Feest Isolation Days

Feest Isolation Days – 6 April 2020

Sunday I left the virus behind for a bit after watching some of the Andrew Marr show. He interviewed the man he called Professor Lockdown.  Neil Ferguson, an epidemiologist led the team from Imperial College that has been a major influence on the government’s strategy and policy.  I fast forwarded to listen to Matt Hancock.  I am becoming increasingly annoyed at the way the press are trying to make the government the bad guys in this battle.  Andrew Marr has become more and more aggressive over the months and his interviewing technique hasn’t improved. My irritation with him led to a switch off of the telly and also the pings of the What’s App that usually send funny things my way.  Instead, I spent time just sitting on the swing with my husband with a cuppa and enjoying the sunshine while it lasted.

Two apples in the fruit bowl looked like they were nearing the end of their life, so I decided it was time to do something with them. I’m not usually a cake baker, but the blueberries that came earlier in the week blended beautifully with the apples.  Making a cake felt such a normal thing to do.  I spent longer on the internet trawling through recipes then I did making my batter.  The results were delicious and if anyone wants the recipe drop me a line and I’ll save you an hour of looking and share the web address. 

We’ve been eating two meals a day since this began and it seems to work well.  Breakfast or brunch and then an earlier than we used to eat meal in the evening.  With all those cakes though I can’t imagine that I will lose any weight.  At least I hope not to gain any.  The best one can hope for at this stage I think.

The Queen was brilliant, effective and reassuring.  Whatever you think of the monarchy, at times like this having a great grandmother speak to us who has been through so much is quite special. At ninety-three her reminding us that we have the ability to do this and “we will meet again” echoing Dame Vera Lynn from World War Two was impressive.

I haven’t heard any updates on the Health Minister of New Zealand, but there is another Health Chief contending for the award for biggest health idiot of the Pandemic. The Chief Medical Officer from Scotland thought it might just be a good idea to go to her second home in Fife an hour or so away from Edinburgh – twice.  The family joined her.  Against her own and her governments advice.  This morning the news says she resigned, well at least she got that right! 

The other worrying news this morning is that Boris has been taken into hospital for “tests”.  He apparently says he can still run the government.  Hmmm.  We will all be watching for those results Boris. Now is not the time to lose you, even though we never wanted you in the first place. Get better soon and fast please!

Let’s hope for a good week with some bright spots in it that make us remember that this too shall pass and as our Queen said, “We will meet again!”   Keep taking deep breaths, and be grateful that we are where we are and not in a third world country or a refugee camp.  Life may not be easy for all of us, but it could be a lot more difficult. 

The cake…

On the swing…..

And for amusement, the old and technology……

With love,

Kathy  x

Feest Isolation Days – 5 April 2020

The sun is shining and we are all told not to go out. Stay at home!  Matt Hancock told us it’s an instruction. We’re listening Matt!  How privileged we are to have a garden to sit in and enjoy.  The glorious tulips, now at their peak, were planted last year by my personal in-house gardener before there was a sniff of virus around and before the world was in lockdown.

We have photographed the garden several times in the past few weeks and shared the results with you.  What we notice as we spend so much time sitting outside (except for the in-house gardener who is constantly doing something out there) is that not only does the garden change daily, but almost hourly as the sun moves around and the tulips open and close.  There is a bunch of red tulips that have daffodils behind them and depending on the light, the daffodils are befriending them or waving at them or just being petulant and ignoring them. There are many tulip stories. 

Yesterday I joined one hundred and fifty other singers as we participated in a “Stay and Sing” as opposed to the usual “Come and Sing.”  Each of us were in our own homes with our headphones on.  Hilary the Bristol Choral Society Musical Director took us through our paces at breakneck speed. We sang Mr. Mozart’s Coronation Mass. Two hours of learning and then singing together.  Except we couldn’t hear each other. Instead we sang along as Hilary conducted us and a pre recorded Mass came through our headphones. We saw each other via Zoom, and could send brief written chat messages.  It wasn’t perfect but beats not singing at all.  Choir becomes something else up there with walking and swimming that I miss.  I’m sure we will all get together and do more of this sort of thing on Zoom.  We singers are fortunate that it’s possible for us to practice our hobby from anywhere. 

The key is to do enough and not too much of whatever it is you enjoy, as  our young next door neighbour the batsman discovered. The thud thud of the ball on the back of the net had been absent for a few days, and I discovered that the silence was due to the blisters on his hands.  Invaluable lessons continue to be learned throughout all of this. 

The NHS has now placed everyone who retired in the past six years back on the Medical Register.  Terry is once again a Professor of Medicine.  He hasn’t yet heard how he can help from home, but will happily do so.  He has a way of calming people down with his deep and reassuring voice, and would be a welcome presence at the end of a phone disseminating information or mentoring young stressed doctors.  Watch this space.

The Queen is going to speak to the Nation today, and according to the BBC, she is going to tell us among other things, “that the attributes of self-discipline, of quiet good humoured resolve and of fellow feeling still characterise this country.”

The psychologists tell us to keep taking deep breaths, and most importantly stay connected. 

As it’s Sunday, here’s a heart warming video. Some firemen from the Czech Republic

And I couldn’t resist this Sylvia Plath poem called Tulips. 

Yet another photo of red tulips and their friendly daffodil escort. One can never have enough pictures of flowers!

Happy Sunday.

With love,

Kathy

Feest Isolation Days – 4 April 2020

Saturday used to mean going to the market and eating the most wonderful croissants ever- brought to us by the people at Farro. The queues around the stall in the middle of our local market on Apsley Road suggests we weren’t the only family who loved these delicious weekly treats.  Sadly, the Farro website says they are trying to figure out what to do at the moment and will be closed until further notice until they have a plan.  There are only two bakers! The picture on their website of a young man with a never-ending smile means, hopefully, that the two of them will be able to figure out some way to carry on baking. I hope so!

We watched the National Theatre production of Two Guvnors on Thursday and in my gloomy mood yesterday I forgot to mention how funny it was.  Honestly, we laughed till we cried.  The opening scene didn’t grab either of us and I wasn’t sure that it was going to translate from the theatre to our living room, but by ten minutes or so in, we were hooked.  It’s slapstick and may not be to everyone’s taste but we loved it. The dining scene is a tour de force!  (Surely “Tour de Farce”! – Ed)

Hmmm. What is it about food today? Last night was Friday and so it was a dining room meal.  We had lamb with rhubarb and mint and poached plums for desert. The candles were lit and the wine was poured. These routines aren’t so bad really are they?

