9th week in lockdown, restrictions are starting to be eased, lets see what this week brings.
Fri 22nd May - went down to Owermoigne and back again today. The outdoor wooden garden furniture hasn't been treated this year and is looking very dry and tatty. I have decided rather than staining or oiling as in previous years, I would give it a paint. A stop off to Homebase in Blandford on the way down resulted in the purchase of some grey garden furniture paint. The shelves were nearly empty so not a great choice on colour. I spent the best part of 4 hours sanding down, cleaning with white spirit, then painting but still only did the table and 2 benches. I will have to do the 2 chairs next week. I had anticipated that Anna may help with sanding or painting but she spent the 4 hours undertaking vital tasks like emptying 3 pots containing flowers as they were getting overrun with ants, replanting the plants into the garden and planting 2 lavender bushes into another pot. But did I say anything???
Priti Patel announces the 2 week quarantine period for anyone entering U.K from 8th June, why then?why not straight away, or why wasn't this put into place at the very start of lockdown in March. Talk about closing the stable door after the horse has bolted!
Friday night beers went down well, new Tiptoe, Covert, Double Crosser and Hibernation from Stealth Brew Co.
Sat 23rd May - all over Twitter and elsewhere that Dominic Cummings saw fit to drive 260 miles to his parents whilst he was socially isolating. I won't go through all the details as I am sure you are all aware of what went on but I am disgusted that Boris and his cronies back his actions. He should be sacked, he is giving carte blanche to every idiot in the country to do exactly what they wish. How can they stand and clap the NHS every week when one of their own cannot be bothered to follow the rules and they support him. Go face to face with those that have had relatives die, given they were not even allowed to be with them at the end, and tell them that he was justified to take this action! Apparently someone also said that it just 'happened' to be Dominic Cummings' mothers birthday that weekend. I had no confidence in this government before this but I am totally disgusted with their response to this situation.
I am so incensed by this situation that's I decided to email our MP Michelle Donelan, I pointed out that the majority of her constituents, whichever party they may support, would agree that he must go. I know full well that as usual she will toe the party line whatever her own personal view may be. I have asked her that if she agrees with Boris and his cronies then perhaps she would like to visit the hardworking health workers at the RUH or bereaved families on a face to face basis to explain her point of view. I wait in anticipation of her response.
Rant over, for now! We lit the pizza oven again as it's becoming a usual Saturday lockdown tradition. Had some great pizzas and a few beers, finishing off with Josh's home made Cowslip Brews Chunky Bastard. It was 10.1 vol when brewed, goodness knows what it is now! It was in fact very drinkable, a very fruity number with marmalade type undertones.
Sun 24th May - Happy 6th birthday to Inca. Another sunny but windy day ahead. Still seething about Dominic Cummings, I signed and shared on Facebook and Twitter the petition to get rid of him. Boris has disappeared and despite reports that he supports Cummings he has, as usual, not appeared and does not have the guts to face everyone to give his own point of view. His complete lack of leadership skills has come to the fore in the handling of the lockdown, he is constantly conspicuous by his absence preferring to send out his minions to face the music.
Boris finally was pressurised into coming out of hiding and take the daily Coronavirus briefing. What a bloody farce that was, he cowardly backed Cummings even though he, and every other Conservative MP must know that he broke the rules and should be sacked. There are so many cowards in the Tory party with the majority of MP's toeing the party line just to keep their jobs. What they should reflect on is the fact that they were elected by their constituents, the majority of whom, I am sure, would agree that he should be sacked. Respect to the minority of Tory MP's that have the guts and morals to stand up for what they know is right. Funnily enough no response yet from the 'wonderful' Michelle Donelan, but everyone locally knows that she will just blindly follow whatever she is told by the leadership.
Rant over again, for the time being, the rest of the day was sunny with a couple of drinks in the garden.
Mon 25th May - Bank Holiday. What a bloody hot day, but after days of nagging by Mein Fuhrer and Deputy I had to give in and cut the grass. Then later after pronouncing it perfect I got stick for leaving one buttercup unmowed! Then she asks me to open the Shed to air it out then remove the lounging chairs that were in there. That was after I had successfully sidestepped her request to get some pots out of there for her tomato plants. By removing the chairs I had cleared a path for her to get her pots, did she get them out for the rest of the day, no!
We then had the announcement that Dominic Cummings was going to explain himself on tv. Who in their right mind thought that this would make things any better. If anything it made things much worse, who would believe that you would drive 30 miles each way to test your eyesight, just happening to get out at a beauty spot, then stopping off for a wee in the woods on the way home. Obviously if you were going to do this you would take along your wife and four year old child, when previously you were very concerned for their safety and had to drive them 260 miles. All this time not explaining why his wife couldn't drive!! Again it just happened to be his wife's birthday this time! I could go on with this rant for hours, but DC, your days must be numbered, wake up and smell the coffee Boris!
Tues 26th May - well the first Conservative MP has resigned the Dominic Cummings affair. He felt that he couldn't face his constituents that had lost family to the virus, couldn't be with them at the end and weren't allowed to attend their funerals. Respect to him for standing up for his principles. At the other end of the spectrum that spineless weasel Michael Gove was interviewed. He actually started to say that he had previously driven to test his eyesight, halfway through this conversation he realised what's a prick he sounded and cut dead what he was going to say.
