A little bit of good news....

Congratulations! Boris and his fiancée, Carrie, have had their first baby – a little chap! Some good news at last amongst all the doom and gloom. They really have had a hell of a time recently… they must be exhausted. 

Social media and msm, however, don’t recognise any of their stress and anxiety– all they can see is “Boris is an f***ing Tory!” What miserable specimens they are… they can’t put their political allegiances aside just for a nanosecond and be pleased at some happy news. Dear god…people can be vile.

The media in this country, led by the execrable BBC, is a thorough disgrace. They long ago abandoned any pretence of impartiality in favour of spewing a constant stream of lefty, socialist claptrap. Sadly, the current Covid crisis and lockdown has just allowed them even more of a platform.

 

I can avoid paying for a newspaper or any online news content but, sadly, I can’t avoid paying for the BBC – I’m forced, under threat of imprisonment, to cough up if I have the temerity to want to watch live TV. I hope one day to see the death of the BBC – I can wait…

Went into the village for our daily walk today… we crossed the road so many times to avoid people it was a bit like Scottish country dancing! It was actually quite amusing and a few other people saw the funny side of it too.

Still haven’t done any baking… Can I justify using up some of my small stock of plain flour on some biscuits? Decisions, decisions….

Musings

Well, Boris went back to work yesterday. That’s nice for him and good for the country. I’m pleased he’s well enough to return, but I don’t think it’ll make much difference to the eventual lifting of lockdown. I think we’re all going to have to be patient for a while yet. Sadly, patience is not one of my strong points. 

It’d be easier if I thought they actually had my best interests at heart but, let's be honest, this has damn all to do with my welfare…it’s all about protecting the NHS. Funny that…I thought the NHS was meant to protect me.

Even when the rules start to be a bit less stringent, I’m sure they’ll say over 70s still need to stay at home. Why are we quarantining people who are perfectly well? Quarantine is usually for people who already have an infectious disease.

Given that I don’t have a social life I’m surprised at how hard I’m finding this. Fact is, I’m an old trout who doesn’t like being told what to do, I suppose.

Made some curried fruit chutney yesterday; thankfully it was warm enough to have the kitchen door and window open but the house still pongs of vinegar – since there’s no-one here but us it doesn’t really matter…it’ll pass.

Raining this morning – it’s desperately needed; the garden is so dry you can almost hear the grass and plants slurping it up. Maybe it’ll spur my beetroot seedlings on – they seem a bit reluctant at the moment, although the onions are coming along nicely.

Cauli/broc cheese for dinner today with glazed carrots and possibly some stir-fried cabbage. I’ve got this overwhelming urge to bake something – I rarely bake, lockdown must be affecting me worse than I thought. Might make some biscuits…

Shakespeare and Spuds

Really lovely weather today – sunny with a light breeze, so we mooched over to the farmer’s field again after our walk round the lotties. He’d been planting spuds in the front field; the back field has some sort of cereal crop going on. It’ll be interesting watching it all grow.

Potential Spuds

Seems I’m going to be sitting here talking to myself for months yet – and there was I, foolishly thinking I might be able to go out for lunch next month on my birthday. Fat chance! 

The lugubrious Prof Chris Whitty (Chief Medical Officer) yesterday quashed any idea of normality for the foreseeable, so it looks like I’ll be baking my own birthday cake and blowing out the candles with the grandchildren on Skype. The way things are going we’ll be lucky to get out for the office Christmas party (the “office” staff being us two!)

Well, I’ve dug out a couple of books that I’ve been wanting to re-read but, if I’m not careful, I might have to take up some sort of craftwork just to pass the time. I’m the least “crafty” person in the world, so god knows what I’ll start doing. There must be something out there for a complete numpty to get engrossed in.

Utter garbage on the BBC tonight – a whole load of celebs desperate for attention are allegedly going to entertain us. Not me. I’ll be doing anything other than watch that drivel. Doesn’t matter how bad things get, celebs still have to have their egos massaged.

