarf and gloves.  Brrrr!  What a difference a day makes.  Terry had to stay in as he was expecting someone to collect a parcel and couldn’t leave it in the pouring rain.  So I ventured out on my own. It’s the first walk I have had without my husband for weeks.  I normally take a daily walk for an hour or more so this felt a real milestone.  The streets were deserted except for a few intrepid walkers and several irritating runners.  Do runners think they don’t have to move away if someone is coming towards them?  Three different runners all stayed their course as I walked and I made sure I gave them a very wide berth.  Strange.  I moved away from the few walkers there were and they did the same.  The bikers were few and far between, it was pouring!

The early gentle rain was exactly what the Doctor ordered for his garden. Soft and delicate rain, that didn’t bash anything to the ground and replenished the green of our lawn. Perfect! 

While we remain in lockdown here, New Zealanders are moving towards a different level of coronavirus public response today. I am becoming increasingly envious. Emails arrived from our favourite Auckland restaurant, and from my hairdresser there and even from a pool and Health Spa explaining their plans to reopen soon.  Although social distancing will remain in place, and there are rules for business to follow, New Zealanders must be enormously encouraged. 

Here, the newspaper headlines this morning were filled with the sort of words people wanted to hear.  “Hope In Sight”, “Turning The Tide”, “Not much Longer”.  All of these after Boris spoke and clearly said, the lockdown was still in place and there were not yet plans for the next phase until the governments five criteria are met.  They aren’t as easy to remember and are much longer than the, Stay Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives mantra.  As we will be carrying out that recommendation for awhile yet, perhaps it doesn’t matter that I can’t remember the exact wording of the five criteria.

Yesterday we heard that Boris and Carrie are welcoming a new son to Downing Street.  Always a thrilling moment no matter the circumstances the world finds itself in.  Today is a special day for us, too. Our son, Alexander, is thirty-eight and I would like to wish him a Wonderful and Happy day!  He shares his birthday with the man of the moment, Captain Tom who is one hundred today. Retired army captain Tom Moore, who has used a walking frame to move around since breaking his hip, set himself the target of walking the 25 metres around his garden 100 times before his 100th birthday today and hoped to raise one thousand pounds for the NHS.  He has now raised thirty MILLION pounds!  What a feat! Many government ministers and Boris during his “I’m back at work” speech mentioned Captain Tom who seems to have captured the spirit of this strange time.  Not bad for a man who is 100.

For all those having Birthdays in lockdown, we will need to remember to have an “unbirthday” celebration when we next see each other.  Lewis Carrol started the trend in Alice Through the Looking Glass in the 1800s, and A.A. Milne had Pooh celebrating unbirthdays in the 1900s. When that vaccination comes, and celebrations resume, we will remember to celebrate in the 2000s!

In the meantime, I leave you with my favourite Capt. Tom clip. We all need a bit of a lift and this certainly gave me that the first time I heard it.

Humpty sporting his unbirthday cravat given to him by the White King and Queen

With love

Kathy x

Feest Isolation Days – 29 April

The weather has changed. No more sun filled breakfasts in the garden for awhile.  Instead, cooler weather means jumpers are back on and shoes are worn with socks.  Jumpers.  Until I moved to England, these warm knitted things used to be called sweaters.  Why jumper? In America a jumper is a dress that you wear on top of a blouse or sweater.  On a cool coronavirus filled day it seemed the right time to see if I might find out. 

A “jumper” possibly derives from the word for a man’s short coat, or a women’s underbodice in the 1800’s. However, there doesn’t seem to be any real agreement on its origin. Well that cleared that up then!  A sweater, however, was the name given to a woollen top garment because it was something worn that would make the wearer sweat. The term “Sweater girl” began in Hollywood in the 1940s and Lana Turner was the first star given the sobriquet after her 1937 film They Won’t Forget,  when she wore a tight sweater over her ample bust.  She must also have made a few men sweat…she was married eight times.

Thinking about the origin of words, I thought I’d look up a few more that are currently part of our new vernacular. 

Lockdown. A “Lock” is a Germanic word for a fastening mechanism, or can also refer to a space enclosed by such a device, which explains its use as a barrier in a canal. To “lock in” or to “lock up” originates from the 15^th and 16^th Century.  Lockdown, didn’t become used until the 1970s. It became the term used to describe the confinement of inmates or people in psychiatric hospitals. With half the world under lockdown, it will be interesting to see what future historians have to say about this word and when it really entered mainstream usage.