Anna had a bit of a classic, Sophie was talking about somebody selling 200g of sourdough starter culture, Anna then asked how much is 200g? Perhaps there is a clue in the mention of the 200g!
Mein Fuher had cracked the whip again, I had to clean out her water butt while it was empty, then had to paint the top of a chest of drawers that guests in Owermoigne had damaged!
Another boiling hot day!
Wed 27th May - more jobs in the heat, this time I stained the decking then put a second coat on the chest of drawers. Boris had to face the Commons Liaison Committee and just demonstrated that he hasn't got a clue what is going on which is why he needs Cummings, who is basically running the country. When put on the spot he kept saying that we must follow the will of the people and get past this to concentrate on the Coronavirus and economy. Has he not seen the polls in the newspapers, including the Tory Mail,which clearly state the will of the people is for him to sack DC.
I caught Grunters out in the evening taking photos of cans of beer stuffed into bushes again. I just happened to pop out for a wee then noticed her bending over taking photos. I had to make it known that I had seen her, Josh then came out of the Shed laughing, and then she accused him of texting me to catch her out! He hadn't, it was sheer coincidence!
Thurs 28th May - still no reply from Michelle Donelan, I note from her Twitter page that she has stated that's she need some time to reply as she has had over 1300 emails! Sorry Michelle but doesn't that's demonstrate the views of your constituents? I bet she has never had anywhere near 1300 emails on only one subject before! She includes in her Tweet that we should move on because Cummings did not break the law. I have politely pointed out to her that Durham police have now stated that he did break the law and perhaps she may wish to review her original decision, no hope! When I eventually get a reply to my email I will ask her if she would like to try out her eye sight by driving the few miles to Melksham, as I don't think she knows where it is!
Well another week over with a lot to talk about. I make no apolgies for it being political but that reflects how strongly I feel. Whatever your political views I believe that's you should be able to trust your government, they have lost all credibility in their handling of this, I despair for our future.
Thursday, 28 May 2020
Thursday, 21 May 2020
Corona virus diary of a moaner Week 8
Another week of lockdown fun and frivolity!
Friday 15th May - first venture out for nearly 2 months, we went to Owermoigne to sort out the garden. Luckily my housekeeper and her son had done a first cut of the lawn last week but it was still very long. It was a hot day and hard work mowing and then strimming the edges, but it's all worth it and looks so much better. It was good to get out for the day as well. Got back for a sit in the garden with a few beers.
Jade text to say that Raf had developed a temperature, she rang 111 as advised, for some reason they then sent around paramedics to the house. All they did was take his temperature, say that he's probably got it and for him to isolate for 7 days and Jade to isolate for 14 days. They had no testing kits with them and did not give advice to go and get themselves tested. After they had gone Jade managed to get a testing slot in Swindon for that afternoon. We will have to wait and see how long it takes to get the results. My observations are, why on earth do they need to send paramedics round to tell them what they already expected. Why can't 111 just advise that they go to a testing centre and ideally make the appointment there and then whilst on the phone? If they do send paramedics round surely they should carry a supply of testing kits with them, they indicated to Raf and Jade that they had already done many of these type of visits. Also by sending round paramedics it is a waste of valuable PPE and there is a possibility that they could pass on the virus to their next patient. This government and health service managers couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery!
I had noticed on Facebook that Leigh's recent posts have renamed Spain to 'lovely Spain'. Every time she mentions it she puts 'lovely' in front. Then yesterday I noticed that she had put a comment on a posting for a bar in Spain saying she couldn't wait to get back to their 'lovely' bar. Thought I would send her a Whattsap which read 'Noticed your comment on El Toro bar about it being a 'lovely' bar, would that be in 'lovely' Spain? I had noticed that Spain had changed its name on all of your posts to 'lovely' Spain. 'Lovely' weather BTW'. Never mind, she's a 'lovely' old dear!
Saturday 16th May - it's Saturday pizza oven day again! Anna went shopping to get Raf some Lucozade as he told Jade that his mum always used to get him Lucozade when he didn't feel very well! Anna couldn't remember that but went to get some for him.
Did my good deed for the day, went shopping to Lidl, at the check out I was socially distancing behind an old lady at the till. Her shopping came to £51.60 but after counting all the money in her purse she only had just under £50. She didn't want me to help her bless her, but I insisted and in no time we had all her shopping back on the shelves!!
This actually was nothing to do with me, but I picked it up on Twitter and it made me laugh so thought I would include it on my blog.
We should have been flying back from Antigua today, at least we still have it to look forward to sometime in the future whereas it would have all been over.
Few beers in the Shed and then lit up the Pizza oven with again some great pizzas.
Endured a bit of Unity Brewery's weekly tasting session but unfortunately they are so boring, I know that they are brewers and not tv presenters but they could do with a personality transplant.
Retreated back indoors and managed to find a Pet Shop Boys concert on TV while channel surfing. It was a great watch, took me back to the 80's. I even then managed to stay awake for Match of The Day showing the 19 greatest goals in the opinion of Alan Shearer and Ian Wright.
Sunday 17th May - Had an email overnight from Virgin Atlantic via my Resolve complaint just giving me their same standard reply for the third time now. They just keep repeating that I will get my refund but due to the numbers they will not give a timescale. This is in contravention of the CMA government directive of 30th April which states that airlines must give a timescale for refund and it must be reasonable. I have reported them to the CMA and had acknowledgement that they are looking into the whole airline refund practices. I have also gone onto Twitter and keep getting the same answers from them so next step I have found the direct email address of the Chief Executive and will see if that produce some any results.
