28 May 2020

Very hot and sunny. Life is one long series of deliveries. I'm ashamed to admit I've ordered lots for stuff from Amazon but its the only place I've been able to get certain things - like my favourite alcohol-free beer. When things return to some semblance of normal I'll cut that out.

We spent some time gardening and sitting in the sun. I need to get on with my book. That starts next week.

Another pic from happier times. This is our friend Ash who gave us an excellent BBQ last year.

27 May 2020

The weather is still hot and sunny. No rain now since March. FT now estimates the number of deaths as 64,000. The Cummings row continues.

Meanwhile in the garden.....

26 May 2020

Cloudy but warm in the morning but brighter and sunny in the afternoon. I did a lot of weeding which was a pain but feeling better for it now. I have to decide where to plant my Banana which is in the greenhouse.

The Cummings row rumbles on. No resignation yet.

The FT estimated to UK death toll is now 63,800.

My Globe Artichoke is looking good.

25 May 2020

Beautiful sunny day. Bank Holiday Monday though you wouldn't really know it.

The Cummings row rumbles on. In the afternoon he gave a ludicrous press conference which included the revelation that he had problems with his vision and decided to drive to Barnard Castle with his wife and child. Clearly, a stupid thing to do if it was true. This greeted with disbelief and ridicule on Twitter. There have been calls for his resignation from some Tory MPs.

Meanwhile, in other news I discovered that a squirrel has been chaching hazelnuts in my lawn.

24 May 2020

Sunday. Fixing a curtain rail which fell down and mending a broken tyre. It's all happening here.

A row broke out in the afternoon when it was revealed that Dominic Cummings, Boris Johnson's lynchpin, had broken the lockdown rules by visiting his family near Durham which involved a 270 mile - that's just one way - journey and also visited Barnard Castle during his stay on Daddy's farm. It's a long time since I've seen so much rage on Twitter and it was pretty much universal. People have made many sacrifices in observing lockdown rules and they are clearly very angry. Boris Johnson later defended him but he was clearly lying. It will be interesting to see how this pans out since it's clear that Cummings should resign, or be sacked but Johnson is unlikely to do that and will try and weather the storm. How this affects his premiership in the longer term remains to be seen.

In the meantime I have been doing a lot more gardening and watering because it's still dry!

23 May 2020

Still in Lockdown though it looks like it may be crumbling around the country as this is a bank holiday weekend.

It's also easy to lose track of time. What day is it? Yes. I know I'm retired but I always knew when it was the weekend. Now with no football and conversations with neighbours over the fence and friends on Facetime, every day seems the same.

I went for a walk. The photo shows some of the debris form the gales we had. Lots of broken branches and leaves scattered around.

22 May 2020

Sunny and dry with strong gusting winds.

The good news today is that our rotten, corrupt government has been forced to back down on charging immigrant NHS and care workers to use the NHS! A small ray of light in the gloom.

Reading a book I just received by Sarah Kendzior. It's about Trump and his corrupt rise to power, and a filing democracy which is in a dire state. Recommended.

21 May 2020

Yesterday was the hottest day of the year so far. Today is cooler but still bright and sunny. We desperately need some rain!

I went for a walk down Eaton Lane. Later I sat in the garden and read my Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers book for the first time in many years, a classic that made me chuckle.

The farmer's wheat is doing well

20 May 2020

It's annoying that the media are still reporting the official figures for deaths - 36,000 - when the real figure - estimated by the FT - is about 62,000. Even the lower figure is the second-highest death toll on the planet.

The row about opening schools on 1st June rumbles on and a new one has broken out about the government's plan to make passengers on incoming flights seld isolate - at least 2two months too late!

Anyway, I took a selfie on my new phone today. Not very flattering but this is a time of stress!

19 May 2020

I woke up at 4 am and couldn't get back to sleep so I got up. News is still grim. I had an early breakfast and went for a walk down by the river. I still had to dodge a few Covid-breathing joggers though! The wild Garlic is still in flower.

18 May 2020

Monday. A pretty quiet day. I had a lie-in due to staying up late last night and drinking too much. Finally, I managed to order some on my favourite alcohol-free beer so things should improve soon!

Now here's a classic photo. Me and my snowman from circa 1967. We had real snow in them days. Note the pipe (my Dad's) and the coal used for eyes and nose.

17 May 2020

Now here's another photo from happier times. Here I am on the top of Lantern Pike near Glossop on. This is from a walk I went on with Peter about a year ago.

16 May 2020

Its the weekend but you wouldn't know it. It's still cool and dry and I'm still annoyed about my potatoes and runner beans being damaged by frost earlier this week. Did some more gardening today and planted some more runner beans. My front lawn, which died in the summer of 2018 is already looking dodgy 😡.

