Two planets and a spaceship

Last night I spotted two planets and a spaceship!

Venus has been shining brightly in our skies for some months, although will soon disappear from view. You can't miss it. It's the brightest object in our skies low in the west in the early evening and I've previously taken a photo of the planet when it was in conjunction with the star cluster Pleiades.

Venus/Pleiades 4th March 2020

In the last few days though, it's been joined in the sky by Mercury the planet nearest to the sun. It's a rare sight - for a start it never gets about 28º from the western horizon making it difficult to see unless you've got a great field of view, and secondly it's usually not very bright meaning observing it requires binocular or a telescope. Currently though, it's easily observable with the naked eye - but not for long. This photo was taken by someone I follow on Twitter last evening (@susan_snowy) and shows both planets well.

Venus (top left) and Mercury (bottom right)
Copyright @susan_snowy

Over the next few days as Venus sinks lower in the skies there will be a "conjunction" (a visual coming together, even though they're actually about 31 million miles apart).

It's worth getting out and having a look as soon as it gets dark - I was out at 10pm last night to see this whilst preparing for the International Space Station (ISS) to pass overhead.  Mercury is elusive, so to be able to tick this one off your "I've seen list" is well worth doing.

I've posted about the ISS several times previously, but make no apologies for doing so again. This is a real spaceship, around 250 miles up, going at 17,500 mile per hour, orbiting the earth once every 90 minutes. Currently with a crew of three (two Russians and an American). Last night's pass was epic. It appears (as it almost always does from the west/west south west and flew overhead visible as a very bright yellow dot. The pass was six minutes in length and the brightness didn't fade until it it disappears from view over some houses. Sometimes it fades quickly depending on where the sun is (it's the sun reflecting off the station that makes it visible). My photo below, isn't the best ISS shot I've ever taken (got my exposure settings wrong), but who cares!

ISS flying overhead
150 second time-lapse:
Tripod mounted Canon 100D
18-50mm lens
ISO100
f11
remote shutter

Still in space, next week (May 27th to be exact) sees the launch of Space X's Crew Dragon, on top of a Falcon 9 rocket with two American astronauts who will fly to and from the ISS. This is a historic launch and flight as it's the first time American astronauts will have launched from US soils since the shuttle programme ended in 2011, relying on Russian Soyuz craft ever since.

This flight is called "Demo-2", and follows "Demo-1" an unmanned flight to the ISS just over a year ago. The two astronauts, Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken are NASA veterans. They might not have time for Twitter at the moment, but can both be followed at @Astro_Doug and @AstroBehnken respectively. whilst there have been test flights, you've got to admit it takes some balls to be sat on top of a rocket - especially in an historic first. The launch will undoubtedly be available to view on stream, probably via Nasa and Space X.

Until tomorrow....

#isolationlife
#stayhomesavelives

Happy Birthday Dad

My Dad would have been 91 today. He died in December 2016 a week after after collapsing at home. He wasn't a well man by any means, but I don't think anyone expected that he wouldn't recover from that event. We all thought he was too stubborn and bloody minded to go that easily.

Born in 1929 when the world was a very different place, he grew up in Sale, Manchester. His father was variously in the army, a confectioner, and a school caretaker (he might also have been a bookie). The family endured a torrid few years in the 40's. The first of his two older sisters Dorothy, died in 1945 from tuberculosis at the age of just 22. Six months later his mother died aged 52, and on Boxing Day 1947 his other sister Joan also died of tuberculosis at the age of 26.

Aged 8, 1937

After a period working as a railway clerk, Dad joined the Royal Navy and served abroad during the Malay Emergency. It was in the Navy that he met my Mum, who was also in the Navy as a serving WREN.

He was a qualified sailing instructor (Front left)

A post sailing pint and a fag! (Standing, with cigarette)

On leaving the Navy he briefly worked for Littlewoods as a trainee manager before working for Mars, the confectionary company, initially as a salesman with a little van in the south of England (Hampshire and Wiltshire) but latterly as a manager on the chocolate line at Mars' large factory in Slough. We were never short of chocolate or Spangles (remember them?) in our house!  I can also recall the smell of chocolate that pervaded the air any time we drove near to the massive industrial estate where the Mars factory was located!