Josh cooked a cracking Sunday fry up.
Sat in the garden for a bit but although sunny the wind was a bit chilly. Josh and Sophie made a good ham and spinach Lasagne for dinner, it was very filling but I managed!
Monday 18th May - Raf and Jade have got their results back, both negative luckily. I am quite impressed with the speed of the test, done Friday afternoon and result Monday morning. Goodness knows why Raf has had a high temperature, probably caught something from the skanky dead birds he uses to teach the dogs to retrieve. Although Raf is convinced that they have got the tests wrong and he has the virus! Don't think so!
I received an email back from Virgin Atlantic Executive Office stating that they are looking into my complaint and will respond within three days, I don't hold out too much hope!
Sunny and warm day, took Inca for a walk to Giles Wood, very few people about and she loved rolling in the fox and horse poo! Straight in the shower when we got her home.
Tues 19th May - messed up the coffee machine this morning, when filling up the coffee beans I spilt some into the water section as I hadn't shut the lid. I therefore fished out the offending coffee beans with a spoon and put them back in the bean hopper. Unfortunately I then made all of the beans in the hopper too wet and they wouldn't grind properly as they clogged up the grinder. Oh well, an Americano from the Tassimo machine was a good substitute. I then had to empty out the machine, clean it then leave it outside in the sunshine to dry, I also put the coffeee beans into the oven on a low heat to dry. All that for a cup of coffee?
As anticipated the reply from Virgin Atlantic CEO was just a repeat of the previous standard replies. I have now filled out a claim for Section 75 of CCA refund from the credit card company.
Another walk to Giles Wood with Inca, it's a very warm day. Sat in the garden all afternoon with a couple of beers but not until after 4pm. Talking of beer the order for this week's delivery has gone in, 5lts of Doublecrosser, 5 ltrs Covert, 3ltrs Hibernation and 5ltrs of the new Hibernation. Should keep us going over the Bank Holiday weekend.
Wed 20th May - Inca is going back home today, she is itching and scratching and needs her latest bout of immunotherapy. Took her to Giles Wood for a run then Jade picked her up in the afternoon.
Another very hot day, sat in the garden reading a book all afternoon. Josh had ordered some Shofferhofer Grapefruit Wheat Beer Mix cans, they are only 2.5vol but really refreshing served cold in this weather.
Thurs 21st May - my turn to do the weekly shopping, another's trip to Lidl. I timed it right this week, no queue to get in and also went straight to the till without queueing. It was Greek week in Lidl and I spotted bottles of Retsina, I couldn't resist the temptation and bought a couple of bottles.
Looking through Twitter I noticed the new Man City third kit shirt to be introduced next season, it has a paisley design. Grunters, the paisley princess, has set a new trend, we did wonder whether they would be bringing out hideously clashing paisley shorts as per Grunters' style.
I note in this great weather that the seaside resorts are getting packed with day visitors. They are reporting that people are travelling hours, so my observation is that with the public toilets, cafe's, restaurants, pubs and bars closed at the moment are people crossing their legs all day? I think not and that every verge, bush, wood and farm gateway must now be in use as the new public conveniences. I am not necessarily opposed to some lifting of travel restrictions but surely a mileage limit should have initially been set, say 50 or 60 miles from home maximum, or travel only within the county wherever you live.
Let's see what next week brings!
I had noticed on Facebook that Leigh's recent posts have renamed Spain to 'lovely Spain'. Every time she mentions it she puts 'lovely' in front. Then yesterday I noticed that she had put a comment on a posting for a bar in Spain saying she couldn't wait to get back to their 'lovely' bar. Thought I would send her a Whattsap which read 'Noticed your comment on El Toro bar about it being a 'lovely' bar, would that be in 'lovely' Spain? I had noticed that Spain had changed its name on all of your posts to 'lovely' Spain. 'Lovely' weather BTW'. Never mind, she's a 'lovely' old dear!
Saturday 16th May - it's Saturday pizza oven day again! Anna went shopping to get Raf some Lucozade as he told Jade that his mum always used to get him Lucozade when he didn't feel very well! Anna couldn't remember that but went to get some for him.
Did my good deed for the day, went shopping to Lidl, at the check out I was socially distancing behind an old lady at the till. Her shopping came to £51.60 but after counting all the money in her purse she only had just under £50. She didn't want me to help her bless her, but I insisted and in no time we had all her shopping back on the shelves!!
This actually was nothing to do with me, but I picked it up on Twitter and it made me laugh so thought I would include it on my blog.
We should have been flying back from Antigua today, at least we still have it to look forward to sometime in the future whereas it would have all been over.
Few beers in the Shed and then lit up the Pizza oven with again some great pizzas.
Endured a bit of Unity Brewery's weekly tasting session but unfortunately they are so boring, I know that they are brewers and not tv presenters but they could do with a personality transplant.
Retreated back indoors and managed to find a Pet Shop Boys concert on TV while channel surfing. It was a great watch, took me back to the 80's. I even then managed to stay awake for Match of The Day showing the 19 greatest goals in the opinion of Alan Shearer and Ian Wright.
