Thirty-eight days of quarantine

So here we are on the last day of April. What a month it has been - we have never known anything like it. We have been in lockdown for 38 days now, since the evening of 23rd March. There are as yet no clear directions about how and when the lockdown will be eased off; there seem to be so many conflicting opinions. Yesterday Boris Johnson’s partner Carrie Symonds gave birth to a baby boy and this afternoon Boris is going to lead the daily briefing to the nation for the first time since he fell ill with Covid-19. Yesterday the government started including deaths in care homes into the daily statistics, backdated to the start of April, which has increased the total numbers from about 20000 to just over 26000. Today is Captain Tom’s 100th birthday - he is the 2nd World War veteran who has now raised more than £30 million for charity by walking laps of his garden on his walking frame; he is being honoured by an RAF fly past and has been promoted to honorary Colonel as well as getting a personal message from the Queen.
It has been cooler and a bit rainy over the last few days, but as I write this the sun has come out and I can see patches of blue sky appearing. I have been thinking about my parents a lot with regard to the pandemic and quarantine - what would they have made of all this? Like Captain Tom, both lived through the 2nd World War so I think they would have compared it to the restrictions and rules that they had during those wartime years, and they would have reminisced about the war - they used to do that a lot anyway! If my Dad was still alive he would be ninety-eight this Sunday, and my Mum would now be eighty-eight. I miss their stories.

Yoga Tuesday

This evening Cat and I had our Tuesday yoga session, courtesy of Cat’s work yoga group. Her teacher moved to weekly online sessions now that they can’t meet in the office, and it’s all set up via Zoom so that the teacher can see the class on her screen and vice versa. I find it quite strenuous and there are some moves that I really can’t do - at one point they lift themselves up onto their hands from a crouching position, which requires both balance and strength. I can tackle most of it though, and I feel all the better for it. I was a bit wary this evening because it’s only the second time that I have tried yoga since I hurt my back again last week. However I had no pain during the class, and still no repercussions now so I’m very pleased. The highlight for me was when the teacher asked Cat if I was her sister! Either the image on the screen can’t have been very clear or perhaps the teacher was too tactful to ask if I was Cat’s granny - I thought it was hilarious and boasted about it to the boys later.
When we were finished, James had dinner all ready for us and Ally made cocktails; daiquiris this time. James had also made his delicious lemon madeira cake using flour that I managed to source in Sainsbury’s yesterday. Who would have thought that flour would have become such a highly sought after commodity?

Stay at Home Haircut

Today was yet another beautiful day. As I sit outside on a garden bench blogging, I can hear the birds singing in the trees and a bee buzzing nearby. Spring flowers are rising up all over the garden; tulips, irises, camellias, hyacinths, cowslips, primroses. The pear trees are covered in white blossom and the magnolia is bedecked in white with touches of pink - it makes me think of a bride. The cherry tree in the front garden is suddenly thick with pink blossom, and even our ancient plum tree has produced a valiant spray of blossom. The lilac tree that we bought a year ago looks as if it is just about to flower. It’s not just our garden that looks beautiful; when I went out for my walk this afternoon there were spring flowers and blossom everywhere. From Holmhills Park the Campsies and the hills beyond in the north seem especially sharply delineated, and I wonder if this is due to a lack of pollution across the city - there are certainly a lot less cars on the roads.
Cat very kindly gave me a haircut this afternoon. I had ordered a set of hairdressing scissors for her online - she has her own set but they are in London. She is very good - she took a couple of inches off the length and it is sitting very nicely. I am delighted with it.

First BBQ of 2020

Yes, today we had our first barbecue of the year and it was great fun. We have been trying to make our Saturday evenings a bit special even though we are in lockdown. Janes set out the barbecue and I laid out a selection of food, both meat and vegetarian. We also had baked potatoes on the side. It was excellent to be sitting outside for our dinner although by the time we had finished our main course, the heat of the day had dissipated - after all it’s still only April - and we nipped inside sharpish. Ally cooked bananas in their skins stuffed with chocolate, and Ally, Cat and Davie played my “Guess the jelly belly bean?” game, which engendered lots of discussion. David proved to be an expert on the beans and scored an amazing 100%! It made me feel that I must have allowed him too many of them as a child!
By now we were in the mood for competition so a lively (and lengthy) game of Trivial Pursuit ensued. Oh it was such a close run game! In the end David triumphed for the second time this evening and was well pleased with himself. I am really enjoying these family evenings and despite being restricted in our outings I think it is the time spent together at home that I will remember and cherish.

