April 11th: Compost, lost footballs and birthdays

My wife did our shopping this morning. And.... she also managed to grab me three bags of multi-purpose compost from Tescos whilst she was doing her shop. Compost is clearly not 'essential' in itself, but as she was doing the weekly shop and there was a pile waiting to be bought....... it's the one thing I was short of in my garden - at least now I'll be able to pot on my seedling tomatoes, cucumbers, courgettes, beans etc and be salad self sufficient later in the year!

I still feeling incredibly guilty that she's doing all, or most of the shopping as well as doing her couple of shifts at the hospital and looking after her mum 2-3 days a week when she's not working. There are good reasons for me not contributing as much as I'd want to here, but it still feels wrong. She's going to need an enormous bunch of flowers.....💕.

On our (almost) daily exercise walk today stopped to admire some cherry blossom. It's staggeringly easy to take for granted, or just not see some of the beauty that's right in front of our eyes. Only a few weeks ago it was raining, incessantly, cold and dark and now we see sights like this. Nature is truly a wondrous thing.

Blossom on a tree near our house

Also out on our walk I spotted a misplaced football. In fact, if you open your eyes when you're out and about, you will probably see loads of lost footballs. A few years ago I was introduced by fellow blogger, friend and former cricket team-mate Andrew Pearce to a Twitter feed (now also available on Instagram), called @Lostfootballs (lostfootballs on Insta). Their bio says;

"The saddest sight in the world - lost or discarded footballs. Honour them, send in photos. No rugby balls allowed".

Now whenever I'm out and about and see a "lost" football, I make an effort to post it to their Twitter feed.

A lot football spotted on today's exercise walk

And talking of Twitter. Today apparently marks twelve years since I joined this at the time, rather fledgling social media channel. Specifically it was Friday April 11th 2008 at 10.13 and 47 seconds (no, seriously). I've been a fairly avid user ever since, and at the time of writing this afternoon, I'm posted 29,521 times. That's almost 2.5k times a year or just under 7 times a day on average. I suspect much of what I tweet has been either

1. Football (and mostly Cardiff City) related
2. Replies to someone else (frequently about Cardiff City)  - seeing a trend here?
3. Photos of holiday places, or other things that have taken my eye
4. A load of rubbish
5. A combination of any of the above

I'm a Twitter Twelve!

If you hadn't already guessed I like Twitter. I like it's concise nature, although the move to a 280 character limit from 140 felt like a cataclysmic shift at the time (interestingly, despite this shift to 240 characters it appears from some quick back of the fag packet research that many tweets remain in the 30-40 character range. I haven't got the inclination to source this beyond a few quick Google searches). However, the channel also has faults. People are inclined to believe what they read without fact checking. People use it to troll/abuse/blame very quickly. There are the usual percentage of absolute idiots that use it - although you can level that at any communication channel. I also find that it can be good for customer service issues. Being a very public channel, (some) companies have realised that if they don't act quickly on complaints they'll get a bad rap pretty instantly, and have subsequently invested time and money in their Twitter customer service (CS). In some cases is rarely more than a "we're really sorry about this" (looking you train companies), but others provide excellent CS via this channel. It tends to be my first port of call these days. Anyway, I didn't mean to ramble on about Twitter that much. Sorry.

I'm right out of cat news.

Until tomorrow....

#isolationlife
#stayhomesavelives

April 10th: Dreaming of Mythos

Don't let the nice weather deceive you. The latest death statistics for the UK are horrible- a further 900+ deaths across the UK taking the total of (hospital) deaths from coronavirus to almost 9,000.

Apparently the Government have said we're allowed to go into our gardens. Erm....thank goodness for that. I have been in my garden every day since the lockdown began despite the fear I might get thrown into jail for doing so.  Seriously though, we've been in a relative state of lockdown for 3 weeks, so this advice is probably a bit late, although probably meant to reinforce that this is ok and to be done instead of heading to the beach or the hills or in fact anywhere that's not a short walk from your house.  I have to say, I'm still conflicted between the advice to stay at home, which I am doing bar the odd very short walk for exercise - I haven't gone more than 15 minutes from my from door in three weeks - vs this that argue you can be out and about providing you're distancing. Seems to me a lot of people are taking a lot more exercise (walking, jogging,) than they ever did before (and probably won't do when this is all over) and bending the guidance to suit them. The guidance is you can go out for essential shopping, medications, and one episode of daily exercise - a 30 mile bike ride, or 10 mile run or walk run isn't I think what the Government had in mind. Please stay at home.

My garden is one of my happy places. I spend a lot of time just pottering about (it's an age thing). I always marvel at how the place comes back to life after winter, although I'm staggered that some of my hanging baskets from last year made it through the winter and have started flowering again now. This lobelia for example, was put in this hanging basket a year ago. It's would normally die off in late summer, but it's hung on through autumn and winter and is going again...remarkable.

It's been a roasting day today. Seem churlish to complain after such an abysmal wet winter and early 2020, but if it's going to be this hot, frankly I'd rather be on a sunbed in Greece with a cold Mythos in my hand. We're booked to go to one of our favourite places in June - a small village in the north west of Corfu and a small family run hotel - this would have been our fifth visit, but although I hold out the slenderest hope, this June is looking a goner....😕

I'd quite like to be here....

And as for the cat. Well it's too hot for her...this was her flaked at 11am!

Until tomorrow....

#isolationlife
#stayhomesavelives

April 9th. Or is it?

Today for the first time I've learnt that someone I know personally is now in hospital with coronavirus. Sobering times.

I'm seeing a lot of comments about lockdown life where people are losing track of what day it is. I do that a lot anyway, and more so since I retired last November. But it's certainly true that being cooped up with the family at home and not getting out, means it's easy to lose track of exactly what day it is. I saw this posted on Facebook yesterday which sums it up perfectly.