For the past two days the Health Minister, Matt Hancock – or as Terry calls him the Prime Minister in Waiting – has been chairing the Number Ten press briefings. He answers all the questions, has a clear strategy and agrees that they may not get it all right, but the plan is in place.  He has been off with the virus and has returned full of energy and vigour. The people around him are articulate and honest and it is refreshing to see.  The Tories are not the Tories at the moment.  Thank heaven.  He wiped out over a billion pounds of NHS debt, in addition to all of the other plans now in place, and that didn’t even make the headlines.  Strange times indeed.  There will still be frontline workers not yet tested, or properly gowned up in PPE, but there is hope for the future. Matt’s honesty and humanity is evident.

Contrast him to the in a spot of bother Health Minister in New Zealand.  The PM there must be spitting tacks.  The Health Minister jumped into his car with his bicycle and went off to a mountain bike park so he could get some exercise. Not a good example.  Bet they have a new Health Minister soon!

A bicycle sound treat for you today. Enjoy!

And greetings from dinner last night.

Love

Kathy x

Feest Isolation Days – 3 April 2020

A sneeze!  A cough.  Oh dear.  Is it the dreaded disease?  How could it be?  We’ve been indoors for twenty days.  It’s just a sneeze.  Why am I getting jumpy?  Bristol is not in the top ten for cases per 100,000 people.  I’m not sure where we are but this top ten is a pleasure to avoid. Most of the time we manage our worries and just get on. We clean and disinfect everything that comes into the house, don’t go out, no one visits. Yet sometimes that feeling of anxiety arrives and we’re reminded that our new lifestyle is not one of our own choice but came upon us courtesy of a virus that is trying to find its way into lives all over the world.

There are plans to develop a new hospital in Bristol, like those springing up all over the country. It helps me to discover the source of my current anxiety. Creating a new hospital at a Conference Centre at the University of the West of England that could take up to one thousand ventilated patients brings the epidemic into sharp focus.  Lots and lots of people are going to contract this disease. I always knew that, but reading about the local plans no one wants to talk about shakes my hard won equilibrium. There is no news that doesn’t include the words coronavirus.  Newspaper headlines (read online) screech about masks, personal protection equipment, and the television network presenters sit in front of graphics of the virus that are seared into our brains.  Daily reminders are something you learn how to process and then something new comes along and you have to recalibrate and

refocus attention on whatever it was that got you stable and coping in the first place.

There are going to be days like this I suppose. Stuck inside, unable to help. We’ve only been indoors for twenty days.  We probably have at least another hundred or so to go. We all have to dig deep.  A friend told me yesterday all the jokes were beginning to wear a bit thin.  Perhaps too much of a good thing can be just as unhelpful as too much of a bad thing.

A next door neighbour’s son whacks his cricket bat against something that makes a thudding noise and he expresses the frustration we all share.  My heart goes out to kids all over the country living their lives indoors and unable to go to school, meet their friends or do any of the things kids normally do.  Still haven’t heard from my friend about how we can help organise something for those who haven’t got the resources to buy the things that will help them through this.  I will chase that up!  Something positive to do.

I heard from a New Zealand pal yesterday. She spoke about drinking a very nice bottle of wine and I remembered the generosity she and her husband showed us when they cracked open a very expensive and gorgeous wine for a special dinner she had cooked for the four of us.  Chicken cooked outdoors on top of tea tree leaves and branches. The delicious smell of the smouldering leaves permeated the outdoor dining area. We peered over the treetops and tall palms down to the sea and watched the boats gently rocking on their mooring as cool jazz played on the Ipod and the sun set.  The evening was warm and the food and wine were as special as our human connection. That seems like another lifetime.  Actually it was only two months ago.  Those memories of the smell of the wood smoke and the cool breeze of the evening and the delicious friendship are worth tapping into just now.  And they always will be.  What memories do you have to get you through your trickier days?

Time for a few deep breaths and to get on with the rest of the day in our magnificent home. Sitting in our spring garden, it’s easy to forget why we aren’t going anywhere. And sometimes that isn’t such a bad thing.

Something beautiful to look at! – from the garden now….

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A little something for your exercise…

Enjoy.

With love

Kathy x

Feest Isolation Days – 2 April 2020

Book group last night! Six of us sat around my house and discussed our book. Except no one left their own home.  We were all on our preferred devices in our own homes using Zoom.  It wasn’t near as nice as being all together in the same room and sharing a nibble and a cuppa or a glass of wine, but it beat not having book group at all. We plan to “meet” again at the end of the month. Some of the group are still working and they’re all working from home and getting quite proficient at using Zoom and other methods to do their jobs.  It doesn’t take too long to adapt!

Our modern technology opens up so many possibilities!  Tonight, we plan to watch a You Tube National Theatre production at 7:00.  I like that they state a time, and you can’t just watch it anytime you want.  Nice to have a bit of shape to the evening, and I love writing a few things in the diary again.

Another observation from Grumpy of Clifton…We listen to the daily Number Ten press briefing which is on every day at about five and often learn something from the experts.  We don’t learn much from the journalists!  They keep asking the same old questions and expect a different response. Yes, there needs to be more protective equipment.  Yes, there needs to be more testing.  They could cleverly give us all a bit more information if they asked their questions in a more considered way. They all ask the same things over and over and clearly haven’t read the information that I have about why Germany is testing more for instance.  Can I please ask a question?  Maybe I’ll write to Laura at the BBC or Robert Peston with a suggestion.

Food occupies our thoughts a lot more than it used to.  Having to order weekly and not go into the shops ourselves has its benefits.  We sit down together and plan what we will have for a week and then go and order online from Reg the Veg or via text to the butcher.  Our next grocery delivery is still a few weeks away, but with Amazon to fill in the gaps, we seem to be just fine.  There is plenty of fresh food in the house and the freezer is constantly getting replenished. Nothing goes to waste.  We use every morsel of food we have in one way or another.  Roast chicken becomes left over salad and then the carcass is boiled for stock and becomes soup.  Although we’re ordering weekly, we are careful and aware that we may not have this luxury in a few months time.  Who knows what the supply chain will be like in May? Not much is thrown away.  It reminds me of our beloved Doris, Terry’s Mum, who lived through the war and never let anything go to waste. Finding uses for each and every drop of anything that came her way was second nature to her.  I always marvelled at the plastic bag she had tied onto her slow dripping bath tap.  She wanted to save the bath from  the rusty streaks that the water caused.  But one day I saw her, bag in hand with the few drops that had fallen watering one of her plants.  Nothing  wasted. Hope none of us waste food, water or the opportunity that this enforced time at home is affording us. 