Dad's Mars van c1960

In late 1969 Dad left Mars for a manager's position at Geest (the banana people), where he was responsible for (amongst other things) making coleslaw. That move necessitated a relocation from Slough to rural Lincolnshire, a place where we lived for 10 years in the village of Donington. The part we lived in was wholly agricultural, and flat. Big sky, sugar beet, sprouts, cabbages as far as the eye can see! It can be a stark place, but I love going back there when we go to visit my elder brother who still lives close to where we lived. As an aside, and perhaps in a spooky foray into the future, I remember once coming with my Dad on a trip to Barry where the Geest ships sometimes docked. Now I live here. Spooky indeed.

A Board meeting. Dad top left. Think this was during his time at Geest
No computers or mobiles in those days!

After being made redundant from Geest in a move I don't think he saw coming, he had a short spell as a manager with the packaging firm Linpac, based near Goole on Humberside. Dad commuted there by car, around a 160 mile round trip, no mean feat in the 70's. I don't think he was ever particularly happy there, and in 1979 after much deliberation and input from all of us as a family, at the age of 50 he took a brave decision to quit and took a substantial pay cut to work as a Field Commissioner for the Scout Association covering Avon and Wales. He'd been heavily involved in scouting as a volunteer until then. So we uprooted again and moved to Chepstow. He worked for the Scout Association until he retired, but was highly respected and kept involved almost up until his death particularly through his massive network of contacts and my sister who also works for the Scouts in a roughly similar type of role.

In his Scout uniform of which he was hugely proud

As well as this work, he was also active in the local community. He was Secretary of the local Athletic Club for several years, played in the local quiz league, and sang in the Chepstow Male Voice Choir. He could be a truculent and antagonistic bloke at times, perhaps the embodiment of the "grumpy old git" (I think that's where I get it from). He was never wrong about anything in his eyes and the word stubborn was made for him. He was still driving until about a year before his death. When his licence was pulled for health reasons, he kicked up an awful fuss - he'd recently been berating other drivers (actually, skip the "recently") for driving too close to the white line as he was getting through wing mirrors at an alarming rate. He absolutely wouldn't have it that it was probably him not the other drivers.....

He loved his beer, cricket, the sea, dogs (of which he had many over the years), France, where he visited several times and had some dear friends, but above all he loved his family.

I miss him , and strangely (or not) I often have dreams where the two of us (and occasionally others) are travelling somewhere. I'm sure a dream psychologist would have a field day with that.

I'm not sure what he'd make of our current situation had he still been with us. I'm guessing that despite being in the vulnerable group on both age and health, he'd have still taken his dog out, and gone shopping himself.

A poor quality photo, but the last one I have of him, with my younger brother, about 3 weeks before he died

I will raise a glass to the "Squire" tonight.

Until tomorrow

#isolationlife
#stayhomesavelives

Lockdown blues

I've got to admit it. Spending two and a half months barley venturing from my door (bar the odd walk up to the local golf course), is not how I envisioned my first year of retirement.

The initial novelty of lockdown has long since passed. As I've mused on this blog before, I'm not even sure that we have lockdown in any real sense of the word now. Coffee shops, DIY shops, golf courses, garden centres are all open - I even sent my son to B&Q today to get a new toilet seat, as I broke an old one whilst decorating (I consider this an essential purchase). Despite texting me to say it was "so busy" along with a photo of a queue, he was gone barely half an hour, so it can't have been that bad. Roads are busier by the day. My wife said that one of her work colleagues suggested that the promenade at Penarth recently is just as busy (if not busier) than "normal" - whatever that means now, with people walking, sitting, drinking coffee and so on.

So whilst I'm trying to remain "on message" by staying at home, seems like the world and his dog have decided that lockdown's done.

I'm fed up. I want to get out and about, if only to hop in the car drive to Penarth and go for a walk somewhere different and buy a coffee from a shop  just to change the day to day picture because I'm getting stir crazy here.

Richard Pryor, left, and Gene Wilder in “Stir Crazy.”

Whilst I understand the Welsh Government's cautious approach, that's only going to be effective if everyone stays compliant with the lockdown message, and it feels to me that is no longer the case.