Social distancing Social distancing measures date back to at least the fifth century. “Lepers shall dwell alone” according to the Book of Leviticus in the Bible.  During the flu pandemic in 1918, schools in some parts of America were closed, public gatherings were banned and other measures to keep people away from each other were implemented.  In Philadelphia, however, the city fathers allowed a mass parade, didn’t institute any form of distancing and the fatality rates soared. Just wait for the current figures to come out of those American States where they prefer to exercise their “right” to congregate rather than practice keeping a social distance.

The World Health Organisation would prefer if we used the term Physical Distancing because one thing we are NOT doing is social distancing!  Zoom, What’s App, phone calls, emails, all of these methods are being used regularly to keep in social contact. 

The term social distancing was first used in the early 2000s by the New York Times when a writer suggested it was the “more politically correct way of saying quarantine.”

I wonder if the author was wearing a sweater or a jumper when he/she wrote that!

Coronavirus: This pathogen got its name due to the spiky crown (or corona in Latin) that you can see on its surface.  Covid19 officially is the disease this latest coronavirus causes.

(Following Quoted verbatim from the WHO website as it was so well written and clear) 

Viruses, and the diseases they cause, often have different names.  HIV is the virus that causes AIDS.  People often know the name of a disease, but not the name of the virus that causes it.

Viruses are named based on their genetic structure to facilitate the development of diagnostic tests, vaccines and medicines. Virologists and the wider scientific community do this work, so viruses are named by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV).  

Diseases are named to enable discussion on disease prevention, spread, transmissibility, severity and treatment. Human disease preparedness and response is WHO’s role, so diseases are officially named by WHO in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD).

ICTV announced “severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)” as the name of the new virus on 11 February 2020.  This name was chosen because the virus is genetically related to the coronavirus responsible for the SARS outbreak of 2003.  While related, the two viruses are different.   

WHO announced “COVID-19” as the name of this new disease on 11 February 2020, having originally called it “2019 novel coronavirus”.

We won’t forget this pathogen soon will we?

Or the jokes that went with it….

A little light relief….

With love,

Kathy x

Feest Isolation Days – 28 April

Boris our PM is back at work, and one of the first things he did yesterday was speak to the country from outside of Number Ten. He was clear that lockdown rules are not changing yet. When the country is ready to move into the next phase of dealing with the virus, the rules will be guided by the science. This has been a constant statement that all of the government ministers have made repeatedly.   People are beginning to get a bit fidgety, and the PM delivered his message in typical upbeat calm them down, Boris fashion.  Not bad for a man who was fighting for his life just a few weeks ago.  As the coronavirus has necessitated all of us revisioning our lives, I suspect he has had to do that as well.

When our Waitrose delivery arrived last week, the key worker dropped off a Waitrose magazine along with all the shopping bags that I finally got round to reading yesterday. We left it sit on the floor in the hall so that any virus that might have got onto its surface would be long gone by the time I picked it up.  Flipping through the pages it was clear that this April edition went to press before there was a sniff of the virus, and way before we were in lockdown. Reading the articles dragged me back to a pre-virus time which I don’t often think about.  (Staying present and all that!) Page after glossy page was free of the  terms “coronavirus”, or “lockdown”, or “social distancing”. It was like looking at an artefact from a different era. Indeed it did come from a different era, one that ended only a few weeks ago. I didn’t feel the loss so heavily as I probably would have earlier in this lockdown, we clearly are getting used to our new status quo. The magazine’s luxurious pages gave a stark reminder in glorious colour of how the world has changed. There were all sorts of ideas for Easter with pictures of families gathering together to celebrate. Prettily decorated tables laden with food were shared by children and grandchildren sitting together with parents and grandparents. Delight spread across the faces of the different generations as they came together to enjoy the recipes we had been encouraged to make to do just that.  Gone.  Poof.  No longer relevant to the way we now live our lives.  The adverts for travel and the big splash to join the National Trust as the season is just about to open were salutary. There will be no travel, no visiting magnificent gardens owned by the National Trust, or anyone else for that matter, for quite some time.

Life in lockdown will change.  But who knows how or when?  We have to get through this phase first and then perhaps there might be some changes to how we can move around.  Businesses are already beginning to think about how they might operate in a Social Distancing world.  Restaurants will need to have enough space so patrons can distance.  Our favourite restaurant in Bristol, Pasta Loco hasn’t a hope.  The tables are squished together as it is and that is part of the charm.  The place is so small with social distancing they might have room for about four tables. 

How will hairdressers return to work, or massage therapists, or physiotherapists.  All these are hands on jobs and the one thing we aren’t able to do is touch. 

