Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 21 June 2020

No walking here: the rain is pouring down. It changes from showery to pouring and even to almost hail, every few minutes. Saw that in Yorkshire yesterday, they had hailstones the size of two pound coins!

Annette, there has been much unrest here, as maybe your sister has told you. Most of the problems caused by the under 40s who seem to be disenchanted with the restrictions, and as someone said this morning, seem to think they are immortal anyway. They've been having secret parties for weeks, and now are having big 'rave' events in the big cities, very difficult for the police to control.

My OH is hoovering: he likes to be useful, and it's certainly a help. I was going to suggest an outing in the car today but not sure where to, in this deluge, LOL!!!

Hi! A wet Saturday … and probably Sunday too. I don’t remember much about Friday – seems I got heatstroke Thursday – although I stayed out of actual sun – and it upset various parts of my metabolism. I watched TV and dozed a lot.

Podiatrist visit went well on Thursday – she had to cut further and deeper in my toe, so the callout was definitely necessary, and she didn’t charge, despite the extra PPE, dressings and transport. It felt better straight away, but I have to keep it wrapped up and dry until possibly Monday morning.

J has just cleaned out the potato and onion drawer in the kitchen – he said it needed doing so I told him there was nothing to stop him!

OH has been flitting about with various little jobs indoors. Yesterday he cleaned the hallway and the corridor through the house. I think he may do ironing next.

Rain just got heavier – very loud!

Hot and humid for the 3rd day in a row..
Work on last 8 metres of edging going slowly. We are on the the Spey valley where the glaciers came from the Cairngorms and deposited rocks all the way to Spey Bay. When starting the garden from scratch I had to shape them digging up huge boulders . The local farmers still have fields piled high with after removing to make their fields viable.
Youngest still struggling in Bournemouth with getting to work and finding somewhere to get a daily walk.
I couldn’t believe what I had heard when the guy interviewed on the beach thought is was OK to be there as “ I don’t know anyone with the virus”. Gone are my hopes during lockdown that things might change fir the better.
Went to Grantown for Bothy bread and was amazed to see how many dogs were being walked on pavements at 12.30 in around 26 degrees..... grrrr

Wendy - I haven't heard that one before. How does he know whether or not any of his mates have the virus? Looking at the recent pictures of people crammed onto beaches, or Liverpool fans crammed together, I have lost all hope of there not being a second peak. People are behaving with such stupidity - as Lindy said, they seem to think they're immortal and nothing bad can affect them. So it makes those of us who are struggling to keep to the rules and protect ourselves and our environment even less keen to start socialising again. I am certainly going to wait some time before I start doing things I was doing before. I have been to Hever Castle a couple of times, but there is plenty of room to keep your distance from everyone else. And I have travelled in my own car and met friends there, rather than travelling together as we would normally do. I listen to the medics and scientists who assure me the virus has not gone away and that we should still be taking every precaution. I choose not to listen to the government and economists who seem to want to get everything open as quickly as possible.

I read an interesting article the other day that suggested we should all write a letter addressed to ourselves saying how we are feeling about the current situation and our hopes and/or fears for the future. We should then seal it in an envelope and put it somewhere safe. This time next year we should take it out and read it - and see how things have changed ... I plan to do that very soon. I think it's a great idea.

Pat, I'm so seething about some of the recent events here, that I dare not write any of it down! I think I could come up with choice words about those who seem happy to condemn us to another 12 months of restrictions and lockdown, which will surely come as there would be lower case figures now if everyone was doing as they are told.

I agree that its best to listen to the medics and scientists - the politicians do as usual, have their own agenda. Of course they need to get the country up and running again on all cylinders as soon as possiible, but if only they had made better decisions earlier on, we would not be having such a bad outcome now.

OG - Good that your toe is more comfortable now, glad you were able to get some help with it.

My sis in law Sue has found that the dog she has, has "one leg not quite right". Her son went with her when she chose it and brought it home, and how I wish he had said that it was not a good idea. No way can she afford to spend some of her retirement money on X rays, anaesthetics and operations..... We have not seen it yet but have had several conversations on the phone. We hope to go and see it tomorrow but will not go unless we can all sit outside, so if tomorrow is much like today, then its off.

Wendy, I saw the guy who thought things were OK because he didn't know anyone who'd been ill....... words fail me.

I gather more under 40 year olds in the states are dying from Covid.. I would like to say it’s the ignorance of youth but a bit like here some don’t respect or care for others.
All of us have done our bit and will continue to do so. As have our children and for those that have them your grandchildren .
It seems that for 2 days running in Scotland we have had no new deaths. Basically with a population of 6 million that is relatively remote apart from 2 major cities it is easier than down south. Nothing to do with us having to wait longer for everything. Up here our sea water is never really warm so no need to flock to the beach :-)))

Gosh, did it again.  Typed a post and then neglected to hit Reply to Thread.  Duh.  

Wouldn't it be smart if they started imposing massive fines on stupid people of all ages who refuse to take precautions?  (Starting with The Orange Menace and his sidekick Pinocchio Pence).

Made an appointment for a haircut Tuesday.  No shampooing or drying offered at this point and masks all round, which I prefer. A good thing I live within three minutes of the place.

Diane: I see the EU is on the point of nixing admittance of any Americans but I'm not sure where that leaves the UK, which has to abide by some EU rules until the end of this year. . I think the UK has imposed a two-week self-quarantine for visitors, but you're correct anyway: My sister has had multiple myeloma and although it's been well under control for some years now, it puts her right at the top of 'most vulnerable' so I have no plans at all to visit. Besides, I don't like flying at the best of times. My friend's daughter, who's been on assignment at the U.S. Embassy in London for 5 years, has finished her term there and is flying back on Monday with her husband and 8-year-old twins.  Can you imagine wearing masks for that flight - and with two active little boys?!  And the airlines are pretty much admitting that social distancing is almost impossible.  Anyway, they're flying London to Dallas, spending the night there, then Dallas to Santa Barbara, then quarantining for two weeks.  

Sun looks like it's trying to break through the overcast......

Take care all

Annette our hairdressers open on 15/7 but can start booking 2/7. Will try and get an appointment but in no hurry when as I seem to be coping and want to make sure all is well. I had mine cut the last day before lockdown and washed my hair and added no products before I went. Will do the same next tine. Peeved I didn’t get a discount for not having shampoo conditioner and the obligatory head massage :-)