Hi Brian,

I should be at work as at the moment  as the store is open as usual due to the Post Office being situated within it.  However I have taken the step (along with, so far 4 other members of staff) to take unpaid leave for at least three weeks in order to protect myself and others.  Impossible to manage the distancing rules, my hands are red raw (pharmacy has given me cream to help) through all the hand washing and sanitizer.  Cannot say too much more but am in touch with Union!!

Taking a once a day walk either before or after breakfast depending how early I am up (around four miles) whilst the weather is good and looking out for an elderly friend a couple of streets away to make sure she had supplies in between her children arranging home deliveries for her.

By the time the summer arrives my garden should be very tidy ha ha but am enjoying the birds for company,  

My son managed to talk me through face-timing through zoom.us and I had sessions with both him and my daughter and all the grandchildren which is a lovely help.  They just call me to check I am  free and send me a link to click, then off we go. 

The weather conditions where your sister in Canada is sounds rough but I supposed they are somewhat used to it. Doesn't make it easy when selfish people panic buy. Hope to manage a weekly shop on Thursday which avoids the special times/days set aside for the elderly and NHS.  Time will tell whether other panic buyers have died down (or just have no where left to store what they are buying!!).

Stay safe and well.  We are all having to make the most of a difficult situation but there are so  many so much more worse off.  One of our local hospitals has already been on the news requesting more supplies and had to temporarily close A&E but thankfully now re-open.

Jules 

Hi Jules 

Glad you have decided not to go into work. Much better to stay home and stay safe. Nice weather for walking at the moment and I bet you enjoy it. Well done to you for looking out for your eldery friend. Who would have ever thought a virus would cause this much disruption to our daily lives. 

Mrs B and I went to Tescos early this morning as she was getting very low on certain items. This is the first time for 9 days. Mrs B has always kept her cupboards well stocked and I dont even recal a time when she ran out of anything. I am so lucky. There were one or two items we couldnt get inclucing my peanut butter but not a big deal. It was very organized down  there and people were keeping their distance. There were no big lines of people at the cheque out. Although our neighbours have very kindly offered to do shopping for us as Mrs B and I both have unusual diets, if the shops dont have a particular item, we know what we would accept as a substitute, plus we dont have cash to pay them with and could only give then a chque. At least we wont have to go out for a while now.

Had to switch my router off and on this morninf as I couldnt access the internet This seems to have cured the problem. My son has heard there are ten times more people on the internet at the moment, making things a lot slower in some areas.

I also heard they have only had one case in China in the last week and wish that were the case oiver here. 

Take good care of yourself and stay safe and my our families also stay free of the virus as well. Brian

Hi Brian,

It definitely was not an easy decision to abandon my workmates who are still there giving their services to the public  and took me several days and chats with my children to decide to 'walk away'.  Possibly if I had not had to travel by public transport to reach the shop my decision would have been different.  Will review again when the time comes but now totally dependant on whether anyone bothers to contact me whilst I am at home to ask why I am not in!! (No Manager involvement so far as our temporary lady is self isolating  upper managers are able to work from home via telephone conferencing).  Through the grapevine some stores without Post Offices are being allowed to close so suppose that is something.

Today I did a weekly essentials shop and was impressed with the calm at the supermarket and how well run the social distancing was being handled both for customers and workers.  Have e-mailed the company to thank them as was dreading going (felt guilty as should have been a work day and am lucky to be able to go myself).  Got everything I needed and shelves much fuller this week with rationing in full swing now.  I was really only shoping for fresh food as have enough dry goods in my stock cupboard for  my needs.

Have today done abit more gardening, exercised with our online gym sessions and enjoyed a spot of photography in the garden.  Whilst I am still allowed to go out walking I will but it usually around 7.30 and easy to keep my distance from others.

Wishing you a peaceful weekend. Take good care.  Jules 

Hi Brian

Just a quick post to say having intermittent outages on my broadband.  Been in touch with my provider today and they checked and recorded over 200 in the last 24hrs!!  Understandably they are struggling like everywhere else to cope with calls/engineers going out etc but have a slot booked for 20 April so hoping I can muddle through with limited access as and when the blue light glows haha.  Extremely windy here today which does not help as phone wires also run through large trees on the pavement outside!!  Never the less have been busy paper shredding and doing usual household stuff so managing to keep out of mischief as well as using mobile to make any family/friends aware.

Take care and stay safe.  Jules 

Good morning Jules.

I hope you are okay and have managed to get all your shopping done. Hope you were able to get all you wanted. They said on the tv last night that things in the shops are calming down, thank goodness.

I took Mrs B shopping this morning to Waitrose and she managed to get virtually all she wanted.We shant need to go out again for a while. I am very pleased however as I managed to get three packs of frozen chestnuts. I had been in several times before all this started but they never had any in stock so I was very surprised and pleased to find some. I shall enjoy eating themsome of them later on today Ha ha

It issunny outside but quite chilly. I have had two barometers turn up from a new supplier I have found and very nice they look too. These are a combination unut comprising a borometer Hygrometer and thermometer. I have another seven still to come from two more suppliers. At least I will be able to track their accuracy and reliabilty before I have a chance to sell them. They are all reasonably priced; the first I have found for quite some years.

I have had quite a lot of response from our club members regarding my latest newsletter. Its our one way of keeping in touch with each other at this problematic time. I have mowed the back lawn and it looks so much better now. Our kind neighbour did our front one for us the other day. 