Sunday 17th May - Had an email overnight from Virgin Atlantic via my Resolve complaint just giving me their same standard reply for the third time now. They just keep repeating that I will get my refund but due to the numbers they will not give a timescale. This is in contravention of the CMA government directive of 30th April which states that airlines must give a timescale for refund and it must be reasonable. I have reported them to the CMA and had acknowledgement that they are looking into the whole airline refund practices. I have also gone onto Twitter and keep getting the same answers from them so next step I have found the direct email address of the Chief Executive and will see if that produce some any results.
Josh cooked a cracking Sunday fry up.
Sat in the garden for a bit but although sunny the wind was a bit chilly. Josh and Sophie made a good ham and spinach Lasagne for dinner, it was very filling but I managed!
Monday 18th May - Raf and Jade have got their results back, both negative luckily. I am quite impressed with the speed of the test, done Friday afternoon and result Monday morning. Goodness knows why Raf has had a high temperature, probably caught something from the skanky dead birds he uses to teach the dogs to retrieve. Although Raf is convinced that they have got the tests wrong and he has the virus! Don't think so!
I received an email back from Virgin Atlantic Executive Office stating that they are looking into my complaint and will respond within three days, I don't hold out too much hope!
Sunny and warm day, took Inca for a walk to Giles Wood, very few people about and she loved rolling in the fox and horse poo! Straight in the shower when we got her home.
Tues 19th May - messed up the coffee machine this morning, when filling up the coffee beans I spilt some into the water section as I hadn't shut the lid. I therefore fished out the offending coffee beans with a spoon and put them back in the bean hopper. Unfortunately I then made all of the beans in the hopper too wet and they wouldn't grind properly as they clogged up the grinder. Oh well, an Americano from the Tassimo machine was a good substitute. I then had to empty out the machine, clean it then leave it outside in the sunshine to dry, I also put the coffeee beans into the oven on a low heat to dry. All that for a cup of coffee?
As anticipated the reply from Virgin Atlantic CEO was just a repeat of the previous standard replies. I have now filled out a claim for Section 75 of CCA refund from the credit card company.
Another walk to Giles Wood with Inca, it's a very warm day. Sat in the garden all afternoon with a couple of beers but not until after 4pm. Talking of beer the order for this week's delivery has gone in, 5lts of Doublecrosser, 5 ltrs Covert, 3ltrs Hibernation and 5ltrs of the new Hibernation. Should keep us going over the Bank Holiday weekend.
Wed 20th May - Inca is going back home today, she is itching and scratching and needs her latest bout of immunotherapy. Took her to Giles Wood for a run then Jade picked her up in the afternoon.
Another very hot day, sat in the garden reading a book all afternoon. Josh had ordered some Shofferhofer Grapefruit Wheat Beer Mix cans, they are only 2.5vol but really refreshing served cold in this weather.
Thurs 21st May - my turn to do the weekly shopping, another's trip to Lidl. I timed it right this week, no queue to get in and also went straight to the till without queueing. It was Greek week in Lidl and I spotted bottles of Retsina, I couldn't resist the temptation and bought a couple of bottles.
Looking through Twitter I noticed the new Man City third kit shirt to be introduced next season, it has a paisley design. Grunters, the paisley princess, has set a new trend, we did wonder whether they would be bringing out hideously clashing paisley shorts as per Grunters' style.
I note in this great weather that the seaside resorts are getting packed with day visitors. They are reporting that people are travelling hours, so my observation is that with the public toilets, cafe's, restaurants, pubs and bars closed at the moment are people crossing their legs all day? I think not and that every verge, bush, wood and farm gateway must now be in use as the new public conveniences. I am not necessarily opposed to some lifting of travel restrictions but surely a mileage limit should have initially been set, say 50 or 60 miles from home maximum, or travel only within the county wherever you live.
Let's see what next week brings!
Saturday, 9 May 2020
Coronavirus diary of a moaner Week 7
Another week in lockdown looms. VE Day 75th anniversary, Grunters birthday, Boris' easing of the lockdown measures, hopefully something to moan about this week.
Fri 8th May - Bank holiday for 75th anniversary of VE Day. Lovely hot day, eagerly awaiting the delivery of Covert and the new Hibernation later today. Made Grunters' birthday cake, a chocolate sponge which will have a fresh cream and raspberry filling tomorrow. While I had the ingredients out and oven on I also made a Lemon Drizzle for the 'Beer Santa's' on their delivery later.
Thought I would ring mother as it was VEDay Anniversary, I started off with a rendition of We'll Meet Again closely followed by Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag. I asked her if she remembered VE Day and the party they may have had in the street, she said she wished she had the old photo from that day where my sister was dressed up and sitting in the street. I kindly reminded her that VE Day was 1945 and my sister wasn't born until 1952 so she would have had a bit of trouble being there! We later established that she gave my sister this particular photo, it was of the queens coronation party in 1953! I then had to tell my mother that she would have been 16 on VE Day and couldn't she remember it? I was just told that I confuse her and get her all muddled up. We then got onto the 'wonderful' times they had during the war and how it made them better people. She then says she would rather have the war than this current Coronavirus lockdown. I did remind her that would she rather that her grandchildren and great grandchildren were sent off to war on the front line, we would be subject to severe rationing, and there would be no TV or easy communication to call her every day! Think she finally saw sense!
They dragged out Vera Lynn again, to be honest I thought she was already dead but she is 103, good on the old dear! She seems to appear at every war anniversary going singing 'We'll meet again'. Although obviously she hasn't got long left perhaps they ought to consider cryogenically freezing her to defrost her for the 100th anniversary!