St George’s Day today and Shakespeare’s birthday.

This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle… This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.

- Richard II Act 2, Scene 1

And still it goes on...

Another week in lockdown begins and my bloody hair looks an absolute sight, as does Mr Simply’s. He’s starting to look like a better-dressed version of Compo from Last of the Summer Wine. I suppose that makes me Nora Batty… now, where can I buy lisle stockings?

I’ve given up watching the news or even reading it very much; I really can’t take the nonsense being pumped out by most news outlets these days.

The news in summary… the Govt is negligent and uncaring, everyone who works for the NHS is a saint, assorted old people are walking with their zimmers to raise money for some reason or another, we’ll all have to wear masks soon (no…not like a bank robber), pop stars are singing in their kitchens, Harry and Meg are still acting like spoilt brats… and anyone over 70 won’t be allowed out until god knows when. I think that's about it.

This is what passes for journalism these days… The news will be the same tomorrow but possibly in a different order.

Also in the news… it's HM the Queen’s birthday today – Happy Birthday Ma’am. 94 years old, and she can’t even have the family round to share her cake. What a bloody life.

It’s my birthday next month and if we’re still under lockdown, I will not be best pleased. I want to go for lunch at The Ivy and I damn well want to see The Troops for cake and hugs. I'm not a woman who takes kindly to being thwarted... you have been warned.

Had a little slice of normality this morning; my window cleaner arrived, bless him! I thought I'd be lucky to see him this side of Christmas so it was a lovely surprise. The Govt seems quite happy for small businesses to go down the pan, as long as their beloved NHS is looked after, so I’m really pleased for him that he’s managing to keep his livelihood going under such difficult circumstances.

I made some broccoli and stilton soup at the weekend, using up the stumpy bits of broc that are left when you cut off the florets. I usually throw them away (call the food waste police immediately!) but I kept a few stumps in the fridge and used them in my usual recipe; it looked and tasted identical! Can’t think why I haven’t done it before – I felt quite virtuous *polishes halo*

Not a happy bunny

I thought long and hard before posting this. Possibly controversial, but it's my blog and my opinion, so here we go... 

I was very sceptical about the threat of this virus at the beginning, there was a brief lull when I thought it really might be something serious… my scepticism has now returned and has grown massively while I’ve been sitting here in lockdown; a lockdown which is absolutely not necessary as far as I can see and which was extended yesterday for a minimum of another three bloody weeks. Deep joy.

We still only have a very small percentage of cases and an even smaller percentage of deaths – 90% of those deaths were people who were already very ill and/or old, as this BBC report shows.  Meanwhile the country’s economy is being wrecked, people’s livelihoods have disappeared - gone forever in some cases, children's education is being damaged and many people’s physical and mental health will never recover.

I'll be long gone before our economy gets back on track – my grandchildren will be paying off the debt incurred in this fiasco.

I know Boris & Co had no experience of a situation like this but it seems they’ve been gripped by fear and a herd mentality, i.e. “Other countries are implementing a lockdown – we must do the same”. It wasn't thought through and alternatives don’t seem to have been considered. It was a knee-jerk decision which seems to have been taken purely in order to “Protect our NHS”.

We shouldn’t be bankrupting the country in order to avoid overloading the NHS, particularly when the NHS says it has spare capacity and it can cope. If that's the case then why the hell are we all taking part in this very expensive pantomime?

The response from the Govt has been disproportionate to the risk and the threat – we’ll end up in a position where the cure is worse than the disease.

I like the NHS – a lot of good people work for it. The NHS saved our son’s life when he was born and it saved mine eight years ago when I was blue-lighted to hospital in the middle of the night. I’m very grateful, really I am, but it’s become a new religion – a sacred cow which mustn’t be criticised and can never be held to account. It’d be more helpful if we had people in Govt who were adult enough to accept that sometimes sh*t happens and people die. Death is an inevitable part of life – medical science doesn’t have all the answers and nor does the country have a bottomless pit of money.

