Diary< Saturday 9 May 2020

[california dreamin]

Roo - hope you are feeling much better today.  Pleased to note that you have a plan of action to save the clematis!

RTL - sounds like a great programme!  They did have some good one's yesterday.

Caroline - gosh you sound very busy and organised!

pharamaT - sorry to hear of your bad night.  I had a series of them some weeks ago. With regard to your daughter's homework.  I'm not sure what year she is in (is it PHSE or RS homework something like that?)  I think that youngster's today are pretty resilient. You might be pleasantly  surprised by her answers and thought process. However they do get some weird, wonderful and inappropriate topics to 'think' about.

Not a lot to report today:  Later than normal start. Usual routine.  The park busy'ish' today, however, I guess because it is a Saturday  there were more 'leisure' walkers than 'exercisers' if you know what I mean.

Other than that I just don't know where the day went.  I had some emails to send. Lunch passed in rather a haze. Though it was a most magnificent day and so very hot!

I made another batch of scones.  The family had an online quiz with some friends, I excused myself....  Did some washing and basic cleanning.

A very late dinner of some pizza and then some telly.

I await with anticipation Mr Johnson's address to the nation tomorrow!

Stay safe!
CD

[Viktoria]

Quiet day today.
 A mystery  pint of milk on my step this morning,silver top, my milkman delivers milk with silver tops with red “Semi skimmed “ on them.
Asked a neighbour was it he as I gave him some last week but did not want it replacing ,but no not him.
I made custard with it.
So very hot today, ,my nasturtiums are finally coming through but it was so hot a few wilted even though I had moved them to a shadier place .
Cooler tomorrow.
I just can’t stay indoors , so very little housework done.
Quite a lot of post had accumulated, I leave it a few days before opening it .
So some things to be filed away, bank statements etc.
Well interest rates are rubbish aren’t they,in a sock under the bed would earn as much!
Wonder if we will be taking a suitcase of money for a loaf when all this is over?
I need some retail therapy!
To exchange coins or notes for something—- anything!

My tiddler grandson’s butterfly eggs have hatched ,already fat and two have
already become chrysalises, then the butterflies,Painted Ladies.
I was told they were moth eggs , but no butterfly eggs.
He will want to keep them I feel, but his Mum  and Dad tell him every day
that they will have to be set free in a little while when they have eaten the special nectar food with the kit.
He has named them ,Batman, Superman, no names yet for the others.
Gardens could do with some rain .
Hope everyone is alright .
Cheerio.Viktoria.

[Roobarb]

Thanks CD, am on the mend, hope to be back to full strength soon. Unfortunately I didn't see the VE programmes yesterday, I had the TV on for company but can't recall what was on.

Did very little this morning, just reading and faffing about. Had woken up wondering how much longer I can put up with this lonely life but I guess I'll just have to deal with it for as long as it takes. Back to my usual walk, lovely warm day, got quite hot later. Took the tinned food out of its garage quarantine, wiped it again for good measure and put it in the cupboard.

Scrambled egg for lunch then got my chair out in the garden, changed into shorts and strappy top and spent a lot of the afternoon just sunbathing and reading. Took some bulbs out of one of the pots, that was the extent of today's gardening. I've seen a robin several times from my kitchen window, I think he's building a nest nearby, he had some bits of nest material in his beak today. Saw him again later, he was sitting on my birdbath for a while just looking pretty.

Phoned a friend after tea, conversations all seem pretty much the same these days. Watched the Grayson Perry programme and some other stuff.

Forecast is much cooler tomorrow and some light rain in the morning. Hope everyone has had a good day as much as possible.

[Caw1]

Glad to hear your feeling better today Roobarb and taking it easy in the sunshine is a great way to recover...

Like you CD I'm waiting with baited breath to see what Boris has to say tomorrow... think the media have jumped the gun ( or so they think) and it's not helping all these people virtually ignoring the advice and going out and about in much greater numbers... woe betied them!

Viktoria - you are always a busy lady! Don't worry about the housework... the only downside is that unless the fairies come in while your outside or asleep it will still be there tomorrow!

My daily diary

Up at a reasonable time and opened all the windows and doors that weren't already open let the sunshine in... lovely and warm.
Usual breakfast... tidy up sorted the butchers out answered a few emails put washing in the machine.
OH had his usual 9 holes of golf virtually on Zoom with his buddies ( just golf chat really!)
I drove to the butchers picked up meat for us and two neighbours.
Collected a cheque from villager from her outside table left under a pot for me... she's all on her own, lost her husband just before lockdown so feeling quite isolated, her house is up a long drive so she wouldn't see anyone just passing... tried to have a chat with her through closed  windows, not easy.
Lunch sat in the garden and read for a while, was getting too hot though so eventually came indoors
OH was watching old golf matches on tv... he's not good with heat and suffers very sensitive skin so avoids the sun!
Finally went up to my workroom and made second pair of scrubs trousers.
Time for dinner, BBQ chicken and salad sat outside it was lovely.
Watched film The Darkest Hour seen it before but good film
Still knitting baby blankets!
Off to bed, itsgoing to be a warm night, like last night... all bedroom windows open to let breeze in...
Looking forward to catching up with family tomorrow... but not the cooler weather...
We could do with some rain for the garden, specially the vegs.