This may be just one tiny step too far using technology!  But it made me smile, hope it does you, too!

With love,

Kathy x

Feest Isolation Days – 1 April 2020

All I can say is that we are finally through March and into April!  Maybe this month will be a better month for the world.  We are getting a bit fed up at Chez Feest and are thinking of doing things slightly differently.

Possibly a fishing trip will feature.  What the heck?!  All these people who are not listening to the advice when we are is silly. I might join Terry even if I don’t fish.  I could just sit in the car and read and watch as he catches some trout. 

Really, why should we stay stuck in the house when everyone else round these parts seems to be stepping out?  I read that the joggers are taking over the parks and not paying any attention at all to the walkers.  Fishing is an isolation sport surely? We won’t run into anybody or cough on them.  And we’ve been self isolating for eighteen days now!

Idiots we are not, and so we figured out that we need to have pen and paper in the car with us so we can write notes to any policeman that may stop us. We can leave our windows up, stay safe and write them a note saying we are going for food.  Well fish is food isn’t it?

Look, some of you may sense a change in our tone, and that’s because we really are going stir crazy. It didn’t take long…just eighteen days!  I thought we’d make it longer than that but I’m not so sure any longer. Terry has been playing with his fishing line just this morning and it has been, quite honestly, a bit worrying to see. 

Frequently we have people walking by our house and yesterday I had a note through the door asking why there was fishing going on in our garden. They didn’t say who they were and when I cleaned and disinfected the note I seemed to have rubbed out their name, but whoever it was wanted to know if we had fish in our garden!

Of course, we have always been the kind of people who follow the rules and I must admit we are surprising ourselves with our desire to throw caution to the wind and to get out there and fish.

Often, it happens around this time we’re told.  When people have been confined throughout most of March, they begin to reassess, especially if they’re over seventy.  They may no longer draw on the resilience that they acquired over their lifetime and wish to throw that caution as I say into the wind…or in this case into the fishing lake.

Lucky for us, after thinking these thoughts and getting the fishing gear ready to load into the car, we went back outside in the garden, sat on the swing and came to our senses.  Who wants a criminal charge at this stage of our lives?  We hope you understand.  We changed our mind. But we really thought you might just like to hear that sometimes, yes, even the Feests can be foolish.   We thought we’d give it to the afternoon and see what we thought by then. Are we just morning fools?  Hmmmm.

Check that date again at the top of these words.  We’re not going anywhere but out on that swing with our cups of tea.  Enjoy your day and don’t forget to smile. If you read down the left hand side of this missive you will also notice another great big  (non fishy) clue – our bold beginnings tell a tale! Enjoy.

I wrote the above and then discovered that April Fools in France is all about fish! Some French folk began sending out invitations for New Years Eve parties for the first of April. Should you be foolish enough to attend one you were called an April Fish.  Apparently an April Fish is a recently spawned fish, an inexperienced youngster vulnerable to trickery and for a fisherman…easily caught.

These days in France, April first is “Poisson d’Avril” April Fish! French kids tape a paper fish on the back of their friends. If and when the fish is discovered, the prankster yells, “Poisson d’Avril!” April Fish! Who knew!!

The family below are unmistakeably British, and they are just fun to watch!  No tricks…enjoy…

Meanwhile in Clifton………..

With love,

Kathy x

Feest Isolation Days – 31 March 2020

It seems to me it’s easier to stay happily at home when the sun shines and there’s a bit of warmth outside instead of when the wind blows and it’s chilly. Sitting outside in the garden three or four times a day does make a difference!  However, in order to sit outside at the moment with our cups of tea, we have to bundle up so there are fewer excursions into the outside world.

I have seen many complaints online from young people who couldn’t get slots for grocery deliveries and I must admit it made me cross.  Seeing totally healthy, young folks not going to food stores means that oldies like us can’t get a delivery.  Taking into account youngsters who are buying for older folks, there are still too many just getting home deliveries!  Perhaps all the supermarkets need to set aside some delivery slots for oldies.  Yes, there are queues, but I’m told it doesn’t take more than twenty minutes, usually far less, to get in the supermarket door and do the self distancing shop.  Oldies are more at risk.  Full stop. Period.  Maybe the kids don’t have warm clothes to wear as they stand outside?

We’ve been told over the weekend and again today that we are going to be at home for a long time to come.  Probably until the Autumn.  That’s a sobering thought, but also freeing. It means we can all begin to make some longer term plans.  Instead of staying stuck without some information to guide us on how long we’ll be here for, we now have a pretty good idea of when we’re likely to return to something that may sort of resemble normal.  What will we have accomplished by then?  Our most important goal must be to return to the world as was in good mental health with fit bodies.  Whatever you do, and whatever goals you set, that’s got to be top of the list.  Everything else comes after that.

Be careful what you get up to though!  Spare a thought for the poor astrophysicist who was trying his best.  I don’t think this chap got a first at Uni…..

Enjoy!

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/mar/30/astrophysicist-gets-magnets-stuck-up-nose-while-inventing-coronavirus-device

With love

Kathy x

aka “Grumpy of Clifton”

Feest Isolation Days – 30 March 2020

This weekend I asked Terry to give me a basic tutorial on viruses as I had read quite a lot about them online and some of the information was contradictory or I thought just plain wrong.  He kindly wrote the following which includes a helpful account of how we deal with items that are delivered to our door.

Handing over these daily words to my dear husband means I can go out and meet my mates for a coffee, or go for a swim, or visit a National Trust property….or perhaps just make a cup of tea, sit on the garden swing and dream about these eventualities!  Have a great day.

With love,

Kathy x

Humour for the day…..

Rita, my elderly neighbour is a little hard of hearing. She chatted to me over the garden fence and said she was just back from Asda. She said she bought all the sausage rolls, Swiss rolls and chocolate mini rolls she could carry. When I asked why she said she didn’t want to be left behind.  She heard on the news that people were talking about there not being enough rolls and picnic buying!

A Virus, The Basics……

The Covid virus, like all viruses, is a complex structure. We have no idea where viruses come from.  It’s like asking where we come from. But just as we know what we are made of, we know what makes up a virus: a mix of protein, RNA, DNA , and lipids.

Viruses have no life of their own. Left alone, they don’t multiply but over time simply decompose and become harmless.  However, if they enter a living cell, their RNA, or occasionally their DNA, can take control of the cell and make it produce more virus and the cell eventually dies.  That’s when they become harmful.

