Well here we go again, let's see what this week brings,
Fri 24th April - Trump has excelled himself now, he is usually nuts but these latest comments really take the biscuit! He is now saying that people should inject themselves with disinfectant, the trouble is some Americans are stupid enough to follow his advice. He also proposed irradiating patients bodies with UV light. How on earth can Americans continue to vote for this idiot and how can he be trusted to be one of the most powerful men in the world.
I managed to get out of cutting down the bushes, I kept a low profile out of Mein Fuhrer's way for most of the day and by the time she realised at gone 4pm it was too late, as I had already consumed several beers. Can't do it tomorrow as it's the weekend!
We got our 20 ltr delivery of the new Doublecrosser version 5 quite late after we had already consumed numerous beers throughout the day so just tested a pint, tasting good.
Anna rang my mother, her kitchen strip light has gone, she spent the afternoon under the stairs looking for a new starter as my brother had told her it might be that. She lives in an old Victorian house with high ceilings anyway so no way was she going to be able to change it! The prison officer next door neighbour usually helps her with things like this but she told Anna that his boss had contracted 'Coronas' so best to keep out of his way. She said that she will be ok until winter! Despite the fact that she needs to go through the kitchen to get to her bathroom! Anna contacted my nephew, he is going to sort it out, and tell her to stay in the lounge while he is in the house. He said he would take a few swigs of Dettol, heat himself up to 60 degrees and stick a UV light down this throat when going round.
When eating dinner last night I noticed that I had lost a crown from one of my teeth, also I have had cracked tooth on the other side for some time. Although not painful I don't know what emergency dental treatment is available, not a lot I think.
Sat 25th April - what a start to the day, Anna rang her mother to see if she wanted her to order some plants as she has been going on about them for weeks. She said she didn't need any now as they went to Aldi yesterday and bought some there. How many more times does she have to be told that they are not allowed out, and this is the person that has changed her Facebook profile page to Stay home, Stay safe! It makes me mad but I just get told to keep quiet and stay out of it! What is the point of us and Anna's sister doing their shopping if they are going out anyway, we aren't going to bother anymore.
Sophie volunteered to cut my hair after practicing for 2 hours on Josh last week. Although slightly reluctant I did concede and have to say that she did a good job. Anna usually does it and I end up with several grooves dug into my head but this was far more gentle.
Thanks to Matti and Becca for coming up trumps with some yeast, we can now have wood fired pizzas again this evening.
Josh is in the dog house with Sophie, he found a dead dehydrated rather large spider in the conservatory when I was having my hair cut. Later Sophie was looking for the yeast and Josh told her it was under a magazine on the kitchen top, just where he had hidden the spider! Apparently there was much swearing and shouting when she went to look for it, unfortunately I missed it as I was in the shower.
An afternoon in the sun having a few pints was followed by some excellent pizzas.
Sun 26th Apr - I again successfully avoided cutting the hedge under the excuse that it was the weekend. But Mein Fuhrer gave me an order that it must be done tomorrow as it was going to rain for the rest of the week. Another lovely day sat in the sun finishing off the Doublecrosser. Josh slow cooked Lamb Boulanger, the lamb was melt in the mouth and it was delicious. Despite a few pints and the best part of a bottle of wine I managed to stay awake all evening.
Mon 27th Apr - it happened! After swerving the order to cut the hedge for the past 3 days I could avoid it no longer. The green garden waste bin is now completely full and I am covered in scratches! Not that I am one to moan!
Tues 28th Apr - a rainy day for a change, gave me a chance to start my self assessments tax return. I also put in our order for this week's beer delivery.
Wed 29th Apr- carried on and more or less completed my self assessment return, it's nice and early this year but gave me something to do while the weather has not been so good. Very little going on as we are stuck inside at the moment. One thing I did notice was on the local news was that a village, Dunster I think, was making bunting to string up alongside the streets to cheer people up. The locals were sewing the bunting out of various bits of cloth, surely their time and resources would be far better utilised in making masks! The people putting it up were certainly not social distancing either!
Thurs 30th Apr - well another month nearly over, totally on lockdown! Not a lot going on this week with the weather not being so good. Josh has done the weekly shop, at least we are eating well. Been having trouble with Virgin Atlantic for the past 3 weeks, I know that they must be inundated but in their own interests we were willing to change our flights to January. After serveral attempts and them saying that they would not deal with me until 72 hours before our flight, they just out of the blue changed the flights and sent me an email. They had, however, overcharged us by over £800 in comparison with the same flights advertised on their site. I have finally got them to agree a full refund but they still were unable to say when I would receive this, I am just in a long queue. So goodness knows when we will be going to Antigua now.
Another week over, not an over interesting one, this will be my last posting in my 50's. An exciting 60th birthday at home this weekend may give me a bit more to write about next week.
Thursday, 30 April 2020
Friday, 24 April 2020
Coronavirus diary of a moaner Week 4
Well here we go again with at least another 3 weeks of lockdown, it was apparent last week that people were starting to lose the plot, long may it continue!
Fri 17th April - rainy day, I cleaned the larger kitchen blind as directed by Mein Fuhrer, Sophie then did a reasonable job on the smaller blind.
Friday is Shed day so we did have a few pints of Double Crosser sat in the Shed while it chucked it down with rain outside. Not really much to report on today!
Sat 18th April - again a bit of a lazy day! I rang my mother, she had received the nail clippers that Anna had ordered, and that she had asked for, she now says ' I get on better with nail scissors than clippers, but I'll give these a try', you just can't win! I had to endure her going through the weather forecast yet again! Josh cooked a cracking curry for dinner.
Sun 19th April - getting annoyed today, found out that father in law, who has had a 'shielding' letter for being classed as vulnerable, has been going out again! They asked for bread last week, when Stuart went to town to get some he saw their car in Shires car park. Obviously annoyed, Anna's sister asked why it was there when they weren't supposed to go out, she was told that he had gone to town to renew his car tax at the post office! This despite the fact that Anna had already told them that she would do it online when they received their renewal. They have also been out shopping elsewhere. He reckons that the council should provide him with a mask, Anna told him in no uncertain terms that he doesn't need a mask as he shouldn't be going out!! They have just chosen to ignore the letter but hypocritically clap the NHS every Thursday!
Also had a Facebook conflab around the government stating that people could drive to take exercise provided the walk exceeded the time it took to get there. If everyone took this literally then every tourist area and popular walking spot, including beaches and coastal areas could go back to being packed. Dorset police have already stated that they will not change their stance and state that the legal aspects of the legislation are based upon whether a person's actions are considered reasonable or not. They are stating that if you can walk or exercise near your home you should do so and do not consider it essential to drive miles to a specific place or beauty spot. It is up to individual concience but please take time to consider whether the journey is essential or morally acceptable even though it may be considered to be legal to do so.
On a lighter note had a couple of beers in the garden followed by a really tender gammon joint with cauliflower cheese and spinach, really enjoyed this one! This was the first time that Grunters had cauliflower cheese! After all she is only nearly 30!
