Coronavirus

Supermarkets here are now all putting in place the "social distance guidelines". And most are now only taking card payments. Thankfully, here, most people are being patient, and realising that it's not the fault of the staff that shops that they are running out of stuff, and can't get the shelves filled quickly enough. Still must be exhausting though.

Our Health Service (yes, Dr. Hilary Jones, we do have a Health Service. It's just not called "the NHS"! :lol: :lol: ) is appealing for workers. Not just doctors and nurses, but people to work in Nursing Homes and in the Home Care sector. part of me feels I should go for it, but right now, the bigger part is saying that there would be too much risk of bringing it in to my mum and the one client I already work with.

Thankfully, dau's stepson, who lives with his mum, is improving. He's been ill at home, with very high fever, cough etc. since last Friday. Hasn't been tested as yet, because he was coping well, wasn't at risk, and was able to be isolated at home (bit late though, by the time symptoms show!) and at the moment, they are just ramping up testing capacity.

My brother was in Lidl today, and said they had plenty of everything, but the alcohol shelves seemed to have taken quite a hit! Well, it is St. patrick's day! Even if all festivities, parades etc. were cancelled, and the pubs are all closed! :lol: :lol:
 
Popped over to the country supplies shop today just to see what was happening with chicken feed. Plenty - so at least that's off the panic radar! No Smallholder range but they are always running out of that and said more was in tomorrow.
It is interesting - picked up some loo rolls no problem from Sandu's round the corner while the supermarkets still have none.
 
i've just passed on about 20 kilos of pellets and a bag of corn to my friend. Even if I can re-stock eventually they would be out of date by then. Garden seems very strange and dull with no chickens. When I go down the garden I've found myself calling out a cheery greeting to non-existent birds. On the bright side I've been finding the run and coop have stayed immaculate for several weeks!
 
I'm so glad I've got the "girls". As a naturally huggy person, af least they'll still give me a cuddle, even if they can't exactly hug me back!
 
Animals a little oasis of calm in a totally mad world. Plus the lane is just a mass of blossom.
Hour and a half queue for the tills at Lakeside Tesco at 4.30am. I am early spare and just wanted milk for the staff area at bus station and a bit of fruit. What is wrong with people around here :x :x :x
 
I have to say that reading this thread has been more of an eye opener than usual! I have been on the Algarve for a few days seeing family before we are all confined to barracks, the Govt here is likely to declare a state of emergency today, the first time since the revolution in 1974. Anyway, we went into a small supermarket there on Sat, all fully stocked although the staff were in masks and you had to give everyone a metre berth. Then Spain declared national shutdown and borders closed. By Sunday there was no loo roll (I am sure its the Brits, nowhere else I have been has this problem) and on Mon there were small, but very orderly, and fast moving, queues, about half a dozen people with a metre between them.

I stood in our bathroom this morning and looked out over my neighbour's cherry orchard. It is a forest of waving white! As you say BYM, its uplifting. Plus we came home to our young cat who has put weight on (our friend housesits and brings her old, but huge, dog. The cat eats the dog's food and curls up with her) but who was super pleased to see us. Last time we went away he hid under the sofa when we returned! And actually, yesterday we had a minor miracle, our neighbour's dog (called Dog) went missing on Sat last, frightened by gunshot. We felt bad, he is a gentle boy who has a hard life. Anyway, yesterday some people found him, alive. Goodness knows where he has been (can't walk far) or what he has been doing. He is weak but seemingly unharmed. In amongst all the worry I have found this very uplifting.
 
bigyetiman said:
Animals a little oasis of calm in a totally mad world. Plus the lane is just a mass of blossom.
Click to expand...

Totally agree - I miss the chickens but where would we be without Poppy? Self-isolating friends have just lost their old Labrador. So sorry.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/mar/17/dogs-have-a-magic-effect-the-power-of-pets-on-our-mental-health?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other&fbclid=IwAR1vhWeVR_c22z0p2hEwNqs4EatsoSsGmCPWAtRKKKK7Q5zy4OAkcjXx-IA#comment-139006669
 
Totally agree, pets can be a great comfort in trying times, you are never alone when you have an animal to greet you. They are also great listeners and never judge, OH has wonderful conversations with the hens
Glad your neighbours got their dog back, MrsBiscuit, and sorry to read about your friends dog marigold.
 
I agree too. But much as I love my dog it’s the sheep that I really like. They need a PR man though. They are not stupid. They certainly recognise me. Oxford University did a research project proving that they can recognise 20 different sheep. And most impressively they can recognise them from photographs. Show me a dog that can do that.
 
O M G. Wonder what a Black Death egg would be like.
Reminded me of when we went into the maritime museum at Falmouth. There was a fantastic Titanic exhibition in the exhibition hall. Which included souvenir's of the disaster which included a Christmas bauble which was round and depicted an iceberg in the ocean and the ship half sunk sticking out of the side.
Titanic beer, with the slogan on it "always goes down well". A poster urging you to teach your wife to swim " don't let her go down like the Titanic", and many more things like that.
Bet they sell well, especially if that's all that's left in the shop.
Just had my money refunded for Madam Butterfly and Swan Lake, as Royal Opera House, and London Coliseum are closed. As they were a birthday present for OH, do you think she would like one of these eggs instead :lol: :lol:
 
After our taoiseach (our prime minister) addressed the nation last night, I was interested to see how things would be this morning. I had to go out early, to collect a Mother's Day gift for mum. The lady that makes the beautifully presented artificial flower arrangements arranged that she would leave it on her doorstep, and I could collect it and put the money through the letterbox! She is now sanitising all her arrangements before handing them over. I left her a box of eggs too, and she was delighted, because she is not in great health, so is not going out if at all possible. Can't stand artificial flowers myself, but mum is no longer to take care of real ones or plants, and she likes to have something cheerful in her porch.