15 May 2020

The crisis continues and will for months. We are still in lockdown. Some people have had to go back to work, the roads are busier and the row about reopening schools on 1st June rumbles on.

It's been cooler but there's still no rain and we could desperately do with some.

I desperately needed some new reading so I was pleased to get this book.

14 May 2020

Thursday. A dull day with a slightly chilly breeze. We could do with warmer times - and some rain.

A row has broken out over Johnson's plan to open junior schools form 1st June. Understandably, many parents and teachers are unhappy about this. You can't expect young kids to social distance and schools are not built to do it. As you might expect the hard-right press is criticizing teachers.Pathetic stuff!

Today we went for a walk by the Weaver. Some people still not making an effort on social distancing. Cyclists are the worst culprits.

13 May 2020

The FT is now estimating 60,700 deaths from coronavirus. The focus has now shifted to deaths in care homes where the staff and residents still don't have enough PPE. Shocking stuff!

I went for a walk to the River Dane which is just over a mile from our house. It has memories for me because I did some river sampling there for my MSc project on Pesticide Pollution in the River Dane.

This is the bridge over the Dane where I parked up.

The River Dane

12 May 2020

Depressing pictures are circulating on social media of thousands of people crammed into the tube in London. No doubt busses are the same. The death rate amongst bus drivers has been the highest of all key worker groups. The overwhelming majority are not wearing masks. Any half-decent government would have provided masks for everyone. It looks like a herd immunity is still be persued and now we wait to see if there is a second peak.

Today I'm posting a picture of Rio, the reason being that its the first taken with my new (cheap) mobile phone.

11 May 2020

Well. Last night we had the fiasco of Boris Johson's address to the nation changing the government's stance on lockdown. The 'stay home' message has gone. If you can't work at home go back to work but don't use public transport and keep social distancing. WHAT! Many people can only get to work by public transport, and what if they have children? Schools and nurseries are closed! Add to that no proper measures have been put in place to ensure that employers look after workers' safety. It's a bloody shambles at best and has caused widespread confusion. It will also cause hundreds, probably thousands more deaths.

Scotland and Wales have opted to retain the lockdown. At least someone has some sense!

I went for a walk down Church Lane again. It's the most interesting part of the village. I took a picture of the Old Rectory and the mural at the village theatre.

10 May 2020

Not much to say today. Something bad happened on Friday and I'm still dwelling on it. But I'm not going to go into detail.

Anyway, another photo from happier times. Here are Paul and I at his flat in Leith.

9 May 2020

Death toll is now over 31,000 but the real toll is approaching 60,000. Expecting another idiot statement from Johnson tomorrow.

We went for a walk and had a look round the churchyard. There are some lovely cottages on Church Lane and I include a photo of one of them.

8 May 2020

Its a bank holiday on a Friday. Why? Because its VE day. I'm more than happy to remember those who gave their lives defeating fascism but I'm not celebrating. Some of the idiots in our street were celebrating and getting drunk without social distancing and its happening all over the country. The consequences will be grim.

Here's the biggest flag in the village. Not a perfect composition but taken when I was social distancing.

7 May 2020

Quiet day. Still working on my book and trying to stay alive. I'm doing the daily walk but still having to dodge cyclists and joggers! Here's a picture of Tinky my first pet.

6 May 2020

Wednesday. It's getting warmer. I went for my daily walk around the block. It's still very quiet around here but the pressing is saying that the lockdown may be lifted on Sunday. Big mistake!

A few people are putting up bunting because Friday is a bank holiday. It's been moved to 8 May in remembrance of VE day which happened 75 years ago.

5 May 2020

The death toll has is now the highest in Europe. But the FT estimate is even higher - 50,300. Once again warm and sunny and it was good to be outdoors.

4 May 2020

There was a bit of a Twitter row yesterday when Sarah Vine tweeted a photo showing one of their bookcases. It included books by holocaust denier David Irving and racist Douglas Murray. It might be reasonable to have books like that for research purposes we know that's not why they are there.

Here's one of my bookshelves chosen because it was nearby and the least cluttered.

3 may 2020

Warm sunny day. The big news today is that we went for a walk down by the river. Bad timing though there were loads of people about and we had to jump into a few bushes to keep up social distancing. Some people, particularly the young, cyclists, and joggers are a real coronavirus danger!

2 May 2020

Still too few resources for the NHS
Still horror stories from social care
Still too little PPE
Still too many deaths

1 May 2020

Ta da! It's our 27th wedding anniversary today and international workers' day which I'm more than happy to celebrate!

The news is still grim but deaths are beginning to fall. Had a good Facetime 'party' with our friends Paul and Janet in the evening.