The beer order arrived, had a few in the sunshine, had dinner then watched tv with a very tired Inca snuggled up to me as she had been out in the garden all day. I did manage a short snore through Gogglebox.
Sat 9th May - Grunters 30th, Josh cooked up Mexican breakfast taco's for breakfast washed down with Bucks Fizz. While Grunters went to see her mum and dad we decorated the shed with balloons and Happy 30th birthday posters. I still had chance before she came home to do the raspberries and cream for her birthday cake and get it into the fridge.
Josh bought her 30 beers for 30 years, it was only when she opened the boxes and had a recount that it was established that he had miscounted and bought 31, or more likely, is Sophie actually a year older!
A very warm afternoon, trust Grunters to get this weather when it was cloudy and drizzly on my big birthday,! But do I complain? Bloody right I do!
I made Ouzo mojitos to go with the Greek meal that Josh made of Souvlalki, Chicken Gyros, Haloumi, Greek salad, Tzatziki, Hummus and flat bread. Later we had the birthday cake, that seemed to go down ok!
The Hibernation and Covert were going down a treat.
Sun 10th May - Doesn't look to be so hot today, looks to be quite windy from my position lying in bed at 10.40am. Weather didn't improve once I'd got up. We had a lazy day, even Inca couldn't be bothered to move from the sofa. Lovely Lasagne for dinner. We all sat down in anticipation of Boris' great easing of restrictions speech to the nation. What a complete waste of time, the blustering idiot made the whole nation more confused that they were before with so many unanswered questions. We will have to wait again for the 50 page explanation to be released to tomorrow.
Mon 11th May - still chilly but more sunny. Inca has had a new lease of life and spent the morning whining or bounding about like a complete idiot. I think this was a sign that she fancied getting out, so off we went for a walk around the local fields which seemed to calm her down for the rest of the day.
Boris had obviously not communicated his new 50 page easing of restrictions to his MP's or cabinet, several of which were questioned on TV in the morning, including his deputy Dominic Raab, who all got things completely wrong when questioned. If his own MPs do not know how this is going to work moving forward what hope do the general public have? There seem to be some crazy rules within this document, you can travel to work, be with your collleagues all day inside but you can only meet up with one other person from outside your household and this must be in the open air! And this cannot be in the garden, it must be a public place??? You can drive anywhere in the country as long as you come back the same day, but then they appeal for the public not to go to popular beauty spots or tourist places. What do they think is going to happen! People travelling into the country are going to have to self isolate for fourteen days, but not yet! Why on earth was this not brought in at the start of the outbreak? It is obvious that this is far too late and would have saved thousands of lives if done very early on! Who actually thought up these rules, someone with no touch on reality, Dominic Cummings perhaps?
Enough of my rant! I could go on all day. I was appointed head chef for the day and made a Polish Bigos for dinner, a type of hunters stew with Saurkraut, pork and Polish sausage.
Tues 12th May - not much of a happening day, sunny but still a bit chilly. Made my complaint via Resolver about Virgin Atlantic. They were quite happy to take our money nearly 11 months ago but when it comes to giving a refund for their cancellation they refuse to give me any timescale. I fully understand their position that I am just one of thousands but according to the government CMA department they must indicate a timescale for refund and it must be reasonable, they refuse to do this.
Wed 13th May - Russ's 60th birthday, welcome to the club! We should have been on a yatch charter day trip and sunset cruise off Antigua. Oh well, these things are sent to try us! Also relaxation of lockdown rules, lets await the chaos. I will use the relaxation of the rules to drive down to Owermoigne at the weekend but will only go straight to the house to do some maintenance then back later, we are not allowed to stay over. Unfortunately as the weather is supposed to be good at the weekend I fear that the coast will be packed with day trippers but the police will not be able to do anything about it!
Thurs 14th May - sunny but chilly again, Anna has tomorrow off due to built up flexitime so we will go down to Owermoigne tomorrow to do our chores. Pity we can't stay over but I do understand the reasoning behind the decision, we would only stay in at our house but others, if allowed, would not follow the same path. To be honest I am looking forward to the trip, the furthest I have been in the last 7 or so weeks is to Lidl and back, about 4 times. Anna, with a bit if my help, cleared a wider path through the garage which had been narrowing with all the dumped boxes, garden implements and Josh's brewing paraphernalia. Only the other side of the garage with all of Josh's work display stuff to get sorted now! Josh was appointed weekly shopper today going to Sainsbury's.
Another week of lockdown over, going forward let's see how Boris' new easing of restrictions pan out. I have done pretty well in the avoidance of chores this week, long may it continue!
Fri 8th May - Bank holiday for 75th anniversary of VE Day. Lovely hot day, eagerly awaiting the delivery of Covert and the new Hibernation later today. Made Grunters' birthday cake, a chocolate sponge which will have a fresh cream and raspberry filling tomorrow. While I had the ingredients out and oven on I also made a Lemon Drizzle for the 'Beer Santa's' on their delivery later.