Anyway, I went for a short walk while in the area. There were cars, moving sedately along, where usually there would be bumper to bumper crush. Tesco has designated the time before 9a.m. for elderly, vulnerable and family carers. As I passed, there was a short, orderly queue of younger people outside, maintaining their "Social Distance" from each other. On my way back, I went in to get one or two items for mum. They have sanitiser at the entrance. There were fully stocked shelves (and nobody in the toilet roll aisle!) and very few people in there. They have marked social distance guides on the floor. At the checkouts, you have to put your stuff on the conveyor belt, and you don't move forward until the checkout operator has put all your shopping through, and then you move straight to the far end of the checkout to pay (cards preferred) and collect your stuff. There's no one complaining though. Everyone is pulling together.

My brother and I are (I don't even believe I'm saying this!) sending toilet paper to my niece and nephew in Australia. Just taking it off the rolls, and mailing it in large envelopes. Because they've both got families, and haven't been able to get any. It's now rationed there, but my niece said large families are going in, and getting the allowance each. She saw one family, parents and three kids, going out with a trolley full of large packs. Quite openly admitted that they all went through the checkout separately, to get more. The store was then out of toilet paper by the time others got there. Food is also being cleared out of stores there. Maybe when these hoarders can't get food, they can use their stash of toilet paper as lasagne sheets!
 
The loo paper panic started in Australia! In this area of Shropshire very few villages have shops and they are usually community run and quite small. For a sizeable area my local supermarket (family owned), the smallish "One Stop" shop, the butcher and the baker (where the bread is often overdone) are the only sources. The next small town to the north (where a large percentage of the population is over 70) has a Co-op and a few other food shops - baker, butcher, deli but then there's nothing for the next 20 plus miles to Shrewsbury. So one might expect the shelves to be stripped.

Having bought stuff on Saturday, went in yesterday to get a loaf of bread but it was all sold (different really good localish bakery who put the supermarket's label on the bread). Loo roll shelves nearly empty but everything else was OK except no sanitiser but plenty of soap!
 
Glad everyone is OK. I've had a lurgy but obviously don't know what. Over it now but self isolating. Had to cancel our holiday in May (boo, hiss!) but was refunded everything without question. I feel very sorry for the hotels/pubs, etc but mainly for their staff who will lose their jobs. Still receiving our Tesco deliveries but some items unavailable - just have to adapt. Seems to be plenty of booze still around - wine, gin, whisky all available.
 
That's good news- I've a couple of bags of frozen sloes on the freezer waiting for a liaison with some gin... A shortage of people booking stained glass courses means that I should have time to do something with them.

I've not been able to buy any hand gel in the last couple of months, not even for my 82 year old mum. The government would be better off telling us to rub our hands on the horn of a unicorn! Still, I've got soap & handcream. Bus drivers & checkout staff need the hand rub more than I do...
 
Went past the two local Tesco Extra in Thurrock on my bus and they are both closed due to no stock.
Went past the big Tesco and they are closed, to prevent further abuse and threatening behaviour to staff.
People from a local estate went into the RSPB and emptied the hand wash into their own containers, and ripped the drum rolls open and took the huge drums of toilet paper. The toilets are on the outside of the building for people walking the river wall to use as well as customers. Took baby wipes from the mother and baby room
We were standing in garden at 7pm last night watching the Barn Owls and the sky lit up with a huge greenish glow and tremendous bang, smell of burning and out went the lights. Something blew in the main substation. Still no power this morning.
Wonder what all the hoarders of frozen food will do if they have to bin it all
 
It sounds really feral in Thurrock. Sometimes I think that humans are such a stupid and horrible species that we deserve to die out. But then I see how our town is really rallying round to help each other and I have hope.
Are you still OK in the front line there BYm? Granddaughter just managed to get into school yesterday to do her GCSE Drama presentation which is 20% of the marks but is now faced with a long summer at home and no exams after all that hard work.
 
I am with you on the oscillating thoughts about humans as a species, Marigold. I am truly horrified by what I read about behaviour in UK and Australia. However, I am making a conscious effort to concentrate on the good, we are not all like that, as personified by people on here. My elderly mother has been inundated with calls asking if she is OK and offering to do her shopping, and we are keeping in touch with an elderly friend in France to chat online and keep her spirits up. No doubt this is happening all over the country, but mostly we don't shout about it. Did you know that you are not allowed out in France, without a signed official piece of paper (signed by yourself) stating that you are either going to the shops/pharmacy or are excercising alone or taking the dog out! Apparently you can be stopped and fined if you don't have the magic document. Not at all sure how you survive if you are not tech savvy or don't have a printer. Bureaucracy gone mad in my view.
 
Still ok out here, buses very quiet today, a lot of shops in Lakeside are closed, and the centre is closing at 7 instead of 10pm.
New timetables from Monday with a very reduced service, and our hours cut
Thurrock is not a good place, glad we live outside the borough.
Some people are behaving appallingly, yet a 7 year old lad in Westcliff near Southend has been buying bread and toilet rolls with his pocket money and delivering them to the elderly along his street. Gives one hope.
Still no power at home, that's 17 hours now.
Luckily it's not cold.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top