Mon 20th April - I had a news notification on my phone saying that Richard Branson had said that Virgin Atlantic could go bust if they do not get a government loan. As soon as I saw this I knew that Russ would be on the phone, sure enough about half an hour later he called, panicking about rebooking our flights!
I cut the grass as it's a nice day and the rain at the end of last week has made it start to grow again, goodness knows what the grass is like down in Owermoigne.
Tues 21st April - Mein Fuhrer's allotted job today was to clean the inside of the windows downstairs, what an enjoyable hour!
Sophie had been asked to record a video for a Cloudwater brewery talk on lagers, after all they did send her a few 'freebies'. She had to choose to talk on one of 3 breweries, she chose Lost & Grounded in Bristol, hardly surprising given the amount of times she has been there and the vast amount of Keller Pils she has consumed to date. I happened to wander out to the Shed 'mid recording', at which time Sophie's immediate response was for me to disappear. However after recognising my obvious 'film producer' talents, I was allowed to stay. After about 30 takes, following concerns around 'talking too fast, do I look too fat, are the cans hiding my stomach?, is the camera pointing up my nose, and does it look like I've got a double chin?', we finally record the final version!
Another great meal with Josh's Biltong Chilli.
Wed 22nd April - Mein Fuhrer has a deputy, Grunters Goering, she has obviously taking lessons, the house is now a dictatorship! Me and Josh decided to finish off the Shed roof today, it was a bit hot but we managed to finish it. We will just have to wait for tomorrow's orders!
I have been appointed as the weekly shopper tomorrow so will string that out for as long as I can to avoid any other tasks.
Thurs 23rd April - shopping done at Lidl, even managed to get some strong bread flour which will come in handy for pizza bases, although still can't get hold of yeast anywhere. When I arrived back home Josh and Sophie were having a socially distancing drink with Bez sitting across the road as it was his birthday. I joined them as I needed a pint after that shopping.
Then sat out in the garden as it was hot and sunny, had a few more beers, after all it is St George's day. (Any excuse!)
On Facebook I noticed that mother in law's had changed her profile with a picture of herself stating 'Staying Home, Saving Lives', I wanted to put a comment stating 'practice what you preach' but was ordered not to as it would cause problems.
Tomorrow's orders are to cut down more bushes in the garden, I had successfully put this off for a week as the green bin was full but unfortunately it was collected yesterday and now empty!
Yet another week has passed by, although not doing much the time seems to fly by at the moment, not a very 'happening' week, let's see what the next one brings!
Fri 17th April - rainy day, I cleaned the larger kitchen blind as directed by Mein Fuhrer, Sophie then did a reasonable job on the smaller blind.
Friday is Shed day so we did have a few pints of Double Crosser sat in the Shed while it chucked it down with rain outside. Not really much to report on today!
Sat 18th April - again a bit of a lazy day! I rang my mother, she had received the nail clippers that Anna had ordered, and that she had asked for, she now says ' I get on better with nail scissors than clippers, but I'll give these a try', you just can't win! I had to endure her going through the weather forecast yet again! Josh cooked a cracking curry for dinner.
Sun 19th April - getting annoyed today, found out that father in law, who has had a 'shielding' letter for being classed as vulnerable, has been going out again! They asked for bread last week, when Stuart went to town to get some he saw their car in Shires car park. Obviously annoyed, Anna's sister asked why it was there when they weren't supposed to go out, she was told that he had gone to town to renew his car tax at the post office! This despite the fact that Anna had already told them that she would do it online when they received their renewal. They have also been out shopping elsewhere. He reckons that the council should provide him with a mask, Anna told him in no uncertain terms that he doesn't need a mask as he shouldn't be going out!! They have just chosen to ignore the letter but hypocritically clap the NHS every Thursday!
Also had a Facebook conflab around the government stating that people could drive to take exercise provided the walk exceeded the time it took to get there. If everyone took this literally then every tourist area and popular walking spot, including beaches and coastal areas could go back to being packed. Dorset police have already stated that they will not change their stance and state that the legal aspects of the legislation are based upon whether a person's actions are considered reasonable or not. They are stating that if you can walk or exercise near your home you should do so and do not consider it essential to drive miles to a specific place or beauty spot. It is up to individual concience but please take time to consider whether the journey is essential or morally acceptable even though it may be considered to be legal to do so.
On a lighter note had a couple of beers in the garden followed by a really tender gammon joint with cauliflower cheese and spinach, really enjoyed this one! This was the first time that Grunters had cauliflower cheese! After all she is only nearly 30!
Mon 20th April - I had a news notification on my phone saying that Richard Branson had said that Virgin Atlantic could go bust if they do not get a government loan. As soon as I saw this I knew that Russ would be on the phone, sure enough about half an hour later he called, panicking about rebooking our flights!
I cut the grass as it's a nice day and the rain at the end of last week has made it start to grow again, goodness knows what the grass is like down in Owermoigne.
Tues 21st April - Mein Fuhrer's allotted job today was to clean the inside of the windows downstairs, what an enjoyable hour!
Sophie had been asked to record a video for a Cloudwater brewery talk on lagers, after all they did send her a few 'freebies'. She had to choose to talk on one of 3 breweries, she chose Lost & Grounded in Bristol, hardly surprising given the amount of times she has been there and the vast amount of Keller Pils she has consumed to date. I happened to wander out to the Shed 'mid recording', at which time Sophie's immediate response was for me to disappear. However after recognising my obvious 'film producer' talents, I was allowed to stay. After about 30 takes, following concerns around 'talking too fast, do I look too fat, are the cans hiding my stomach?, is the camera pointing up my nose, and does it look like I've got a double chin?', we finally record the final version!
Another great meal with Josh's Biltong Chilli.
Wed 22nd April - Mein Fuhrer has a deputy, Grunters Goering, she has obviously taking lessons, the house is now a dictatorship! Me and Josh decided to finish off the Shed roof today, it was a bit hot but we managed to finish it. We will just have to wait for tomorrow's orders!
I have been appointed as the weekly shopper tomorrow so will string that out for as long as I can to avoid any other tasks.
Thurs 23rd April - shopping done at Lidl, even managed to get some strong bread flour which will come in handy for pizza bases, although still can't get hold of yeast anywhere. When I arrived back home Josh and Sophie were having a socially distancing drink with Bez sitting across the road as it was his birthday. I joined them as I needed a pint after that shopping.
Then sat out in the garden as it was hot and sunny, had a few more beers, after all it is St George's day. (Any excuse!)
On Facebook I noticed that mother in law's had changed her profile with a picture of herself stating 'Staying Home, Saving Lives', I wanted to put a comment stating 'practice what you preach' but was ordered not to as it would cause problems.
Tomorrow's orders are to cut down more bushes in the garden, I had successfully put this off for a week as the green bin was full but unfortunately it was collected yesterday and now empty!
Yet another week has passed by, although not doing much the time seems to fly by at the moment, not a very 'happening' week, let's see what the next one brings!