Speaking of lockdown, the Welsh Assembly confirmed yesterday the the lockdown restrictions will not be lifted next week (after the initial three weeks it was due to be reviewed). I never suspected that it would be, and whilst we all want to get out there, or at least back to something less abnormal than the situation we have now, staying put seems to me to be the right thing for us to be doing.  Normally the Easter weekend is the start of people taking holidays, going out and about, BBQ's, family gatherings and so on. The weather looks set fair, and in an ideal world we'd all want to be inviting people round and firing up the barbie, but please, let's not get complacent. Stay at home.

There was a decent effort of clapping, banging of saucepans, whooping, car horns and even fireworks round our way for the Thursday 8pm celebration not only of the NHS but all those who are keeping us safe, fed, watered, bins emptied and victualed (bound to have missed someone out). well done all of you and thank you.

I was in the front garden today doing some tidying up when a cat from a couple of doors down (new-ish neighbours) wandered over. I'm not sure our cat would approve, although the two were seen eyeing each other up in a friendly way from a distance the other day.  Seemed friendly enough and a rather magnificent coat to boot.

Until tomorrow....

#isolationlife
#stayhomesavelives

April 8th: Death, procastination and mice

Back on 30th March I posted about John Prine, a country/folk musician who was battling coronavirus. I was sad to find out today that he had passed away in Nashville (just to be clear, I'm sad about everyone who is impacted by, or worse dies from this dreadful virus).  Here's a link to a YouTube video of a live session of one of his best known songs "Lake Marie". There's a BBC article today also that you can find here.

Sadly, I think we in the UK haven't even started to see the worst of it yet. There are suggestions from many quarters that the lockdown (if that's what it can really be called) are working and that rates of infection are slowing, but as many are quick to point out, we're not testing that many people, so it's hard to trust the data with any great degree of confidence. As I said yesterday, at my wife's hospital, whilst there are Covid-19 patient there and the ITU is busy, they don't expect a real hit for another week or so yet.

It's been another relatively quiet day at the manor. Mrs H has gone to see her Mum who's doing pretty well all things considered. She was pretty much in a lock down situation anyway before all this began, not being able to go anywhere due to her frailty, except that she could at least have visitors, but she's managing OK (as we all are). Both kids still working from home although my daughter's IT  many and frequent IT issues remain largely unresolved, or only resolved for short periods of time before another issue rears its head (and not just her, it seems many in her company are having similar issues), so she's been limited in what she can realistically do. She has a day off today so we'll see how things go tomorrow.

We had a video call catch up last night with my wife's brother and one of her sisters and their other halves. It's good to stay in touch and we were yakking for about an hour.

I keep putting off the decorating I have lined up - I'm arguing that the weather's too nice to be indoors at the moment, so focusing on gardening, and waiting for rain before I start to tackle the painting. Seems to be a good strategy as we haven't had any significant rain for a few weeks now, and none on the immediate horizon. Oh well.....it can wait.

The cat brought her first "present" for a while in last night. Just after I went to bed at about 11am I heard her bang through the cat flap, followed by her "I've got something" miaow (very different from her normal "I'm here and I want something" miaow. I then heard my son who was still up mutter something unintelligible (and probably non-repeatable) and some clattering. When I got downstairs, he was in the process of putting that cat in the downstairs loo (in the room not actually in the loo!) and said there's a mouse under that box, motioning to a small cardboard box on the floor. We're pretty well versed in dealing with these stains, so once he returned he lifted the box and I pounced with an upturned plastic takeaway container, neatly capturing said mouse before sliding the lid under it. It didn't seem physically affected by having been between the jaws of the cat, so it was quickly returned to the garden. Oh, and we let the cat out of the loo. I make that 2-0 to humans vs the cat .

Butter wouldn't melt....

Until tomorrow....

#isolationlife
#stayhomesavelives

7th April: Lazy days and sticky chicken

News last night that PM Boris Johnson had been not only been admitted to hospital but was on intensive care. I'm not his biggest fan, but I wish him and everyone else in similar situations well. This is a terrible virus.

My wife says things are still generally quiet where she works, although there are multiple COVID-19 patients in the hospital, including on intensive care, and they're just waiting for the inevitable explosion of cases. She says staff in her own area are feeling very emotional about family and friends and what's to come. Meanwhile, I stat home in the sunshine. It doesn't feel right, but it is right.
We did go out for a short walk when she got home.

Today was the first day that I really felt like I wanted to get out and go somewhere. Maybe it's because I had a relatively lazy day, maybe because it was yet another nice sunny day and with the promise of more to come before the end of the week, but I definitely had itchy feet. You can bet your bottom dollar, that as soon as we get given the all clear to go out a little more it'll start to bucket down with rain! But I'll take that.

I spent most of the morning writing up the notes of last evening;'s cricket meeting which we held over Skype and despite my apprehension beforehand, it all went relatively well. Eleven of us (with ages ranging from teenage to old, and with several luddites amongst our number) held an almost 90 minute meeting over the web - and it all worked. Impressive. As far as cricket goes, we're in the same boat as everyone else - all cricket activity is suspended until further notice. The general feeling is that it's likely that we won't get to play any cricket at all this summer, but we'll wait and see. If anyone local is interested in joining our club, and playing (if we ever do), give me a shout. Our website is at Dinas Powys CC and you can follow us on twitter @DinasPowysCC.

Continuing the culinary theme I set yesterday with my soda bread experiment, since retiring I've pledged to cook at least once a week. Tonight I rustled up sticky chicken (a Mary Berry recipe). There's a few variations out on the web so I won't link as I got this particular version from one of her books. Good result and the family all gave it a thumbs up (lush, as we say in these parts). I even gave it the old rice dome treatment.