Thought I would ring mother as it was VEDay Anniversary, I started off with a rendition of We'll Meet Again closely followed by Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag. I asked her if she remembered VE Day and the party they may have had in the street, she said she wished she had the old photo from that day where my sister was dressed up and sitting in the street. I kindly reminded her that VE Day was 1945 and my sister wasn't born until 1952 so she would have had a bit of trouble being there! We later established that she gave my sister this particular photo, it was of the queens coronation party in 1953! I then had to tell my mother that she would have been 16 on VE Day and couldn't she remember it? I was just told that I confuse her and get her all muddled up. We then got onto the 'wonderful' times they had during the war and how it made them better people. She then says she would rather have the war than this current Coronavirus lockdown. I did remind her that would she rather that her grandchildren and great grandchildren were sent off to war on the front line, we would be subject to severe rationing, and there would be no TV or easy communication to call her every day! Think she finally saw sense!
They dragged out Vera Lynn again, to be honest I thought she was already dead but she is 103, good on the old dear! She seems to appear at every war anniversary going singing 'We'll meet again'. Although obviously she hasn't got long left perhaps they ought to consider cryogenically freezing her to defrost her for the 100th anniversary!
The beer order arrived, had a few in the sunshine, had dinner then watched tv with a very tired Inca snuggled up to me as she had been out in the garden all day. I did manage a short snore through Gogglebox.
Sat 9th May - Grunters 30th, Josh cooked up Mexican breakfast taco's for breakfast washed down with Bucks Fizz. While Grunters went to see her mum and dad we decorated the shed with balloons and Happy 30th birthday posters. I still had chance before she came home to do the raspberries and cream for her birthday cake and get it into the fridge.
Josh bought her 30 beers for 30 years, it was only when she opened the boxes and had a recount that it was established that he had miscounted and bought 31, or more likely, is Sophie actually a year older!
A very warm afternoon, trust Grunters to get this weather when it was cloudy and drizzly on my big birthday,! But do I complain? Bloody right I do!
I made Ouzo mojitos to go with the Greek meal that Josh made of Souvlalki, Chicken Gyros, Haloumi, Greek salad, Tzatziki, Hummus and flat bread. Later we had the birthday cake, that seemed to go down ok!
The Hibernation and Covert were going down a treat.
Sun 10th May - Doesn't look to be so hot today, looks to be quite windy from my position lying in bed at 10.40am. Weather didn't improve once I'd got up. We had a lazy day, even Inca couldn't be bothered to move from the sofa. Lovely Lasagne for dinner. We all sat down in anticipation of Boris' great easing of restrictions speech to the nation. What a complete waste of time, the blustering idiot made the whole nation more confused that they were before with so many unanswered questions. We will have to wait again for the 50 page explanation to be released to tomorrow.
Mon 11th May - still chilly but more sunny. Inca has had a new lease of life and spent the morning whining or bounding about like a complete idiot. I think this was a sign that she fancied getting out, so off we went for a walk around the local fields which seemed to calm her down for the rest of the day.
Boris had obviously not communicated his new 50 page easing of restrictions to his MP's or cabinet, several of which were questioned on TV in the morning, including his deputy Dominic Raab, who all got things completely wrong when questioned. If his own MPs do not know how this is going to work moving forward what hope do the general public have? There seem to be some crazy rules within this document, you can travel to work, be with your collleagues all day inside but you can only meet up with one other person from outside your household and this must be in the open air! And this cannot be in the garden, it must be a public place??? You can drive anywhere in the country as long as you come back the same day, but then they appeal for the public not to go to popular beauty spots or tourist places. What do they think is going to happen! People travelling into the country are going to have to self isolate for fourteen days, but not yet! Why on earth was this not brought in at the start of the outbreak? It is obvious that this is far too late and would have saved thousands of lives if done very early on! Who actually thought up these rules, someone with no touch on reality, Dominic Cummings perhaps?
Enough of my rant! I could go on all day. I was appointed head chef for the day and made a Polish Bigos for dinner, a type of hunters stew with Saurkraut, pork and Polish sausage.
Tues 12th May - not much of a happening day, sunny but still a bit chilly. Made my complaint via Resolver about Virgin Atlantic. They were quite happy to take our money nearly 11 months ago but when it comes to giving a refund for their cancellation they refuse to give me any timescale. I fully understand their position that I am just one of thousands but according to the government CMA department they must indicate a timescale for refund and it must be reasonable, they refuse to do this.
Wed 13th May - Russ's 60th birthday, welcome to the club! We should have been on a yatch charter day trip and sunset cruise off Antigua. Oh well, these things are sent to try us! Also relaxation of lockdown rules, lets await the chaos. I will use the relaxation of the rules to drive down to Owermoigne at the weekend but will only go straight to the house to do some maintenance then back later, we are not allowed to stay over. Unfortunately as the weather is supposed to be good at the weekend I fear that the coast will be packed with day trippers but the police will not be able to do anything about it!
Thurs 14th May - sunny but chilly again, Anna has tomorrow off due to built up flexitime so we will go down to Owermoigne tomorrow to do our chores. Pity we can't stay over but I do understand the reasoning behind the decision, we would only stay in at our house but others, if allowed, would not follow the same path. To be honest I am looking forward to the trip, the furthest I have been in the last 7 or so weeks is to Lidl and back, about 4 times. Anna, with a bit if my help, cleared a wider path through the garage which had been narrowing with all the dumped boxes, garden implements and Josh's brewing paraphernalia. Only the other side of the garage with all of Josh's work display stuff to get sorted now! Josh was appointed weekly shopper today going to Sainsbury's.
Another week of lockdown over, going forward let's see how Boris' new easing of restrictions pan out. I have done pretty well in the avoidance of chores this week, long may it continue!
