DIARY > SATURDAY 31st October.

[Mowsehowse]

Well we need to hang together to get through, so here goes......
The wind howled all night, and prolonged torrential rain hit the windows with such force it washed away the salt recently accumulated, and it continued all morning.  I wondered if it would get light at all during the day.
I tried to make contact with my grandchildren in OZ, but no joy again... that's 3 or 4 weeks I think, but, in the last 4 months I have only managed 2 hours contact with my grandchildren who live in the same county!
Astonishingly the rain stopped around 11:00 and we managed to walk to town and back in the dry.  After lunch H wanted to get another walk during a sunny interval and before the rugby match began on TV. 
While he was enjoying that, I finished his book.... it will take him months no doubt; he's only reached page 225.
Did I say THE rugby match??  If I had realised ALL 4 games were to be played in one day I might have refused to get out of bed at all. 
Watched the Covid briefing at 7 on TV.....  not many surprises there.
Then I did watch Strictly while H watched the 3rd game on his laptop. I had let H have the remote to watch something else last week, so I hadn't seen all the contestants, not that I know who most of them are.
I do feel the standard seems quite high this year.
Do I gather there is no fancy makeup this year due to the virus?
And am I mistaken in thinking we have seen many of the costumes before?  Ah well, a budget version due to all the special bubble accommodation arrangements I bet.
Onwards and upwards people; try to enjoy your day.

[Caw1]

Everybody must have either been busy coping with trick or treating or stunned to silence by the latest briefing from Downing St!

Another dreary day..... OH went off to play golf early but I fully expected to see him home early.....
The rain started and he was home after just playing 9 holes pretty wet through....
I spent the day sewing and he spent it watching rugby....
I did watch the England v Italy game.....
dinner was just sausage, chips and vegs....
Naturally, like others I’m sure, we watched the Downing St briefing and as expected we’re going to be consigned to home for the next month...
Not that it makes a huge difference to us.... I’ll miss my Tuesday coffee with my friends and neighbours.... whether OH will be able to play golf ... not sure as they said you can meet one other outside...
Our friends up the lane we’re having their usual bonfire and fireworks at the end of this week..... now going to be in December! Something to look forward to...
I just hope people are sensible and don’t strip the shops this time round!
Oh well it will give me a whole month to get my Xmas cards made...
After the months over what then.... every body goes around visiting, seeing family for Xmas and then we’re all locked up again in January?
How can the economy of the country survive all this.... my heart goes out to all those people in business who were just hanging by a thread....
depressing to say the least ....

Hope others feel more upbeat than I do...
Caroline

[Mowsehowse]

I beat you by 2 minutes!!!!!

Not really more upbeat Caroline, but we have to try so we avoid sinking into the morass.

[Caw1]

Oh dear Mowsehowse we’ve posted at the same time! Should I get the mods to combine the?

My what a wet morning you had but good to get out for a walk or two...
I enjoy watching the rugby but 4 matches in a day can be quite a lot!
Sorry to hear you’ve not been able to make contact with your family in Oz...it does mean such a lot when they’re so far away...

Caroline

[Mowsehowse]

I have messaged the Mods, so I guess they will do it.
Everything is rather squelchy around here just now, but normal for the time of year I suppose.
Just going to crack open several bottles of red to help me through the day......
Hang in there.

[Caw1]

I’ve messaged them too! So between us we should get it done...
Now I like a glass 🥂🍷but it’s a bit early even for me....😂😂
Have a good day!

Caroline

[Ruskie]

As well as  the worry about (Made in the UK) Marmite being discontinued, it was not a very good day.

The day started out nice and sunny. It was our State Govt Election Day.

We had a series of severe thunderstorms with hail come through our area late afternoon. We escaped any damage, but some areas had tennis ball sized hail which smashed car windows and house roof tiles. My daughter’s fairly new car got some hail damage, which upsets me of course.

Tried to take the dog for a walk in between downpours - got caught in a little rain at the end of the walk.

I did a few hours work in the evening counting election votes (storms had long passed). I have done it before - it’s quite fun and interesting to see how the processes work. Despite Govt posters recommending social distancing, hand sanitiser, gloves, and masks being provided, the area was a lot smaller than I anticipated and the lack of room to social distance was a little disturbing. We currently have no active cases in this area, but I don’t like getting too up close and personal with strangers at the best of times.

I heard about the new lockdowns in the UK. How horrible for everyone. It astounds me that flights have continued all this time. We have very few flights in and out of the country and anyone arriving has to go into hotel quarantine for two weeks at their own expense. I think this has made all the difference in keeping the spread of infection down. With such a large mobile population in the UK I suppose there would never be enough hotels to accomodate everyone, but it did cross my mind that if this had been done from the outset, and people were discouraged from travelling, might the situation be better?

[Mowsehowse]

Most people have no clue what 2m looks like Ruskie, but hopefully with a mask and plenty of hand washing all will be well for you.
You say QUOTE:  "I heard about the new lockdowns in the UK. How horrible for everyone. It astounds me that flights have continued all this time. We have very few flights in and out of the country and anyone arriving has to go into hotel quarantine for two weeks at their own expense. I think this has made all the difference in keeping the spread of infection down. With such a large mobile population in the UK I suppose there would never be enough hotels to accomodate everyone, but it did cross my mind that if this had been done from the outset, and people were discouraged from travelling, might the situation be better?"

No doubt you are correct Ruskie.... there wasn't even a UK travel ban imposed during the October half term school holiday while the Scientists were begging for a complete lockdown.
As far as I am aware there was zero testing at UK airports up until August, I think there may be a little bit of temperature testing now?? 
In my opinion the government's main concern has been the survival of commerce.... they don't seem to comprehend that dead people can't spend money.

[Roobarb]

I was just tired last night, didn't watch the briefing but read it on the BBC news app. I find it a bit easier to deal with like that.
Hope you manage to get your cards done Caroline.

Ruskie, what a storm, sorry to hear about your daughter's car. Hope her insurance will cover it. Quite shocking that the arrangements for the count have been so lackadaisical in social distancing, I completely agree about the flights to the UK.

My day:

Felt a bit rough when I got up, I only have myself to blame, I succumbed to a fourth square of chocolate last night when I know I can only tolerate three at the most. Probably not helped by the extra strong wine.

Was intending to do allsorts, only actually did one of those things, not because of feeling rough, just felt unsettled all day. Maybe I was getting the vibes about what the country was about to be hit with.

It was really windy, gale force, heavy showers too. Forecast was for finer weather mid afternoon so I postponed my walk. Made a big pan of pasta sauce, had done washing, had to hang it indoors. Had some lunch then just read and messed about on the computer till just after 2pm when the sun came out and the wind had dropped a bit. Waterproof shoes on, off out. Field was soggy as expected, the dog walkers were emerging. It was still pretty windy, thought it might not be a good idea to walk through the woods in such high winds. It was quite mild and I enjoyed the walk but it does make me breathless when it's so windy.

Did some of the pasta sauce with prawns for tea, read the live news about the imminent lockdown. Doesn't really make any difference to me except that it makes it seem so much longer before I can try and get any sort of life back. I do feel sorry for all the people whose livelihoods are at risk again. I have suspected for some time that the government would be timing this so that hopefully the infections would go down and people might be able to enjoy Christmas. Who knows what will happen after this, hopefully a vaccine will be on the horizon.