Mary Berry's Sticky Chicken- lush

Later this evening it's another video call as my wife and I check in with her brother and sisters for a virtual drink/chat.

No cat news. She's slept about 98% of the day.

See you tomorrow

#stayhomesavelives

6th April: Silly politicians and the Queen

Back on 26th March, I briefly mused about how things might change once we're through of all this. As luck would have it, Sky News, no doubt amongst others were also thinking the same thing and posted an article yesterday Coronavirus: Five things that will never be the same because of COVID-19. I'll leave you to read the article but essentially it talks about:

1. How we act as a society
2. How work might change
3. How use of technology during this crisis will change how we do things in future
4. Our possible future approach to leisure activities
5. How we might consume differently as a result of the pandemic, and the impact on the retail sector

As I (and many others far more important and knowledgeable than me) have repeatedly said, we are in unprecedented times. I don't believe anyone in their right minds would want to be in any senior Government leadership position right now, having to make critical decisions almost by the hour, and with what appears to be often conflicting scientific advice whilst trying to do the right thing and keep everyone happy (an impossible job). Anyone who argues they know better and has no relevant science to back it up (looking at you Twitterati and Facebookers), should frankly shut up. Nevertheless there's no accounting for folk, and sometimes politicians, who are after all, just folk, do silly things. They're only human after all and who amongst us can honestly say we've never done something we regret?  But really, Scotland's Chief Medical Officer Catherine Calderwood has surely won the numpty of the week award for one moment being on TV urging everyone to stay at home, and then shortly afterwards hotfooting it off to her second home. And she didn't do it once, but twice! It beggars belief that she didn't consider this a foot in mouth moment, but there we are. And whilst she's taken what some would argue is the 'honourable" course of resigning as a result, surely we need people with this knowledge and experience supporting our leaders at this moment in time? If everyone resigned as soon as they made a mistake, no one would ever be in a job. We have to learn to accept errors and learn from them, not demand a fall guy (or gal) every time. Yes it was poor judgement. Don't do it again, even fine her £30 which seems to be the going rate for coronavirus rules misdemeanours if it makes you feel better, but losing someone of that experience from your team just feels counter productive.

And talking of experience, so to the Her Majesty The Queen. I'm not really a royalist (although I'm not averse to a little pomp and ceremony now and again). I think I was once, but that's almost certainly because my parents were. Christmas Day by the TV for the Queen's speech was a constant in our family (and still is for my 94 year old mother-in-law). There's no doubt she splits opinion (the Queen that is, not my mother-in-law). Judging by my Twitter timeline, a not insignificant number of the people I follow are broadly anti-monarchy. I think part of the problem is that people look at her vast wealth and perceived "privilege" and have no idea or understanding about what the Queen does and the Royal Family actually do and have sacrificed through the course of their lives in order to serve their country - and argue that the wealth and privilege means they haven't sacrificed anything. Personally, there's no way on earth I'd want to live my life like that. Nevertheless she still is held in enormous respect by many. So her broadcast to the nation last night whilst poo-pooed by some, will have done some good for many others.  I saw a few comments from people last night saying that having watching Netflix's The Crown they have a far greater understanding of the how the Monarchy works, the pressures they have and what they do and have given up - whether or not they are a royalist or republican. That's not to say we don't all have pressures and have made sacrifices by the way, they're just different.

We've also received our official letter from the Prime Minister, which basically says "stay indoors". There's nothing in here that anyone keeping up with the news doesn't know (or shouldn't know) already, but I suppose it's worth a shot in case anyone's been living on Mars for the last month or so. Whether it'll do any good is another question. Those that will comply are probably already doing so, and those that aren't will chuck this in the bin and keep doing what they want to in their own selfish way. Because we're a Welsh household, we also got a copy of both the letter and leaflet in Welsh. Let's not start a debate about the right's and wrong's of that.

The Prime Minister's letter

In #isolation life it's been a day of chores after waving my good lady off to her nursing shift at 7am this morning. I hope she and all her NHS colleagues are staying safe (update, at least for my wife is, yes thankfully, she is - she's not on the front, front line as it were - yet). Two lots of washing done, cleaned the upstairs windows (I can't believe how filthy they were!), checked and watered my plant seedlings, prepped for tonight's virtual cricket committee meeting (I'll tell you how that went tomorrow), and plenty of other bits and bobs including my first ever stab at making bread (soda bread) which went mostly well.

My first ever soda bread effort - not bad, tastes good

Oh, and by the way, my thumb appears to be on the mend, and I might get away with not losing my thumbnail - result!

That's probably enough for today unless there's any breaking cat news.

#stayathomesavelives

April 5th: Rant time

Ok, sorry folks, it's rant time. I've tried to avoid this, but I can't any longer.

I suspect many people will have seen stories over the last few days about people flouting the #stayathome guidance - this piece from Sky News pretty much sums it up, but equally illustrates some of the confusion that exists. Sure, just "going out" to laze about in the sun with your mates sunbathe on the beach, or gather anon any sort of group anywhere etc is not what going out for daily exercise means, but at the same time, going for a walk on your own (or with your family) is. So in the video at the top of that piece, the woman that was stopped by reporters surely - as she argued, just taking exercise on her own and keeping away from others. The man with the child who said  "...it's all nonsense..."  needs to seriously look at himself. I've also read comments on Twitter from people saying they have neighbours who are having friends round for parties. But the problem is many people can't differentiate between what's the right thing to do (pretty much stay at home unless you HAVE to go out) and those who are using the 'guidance' to flout that principle. And as I've seen suggested today, they are going to be the first people to moan if the current lockdown is extended, or tightened. Personally I feel guilty every time I go through my front door, whether that's to go to the shops (twice in the last fortnight for me) or a short walk for exercise sake (about half a dozen times in the last fortnight, and my wife and I were given the eyes by someone on their drive today when we went for a short 20 minutes stroll.

