Slowly unlocking

Lockdown is continuing to ease, although very slowly. Scotland is about two weeks behind England in lifting restrictions, which seems to have been the right decision because there are far fewer deaths in Scotland now I’m glad to say. The number of deaths has dropped in England too, although not so markedly. I emailed our First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, a fortnight ago, to ask if Chanel could come here from England; she and Davie are in close touch by phone and video call but I know that they are missing each other very much. My idea was that she could self-isolate at Grandma's house for an appropriate amount of time; I offered to buy food for her and leave it on the doorstep. I got a pleasant but firm reply from MSP Clare Haughey to say that this would not be allowed. I was very disappointed; hopefully travel from England to Scotland will be permitted soon. 

Our young folk are continuing to work and study hard in our house, which I know is difficult for them. Ally and Cat both say that they find it more effective to work in an office; it is isolating for them to work at home. Davie misses being able to do his research in a lab; he has had to analyse a set of results provided for him by the University. Davie's back got very sore from working for very long hours at the computer, so I bought him a proper office / gaming chair which supports his back and he said that it made a huge difference. (Ally and Cat are ok with their chairs so far.)  James and I are pleased that we have been able to assist Ally, Cat and Davie by providing a private work space for each of them, as well as food, comfortable bedrooms and living space, and we are all lucky that we have a good-sized garden for outside breaks. It has been such a strange time. 

Tiger King

One of the television series that we have been watching during lockdown is the very strange (but true) documentary "Tiger King." It was released on Netflix at the end of March and became very popular very quickly, probably due to the higher than usual television audiences during lockdown. Ally, Cat and Davie started watching it first, and then I joined in. Everyone in the series seems bizarre, especially the titular Tiger King, aka Joe Exotic. He is a tiger collector and conservationist in Oklahoma, who has a bitter feud with his rival Carole Baskin of Florida. He accused Carole Baskin of killing her husband (who really did mysteriously disappear) and was then arrested himself for paying a hitman to murder Carole Baskin! The rest of the employees are just about as strange as their bosses and the tv series is compelling viewing because it's almost, but not quite, unbelievable. A strange programme for strange times. 

Missing Grandma

Although lockdown is easing a bit more every week, I have been feeling a bit down recently. This could be because of the cumulative sadness of all the deaths of lockdown, but I think that it is also that I have been grieving for Grandma. When she died at the end of November there were lots of arrangements to make and admin to do. Then came Christmas, and soon we were off to New Zealand to visit Jamie. So it wasn’t until quite recently, when I have been helping James to clear her house, that I really started reflecting on her life and how close we became as she grew older and how much I miss her. She was so brave and stoical as she had to endure more and more medical issues. All those injections to her eye to slow down macular degeneration, and she never complained once. Or the time she mangled her finger in a taxi door but simply bandaged it and wrapped a silk scarf around her hand, because we were all going to a concert together in the evening. She didn’t tell us until the end of the concert when the blood started seeping through at an alarming rate and we ended up at A&E! And one time when I was really stressed at work and I mentioned it to her, and she was really indignant on my behalf and offered to “phone the school board” to complain, which I found very endearing. 

And she loved the sunshine so much, and liked nothing better than a run in the car on a warm day, and she was the last surviving grandparent of our children, and she loved them. I miss her, and her death has reminded me of how much I miss my own parents and Jimmy Anderson too. 

Restoration Complete

Although the weather is not as spectacularly sunny as it was during May, it is now basically warm most days because it really is summer now. All is well at Casa Anderson; working and studying from home, gardening, projects around the house. James has finished restoring the blanket box that was in his Mum’s cellar and it looks fantastic. After much paint-stripping, sanding, and filling in holes, he has applied three coats of varnish and it has come up a lovely warm chestnut colour. It still bears the many marks of its long history of use, presumably as a blanket box to start with and then as a children’s toy chest. But I think that adds to its character, and I wouldn’t change a thing. 

Social Reawakening

This week James and I have met quite a few neighbours and friends while we have been strolling around the local area, which is not unusual. But unlike a few weeks ago, we now feel able to stop and chat with people (still two metres apart of course!) at gateways and hedges. This afternoon I went round to my lovely neighbour Christine’s for a chat in the garden - of course I followed regulations by bringing my own cup of tea! We have been invited to another neighbour’s garden tomorrow, and Steven and Hilary will be popping round to see us next week. It’s nice to be able to see friends again. 

And in the world beyond Casa Anderson ...

I feel that I should mention a few of the things that have been happening outside our own wee semi-lockdown bubble at Casa Anderson. The number of cases and deaths from Covid-19 in the UK continues to fall, to a couple of hundred a day instead of more that 1000 per day at some points in mid April. (The figure of more than 1000 a day is retrospective because deaths in care homes were added later, so in mid April about 800 - 900 per day were actually being reported. I hope that makes sense.) The number of deaths from Covid-19 is now nearing 40,000 in total. There are increasing recriminations in the media over whether the number of deaths could have been lower if the UK had gone into lockdown sooner, or if hospitals hadn’t discharged elderly people back into their care homes without testing them for the virus. This may well be true (I honestly don’t know and would not have liked to have been responsible for making the decisions) but the arguments are becoming more and more vitriolic, and I hate the hectoring tone of many participants  - I had to switch Question Time off the other evening because I couldn’t stand the way the politicians, journalists and callers were speaking to each other. Of course I understand why it is such an important and emotive subject, and if mistakes have been made they must be investigated, however the more supportive and less political atmosphere of the early days of the pandemic has certainly disappeared now.
Now that the lockdown is being eased off, hordes of people across the U.K. are congregating in crowds at the seaside and other beauty spots, with no social distancing at all. I think people are beginning to get a bit blasé about the virus, and fed up of the lockdown. I wonder if we have reached a point where enough people have had it that this will be ok, or whether the number of cases will start to rise again? We shall see.
Meanwhile, across the pond, a black man called George Floyd was killed a few days ago by a police officer kneeling on his neck for a full eight minutes, even after he stopped pleading that he couldn’t breathe and became unresponsive. It’s just awful, and similar incidents have happened so many times. There are protests all over the USA and indeed all over the world. 

Early morning walk

The hot weather continues here, and barbecue number 5 is planned for this evening. I think that we will just be in time before the weather breaks because it’s supposed to be cooler and cloudier tomorrow. It was a good weekend in the sunshine. Heather and Ewan cycled over to see us on Sunday afternoon (fourteen hilly miles each way; they are so fit!) It’s the first time that we have seen them since lockdown started in March and although we have enjoyed our weekly Zoom calls with them it was much better to see them in person. We obeyed the Phase 1 regulations by meeting with them in the garden, not the house. We remained the advised six feet apart from them and they brought their own cups and I provided wrapped ice lollies. Ally was out meeting Andrew in Maxwell Park, however Cat and Davie both joined us and we all had a very pleasant chat.
I have been enjoying doing some drawing in Susan’s Shed, which is in a cool, shady corner of the garden, perfect for the hot weather. Davie joined me there yesterday for afternoon tea in its leafy glade, it was like being in the Botanic Gardens!
This morning James persuaded me to join him for his morning walk at the horrifyingly early hour of 6.30 a.m. He promised me that the Clyde Walkway would be cool and quiet at that hour and so it was. We didn’t see any cyclists at all until 7 a.m. and there were hardly any walkers. The few people that we met all knew James and said hello to him! I walked a shortened route while James strode off on his full 12 km circuit, then we met back at the house for breakfast al fresco.