Reasons to be cheerful

Amazing news HenGen. It will be good if you can take some pics of them. Congratulations!

That all sounds sensible LadyA. What has been the position over outdoor workers in the UK? The farmers have been out cultivating as usual and I’ve been ordering garden stuff online which must have come from outdoors eg large builders bag of vegetable compost and some plants ordered before the lockdown. Our neighbour has had a new drive installed this week. Window cleaner still doing his rounds.
 
My mother, who is elderly, frail and disabled but lives alone, excitedly told me when I went in this morning "So, from Tuesday, I can go out for a 'no contact' walk. If I could walk!" :lol: :lol: Over 70s have been "cocooning" in their homes. I've told her that, weather permitting, I will take her out for a push around the block! So nice to see her looking forward to it. Had I suggested doing such a thing pre lockdown, she wouldn't have countenanced it at all, this just going out in the wheelchair without having an appointment or something to go to.

It's so heartbreaking that about half the deaths here (currently standing at 1,265) have occurred in nursing homes or residential care facilities. And while the median age of those who contracted the virus is around 48, the median age of those who've died is in the lower 80s. Currently, although major plans had been made so that there would be much increased ICU capacity, including the Government temporarily taking control of all private hospitals, there are under 100 people in ICUs. Let's just hope that as we very slowly ease out of lockdown, that doesn't change!
 
I hope your mum enjoys her push around the block, it will be a real tonic for her.
Hope nothing changes also as you come out of lockdown
 
At least older people living at home, and without young children and jobs to return to, can go on choosing for themselves about how much they interact with others once the restrictions are lifted.
 
With divorce proceedings still dragging on I had become a bit reclusive but was still heavily involved in some things. I've realised that I was putting myself under a lot of unnecessary pressure before lockdown, so the changes I have been forced to make in certain areas are going to continue. That should give me more time for other things including, hopefully, meeting up with friends.

I do hope the social distancing is maintained in shops as I don't think I'd be comfortable without it for quite some time to come, and don't want to have to resort to on-line shopping.
 
It’s a way Margaid. My own view of it is predicated on hope rather than scientific fact but:-
1) If I get it, it won’t kill me
2) That having caught it it confers some degree of immunity that prevents me from catching it again

So for those reasons I’d rather catch it so normal life could then resume. The thought of carrying on like this almost indefinitely is not an option for me.
 
I have to assume that, if I get it, it may well kill me - or at least do lasting and disabling damage. Apart from wondering whether Tony could ever master the microwave and the washing machine, my main concern is what would happen to Poppy if neither of us could look after her.
Worry about dependent animals was my main reason for not replacing my old hens in March. However, the hen run and greenhouse are now full of vegetables growing nicely. They don’t need daily care come what may, and if we can ever go away again they’ll be OK for a few days at least. I’m getting a lot of fun and exercise from my mini-allotment and all will be done by winter - no more puffing around with frozen drinkers and poo picking in cold weather. Yes I do miss the eggs but Waitrose organic ones are OK. And no worries about the girls’ care if I couldn’t do it myself.
I still have all the equipment though, so I’ll have to see what I want to do, maybe next year.
 
It cant keep going on like this (a reason to be cheerful if ever there was one!) but post this, well there will have hopefully been engrained some sensibilities. It will certainly be unquestionably reasonable to tell anyone with the sneezes to keep it to themself - not that sneezes are a symptom of CV19 but the constant rounds of the stuff in the office were getting ridiculous to the point that they were so common staying at home would mean half the over packed office being off all of the time so it became the norm.
I think I may have had it. Its hard to tell as years of angle grinding stone and iron without proper PPE and smokin' like an idiot dulls my idea of what is normal. (being ironic - not recommending it!) I dont think you can assume that Marigold - It is a very mutable virus, its much more likely to evolve into something like common flu within a few cycles than it is to keep the same or become like SARS (Thank God!!) I dont fancy common flu much though, to be honest.
 
I have always been an advocate of people with colds staying at home Rick although I only ever caught a cold from my husband. My "underlying health condition" is nowhere as serious as Marigold's but while I'm OK with going shopping once a week while the numbers in shops are limited and the 2m distance is observed I wouldn't want to be in a relatively crowded space.

I assembled two more raised bed kits this afternoon to double the height to 18". I'd always intended to grow some veg but hadn't progressed beyond runner beans. Now I'm not rushing to the Post Office several times a week and choir practice has of course been abandoned, I'm enjoying trying to grow stuff. It seems the front spare bedroom has the best window sill for germination although a tray of Purple Sprouting broccoli seeds have ... sprouted, in my north facing conservatory. I bought some cabbage plant which will go in one of the deep beds tomorrow and I must get on and plant the carrots in some tall flowerpots.
Not sure if I'll ever go back to poultry keeping - there was a terrible racket outside last night with a fox or vixen barking for ages and then horrible squawks and shrieks which I think may have been a pheasant meeting a horrible end. I had already checked the cats were all safely indoors! My torch picked up a hedgehog in the middle of the lawn which was a cheering sight.
 
