Life in Time of Coronavirus 12

June has been really wet and stormy - some spectacular lightning shows. One night we went out in the back yard to watch the sheet lightning lighting up the neighbourhood! Until it started raining heavily!
Walks have been curtailed quite a lot - so feeling sluggish and more tired - weirdly.
Slowly working our way through or new Marvel jigsaw.
Yesterday (21st June) was Father's Day - so all 3 of us went for a very pleasant drive to Endon to visit my dad. We had to stay in the back garden and my dad chatted to us from the conservatory at the back of Marjorie's bungalow. Tried to chat - although M did interrupt a lot to tell us how marvellous her family are and to utter racist threats against Chine - as they have obviously trying to take over the world by making this coronavirus in a lab and unleashing it on the world. Didn't really explain how it works when their own population were the first badly affected. She still wants to nuke the whole country though.

I had bought my dad some Eat Your Drink novelty jellies. They are made from whisky - which he likes - and are proper strong. "Eat 5 and you can't drive!" Also came with socks with CHEERS on them!

I also had got a variety cocktail pack for us to try - and they are really nice! You can tell they have a good amount of alcohol in them. I had read about them in The Metro - and ordered them from their website.

This week is predicted to be another heatwave - at last! I have a new fence panel in the back yard waiting to be cut to size and installed and thee is some more fence along the bottom to paint in my cool green colour.

Hopefully it will get done!

Last Friday I had a Zoom get-together with the box office team from the theatre. Mandy (manager) didn't turn up until the last 5 minutes - and Linds seem to try at the very end but failed. Talked to Taz, Lou, Emily and Pete though - and Kay (who is marking person and Pete's sister) Taz says she's been doing nothing during lockdown - apart from all our quizzes! Lou has got herself an extra job at Tesco - she works 2 days  week 5am-10am putting together online orders for delivery. She was very rpoud to have met her deadlines everyday. She has also designed and built a wardrobe from scratch - which looked really good.

Pete seems to have a grown a beard and Emily had to spend the money she had saved to buy a pole (for her pole dancing practice) on a Shark hoover as her old hoover packed up. She has also become addicted to crossword puzzle books.

I asked for people's Netflix suggestions - and Pete's wife, Lisa piped up from somewhere in his room about a load of true crime ones. Not sue fi they are my cup of tea though. Taz had watched Afterlife - and loved it though it was so sad. it must have been a hard watch for her as she lost her dad just at the start of this pandemic. (Not Covid though) I really rate Ricky Gervais now - fantastic series. He is writing series 3 right now.

Laura and I finished Dead to me - which was brilliant, funny, sad and surprising all the way though. Now waiting for series 3 of that too. Loved both characters and their complicated friendship!

Emily did say that all was well with the theatre and its cashflow (not sure how - what cashflow?) Today (Monday) they are starting to rip all the old seats out and the builders have set up a "wellness tent" on the car park for their workers welfare. Not sure how they are working - hardly anyone is allowed in the building. So the theatre will look fabulous soon - but who knows when it will reopen>

Bojo is meant to be making another announcement today about the 2m distancing rule - which businesses are clamouring to be reduced so they can open and make money. However, it is only meant to be safe if we have a track and trace system in place. The government have abandoned the "world-beating app" they were testing in the Isle of Wight - as it doesn't work with the Apple system. Not sure if they are going to use the one that does work - made by Google and Apple - that the rest of the world is using.

Most non-essential shops are now open - although we haven't been tempted to go out at all. No news on pubs and restaurants yet - although they are hoping the proposed date of July 6th could happen. It will depend on the 2m rule though. it had been suggested for that date if they had tables outside and people ordered via an app rather than crowding around a busy indoor bar/counter.

We shall see...

Life in the time of Coronavirus 13

Well, on Monday Laura had a phone call asking her to go back into her office on Wednesday 1st July. She has been staying here with us for exactly 3 months. We packed up her stuff and food and went back to her flat on Tuesday - I helped her clean the bathroom which gets black mould in it . Spoke to her after her first day - via Duo video calling. She'd managed to get back into her work jeans! She was the only one from her team in the office - and when she got there she had a computer there with her name on so she knew where to sit. There are 2 other guys from the other team in there with her and they are spaced out. There are anti-bac cleaning stations thee too. They all had to do some retraining via video links again - then were given simple tasks to start them off. It is hard to get straight back into something when you haven't done it for over 3 months.

She seemed quite happy though - so hopefully she'll be okay. The call centre is in another room - with around 60 people in there - but there are still 100 of them at home.

One good thing is now that she is back on full wages she can re-apply for her mortgage. The estate agent said they are ready to go with the flat as soon as she has that back in place. I think a visit to the flat might be in order before she buys it as it is over a year since she viewed it! Hopefully it is still in good order as it has ben empty all this time.

So, we managed to finish our Marvel jigsaw before she went. The box had said it was impossible - but we did it!

Also while we were in lockdown together we managed to grow some plants! M&S gave me some seeds once when I shopped there - so I grew the peppers and L grew the violas. Then Dom brought over some rhubarb plants from my dad's garden in Cheadle.

They are all doing really well and have now been transferred outside. I don't have a garden here - just a yard - but they are doing okay in pots!