If anyone needed any greater clarity about the gravity of the current situation, then the following graph published in the Financial Times showing that the UK's (and the US and Spanish) death tolls are higher relatively than Italy's should give them a wake up call. But it won't. Partly because the people that don't care don't read the FT (I don't but that's not because I don't care), but because they can't past the "I'm alright Jack" mentality. Maybe we should confront them (within social distancing rules) with all the health and service workers who are doing their utmost to save lives and keep the country running at this terrible time, or speak to someone who's lost a family member due to coronavirus. It IS hard to stay indoors and not go out (apart from a daily walk, if you must - and I do sometimes - on your own close to home). But it's better than being dead, or causing the death of someone else by your own selfishness and stupidity. This will end, and sooner rather than later if we all follow the rules now.
Rant over.

At the moment, the cat's got it better. Can go out when she pleases, gets fed twice a day and sleeps the rest of the time.

Stay safe: #stayhomesavelives

April 4th: 5G, thumbs and golf trolleys

It's been a relatively quiet, if painful day of #isolationlife. In advance of promised warm weather this weekend there have been many messages across multiple channels asking people to observe the stay at home guidance. Unfortunately there are bound to be people who see both the weekend and the sun as an opportunity to get out and about. Folks we've only been at this two weeks. It's far from over yet, and it's not a holiday. STAY AT HOME.

Another story with increasing noise is that the whole coronavirus outbreak is caused by, or exacerbated by the 5G rollout. One comment I've seen from someone responding to the burning down of a 5G mast in Birmingham, is that "people are scared". Firstly I can't believe that people are stupid enough to think that coronavirus is caused by 5G, and secondly burning something down because you're afraid of it is not an excuse to do it, let alone ctreating necessary to to the emergency services that have to deal with such wanton acts of idiocy. I do wonder about some people's mindset but then this could quickly lead into a conversation about flat earth, moon landings and vaccines and the like, so I'm not going any further with this. By the way, I've enabled comments on the blog, so if you're one of my very few readers, please feel free to comment about this or anything else I post, but please keep it civil. Comments that I deem inappropriate or offensive will be removed!

The big clear/declutter/tidy/clean continues at Chez Stats, but not without some painful consequences. I was tidying up the garage (again) today, and was moving some chairs we're storing in there when I inadvertently nudged my golf trolley which was hanging on a hook. It fell off right onto my thumb. Luckily I don't think anyone was within hearing distance as I ran out a string of expletives for about 2 minutes before running it under some cold water and strapping some ice to it for half an hour. Believe me, it was worse than the photo below shows.

Don't drop a golf trolley on your thumb. It bloody hurts!

Finally yesterday, I spent some time looking at the night sky. I've been fascinated by space since for as long as I can remember. A couple of years ago my wife bought me a proper telescope which has been opened up a whole new vista. I've seen Jupiters moons (which you can also see with a pair of binoculars), Saturn's rings, the Andromeda galaxy, the nebula in Orion's sword and aliens. Ok, I made the last one up. I also follow a few people on Twitter who are big space geeks - the main one being @VirtualAstro who keeps people abreast of all that's happening in the night sky including International Space Station (ISS) passes. Last night I was particularly looking at Venus, always bright, but currently exceptionally so, which is in the west in early evening. Last night it was "in conjunction" with the Pleiades Cluster, a small (from earth) but bright cluster of stars also knows as the Seven Sisters or Messier 45 (m45). In conjunction in this context means when to objects in the night sky are in close proximity. Yesterday and for one night only, it looked like Venus was plonked right in Pleiades - a phenomenon that only happens once every 8 years. They'll be close tonight if you look up, but not as close as last night. Despite my long fascination with space and photography, apart from capturing ISS passes I've never really tried astrophotography. Last night I attempted to capture the Venus/Pleiades conjunction after seeing an excellent shot by someone on Twitter. Following their guidance, I managed it - not brilliant but passable, but that's more than likely down to the quality of my camera kit. Here is the result, plus a shot of my kit last night.

My camera and 'scope setup in my garden

Venus & the Pleiades Cluster (Seven Sisters/M45)

I'm toying with the idea of changing the title of this blog - it was originally called "The Lentil" for a very good reason explained in one of my first posts way back in 2004, but I suspect the page is usually found by people looking for lentil recipes. Perhaps now's the time to make it more current and personal? I quite like the sound of "The Grumpy Old Git".... any other ideas?

Until tomorrow.. keep safe: #stayhomesavelives

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.

April 2nd: Blogs and rising tensions

First up today, a shout out to an old friend Andy Pearce. I've known Andy for donkey's years firstly through playing cricket together way back in the late 80's/early 90's and more recently as we (along with our sons) sat together as Cardiff City supporters for many years. Andy also blogs occasionally and is a far better writer, and much more eloquent than I am. His blog is Better Out Than In, and he's also taking the opportunity of #isolationlife to pen his thoughts. Pop over and visit his blog.

It's been another quiet day here in Barry (as you'd expect). My wife's had a day off seeing her mum as it's her brother's turn on the rota today. Tomorrow her mum turns 94, and it's going to be a huge shame that we can't all pop over to see her and celebrate that milestone with her.

Otherwise it's the normal routine. Pottering around the house doing odd jobs, and various personal, cricket and family admin tasks. My wife and I have been out for a walk - it was lovely and warm earlier when we went, but has gone very chilly now, so we had the best of the day for our daily ambulatory allowance. One of the positives about getting out for a walk is that you see far more of your locality than you might otherwise, a point I've mentioned before. Today we went on a route we've never done in 15 years of living here. Only a couple of miles circular walk, but I saw green spaces, views and road names that I'd never have seen before today.