Thursday, 16 April 2020
Coronavirus diary of a moaner Week 3
I have now endured, and survived, over 2 weeks in lockdown. I will keep going on my experiences and observations over this trying period
Good Friday 10th April - I did have a little moan the last couple of weeks about living room warblers and amateur personal trainers. This has now moved onto Facebook 'nominations', I have been nominated this week to publish my favourite Albums, post a picture of myself to support reducing suicide in men, footballers that have influenced me and naming all of the cars I have owned! In my usual helpful and jolly style I have ignored all of these, I will not respond to any requests to publish where I have to nominate others, or pass on any 'chain' Facebook post. I am sure that many have good intentions but don't bother to nominate me in future, as I won't continue the chain. I wouldn't like to subject those I nominate to a 'guilt trip' whereby they think that they had better respond and pass it on, in case they think I would be upset or annoyed with them.
Finally had the confirmation that our Virgin flights to Antigua have been cancelled, will have to look at rebooking for later this year or early next. Looks like my 60th will be spent at home with a couple of beers in the Shed.
Talking about the Shed, it is now looking pristine after a full spring clean yeasterday, all chairs and tables were removed outside and cleaned down, full hoover and dust around, and general tidy up.
Between the 3 of us yesterday we managed to polish off a 10 ltr bag in box of Stealth Doublecrosser and just started on a second. Whilst clearing out we found 2 out of date bottles of Retsina which inspired a Greek style Souvlaki meal, it was excellent.
Following all this I did manage so spend much of the evening snoring on the sofa, much to Anna's delight!
Anna rang my mother, you will all be delighted that as it was good Friday she thought she ought to have fish, so had 4 of her fish fingers! Her observation was that 'they are all loose in the box', we are not sure how many she has left, could be 26,27 or 28!
Had a lovely homemade Easter card put through the door from the grandchildren. It's a shame we can't see them at the moment but would rather ensure that they are safe.
Saturday 11th - another lovely day! We have plenty of logs left so will look to fire up the pizza oven again today, it can't be beaten together with a cool beer in the garden.
I decided to ring my mother today, I told her she could speak to the organ grinder not the monkey. She wanted something to do yesterday so she unscrewed the headboards from the single beds upstairs and carried them down to give them a clean. (I did question whether this was considered to be an essential task at this time). After drying them off she carried them back upstairs. She lives in an old Victorian terrace with a very steep staircase, so I did remind her that it wasn't the best of ideas for a 91 year old living on her own! I also questioned why she didn't just clean them upstairs, her response was that she didnt want to get the bedding wet! I just gave up then, she had unscrewed them anyway so she wouldn't have needed to wash them in situ! She'd had her usual Saturday phone chat with my auntie, I did ask if she'd talked about her fish fingers, she said that she hadn't this time but had told her about them last week. When on this topic I did again ask how many were originally in the box, she again replied 31, I said it can't be so I then hear lots of banging about. She has gone out to the freezer to check, the box confirmed there were 30, her response was 'oh, I thought there would be a spare'! Why on earth would there be! After nearly losing the will to live by now I thought I'd better bid my farewell and get back out to my beer in the sunshine.
The pizzas turned out very well, sat outside until about 8.30pm then proceed to snore in front of the tv again for the next couple of hours.
We have decided to rebook our Antigua holiday for the start of January, another little job for me to crack on with tomorrow!
Easter Sunday 12th April - took a walk up to Raf & Jade's to drop off the Easter chocolate and some home made dog biscuits for the 3 dogs. Granddaughter Willow gave us a nice wave from the upstairs window.
Back to the sunshine in the garden for a few more beers. Either the sun or the lockdown must be getting to Grunters, she has taken to hiding empty beer cans in the garden foliage then taking pictures of them. Very strange!
Actually managed to stay awake this evening, although did have a quick snooze late afternoon.
Monday 13th - been very windy overnight and much cooler, won't be any sitting in the garden drinking beer today!
I was worried about Grunters going mad in lockdown yesterday but now daughter in law Jade has decided to spend some of her time making soap, she posted it on Instagram, her first attempt was Lavender and breast milk!!! What on earth is going on in the world!
Tuesday 14th - as time goes on I seem to have less to write or moan about, every day is the same!
We did add a few extra hops tied up in muslin to the IPA kit, should be ready in just over a couple of weeks on 1st May. Hopefully our little addition will give it a bit more taste.
I have had at least 6 'funny' videos sent to me today by my contacts, most of which I have already seen on Facebook and Twitter etc, and this has been happening daily for the past couple of weeks. I have got to the stage where I don't bother looking at them. I may be missing something really good but it's just complete overkill.
Wednesday 15th - today's allotted job from her indoors was to clean the lampshades. How on earth do they set so dusty and dirty? Once this is over I must remind her to clean them more often!
Sophie has spent about the last hour trying to cut Josh's hair with the clippers, they now have Bez on the phone who normally cuts Josh's hair, giving Sophie a tutorial. I did offer to do it myself but he declined not very politely! Eventually it took them nearly 2 hours.
Josh had the great idea of me trimming down the conifers while he bagged up the clippings. It's bloody heavy work with the petrol hedge trimmer/chainsaw, took less than an hour followed by a quick well deserved beer.
Mother told Anna today that her hair was getting a bit long so she cut her own fringe! She is now brushing it to the side and didn't think she'd better tackle the sides after the difficulties with the fringe! Goodness knows what it looks like, luckily she is on lockdown! She also needs to cut her toenails, she usually goes to a local chiropodist but obviously can't at the moment. She told Anna that she thinks there is a shortage of nail clippers because of the virus, what with everyone having to do their own nails. How she would know this as she hasn't been out is beyond me. First toilet rolls, pasta and flour, now we have the national nail clipper shortage, people must have been panic buying them! Anna has ordered some online to be sent to her. Perhaps I'm missing a trick here and ought to order hundreds of nail clippers to sell at a profit on the black market!
Thursday 16th - ordered by Anna, or Mein Fuhrer, as I now lovingly call her, to clean the Venetian blinds which are in all downstairs windows. I did manage to clean the lounge without too much trouble but the dining room took ages as a bit greasy. I still have the 2 kitchen windows to do but saved that pleasure for tomorrow. I did jokingly suggest to Grunters that I could do the small window and she could do the big one. Surprisingly she agreed to do the small one, when I objected due to the sink being under the big window and it being more awkward, she responded by stating that she would also have the same problem with the 'other' sink being under the small window! Very bemused myself and Josh politely pointed out that that sink was removed 7 years ago when we had the kitchen done! I did say that the lockdown was making people a bit mad!
Popped out to the garden for a couple of minutes in the afternoon to see what Josh was doing and ended up out there for over 2 hours drinking beer! We did discuss putting in the keg line, we got out the cooler and gave it a clean. Then I went to put the cooler under the bar, while I was bending over Josh decided to put a metal 'swizzle stick' down the back of my jeans and into the top of my arse crack. I shot up and banged my head on the bar! Anna came out after she had finished work and being as kind as ever I offfered to make her a G&T. The offending swizzle stick came in very handy to give it a stir, but never fear I gave it a quick wipe on my t-shirt.