We had friends from the States who were meant to be having the week with us here. Another part of our old life. Poof. Gone. “Perhaps we’ll see you on your way to New Zealand in December” they suggested.  Will that be possible?  Will air travel resume by then? Will our lives be back to “normal” by then?  I wish I could think that was going to be the case, but I’m not holding my breath. 

Instead, I’ll keep breathing and watch the little plant babies in our garden as they grow and I’ll continue to write to you all and hope that, like me, you are finding a way to live this new life that we didn’t ask for.  Let’s all look forward to that time when we can see each other again. And hug!

For all of us, some days are no doubt easier than others, but we all must do our best.  There is little else we can do in lockdown.

And to cheer you up. We took a while to see this, best read out loud!

With love

Kathy x

Feest Isolation Days – 27 April

Yesterday was Sunday again!  Don’t weekends come around quickly?  We alter our routine on a Sunday, stay in bed longer, have a different breakfast, wear a zippier outfit.    When Terry asks what I would like to do today, I suggest we go out for Brunch. So we did!  Out to the garden….at Chez Feest!  The weather is splendid and all the walkers and runners think so too. I have never seen so many people pass by our road.  I watch them from the safety of the upstairs bedroom window.  A stressed Mother berating her child for not stopping at the corner, a couple of runners steaming away, the woman trying to keep up and failing, a family with three little ones on bikes like little ducklings following behind Mum. The new coronavirus world passes by.

When I eventually head into the drawing room, the flowers take my breath away.  The posy that arrives from Reg the Veg each Friday is on the bookcase in front of the window and the sun has lit it as though it was a painting in an art museum. The beauty calms me and creates a serene few moments. Not a bad way to begin a day!

My blogs and emails and journal and everything else I write (except for my novels) have a fair share of explanation marks. As I use them so frequently, I thought I’d find out where they came from.  The ! comes from the Latin, as does so much of our language!  The exclamation point was invented by placing letters on top of each other.  In this case, the Latin, io which means literally the “exclamation of joy”.  When it is written with the i above the o it forms the mark we still use. Go on – write it down and marvel at the marvellous mark!  This was such a lovely idea I had to look up several scholars to make sure it was accurate.  According to the three people I have consulted (where would be without Mr. Google? Oh, I remember the library!) they seem to concur.  The exclamation mark was born in the middle ages.  It wasn’t given its own key on typewriters until the 1970’s.  Until then you had to type a period and then go back a space and place an apostrophe over it.  Unless of course, you owned an Olivetti Lettera 22 which was ahead of the rest with an exclamation mark in the 1950’s.

Although I don’t use if very often, I couldn’t help but look up the origination of the ampersand – &.  This one is equally fascinating!  This symbol again comes from the Latin, et  for “and.” Marcus Tullius Tiro invented it in the first century B.C. but the name we all call it today didn’t arrive until much later. Jan Tschichold, a typographer wrote an entire booklet on the history and development of the ampersand in 1953. He says the ampersand mark was the 27^th letter of the alphabet in the 1800’s and had no name.  School children ended their practice of the ABC’s with XYZ& “and, per se and which means and”.  Over time, their words were garbled together into the word we now use – and per se means and. & !

There are marvels in the world for certain and Sundays are a good day to remember that even if we can’t go out to find them, we are so fortunate to have them at our fingertips.  As long as the electricity keeps going, we can discover all sorts to help us through the days of this virus. 

Here’s hoping you all have a joyous week ahead!

You may have seen this one already, but I have always liked a smart ass!!!

With love,

Kathy x

Feest Isolation Days – 26 April

Migraines! They really are a bore.  I have been getting these damn things all of my  life.  When they arrive there is nothing to do but take some sumatriptan, lie down and let them pass.  However, because I now turn into Wonderwoman every night for twenty minutes or so, the length of these excruciating headaches has shortened. The little piece of kit I wear on my forehead has become an invaluable part of my armoury in my never ending tussle with the headaches from hell. Migraines run in the family – my grandmother, my mother, my sister, her son, all of us get them.  It’s better now since triptans are around, thank you once again to the Scientists of the world! My Wonderwoman device hasn’t eliminated them, but believe me, it is much better having only part of the day instead of the entire day given over to sleep, nausea and throb.  The device that turns me into Wonderwoman is called a Cefaly and we have become good mates.  If you or someone you know has migraines, please investigate this. NICE has done some evaluation of its efficacy and the results are excellent. Thanks go to my big sister for telling me all about it!