Another Quarantine Birthday

So here we are at the end of another week in lockdown. We have been incredibly lucky with the weather so have been able to go out for walks in the sunshine every day. Yesterday I was back on the top of Dechmont Hill, gazing over Glasgow to the Campsies. I tried to descend by a different route towards Nerston but ended up walking around the perimeter of a field which was bounded by thick gorse bushes while being regarded suspiciously by a herd of cows. I ended up retracing my steps via the golf course.
On Wednesday it was Cat’s 26th birthday. Since a quarantined birthday is of course very different from Cat’s fabulous 25th birthday celebrations on Skye a year ago, we did our best to make it a special day for her. David baked a lovely chocolate birthday cake and she received lots of cards and presents from friends and family. She also FaceTimed her Mum and Dad and brother. Happy Birthday was sung, kedgeree was served for dinner (Cat’s choice)  and then she and Ally went for a (presumably romantic) evening walk around the park together. It was a good day.

Hammock Season

The weather is absolutely glorious. My hammock is now set up in the garden and I have spent an hour or two reading in it today, with a fleecy blanket to counter the somewhat lively breeze. I had a terrible night’s sleep last night. My back has been sore again for the last couple of days; in fact yesterday morning I got a fright because I couldn’t stand up at first when I tried to get out of bed. I think I have mentioned that I hurt it in December and then in Bali in March, both times by bending awkwardly. It eases off during the day with a combination of paracetamol and ibuprofen. But last night I decided not to take painkillers because I suspect that they take away the pain enough for me to lie in a position that somehow hurts my back further, hence the problems in the morning. I tried to sleep on my front, but kept waking up. As a result I’m very tired today, but I think it worked because my back feels a good bit better. I positioned a cushion carefully in the hammock for extra support.
When walking around the neighbourhood for my daily exercise, I have noticed a lot of people working hard in their gardens. Hedges are being trimmed, slabs are being power washed, grass is being cut. The gardens of Britain are going to look fantastic by the end of the quarantine. Talking of which, the numbers of deaths have been lower for the last couple of days, in the 400s* instead of the 800s, which is of course still terrible for those people and their families. I don’t want to speak too soon, but could the peak of the coronavirus have passed?

* update at 5 pm - well yes unfortunately I did speak too soon. Today’s death toll in hospitals in the UK is back up to 828, taking the total to 17,337. And sadly once statistics on deaths in the community and in care homes catch up, the total will be even higher. However the daily government briefing stated that the number of cases in hospital is hopefully levelling out.

Cocktails and Curry

During quarantine we have got into the habit of having a takeaway curry each Saturday evening. Currently all of our evenings are of course being spent at Casa Anderson in the very pleasant company of Ally, Cat and Davie. On Saturday we order our curry and then watch a film together. We have to order it very early because demand is extremely high at the moment, after all nobody can go to a restaurant, so it takes ages. Needless to say, Alasdair mixes some cocktails before dinner; today he made tequila sunrises. He even offered to make me a non-alcoholic version! This evening we are watching “Star Trek into Darkness” which we originally saw at the cinema a few years ago. Its one of the “prequels” and it’s quite entertaining.
As we watch our film, I notice that nearly all of the adverts (it’s on Channel 4) have been tailored to reflect that we are in lockdown. They depict people Skyping and phoning each other and being cheerful and resilient while social distancing. I was surprised to see how quickly they have changed, but I suppose it wouldn’t be appropriate to show people partying or travelling. Although of course in the Star Trek film they were shooting about all over the universe - maybe they shout his remake it in a Stay at Home version!

Susan’s Shed

Our quarantine is to continue for the next three weeks according to Foreign Minister Dominic Raab at yesterday’s daily briefing by the government. (Dominic Raab is still standing in for Prime Minister Boris Johnson while he recuperates from Covid-19.) This had been rumoured for a couple of days, so it wasn’t a surprise. Today there has been much discussion in the news of what and when our “exit strategy” will be, which makes me feel that at least there is an end in sight to lockdown.
Every Thursday evening at 8 p.m. for the last three weeks, we have been joining in with our neighbours in thanking the NHS workers by clapping outside our front door. This is happening all over the country. Yesterday Alasdair ramped it up a bit by setting off a firework which he happened to have stashed somewhere. We could hear and see other fireworks being set off, as well as people banging on pots and pans and cheering. It feels good to show our appreciation. An amazing and very elderly gentleman called Captain Tom Moore (ninety-nine years old!) started last week to walk the length of his garden 100 times to raise money for NHS charities. He hoped that he could raise £1000.  News travelled fast and, almost unbelievably, Captain Tom has now raised £20 million! He is fantastic.
During the day at Casa Anderson the young folk have been working and studying, and James and I have been going for our daily walks and doing various useful activities around the house.
James is working on a big project, which is very exciting for me. He has been renovating the shed at the back of the garden for my use; he has fixed the floor and has painted the inside of the shed white, and built me a folding table at the window. There is a small balcony at the front beside the magnolia tree, where I can sit outside and do yoga. He is going to put in new windows and I will make wee curtains. I’m going to use it for creative ventures such as drawing, crafts and writing.