Also just heard that we have another 3 weeks of lockdown, as this overlaps my birthday it looks like it will be spent in the Shed with the 4 of us, not quite Antigua as anticipated but needs must! At least you will all have at least another 3 weeks of my blog!
Good Friday 10th April - I did have a little moan the last couple of weeks about living room warblers and amateur personal trainers. This has now moved onto Facebook 'nominations', I have been nominated this week to publish my favourite Albums, post a picture of myself to support reducing suicide in men, footballers that have influenced me and naming all of the cars I have owned! In my usual helpful and jolly style I have ignored all of these, I will not respond to any requests to publish where I have to nominate others, or pass on any 'chain' Facebook post. I am sure that many have good intentions but don't bother to nominate me in future, as I won't continue the chain. I wouldn't like to subject those I nominate to a 'guilt trip' whereby they think that they had better respond and pass it on, in case they think I would be upset or annoyed with them.
Finally had the confirmation that our Virgin flights to Antigua have been cancelled, will have to look at rebooking for later this year or early next. Looks like my 60th will be spent at home with a couple of beers in the Shed.
Talking about the Shed, it is now looking pristine after a full spring clean yeasterday, all chairs and tables were removed outside and cleaned down, full hoover and dust around, and general tidy up.
Between the 3 of us yesterday we managed to polish off a 10 ltr bag in box of Stealth Doublecrosser and just started on a second. Whilst clearing out we found 2 out of date bottles of Retsina which inspired a Greek style Souvlaki meal, it was excellent.
Following all this I did manage so spend much of the evening snoring on the sofa, much to Anna's delight!
Anna rang my mother, you will all be delighted that as it was good Friday she thought she ought to have fish, so had 4 of her fish fingers! Her observation was that 'they are all loose in the box', we are not sure how many she has left, could be 26,27 or 28!
Had a lovely homemade Easter card put through the door from the grandchildren. It's a shame we can't see them at the moment but would rather ensure that they are safe.
Saturday 11th - another lovely day! We have plenty of logs left so will look to fire up the pizza oven again today, it can't be beaten together with a cool beer in the garden.
I decided to ring my mother today, I told her she could speak to the organ grinder not the monkey. She wanted something to do yesterday so she unscrewed the headboards from the single beds upstairs and carried them down to give them a clean. (I did question whether this was considered to be an essential task at this time). After drying them off she carried them back upstairs. She lives in an old Victorian terrace with a very steep staircase, so I did remind her that it wasn't the best of ideas for a 91 year old living on her own! I also questioned why she didn't just clean them upstairs, her response was that she didnt want to get the bedding wet! I just gave up then, she had unscrewed them anyway so she wouldn't have needed to wash them in situ! She'd had her usual Saturday phone chat with my auntie, I did ask if she'd talked about her fish fingers, she said that she hadn't this time but had told her about them last week. When on this topic I did again ask how many were originally in the box, she again replied 31, I said it can't be so I then hear lots of banging about. She has gone out to the freezer to check, the box confirmed there were 30, her response was 'oh, I thought there would be a spare'! Why on earth would there be! After nearly losing the will to live by now I thought I'd better bid my farewell and get back out to my beer in the sunshine.
The pizzas turned out very well, sat outside until about 8.30pm then proceed to snore in front of the tv again for the next couple of hours.
We have decided to rebook our Antigua holiday for the start of January, another little job for me to crack on with tomorrow!
Easter Sunday 12th April - took a walk up to Raf & Jade's to drop off the Easter chocolate and some home made dog biscuits for the 3 dogs. Granddaughter Willow gave us a nice wave from the upstairs window.
Back to the sunshine in the garden for a few more beers. Either the sun or the lockdown must be getting to Grunters, she has taken to hiding empty beer cans in the garden foliage then taking pictures of them. Very strange!
Actually managed to stay awake this evening, although did have a quick snooze late afternoon.
Monday 13th - been very windy overnight and much cooler, won't be any sitting in the garden drinking beer today!
I was worried about Grunters going mad in lockdown yesterday but now daughter in law Jade has decided to spend some of her time making soap, she posted it on Instagram, her first attempt was Lavender and breast milk!!! What on earth is going on in the world!
Tuesday 14th - as time goes on I seem to have less to write or moan about, every day is the same!
We did add a few extra hops tied up in muslin to the IPA kit, should be ready in just over a couple of weeks on 1st May. Hopefully our little addition will give it a bit more taste.
I have had at least 6 'funny' videos sent to me today by my contacts, most of which I have already seen on Facebook and Twitter etc, and this has been happening daily for the past couple of weeks. I have got to the stage where I don't bother looking at them. I may be missing something really good but it's just complete overkill.
Wednesday 15th - today's allotted job from her indoors was to clean the lampshades. How on earth do they set so dusty and dirty? Once this is over I must remind her to clean them more often!
Sophie has spent about the last hour trying to cut Josh's hair with the clippers, they now have Bez on the phone who normally cuts Josh's hair, giving Sophie a tutorial. I did offer to do it myself but he declined not very politely! Eventually it took them nearly 2 hours.
Josh had the great idea of me trimming down the conifers while he bagged up the clippings. It's bloody heavy work with the petrol hedge trimmer/chainsaw, took less than an hour followed by a quick well deserved beer.
Mother told Anna today that her hair was getting a bit long so she cut her own fringe! She is now brushing it to the side and didn't think she'd better tackle the sides after the difficulties with the fringe! Goodness knows what it looks like, luckily she is on lockdown! She also needs to cut her toenails, she usually goes to a local chiropodist but obviously can't at the moment. She told Anna that she thinks there is a shortage of nail clippers because of the virus, what with everyone having to do their own nails. How she would know this as she hasn't been out is beyond me. First toilet rolls, pasta and flour, now we have the national nail clipper shortage, people must have been panic buying them! Anna has ordered some online to be sent to her. Perhaps I'm missing a trick here and ought to order hundreds of nail clippers to sell at a profit on the black market!
Thursday 16th - ordered by Anna, or Mein Fuhrer, as I now lovingly call her, to clean the Venetian blinds which are in all downstairs windows. I did manage to clean the lounge without too much trouble but the dining room took ages as a bit greasy. I still have the 2 kitchen windows to do but saved that pleasure for tomorrow. I did jokingly suggest to Grunters that I could do the small window and she could do the big one. Surprisingly she agreed to do the small one, when I objected due to the sink being under the big window and it being more awkward, she responded by stating that she would also have the same problem with the 'other' sink being under the small window! Very bemused myself and Josh politely pointed out that that sink was removed 7 years ago when we had the kitchen done! I did say that the lockdown was making people a bit mad!
Popped out to the garden for a couple of minutes in the afternoon to see what Josh was doing and ended up out there for over 2 hours drinking beer! We did discuss putting in the keg line, we got out the cooler and gave it a clean. Then I went to put the cooler under the bar, while I was bending over Josh decided to put a metal 'swizzle stick' down the back of my jeans and into the top of my arse crack. I shot up and banged my head on the bar! Anna came out after she had finished work and being as kind as ever I offfered to make her a G&T. The offending swizzle stick came in very handy to give it a stir, but never fear I gave it a quick wipe on my t-shirt.