You might have guessed I had one of these little horrors yesterday.  It’s so unfair!  There is no rhyme or reason.  I haven’t had any wine for days, no chocolate, don’t feel stressed and wham!  At least they eventually go away…

Before I turn into Wonderwoman again, I thought I’d find out a bit more about her roots. She’s been a part of the vernacular for so long we all know her as a good Comic Book woman who wears a tiara.  What we probably don’t know is that her inventor, William Moulton Marston, was a Psychologist with a PhD from Harvard who was interested in behaviour. He established DISC, a test to identify predictable actions and personality traits within human behaviour.  Many of us are probably more familiar with the Myers Briggs personality tests which identifies personal preferences in human perception and judgement (I’m an ENFP).  Both of these tests measure characteristics of personality but they approach it in slightly different ways. Marston’s work was published in the late 1920’s and Myers Briggs followed in the 1940s; both are still widely used today.

Marston based our comic Wonderwoman on his wife, Elizabeth, and their “life partner” Olive.  Both women lived with him, had his children and when he died the two women remained together until their deaths. Olive always wore heavy bracelets and these were the basis for the bullet stopping bracelets Wonderwoman still wears today. He gave Wonderwoman a Golden Lasso which forces those she captures into submission, and when in her lasso they must obey her and, importantly, tell the truth.  Marston is also credited with developing the lie detector test

In the Comic book realm, Wonderwoman is usually in chains before she breaks free.  That sounds about right to me. Look out coronavirus, there’s more than one Wonderwoman after you at the moment.  And she always, but always wins the day!  As Marston, said about his creation, “Frankly, Wonder Woman is psychological propaganda for the new type of woman who, I believe, should rule the world.”

Jacinda Ardern the NZ PM  actually looks a bit like his original vision……

• 

• 

…………….Wonderwoman? ………………… ……..Jacinda? ………………

Have a great day!

With love,

Kathy x

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/IPG559/documents/overview-2

Feest Isolation Days – 25 April

Words are so important these days! We can’t quite pick up the body language that often helps us with clues about what people really mean. Zoom and other electronic means of communication only go so far.   

Somebody ought to explain the importance of words, (and how to make complete sentences!), to the President of the United States.  Not only are his words foolish but dangerous.  Drink bleach?  Enough said on that.

With so many threatening words around, it seemed a good time to have some fun with words!  If you haven’t seen this before, every year, The Washington Post publishes the winning submissions in its neologism (a newly coined word or expression) contest. It’s fairly long but very wonderful so my words are shorter than usual. Hope you laugh as much as we both did! Enjoy!

Once again The Washington Post has published the winning submissions to its yearly neologism contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternative meanings for common words.

The winners are:

1. Coffee (n.), the person upon whom one coughs.

2. Flabbergasted (adj.), appalled over how much weight you have gained.

3. Abdicate (v.), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.

4. Esplanade (v.), to attempt an explanation while drunk.

5. Willy-nilly (adj), impotent.

6. Negligent (adj.), describes a condition in which you absentmindedly answer the door in your nightgown.

7. Lymph (v.), to walk with a lisp.

8. Gargoyle (n.),  olive-flavoured mouthwash.

9. Flatulence (n.), emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are run over by a steamroller.

10. Balderdash (n.), a rapidly receding hairline.

11. Testicle (n.), a humorous question on an exam.

12. Rectitude (n.), the formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.

13. Pokemon (n.), a Rastafarian proctologist.

14. Oyster (n.), a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.

15. Frisbeetarianism (n.), (back by popular demand): The belief that, when you die, your soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.

16. Circumvent (n.), an opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.

The Washington Post’s Style Invitational also asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition.

The winners are:
-Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.

-Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period.

–Sarchasm (n): The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn’t get it.

-Inoculatte (v): To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.

-Osteopornosis (n): A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)

– Karmageddon (n): It’s like, when everybody is sending off all these Really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it’s like, a serious bummer.

– Glibido (v): All talk and no action.

– Arachnoleptic fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you’ve accidentally walked through a spider web.

– Caterpallor (n.): The color you turn after finding half a grub in the fruit you’re eating.

And the pick of the literature:

– Ignoranus (n): A person who’s both stupid and an asshole.

And if you haven’t yet seen this one….

With love,

Kathy x

Feest Isolation Days – 24 April

Yesterday I took part in a research group’s online questionnaire examining current behaviours during the coronavirus pandemic. The UK participants in this international study are Nottingham Trent University and the London School of Economics. One of the initial questions asked the participant to list the first names of all those people you have had contact with over the past seven days and how that contact was made; by email, face to face, phone, phone and vision, etc.  The form only left enough room for twenty people and my spaces were quickly filled. It may seem as though we aren’t in touch with many people because the method of our communication has changed, but when we stop and reflect on our social interaction reality may shift. It did for me! The other questions were also well formed and, like all good research, made me stop and think about areas of my life that I hadn’t before.  The link is at the bottom of the page if you fancy participating. 