Each virus has a “target cell”, a cell whose structure the virus is uniquely programmed to attach to: this may be any plant or animal cell, and viruses are responsible for a wide range of plant, animal and human diseases, including cowpox, smallpox, mumps, measles, polio, rubella, influenza and the common cold.  The target cells for the Covid virus are human upper respiratory tract cells.  Somewhat similar, but less damaging, corona viruses are responsible for some common colds.

Covid infection is spread by aerosol droplets coughed from infected people and inhaled by others. To catch it like this you probably need to be within two metres of an infected person.

In addition, when these coughed droplets land on a surface and dry, they leave an active virus. When people get them  on their hands, then touch their faces they enter through the nose, eyes and mouth and infect their upper respiratory tract.

Viruses  are usually protected and held together by a lipid fatty coat, and when this is damaged or decays the virus disintegrates and becomes inactive.  If they haven’t invaded a living cell, viruses don’t remain active for long.  In the case of the Covid virus, it probably lasts longest on hard smooth surfaces such as stainless steel, hard plastic, possibly glass. It’s thought they can remain active and therefore able to invade cells for three days or so.  That’s why it’s important to clean these surfaces.  On softer, less smooth, surfaces such as cardboard and paper the virus probably decomposes in hours, or perhaps up to a day.

Viruses are inactivated by things which damage their lipid coat – and soap is superb for this, hence the advice to wash hands thoroughly and regularly with soap, better than supposed hand disinfectants.  This link is to an excellent article on this – https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/12/science-soap-kills-coronavirus-alcohol-based-disinfectants

Our practice at home Is to clean down EVERYTHING that enters the house, wearing household gloves.  A good soap and water clean should be affective, but some other cleaners, such as 10 to one diluted household bleach are very good. This latter should be left in contact with the surface for a few minutes before washing off. 

Our other strategy is to leave things in the entrance hallway for up to three days or even longer, depending on the surface, giving the virus time to decay.

And of course we wash our hands thoroughly after initially handling anything that has come into our house!

Feest Isolation Days – 29 March 2020

Sunday! Definitely feels a different day to other days of the week.  It always has and perhaps that’s why it always does.

The pandemic rolls on and the NHS prepares.  The UK has had a few extra weeks, as we’re just behind Italy, Spain and France.  Our friends who work in hospitals tell us that they are preparing for the storm that they know is about to hit. The effort is mammoth and has been well thought through. Rotas are built with teams of people with the expectation that up to twenty percent of staff might be off at any one time.  Electricians are fitting sockets this weekend in large rooms normally reserved for meetings. These former meeting rooms will soon be full of beds, and in the not too distant future, patients.  A ward of eight will become a ward of thirty. People are pulling out all the stops. We are all doing our bit by staying home. The numbers of anticipated deaths we’re hearing about can wear us down and the constant barrage of information we keep hearing about the corona virus can become overwhelming. Cruising the news channels and seeking the latest information can be depleting. 

So too can our attempts to find our way through the maze of possibilities as we try to find our lives again and live differently than we did a few short weeks ago. Going online is both a joy and another source that can swamp us and divert our attention.  When did we move from the awe and excitement of choice to becoming submerged by so many options?  When we used to go to the library as kids there were so many books to choose from, yet all that choice didn’t seem scary – not to me at least! I couldn’t wait to get home and dive into the pile that was always waiting (my flashlight was a staple feature of bedtime). When I’d finished the heap of (mostly) novels and we were back in the library, the excitement would begin again. Which books should I choose this time?  I never felt overwhelmed by what I would never manage to read, just sheer joy at discovering all the novels I was going to get through. How do we hang onto that feeling of wonder and awe and excitement and not let ourselves be overwhelmed by choice?

Do a quick search on the internet for almost anything  and the morning can slip by as you devour yet another article about how to …fill in your blanks. Many of us are still at the stage where we tend to spend more time seeking than doing. What’s the point? Somebody’s already …fill in the blanks.  Perhaps it’s time to remember those things we loved as kids and work towards them once again.  Our staying at home life is going to be the norm for several months. For those of us fortunate enough not to be in one of those hospital beds, what will we do?  Will we fill our diaries with virtual activities or find something once more that fills us with the awe and childlike wonder that we once had? The choice is ours!

Doing the same thing again and expecting a different result is the definition of madness……

– I’m not sure the grandkids will get this one!

With love,

Kathy x

Feest Isolation Days – 28 March 2020

Boris our Prime Minister has it, as does Matt Hancock the Health Minister. The Chief Medical Officer is also self isolating with symptoms. And on it goes. Let’s hope it doesn’t cause them too much grief.  Our son in London has it, as does one of his two flatmates. He is self isolating in his room with his meals brought to him and left outside his door by his healthy flatmate.  Sensible to choose your mates wisely!

Yesterday was a day of deliveries. Our sweet nextdoor neighbour brought us some bread, apparently she received more than she could fit into her freezer and was distributing them around to we “elderly”.  Reg the Veg arrived again with a box of fruit and veg and flowers. Thank heaven for Reg the Veg!  Each day they plan to supply thirty boxes of veg and fruit of their choice and twenty boxes filled with specific orders from their customers.  I’m not ready to give up choosing what vegetables we’ll eat so am delighted that we are one of the lucky twenty! Long may that last.

Peter, our butcher brought fish, eggs, cheese and oh yes meat!   We are well stocked for awhile. He stands in the garden and talks to us for a time as we remain safely inside; Terry in the upstairs window, and me in the downstairs window like a scene from a play.  Peter tells us some of what is happening in the outside world.  Although people are no longer meant to travel for their allotted exercise, some still are getting into their cars and travelling.  Although he hasn’t seen evidence of this being enforced, In Devon and Cornwall police have set up road blocks and are stopping people from travelling.  He says stores are packed with people, if not all the goods, and the veg shop down the road from his butcher shop is no exception. They tried delivering but couldn’t cope when they had seventy requests the first day. The manager shut the shop for a bit but has now reopened and sells just from the shop floor which means long queues. Peter’s shop is set up so people can’t come in and loiter,  There are two people serving from just inside the front door. He’s thought it all through and has two people working at the back, one chap whose wife is having a baby in May, so he has kept him away from the customers just in case. Having a conversation face to face has become a treat.

Our day includes many conversations, but all by face time or telephone or skype.  Yesterday I spoke to seven people on the phone which totalled about three hours.  Plenty of emails are keeping us connected with people. What’s App and text messages also add to the mix, so our social lives continue to be active, just different. 

The piece of halibut Peter delivered was so magnificent Terry brought it to my study to show me! He then turned it into a delicious Chez Feest exceptional meal. We had figs to begin.  Life in self isolation can be delicious.