Until tomorrow....

#isolationlife
#stayhomesavelives

Vaping -a visible reminder about how germs and a virus can spread

The idea for this post came to me today when I was taking my short exercise walk around the local playing field. I passed (at a fair distance) a man and a woman standing by their car, chatting and both were vaping.

Full disclosure here, I'm not having a go at people who vape or smokers. I'm an ex-smoker, although in truth I haven't smoked for about 30 years now, and like many ex-smokers, since giving up I've been completely anti-smoking in any shape or form. I believe that that vaping is "better" than smoking tobacco, although I haven't grafted through any research to establish that as fact. I also know that many people transition to vaping as a way to give up cigarettes (although in truth, the people I know personally that have done this seem to vape far more than they ever smoked). In any case, whether it's better or worse, I do know that inhaling anything into you lungs other than pure air can't be good for you in the long term.

The thing that has always struck me about vaping though, and particularly relevant in these times of virus spread, is just how far a vape cloud goes when exhaled. and it's no fun being stuck in a mist of someone else's exhaled strawberry or caramel sweet, sticky vapour. It was this that prompted this post. Actually being able to see the clouds of vapour being breathed out from these two individuals, with the vapour swirling around them and then being quickly carried off on the breeze, I was starkly reminded of how easy it would be for a an invisible virus to spread very, very quickly. And if we were comparing a virus to a vape cloud, then I'd argue a two metre distance certainly ain't enough.

Vape cloud (Flickr)

Until tomorrow....

#isolationlife
#stayhomesavelives

A busy day in the garden

Lockdown, such as it is, has some advantages. With nowhere much to go, and time on my hands (which admittedly I had anyway) I've taken the time to learn some new photography post-processing skills. Not formally, but by watching some videos, and just getting in there and having a go.

Post processing is the art of taking a photograph straight out of the camera (or OOC) lauding it into a software programme and tweaking it in any number of ways to improve the final shot.

For many years I thought this was cheating - surely a good photographer should be good enough to get the shot right first time, but it's not that straightforward. They say a camera net lies, but that's not strictly true, and sometimes what comes out isn't quite what you expected. Or it is, but you want to enhance it.

The recognised top of the shop program for doing this is Adobe's Photoshop, but it's eye waveringly expensive - especially for an amateur like me - there are many packages to choose from, but the absolute cheapest starts from around £9 a month and goes north fairly quickly from there.

I use its little brother, Adobe Photoshop Elements, and also have Skylum's Luminar 4, although there are still alternative cheaper programs, and free options available.

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you'll have seen some of my tweaking previously. I rarely shoot in black and white, but have posted photos that were originally taken in colour and then tweaked into black and white. The moon photo I posted a couple of weeks back was enhanced to give more contrast.

I've also leant how to add watermarks to my photos - something neither of my current programs due by default, and useful if I have a particulary nice shot I don't want anyone to nick and claim credit for.

Today, I decided to have a little bit of fun with a new (for me) technique and try and post an image similar to one shown on the BBC website today, and the results as a first attempt are satisfying.

I'm calling it "A busy day in the garden!"

A busy day in the garden

Until tomorrow....

#isolationlife
#stayhomesavelives

Woody Woodpecker

Bit late and a bit rushed to post today. Shortly I'm off to partake in the weekly family "virtual pub Quiz" I've mentioned before. Although broadcast on YouTube on a Thursday, it's our Saturday evening 8pm lockdown activity. Lately I've been coming off much worse, due to my sketchy ability to answer questions on TV and music. 3rd out of 4 the last three weeks which doesn't do much for my competitive nature. Mrs H and son taking the honours. Hopefully I'll do better this week.

Today has mostly been pottering in the garden and an almost 5 mile exercise walk around the golf course area. We saw both types of woodpecker - a Lesser Spotted (the black and white one with a red head) flew right across our path at one point - too quick to photograph. We say the green woodpecker as we left the golf course into the Cardiff & Vale crematorium grounds. He was about 40 yards away heaving a right feast on an ants nest by the side of the road. I didn't have my longest zoom, on, so the photos below are the best I could get at the extreme end before he got too nervous of me and flew away, with the second one cropped right in as much as I can before losing too much picture quality.

