Diary > Summary - Week ending 18th July 2021

[Roobarb]

Pleased to hear your wound is healing well Viktoria. 

I got a text from my doctor's surgery this morning, it said that all staff, patients and visitors will continue to be required to wear a face covering. A good move in my opinion.
I read that Sadiq Khan is making it mandatory to wear a face covering on all London Transport. Thank heavens for some commonsense.

[BushInn1746]

I don't think it will be long before Masks and Distancing are Law again in England looking at recent rises.

We don't have 'freedom' from this wretched virus and neither are those free who are suffering long term problems of either Influenza or Covid-19.

Some English areas are considering invoking Local Laws and Local Acts.

Mark

(Removed link, not correct to compare the two figures with each other)

[Viktoria]

I can see some sense in that.
Viktoria.

[Annette7]

Collected my new glasses from Specsavers on Monday - varifocals - and told would take me a few days to get used to them. 

Didn't go out again until today (Thursday) and as I was driving thought I'd keep to my old glasses.  Visited my niece and to see the twins - my they are bonny babies (even if I am prejudiced).   As usual, Macy full of smiles the minute she sees you - Darcy just stares as if you are an alien but after around half an hour the smiles finally appear.  The two of them are very different both in looks and temperament.  Macy's skin is white as a lily, Darcy's has a pale tanned sort of look, just like her Daddy and older sister Esmae.   At the moment - with just a fuzz - looks like Darcy's hair will be darker than her sisters.

My sister currently self-isolating prior to her hip operation on Monday.   Hope it all goes well with her as she has waited such a long time for this.  Last xray showed it's just bone on bone now!  She is in a lot of pain and can't walk without a stick.

Aside from the above just been the usual kind of week and the weather has been pretty dull and dreary though supposed to be nice at the weekend.   Fingers crossed!

Annette

[DianaCanada]

It’s been a busy three days.  Tuesday at 8 am we dropped Darcy off at the vet’s and they called around 10:30 and said everything had gone well, no extractions needed, and he was starting to come around.  We picked him up at noon, he didn’t react at all when he saw me, very unusual.  He looked so miserable and a little unsteady on his feet.  Mid afternoon he followed me into my office and began to howl like a wolf, very strange!  He’s back to normal, now, full of beans, and has a dazzling Hollywood smile.
After we got home Tuesday OH got an email from the landscapers that they were coming on Wednesday to tear out the patio.  Not much warning!  They arrived around 8:30 and drilled til 3, with ciggie and coffee breaks.  What a racket, but surprisingly the dog barked for about an hour and then seemed to accept it.  I got used to it after a couple of hours.  Today they finished removing the patio and hopefully will get the rest of the job done tomorrow.  But we are expecting storms tonight and into tomorrow, so we shall see. A city north of Toronto was hit by a tornado today, no severe injuries that I know of.  I will leave my cell phone on tonight in case we have a tornado alert.
This morning when I took the dog out early quite a good sized area was all dug up from animals digging for grubs, have seen very little of this this year.  I am guessing a family of raccoons as the holes looked too big for a skunk and too many for just one raccoon, unless a very big very greedy one.
And we both got our hair cut today.  My salon which is fairly small, but usually quite busy, was at about half capacity, as per the guidelines.  Everyone still has to wear a mask.  OH only customer at his barber.  So good to get all that hair off, must say I see more grey than before the pandemic!
We are back to hot and humid, thank goodness July is almost half over.

[DianaCanada]

No major storms last night, but we did get some rain.  Quite a bit of damage in Barrie, but no deaths or serious injuries, most people know to go to their basements, but tornadoes form quickly and there isn’t much warning.

[Gibel]

Just typed a couple of paragraphs and then realised it wasn’t allowed as it was too medical so hope this version is OK.