My exercise bike and I are well acquainted, and I haven’t missed a day for ages.  The mat work is also getting easier to do as my body begins to realise there are not going to be any walks for awhile, so might as well settle into these Pilates and yoga moves for now. 

Terry and I are fortunate as we have each other, and our routines before this isolation began have expanded as going into the outside world has ceased. Three or four times a day we sit together outside with a cup of tea and devices are not allowed.  The experts advising on how to stay calm and not let the situation grind you down all seem to agree that time like that is well spent.  They suggest that staying centred and “in the moment” helps. Several years ag,o while flying to somewhere or other on Virgin, I discovered Meditainment, a guided story that’s both relaxing and uplifting. Meditation and entertainment. Perfect!  For the past several years, I have listened to these tales on and off and they are now freely available. I recommend them for twenty minutes of real relaxation and a time to drift into a very pleasant place! Here’s to venturing outside while staying in our own minds……..

https://www.meditainment.com/free-meditainment

Have a great weekend.  I miss the Saturday market.  And walks. And swimming.

Time for something funny….

With love

Kathy x

Feest Isolation Days – 27 March 2020

Sitting at the window in our what will be empty-for-a -long-while main spare bedroom, Terry and I stared into the street and at the houses all around us.  Twinkling lights, bright shining lights, the quiet light of our street lamp and darkness.  Suddenly someone said “it’s time” and we heard the sound of clapping. All around us people we couldn’t see, most of whom we don’t know, joined in.  Hip hip I shouted and Hurrah! came a reply.  The applause, along with hoots and screams of delight went on for ages.  The NHS is about people.  We clapped loudly. Not just for today’s current heroes, but for past and future heroes too. 

One woman from the Netherlands, Annmarie Plas, a yoga teacher, who now lives in Brixton, was so impressed by the way her fellow country people had saluted their health service workers she  started the Clap for Carers movement here.  The notion of a health service for all started in the early 1900’s and finally during the post war government of Clement Attlee, the timing was right.  Aneurin Bevan, the Heath Minister became the architect of the NHS building on the work of others to establish the NHS. Working together, sharing ideas, helping each other, the NHS does all of those things and those who work in it deserve our applause.  Apparently, Annmaire hopes that this becomes a weekly event. We shall see!

On the other side of the world, a friend is planting a tree in the Newton Reserve on Waiheke Iskand next to their home.  Terry and I have love Kauri trees and before we left purchased one for Jules.  She’s doing all the hard work of planting!  Kauri’s are special.  They have a knack of letting their presence be felt before you see them when you walk in the New Zealand woods. These wonderful trees can live for more than two thousand years.  They hold a spiritual quality that is deeper than most trees.  If you have twenty minutes to spare… and who doesn’t these days (!) listen to the excellent Ted talk at the end of today’s entry about how trees communicate.  Wonderful!

We are all connected and doing our best.

For a little light relief, see the other attachment.  Made me laugh!

Enjoy!  Whatever you get up to.  You are not alone. 

Communicate with Trees

Planting a Kauri…..

And finally….Piglet …..

With love

Kathy x

Feest Isolation Days – 26 March 2020

Items sold out and that didn’t come with our Waitrose order are slowly coming to light.  Butter, pears, fairy liquid and chocolate – Lindor chocolate balls.  I’m not too fussed about eating chocolate but when I want some, well I just want it!  I don’t think I’m alone in that.  One of our friends – you know who you are – scoffed at least ten lindors after a long and yummy meal at Chez Feest.  I can’t imagine that but sometimes, maybe two…..

Mr. Amazon solved the problem and they are arriving today!  I wish all “problems”  could be solved so simply.  We are the fortunate people who live in lovely homes with friends around. Spare a thought for the single parent Mum who has three kids, one bedroom and no telly and no screens in the house for the kids.  Can you imagine it?  A Social Worker friend of ours working in London not only can imagine it but is trying to help with it.  Let’s all muse on how we can help shall we?  Operation Send Screens. We have a telly in this house we never use and if Mr. Dyson can come up with a way to help the NHS by creating and manufacturing ventilators, maybe we could help some of those kids who also need practical help.

During the day we listen to Radio New Zealand Concert – “Through the Night” there – gorgeous music and no ads, you can google or use Tunein Radio and then stream from your nearest device.  We caught the news when we sat down to dinner at eight last evening – it was nine in the morning on the first day of lockdown in New Zealand.  We stopped mid mouthful when we heard a Police Higher Up say that they were aware that Domestic Violence would be on the increase and that they would be there to help.  He called for people to be kind and caring towards each other in what is going to be a difficult time for some. It’s not only the damn virus that is affecting people around the world!

Through it all, we have to look after ourselves and keep body and soul together. Without our usual activities, we have to create new ones and enjoy them.  For two nights now the television didn’t go on and the screens were put down in favour of a book.  It was a treat to read in the evening again.  I know for me, when I can read in the evening, I’m in a better place.  I’m eternally grateful for all the goodness that  surrounds us.  Half a million people have answered the government call to help others.  That is priceless.  Literally.

Today’s first little light relief video is equally sexist toward men and women – and a hoot. Hope it makes you laugh as much as it made us laugh. 

The second is a song that might just get you dancing.  And ladies, which of us has not had reason to sing this at some point in our lives since Gloria made it?  I wish we could send it to some of those hard pressed women who haven’t figured it out yet.

Let’s  see what we can do about Operation Send Screens – thoughts appreciated.

Equally sexist video……

…and then…

Bet this gets you dancing….

With Love

Kathyx

Feest Isolation Days – 25 March 2020

Phew! The Pandemic is nearly over.  Just a few short weeks to Easter and then according to the Americans, everyone will be able to go back to how it all was before.  That’s what the President of the United States says. The Liar-in-Chief has spoken.  Apparently schools in America plan to return mid-April, so my sister in Pennsylvania tells me.

It’s chilling listening to this. People want to believe the President, they need his leadership.  The fantasy he spews is far easier than the social distancing, being off work, having kids at home, and unable to visit your favourite restaurant of choice.  Mr. Trump must have missed the reports we watched on the five o’clock news yesterday!

The images of the hospital beds in Spain and Italy, empty and waiting, lined up like something not seen in the Western World, since World War Two. The former Edexcel Centre in London, set up quickly by the army as a hospital with four thousand beds. The Nightingale Hospital.  Ready. Waiting for the virus infected people to arrive.