Not everything that comes into your inbox is always of interest but I love the excuse that people “don’t have time” to respond to something at the moment. Don’t  they really mean I don’t want to, or, don’t choose to, but don’t have time?  I can understand this is not only possible but likely from hard pushed parents who are trying to work, home school the kids, and keep the house going, but those of us not working or retired really don’t have those pressures on us anymore.  Perhaps it’s always been the response we’ve given to everything we’d prefer not to do. There is plenty of time to sort out my clothes cupboards and tidy up the wardrobe. I just don’t want to!  What don’t you want to do at the moment that you actually have plenty of time for?  It is interesting when you stop and think about it.  There are plenty of things I really don’t want to make time for, but the things I want to do?  They are happening and will continue.  I guess I always wanted to bake cakes. Another new one on the way this weekend!

Our rejuvenating walk of earlier this week has stayed with me. When my eyes close there are green fields and the horses that munched the grass are standing there staring at me. Most of the horses we met were behind electric fences, but three stood in a field bounded by the river and they weren’t fenced in.  Terry took a wide berth but I walked right by them. Of course they were curious and interested and started to head towards me, but I shooed them away.

The house I grew up in was a five minute walk to a vast field where about four horses were fenced in by a single electric wire that was easy to crawl under when you were about eleven or twelve. My visits to the horses, especially during summer vacation, meant they ended up with daily sugar cubes or handfuls of grass.  We got to be great friends. One day I couldn’t help myself, and somehow managed to climb up on the white stallion who didn’t seem to mind.  Riding bareback we jaunted across the field. I didn’t tell anyone about my rides until one day I didn’t have a choice. 

“What are you doing riding my horse?” It was the owner and I knew I was in big trouble.  “Come down here!”  I dutifully obeyed, but first I leaned forward and quietly said goodbye and thank you to Star, patting his mane before I hopped off and went towards Mr. Dounce. “Does your Mother know you’re here?” I shook my head.  “This isn’t the first time you’ve been on my Star is it?”  My head shook from side to side. “You can’t just go and ride horses without asking permission. You’re going to have to pay for your riding.” There was a long silence and he finally said, “Until you go back to school, you can muck out the barn and feed the horses – if you’re mother agrees. She did, I did, and my love of horses grew and my riding continued.

Later, when I was in High School, one of my friends had several appaloosas and we got up early and fed and watered them before we headed off to school. Some days in the winter it meant breaking through the ice that had formed on their trough. Eventually I became a city girl which meant my riding became a thing of the past. Thanks to an irascible but kind childhood neighbour and the best first horse ever, my love of horses remains. When I tried returning to riding many years later, my back wasn’t up to it anymore. Horses have never ever frightened me, and I’m grateful that I had the opportunity to enjoy the riding when I could. I sometimes wonder if I had experienced cows and bulls as a child if I would feel differently about meeting them on long country walks.  Somehow, I doubt it!

Research study if you fancy taking part:

https://distancing-covid19-survey.herokuapp.com/study?tid=79OP8Al5&lg=en

Love,

Kathy x

Feest Isolation Days – 23 April

Sometimes the day improves all at once in a great big hurry and it’s hard to be anything other than delighted and amazed.  Matt Hancock the Health Secretary says that testing humans with the virus that Oxford has been working on will begin today.  That has to be the best news!  Professor Sarah Gilbert is fairly confident that her teams efforts are going to produce a vaccine – she gives the results an 80% chance of success.  Even if the vaccine is proven to be effective there is a long long way from “lab to jab” as Sir Patrick Vallance, the Chief Scientific officer puts it. Nevertheless, an improvement in the news of late for certain.

Terry and I went for a walk yesterday. A proper within-the-guidelines-half-an-hour drive-from-home walk. We walked for over four miles and passed two other couples with their pooches and one gentlemen on his own. Waking just after six, the egg sandwiches and flask of tea were ready by six thirty. They were carefully packed into Terry’s backpack along with Teddy. (see Day6) The air was colder than I anticipated and until the sun was up and shining with its full intensity my teeth chattered.  The expanse of fields, the views beyond of gentle hills, an old castle, spires of ancient churches and the fresh green of the trees took us away from the world.  It could have been the 1800’s. Or 1900’s.  The walk meandered beside a gentle burbling river that Terry might have fished given other circumstances.  The experience was restorative.