Stay safe all, another day...

Caroline

[Viktoria]

Sunday May 10 th.
My eldest son’s Silver Wedding day today.
No celebrations, I won’t see them but will phone in a while.
Sent a cheque, they are re organising their garden so perhaps something for that.
They had planned a holiday in Corfu, but that has gone down the spout!
Normally I would be up to my elbows in icing ,doing a gargantuan cake but not this year.
G Grandson is four tomorrow,no kisses and hugs ,just a phone call.
I have to remember I am GREAT grandma and my daughter is Nanny,so just as with my M in L ,and my grandchildren, I was the more familiar figure in their lives ( both my parents were dead).
They live now very close to my daughter,but of course no actual contact .
His carrots have survived his ” drownding”, he now has some purple ones down.
Roobarb,I have developed a very Cavalier attitude to housework, and also this house is so much cleaner than my last one ,which was on a main road with nose to tail traffic at peak times.
This one is off a main road and other than the occasional hearse only the traffic of residents comes along it.
So much cleaner.
Tidiness is my problem, I leave things on view so I don’t forget to deal with them and after a time I don’t see them anymore,they become fixtures!
Then I have a gargantuan tidy up, feel smug and it starts again.
At the moment there are tins of tomatoes,red beans and baked beans etc on the stairs.Tesco delivery which they duplicated!
I take some up each time I go upstairs ,to my little grocery shop in the box room.But I am starting to pass them ,unnoticed, as I go up!
Perhaps they will become “ Modern Art” ,I will be “ Avant Garde”.
Such trivia in these trying times.
Well off to phone my son and daughter in law, so Cheerio folk,keep safe and well.
Just a P.S.an advert in a magazine or something ,where people make contact with a view to marriage , “ Eligible batchelor, Own home, good job ,early 50’s
has toilet rolls, would like to meet——-“
He is a bit late with that one!
Viktoria.

[pharmaT]

Up really early this morning to go to NHS hour at Morrisons in the hope that that will mean it's quieter.   It was busy considering it was before 7am but quiet overall and no 30min queue.  So ended up not getting that much done by the time I got home, showered, washed my clothes,  washed everything, washed my hands put it away and then repeat in batches.  Was really tired by the afternoon. Understandable I suppose with neighbours having a party and singing at 1am then me getting up early.


I'm not popular with the neighbours I declined to join in the partying for obvious reasons.   Apparently I'm a killjoy who is so lazy I'm enjoying furlough and want the restrictions to continue so I can continue to laze about.  Heaven help me if I'd actually said what i thought of the party idea rather than just "No thank you I need to be up early in the morning"

Steak pie for dinner, me covered in flour again, I seem to be getting more clumsy by the day. 

CD it's not so much that the topic exists in the curriculum that I'm unhappy with but that it was set as work during a global pandemic when there are extra stressors on teenagers and they're not under direct supervision of the teachers while it's discussed.  I think I peer discussion in the classroom would have been a healthier way to deal with it.  My daughter and many of her friends are questioning if they have a future (I've had to intervene on conversations to calm things down) as they are worried about losing out on exam prep for next year and death is a daily news topic.  My daughter has been bereaved 4 times recently within the family and has had the funerals of 2 school friends on top of that. I have to go to work on Monday so won't be there to support her if she gets upset by the topic.  I have no doubt of her intellectual ability, you should see some of the essays she has written, they regularly get essay questions that in my day would have been set for those a few years older.  It is the emotional impact in the current climate that worries me.

[california dreamin]

I'm so sorry to hear of all the bereavements and challenges that your daughter has had to confront. That's really tough at any age.  I suspect the topic may have been set precisely because of the current situation, but that's no excuse for the teacher or school to lose sight or consideration of individual student's personal situations.  If I were you I'd email the teacher and let them know your concerns!  Most of the students do have a direct email of their form teacher or subject teacher nowdays (I was never shy about getting in touch about something that concerned me).  You never know they may alter the topic. It's worth a shot.

Pharma- I really do understand your comment about young people questioning the future.  I have two here in the thick of it at the moment. One was told before lockdown that it was her last day at school, don't bother studying and there would be no A levels to sit!  She came home in tears and does not know what the future holds.  By the next day two of her friends were stacking shelves at Tesco when they should have been studying for upcoming exams. It's really hard keeping her spirits up. I also have a final year Uni student whose life has also been turned upside down.  The system has come crashing down and graduation cancelled.  They have dubbed themselves the 'Covid' generation.  So, it's pretty tough here too at times.  Best regards and remember you are not alone Xx