We had a Waitrose delivery yesterday. Plastic bags were placed outside our front door filled with the order we’d made on line a few days ago. Marigolds on, we started unpacking. First though we began with what will become our new normal…Washing The Waitrose. Every item was cleaned with warm soapy water or sanitised with antiseptic wipes before being put away.  The mountain of plastic we have created from just this one shop is frightening.  Reassuringly normal items for this household at least– hummus, chicken pieces, pomegranate juice (!), bags of lettuce, goats cheese.  All were scrubbed clean and hopefully became virus free.  I got tetchy somewhere between the goats cheese and the lettuce.  That vision of hospital beds swirled around the sink along with the soapy water. Time to do my exercises and get away from this new reality.

After dinner we headed, as we do these days, to the drawing room.  There are no concert, ballet or theatre tickets in the box where we keep such things.  The box like the seats, is empty. 

Before Washing the Waitrose and the five o’clock news, the day felt so normal!  Terry gardened, I worked on my book, we chatted on What’s App and by phone to the kids, I cycled away on my bike and did overtime on my mat work.  Somehow Washing the Waitrose took the edge off normal.  Brought it all home, and those images on the news reminded us of what’s about to hit.

Definitely time for a Christmas Cracker kind of joke.  A warning.. I’ve also included the American President. 

Christmas Cracker sort of joke

A Roman walks into a bar. He holds up two fingers and says, five beers please!

American President sort of joke…

 With Love

Kathyx

Feest Isolation Days – 24 March 2020

We are all now in lockdown.  Terry and I have been here for ten days already. Our young neighbours who we don’t actually know are being incredibly helpful. They have delivered milk, daffodils, and have included us if required on a delivery from a farm shop.  I was especially tickled to read her email to the shop asking if she could include a few more things for her “elderly” neighbours.  There are three couples she’s helping and Terry is the eldest of them all so I guess we are elderly!  I usually am the person who does the helping and the sorting and it is strange not to be doing that now.

It did make me think about words which took me to spelling and I thought I’d share a story about my great uncles.  My father’s family came from Czechoslovakia on the border with Poland.  The Carpathian mountains were probably their playground.  After the first world war the family left, and like many people from Eastern Europe after they sailed across the sea and they entered the States in New York City at Ellis Island.  There the family name was changed from Blazek. It became Blosick. The men in the family were all miners and came up from one mine travelled across the ocean and eventually went down another.  They were a hard drinking, tough working lot.  The mines paid them weekly and usually got the money of each young man wrong, all “Blosick”s appearing the same..  So they all changed their names further. One spelled the name with an “a” instead of an “o”, another put two “s’s” in it and still another had changed it to an “a” with two “s’s”.  If Ellis Island could change their name, they reckoned they could do what they wanted to.  There are headstones in the graveyards of Shamokin, Pennsylvania with different spellings of all of these brothers.  There is a footballer today back in the “old country” who is called Jan Blazek.  His website says his hobbies are; Děvky, chlast a prcání (hookers, booze and fucking). The site also includes many photographs of him drinking rum with cola.  My great Uncles would have loved this guy!

That’s it for today, there is a lot to be getting on with and you have exercises to do and routines to develop. 

If you do go out please keep your distance – if you’re reading this you are no doubt, like me, elderly! See you tomorrow.

 With Love

Kathyx

….and on the subject of words……

Feest Isolation Days – 23 March 2020

DAY NINE

Madness! That was the headline in one of today’s papers with a picture of throngs of people out and about in the spring sunshine as though the world hasn’t changed.  The government here has tried to warn everyone about what’s coming and how to best avoid it and protect the NHS and protect lives, but many people still haven’t got the message.  A crackdown is sure to come sooner rather than later. Here in Bristol there are now twenty confirmed cases of the disease.

Terry and I are going nowhere. We have wonderful neighbours.  Yesterday, the little daughter of a family we barely know dropped a bunch of daffodils on our doorstep. Sweet! Thank you to Jenny for her kindness.  As it was Mothers Day here, it was especially poignant. 

We are fortunate to have a garden and that marvellous swing at the end of it where we can sit in the sunshine and enjoy the flowers that are springing up all over.  My daily walks are a thing of the past as I don’t intend to flout the important advice we’ve been given.  So exercise has taken on a different form.  My exercise bike has become a daily must.  It overlooks the garden and when the weather warms up I might even pop it on the lawn for a change of scene.  I can hear Terry groan at that idea.  Pop it?  This heavy thing that has to be lugged and tugged to even move in the room it’s in.  We shall see.  A nice long spell of good weather and who knows?  It might just find a place  to sit for a bit outside.

The other real workout possibility in this house are the stairs.  There are dozens of them!  Going up and down from top to bottom for a few minutes gets the heart pumping and the legs stretched.  Who needs the (now closed) gym.  I never used anything but the pool there anyway, so who am I kidding?

There is also my friend David Procyshyn who delivers a fantastic yoga class.  I’ve been doing this particular one for years and can highly recommend it.  If this one isn’t for you there are dozens of others on the website.  I invited David to the UK awhile back because I so liked what he was doing but he has a family with young kids so that wasn’t possible.  He has a lovely reassuring voice.  You CAN do this!

A self isolation expert has given us some welcome advice that we might all consider.  Wait a minute, self isolation expert?  How do you become one of those? (Do what the government says and we’ll all find out?) Or, alternatively, spend a year on the international space station!  Scott Kelly has been to space on many missions and written extensively of his time there.  He recently shared his top tips for thriving in isolation in a piece in the New York Times. 

Top of his list is to make a schedule.

  I don’t know about you, but mine will not include a walk in space on Wednesday for eight hours, or any other day of the week for that matter.  Following a schedule and maintaining a routine helps individuals and families to plan. Pace yourself though and make sure you have fun and enjoyable things on your list. He said he really missed having a schedule when he dropped back down to earth.

Spend time in nature if you can…

but stay six feet apart if you venture out.  Can’t imagine that was a problem on those space walks, but it remains a huge problem here!  If you live, as some of my friends do, in apartments with no visible trees or plants or even sky and stars, play recordings of birds, water, and other soothing sounds of nature.  In space,Scott played the sound of mosquitoes which I consider a step too far but he so convinced himself that they were with him he found himself swatting them away. 

Find a hobby.

The first thing he mentions is find a real book.  I never think of reading as a hobby but as a part of life, but the important issue is make it a real book with pages you turn and no pinging from a recently arrived email, or notification that something else awful has happened in the world which you really must attend to now.  Keep turning the pages. Let the book carry you away and you too might end up in space one day…I can imagine one of my great nephews might!  Learn to play an instrument, or sing – join more than 45 million others and watch an astronaut’s tribute to David Bowie at the end of this post.

Consider writing a journal

– it’s a great way to express all those feelings that you’re having. 