Mid June given pain relief stick on plasters, wonderful pain free for first time from May 2019
Last Friday came out in rash in area of plaster, leaflet said common lasts a few hours
Still there Monday, ring GP at 8.30 in queue for 20 minutes, said I needed to see GP, no can’t do that. GP will ring you
11.45 GP rang come to surgery at 12.15 turns out I’m allergic to the plasters
Get home have coffee go to Chemist for prescription
By now it’s 2.15 ring Hospital speak to Consultant’s Secretary, she will add a note to my notes, consultant on holiday, next appointment in August.
By 3.30 I’m exhausted in pain and upset and I went to bed with a coffee. Didn’t do much got the next couple of days.

Now I’m wondering
How come I can go to the hospital to see a consultant, go to the hospital for blood test and scans see the dentist, see the optician but I can’t see a GP without jumping through so many hoops? I was the only person in the waiting room.

Rash is slowly going, I feel less tired but very, very fed up that the only thing that works I’m allergic too. Am I surprised? not really just fed up after all I’ve gone through since January 2019.

After that moan I’m going out for a walk, I’ll have a coffee out.

[Viktoria]

It puzzles me too, the Dentist right in my mouth,O K mask on ,but so close ,
yet no examination of my hip and a six week wait for XRay!
Result torn ligament ,still no advice or examination ,tablets of the mildest dosage  which are useless.
Eye Consultant  has worked throughout ,in very close proximity to my face .literally a few inches on the other side of the equipment that my chin rests on ,and forehead .

I am very grateful for that but to get to the hospital I was taking taxis driven by people who had only recently been abroad ,to an area where numbers are staggering ,the whole taxi business in our area is run by people who have travelled abroad.
It is a monopoly .
Very reasonable prices,most obliging and friendly ,but-.
I asked for transport because it was £ 70 in. Taxi,  and I could not walk very well , now it is sometimes a mini bus run by ambulance drivers but I have no decision in which it will be.
I just don’t understand.
Daughter’s B12 injections denied her for many months so now permanent nerve damage manifesting itself in strong permanent pins and needles and poor grip.
Yet other services are up and running ,less important ones too.

Many many people are expecting an astronomical rise in numbers soon..
Hospitalisation figures are already doubling each week, Prof Chris Witty this lunchtime was pessimistic.

Hope you are all alright, despite some obvious health problems ,that sounds a contradiction in terms ,but even if physically unwell if your spirit is cheerful it is a lot to be thankful for ,so as I have said ,we still need the Diaries and  RootsChat in general.
Cheerio folks, I am off to spread slug pellets ,the instructions tell me it is
3.8 g per  square metre ,you know one of these! m 2— or if you prefer 178 little pellets per m2
Count or weigh , decisions decisions all the time decisions!!!
Have another cuppa or as Scarlet O’ Hara said “ Tomorrow is another day” by
which time my plants will be reduced  to £##££ stalks!
Viktoria ,125,126,127,

[River Tyne Lass]

Just to reflect back over and on a more serious note, it was my eldest brother's funeral earlier in the week.  Only fifteen of us were allowed in and names had to be given for track and trace.  Others had to stand outside.  The poem that the RVI nurses had written was inserted into the eulogy and it was all very moving.  It wasn't as low key as I expected as there was a bikers' escort, which was wonderful and I know my brother would have loved that.  It still doesn't feel real to me though.  I thought it would at the funeral but it still doesn't.  That night I thought about the unfairness of it all.  I just thought why?   It just feels like he was taken too soon.  That night I had the most horrible nightmares.

Onto another subject, I saw a bus notice up today (see photo)about the reason why some bus services have been taken off, especially in the evening.  It attributes this to staff isolating and reduced passenger numbers.  Although, from what I see the passenger numbers are going up not down.
I hear that the infections are increasing on Tyneside.  I am concerned about what the consequences will be from next week.  I will definitely keep wearing a mask.  It feels like we are sitting ducks waiting to see what the outcome will be of it all.  It feels like all we can do is do our best to keep safe and keep on keeping on.