Day 67 - Monday 25th May
Today is a Bank Holiday. Which means it's pretty much like every other day… it's rumoured that the government might introduce a bonus Bank Holiday this autumn to make up for the ones we've spent in lockdown. I was in two minds about whether to do yoga this morning, as my usual Monday evening class won't be taking place. I'm up in time, so I decide that I will and it turns out to be a fantastic start to my morning - a tough but enjoyable class that leaves me feeling much more alert and my muscles much more relaxed. I grab a late breakfast of home-made banana bread - the only thing I don't like about morning yoga is having to delay breakfast, as I like to eat as soon as I'm up.
Somebody has bought one of the items I advertised on Facebook Marketplace so I arrange for her to collect that and then make some scones for my friend's visit this afternoon - I have some clotted cream left from Saturday so we can make an occasion of it. I set up my posts for an online small business event I've opted into - my window is 1pm to 2pm and I try to schedule them at 5 minute intervals in the hope that they will run automatically, giving me time to shower and get dressed as I threw on my yoga clothes hurriedly first thing. My PC is playing up, though - it's taking ages to do anything and the hard disk is working overtime. I get an error message for Teams, even though it's not open, and another for Adobe Creative Cloud which I've uninstalled!
My friend arrives and is thrilled with the teapot full of Earl Grey and the scones - I've got the teacups and saucers out so we're doing things properly. It's her first excursion since having Covid so I really wanted to make it special. We eat, drink tea and chat in the warm afternoon, grateful for the shade of the veranda which allows us to be outside without direct sunshine. She gifts me the stool I picked up for her yesterday, as I expected it's way to big for her living room. She also buys a gift from my shop for a friend who has been taking good care of her with grocery deliveries and so on while she was ill.
Our daughter is due to pick up some honey from our hives, as her husband is suffering badly from hay fever. They arrive when my friend is still here, so she gets the bonus of briefly seeing my grandson who has progressed a long way since she last saw him. He plays on the grass in the shade of a tree and manages to fall in to the watering can, wetting all his clothes. I pop them in the tumble dryer and he runs around in his nappy while they are drying. We manage to tempt our son out of bed to see them, and we all stay close to the house to maintain social distancing. The wet clothes have meant an extended stay and it's snack time, so I find some banana bread and some cheese and give his parents a picnic blanket for my grandson to sit on and eat them. Hubby irons the clothes to speed up the drying and they leave with extra banana bread and a scone. The watering can incident was a bonus; it felt almost normal watching my grandson play in the garden. It seems that next Sunday they will be announcing further loosening of restrictions so perhaps this time next week we'll be able to see family and friends more normally.
The news is full of the furore about Dominic Cummings decamping to a property at his parents' home in Durham while his household should have been in quarantine at home due to a diagnosed case of Covid-19. He was also seen visiting a castle 30 miles away with his wife, again when she should have been isolating due to an active infection. He makes a statement this afternoon and is adamant that he acted both reasonably and within the law by moving his wife and child to a location where family could help with childcare, but many people are angry that they followed the restrictions to the letter when he seems to have bent them to their limit. The PM has defended him and he has refused to resign but public opinion seems to be very much against him and I wonder whether the government will, in the end, decide that he has to go to maintain its credibility and avoid undermining compliance with the restrictions that have forced us all to stay away from friends and family we desperately wanted to see.
I spend some time trying to photograph the red kites who are soaring on the thermals above our garden, and then check my PC which seems to be behaving now I have restarted it. We decide to barbeque; since it's a sunny bank holiday it's the tradition - even though we would normally be spending it with the extended family. After dinner, hubby and I walk to the town centre for some exercise and to enjoy the balmy weather. It's pretty much deserted and I take the opportunity to photograph some of the local landmarks without the encroachment of people and traffic. I'm finding it hard to imagine how we can come back from this … even when restrictions are lifted some businesses will be no longer trading and people will be much more cautious about spending time in crowds. During the summer we'll be able to use outdoor space to introduce distance at bars and restaurants, but it's too cold for that in the winter. And will theatres and cinemas be able to remain in business? There's a lot to think about.
Today I am grateful for a brief taste of normality.
Somebody has bought one of the items I advertised on Facebook Marketplace so I arrange for her to collect that and then make some scones for my friend's visit this afternoon - I have some clotted cream left from Saturday so we can make an occasion of it. I set up my posts for an online small business event I've opted into - my window is 1pm to 2pm and I try to schedule them at 5 minute intervals in the hope that they will run automatically, giving me time to shower and get dressed as I threw on my yoga clothes hurriedly first thing. My PC is playing up, though - it's taking ages to do anything and the hard disk is working overtime. I get an error message for Teams, even though it's not open, and another for Adobe Creative Cloud which I've uninstalled!
My friend arrives and is thrilled with the teapot full of Earl Grey and the scones - I've got the teacups and saucers out so we're doing things properly. It's her first excursion since having Covid so I really wanted to make it special. We eat, drink tea and chat in the warm afternoon, grateful for the shade of the veranda which allows us to be outside without direct sunshine. She gifts me the stool I picked up for her yesterday, as I expected it's way to big for her living room. She also buys a gift from my shop for a friend who has been taking good care of her with grocery deliveries and so on while she was ill.
Our daughter is due to pick up some honey from our hives, as her husband is suffering badly from hay fever. They arrive when my friend is still here, so she gets the bonus of briefly seeing my grandson who has progressed a long way since she last saw him. He plays on the grass in the shade of a tree and manages to fall in to the watering can, wetting all his clothes. I pop them in the tumble dryer and he runs around in his nappy while they are drying. We manage to tempt our son out of bed to see them, and we all stay close to the house to maintain social distancing. The wet clothes have meant an extended stay and it's snack time, so I find some banana bread and some cheese and give his parents a picnic blanket for my grandson to sit on and eat them. Hubby irons the clothes to speed up the drying and they leave with extra banana bread and a scone. The watering can incident was a bonus; it felt almost normal watching my grandson play in the garden. It seems that next Sunday they will be announcing further loosening of restrictions so perhaps this time next week we'll be able to see family and friends more normally.
The news is full of the furore about Dominic Cummings decamping to a property at his parents' home in Durham while his household should have been in quarantine at home due to a diagnosed case of Covid-19. He was also seen visiting a castle 30 miles away with his wife, again when she should have been isolating due to an active infection. He makes a statement this afternoon and is adamant that he acted both reasonably and within the law by moving his wife and child to a location where family could help with childcare, but many people are angry that they followed the restrictions to the letter when he seems to have bent them to their limit. The PM has defended him and he has refused to resign but public opinion seems to be very much against him and I wonder whether the government will, in the end, decide that he has to go to maintain its credibility and avoid undermining compliance with the restrictions that have forced us all to stay away from friends and family we desperately wanted to see.
I spend some time trying to photograph the red kites who are soaring on the thermals above our garden, and then check my PC which seems to be behaving now I have restarted it. We decide to barbeque; since it's a sunny bank holiday it's the tradition - even though we would normally be spending it with the extended family. After dinner, hubby and I walk to the town centre for some exercise and to enjoy the balmy weather. It's pretty much deserted and I take the opportunity to photograph some of the local landmarks without the encroachment of people and traffic. I'm finding it hard to imagine how we can come back from this … even when restrictions are lifted some businesses will be no longer trading and people will be much more cautious about spending time in crowds. During the summer we'll be able to use outdoor space to introduce distance at bars and restaurants, but it's too cold for that in the winter. And will theatres and cinemas be able to remain in business? There's a lot to think about.
Today I am grateful for a brief taste of normality.
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