I’m doing as I’m told, despite thinking the rules are bloody ridiculous; I stay home, I go on my allowed walk once a day etc., but I really can’t take this ‘crisis’ seriously. Come back to me when UK deaths are going up by tens of thousands a day and people are dropping down dead in the streets. That might be a crisis – this is not.

In years to come when a timeline of deaths is looked at, I suspect 2020 won’t even show a blip on the graph.

Incidentally, in the winter of 2014/2015 more than 28,000 people in the UK died from flu (PHE figures). Did anyone notice… did we bring the country to a standstill over it?

Right, I’ve got that little lot off my chest... I’m off to hang the washing out.

Easter Sunday

It was a strange one in some ways.

In the morning the most extraordinary thing happened. It was a really lovely day, so we went for our daily walk on the lotties and a wander round the farmer’s field after breakfast. When we came back we sat on the bench on the front porch for a little while – no-one ever sits on the bench btw, it’s only there because I like it and it’s somewhere to park the shopping when we’re unloading the car.

View from the porch

That’s when it happened… random people we don’t know waved to us as they walked by! Two people even waved as they rode past on their bikes, one couple called out “Happy Easter – lovely day!” and a lady walking her dog said “Morning – strange times we’re living in!” Strange times, indeed; I don’t know these people from a bar of soap! I’m not the kind of person who habitually talks to strangers – this is definitely not normal!

One day we’ll look back on this time and it’ll seem unreal, like something you’d read about in a novel. A year ago, if anyone had said that much of the world would be in the midst of a medical emergency, serious enough to necessitate lockdown, I’d have laughed and said “Yeah right…sounds like science fiction!” It’s actually science fact now but it still seems unbelievable.

Once you’re in the thick of it, it’s surprising how quickly it becomes the new norm. The hardest part is not knowing when it’ll end.

Did a roast dinner yesterday; generally only bother about twice a year or sometimes only once at Christmas, but I decided to set to for just the two of us. Nut Roast with roast potatoes, glazed carrots and stir-fried cabbage. It was bloody lovely.

After a lovely warm cloudless morning, in the afternoon we had an almighty thunderstorm.

Now that’s more like Easter should be.

Happy Easter

Good Friday.

Bit difficult under the circumstances to see what’s ‘good’ about it, but there you go…

Toasted hot cross buns for breakfast this morning (purchased, I’m afraid – firstly, I couldn’t be arsed making them and secondly, I’m saving my precious stock of flour for making bread) with homemade marmalade… bloody lovely – and the sun’s out, so it’s not all bad. 

Oh and Boris is out of ICU – well done, that man.

Looks like lockdown will go on for a while yet – the Govt clearly only came up with three weeks at the beginning because it sounded like a timeframe which wouldn’t frighten the horses. It was pretty obvious it would be extended to who knows when. 

I’m still not at all convinced that the Govt is taking the right line on the COVID-19 situation but the only thing to do is follow the rules, do as you’re told and it will all be over soon.

Like almost everyone else, we won’t be seeing the family this weekend, sadly. The Troops were meant to be coming for lunch tomorrow – gutted that won’t be happening now. We’ll Skype instead. Just to add insult to injury, it seems like the weather’s mocking us – it’s been so lovely the last few days but no-one is allowed out to enjoy it apart from their once daily exercise outing. I’d rather it was raining, to be honest.

Had a look at the sky last night before we went to bed – it was beautiful; cloudless and the stars were clearly visible. Looking south we found Sirius, Orion was south-westerly and Venus was giving it her all in the West – it was very grounding, really made me think how small we are. Whatever we’re doing they’re all still up there shining brightly.

Worth remembering...

Get well soon, Boris

PM Boris Johnson is in Intensive Care in St Thomas’ Hospital. I was so sad to hear that – we desperately need him at the current time to be our figurehead in the fight. I sincerely hope he recovers, not just for the country but for the sake of his pregnant partner and his family who love him. They must be so frightened and suffering too.