Also just heard that we have another 3 weeks of lockdown, as this overlaps my birthday it looks like it will be spent in the Shed with the 4 of us, not quite Antigua as anticipated but needs must! At least you will all have at least another 3 weeks of my blog!
Thursday, 9 April 2020
Coronavirus diary of a moaner Week 2
Well here we go again for another week of my experiences and observations during lockdown:
3/4 - I had a shave! Thought that I'd better smarten up a bit otherwise I could easily be mistaken for a tramp, especially as I slob around in old t shirts and jogging bottoms. At least it's Friday, beer in the shed day, going to dig out some of my old vinyl later, going to have a retro vinyl session later. Weather is supposed to be good at the weekend, may get the pizza oven flashed up tomorrow. Going back to yesterday's observation around people posting their 'living room songs', this morning I opened Facebook only to see that somebody had posted a 'lovely' father and daughter duo, did I view it? did I hell! Get a grip guys, sing if you want but just keep it to you own friends and family! Mind you if anyone in my family or friends feel the need to make their own singing video, don't bother to send it to me, I won't view it!
Ploughmans for lunch, successfully managed to grab a mini pork pie before Grunters could get her hands on them all!
We started in the Shed a bit early at about 4.10pm, we couldn't wait much longer as we were already out there giving it a bit if a tidy up. We did manage to nearly clear the 10 ltr bag in box of Stealth Doublecrosser. Found some great old vinyl and listened to a few old classics. We were joined on Houseparty by several of the normal Friday night Shed gang.
Despite numerous reminders and warnings we find out that father in law is still going over the road to the local 7 day shop to get his newspaper every day. He has no regard for anyone else and has said that he will do what he wants. Mother in law asked the wife's sister to get her some bread and milk despite the fact that Josh & Sophie had offered to get them some the day before. It was also questioned as to why father in law couldn't get these basics as he went to the local shop anyway? Her response was 'it's too expensive there', how bloody much more annoying can they get?
4/4 - first time I have been anywhere apart from a walk for 2 weeks, I drove down to the local garage for a couple of provisions and 4 bags of logs for the wood fired pizza oven this afternoon. Somebody put on Facebook that your coronavirus quarantine theme song is the song that was number 1 on your 12th birthday, bloody typical that mine was Amazing Grace by the Pipes and Drums of the Scottish Dragoon Guards!!
Started on the beer quite early again around 3pm, got the pizza oven lit and had some cracking pizzas.
We were listening to Quadrophenia on vinyl last night, during the night I woke up and looked at the clock, it was 5.15, spookily one of the main tracks on the album is titled 5.15!
5/4 - lie in, not much point in getting up early on a Sunday!! A good English breakfast to set us up for the day. Cut the grass and cleaned out the pizza oven under orders from her indoors! A couple of beers in the garden then thought I'd better ring mother as Anna had been doing it daily for the past few days. You always know it's not going to go too well when she says 'hang on a minute, I just need to take my hearing aid out'! It's then that you know that you might as well talk to yourself for the next half hour. The daily weather forecast is then discussed, 'what's it like up there today', we are only 60 miles away but you would have thought that we were the other end of the country. She then proceeds to tell me for the upteenth time about the box of 30 fish fingers that my nephew bought for her. 'Every one I speak to have never heard of a box so big', doubtless she has told everyone that phones her! Then we have the same weekly story 'Sundays are such a long day', why on earth do they seem any longer than any other day for a 91 year old under lockdown.
Had a cracking pork vindaloo cooked by Josh with Sophie's help, he didn't make it too hot so it would appeal to everyone but it was extremely tasty.
6/4. - back to the working week, for Anna anyway! Bojo has been admitted to hospital, although not exactly a fan of his, I wish him all the best for a full recovery. Sad to hear that Pep Guardiola's mum has died from the virus.
On a lighter note we had a great dinner of Josh's. Lasagne, Sophie's cheesy garlic bread and my salad.
Just been announced that Boris has been taken into intensive care, as I previously said I am not a fan of his but fingers crossed that he pulls through this ok. Hopefully seeing this will make everyone see the need to stay inside as Boris will be getting the best of care but it can happen to anyone, no matter what age, what health or what wealth!
7/4 - looks to be a nice sunny day. Well productive, painted the front of the bar in the shed then pressure washed the decking and the patio. I did get bored after the decking and proceeded to pressure wash FART into the dirt on the patio, taking a picture to send to Josh, then deleted it with a full patio wash down. Absolutely knackered after all that effort!
Josh cooked up a great pork and chorizo chilli for dinner. Anna rang my mother, she started off about her fish fingers again! Apparently she said there are 31 in the box in 4 packs, my nephew said he bought 32!
8/4 - looking for something to do, went to check how much decking stain I had left but only a small amount in the bottom of the tin. Found a bit of outdoor furniture oil so managed to just about oil the wooden table. Sat down to watch our treat of the day 'Bargain brits in the sun', its so bad that it's turned out to be a daily ritual. Had to clean the conservatory roof, Anna made a point of starting it, then coming into the lounge to tell us what she was doing, then started banging around on the roof. There couldn't be a more obvious hint to get off my backside and take over from her.
Good to hear that Boris seems to be improving and sat up in bed.
Just reading about idiots in caravans going away for the weekend, one has jackknifed on the M5 and shut the road. They should be fined massively and made to pay for the wasted time of the emergency services who could be doing something far more important. What don't people understand!
Chicken Parmo for dinner, cooked by Sophie with Josh's help, it's her favourite hangover cure, although this time she was sober for a change! Very tasty but can't be considered good for calorie counting!
Jimmy Greaves has now been taken to hospital although not Coronavirus related, it has been a travesty that one of the all time greats of English football has never been national honoured for his services to the game. There have been campaigns and petitions to get his service staff to footballer recognised but to no avail. It would be a massive shame if anything was now to happen to him without that honour being awarded during his lifetime.
9/4 - Grunters came down this morning sporting a plethora of paisley, both leggings and tshirt, it was an assault on the eyes. When she got the ironing board out I did ask the 'paisley princess' if she was running out of clothes! Unfortunately she went back upstairs to change before I could take a picture! It reminded me of the stick I got for once wearing 'double denim', I also had to change!
Forgot to mention last week that I had started a 'brew in bag' IPA kit that Raf had given me some time ago. It appears to be working as the bag had inflated well and now it's time to move it somewhere cooler, the garage, until the end of the month. It should be ready for my birthday, what a treat!
Took my turn as 'designated shopper' for the week, a trip to Lidl followed, I managed to get most things on my list, queued for about 10 mins outside but it's great once inside as it's not too packed and easier to find everything.
Anna is cross, she put out her garden waste bin today but later on when she went to check if they had been emptied, our full bin had been put back by the garage, our neighbours' full bin was also there but none of us had moved them. We can only assume that the roofers working on next doors garage had moved them when they arrived with their truck this morning. Every other bin in the road had been emptied, I reckon we ought to dump our garden waste in their skip!