In the wider, but narrowly focused world, I've started to notice a subtle shift in some social media and more broadcast news. It seems to me that after a couple of weeks of general goodwill (not everyone but most), and acceptance that whatever your political leanings, the those in charge have a tough, almost impossible job on their hands, people are starting to snark, moan, blame a bit more. And to make matters worse, some of the social media posts where people are feeding and re-posting/tweeting some of the conspiracy theories around all this is patently absurd. There's also a huge amount of misinformation out there. Maybe we're all getting a bit stir crazy, but folks, we're going to have to live with this for a lot longer yet, so chill out, check facts before jumping to conclusions, and accept that this is such a hugely unprecedented situation, no-one is going to get things right all the time. Andrew Neil, BBC presenter responded to a snarky comment on Twitter today suggesting "the" commentators were

"...all determined to bring about the collapse of this government"

with what I thought was a pretty measured response;

"You are howling into the dark and into the wind. And not adding an iota to our knowledge or understanding. I do not for a second underestimate the huge challenges ministers/officials face in unprecedented circumstances. Mistakes will inevitably be made.

That sums it up for me. It is unprecedented. Mistakes will be made because nobody knows what the answer is. Those in charge are doing the best they can with the science and data available to them. Despite what many seem to think, they're not idiots. Scientists (and politicians) disagree with each other all the time, so they're not all going to (metaphorically) cuddle up and say they all agree on one way forward now.

Anyway, that's enough depressing talk for now. As you know, we should have been in the Peak District this week, so in the absence of any worthwhile photo from today, here's one of Chee Dale from our last visit in November 2018.

Bridge of the river Wye in Chee Dale

Oh, and the cat. Haven't seen her all day.

All Fools Day: The Good Life

April already. How did that happen?

Well here we are, barrelling into the fourth month of 2020 and what a shit year it's been so far. Floods followed by plague, a global lockdown and a worldwide shortage of toilet rolls.

On a more serious note, things out there are getting increasingly challenging, especially for the fabulous frontline staff that are keeping the country and its people in some sort of bizarre dystopian normality. The NHS workers (all of them), carers, refuse collectors, retail workers including those supporting online shopping and delivery, the emergency services, the forces and many, many more. Ordinary folk like me would be in a far darker place were it not for these people.

The BBC today reported a 563 rise in deaths in a day, and a 13 year old with no underlying health conditions has died from coronavirus perhaps forcing people to realise this doesn't just affect the elderly with underlying health problems. If you weren't already aware, this is serious folks #stayathomesavelives.

Adding to an already serious situation, it appears that there are various 'scams' out there on the back of this. I read today about someone who was allegedly stopped by two besuited men whilst coming home from shopping, who was asked where they'd been, and demanded a £50 up front payment in cash for breaching the stay at home guidelines. Clearly most people wouldn't fall for this, but there are some gullible folk out there who would. If anything looks remotely dodgy, it probably is. Take care out there people, and don't believe everything you read on social media.

More cricket admin for me today. Who'd have thought that so much needed to be done when we're not actually playing cricket (now or for the foreseeable future). The role of a club volunteer (in my case secretary) is often hidden from those who actually play the game.
Also gardening again for me today. My front garden has had more attention on the last week than it's had in the last 15 years. The cat was overseeing things.

Chief Gardening Supervisor

My tomatoes and cucumbers have also sprouted as have my lettuce and radish and pak choi. If the slugs don't get 'em at least we won't suffer from salad starvation, although I'll have to find something to eat for the next two or three months until they're ready!

Tomatoes to the left of me, cucumbers to the right....

Stay safe folks, and stay home unless you absolutely have to go out #isolationlife.

March 31st: What a month that was

So we say goodbye to March. Or perhaps more appropriately good riddance. Saying that though, there's almost certainly worse to come, and as set out in yesterdays post, there's an awfully long way to go yet. If you can bear reviewing it, there's an article on the BBC titled "The month everything changed". Wherever we go from here, one things for sure, the world will never be quite the same.

Today's update from Chez Stats. All fit and well here. My wife and I went for a walk which turned out to be about 2.5 miles according to my iPhone. Only locally (obviously), bit it's quite interesting what you see on foot that you never really take notice of because you're in a car or a hurry to get somewhere. It wasn't a particular "lovely" walk as we are on the edge of town here, but we did see some wildlife. An R.A.T. scuttled across some grass in from of us and then poked his head back out and watched us intently for a couple of minutes affording me time to take at the following picture (I usually have my camera with me - always my phone, but frequently one of several others I own). Here's Mr Rat - not everyone's cup of tea, but this was cute a cute shot.

A local resident

Walking along a wooded path, I also spotted, though was unable to photograph due to it's speed and being tucked away in the branches, a coal tit. I haven't seen one of those for donkey's years, so counted the wildlife score on perambulation today as a good result.

My daughter is still having work IT issues - or rather her work IT is having trouble getting her connected (she's not alone in this), so her working from home is very stop start - more stop than start currently. As I mentioned the other day, I think businesses will learn an awful lot about their business continuity procedures as a result of this situation.

Otherwise it's been a day in the garden, and a lot more achieved than I set out to do. Oh - I've also booked seats and updated our Advanced Passenger Information for our holiday to Greece in June, more in hope than expectation #nochance.

Yesterday evening, all those we were supposed to be in the Peak District with this week caught up on the face to face social network app Houseparty, although I was slightly concerned about the numbers of people reporting being hacked in various ways after installing it. It seems this is slightly incorrect, although as with any app, using strong and secure passwords is key. we'll see - we intend to have a catch up once a week for a "virtual drink".