So, L went home to her flat on Tuesday - and tomorrow (Friday) we are having another visitor! My neice Zoe is hoping to do an intensive training course down at Stafford Uni -so that she will be able to be a relief ambulances driver for the NHS. She has been in St John's Ambulance for years and she really wants to do this. As she lives in York she needs somewhere to stay. The first day will be an assessment to see if she is suitable - and if she passes that then it could be the next 3 weekends. As she has been at home with her mum and dad - after Bournemouth Uni closed, where she was studying forensic science - and both Damian and Jan are working from home I think she should be safe in our bubble.

The latest from the government is that despite daily deaths being 170-180 they are opening all the pubs and restaurants on July 4th - a Saturday. Boris is telling people to be careful and not go crazy - but I can see carnage happening! Checked our local The Wulstan - and it is also opening. You have to book a table - whether you are eating or just going for a drink. They need a contact number in case you have to be traced later if someone had it. They say that the inside of the pub is very different - with tables being spaced out. No-one is allowed to congregate around a fruit machine or in a smoking area. You are also encouraged to order food from the app instead of going to the bar. And pay remotely.

I can't see many people keeping to those guidelines for long - especially when they've had a few drinks. Seems like a recipe for disaster - so we are not going any time soon. Even before all this happens they have already had a massive spike in Covid infections in Leicester - so that whole city is on lockdown again.

Life in Time of Coronavirus 11

Every day seems the same now.

Every day at 5pm there is a Corona briefing - rarely given by the PM usually some poor government minister who has to try to defend their record and the chaos since Dominic Cummings broke the rules. It was actually Boris today - no-one sees him from one week to the next - he only comes out because he has to attend PMQs and get his weekly grilling from Sir Keir Starmer. No-one knows what he does for the rest of the week. he is never prepared for the questions or briefing he does do. Seems to make it up as he goes along.
The most damning nws recently was today when one of his scientific advisors said the it the lockdown had happened just 1 week early the death toll - currently over 50000 would have been HALVED.  
BBC News

"The number of coronavirus deaths in the UK would have been halved if lockdown had been introduced a week earlier, a former government adviser has said.

Prof Neil Ferguson, whose advice was crucial to the decision to go into lockdown, said the outbreak had been doubling in size every three or four days before measures had been taken."

It is true that we are one of the worst affected countries in the world.

In other news - now that my windowsill peppers are growing so well, Nathan bought me an avocado growing kit. Just need to take the stone out of an avocado and peel off its skin - and put it in this avocado boat and float it in some water. In 1-3 months it will sprout and start to grow into a tree. I'll let you know how that goes!

Have finished another 1000 piece jigsaw - this one with shelves of Christmas books. It was fun to do - might do it again nearer Christmas!

Laura has now ordered a Marvel 1000 one - so we are making a start on that one. It says it is "impossible" - but there are so many faces and outfits it shouldn't be too difficult to get it done.

We are going to have a massive collection of jigsaws by the time we are allowed out and things get back to normal - if they ever do!

The last Zoom meeting at the theatre was a bit dispiriting - as now most staff have been put on furlough "for a period of pause and reflection" The Board Meeting last week sounds like it didn't go so well. Fiona said they could see a few "cons" with her plan of opening again in September. However the refurb is actually going ahead this week - we have been sent plans and an artist's impression of the new auditorium with its new purple seats. At least there will be SOME activity at the theatre over the summer. Not sure when I will be called back in again. Still no news from the government when theatres can reopen.

Boris is considering reducing the 2m distancing rule to 1m - under pressure from businesses - but our Covid R rate is still too high to consider that safe just yet.


Still streaming 3 quizzes a week on Mixer - as well as hosting a Community Games Night online on Saturday nights for people from Interference and the quizzes to play some silly Jackbox games - which you can join in via your phones. I enjoy that - although it was better when Rubbafish was doing it (he started it) but he is struggling right now and not feeing up to it. So, Nathan has to set it up and take control. It is still fun though.

Life in the Time of Coronavirus 10

 On Monday - with the lockdown regulations being relaxed - we were allowed to see up to 6 people in your garden as long as we still stay 2 metres away from each other. So, I got to see Dominic and Sharon! I let them come in through the back gate into the yard - and they sat on our swinging seat.

They had just been over to Endon to drop some medication off for my dad. They'd chatted to him through the door - he didn't come out to them.

It was lovely to see them both and have a proper conversation. Much nicer than a phone call. They both looked really well - they are walking over 10000 steps everyday. They have discovered a lake behind JCB full of ducks and another at Hales Hall. They stayed less than an hour - maybe I might go over to Cheadle soon and visit their garden.

The next day we had a special delivery - arranged by Nathan's dad. It was a Survival Pack - from Lymestone breweries! It was delivered by Brad who said that he was doing okay. He has 2 pubs - one in Stone and ne in Newcastle which are both closed at the moment. He said that they had always meant to set up an online shop for their brewery - and had never got round to it. Now they have had to in order to survive. He said it was going pretty well - in fact sometimes better than when he was selling to places like Wetherspoons and had to wait 48 days for payment - this way he gets paid within a couple of days!

The pack contained bottles of Lymestone beer, Stray Cat cider and crisps! he'd even included two glasses, beer mats and some puzzles. it was great!

The weather has been gorgeous - but it changed today (Wednesday) L and I made a chocolate chip banana loaf which was yummy. We didn't go for a walk as it was rainy. We are almost finished with our latest 1000 piece jigsaw - which is of shelves of Christmas books! We are running out of jigsaws!