Good things often come in threes and the third amazing experience was a one to one Pilates class with Simone in New Zealand.  The Pilates studio there – Physio Pilates – has been our favourite for years.  Richard, our usual teacher is an extraordinary physiotherapist and we are grateful to have found him. I’m not certain he’s taking one to ones outside physio clients so the gifted Simone now has my name in her diary for every Wednesday morning at seven am her time, eight pm mine. The New Zealand connection feels so right.  Thank you Zoom!

Suddenly I remember that this is day FORTY.  That feels a milestone, one of many on this coronavirus journey I fear.  Forty days and nights for Jesus’ fasting; the reason there are forty days in lent. Forty days when  Noah (the man with the Ark) decides to send a raven outside to have a look at the situation. Maybe I shouldn’t get too excited about forty days.  Jesus was tempted by the devil during his fasting time, and Noah had another two hundred and some days to go. And my day was going so well…

Forty years of marriage is celebrated with rubies.  Now this forty is more to my liking! Rubies symbolise that the passion in a marriage is still very much alive and strong.  My fingers are graced with quite a few ruby rings as it’s also the birth stone for July. Not only is my birthday in July but so was my Mum-in-laws, the lovely Doris, and her Mum’s as well. The men in all of our lives bought us gorgeous ruby rings. Touching these stones on my fingers reminds me that these rings have been worn by women in this family for more than a hundred years. I’m comforted. They and their rings have been through much much worse. Forty days isn’t so long. There may be a lot longer to go, but we’ll cope. I’ll just stroke my rings when I need a little boost.  The women who went before loaded them up with the strength from their lifetime.  I’ll do my best to add mine to the mix for the next generation who’ll wear them.  A few more walks in the English countryside are also definitely in order.

An early Bill Cosby….

https://www.google.co.uk/search?source=hp&ei=1zqhXsH8Bo2tUsyIvPAB&q=bill+cosby+what%27s+a+cubit&oq=bill+cosby+what&gs_lcp=CgZwc3ktYWIQARgAMgIIADICCAA6DggAEOoCELQCEJoBEOUCOgUIABCDAToECAAQCjoGCAAQChADOgQIABADOgcIABBGEPsBULU_WIF4YMyJAWgEcAB4AIABvwGIAcoKkgEEMTkuMZgBAKABAaoBB2d3cy13aXqwAQY&sclient=psy-ab#spf=1587624683246

With love,

Kathy x

Feest Isolation Days – 22 April

Our lovely friends who live a ten minute walk across the Downs needed fizzy water.  While most of what they need comes back from the shops after an early morning walk, carrying heavy bottles of water is a step too far. Mr. Waitrose obliged. Our delivery arrived from there yesterday and we carefully washed everything and put it all away or left it in the hall for any virus to deteriorate before it hit the store cupboard. This is becoming a routine and we are getting quite used to. It was good to be able to supply some water to our friends and it gave me the perfect opportunity to take my car out for a spin. I haven’t driven anywhere in it for forty or so days and it needed a good run.  That’s my excuse anyway. I also needed to get out and be in the world for a minute or ten. Safely ensconced in my car, I was able to do that.  The world is a spring fest and quite beautiful. The sun is shining and the sky is perfectly blue.  The Downs are filled with too many people to easily socially distance so  we’ll save walking there for rainy days when no one else is interested. There weren’t too many cars, but plenty of cyclists. 

For the first time since the twenty mile an hour speed limit was introduced in Bristol, I wasn’t grouchy about it.  I drove slowly and stayed under the limit for the entire drive.  The grocery stores all had long queues, but none of the butcher shops or vegetable shops I passed did.  I wasn’t out for long, but it was enough.  Social creatures sometimes need to be amongst others.  I spoke to no one on my drive, yet had exchanges with other drivers.  The friendly flashing of headlights to say thanks for letting someone pass happened twice.  There was a young man on a side road sitting on top of a digger, shirtless and sporting an excellent tan.  He moved his machine so I could pass and  gave me the thumbs up when he thought it possible.  He had gorgeous blue eyes and rippling muscles. You notice this sort of thing when you haven’t seen people for a while.

Life does feel as it has slowed down way below twenty miles an hour at the moment.  It won’t go back to a normal speed for quite some time.  When the virus is somehow contained by whatever means that will be, we will go out again regularly.  Those of us who have lived through this time will no doubt always be hand washers and leery of anyone who coughs in our presence.  I wore gloves to take the water out of the car, sanitised them when I’d finished, then removed them and used another sanitizer on my hands.  When I got home I washed my hands.  There will no doubt be all sorts of routines and practices that we’ll take into the next phase of our lives.

What is important is that we live our lives.  Now, today, each day, we can’t wait until things get back to “normal”.  We have to find those moments that give us joy in our day, and not get discouraged when we get bored or sad or feel down.  It’s going to happen.  When they occur, dig deep. Look for those surprises that touch you, and ladies! Put that make up on. It helps. Perhaps a friend needs some water and you could take a little drive?  Worked for me!