Just catching up on other news - deaths attributable (in part at least) to coronavirus in the UK are at almost 1,800. Still way short of the predicted "best case" 20,000. A new "hospital", the Nightingale has been built (or rather an existing building re-purposed) in just under two weeks, a stupendous achievement. Some supermarkets are supposedly easing restrictions on purchases - note "easing"not removing. And in one of the more amusing stories coming out of coronavirus, goats appear to have taken over Llanduno in North Wales.

The cat's had a mixed day. My wife, daughter and I attempted one of Joe Wicks workouts on YouTube this morning. That sent the cat barmy and she was running around like someone had set fire to her tail whilst we were doing that. Then she came and sat watching me gardening - we both like being outside. The rest of the afternoon, she's crashed on a sunny bed upstairs.

That's all for now folks. Check in for another instalment of #socialdistancing fun tomorrow.

March 30th: Silicone and Windows - but not that kind

So, starting with coronavirus/covid-19 because that's what prompted this renewed effort at blogging. Yesterday the Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England said that it might be six months before life in the UK returns to normal. That's quite scary as that takes us to the end of September, although she did say that doesn't (necessarily) mean we'll be in complete lockdown for 6 months. And I was thinking today, that on the day that Boris (or whomever says it) says, "Ok folks, you can get out and about", where is everyone going to go first? I bet for a good many it'll be straight to the local pub (if it's still open). Those first few days post lockdown are going to be really weird I think, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.
It's evident that some people still don't appreciate the seriousness of this pandemic. However, when it starts affecting those they know and love, perhaps that'll hit home. A couple of those nudged me today. First, a post on Facebook from someone I don't know, but who lives relatively locally said they had someone in there family that had "had" the virus. True or not, when it's just around the corner, it rams it home a bit. Secondly, as people that are famous (or at least well know) are reported to have been diagnosed, it also becomes a bit more scary. Obviously we've had a few politicians who have been diagnosed including the Prime Minister. Today I found out that one of my favourite musicians, American country/folk singer John Prine has not only been diagnosed, but it currently on a ventilator. That's not to say that I didn't appreciate what a terrible situation we are in before today, but this brings it home even more. As an aside, one of John Prime's songs "Ain't Hurtin Nobody" has got one of the best lines of any song ever:

There's roosters layin' chickens
And chickens layin' eggs
Farm machinery eating people's arms and legs

On the basis of that single line about farm machinery I bought his album "Lost Dogs And Mixed Blessings" which is absolutely splendid.

In #isolationlife today I've meandered between redoing the silicon sealant inside the conservatory and upgrading a laptop. You'll recall my sone was clearing out his bedroom the other day. Well he dug out his old laptop. I can't recall just how old it is (it's the one before the one he's got now), but he was going to chuck it. Ever the gadget hoarder, I dusted it down (literally), booted it up and found that it ran (almost) perfectly. I did a completer restore of the operating system (Windows 8) and today I upgraded that to Windows 10. Can't see anything wrong with the device, and it runs really well and quite fast for an machine a few years old. Bonus win as a spare machine (although I'm a Mac man).

Old laptop with W10 installed

As for the silicone..... Well I'm not the best DIY-er by a long way. But how hard can siliconing be? The professionals make it look easy. I look like I've done 10 rounds with a silicone gun and lost badly, and whilst the sealing will do a job, it ain't going to win any prizes for neatness. It's terrible stuff! And I only managed to slice my finger once getting the old stuff off. I've got a few tales about my DIY failures which I'll save for another day.

Hardly seen the cat all day.

March 29th: Curtains and quizzes

Today my wife and I should be in the car on the way to her sister's in Birmingham for a meet up with her other sister and brother, and all other halves, before all 10 of us take an onward journey tomorrow to the Peak District for 3 nights away, walking, eating and drinking beer.

But we're not. The coronavirus pandemic has put paid to that. It's really disappointing - it's been in the diary since the middle of last year, but it is what it is. Derbyshire will still be there when all this is over. So in the meantime, here's a couple of photos from our last visit there in October 2018.

Kept away from all news today - it's refreshing to take a break.

The peaks above Hathersage, Derbyshire

Derbyshire Peak District

In #stayathome mode today I've been cleaning and tidying up. Someone mused on Twitter yesterday (you understand by now that I'm a bit of a Twitter fanatic) that they were currently taking apart a p-trap under a sink having started doing something completely different, but had got distracted. That's me to a tee.I start doing one thing, then see something else and before you know it I'm taking down the curtains and hoovering them. Yes, you heard that right. I was trying to declutter my small study but went into the bedroom for something, glanced at the top of the curtains and realised how dusty they were. Is I took them down with a view to sticking them in the washing machine, but then read the label that said "dry clean only". So I hoovered the dust off. All worked ok if a little unorthodox!

We've done a couple of online (YouTube) family quizzes in the last couple of nights - another social distancing thing apparently.

The one on Saturday was a pub quiz sort of thing. Hard though. We're pretty good at quizzes (not brilliant, but not bad), and I top scored with 26/50! Rubbish effort.
Tonight we did a Monkman and Seagull one (they of University Challenge fame). This time my son top scored with 13/30 and I only got 10/30!!!! It was hard! They (or rather Bobby Seagull particularly) go off at a tangent throughout - he can talk for Britain - and the whole video is around an hour for just 30 questions. It's good fun watching though. Overall verdict on our scoring - must try harder. The cat could probably have done better.

March 28th: Technology, toilet rolls and sparrows

Our best friends FaceTimed me this morning. A 100% rock solid video chat on my iPhone whilst sat in my kitchen. It's a technology we now take for granted, but what if we didn't have it? Only yesterday I was chatting to my daughter about how she's keeping in touch with her boyfriend who lives a few miles way, but she now can't see for the foreseeable future. I mentioned that if this was the "old days" the only way they'd have of staying in touch would be a telephone call, and before telephones were invented by writing letters (as my parents did). And for those of a certain era - mine, what about "pen friends"? Remember those? I had a penfriend in Brunei. Had to write proper letters on airmail paper (lightweight so it was cheaper to airmail). Nowadays with FaceTime/Skype (other apps are available) you can video call anyone anywhere.
And as if my magic, there's a thought provoking article on the BBC website this morning asking how we would have coped if this virus outbreak had happened in 2005? It's not that long ago, but technology has moved on immeasurably in those 15 years.