Listen to the experts. 

They know what they are talking about. 

Take time to connect with others 

– use phones, skype, letters, shout out the window whatever is required. 

The last words today are from Scott. “Seen from space, the Earth has no borders. The spread of the coronavirus is showing us that what we share is much more powerful than what keeps us apart, for better or for worse. All people are inescapably interconnected, and the more we can come together to solve our problems, the better off we will all be.”

With Love

Kathyx

Watch this. Chris Hadfield, an astronaut colleague of Scott Kelly ,

made from space this Tribute to David Bowie

Yoga Website

https://www.doyogawithme.com/content/deep-release-hips-hamstrings-and-lower-back

Feest Isolation Days – 22 March 2020

The sky is blue and the cold wind of yesterday has disappeared. Time passes and with it an acceptance settles around us. Eight days in and many many more to come. Today is Sunday and brings with it a distinctly Sunday feel. Maybe a hangover from all those church going days over the years? A calmness and a time to reflect and appreciate and give thanks has arrived. Maybe my renewed mantra, “Be here now” is finally working.

The lady from the gym phoned yesterday in response to my email. The gym is now closed and won’t be charging me or anyone else for that matter our monthly fees. “Are you two alright, is there anything you need?” She asked kindly. “Yes thanks,” I replied, “We have everything we need.”  It’s true.  We do have everything we need.  Besides each other, we have plenty of food to eat in our warm and cosy beautiful home.  The little goldcrest visits us daily in the garden and all of the other birds chirrup away. Friends like you are connecting with us and we are not alone. We are staying connected which enables us to carry on.

When we were working, our dinner table was often shared with lots of medics who produced lively and fascinating conversations. (Except for a poor overworked transplant surgeon who once  actually fell asleep between the main and his pudding!)  I was always interested and often asked, how do you as busy doctors keep a human connection with your patients?  With ever increasing numbers of people in your clinics and ward rounds, how do you maintain that?  The best answer I ever received was from our dear friend David Thomas, whose brain tumour sadly took him away from us far too soon this past January.  David likened seeing patients to reading a good book – and he was a voracious reader!  He said, when you’re with a patient, they have your full attention and you’re totally involved in their story, no one else’s. When they leave you or you head to the next bed it’s like you turn the page and you’re on a new chapter.  Just like reading, you are totally engaged with each person the same way you are with each chapter in a book. Sometimes, the book ends and you think back to the story and it affects you for quite some time, staying with you. You don’t stop reading because it’s affected you – you turn to a different book and begin a new chapter. Sadly, David’s memorial service this week is one of those many things cancelled because of the pandemic.  His story will be long remembered and the many lives he touched remain grateful.

To all of those medics who retain their humanity in the face of the extraordinary odds that are about to face them, we salute you. 

To all of those people who continue to do their jobs, thank you. To the social workers, the food hauliers, the rubbish collectors, the delivery people, the farmers, the food store workers and to all of the rest. Thank you.

A special thanks to all of the parents who are working overtime at the moment, keep up the good work.

And finally, to all the mothers out there, you are loved and appreciated.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

With love

Kathy x

…….and finally……a little humour….

Sometimes being alone is not such a bad idea!

Feest Isolation Days – 21 March 2020

Stress!  We are all going to experience it sometime wherever we are and whatever we’re doing. We are collectively anxious about the same things at the moment; what is happening to our families and friends and to our world?  Feelings of anxiety are normal at a time like this.  According to the experts, you can expect to feel panicky from time to time. The trick is not to stew in the panic and the mental health mantra, name it to tame it might  just be useful. Okay I named it – fear of the future.

My solution yesterday was a good cry and a good cuddle.  That helped enormously.  But then.  Wine…Terry and I drank our wine and yours last night.  Our guests who were supposed to be coming to dinner last night yep we had their share too!  The dinner that we had to cancel.  It’s been a stressful week. What’s going to happen to our kids and grandkids future.  And my oh my didn’t that wine just take the edge off!  Until of course morning arrived and we both felt awful.  Lesson learned for what feels like the tenthousandth time.  We only drink at the weekend.  Friday night to Sunday we share a bottle of wine…unless one of you are with us and we’re entertaining and then we shift our consumption days. (Or Terry is at book group, film club etc..)  Are we alone in our stress fuelled wine consumption?  I doubt it! I’m told, but obviously can’t verify, the stocks of wine at Sainsbury’s and Tesco are very low. 

We won’t be drinking anyone else’s share again throughout this isolation period, that’s for certain!  If we do I’ll let you know and one of you can remind me we said we wouldn’t.  We are pretty good at keeping our word.  Back to the stress issue that caused us to reach for the wine… sitting at my desk writing away there is NOTHING I need to stress about.  The sun is out for a change and the daffs are up.  My study is as lovely as ever, the kids are all okay and we are fine.  I even had a friend bring flowers round to the front door this morning and we chatted face to face -us two stories up as we leaned out the bedroom window and he sat on the stoop by the front door.  The virus that he probably doesn’t have can’t fly that far.  Just speaking to him face to face was great though. I remember that mantra from my youth…Be Here Now.  It was the title of a book by Baba Ram Dass (aka Richard Alpert) who got lots of things wrong but got that one right.

A friend who lives in Clifton Village told me about a great street party they held earlier this week. Everyone went to their front gardens at the given hour – all organised on email –  with a glass of wine (a glass …..!) and stayed in their own gardens well away from everyone else but all cheered and sang a rousing song together.  It lifted their spirits no end.  We are social beings and we need to find those sorts of things that keep us connected.  Let me know if any you have other ideas like that for staying connected while apart.   Also, if anyone wants to share some insights from your part of the world, please let me know by email and I’ll post them.

Today I am going to share something funny – there are tons of these things doing the rounds but I’ll only choose one or two a day and only share the ones that make me hoot with laughter. Norman Cousins says  “Laughter serves as a blocking agent. It’s like a bulletproof vest, it may help protect you against the ravages of negative emotions that can assault you in disease.

I’m also going to share something of beauty. Our New Zealand friend Rosemarie has a talented daughter who makes gorgeous flower displays and then photographs them. She’s looking for a  name for this. 

Let me know what you think.  If you would like a few more images of beauty you can visit her here https://www.facebook.com/EmmaBassPhotography

See you tomorrow….I’m going for a nap!  I had a hysterically funny morning!

With Love

Kathyx

Feest Isolation Days – 20  March 2020

It is amazing how quickly you can develop a routine.  Terry and I have a very late breakfast and then sit on the garden swing with our cuppa – and no devices allowed!  It’s good to control the use of all the social media.  Otherwise, it gobbles up every ounce of your energy and snatches time that might best be used to think and just be.