What I can’t get my head round is the online abuse - people who are rejoicing in his suffering and wishing him dead. What the hell is wrong with them – do they have no shred of common decency or humanity? It says a hell of a lot about them and none of it’s good. They're a disgrace.

Get well soon, Boris – just keep thinking how much you want to meet your new baby.

Come on Prime Minister, you can do this.

If you're going through hell, keep going.

- Winston Churchill

The lonesome banana

The tale of the lonesome banana.

Look at that – one sad, solitary banana in our huge fruit bowl on Saturday morning. It’s never been known. In a week we get through more fruit and veg than you could shake a stick at – I usually buy fruit and veg twice a week, sometimes three times, so buying once a week if I’m lucky, has not been easy... but a delivery arrived (phew!) and normal fruity service was resumed. Still no bread flour, chickpeas or rice to be had, but most other stuff was available. Not bad.

New washing machine arrived at the same time as the shopping. The washing fairy (moi) is very happy.

“Same shit, different day”. A philosophy for our times, I think you’ll agree. A phrase from our lovely workman/builder who helped us get our electrics up and running on Thursday by phone – it’s one of his regulars and suits all occasions! He’s a gentleman and a scholar as you can tell. He should be fitting new radiators upstairs for us in a few weeks, but that’s clearly not going to happen…. much like our holiday in May. Bugger.

I don’t like people; with the exception of a few family members, I find people are best avoided. I’d rather eat my own leg than have to attend any kind of social occasion – but I really miss going out somewhere nice for lunch with Mr Simply. Will our favourite restaurants even be in business after all this? And what will the rest of the High St look like in a few months’ time? They're dropping like flies.

Spent much of yesterday cooking. Curry, compote and chutney. All jolly nice, but not to be eaten together!

Boris is in hospital with COVID-19 symptoms - I wish him well. Don't get me started on the idiots on Twitter who are hoping for him to die. What the hell is wrong with these people?!?

Watched the Queen’s speech last night. That woman is a living legend – the embodiment of the word “duty” – we’re bloody lucky to still have her; her speech was inspiring, sincere, reassuring and very moving. I was holding it together until she said “We will be with our friends again; we will be with our families again; we will meet again.” 

That was it – lost it. Completely awash.

It's all going terribly well...

An eventful day, yesterday.

The washing machine died and took out the electricity of the whole ground floor. Great. Long phone call with our lovely friendly workman who's done loads of work for us in the past. He managed to diagnose the problem and talk us through sorting it out. He’s a star – worth his weight in bread pudden.

Electrics back up and running, I ordered a new washing machine online and set about extracting a full dripping load from a useless appliance which we then heaved outside. I am down to my very last nerve and the final shred at the end of my tether. Best to keep out of my way. *aaaand…. breathe*

   

Had a lovely game of Connect 4 with our two grandchildren on Skype – bit surreal, but they seemed to enjoy a break from home-schooling for a little while. Amazing how children adapt so well to change.

Lockdown. Apparently, we have to obey the rules even if the rules are bloody stupid and ill thought out. Is a virus really worth all this? It’s not as though people are dropping down dead in the streets. We lose many more than this from flu in an average winter – without wrecking the economy,  damaging children's education and bringing the country to a standstill. The Gov’t is overreacting – they’re panicked and paralysed by fear… the media is no bloody help, either, constantly manipulating the news and ramping up the hysteria.

Tomorrow’s Waitrose delivery is the last one booked with no more on the horizon for the foreseeable. Just spent a happy (?) half-hour amending my order to get as much as possible delivered before I’m cast adrift and forced to rely on the wonderful farm shop. Waitrose may well see the back of me after this – I’d rather spend my money with a company which actually provides a service. Their delivery drivers are great – their IT, customer service and distribution systems are clearly crap.

Had a dance in the kitchen with Mr Simply last night…well, when I say dance, I mean he swayed a bit in time to the music. He won’t be on Strictly any time soon. He has many excellent qualities and talents. But not dancing.

Cauli/broc cheese for dinner – bloody lovely. Proper comfort food.