However, having praised the technological era we currently live in....
I'm trying to find a way for the cricket club committee to "get together" as we are due a meeting in the next couple of weeks and we have a lot to discuss. There's about 14 of us, so the tech options are great, but the problem is our technical skills range from the excellent to the luddite, so not quite sure how it's going to work yet.

My wife and I went for a 30 minute constitutional around the local park this afternoon. Not many people about as you'd expect, a couple of families kicking a ball about and a few dog walkers. Still feels very odd and slightly disconcerting consciously moving well out of the way of people as they approach. At the end of our walk we went to our local Lidl for a few essentials. Bread (which was almost non-existent (it was 3pm on a Saturday), a few fresh vegetables, tomato puree (none). There were some toilet rolls, and we did buy some, the first time we have since "toiletrollgate" kicked off. Walking back to the house I mused that 1) there was almost a feeling of guilt for carrying a pack of toilet rolls, and 2) we were quite possible a high target for a mugging for the same reason.

Still on toilet rolls, saw this photo on Twitter posted by the author Stephen King. Thought it was quite funny. If you're not a SK fan, you'll have to Google It (see what I did there? 😉).

Copyright Stephen King

Whilst I'm trying to keep this log of my experience of the whole coronavirus situation fairly light touch, and not dwell on the science, politics and so on, be in no doubt about how serious this is. I saw another tweet earlier that suggested we were fighting two things. coronavirus and stupidity, and there's enough of the second to make you wonder just how idiotic some people are. Like those people from Bristol who today were urned back from walking up Pen-y-Fan by Brecon police, or those out in the Peak District having a picnic. This isn't an excuse for a holiday folks. This is serious. And if you didn't understand that, then the news today that the number of UK deaths has risen above 1,000, but that the Medical Director for England thinks the UK will have done well if it can keep the number of deaths below 20,000 should make you stop and think. That's another 19,000 deaths - and if that is the figure we'll have done well........ that's why we're doing what we're doing what we've been asked to do. Stay at home. #stayhomesavelives

Cat update.
Me 1 : 0 Cat
Saw her sneaking round the side of the house with a sparrow in her mouth earlier. Got her to drop it, and for a moment I though it was an ex-sparrow lying there apparently all mis-shapen and breathing it's last but as I went to pick it up to dispose of it, it flew away. That's one life saved anyway.

Footnote. I know this blog only has a handful of readers (thank you all). It's as much a cathartic experience for me as anything else, but please feel free to share.

March 27th: Whoops

So it’s taken me almost a week before I’ve forgotten to write a post, and that’s despite having a reminder set. I’m writing this post for Friday on Saturday morning.

Big news of the day is that Prime Minister Boris Johnson AND Health Secretary Matt Hancock have both tested positive for Coronavirus. Both are self isolating and are well enough to continue their jobs remotely. 

There is, sadly rather inevitably, a lot of social media comment about “karma” and no sympathy because the Tories have “stripped the NHS”. It’s outrageous. Whatever your politics, and there’s no denying  the Conservative party have done many things wrong during their tenure including not doing the best or right thing for the NHS, now is not the time for politics. And you certainly shouldn’t be celebrating the fact that someone has got this horrific disease. 

Well that’s my quick post for yesterday. 

The cats been on guard duty ensuring we don’t wander to far in hear social distancing times.

You can't come in! (or go out)

March 26th: Clap for the NHS

A quiet day at Chez Stats. My wife has been to care for her mother again, and reports that there is now official queuing at the local Tescos, with no more than 40 people allowed into the shop at one time and a strict one in, one out policy.

Kids both working in the dining room, and I've been doing some more gardening and housework. The house and garden has never looked so clean and tidy at this time of year before!

Not stir crazy yet, but I suppose with the weather bing nice it's offset some of the feeling of being stuck at home.

I still can't quite get my head around the issue that we're all being urged to stay at home apart from essential trips for food, medicine or work (for key workers), but people seem to be out making and about because they're using the "one walk a day" ploy.  It doesn't appear to have impacted the local Rag and Bone man (are we allowed to say that any more?) either - he was out and about on the estate this morning although I couldn't make a word out of what was coming through the speaker on his van. Sounded like "Aaeurrghugaraahnnhossioosduher" (repeat til fade).

I see the Chancellor has just announced some news for support for the self employed, a group who seem to have been left wanting in regard to other support packages announced. It's hard, but I suppose the Government can provide fixes/support for everyone at once. The logistics and financial implications are staggering. And whilst we perhaps do need immediate action to address critical issues (like pay for those not working, ventilator production, etc etc) it's worrying to think how all this is going to be managed and paid for once the worst is over.

I was talking to a cricket club colleague earlier also, and we were musing about businesses who perhaps thought they would never have to deal with a situation like this, or argued that they couldn't work remotely, and are now finding that they have to. With so many finding solutions, I think the business models about how the country works in the future may change significantly.

And still on businesses, whilst most companies are doing their utmost to find solutions and support staff, there are a few who it appears are doing quite the opposite. No care for their staff, and only thoughts about the bottom line. Two of these are Sports Direct and Wetherspoons owned by Mike Ashley and Tim Martin respectively. Both have come in (quite rightly) for some major battering on social media, and there's currently a #boycottwetherspoons hashtag trending on Twitter, with many saying they'll never drink in there again. Whilst 'Spoons seem to have backtracked on not paying their staff, the damage may be done, but conversely people have short memories, and when all this is over and everyone flocks back to the pubs, the lure of cheap (relatively) beer may usurp any honourable intentions made now.

