CORONAVIRUS START OF WEEK 9

Another week has gone by and we are still in Lockdown.  This is Damian Hurst's painting of the rainbow which children, well... we all... put in our windows. It lifts our spirits.

We both continue to be well as are pretty well everyone I know in our social circle. I observe the most people in our locality continue to be very good at queueing in the supermarket (that's about all that is allowed open at the moment... along with pet food, butchers and fish shop, newsagents, health food shop, petrol stations locally).  Queuing in Britain is something people do without fuss; it comes form the wartime years.

And here is some Banksy or Banksy Wannabe Art...

This week May 8th marked the 75th anniversary of the end of the war in Europe (World War 2) called 'VE [Victory in Europe] Day' although hostilities were still going on in the Far East until August. Big gathering that were planned were, of course, all cancelled.

 [Bitish Press Image]

[American Press Image]

Today there are still a number of people alive (in their 90s and 100s) who have stories to tell. In this country all generations relate to WW1 or WW2 because of the direct, or indirect involvement, of their families, colleagues or neighbours, etc. The evidence of war is seen at many levels culturally, e.g. in the public spaces which were modified or rebuilt  after being bombed, cenotaphs in every community and songs that are still popular, e.g. 'We'll Meet Again'.  

On the BBC TV, after the Queen gave her address, everyone enjoyed Vera Lynn, still alive and sparkling, talking about her singing to the troops in Burma as well as in London during the bombing.  Her song 'There'll Be Blue Skies Over the White Cliffs of Dover' is quite poignant (along with the one above) at this time when the country has been in Lockdown for 8 weeks now.

So here is our own Iain, heading out to play at 8 pm Thursday to lead the Clap for the NHS and Workers' applause all up and down the street.  As everyone agrees, it fairly lifts the spirits; no other instrument can match it in that way, I would say!

The previous day ... a bit of drama when the street filled with every vehicle the fire department seemed to possess. (The Fire Station is 2 blocks from us.)  It turns out a neighbour dropped a glass thermometer and mercury was spilled on the floor. She contacted the Pharmacy to ask if she should do something about it. They said call the Doctor. The doctor said "Dial 999" for the fire department.  So she did!

Like calling out the RNLI ... they do not know what it is they are going to find when they get there (and we understand that)...

John and all 4 children called by when on their hourly exercise bicycle ride.  Keeping their social distance they collected some flapjacks I had made and carried on their circuit.  It was lovely to see their smiling faces and apple red rosy cheeks!

John erected his dad's Black's tent in the garden for the 2 little ones. They are still off school, as are Ish and Alastair. 

I am getting used to joining quizzes on-line and this week took the plunge and joined a whisky tasting run by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society.  They sent out the little bottles and I sat at my computer at the appointed hour while the man chaired the session with 215 people signed in for the tasting. Great fun!

I am still sewing scrubs for the NHS but things are a little slow as I tweak how I go about it.  Here are a few NHS scrub bags this week.  It is a way to use up fabric donated to me but which I feel is not robust (or new, really) enough to use for tops and pants.  John gets my test runs until I perfect the system.

Finally, it is my birthday today so when I was at Waitrose (short, but orderly queues) I gave in to temptation waiting in the forecourt beside the plant trollies... and bought this pink geranium and some wee pots of sweet peas.  It is not possible to buy seeds at the moment but hopefully next week the garden centres will be givien the green light to open... marking the beginning of the easing of restrictions.

This blog marks another year... I started this blog in 2007 so this is me going into its 13th year.