A glorious day though as a hayfever sufferer, it’s not quite so much fun in the great outdoors. But no complaints. My tan lines are coming on a treat. It’s lovely to have sunshine and warmth in these strange times. And this may be my last post for a little while as things seem to be moving on. I haven’t decided yet! Perhaps I’ll ramble on about trying to get back to some semblance of normality without completely freaking out. I haven’t been on public transport for close to 100 days. Today is the last of the daily Ministerial briefings, […]

A glorious day. And it’s due to get much hotter later in the week. Luckily I have a good stock of 30+. I’ve been out today a number of times for walks to clear my head. All in all, it’s been a pretty chill day. When out and about, I see more and more people meeting up. Many are staying at a distance. Many aren’t. Fifteen new deaths, the lowest figure for months. Though of course numbers are low on weekends and early in the week due to delays in reporting. This brings the total to 42,627. We’ve not yet […]

A good day today. A bit of a late start to the day but it is the weekend. I headed off to the Horniman Museum gardens to meet up with my friend with the funky shoes. We chatted. We gossiped and we had a few laughs. I’ve largely avoided the news today. A knife attack in a park in Reading has left 3 people dead. It’s been declared a terrorist incident. It makes no sense. And Covid-19 rumbles on. A further 43 deaths bringing the total to 42,632. Let’s just hope no Ministers say how ‘proud’ we should all be […]

I woke up calmer this morning. Certainly calmer, less discombobulated than yesterday. Discombobulated is an underused word. Perhaps a word well suited to these strange times we find ourselves in. After a bit of writing, I headed out. I headed to Belair Park, one of the quieter parks in lockdown land, and met up with a friend. I haven’t seen this friend for months as she’s been staying outside London with her husband. A good solid two hour something chat about pretty much everything, I headed home. There were phone calls either side with another friend. The weather shifted from […]

I had a moment on waking up where I believed we were in ‘normal’ times. In the next moment I remembered we weren’t. I had memories skipping through my mind – of journeys taken, of friends seen, of places visited. I imagined how I might spend this Friday, only to realise I couldn’t do those things I would have had the option of doing 6 months ago. I’m missing the experience of London. I miss all those things that at times I equally love and hate about this city. This was not a good start. But it did get better […]

I’m in a much less grumpy mood today. I’ve managed to be pretty productive and no naps have been needed. And the news in response to Covid-19 continues at pace. Government has abandoned the development of a centralised Tracker App, instead looking at a decentralised approach. The aim of these Apps is to notify users when they have been in recent proximity of another user with Covid-19. It uses proximity data. It was meant to be rolled out in mid-May. Oops… Everyone was telling them it wouldn’t work and even if it did, the approach meant that it would be […]

It’s been a grumpy day. No good reason. I don’t think the weather has helped, though I was quite impressed with the thunder that went along with the torrential downpour earlier today. When these types of moods hit, I find a nap is a good solution. So a nap was had. Also I don’t think watching Prime Minister’s Questions helped. There was a lot of banter about the importance of getting kids back to school. Yes, it absolutely essential that kids go back to school when it’s safe to do so.  The Prime Minister seems to be laying the blame […]

It’s taken 85 days but today is the day I’m really bored with lockdown. I’m not bored as such. I have plenty to do. But bored with the horror show that is the news. Bored of one announcement after another. Bored with how this is all playing out in the UK, and specifically England. Of the announcements today, government has reversed its decision to not provide food vouchers for children over the summer holidays. While they wouldn’t be provided for in ‘normal’ times, there is nothing normal about these times. So, with thanks to a campaign led by a footballer, […]

I remain confused. Yep, I’ve been confused a lot over the last few months in trying to keep track of the twists and turns of government policy and messaging. Perhaps it’s because I have a slightly grumpy lower back today. At least it’s been more productive than most of last week. Government is currently reviewing the 2m rule for social distancing. Reducing the distance will have a positive benefit for the economy (subject to lots of people not getting ill etc). But we’re also following the evidence and the science. So which is it? Is this a political decision, or […]

It will be interesting to see what happens tomorrow as non-essential shops open. It’s been 3 months. Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, has been walking through an empty shopping centre today to demonstrate how safe it is. Lots of safety measures have been put in place including hand sanitiser stations. Direction arrows are on the floors. However, given how people move around in spaces like shopping centres, and there’s a clear inability to follow direction arrows in supermarkets, let’s see. I won’t be going shopping, apart from perhaps a few groceries. And there’s growing demand from some Conservatives to reduce […]

A good though tiring day. The pain in my back is much less, but it is exhausting. Just as well I can’t take the good painkillers otherwise I would have been unconscious for most of the day. I did meet up with my friend at the Horniman Museum gardens for a stroll and to say hello to the alpacas and goats. The alpacas weren’t in the mood for a photo so I took one of the very funky goat instead. I had some minor rants about life on my part, we chatted, we had some laughs. Always a fabulous catch-up. […]

I’m tired today. I don’t know if it’s because of low level back pain (though certainly better than it was), or the weather, or this low level existential angst that many of us seem to have in lockdown land. It could well be a combination of all of these. Given this, not a particularly productive day. It’s not been a great week but hey ho, time rumbles on. As least I should manage to sleep better tonight given the reduction in my pain levels. And it’s been a pretty lazy day. I managed to get some groceries in and go […]