April 23rd: St George and booze

As a born and bred Englishman* today should sit proudly as a day to recognise the patron saint of England, St George.  Which is odd, really given he wasn't English, as far as we know never came to England and didn't slay a dragon. I'm not going to go into any more detail about him, as there's plenty of information out there, so if you're really interested a quick Google should give you what you want. If you can't be bothered, then this Wikipedia page might be of interest, with all the usual caveats about the accuracy of that database.

However, it seems to me that there's nowhere near the same fervour held over dear St George than for the other national saints of the Great Britain and Ireland and the days allotted to them. Indeed, here in Wales, St David's day on 1st March is usually marked in many ways, with kids dressing up in school, St David's themed stuff everywhere and more daffodils than you can shake a stick at. It probably helps that it arrives off the back of the 6 Nations Rugby tournament where country pride has been fanatically displayed, and the red shirts are easily to hand. St Patrick's Day goes far and beyond being celebrated in just that part of the world, and the Scot's too with St Andrew seem to make a real thing of it. I'm not sure why this doesn't happen in England, (perhaps him not being English has something to do with it) or is it just that I don't see it?

St George

* Whilst I was born in England and lived in various places there until I was 20, I've been in living in Wales for over 40 years. I married a Cardiff girl. My kids are both Welsh, born and bred in the area. I feel more Welsh than English, and will be found supporting Wales over England in most things (football included).

The current coronavirus pandemic has affected business massively, and small, local businesses are one of the hardest hit. Some will undoubtedly and sadly go to the wall as a result of the current situation, others are struggling on, or have closed and are waiting for the lockdown to ease in the hope that things will pick up. Others, where they are able, have taken the bull by the horns and changed their business model and seem to be doing ok.

One example of this is the Roath and Penarth "Bottle Shops", independent wine and beer merchants (Twitter @CF64BottleShop and CF24BottleShop). I've been buying beer and the occasional wine from their Penarth shop for a couple of years. Their range of craft beers is amazing, and there's something for everyone, with prices from fairly decent (around £2.50 a can/bottle) to anything up to, and occasionally beyond £20 a can/bottle.  Similarly the wine we've bought from there has always impressed. They certainly aren't and never claim to be the cheapest, but the quality of what they source and stock is highly impressive supported by knowledgeable, friendly staff. I've always found them to be extremely helpful. You can also (though we never have as it's a bit too far away) pop in and drink on site (outside of the current lockdown of course), although it's primarily a shop, not a pub/wine bar. They also run wine tasting events and I'm keen to try one of those when I can.

With the shop closed to customers  during lockdown, like many businesses they've taken a delivery service (email orders only) and seem to be doing very well. My delivery arrived yesterday after I'd sent them my budget and 'brief". They know their stuff, and come highly recommended by me if you're ever in the area. It's good to support your local independent businesses.  Note there's a minimum £50 order at the moment, though delivery is free.

My CF64BottleShop stash

Until tomorrow....

#isolationlife
#stayhomesavelivesA

April 3rd: Birthdays, garage doors and more blogs

First up, a very Happy Birthday to my Mother in Law who turned 94 today. My wife was over there and sorted her cake and me and kids FaceTimed in to wish her a happy birthday.

In the latest day of #isolationlife, in a temporary moment of freedom I drove to the surgery for my latest routine blood test for the medication I'm on. Quizzed and temperature taken at the door, I passed with flying colours before a very short wait and an even shorted visit to the phlebotomist, who expertly relieved me of a few millilitres of the red stuff. She was in good spirits, though said she was very busy moving between the community and the local hospital, and it also brought home how easily we can come into contact with people who are in contact with others who maybe closer to the "coal face", so the over-riding mantra remains - #stayathomesavelives unless you absolutely have to be out. I also thanked her for all she and her colleagues are doing when I left (as I always do, but made a particular point of today). It's a small thing, but hopefully helps people understand how much they are appreciated.

My wife was out doing shopping whilst I was at the surgery and texted me to ask if I could stop to get some eggs as there were none in the big Tesco near us! So on the way back from the surgery I stopped at a local stores where fortunately they had a decent supply. I was only out about 20 minutes in total, but the sense of freedom and release was quite something.