At max zoom

Cropped in

And also, here is a rather nice shot (I think so anyway) of a bluebell that I took in the woods close by.

Until tomorrow....

#isolationlife
#stayhomesavelives

The things you do in lockdown you'd never do otherwise

I was sitting in the conservatory yesterday (as you do when you're stuck at home - if you've got a conservatory of course), and noticed that the roller blinds were looking a bit, shall we say, in need of a clean. Actually they were manky.

Couple of points here for context. Our conservatory (built before we moved in), was built by cowboys. For one thing it had a laminate floor, laid straight over some joists above a 5"-6" void. That meant walking on it was like walking on a trampoline. We fixed that. The conservatory frame itself (uPVC) looks like a 5 year old had built it out of spare bits from their lego box. It's OK, but it's got gaps where there shouldn't be, and the overall handiwork was, erm crude. Still we stuck with it (it's a lot cheaper than pulling it down and starting again, although in hindsight...). The roller blinds themselves, and they're pretty bog standard blinds at that, have faded over the years. Anyway, this all means that it's not the poshest conservatory in the world, but it does a job. But after a damp and dingy winter the blinds were beginning to look a little grim.

So I took them down, unrolled them, checked them in the bath one at a time with a washing machine tablet and a large dose of Vanish. A good soak and rinse later, and a dry on the line they look remarkable better. Not brilliant, as they'e slightly two-tone - they were probably once cream, but having spent most of their life rolled up  the bottom bit tends to be more sunbleached, but at least the grime's gone.

Maybe (probably) I should have done this every year since we've lived here, but the reality is, at least in this house, a lot of these sort of jobs just don't get done, until that moment when you have a little more time to reflect and think..."Oh dear, that needs looking at...."

Still, I suppose that's what lockdown and retirement's for......

Until tomorrow....

#isolationlife
#stayhomesavelives

The power of Twitter

A bit late today. Got caught up in other stuff and then have just been out to clap for the NHS!

The social media channel Twitter, can be a bit of a nightmare. People can post anything they like (pretty much), which is both good - because there's pretty much nothing off limits and you see some great stuff on there, and bad, because people often use it as a vent for their frustrations, anger, strong views, or fake news. It's often used as a ranting platform (or as much as you can rant in the 280 character limit), and there are some truly despicable people out there.

However, as always there are two sides to the coin. I've been a user for over 12 years, from when it was still in its infancy. Over that time I've posted almost 30,000 times and have massed a meagre 400 followers, although I do count a couple of well know celebrities amongst that number (God knows why). I've tweeted (and had a response from) an astronaut on the International Space Station, and follow most of the US, Canadian and European astronauts that have been up there for the last 8 years or so. As a breaking news platform it just about beats everything - you often read about stuff on Twitter before it hits any of the major news outlets, although as with everything else you need to be cautious), it's as subject to hoaxes as any platform.

I often use the platform as my first port of call on customer service queries. Most companies have a Twitter presence, and the public nature of the platform means every who follows me can see if I complain about company X, so businesses tend to be inclined to deal with problems perhaps a little quicker than if you revert to email for instance. It doesn't always work though, and some companies are either frustratingly silent or tend to post bland, unhelpful responses - Train companies are particularly good at this - complain that your journey is going badly and the train is crowded  and they'll come out with a "We're really sorry about that".

During the current pandemic it's been a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand you've got the pro-Government tweeters, vs everyone who thinks they've done a terrible job, vs the news channels who is seems are biased both towards and against the Government (you can't win in politics). And the there are ordinary, sensible people asking good questions, giving sound advice - one voice of reason I've started following during this time is oncologist Karol Sikora (@ProfKarolSikora) who has remained calm and objective whilst those elsewhere seem to be either spouting rubbish or defending poor decision making.

Anyway, today I used the platform to answer a question. A friend had asked me about a photo of a crayfish I took some while back, asking if it was a native or one of the introduced, invasive and destructive (to native species) Signal crayfish. I didn't have a clue and the two species look virtually identical, so it's hard even with a photo, but I knew Twitter would come up trumps.

I posted the photo (attached here), and asked Twitter to do it's work.