We are fortunate because we have a magnificent home and garden.  Our good fortune has been that many many of you have been to see us here and sit on that very swing I just 18mentioned. There are many swing photos from over the years. 

Our friends, Annie and Bob bought us the Bob and Annie rose which sits to the left of the swing and later in the year I’ll send you pictures of the blooms. It is huge and has climbed way up into the coniferous tree next to our copper beech. Of all of our many friends, I’ve known these two the longest. I told you yesterday I’d tell you about Teddy and I will but first…

When I was fourteen and living in Shamokin Dam, Pennsylvania where I grew up, a Summer Stock theatre came to town – that’s a play a week for those of you unfamiliar with the term.  I had already taken a shine to things theatrical and was on a summer course at Susquehanna, the local University in Selinsgrove. I played the Fairy King – Oberon – in Midsummer Nights Dream in our end of term production and Mr. Shakespeare had a friend for life! I don’t remember all the lines but I do remember this one which seems apt at the moment –“How long within these woods intend you stay?”  “Who knows” is our collective answer. Fortunately for me, when I was only thirteen ( I have a summer birthday – I’d soon be fourteen!) I was able to leave my “woods” of inner longing behind and headed to the professional Summer Stock Theatre. I have always claimed that I ran away to join the circus which is only half true. The theatre was created in an old circus tent.  I rode my bike up the hill to the tent and hung about long enough until someone gave me  my first job tearing tickets at the performances and selling popcorn.  No one asked me how old I was, and I was in heaven.  A few weeks later I was the property mistress and three years later a fully fledged card carrying Equity Member Stage Managing or assisting the SM.  Bob and Annie were actors and wonderfully gifted talented people and great human beings. They now live on Cape Cod and Terry and I visited in September.  Annie doesn’t do a great deal of walking these days and her travel days are now finished. Our timing was great and we were able to share a birthday cake with her and there were two teddy bears on her sofa which I kept picking up when we were there.  When we were back at the place we were staying, Terry told me to open my case and there was Ted.  I started taking pictures with Teddy in them and Annie told me she felt like she was on our journey.  There are tons of pics of dear Teddy all over New Zealand.  Sadly, Teddy has gone into hibernation, but he had a great trip and as you can see, he enjoyed himself! 

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For those of you needing a humour fix, watch this one….

With love,

Kathy x

Feest isolation days – 19 March 2020

Thank you to so many of you who have responded both on the blog itself or via email!  We have heard from people in Australia, New Zealand, Africa, South America, USA, Europe, Turkey and of course, from here at home.

The overwhelming message from everyone is that we are all in the same boat.  Sometimes we’re all rocking a bit in our boat as we all try to deal with the next wave of information that appears.  That’s quite normal.  It’s a lot to process and the situation we’re in is changing quickly. 

Today I thought I would share what Terry and I were up to just last month.  It does seem a lifetime ago now…

We were in New Zealand on the Rangitikei River. We drove four hours South from Auckland and  stopped a night enroute at a B&B above Lake Taupo, a volcanic caldera that is the largest lake in New Zealand. Our home for the night was well above the lake and the views from our bedroom window were magical.  New Zealand is full of people with connections to Britain and our hosts at this lovely place were no exception. Stephen was born in Britain and still has family here.  We had dinner together with he and his wife who produced  a delicious home-style three course meal.  After a plentiful breakfast we said our goodbyes and promised when we get that way again we would stay with them. 

Our next stop was for coffee at Turangi.  Anxious to get to Taihape (if you saw this place you wouldn’t believe I just said that!) we soon got back on the road.  You know you’ve entered Taihape because the sign next to a large corrugated iron statue of a faded multicoloured Gumboot tells you so. A Gumboot throwing contest is held in this place annually!  Like most towns in New Zealand, there’s a great place for coffee and lunch.  The important stop for us in town though is the New World supermarket where we’ll buy food for the next four days. We’re headed to a remote lodge on top of the gorge above the river on a half hour, mostly unmade up, twisty turny road. Our car is now filled to the brim with food supplies as well as a ton of  fishing gear.  We leave the  “metropolis” of Taihape for the Tarata Lodge. We’ve  been there so many times it feels familiar. Stephen and Trudi who run the place welcome us like the old friends we’ve become.  This time we’re staying at their three bedroomed newly built home which is ten miles or so away from the main lodge. Because they were fully booked, they let us stay at this accommodation which will one day become their retirement home. It sits on top of the gorge and has spectacular views down the river.  We are here to fish. Terry for trout me for words.  I don’t fish.  I spend my time writing as we are taken down the river.

The red inflatable we’ll spend the next ten hours in is kitted out with chairs – the height of luxury. We do two days of fishing and see no one on our journey.  Ten hours and no houses, no power lines, no roads, no people. It is blissfully remote.  For a woman who once lived in New York City and likes her creature comforts, it’s a revelation that I love it!

Terry has been tying and using his own flys for some time now, and our second day on the water our guide, Stephen and Trudi’s twenty two year old daughter Mikala is thrilled with his success.  She reckons it’s the best guiding day she’s ever had on the river.  He caught eight trout.  This is sport. They all go back.

I caught a few words.  Please see the photos of our trip below and a story I wrote while on the river. Hope it fits with my promise to inspire – I don’t have anything funny to share today, but if you missed it look at yesterdays posting for a couple of very amusing videos!

See you tomorrow.

With love,

Kathy x

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Feest Isolation Days – 18 March 2020

Some days are more difficult than others and other people’s problems hit you and you just cry.  I’m one of those people. I cry when I am emotionally upset.  Like my Baba.  My grandmother on my Mother’s side was someone who cared deeply about the plight of others and when upset she cried.  I think it’s genetic.  Yesterday I thought about my Mother and my Baba, both long deceased.  How would they have coped with this? Baba would have been worried for sure, and my own Mother? As she died nearly forty years ago it’s hard for me to remember.  There would have been a sense of humour involved though, of that I have no doubt.

So let’s start with some laughter today! 

Be careful when you self isolate……

Today is not a day for tears but laughter and thanks.  We are beginning to get ourselves sorted out.  Two neighbours have kindly offered help we might need.  Thank you! The village veg shop, Reg the Veg is going to deliver our fruit and vegetable needs.  Needs?  I put gordal olives on the list!  Now if you can’t find the humour in that there is no hope….

Until tomorrow.  Thanks for reading.

Here’s another one to keep you smiling….

Thanks to Naomi for those!

With love

Kathy x