OK, I'm 70 and asthmatic and confined to barracks for the forseeable, but I'm not complaining. I have my husband, cats and hens, my lovely house and garden and a superb view over Loch Erisort to the front and the Harris Hills to the back. I'm not risking all that just to be able to go to the pub (supposing there was one open) before I'm certain it's safe.
 
Totally agree also.
Although I have been working, we have nice views at home, nice walks locally. We certainly won't be rushing to get into a pub or restaurant or going anywhere packed.
I bet the minute the Lakeside shopping centre opens though, our buses will be heaving. depending on what the transport rules are once lockdown eases.
 
I am secretly enjoying this lockdown. Is that wrong? The air is so clean, the roads less busy (albeit the past 2 weeks traffic appears to have increased). I have been out walking in the countryside every day, too, mainly choosing routes where families and bikers do not venture. Good for the mind, soul and body. I have discovered woods filled with wild garlic, less than a mile from my home. I had never seen it before. I've collected lots of leaves for cooking with and I have frozen most of the leaves, too, as I do with coriander. I know I shouldn't have, but dug up 3 clumps and planted in my garden, so next year I can have my own.

I am so used to being off work, despite only working 25 hours a week, that I cannot imagine going back to the irregular shifts and mind numbing monotony of working in a UK holiday contact centre. :-)
 

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Thanks Tweetiepie. That picture has lifted my spirits. The thing I miss most here is not Morrison’s or libraries or restaurants. It’s woodland. There is something timeless about them which nourishes the soul.
The forecast for Sunday is that temperature will drop to 4C. It’s May for Peters sake. Grass growth stops, lambs huddle, chickens stay in their shed.
On a brighter note my last ewe to lamb, a Zwartbles, had quads on Saturday. So it’s the Shetland Times for me. Anything to raise Fetlar’s profile. People here can feel very much like second class citizens. Always the first to have ferry cuts, always last to get adequate provision of council services. I try to put a positive spin on it but some of my neighbours have been ground down by the struggle.
“If you don’t like it here then f... off” is not a sentiment I often express but at the end of the day it’s what I feel.
 
Tweetypie said:
I am secretly enjoying this lockdown. Is that wrong?
Click to expand...
I'm secretly enjoying it too! I've never been able to spend so much time at home before, and am really enjoying it! My garden is starting to come together, all grass neatly mowed. And yesterday, I started clearing mountains of brambles, which have been threatening to take over. Won't be doing much outside today though, I don't think. It's overcast, very windy and quite cold. I shall get on with sewing, and finish up the reusable face masks I've been making, and shall spend time knitting, and shall bake myself some cookies. Choc chip and pecan, I think. I shall drink cups of tea, and get my ironing done. And relish the peace. :)
 
Enjoying the peace and quiet also, especially in the skies, the empty roads. Nice walks in newly discovered places.
Lack of pollution, and most of all the lack of litter, we picked up the litter along two lanes we walk down at the start of the lockdown, and the verges are still litter free
 
Not a major alteration in life for me. I think I've been self isolating for at least ten years. :)
I've got the mask and gloves and a small bottle of 96% alcohol for when I do venture into what passes as civilization.
The animals still need feeding, stuff still needs doing and one day is much the same as another. Most days I couldn't tell you what day it is; I usually get the month right though. ;)
The most noticeable difference here is the absences of air traffic. I'm under the flight path to Barcelona airport.
Anyway, this is Donk and she should bring a smile to anyones face.
P5043395.JPG
 
Hen-Gen said:
Thanks Tweetiepie. That picture has lifted my spirits. The thing I miss most here is not Morrison’s or libraries or restaurants. It’s woodland. There is something timeless about them which nourishes the soul.
The forecast for Sunday is that temperature will drop to 4C. It’s May for Peters sake. Grass growth stops, lambs huddle, chickens stay in their shed.
On a brighter note my last ewe to lamb, a Zwartbles, had quads on Saturday. So it’s the Shetland Times for me. Anything to raise Fetlar’s profile. People here can feel very much like second class citizens. Always the first to have ferry cuts, always last to get adequate provision of council services. I try to put a positive spin on it but some of my neighbours have been ground down by the struggle.
“If you don’t like it here then f... off” is not a sentiment I often express but at the end of the day it’s what I feel.
Click to expand...

Nice article and photo in The Shetland Times. Lovely looking ewe and lambs
OH added the comment by the way
 
And here’s the link! Congratulations Murray - now we all know your real name. The price of fame!
https://www.shetlandtimes.co.uk/2020/05/04/healthy-quads-for-fetlar-ewe
 
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