Probably a Signal crayfish

I cheated a bit by tagging Will Millard, (@MillardWill) someone I've shared a couple of tweets with in the past who's an angler and BBC presenter (and who incidentally lives in Cardiff). He told me what he thought, tagged someone else and within 5 minutes I had my answer. It's a Signal.

Since then a few more Twitterati have responded to my tweet confirming the initial suspicions.

Used this way, it's a great tool. I love it (as you've probably guessed), and probably spend far too much time flicking through my timeline.

Until tomorrow....

#isolationlife
#stayhomesavelives

Sun, sea and sand. It'll just have to wait

Having already lost an Asia cruise and a long midweek break to Derbyshire to the coronavirus pandemic in the last three months, our next holiday was supposed to be in six weeks to Aghios Georgios North, a fabulous, quiet part of Corfu that we've been to several times before. We stay in a small, incredibly well run family hotel, and we love it to bits (as does the multitude of annual returners).

However, we've sadly resigned ourselves to the fact that it's not going to happen this year and so have bitten the bullet and re-arranged our trip for the same time next year. That means, as of the time of writing instead of 37 days, we have 400 days to wait until we see our Greek family again. This is what we'll be missing...

A cold Mythos on the hotel patio overlooking the beach

The Costas Golden Beach Hotel (shh...dont' tell anyone about it)

The "guard" dogs. L-R Paris, Rocky and Hector

Ah.....Greece

Aghios Georgios North. The hotel's smack in the middle of the bay

As I've mentioned before, as I'm now retired, and my wife is semi-retired, we are fortunate enough to be able to be more flexible in our travel and holiday plans, so whilst we're now zero for three in 2020, we still have three more trips in the calendar. A week in another favourite place, Pembrokeshire is slated for August, and we remain hopeful that that one might happen. Then at the end of September, we're due to go on a cruise with our best friends, departing Venice taking in Dubrovnik in Croatia, Kotor in Montenegro, Katakolon and Santorini in Greece before returning to Venice.  We're pretty convinced that's not going to happen, although it's still four and half months away. Finally, we normally go away in late October/early November for a week with a bunch of my wife's side of the family - usually to Derbyshire, but last year and for this this, to the North Devon coast. That will hopefully still go ahead as it's a long way off yet, and it's always a blast.

In the meantime we stay in lockdown. It's tough when you see England beginning to open up. Whilst I still think Wales (and Scotland and Northern Ireland) is taking the right approach, I'm genuinely getting fed up and bored of being in the house excepting for the occasional short walk for daily exercise. I'd love to just be able to go and wander round the shops, or as my English friends can no do, jump in a car and go wherever I like to exercise. Today in lieu of not being able to get on a golf course whilst watching people in England being able to do exactly that, I've been practicing my putting on the landing. Suffice it to say, eight weeks of lockdown hasn't improved my game.

One quick addendum to yesterday's post about insurance. we currently pay more to insure the cat than we do to insure the house and contents. Go figure.....

Until tomorrow....

#isolationlife
#stayhomesavelives

The great insurance rip-off

I'm sure I've moaned about this somewhere, sometime previously, but insurance renewal of any description is an absolute minefield, and unless you're a savvy customer, a complete rip off.

Whether it's car, house, travel or any other form of insurance, having shopped around for the best price, when it comes time to renew your policy, existing customers are invariably whacked with increases (sometimes significant in their premium).

Insurance renewal - a minefield

My wife has received her car insurance renewal documents this week. Let's put some context in place. She's over 50 (hope I get away with that one), drives an unmodified, 2017 1.0 litre  Ford Fiesta, drives around 5k miles a year and has maximum (protected) no claims bonus, and thankfully no accidents in at least the last 5 years. An experienced and safe driver of many, many years. There's one other named driver on the policy (me), now north of 60 and driving since 1977 also with no claims.  All in all, you'd expect pretty low risk.

Her renewal quote is just over £400 - and that's with two additional discounts applied, the first because of her membership with a particular organisation and the second because I hold another LV insurance policy. It's a £30 hike on last year's premium (which in hindsight was also pretty steep).