Anna rang my mother, she said was running short of her tablets so rang for a new delivery, she hadn't taken into account the bank holidays but should have enough for next week. The only problem was that she ordered the wrong tablets, she then realised and rang back, ' I told them I had rung earlier and had ordered the wrong ones, then I hung up', goodness knows why she hung up or whether they will deliver her correct tablets next week!
Oh well , yet another week of lockdown over, I bet you can't wait for next week's enthralling episode!
3/4 - I had a shave! Thought that I'd better smarten up a bit otherwise I could easily be mistaken for a tramp, especially as I slob around in old t shirts and jogging bottoms. At least it's Friday, beer in the shed day, going to dig out some of my old vinyl later, going to have a retro vinyl session later. Weather is supposed to be good at the weekend, may get the pizza oven flashed up tomorrow. Going back to yesterday's observation around people posting their 'living room songs', this morning I opened Facebook only to see that somebody had posted a 'lovely' father and daughter duo, did I view it? did I hell! Get a grip guys, sing if you want but just keep it to you own friends and family! Mind you if anyone in my family or friends feel the need to make their own singing video, don't bother to send it to me, I won't view it!
Ploughmans for lunch, successfully managed to grab a mini pork pie before Grunters could get her hands on them all!
We started in the Shed a bit early at about 4.10pm, we couldn't wait much longer as we were already out there giving it a bit if a tidy up. We did manage to nearly clear the 10 ltr bag in box of Stealth Doublecrosser. Found some great old vinyl and listened to a few old classics. We were joined on Houseparty by several of the normal Friday night Shed gang.
Despite numerous reminders and warnings we find out that father in law is still going over the road to the local 7 day shop to get his newspaper every day. He has no regard for anyone else and has said that he will do what he wants. Mother in law asked the wife's sister to get her some bread and milk despite the fact that Josh & Sophie had offered to get them some the day before. It was also questioned as to why father in law couldn't get these basics as he went to the local shop anyway? Her response was 'it's too expensive there', how bloody much more annoying can they get?
4/4 - first time I have been anywhere apart from a walk for 2 weeks, I drove down to the local garage for a couple of provisions and 4 bags of logs for the wood fired pizza oven this afternoon. Somebody put on Facebook that your coronavirus quarantine theme song is the song that was number 1 on your 12th birthday, bloody typical that mine was Amazing Grace by the Pipes and Drums of the Scottish Dragoon Guards!!
Started on the beer quite early again around 3pm, got the pizza oven lit and had some cracking pizzas.
We were listening to Quadrophenia on vinyl last night, during the night I woke up and looked at the clock, it was 5.15, spookily one of the main tracks on the album is titled 5.15!
5/4 - lie in, not much point in getting up early on a Sunday!! A good English breakfast to set us up for the day. Cut the grass and cleaned out the pizza oven under orders from her indoors! A couple of beers in the garden then thought I'd better ring mother as Anna had been doing it daily for the past few days. You always know it's not going to go too well when she says 'hang on a minute, I just need to take my hearing aid out'! It's then that you know that you might as well talk to yourself for the next half hour. The daily weather forecast is then discussed, 'what's it like up there today', we are only 60 miles away but you would have thought that we were the other end of the country. She then proceeds to tell me for the upteenth time about the box of 30 fish fingers that my nephew bought for her. 'Every one I speak to have never heard of a box so big', doubtless she has told everyone that phones her! Then we have the same weekly story 'Sundays are such a long day', why on earth do they seem any longer than any other day for a 91 year old under lockdown.
Had a cracking pork vindaloo cooked by Josh with Sophie's help, he didn't make it too hot so it would appeal to everyone but it was extremely tasty.
6/4. - back to the working week, for Anna anyway! Bojo has been admitted to hospital, although not exactly a fan of his, I wish him all the best for a full recovery. Sad to hear that Pep Guardiola's mum has died from the virus.
On a lighter note we had a great dinner of Josh's. Lasagne, Sophie's cheesy garlic bread and my salad.
Just been announced that Boris has been taken into intensive care, as I previously said I am not a fan of his but fingers crossed that he pulls through this ok. Hopefully seeing this will make everyone see the need to stay inside as Boris will be getting the best of care but it can happen to anyone, no matter what age, what health or what wealth!
7/4 - looks to be a nice sunny day. Well productive, painted the front of the bar in the shed then pressure washed the decking and the patio. I did get bored after the decking and proceeded to pressure wash FART into the dirt on the patio, taking a picture to send to Josh, then deleted it with a full patio wash down. Absolutely knackered after all that effort!
Josh cooked up a great pork and chorizo chilli for dinner. Anna rang my mother, she started off about her fish fingers again! Apparently she said there are 31 in the box in 4 packs, my nephew said he bought 32!
8/4 - looking for something to do, went to check how much decking stain I had left but only a small amount in the bottom of the tin. Found a bit of outdoor furniture oil so managed to just about oil the wooden table. Sat down to watch our treat of the day 'Bargain brits in the sun', its so bad that it's turned out to be a daily ritual. Had to clean the conservatory roof, Anna made a point of starting it, then coming into the lounge to tell us what she was doing, then started banging around on the roof. There couldn't be a more obvious hint to get off my backside and take over from her.
Good to hear that Boris seems to be improving and sat up in bed.
Just reading about idiots in caravans going away for the weekend, one has jackknifed on the M5 and shut the road. They should be fined massively and made to pay for the wasted time of the emergency services who could be doing something far more important. What don't people understand!
Chicken Parmo for dinner, cooked by Sophie with Josh's help, it's her favourite hangover cure, although this time she was sober for a change! Very tasty but can't be considered good for calorie counting!
Jimmy Greaves has now been taken to hospital although not Coronavirus related, it has been a travesty that one of the all time greats of English football has never been national honoured for his services to the game. There have been campaigns and petitions to get his service staff to footballer recognised but to no avail. It would be a massive shame if anything was now to happen to him without that honour being awarded during his lifetime.
9/4 - Grunters came down this morning sporting a plethora of paisley, both leggings and tshirt, it was an assault on the eyes. When she got the ironing board out I did ask the 'paisley princess' if she was running out of clothes! Unfortunately she went back upstairs to change before I could take a picture! It reminded me of the stick I got for once wearing 'double denim', I also had to change!
Forgot to mention last week that I had started a 'brew in bag' IPA kit that Raf had given me some time ago. It appears to be working as the bag had inflated well and now it's time to move it somewhere cooler, the garage, until the end of the month. It should be ready for my birthday, what a treat!
Took my turn as 'designated shopper' for the week, a trip to Lidl followed, I managed to get most things on my list, queued for about 10 mins outside but it's great once inside as it's not too packed and easier to find everything.
Anna is cross, she put out her garden waste bin today but later on when she went to check if they had been emptied, our full bin had been put back by the garage, our neighbours' full bin was also there but none of us had moved them. We can only assume that the roofers working on next doors garage had moved them when they arrived with their truck this morning. Every other bin in the road had been emptied, I reckon we ought to dump our garden waste in their skip!
