Burst pipe and big lockdown

We usually aim to take down our Christmas decorations about the 5th January, which is Twelfth Night. This is apparently when the Three Wise Men arrived to bring their gifts to baby Jesus, after following the Star of Bethlehem which led them to his stable. This year we decided to take them down a day early so that the room is all ready to be Cat's office again. Taking down the decorations and dismantling the tree was remarkably quick. First the baubles and tinsel, then the lights, then James took the tree outside and cut off its branches. Down came the Christmas cards from their wall display, a quick hoover and voila, the lounge is back to its usual condition. 

Ally went out to go for a walk with a friend, and on his return he was our hero, because he noticed that a jet of water was spraying across the back of the house from our outside tap. It had burst in the cold, probably when it unfroze. Ally could see it appearing past the side of the house as he came up the path! He ran inside and alerted James and they rushed to find the stopcock and turn off the water. 

Meanwhile Nicola Sturgeon and Boris Johnson have each announced that the lockdown will go from strict Tier 4 to even stricter Tier 4 from midnight tonight! This new very infectious strain of the virus is still spreading fast, and the NHS is in serious danger of being overwhelmed. From midnight, everyone in Scotland (and the rest of the UK) will be legally required to stay at home - except for essential purposes. Schools are to remain closed, apart from vulnerable children and children of key workers. Cafés, restaurants and pubs are already closed, and will remain so. We are only allowed to meet one person from another household outdoors, so no more walks for four people like yesterday. In other words we are back in a National Lockdown almost identical to that of last March. This is to continue until the end of January - hopefully by that time the amount of people who have had the vaccine will have increased so that the numbers in hospital will go down.