Her current insurer (and let's name and shame here) Liverpool Victoria (LV) also doesn't include a courtesy car or breakdown cover.  Generally, we've found LV to be pretty good - we've had a number of car and house policies with them over the years, but this seems an outrageous cost given the car, personal circumstances and usage.

So off to one of the comparison sites I went. Trying as much as possible to give details for a like for like policy (not always easy), plus adding the option for a courtesy car if ever needed, the quotes rolled back in.

The cheapest quote came in at £147. That's £254 (63%) cheaper than she's been quoted by LV. Granted it was via a company I'm not familiar with. Some of the less familiar brands in comparison site results are often underwritten by one of the big boys - this one was owned by a broker an underwritten by Ageas who are pretty well known. The first well known name in the list (Churchill) comes in second at £165. There are a further sixty-six (66) quotes below her quoted renewal price with LV.

Now I fully accept there are many people out there who are loyal to particular brands, and that comparison sites don't always tell the whole story. I've had to claim with LV on two occasions in the past and found the process and their customer service exemplary, but whether it's worth a 63% premium is questionable.

Companies will also offer significant discounts to new customers rather than existing, loyal customers. Lure then in, and then hope that many will just stick with you. Insurance companies, and other companies - utility companies are the same,  rely on compliant, loyal customers who just renewal without questioning.

I'm betting, and I'd lay my house on this, if she rings LV to ask if they can reduce her premium there will be some wiggle room. Perhaps not much, but there will be some. It's also possible (though perhaps I won't put my house on this), that if she provides a like for like quote, it's possible that they might match it - I had some success with that on a house insurance quote (with another company) once. But even if they can't match it, she has the option to walk away. She won't lose anything - she can still get the same level of insurance, but she will gain - up to a £254 saving.

I'm also certain, that all things being equal, if she chooses to change, next years policy quote will also demand a new comparison search, but frankly, it's worth doing.

And the moral of this story is, the renewing any insurance policy (or utility), don't accept the first price you're given. Take the few minutes (and most of us have got some minutes at the moment) to run a quote through a comparison site. You just might be pleasantly surprised. If you don't, it's money down the drain.

Automatic insurance renewal - money down the drain

Just as an aside, when using one of the big comparison sites, remember that some companies aren't always listed, so you might want to go to heir site direct for a quote. As an example, Direct Line and Aviva won't appear on the moneysupermarket.com comparison site.

Until tomorrow....

#isolationlife
#stayhomesavelives

It's a Meme-athon not a sprint

Well, it was inevitable wasn't it?

The Government* announces a snappy new message (but only for England), and the internet has gone wild turning it into memes. Was there any way this wasn't going to happen?

* Given that Boris's plan isn't going to be presented to Parliament until the morning after he gave an update to the nation (but really only England) on Sunday evening, one has to wonder whether this is a Government message at all, but rather something dreamt up by some spin doctors who clearly have no idea how to create a clear and wholly unambiguous message in a moment of global need and haven't got anything better to do.

Anyway, here's the original. If you know what it means, answers on a postcard please.

And here's how others see it. I've only posted a selection of some I've seen and that don't contain any swear words, this being a family blog and all that. There are many, many other's, some very funny, some a little more shall we say, Anglo-Saxon in their approach.

This one (below) is my personal favourite as it's an animated image that you tap to stop where it displays a random selection of words. Genius! The link to the original tweet is here https://twitter.com/OFalafel/status/1259446167831752710

This next couple focus on the ambiguity of what "staying alert" might mean.

This one implies the Government has run out of ideas (if it had any in the first place).

And if we weren't sure what "stay alert" means, then how is it possible to know what' control the virus" means?

And then of course there's the different messaging in the different countries (well actually it's only different in England).

Another one on being alert.

And again....

Sick of messages for the sake of messages?......

I can match your ambiguity and raise you

Not listening (blocks ears)...

Anyone?

And perhaps my second favourite which many people believe neatly summed up what BJ said last night...

But of course folks, remember, only in England.

Until tomorrow....

#isolationlife
#stayhomesavelives

Change for change sake

Stay at home. Protect the NHS. Save lives.

