29 March 2020

Day 9 of isolation. The terrible news from Italy continues. Today it was reported that 51 Italian doctors who tested positive for the coronavirus have died.

Today it's very cold but dry. I did a bit of gardening and ran the campervan for a while to make sure the battery was still fully charged. It doesn't look like we'll be going away in it anytime soon.

28 March 2020

It's still dry and sunny but its been much colder today and looks set to be for a few days. Still thinking how lucky we are that I have a half-decent pension and Susie is able to work from home.

A week since I went to the supermarket and still no symptoms. Keeping my finger crossed.

Here's a photo of me with my grandparents James and Ethel Thorp taken in 1960.

27 March 2020

We are still far from the peak of the coronavirus and the death toll is rising in the UK. The rows still go on. Not enough NHS staff have got proper PPE and this is still a big shortage of ventilators. There is a lack of testing. The government have failed but are likely to blame the public for still going out in numbers after restrictions and 'lockdown' was introduced. Not enough is being done to help the self-employed and there is a massive queue of people waiting to claim universal credit. There has been a much better situation in Germany where they have better medical facilities and a lot more testing.

This is a picture of Dad and me on one of our moorland walks nr Todmoreden taken in the late 1960s

26 March 2020

Worryingly it's becoming almost impossible to buy food online with all the slots being booked up. I should have mentioned earlier that we have set up a local support group to look after neighbours on Hartford Rd. We have a WhatsApp group and a Facebook page. One of them, Jane, kindly bought us a few groceries.

Went for a walk by the river and found this on the pavement less than 100 yards from our house.

25 March 2020

Bright, sunny and warm weather continues. Its been about 17 degrees today - almost like summer. More gardening. So far I have planted potatoes, peas, courgettes, dwarf french beans, coriander, lettuce, lambs lettuce, onions, chillies and there is more to come.

The Hyacinths are looking good!

24 March 2020

To be frank I've been very jittery since my trip to the supermarket on Saturday. It was a genuinely scary experience. Not rammed but fairly busy and you could feel the tension in the air. However, I'm still OK - no symptoms and fingers crossed.

Given that the photos I can take are limited I'm going to start to include a few old family photos from now on. Here is a picture of my beautiful son Aaron. He is autistic and lives with his mother in London.

23 March 2020

Monday. More fine weather. More terrible news. More gardening.

I saw this beautiful Butterfly in our garden.

22 March 2020

Lots of news and none of it good but all my friends and family are OK so far. We're in regular touch by phone, Facetime and Messenger. The weather has been drier and warmer so I've been spending time in the garden getting my planting done. I am really enjoying gardening and its good for escaping from some of the terrible events in places like Italy and Spain.

The pots on the onion bed are there to stop Rio using it as a toilet!

21 March 2020

The crisis worsens. People are moaning about pubs being closed down. Panic buying continues. Many people are fearful.

Today I went out really early to the cash machine at our local coop. Having withdrawn cash I noticed that the shelves were looking pretty empty. So I decided to drive into town and check out the supermarkets. Waitrose and Sainsbury's looked OK from the outside but you can't see all the shelves. Then I went to Tesco and it was open. On a whim, I decided to go in. It was pretty busy for 6.10 in the morning. I hope I didn't make a mistake that I end up regretting 😟.

Here's a picture of my Grandfather clock. Time is ticking by.......

20 March 2020

More gardening today. Most of the beds are prepared. Planted seed potatoes and onions. It was colder today but at least it's dry.

Rishi Sunak has come out with another package for workers and businesses but it's not enough. Not much help for the self-employed. This all going to start really biting soon and he will have to take further action. At least now they have shut down the pubs.

19 March 2020

We went out for a walk by the river. I'm annoyed that people still aren't social distancing. The walkers we saw didn't keep six feet away but I did. They probably thought I was a bit weird.

Susie is lucky she can work at home. Oh, and it looks like the schools are finally being closed. About time. Let's hope ducks are affected by the Coronavirus.

18 March 2020

Did some work in the garden preparing the beds and planting the tomato seedlings. Pretty much in self-isolation now. We probably have enough to last a couple of weeks in we are careful. Still seeing stories about supermarkets being stripped bare - pretty grim. As usual, I left some bread out for the birds.

17 March 2020

The Coronavirus situation is becoming more critical by the day. The government still hasn't taken the necessary steps. Schools are still open and pubs are crowded. Things are bad in London.

Today I slipped out of isolation and made a trip to the garden centre. Had to get some compost and seeds in otherwise I would have had anything to plant. Tomorrow I start work on the garden.

Sprouts and cauliflower. These and tomatoes were the only seedlings they had

16 March 2020

I went to the garden centre today choosing one which is usually fairly quiet. My luck didn't hold - it was busy. But I managed to do a reasonable amount of social distancing.

Today is my Niece Georgia's birthday and the day I always remember my Dad who died five years ago today. Here he is at his 70th Birthday party with my Stepmum Carol. Happy days.

15 March 2020

Well, it looks like I'm not going to be going out very much in the next few weeks. So I plan to spend plenty of time working in my garden and I guess that's where most of the photos are going to come from.

It's a good job I love gardening and it's good to see the Rhubarb coming up.

14 March 2020

The government has been changing tack over its approach to the virus as the situation worsens. It looks like large events are going to be cancelled but they still don't really appear to have a grip on the situation. The Premiership, EFL, etc. have already been called off.

We went for a walk by the river. The anglers were still out in force though they do do social distancing.

13 March 2020

Friday the 13th! Mixed weather, sunny spells, and showers. I doubt many people noticed. Susie did some shopping and we stocked up on cat food which is one of the next things likely to run out. Working on my book. What a pain editing is!