Anna rang my mother, she said was running short of her tablets so rang for a new delivery, she hadn't taken into account the bank holidays but should have enough for next week. The only problem was that she ordered the wrong tablets, she then realised and rang back, ' I told them I had rung earlier and had ordered the wrong ones, then I hung up', goodness knows why she hung up or whether they will deliver her correct tablets next week!
Oh well , yet another week of lockdown over, I bet you can't wait for next week's enthralling episode!
Friday, 3 April 2020
Coronavirus diary of a moaner Week 1
Just had the thought on day 4 of lockdown that I ought to share my experiences and annoyances with everyone during these strange times:
Fri 27/3 So Bojo has contracted the virus, but how did he get a test when the rest of us just have to sit it out in isolation for a couple of weeks, only to get a test when we are nearly on our last legs. That brings me onto Prince Charles, he managed to get an immediate test, he also took himself off to Scotland to isolate, wasn't this against the advice for the rest of us who were told not to go to holidayhomes and be a burden on the NHS in rural areas? I would argue that a test for an NHS worker would be more vital than testing these two!! Whilst I do not wish a bad case of the virus on either of them, if it does get to the time that they need to be hospitalised perhaps they can be found beds next to each other in the Excel Arena!
What don't the elderly understand by the rules for the over 70's and the vulnerable? Despite us constantly reminding and offering assistance, my 89 year old father in law has been shopping for the last 2 days! Mother in law was saying how they were out clapping the NHS last night, its great to show support but it would be of far more use if they followed the rules, the whole point of which is for the elderly and vulnerable to not place more of a burden on the overwhelmed health service.
My 91 year old mother is staying in but has the habit of breaking her coffee machine. She switches off and unplugs everything every night, then when she puts the machine back on she confuses the hell out of it by pressing every button several times! She then tells my wife by phone on a daily basis that it is broken, only to be amazed when my wife repeats yet again the reset process to get it working.
Thankfully we have the support of our local brewery, Stealth Brew Co, to help us through this crisis with home deliveries, I am looking forward to the usual Friday few pints albeit in the 'Shed' home bar.
I did have a few pints, we were then going to cook a curry, my job was to cube the chicken breasts, unfortunately the alcohol took over and we ended up with a trail of raw chicken juice across the floor and down the dog's back, when I took the empty chicken bag to the bin! The dog then proceeded to wipe off the offending juice onto the wall in the hallway. Needless to say I then sat down and left it to everyone else.
Sat 28/3 nothing really planned for today, got up about 10.30 and now about to devour a sausage sandwich for breakfast.
The wife decided to go shopping and asked her parents if they needed anything (not that that was very likely given her Dad going shopping when he wasn't supposed to) her mother replied that they were ok but would let her know when they needed milk and bread. Then another text saying she could do with some plants for her hanging basket if they had any in Aldi. This is obviously essential shopping in her mind! An afternoon of watching Gavin and Stacey repeats followed.
Only a couple of Stealth Doublecrosser pints and about 3 glasses of wine all day, pretty much a record low for a Saturday. Just to compound a boring Saturday, why is Saturday night TV so bad? No wonder we are usually out! Luckily I had recorded Friday Night Dinner and Gogglebox to keep us entertained.
Sun 29/3 again nothing planned for today. Took son's dogs out for a walk, we are looking after 2 at present. Did my good deed for the day, a young lad had got his football stuck on top of a high hedge and was throwing sticks up to dislodge it. I offered to get it down, little did I know that the hedge was extremely prickly but I persevered and got it down, then proceeded to remove the thorns from my hands. But did I moan? Yes of course I did! Settled down later to a lovely beef dinner. One advantage of this lockdown is the meals that we have been eating. Lucklily Josh, my son, likes to cook and to pass the time will concoct great meals out of limited ingedients.
Mon 30/3 a day to keep my head down. This date is not a lucky day in the family, both my dad and grandad died on this date, don't really fancy keeping this family tradition going for a 3rd generation as yet. My wife started us (me and Josh) on the right track this morning by saying that her workmates' husband was working for a local butcher, this resulted in our response that we 'bet he stinks of mince'. For those of you who were fans of the Royle Family you will recall that Dave's mate worked in the butchers and 'stank of mince' and always had blood under his fingernails according to Denise and Cheryl. We couldn't remember his name which resulted in us starting to watch the Royle Family episodes on Netflix, much to our delight that we found out in the first episode that his name was Gary. The morning flew by after watching a further 4 episodes.what a fantastic series, I can never get fed up with it however many times I watch it.
Also had good news from the owner of the 60th birthday holiday villa in Antigua that we booked for May will let us rebook at any time over the next 2 years once all of this has settled down. Looks like my 60th will now be spent at home,at least that will give me something else to moan about!
Tues 31/3 you will all be relieved that I survived yesterday! We finally found out last night that The father in law had received the 'vulnerable person' letter a week ago telling that's he must stay in for 12 weeks. During this time, to our knowledge, he has been shopping at least 3 times and visited the old woman across the road who herself was displaying symptoms. The mother in law's excuse was that they 'didn't think it was this bad' ! They sent us a copy of the letter which makes it very clear but they chose to ignore it! They have now been warned by the family but it remains to be seen whether they will take any notice.
On a lighter note my mothers' coffee machine has been working for the past few days, but she had now broken her 'emergency' mobile phone, when charging it said that there was no Sim. We had to contact my nephew, who is doing her shopping, to get it sorted for her!
Disaster! Overnight the Royal Family episodes have been removed from Netflix! Never fear, somewhere we have all episodes on DVD, think that a search through the cupboards will be necessary later on.
In an effort to use up everything hanging around in the freezer we had chicken liver spaghetti bolognese for dinner, I must say it was good, it tastes better than it sounds!
Wed 1/4 just came up on Timehop that I fully retired from Nationwide 5 years ago today, where has that time gone? It only seems like a couple of years ago. Not a lot going on today, highlight was the latest Stealth Brew Co delivery, thanks to Josh's fiancée Grunters, just ready for the weekend. Not that the weekend seems any different to the rest of the week at the moment but trying to limit consumption during the week to maintain some semblance of normality. Result, I found the Royle Family series of episodes in the sideboard. They were under a pile of old birthday cards which, for some obscure reason, my wife had decided to store there. I put the cards back, who am I to question female logic? On phoning mother it transpires that she has mended her mobile after yet again dropping it on the kitchen floor, resulting in the back coming off and the Sim falling out. It actually worked when she put it back together.
Thurs 2/4 why is it that every time I switch on Facebook, yet another bugger has decided to post a video of themselves singing a song or dancing in their front room. It may have been slightly humorous to sing a song, with words amended to reflect the virus in the first few days, but it's now going over the top with everyone jumping on board. This coupled with every amateur personal trainer thinking they can make the public fit by doing a few star jumps and stretches on You Tube. Sorry guys but it's total overkill, try to do something original or don't bother at all. Also you can tell that's everyone has too much time on their hands as they are forwarding copious amounts of 'humorous' video clips, but just a pity that every other person on your contacts has already sent it to you.