It's a simple message, and pretty clear. You'd have to be an idiot not to understand "stay at home", even though it seems that more and more people seem to be flouting this pretty straightforward advice. And there's a lovely logo to go along with it just in case your'e in any doubt.

Very Ronseal

• Clear and unambiguous
• Stay home = what it says
• Red = danger

So, what to do eh? Well, let's change the message.

• Stay alert = Eh? What does that mean?
• Control the virus = Eh? What does this mean?
• Green = In my mind at least green is good. All systems go! But they're not.

Not quite Ronseal

Seriously, you have to ask who dreams this crap up. I'm sure the essence of this change is buried in the idea that the Government has to do something to demonstrate that things are getting better. But to confuse the message - especially when the message from both Scotland and Wales remains "Stay at home", truly increases the risk for confusion and mixed messages. It really feels like change for change sake.

• Do I stay at home and be alert?
• Do I only need to be alert if I go out?
• I can go out if I need to do something essential or exercise notwithstanding that...
• I have to stay local (Wales only)....even though I have to stay at home (Eh?). Unless of course I fancy nipping out to go to a garden centre, or B&Q, or KFC.
• What happens if I'm out and someone sees me being not alert? "Oi sonny. You're not being alert enough".

Surely they could have kept the stay at home message but adapted the exceptions?

Boris will undoubtedly be full of his usual bluster when he address the nation later, but it's clear that really he's only setting the scene out for what will be the case for England.

I'm afraid that these mixed and confusing messages are only going to increase the unease about what people should be doing. 

For once, I just wish the politicians would put their petty differences aside and work for the good of the nation. If the vast majority of the people I see posting on social media are anything to go by, there's a fairly obvious split. Those who are willing to put with the lockdown for as long as it takes, and those that are fed up with it all and just want to "get on" with their lives as normal. Giving a message that's not crystal clear about what we should be doing (either way) is only going to make matters worse, and increase the numbers of people who are interpreting "stay alert" as it's ok to get on with your life but just be alert. Whatever that means.

I might have calmed down by tomorrow.

Until then....
#isolationlife
#stayhomesavelives

Socially distanced tea and cake

Today we changed up our walk routine.

Instead of our usual trot (the word "trot" is used here for effect only - no actual trotting involved) we decided to walk over to the next village and see our best friends. We warned them in advance we were coming and arranged for a socially distanced cup of the once we arrived.

Departing the estate where we live, we cross the normally busy A4231 Barry Docks Link Road down into Gilbert Lane. This single track road leads immediately into the surrounding countryside, but I think I can only ever recall walking down it once in the 15 years we've lived here.  There's a barrier across the road shortly after passing a couple of houses to prevent it being used as a rat run as it really only leads to one farm, but could be used as a shortcut between Barry and Dinas Powys.

The early approach into Gilbert Lane

Almost straight away you find yourself in rolling countryside, which ordinarily you don';t see from any of the main roads, and this provides a fascinating new perspective on the area that's on your doorstep. The photo below is looking across the fields towards Sully and the Seven estuary.

Looking south towards Sully

Even though we left at about 9.45am, it was already warn, and as the road descended into the trees the shade was welcome, although the bugs and flies attracted by horse droppings was less so. It was surprising how steep the decline was, the local hilliness (is that a word?) being another thing that you wouldn't normally appreciate in the car.

Descending in the shade

As the road began to flatten out we entered the sun again. Overhead we watched a buzzard being harangued by a couple of crows, and just before the track case to junction with Argae Lane and Westra, a rabbit hopped out of the hedgerow clearly not expecting anybody or anything else to be there. He quickly high-tailed it back into the hedge. Walking on down the Westa, past the boarding kennels we spied several variants of sheep in the adjacent fields.

Sheep off Westra

Footpath across the fields towards StAndrews Major - one for another day

More sheep, but different colour!

Further along the road we started to encounter the dwellings at Westra, just outside Dinas Powys. The houses along here are mostly big, and no doubt if they were on the market now, very expensive. There are some absolute crackers here, in a lovely location - handy for the village, but in effect, in the country.