A little video of something surprising. Enjoy!

And….. a thought….

With love

Kathy x

Feest Isolation Days – 21 April

We listened to Elgar over breakfast this morning – the Enigma variations – and although we’ve heard it dozens of times, it felt fresh and new and necessary.  Music speaks to us at the moment when there are not too many other voices that we hear. There has always been music in our home, whether it is me doing my vocal warm ups every morning in the shower and as I dress, or the classical music that is playing in my study as I work, or Hey Google who lives in the kitchen and sets us up mostly with Radio New Zealand Concert. 

Choir has been on a Monday night for years now and I find myself yearning to sing with a group more and more. It just isn’t the same on Zoom.  At least it keeps our vocal cords limber if we sing along with others. I say we, my dear husband, bless him, loves music and listens to it regularly but can’t sing a note. I have tried, but he really cannot match a note he hears. It’s a shame, as if he could find his musical voice, I suspect it would be excellent as he has such a wonderful deep and velvety speaking voice.

My bass clarinet is sitting in its case underneath the spare desk in my study and looking at me mournfully. If not now – when?  It seems to be asking. When I was in school, I was given my older brother’s clarinet to play. We were all meant to learn an instrument and as the youngest of three, I didn’t get to choose, it was the old clarinet or nothing. Greg, my brother who was six years older than me, was a superb musician. He was the first chair first clarinettist in the school orchestra. At one of his final concerts he gave the conductor quite a shock when he stood and played his solo piece without the benefit of any music. The same conductor was also a sensible man, and when I got to High School he moved me from the clarinet to the bass clarinet.  I was never going to become a first chair clarinettist, but as there were only two of us playing bass clarinet, we were always joint first chair. Clever man. 

As an adult I have played in a few orchestras, but realised several years ago I had to make a decision. To sing or to play – I couldn’t do both.  Singing won out and I don’t regret that for an instant.  Until my bass clarinet peeks out from the desk and I wonder…maybe now would be the time to pick it up again?  ook out neighbours if I do, I am very rusty!

There will be no Wimbledon to distract me this year. This morning I read an article about Novak Djokovic, last year’s winner. The  Serbian said he is “opposed to vaccinations  and wouldn’t want to be forced to take one’. This may mean he loses the ability to play and his world number one status. It also means in my book that he may be a great tennis player, but a really stupid man. When did vaccination get this sort of reputation? I shall be the first in the queue, but I suspect there will be a lot of other sensible people in front of me! Maybe while Djokovic is having some down time in his Monaco home, he might like to brush up on some science.  Or death rates that occurred in the world from earlier pandemics before modern medicine intervened.

Meantime, the little girl who lives next door is walking around and around her garden for some exercise. I suspect when she can she’ll happily have a vaccination and will be grateful to return to the life she used to live. 

Clap for Carers is each Thursday, and if I have anything to say about it, I’d like to also Clap for Scientists!  They are working round the clock for humanity at the moment. Let’s hope they find what we all need sooner rather than later.

My Bass Clarinet out of its case! 

And some musical entertainment…

With love,

Kathy x

p.s. I have not yet heard the bass clarinet being played. Ed.

Feest Isolation Days – 20 April

Duck!  Terry made duck for dinner. It was Sunday and very special indeed. And we certainly needed something of a boost.  The Sunday papers that we read on line in the morning were filled with all sorts of commentators telling us how the government got it all wrong, or what is going to happen next, or various versions of doom and gloom. Some days I don’t want to hear what so and so thinks about it all. I want more  facts, not comment or supposition, but facts. Here’s one…the Southwest is coping and the doctors are actually not busy attending to a huge number of people on ventilators.  That doesn’t appear in the news or the commentators remarks.  Shame really, because it is important to hear. 

It was shocking to read about the poor kids of Spain who haven’t been allowed out of their homes in six weeks.  No fresh air, no outside. I can’t imagine that especially with little ones.  It was heartbreaking to read about and I hope that severe restriction is soon over.  I hear my neighbour’s kids kicking a ball and thumping a bat and another neighbour’s kids screaming with delight at whatever they are getting up to outside.  How on earth did the Spanish kids and their parents cope?