Finally, to close off tonight, it seems the Clap for the NHS at 8pm tonight went down well. I was outside clapping along with many in our street. Hats off to all the NHS staff and volunteers - for all they do anytime, let alone now.

Hardly seen the cat all day. Gone AWOL.

Graffiti appeared overnight on a Wetherspoons in Crystal Palace, south London (Picture: PA)

March 25th: Food and space

Well if we're in this for the long haul, we should be good here. I already had onions, strawberries, raspberries, potatoes, leeks, radish, spinach and rhubarb on the go in my (very small) plot, and yesterday I sowed tomatoes, courgettes and cucumbers. I would say we won't starve, but it'll take months to grow so it might be too late by then. Better brave Tesco's or some other outlet soon then...

Actually I went to Lidl's. It's a five minute walk, so I doubled up on my allowances for a daily walk outside the house essential shopping. The Lidl store has been rammed of late in common with many other supermarkets. In fact, come to think of it, it's busy most off the time, even when we haven't got an apolcalyptic situation. This morning to be fair, whilst it was fairly busy, I've seen it busier, and there was an air of calmness about the place. It was pretty well stocked with everything (except flour, and I didn't go down the loo roll aisle) plus the normal "extra" stuff that the store is famous (or is that 'infamous' for). People didn't seem to be panic buying anything (apart from a bloke who had a carte of 24 cans of cider who it seemed was politely asked to step to one side and speak to someone (seems you can't buy 24 tinnies at once). Trouble is, when I go shopping I end up buying things I wasn't sent for. Today it was two doughnuts and a a pair of Belgian iced buns, some eggs (apparently we already had some) and a chicken and mushroom pot noodle. The main thing I went for was milk, and I forgot to buy that.....

Elsewhere, both kids have been WFH, my daughter's IT issues seemingly largely resolved. My wife went to see her mum and get her shopping and stuff. I've done more gardening, sorted my compost heap (yes it's a thing), cleaned the uPVC windows (plus the conservatory inner window sills (did the outers yesterday), and have managed to walk the equivalent of 2.8 miles today doing it all.

Oh, and I cooked tea. A favourite of ours, since I've started my retirement cooking, chicken and turmeric rice.

The cat's still loving the sunny weather (no rats today). She's in for a shock when the weather turns colder later this week.

Photo of the day, an overhead pass of the International Space Station taken this evening on my iPhone. This was the second half of the pass after a quick run from the back garden to the front garden. You can also see the constellation of the Great Bear/Big Dipper or Plough to the left of the picture. The bright star to the bottom is Arcturus.

The ISS is approx 250 miles up and going 17,500mph. Currently has a crew of 3 three, although it can accommodate up to nine. There are usually six, and they usually stay on board for around six months. The current crew is US astronauts Jessica Meir and Andrew “Drew” Morgan and Russian Cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka. Self isolation at its best! You can learn more about the ISS here 

International Space Station over Barry

March 24th. Lockdown day 1: Supplemental update - Pale Blue Dot

Sorry for two posts in one day, but I was out taking photos of stars earlier, and it got me to thinking about Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, check the link out (it's a very short read).

The point I'm making here is this in the context of the situation the world currently finds itself in. This is us. There's no one else (at least if there is, they're keeping well clear of us). Let's not fuck it up.

March 24th: Lockdown day 1.

So here we are. Lockdown. In simple terms this means:

• Stay at home - no unnecessary journeys or social contact 
• Only leave home for essential shopping, medical needs and one form of exercise per day
• Travel to and from work only if absolutely necessary
• Public gatherings of more than two people are banned - excluding people you live with
• Don't visit other peoples homes or socialise outside your home
• Police have the power to fine/enforce these rules
• If any of you, or your family are unwell, isolate yourselves

Watching social media in particularly there still seems to be some confusion and uncertainty over what constitutes an "essential" worker - builders for example seem to be one group where there's a significant divide of opinion. We're waiting for a bathroom to be ripped out and a new bathroom to be fitted - was due to happen in early April. I can't see that happening (reasonable). It'll wait. It's not going anywhere. And pictures of the Tube in London suggest no-one's heard of the lockdown or social distancing! 

Here's my dilemma. I consider myself to be a reasonably well adjusted, sensible, educated sort of bloke who absolutely understands the implications of everything that's happening (I was once a nurse in the dim and distant past, but far too long ago to be of any use now). But....

My arthritis and a couple of other minor and managed health conditions apart, I'm fit and well. My wife who as you now know is a practising NHS nurse (part-time) and is also a carer for her elderly housebound mother who lives a few miles away (who also has carers coming in morning and night to make sure she's up/ready for bed). I'd like to do more. I want to do more, but it's not the "right" thing to do, especially now the lockdown rules above have been implemented. And that places a greater burden (and potentially risk) on my wife which makes me uncomfortable. 

Personally, one effect on lockdown has for me is be the inability to go out wander round and take photos of the local area. It's been a glorious day here in South Wales, (I've even got shorts on), and there's nothing better I'd love to have done than to wander down to Barry Island or Penarth and have a walk and take some photos. I'm an enthusiastic photographer rather than a good one. You can find some of my photo albums on Flickr here. But whilst Boris has said you can go out for one walk a day, I still think it's not the right thing to do. According to my iPhone I've "walked" almost 2 miles today staying within the confines of my house and garden whilst gardening, so I can hardly claim inactivity.  Whilst this is going on I'll have to find some other stuff to take photos of like my garden. So here's some nice tulips to brighten up your day.

And as for the cat. well my daughter was teaching her how to do jigsaws, and stand up for treats.

The cat learning how to do jigsaws

She'll do anything for a treat