The news continues to get worse. There is a desperate situation in Iran and the number of infections is still growing worldwide. Contacted a few friends to see if they were all OK.

12 March 2020

Cancelled another trip to Manchester to meet Peter as I'm still not fully recovered. Man Utd's game against LASK was played behind closed doors. We won 5-0. The six nations has been postponed and it's looking like the Champions League and the Premiership will be as well. Organisations are well ahead of the government on this.

More of the garden, which is starting to bloom.

11 March 2020

The crisis continues. I haven't been out much but I'm starting to feel better. Arguments about the government's strategy continue. I disagree with them I think we need to follow Italy's example. I'm not an epidemiologist but I do have a background in molecular biology. I studied immunology and virology and even though that was 35 years ago I have a better understanding of what is happening than most people.

Went out and did a shop today. The shelves were pretty full but no wholemeal flour!

Meanwhile, the garden is beginning to come alive.

10 March 2020

There has been widespread criticism of the Government's approach to the Coronavirus pandemic. They are claiming that we should rely on 'herd immunity' i.e. let the virus pass through the population. But there is no vaccine and my understanding is that the concept relies on a vaccine. If 60% of the population contract the virus hundreds of thousands of people will die. The NHS, already struggling, will be overrun as it has been in Italy. It is also at odds with what is happening in other European countries.

Elderly, and immunocompromised people - like me could well die in this scenario. There is already pressure for events and large gatherings to be cancelled. The Coronavirus pandemic is dominating the news cycle and social media. We really are in a tough spot and I never expected to experience anything like this in my lifetime.

so, we have begun to stock up some food in case we have to self isolate. There has been some panic buying - mainly of toilet rolls. This won't affect us as we have a bidet but it is utterly ridiculous.

9 March 2020

Monday. It's brighter now and the sun is warmer. But overall still cold and rainy. I need to be thinking about getting on with my garden.

The news about the Coronavirus continues to get grimmer by the day. There is a terrible situation in Italy which is in lockdown. Many people have died and the health service is under great pressure.

8 March 2020

Another day at home. Flu is a bit better. More troubling news about the Coronavirus. It really is a global pandemic. There are troubling times we are living in.

I have just been through the pain of updating my ancient Macbook Pro to the new OS Catalina. It's creaking along but we are getting there!

7 March 2020

Tonight is Peter's surprise Birthday which I'm not going to as I still have a cold. Bad timing!

The good news is that it hasn't rained in three days and I managed to cut the grass!

6 March 2020

Still feel the same. Not been out much but today we had a delivery of logs.

Another picture of the Bull taken earlier this week.

5 March 2020

It's cold and sunny But really beginning to feel like spring. The lawn looks a mess but is still too wet to cut. Hoping it stays dry.

Reluctantly cancelled a trip to Machester for Birthday drinks with Peter.

Here's a picture of the village school which has now been turned into flats.

4 March 2020

I've a confession to make. I have a bit of a cold. What do I do? Self-isolate? I'm sure it's just a winter cold but given the Coronavirus scare that is going on its a bit difficult. Let's hope I'm right.

That's the problem with all this. Unless you can be tested how can you know? I can't go to the doctor's but what if I had another medical issue that required treatment?

Amazingly there is already panic buying of toilet rolls and hand sanitiser is nowhere to be found. The media have helped to create this panic. Some people are behaving as if nothing has happened and others are freaking out. Meanwhile, we have a useless government and an underfunded NHS.

Here is a photo of the most beautiful tree in the village. It's a Beech. My favourite tree.

3 March 2020

Out in the van and a bit of shopping. I went to Waitrose and got my free copy of The Guardian. My Dad used to buy the Manchester Guardian and I read it every day for over 40 years. Not any more. I look online occasionally but I won't pay for it, not after the shocking and relentless anti-Corbyn campaign which helped Labour lose the last election.

Marina is looking good.

2 March 2020

It's now light until about 6pm and is beginning to start to feel like winter is over. The Blackbird is singing and the Daffodils are in full bloom.

In the evening I went to a meeting at The Venue to discuss climate change. We're trying to influence local councillors. So far not much luck!

1 March 2020

Good job I set off early. Strong gales, snow, sleet, and heavy rain. Storm Jorge. The road from Edinburgh via Biggar to the M74 was pretty grim. No flooding as such but covered in large puddles and had to be negotiated very carefully. Gales all the way back home and quite tricky on exposed parts of the M6.

Got back at 1.30 and went for a walk with Susie. Good to see the wild garlic in the woods. Spring is here!

29 February 2020

A much better day. It wasn't raining. Bright and sunny but the wind was howling and some real wind chill going on - brrrrrrrrrrrr. Paul and I went to visit Janet and her sister Ruth who were selling at the flea market in the Drill Hall, then on into town to meet my good friend Nat at Waverley station for lunch in the City Restaurant. In the evening we went to an Italian seafood restaurant in Leith.

28 February 2020

Late-night last night som a lie-in and brunch. The weather was cold and fairly foul so we went to the Museum of Modern Art.

In case you are wondering the piano was playing

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27 February 2020

Off to Edinburgh. I'm driving there for the first time in ages. Weather forecast was poor but it turned out to be a straightforward trip. Lots of snow on the Lakeland hills made a fine view from the M6.

Arrived at 3pm. Two stops and robbed for the price of petrol. I was too cautious topping up at a service station - something a registered later - I could have saved myself about £8!

Great to see Paul and Janet again. Toor much beer, wine and a late but great night.

The view from Tebay services

The Water of Leith

In the pub