Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 12 July 2020

Thank you, Heather. My sister is allowing her daughter and her man and Charlie into their home, but nobody else. Except the man who is coming to widen their doors to accommodate her new wheelchair - she will be safely shut into a different room! But she's not keen on anyone else coming into her home, and particularly staying overnight. With her complex medical needs, I can't blame her. Even a whisper of Covid-19 would be fatal for her. No, it's just me - living alone, with few neighbours I know and certainly only one I would want to talk to about personal things - and she has enough of her own without having to bear mine as well. I've lived alone for a very long time and should be used to it - but this has gone on for so long without a clear end in sight ... I'll be fine. Just rather more bad days than good at the moment, but I'm sure that will change once the sun starts shining properly!

Good Morning, just about. I rushed off to get things done this morning, as there is of course lots to do. Thank you to Diane for starting us off once again, you are a hero, Diane!

Pat, sorry to hear that you're feeling it now. I know what you mean, and here I am with a man to moan to! I think that the fact there is no end date to see is one of the hard things about all this: goodness knows what is going to happen but I always think that like our poor parents who lived through terrible times in World War II we have to just battle on and take each day as it comes. I'm not sure if its a good thing that these days we get more news of things than they ever did: its a bit much when you switch on the radio or the TV and there seems to be nothing else but the virus stuff.

Laughing about Trump, again. He is scarily awful, but at least he has given us some amusement over this time!!

The sun is out here, and I hope that others in the UK are getting a little of the brightness, too. Heather, enjoy your family visit and the lovely roast dinner.

Annette, glad you can now take a breath and give a sigh of relief that the painters are finished: they certainly seemed to be efficient. Hope you can now enjoy the result.

AQ Thinking of you and sending big hugs daily...  that came out as big bugs so hope you don't get a plague now...

Everyone else, thanks for your news but I must go off and find my knickers for the week!!

Hello – warm and dry here. Just been chopping chives to freeze.

LINDA – lovely photos. Glad to see you had a good day with the family. Tomasz is still so blonde! How is Matthew’s black eye?

ROSY - nice that you had a riverside walk yesterday, despite some thoughtless people not distanced.

DIANE – thanks for the new thread. I hope storms and hail are not causing problems for you. As for the taxes – urghgh!

AQ – must be intriguing to guess what is actually going on inside Grand Design! I hope you will have a better week – did you go to church this morning?

ANNETTE – I hope the taking Ms D home question won’t prevent her staying on with you. I think life as it now is calls for pretty slow days – weeks - and months!

DIBNLIB – hope you enjoyed your canal walk. Isn’t that stretch up the canal rather a busy one?

HEATHER – I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky …. Well, that would blow the lockdown cobwebs out of my brain – quite breezy here, so would be even windy that side of town – if you can call the Solway “sea”, after all it is salty when the tide comes in. J does not help in the garden. We have one photo of him watering the veg where we used to live – must have been age 8 – sitting in a garden chair to hold the hose! He occasionally picks up a paintbrush for the fences or shed, but that is his limit. Pleased the family are coming over again, and that your SiL intends to do things in the garden for you.

(pause for lunch and then fell asleep over the shopping list for tomorrow!)

PAT – yes, another week gone – I’ve lost count, maybe about fourteen weeks now, or is it fifteen? Laughed at the comment about Trump covering his face! Sorry you are having a down day, being unable to be with the family next weekend – but good that you can look forward to zooming with them all. Understandable that your sister is strictly limiting people coming into her house. Am I right that she does have a husband at home with her? I hope you will enjoy the cream tea with your kind neighbour.

I guess LINDA will have set off by now, hopefully complete with knickers and everything else one needs. I hope all is well when you get there and that you have a lovely time with beach walks etc (but no dead fish this time!). Clear sky here now – and apparently for a few days, so I hope it stays good for you down there.

Yes, my sister has a husband. He is pacing around like a caged lion - he likes going out every day and seeing a bit of life. As a full-time carer he doesn't get a lot of time to himself, so likes to wander round the shops and do odds and ends. So he is frustrated that he can't! The highlight of his day at the moment is going across the road to get the paper every morning, and hoping there will be someone there to talk to!

Morning all:

PatO: No worries - it is indeed tiresome, but, as Heather says, there's always someone on here to have a little moan to; we've all done it and let's face it, we're all here and where would we be going anyway!?   :-)  I spent a long time on the phone last night with a dear and very old friend in Seattle.  She had a stroke two years back; has recovered pretty well but still cannot drive.  She also insists "I'll be fine; it's okay really" but is nevertheless mightily frustrated by her inability to go anywhere.  She's a very social person but is living in an independent living facility that has maintained severe lock-down rules that preclude any visitors. Her facility took the 'inmates' to Costco last week and she was thrilled to be out among people!  We were both whining about our otherwise enviable states (we're not in refugee camps or war zones; have food in our fridges, etc.) but we're counting the days to the election (November 3) and hoping that at least one major problem (think large crude orange person) will start to ease at that time.  And yes, 'Breaking News' last night was all about The Man in the Mask (too bad it wasn't an iron one).   Enjoy the cream tea - yum!  Didn't realize your daughter was so vulnerable.....it must be hard on her husband.

Diane:  Tax returns when you're self-employed are a nightmare.  My advice: Deduct every last thing (toilet paper, under the circumstances??)  Good luck and hope the storms pass you by.

Heather: Family is coming here this time, but virus numbers not good anywhere. My lot has been taking all the precautions though.  May "go down to the sea" again later this afternoon to make sure it's still there.

OG:  Ms. D home delivery will involve some juggling and maybe an overnight stay with friend in Orange County (another careful person).  We'll see.

Thanks everyone for news and even non-news.  :-)  Take care

HEATHER roast chicken dinner sounds delicious. Great your family are popping over and will do a bit in the garden.

PAT Sorry to hear your are feeling low. I always find watching or listening to something funny helps.

OG We started our walk at Merkinch and carried on down to the sea lock. It was quiet and we saw 5 herons. Benson carried 1/2 tennis ball nearly all the way round. This is good as it stops him picking up stones and grinding even more of his teeth down.

I'm still here: we're leaving in the morning. Not packing many shoes, as I keep several at the caravan - beach clogs, sandals & wellies! - then I'm ready for any weather, too!

Sat in the garden for a while this afternoon, in between rushing around finding things. The sun was warm & it was very pleasant without being hot. Bonnie was chewing on something, and I realised it was a very hard small green apple. A windfall from our apple tree. She could hardly get her teeth into it, and I tried to get it from her but she insisted on chewing lumps off it until it was the right size to swallow. Of course, we weren't surprised when an hour or two later she began heaving, and out came lots of greenish stuff!! Maybe it will teach her not to eat things, but she does love the plums when they begin to drop!

OG, We weren't sure what to expect with Matthew, but his eye has a greenish purple tinge around the socket and doesn't look too bad. However, to the side of his face he has two of those strips to help heal a cut, so hopefully they will do their job. He was completely unconcerned, and is enjoying being at school again as he's one of the younger intake who are still attending. His hair is turning brown which is just what happened with my Youngest, his father - he was a blonde moppet when very young but has brown hair now. Tomasz, however, looks as if his might remain fair.

Must go and throw a few things into the hallway, we haven't put any into the car yet but will pack it first thing. Going to bed early.