Quarantinis

On Sunday I organised an Easter Egg hunt in the garden for Ally, Cat and Davie. This once annual tradition is no longer a regular occurrence at Casa Anderson now that the boys are all grown up, however I thought that it would be a fun thing to do this year during our lockdown. It was a lovely sunny day and they all totally entered into the spirit of it - there was much laughter and rivalry.
The beautiful weather has continued all Easter weekend; yesterday Cat took the exercise bike outside into the garden and pedalled away in the sunshine, and Ally and Davie were kicking a ball about the garden. David made pizzas and we all decorated our own, it was good fun and the results were delicious. Ally then created a selection of cocktails including a “quarantini” - which is simply a martini drunk during quarantine!
The news about Covid-19 is still grim with the lockdown probably going to continue for at least another couple of weeks. As might be expected due to the pandemic there have been many more deaths than usual in the UK at this time of year - but surprisingly (to me), more than 40% of these deaths are apparently not caused by Covid-19. One theory for this is that people aren’t seeking treatment for other conditions. When we were chatting via FaceTime with Heather and Ewan on Sunday (which Alasdair cheekily referred time as our “play date”), Ewan pointed out that when the number of deaths from Covid-19 begins to decrease, there may come a tipping point where more deaths are caused than prevented by the quarantine. Or the increase in deaths could be due to the other current issue in the news, which is that the statistics are currently based only on people who have been tested for the virus - so this doesn’t include quite a lot of elderly people who have been dying in care homes without being tested. This will likely affect the numbers. So the government and health experts have an extremely complicated situation and are going to have to make some very difficult decisions. I don’t envy them.

Sunny Saturday in Lockdown

It’s an absolutely beautiful day, even warmer and sunnier than the weather forecast. We are all sitting outside in the garden, mindful that we are very lucky to have a garden during this lockdown. It must be very difficult to be in a city flat without a balcony, with only the option of one daily walk around the nearby streets. Anyway, we are all engaged in wholesome activities. Ally is listening to music (using headphones) while reading Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T. E. Lawrence. Cat is knitting a jumper, using some of the large amount of wool and knitting needles that belonged to Grandma. Grandma was a fantastic knitter so I’m delighted that her legacy continues. Davie is watching and listening to a gaming video on his phone. James is building a model plane, and I have been reading and am now blogging. The washing is hanging on the line and the delicious smell of James’ banana loaf is drifting out from the kitchen. It seems like such a lovely day, and yet people are still getting sick and dying of Covid-19 all over the world. It looks like lockdown will continue for at least another couple of weeks. But nature neither knows nor cares about us humans, and every day is getting warmer; the plants are growing and the trees are blossoming.

Stay safe

We have a whole new vocabulary due to Covid-19. The words may not be new but their current use is new. For example social distancing, self isolating and lockdown. The word coronavirus is not new, but nor is is a word with which I used to pepper my conversation. Now it is never far from my lips. The word, I mean, not the virus!
I have noticed a new phrase which is now being used as a farewell at the end of a phone call, message or email. It is “Stay safe.” Again, these words are not new, but I have heard and seen them increasingly over the last couple of weeks.
The great British public, with only a few embarrassing exceptions of people misbehaving in shops or supermarket queues, seem to have risen to the occasion during this difficult time. The police have had to move on groups that have gathered in parks or on beaches - I have seen this on the news rather than in person - but I have the impression that this is (mostly) accidental; people who live in busy areas heading out for a walk and finding themselves in a bigger group than they intended. It is heartening that most people are taking the lockdown seriously. And we should - yesterday there was the highest number of deaths in a day so far; 938 deaths, bringing the total in the UK so far to 7097. I am blogging just now while waiting in a long but safely spaced queue to get into the supermarket, and everyone is waiting quietly and patiently. Stay safe everybody.