Friday, 8 May 2020
Corona virus diary of a moaner Week 6
Sixth week of my lockdown diary, it's 60th birthday week so plenty to moan about!
Fri 1st May - supposed to be going to Gatwick today before stopping over for our flight to Antigua tomorrow. At least I've got the weekly beer delivery to look forward to today. Another highlight will be the the first pouring of the home brew session IPA which is due to be ready today. I will report later on how good, or not, it is.
I know it's bin collection day but why on earth have all of Wiltshire's bin lorries been driving around the roundabourt outside our house today? On several occasions they have gone fully round the roundabout and gone back in the direction they came from, on one occasion stopping right outside our house for a couple of minutes. It's a mystery, are they lost, are they taking part in some obscure bin lorry rally? Who knows?
Josh had recorded Great British Menu, I found it a bit pretentious, especially when they were making pre-deserts! What's all that about? Isn't a 3 course dinner enough without having to stick in something else? I might have a pre-pint before my next pint later on!
Only 44 years ago today since Bobby Stokes slid that ball past Alex Stepney to win the FACup for the might Saints, what a day made even more pleasurable that it was against United.
Anna rang my mother, a friend of hers died last week, she told Anna that she wanted to send a cheque 'to my dead friend'. Luckily she was speaking to Anna and not me, I would have told her that her dead friend may have a bit of trouble cashing the cheque. Obviously what she meant was that she wanted to do a donation but she couldn't do it online as she doesn't have any form of online access. She therefore went to call the undertaker, after 5 minutes of trying to explain to the poor woman on the other end that she wanted to make a donation for her 'dead friend', it was established that the woman had no idea what she was on about as she had dialled the wrong number!
The session IPA is an acquired taste, the first pint was dreadful with bits floating around in it, but that must have just been what was congregating around the tap. It is a bit too malty and not much like an IPA, lucky we had 'dry hopped' it with extra hops as there is a bit of a lack of hoppiness. Still, we will drink it!
Sat 2nd May - should be on that plane to Antigua today but who would want to be doing that when you can be locked down at home!
A box was delivered with my name on, I saw it said 'gift' on the outside so I put it to one side to open tomorrow on my birthday. Luckily Josh was a bit more observant than me and saw the luminous sticker stating 'open immediately, refrigerated items', it was a much appreciated cheese and wine hamper from my sister.
As it's Saturday it looks like the pizza oven is going to be fired up again. Weather is not supposed to be too bad. Pizzas were fantastic again!
Sun 3rd May - 60th birthday, what a day to be really cheerful, should be waking up in Antigua but cloudy Melksham is not quite the same. Woken up at 8.05am by my phone pinging with Happy Birthday messages, don't people realise it's Sunday and at my age I need a bit of a lie in! Great to be wished a happy birthday but just leave it until after 10am.
Get downstairs for breakfast to find a 'brunch' menu on my place at the table. Including bottomless mimosas, smashed avacado on sourdough, tofu scamble, oat and almond granola, vegan farmhouse breakfast or Cowslip Mews farmhouse breakfast! Those of you that have already read my previous blogs would know that this is a massive piss take. Brunch is just an Americanism high jacked by pretentious yuppies! He was pretty confident that I would go for a real breakfast as he didn't even have the ingredients for most of the rest!
Then looking on Facebook I find the 'lockdown video' that Sophie has made, as you are all aware this is another of my particular dislikes. I have to say though that the video was brilliant and there was some great dancing to One Step Beyond by my friends, family and aquaintances. This made my day!
Had a socially distancing visit from Raf, Jade and the grandchildren, it was really good to see them on my birthday. They have left Inca with us for a few days.
As we couldn't go to Antigua, Josh made a Caribbean dinner of smoked Jerk ribs, jerk chicken, pineapple salsa. Coleslaw, rice and peas with a jerk gravy. It was hot but very tasty. Sophie had made a banoffee birthday cake which we tasted a bit later with a couple of beers in the Shed.
Although we couldn't go away, overall it was a great day.
Mon 4th May - not a lot going on today, snooze on the sofa most of the day with Inca. Cleaned out the pizza oven and sat in the garden with Inca in the afternoon for an hour until it got a bit cloudy.
Tues 5th May - cleaned the roof inside the Shed where it had previously leaked before our re-roofing efforts, looks better than it was. Josh gave the Shed a good vacuum. Again not a lot going on today.
Wed 6th May - nice day, cut the grass, thought I'd better as it was getting a bit long. Took Inca out for her evening walk, she has spent the whole day in the back garden sat in the sun and chasing shadows. Mother put her bins out yesterday evening ready for them to collect the following morning, when she was getting ready for bed at about 10.30pm she suddenly thought that she hadn't brought in the empty bins. So she gets her shoes on and goes outside with her torch to bring in the empty bins, she couldn't fathom out why they were still full! It's only then that she realises that she only put them out a bit earlier that day ready for them to be collected the following morning! Well I suppose she is 91!
Thurs 7th May - another lovely day, my turn to do the weekly shop, a trip to Lidl. Trust me to arrive at the wrong time, I waited in the queue for about 10 mins which was no real hardship in the sunshine, but when I came out there was no queue at all. Nice afternoon spent in the garden with a well deserved beer or 3.