In a more bizarre turn of events, I found myself washing the interior of the garage door. Seriously. I only went in the garage to put something away. And then it happens. You look at the inside of the door and think "God that's filthy, I really should clean it sometime" (having wilfully ignored it for the last 15 years). And then you realise that there's just no time like the present. So a bucket of soapy water, a sponge and there I was scrubbing down the door. I just hope no-one came up the drive whilst I was doing it - they'd probably have thought Ithere was a crazy zombie in there knocking on the door to get out!

As the sun continues to shine I keep putting off some decorating (actually a lot) that needs doing, and keep dabbling in the garden. I've pricked out my fledgling tomato plants today and sown some runner bean and French beans. The conservatory looks more like a greenhouse every day.

The things you do when isolated - cleaning the inside of the garage door 

I thought it also worth sharing the following picture that I came across on Facebook which genuinely made me laugh out loud (my wife gave me a very funny look at the time.

Following on from yesterday's post when I directed people to the Better Out than In blog, I've come across another blog worth a read, not least because it's a local blog - Barry's Boldest Blogger. Often humorous, relevant and passionate it's well worth a browse, especially her latest musings on lockdown.

Later this evening we're going to have a 'virtual drink" with our friends, who we'll be FaceTiming for a chat and a catch up over a beer and glass of wine or G&T. My son is also doing a "virtual pub" catch up with his workmates when they clock off this evening, including prizes for the best dressed, most interesting drink and more. Good to see people making the most of a bad situation.

Until tomorrow, I'll leave you with a photo of me and the cat taking a break from washing the garage door.

21st March 2020

So today I accompanied my wife for our weekly shop. Last Saturday the local "big" Tesco's was a bit like Christmas. Rammed, no (or very little toilet roll, pasta or rice. After a week of sensible people telling the idiots not to stockpile (which might just actually make it worse) and I wasn't expecting a fun hour or so out.
Actually it was OK. It was less busy than last week (we were there at about 8.30. There was a general air of calmness about the place. Sure, there wasn't any loo roll (or just a couple of packs, but we didn't need any anyway). everything else looked reasonably stocked apart from dried pasta and rice - still non existent, and the other thing now looking remarkably scarce is pet food (cat, please take note). However, again we are pretty well stocked for that anyway and usually have a couple of weeks worth in. Anyway, she can always go and hunt for fresh meat 😺.  Also, the wine shelves whilst far fro empty, certainly had quite a lot of spaces. Talking of which...

The other obvious thing was that restrictions on (some) items were being reinforced. The bloke in front of us at the checkout had several bottles of wine (in fact that's pretty much all he had), and was told in no uncertain terms that he could only have three. There were trolleys at the end of checkouts where staff had obviously removed items from customers who had 'overlooked' the limits, and these were to be truthful mostly full of alcohol. I suppose the thinking is, with pubs and restaurants shut, if you have to stay in isolation you might as well make it as enjoyable as possible!

Our daughter has been given a laptop and headset to set up in advance of the decision to work from home, although she's not yet sure when that will be.

Sone has been over to see his best mate and lend him a guitar. He reckons if he has to self-isolate he may as well learn a new skill.

Was a day off from visiting mum-in-law today as my wife's brother was on the rota for that, but we will be going over tomorrow, which also happens to be Mother's Day.

It was a nice day today so I spent some of it doing some early gardening - it's the first decent dry day we've had for a while, and then we went for a walk in the local woods. Quite a few people about making the most of the day and the chance to get out and about.

I've also updated a camping website I do for a friend with their latest update on CV19.

In the last 24 hours Ive also been in touch with my elder brother and sister, neither of whom I see very often. They and their families are all ok.

With one eye on the news, what we're hearing from Italy is horrific. Why Italy seems to be hit so bad, or whether we're just not hearing reports from elsewhere I don't know. One thing seems certain. We haven't seen the half of it here yet. But, if we follow the guidance/advice, ignore the crap on social media and scare stories, we'll all be a lot better off.

The cat's spent most of the day asleep in the conservatory.

Laters....