It’s a small world

We’re getting used to our new small universe. This morning James was painting the shed and I was drawing a picture of primroses. I have been doing quite a bit of drawing lately with my watercolour pencils, and what I lack in talent I make up for in my own enjoyment - I find the process both absorbing and relaxing.
For lunch I decided to make home made potato scones using leftover mash from last night. The results were absolutely delicious if I say so myself. And then when our young people returned to their work and study, and James went back to painting the shed, I decided to go for my daily walk. As I have mentioned before, James goes for a long walk at 6.30 a.m. every morning so I usually either go with David or by myself. David was very busy in his room soldering tiny solar panels together - I have no idea why - so I left him to it and set off towards the park. On the way, having finished the fascinating true crime podcast West Cork, I listened to Where the Crawdads Sing, which has been recommended to me by several people. I am loving it. I didn’t actually go into the park but instead skirted past it to Dechmont and walked on a path through the deserted firing range and found myself at the foot of Dechmont Hill. I decided to scale its modest heights and trudged up through a steep field, and then found myself climbing up a short but vertiginous slope to the summit. I was practically on hands and knees for the last bit, clinging to tussocks of grass, and was concerned about slipping and rolling back down the hill. However I quickly emerged onto the level summit with its flagpole and trig point and sat down to enjoy the view before making a leisurely descent through the golf course to home and dinner. I noticed quite a few people walking their dogs on the golf course; not just around the edges like my respectful route, but straight across the fairways and greens. I can’t imagine that being permitted in normal circumstances, but then our current circumstances are anything but normal.

The Queen and Boris

Yesterday evening the Queen addressed the nation, for only the fifth time in her 68 year reign (apart from her annual Christmas speeches of course.) We gathered in the television room to listen to her. Her message was serious but hopeful; it felt almost like a wartime speech. She mentioned that our national spirit is symbolised by the rainbows drawn by children - the rainbow drawn for me by lovely Archie is proudly displayed on our lounge window. Her closing words were, “We should take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return; we will be with our friends again; we will be with our families again; we will meet again.”
Only about an hour later came the news that Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has been treated in 10 Downing Street for Covid-19 for the past ten days or so, had just been taken to hospital. While the Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who was diagnosed at about the same time, had mostly recovered after about a week, Boris’ symptoms have persisted and worsened.
This evening Boris was taken to Intensive Care. Apparently he is not on a ventilator but has been taken there in case he needs one. It’s very worrying and, along with all of the other Coronavirus patients in hospital, I wish him all the best.

Saturday Night In

I’m sitting up rather late - very late in fact - because I had a massive curry this evening and I still feel very full. When will I ever learn? Anyway, we had a lovely evening. We had a Zoom video chat with Heather and Ewan earlier. It was strange to be talking to them via a screen, however it was very nice to see them - it’s the first time we have seen them since before we went to New Zealand in February. Although we had heard about the Coronavirus then, none of us realised just what a huge impact it was going to have in our lives. Well actually one person in the family did predict it, and that was David, who as a Biochemist and Infection Biologist, warned us at the start of the year that it would possibly become a pandemic.
Shortly after our chat, Ally, Davie and Cat arrived home from their state sanctioned walk - they had gone for a long circuit of the local area and were ready for a curry. Sadly we weren’t the only ones with this idea, and our usual curry shop were so busy that they were no longer taking orders! However we managed to order from our second choice which happens to be James’ least favourite Indian takeaway, due to previous bad experiences. Tonight’s curry was decent though, and we had a jolly meal followed by a couple of fiercely competitive games of Linkee. Janes sloped off to bed quite early - no wonder he was tired, as he gets up to go for his walk at 6.30 a.m. every morning! Which reminds me, I need to go to bed despite my ongoing heartburn.
One more thing - I have finished The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel. I had actually been dreading the ending as things unfairly but inevitably started to go wrong for Cromwell. So I read the last quarter of the book last night and I was glad to finish it because it was so sad, even though I had really enjoyed it. I hate Henry VIII.

Spring Rhubarb

James has brought Grandma’s rhubarb plants across to our house and planted them in the garden beside our own. Last night we ate rhubarb crumble made with tender early season rhubarb, served with custard. It was absolutely delicious.
We are in a sort of quarantine routine here at Casa Anderson. Ally, Cat and David start early and work hard all day. They work really long hours. James and I take exercise by going for walks in the morning (separately because James gets up very early for his walk) and then he works in the garden and I do various projects around the house. We all gather for lunch in the back room then the young ones go back to work while James and I have a chat over a cup of tea. Then later on James pours pre dinner drinks which signal the start of our evening. After dinner we play a board game or watch a film or some of a box set.
Yesterday Cat and I did online yoga again. I felt much more lively than I did last week so I got more out of it. It’s really strong stuff compared with what I have done before and some of the moves were very challenging. Cat was extremely good at it. the teacher could see us all via the computer camera so could tell us to adjust our moves. I felt really energised afterwards.
This evening I used the Zoom app to link up with my EK book group. It was lovely to see their faces, each in its own little box down the side of the screen, and we had a good chat. Whenever someone spoke their face would come up on the main screen. The wonders of technology!