Well, birthday week over, VE 75th anniversary tomorrow, Grunters 30th birthday on Saturday when Josh will officially be the toy boy for the 'cougar'. Hopefully plenty to moan about next week!
Fri 1st May - supposed to be going to Gatwick today before stopping over for our flight to Antigua tomorrow. At least I've got the weekly beer delivery to look forward to today. Another highlight will be the the first pouring of the home brew session IPA which is due to be ready today. I will report later on how good, or not, it is.
I know it's bin collection day but why on earth have all of Wiltshire's bin lorries been driving around the roundabourt outside our house today? On several occasions they have gone fully round the roundabout and gone back in the direction they came from, on one occasion stopping right outside our house for a couple of minutes. It's a mystery, are they lost, are they taking part in some obscure bin lorry rally? Who knows?
Josh had recorded Great British Menu, I found it a bit pretentious, especially when they were making pre-deserts! What's all that about? Isn't a 3 course dinner enough without having to stick in something else? I might have a pre-pint before my next pint later on!
Only 44 years ago today since Bobby Stokes slid that ball past Alex Stepney to win the FACup for the might Saints, what a day made even more pleasurable that it was against United.
Anna rang my mother, a friend of hers died last week, she told Anna that she wanted to send a cheque 'to my dead friend'. Luckily she was speaking to Anna and not me, I would have told her that her dead friend may have a bit of trouble cashing the cheque. Obviously what she meant was that she wanted to do a donation but she couldn't do it online as she doesn't have any form of online access. She therefore went to call the undertaker, after 5 minutes of trying to explain to the poor woman on the other end that she wanted to make a donation for her 'dead friend', it was established that the woman had no idea what she was on about as she had dialled the wrong number!
The session IPA is an acquired taste, the first pint was dreadful with bits floating around in it, but that must have just been what was congregating around the tap. It is a bit too malty and not much like an IPA, lucky we had 'dry hopped' it with extra hops as there is a bit of a lack of hoppiness. Still, we will drink it!
Sat 2nd May - should be on that plane to Antigua today but who would want to be doing that when you can be locked down at home!
A box was delivered with my name on, I saw it said 'gift' on the outside so I put it to one side to open tomorrow on my birthday. Luckily Josh was a bit more observant than me and saw the luminous sticker stating 'open immediately, refrigerated items', it was a much appreciated cheese and wine hamper from my sister.
As it's Saturday it looks like the pizza oven is going to be fired up again. Weather is not supposed to be too bad. Pizzas were fantastic again!
Sun 3rd May - 60th birthday, what a day to be really cheerful, should be waking up in Antigua but cloudy Melksham is not quite the same. Woken up at 8.05am by my phone pinging with Happy Birthday messages, don't people realise it's Sunday and at my age I need a bit of a lie in! Great to be wished a happy birthday but just leave it until after 10am.
Get downstairs for breakfast to find a 'brunch' menu on my place at the table. Including bottomless mimosas, smashed avacado on sourdough, tofu scamble, oat and almond granola, vegan farmhouse breakfast or Cowslip Mews farmhouse breakfast! Those of you that have already read my previous blogs would know that this is a massive piss take. Brunch is just an Americanism high jacked by pretentious yuppies! He was pretty confident that I would go for a real breakfast as he didn't even have the ingredients for most of the rest!
Then looking on Facebook I find the 'lockdown video' that Sophie has made, as you are all aware this is another of my particular dislikes. I have to say though that the video was brilliant and there was some great dancing to One Step Beyond by my friends, family and aquaintances. This made my day!
Had a socially distancing visit from Raf, Jade and the grandchildren, it was really good to see them on my birthday. They have left Inca with us for a few days.
As we couldn't go to Antigua, Josh made a Caribbean dinner of smoked Jerk ribs, jerk chicken, pineapple salsa. Coleslaw, rice and peas with a jerk gravy. It was hot but very tasty. Sophie had made a banoffee birthday cake which we tasted a bit later with a couple of beers in the Shed.
Although we couldn't go away, overall it was a great day.
Mon 4th May - not a lot going on today, snooze on the sofa most of the day with Inca. Cleaned out the pizza oven and sat in the garden with Inca in the afternoon for an hour until it got a bit cloudy.
Tues 5th May - cleaned the roof inside the Shed where it had previously leaked before our re-roofing efforts, looks better than it was. Josh gave the Shed a good vacuum. Again not a lot going on today.
Wed 6th May - nice day, cut the grass, thought I'd better as it was getting a bit long. Took Inca out for her evening walk, she has spent the whole day in the back garden sat in the sun and chasing shadows. Mother put her bins out yesterday evening ready for them to collect the following morning, when she was getting ready for bed at about 10.30pm she suddenly thought that she hadn't brought in the empty bins. So she gets her shoes on and goes outside with her torch to bring in the empty bins, she couldn't fathom out why they were still full! It's only then that she realises that she only put them out a bit earlier that day ready for them to be collected the following morning! Well I suppose she is 91!
Thurs 7th May - another lovely day, my turn to do the weekly shop, a trip to Lidl. Trust me to arrive at the wrong time, I waited in the queue for about 10 mins which was no real hardship in the sunshine, but when I came out there was no queue at all. Nice afternoon spent in the garden with a well deserved beer or 3.
Well, birthday week over, VE 75th anniversary tomorrow, Grunters 30th birthday on Saturday when Josh will officially be the toy boy for the 'cougar'. Hopefully plenty to moan about next week!
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