The hill up the Westra towards Dinas Powys Common

Passing the houses, we came to a stone stile that marks the entrance to Dinas Powys Common. A large expanse of common ground, it's inhabited by dog walkers, walkers, horse-riders, rugby and of course cricket. It's the spiritual home of my cricket club Dinas Powys CC, the club having played on the common for over 130 years. These days (and probably at any time) it's not in good enough nick to house 1st or 2nd XI cricket which gets played at Parc Bryn y Don at the bottom of Dinas Powys, but it's still host to our 3rd XI and Sundays, midweek and junior games.

The stone stile onto Dinas Powys Common

Walking across the common we descended down to our friends house on the far edge. It felt really odd not only seeing them in person, but not being able to hug and shake hands. We dutifully observed social distancing for an hour or so on their patio whilst having a cuppa and a slice (or two) of cake (which were put down so we could go and pick it up rather then it being handed to us!).

It was a lovely way to spend a morning catching up, and after we left we retraced our steps. There were a couple of alternate routes we could have taken at times, but we'll leave that for another day. All in all, it was a perfectly splendid morning, and ideal for making you feel good in these uncertain times.

Looking back across the common. Cricket pitch in the foreground, Dinas Powys Tennis Club centre right.

Our route 

Until tomorrow....

#isolationlife
#stayhomesavelives

VE Day and lockdown extension

Today marks 75 years since the end of the Second World War in Europe - VE Day. Inevitably there are fewer and fewer people who can  remember this in person and understand the enormity of what cessation of hostilities meant after six years of war. Remarkably and rather scarily, I entered the world stage only 14 years later. Thankfully I have never had to face such terrible times, although the Falklands and first and second Gulf wars were sobering enough, even viewed from a distance.

Although many have tried, it's impossible to compare what we're going through now to the war. Of course there are similarities. People are dying, albeit from a virus rather than bombs and bullets. But we're not being bombed. We haven't got to endure food rationing. We haven't got to send our kids in cities to the country for safety.  And we've only been in lockdown (however relative that is for some) for seven weeks.

Society has changed massively over those 75 years. Not least, communication is instant and in your face There's no waiting for the news on the radio, or going to the cinema to watch the Pathé news. There's no lag time, and that brings a culture of immediacy. Everyone wants things to happen straight away or to "know now". And social media allows us to respond either directly or to the wider world about our thoughts on any particular subject. And generally I think people's tolerance has reduced. Whilst we see glimpses of the "British bulldog spirit" or the "Blitz spirit" of everyone pulling together, it's hard when we live in a devolved democracy, and people's sense of what we should be doing is so visible and arguably being driven by the mass media.  What initially seemed like a novel idea to have to stay at home (for most) is now wearing incredibly thin for many. There are clearly more cars on the road than a few weeks ago. The mere mention of a KFC opening up sends hoards into their cars creating massive queues for a bit of fried chicken and some fries. Mention a DIY store opening, and suddenly everyone who'd been putting off their decorating for years needs to go and buy paint. Some people don't need an excuse. They just get in their cars and drive off somewhere. According to media reports, some are just going for a drive because of lockdown fatigue whilst some seem to be driving to all parts of the country to go to the coast, to pick up a car, to fetch a boat, climb a mountain....the list goes on.

Desperate for fried chicken: KFC queue in Swansea: Photo: Wales Online 

With this weekend seemingly bringing the first sense of what coming out of lockdown means, there are a number of things to understand.

Firstly, the devolved nature of our government means people in different regions will likely be getting  different messages despite protestations that we are on a four country approach. We already know for instance that in Wales schools will not be reopening on 1st June. Scotland has announced that the lockdown will be extended and has advised people to wear masks in shops and on public transport. There is no such guidance from Westminster, or as yet, Senedd Cymru. Wales First Minister announced earlier that lockdown has been extended for a further three weeks with some minor amendments. You can go out to exercise more than once a day providing you stay local (but no definition of what local is). Some gardens centres and recycling centres (tips) may open - cue more massive queues of cars. Recycling centres I can understand, but garden centres hardly seem essential yet - although I accept they may be good for mental health of some perhaps (but so are many things) - and don't get me wrong, I love a garden centre, but can I justify going to my local one just for a browse or to buy some compost? I don't know but I suspect some will see this a just an argument for getting out of the house.

Until tomorrow....

#isolationlife
#stayhomesavelives