Happy birthday to my sister, she had a lovely family meeting with her sitting by the patio doors and her visiting son and daughter chatting to her from the other side of the patio.
Well I have survived more than 1 week on lockdown and one week of my 'diary', I will try to keep up with it and broadcast it weekly, it's good to share misery!
Fri 27/3 So Bojo has contracted the virus, but how did he get a test when the rest of us just have to sit it out in isolation for a couple of weeks, only to get a test when we are nearly on our last legs. That brings me onto Prince Charles, he managed to get an immediate test, he also took himself off to Scotland to isolate, wasn't this against the advice for the rest of us who were told not to go to holidayhomes and be a burden on the NHS in rural areas? I would argue that a test for an NHS worker would be more vital than testing these two!! Whilst I do not wish a bad case of the virus on either of them, if it does get to the time that they need to be hospitalised perhaps they can be found beds next to each other in the Excel Arena!
What don't the elderly understand by the rules for the over 70's and the vulnerable? Despite us constantly reminding and offering assistance, my 89 year old father in law has been shopping for the last 2 days! Mother in law was saying how they were out clapping the NHS last night, its great to show support but it would be of far more use if they followed the rules, the whole point of which is for the elderly and vulnerable to not place more of a burden on the overwhelmed health service.
My 91 year old mother is staying in but has the habit of breaking her coffee machine. She switches off and unplugs everything every night, then when she puts the machine back on she confuses the hell out of it by pressing every button several times! She then tells my wife by phone on a daily basis that it is broken, only to be amazed when my wife repeats yet again the reset process to get it working.
Thankfully we have the support of our local brewery, Stealth Brew Co, to help us through this crisis with home deliveries, I am looking forward to the usual Friday few pints albeit in the 'Shed' home bar.
I did have a few pints, we were then going to cook a curry, my job was to cube the chicken breasts, unfortunately the alcohol took over and we ended up with a trail of raw chicken juice across the floor and down the dog's back, when I took the empty chicken bag to the bin! The dog then proceeded to wipe off the offending juice onto the wall in the hallway. Needless to say I then sat down and left it to everyone else.
Sat 28/3 nothing really planned for today, got up about 10.30 and now about to devour a sausage sandwich for breakfast.
The wife decided to go shopping and asked her parents if they needed anything (not that that was very likely given her Dad going shopping when he wasn't supposed to) her mother replied that they were ok but would let her know when they needed milk and bread. Then another text saying she could do with some plants for her hanging basket if they had any in Aldi. This is obviously essential shopping in her mind! An afternoon of watching Gavin and Stacey repeats followed.
Only a couple of Stealth Doublecrosser pints and about 3 glasses of wine all day, pretty much a record low for a Saturday. Just to compound a boring Saturday, why is Saturday night TV so bad? No wonder we are usually out! Luckily I had recorded Friday Night Dinner and Gogglebox to keep us entertained.
Sun 29/3 again nothing planned for today. Took son's dogs out for a walk, we are looking after 2 at present. Did my good deed for the day, a young lad had got his football stuck on top of a high hedge and was throwing sticks up to dislodge it. I offered to get it down, little did I know that the hedge was extremely prickly but I persevered and got it down, then proceeded to remove the thorns from my hands. But did I moan? Yes of course I did! Settled down later to a lovely beef dinner. One advantage of this lockdown is the meals that we have been eating. Lucklily Josh, my son, likes to cook and to pass the time will concoct great meals out of limited ingedients.
Mon 30/3 a day to keep my head down. This date is not a lucky day in the family, both my dad and grandad died on this date, don't really fancy keeping this family tradition going for a 3rd generation as yet. My wife started us (me and Josh) on the right track this morning by saying that her workmates' husband was working for a local butcher, this resulted in our response that we 'bet he stinks of mince'. For those of you who were fans of the Royle Family you will recall that Dave's mate worked in the butchers and 'stank of mince' and always had blood under his fingernails according to Denise and Cheryl. We couldn't remember his name which resulted in us starting to watch the Royle Family episodes on Netflix, much to our delight that we found out in the first episode that his name was Gary. The morning flew by after watching a further 4 episodes.what a fantastic series, I can never get fed up with it however many times I watch it.
Also had good news from the owner of the 60th birthday holiday villa in Antigua that we booked for May will let us rebook at any time over the next 2 years once all of this has settled down. Looks like my 60th will now be spent at home,at least that will give me something else to moan about!
Tues 31/3 you will all be relieved that I survived yesterday! We finally found out last night that The father in law had received the 'vulnerable person' letter a week ago telling that's he must stay in for 12 weeks. During this time, to our knowledge, he has been shopping at least 3 times and visited the old woman across the road who herself was displaying symptoms. The mother in law's excuse was that they 'didn't think it was this bad' ! They sent us a copy of the letter which makes it very clear but they chose to ignore it! They have now been warned by the family but it remains to be seen whether they will take any notice.
On a lighter note my mothers' coffee machine has been working for the past few days, but she had now broken her 'emergency' mobile phone, when charging it said that there was no Sim. We had to contact my nephew, who is doing her shopping, to get it sorted for her!
Disaster! Overnight the Royal Family episodes have been removed from Netflix! Never fear, somewhere we have all episodes on DVD, think that a search through the cupboards will be necessary later on.
In an effort to use up everything hanging around in the freezer we had chicken liver spaghetti bolognese for dinner, I must say it was good, it tastes better than it sounds!
Wed 1/4 just came up on Timehop that I fully retired from Nationwide 5 years ago today, where has that time gone? It only seems like a couple of years ago. Not a lot going on today, highlight was the latest Stealth Brew Co delivery, thanks to Josh's fiancée Grunters, just ready for the weekend. Not that the weekend seems any different to the rest of the week at the moment but trying to limit consumption during the week to maintain some semblance of normality. Result, I found the Royle Family series of episodes in the sideboard. They were under a pile of old birthday cards which, for some obscure reason, my wife had decided to store there. I put the cards back, who am I to question female logic? On phoning mother it transpires that she has mended her mobile after yet again dropping it on the kitchen floor, resulting in the back coming off and the Sim falling out. It actually worked when she put it back together.
Thurs 2/4 why is it that every time I switch on Facebook, yet another bugger has decided to post a video of themselves singing a song or dancing in their front room. It may have been slightly humorous to sing a song, with words amended to reflect the virus in the first few days, but it's now going over the top with everyone jumping on board. This coupled with every amateur personal trainer thinking they can make the public fit by doing a few star jumps and stretches on You Tube. Sorry guys but it's total overkill, try to do something original or don't bother at all. Also you can tell that's everyone has too much time on their hands as they are forwarding copious amounts of 'humorous' video clips, but just a pity that every other person on your contacts has already sent it to you.
Happy birthday to my sister, she had a lovely family meeting with her sitting by the patio doors and her visiting son and daughter chatting to her from the other side of the patio.
Well I have survived more than 1 week on lockdown and one week of my 'diary', I will try to keep up with it and broadcast it weekly, it's good to share misery!
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