We spent Sunday doing the things we would normally do on a Sunday…minus visits to or from the kids or to and from friends.  And there was no long country walk or swim in the outdoor pool.   Instead, I spent some time organising my writing which has got into a bit of a muddle, and Terry organised his garden shed. We used to own a garage but it hasn’t had a car in it for all the time we have lived here.  It makes a great garden shed though! Once we put the papers aside, it felt a pleasant, uneventful, and surprisingly normal day.  Some days it feels important to switch off from what anyone has to say about the virus and just tuck up in our lovely home together.  We marvel as the beech tree seems to have gone into leaf in a weekend.

When I finish all the work I set for myself I wish there was a rugby match to watch. I used to enjoy American Football, the sport I grew up with and then over the years, my allegiance shifted.  I love rugby and know the difference between a ruck and a maul – in a ruck, the ball is on the ground. In a maul, the ball is generally in the hands of a player. But will I remember these details of the game when they are back on and we can watch them again?  Probably not…

Football, or as the Americans call it, soccer, has never been my favourite game but we’re currently watching The English Game which is a Netflix original series and excellent.  The characters are based on real people and I learn that, like rugby, football began as a game for the upper classes.  That I did not know. I can hum the theme tune of Match of the Day though as it’s always on in this house, and I do watch the World Cup. I’m not quite sure what the offside rule is but I’m reminded every four years.  I wonder how sports will crawl out of the coronavirus lockdown. Or in fact how we will. It is going to be a long time before we can go out and not socially distance and hug our family and friends.  We are lucky here.  We can and do hug each other regularly.  If you are at home with a loved one, give more hugs than usual.  They are the only hugs coming your or their way!  Enjoy the day, it’s all yours so give it your lockdown best! This sports commentator is….

A BBC Sports Broadcaster is Now Calling Games Between His Dogs and It’s Amazing

With love,

Kathy x

Feest Isolation Days – 18 April

I shouldn’t have looked at my diary.  It should have stayed hidden along with the rest of my life and then I wouldn’t have thought about not going to listen to the concert we booked months and months ago.  It’s a bit like picking at a scab when you were a kid.  You want to see what it makes you feel like so you pick and pick. I’m not a kid but it felt as bad as when I was one.  I looked further and saw other things that I, and we, missed. There were your names beside some of these dates and I felt sad. Too many bits of our lives have drifted away and we aren’t able to do anything about it.  This damn virus!  Some days it just smacks you in the face and you have to dig deep, really deep not to let the situation get the better of you. 

A nurse in Southmead Hospital in Bristol died.  Another pregnant nurse died elsewhere and I shut my eyes and silently grieve for them both and want to hug the daughter of the first nurse, and cuddle the baby of the second.  Instead, I carry on doing the things I do and thanking whatever I thank when I am grateful for the air, the sun, the flowers the birds. Rest in peace.

Then out of nothing and from nowhere, you take a deep breath and have a cuppa and don’t let yourself swirl down into those grim feelings that are lingering just next to the number of deaths and the response that you have to them.  Big sigh.  Deep breath.

The lockdown is to stay in place for at least another three weeks.  When it is lifted, who knows what will happen.  There won’t be a way of avoiding the many many more days we oldies will be asked to stay put.  So we have to carry on and do what we can do from where we are.

My neighbour has started a sewing group and they are making facemasks for the local hospital. I try and get the message out a bit to friends who can sew. Not a skill I possess.  We all have to do what we can.

Another neighbour in her late eighties needs some help from carers and doesn’t know how to find anyone to visit her at home. This is something I can help with.   There are systems in place that are working and when you eventually find the number there are even people at the end of some of them instead of recordings promising to phone you back.  A young man gave me helpful information and suggested that my neighbour call him directly. She did and phoned me back to say she had an amazing day and would be getting the help she needed.  

During the afternoon, I washed all the fruit and vegetables our key worker delivery man brought to us, then turned to the butcher’s bag and did the same. Routines are changing, and besides the washing (!) I spent a great deal of the afternoon ironing.  Clare, who has been doing our ironing for over twenty-five years would have done it in half the time. I don’t know how she does it!  When this is all over, maybe I’ll get a lesson.  In the meantime, she has her boys to look after and we converse by text. 

My husband continues to create and develop our garden. He had to hack away at a large plant that had died. Even though there is no food growing, the garden feeds us in important ways. 

Tomorrow is another day.  And then there will be another.  And they all belong to us until they don’t.  Enjoy what you can and stay strong.  This too shall eventually pass!

Sometimes a bit of beauty and an extra yoga stretch does it.  Or helping a friend.

So here is a little beauty…

And finally….

 A guy burned both of his ears.. so the hospital doctor asked him how it happened.

He said,” I was ironing and the phone rang. Instead of the phone I picked up the iron and burned my ear.

“But how the heck did you burn the other ear?” The doctor asked.

He replied, “They called back.”

With love

Kathy x