Well take care of yourself Jules. Sending kind thoughts to you and your family, Brian

Hi Brian,

Did my weekly shop this morning and no problems at all getting everything I needed to replace what I had used.  Wonderful staff keeping everyone socially distanced and facilities laid on at the door to sanitize the trolley handle before moving inside.  Common sense seems to be prevailing.  Bet you were delighted to get a stock of frozen chestnuts and can imagine you really enjoying dipping into your supply now.

The garden has seen a lot of me so far this week and very pleased with all the weeding and replanning of one of my flower beds has gone.  HAve had the company of a pair of robins when out there digging and they may well be feeding young (in my garage) as both very busy flying in and out with bugs etc.  Come the warmer weather will be sitting out for longer (and maybe without a couple of layers on).

Would have been hubby's 69th birthday today and am unable to go and lay flowers at his resting place as understandably crematorium/grounds are closed.  I feel so sorry for those who have lost loved ones and cannot attend the funeral.  So much heartache from this pandemic around the world.

Technology keeping lots of people in touch  which is great and glad you have some units to keep you busy leading up to when you are able to sell them on.  Also lovely that you can keep in touch with your club members.  I am doing the same with my at home gym sessions via FB live link and also they have created a members chatroom so we can boost the spirits of those who are behind close doors for some time.

Hoping to face time the family at the weekend.  Trying to work from home or at the school in my daughter's case  and keep the kiddies active/amused is a challenge of course but coming up with lots of new ideas that is being shared around on social media.  I even learned to make a hotel in a mug for solitary bees today with a live link online so have passed that one.

Hope you both keeping well and regards to you and all the family.  Jules

'...

Good morning Jules.

Our bath water was slow in draining away and depite using my old plunger, I wasnt able to improve things much. Not able to get anyone in So I bought what is called a drain buster off of the internet and this has cleared the problem. I now have another one!!!!!!! How to stop myself being sucked down the drain ha ha. I even have to hang on to the bath taps,,,, honest. Guess it must have been building up for some while.

We have a small 6 foot by about four feet of garden just inside our back gate. I was amazed how hard the dirt had compacted due to all the rain we had earlier this year but have now managed to dig it all up as I shall want to plant some of my radish seeds shortly. Made me sweat I can tell you even though it is only a very small area. But it is raised up about 3 feet. 

Dont really know why but I just cant seem to get into my story writing mode at the moment. I do a few lines then seem to run out of steam. But I have found plenty of other things to do on my computer. I waited a long time to get my new camera and for the weather to improve and now it has, I cant go out. It has a 60x optical zoom plus another 60 digital zoom which is why I was able to take a photo of the moon and see some of the craters on its surface. Next time I have have to mount it on my tripod as it was difficult to hold it still.  A house at the rear of us has a tall television ariel on the roof and normally there have been loads of birds congregating on it. But since I have got my camera I havent seen a  solitary bird on it. Seems they must all be camera shy ha ha. 

 Hope your internet is still holding up okay. Mine is much slower than normal. Apperntly it is people working from home plus the school chidren using it to do their lessons. There is apparently ten time more use than normal. Have bought a signal booster to see if this hekps but the instruction a printed so small I shall have to blow them up to read them. The same applied to our televsion signal. we live in a low area where the signal is weak. So I have bought a booster for thentv as well just waiting for that to arrive. 

Take hood care of yourself and stay safe, Brian

Hi Brian,

Hope this finds you and Mrs B safe and well.  Glad you managed to sort the bath blockage yourself once you had the right materials.  Always handy to have a spare.

Yes, the internet definitely slower than usual but is okay for my limited needs (mainly e-mail and social media) though with limited excursions have had to set up a few online bits and bobs to help with everyday finances etc.  I have made a pact with myself  not to buy anything online unless essential and with what I save will enjoy my next outing whenever that happens to be.   Something to look forward to when this lockdown situation finally ends (though doubt it will be any time soon to be  honest).  All events I had booked until May have now been cancelled and refunded or moved to 2021.

Today's excercise slot was in the rain and just around to block to post two birthday cards.  If it brightens up late will be back in the garden which is starting to look nice and neat where I need it to be.  I have an area at the bottom that I leave reasonably unkempt which is in theory my wildlife area so try not to disturb it too much.  Have already dug over my main flower bed close to the house which also houses one of my bird feeding stations and am rationing their daily intake ha ha.  Plenty of other gardens are now putting up feeders as part of their 'entertainment' I think.  I am pretty sure the robins now have young in the garage at the end of my garden as both are out gathering food and flying back in there with it.  I sat outside for several hours yesterday and they were coming down round my feet so in the end had a pot of food by my side to boost their supplies!

I had a lovely face time session with both children and grandchildren together over the weekend and they are all managing as best they can.  At least now with the official Easter Holidays having begun the home schooling is a bit less for them.  Apparently both their dogs are finding it 'stressful' having the humans home so much and no space to themselves ha ha. My daughter managed to spend her exercise slot at the allotment yesterday for a couple of hours and is very grateful it is within walking distance.  

Well, with the weather damp it looks as though I will be surfing the internet and doing some puzzles in between the home exercise sessions.  Our gym has online 'live' slots at  11 a.m each weekday and I have also  been doing Joe Wicks for seniors and a walk a mile indoors with another You tube lady.  Trouble is am still eating more than I should as just too easy when indoors with no one to say NO!!  I am not buying sweets, cakes or biscuits but the bread might have to be the next thing that I class as non essential shopping.

Very good social distancing in effect at our supermarket now and no problems getting what I need. Just wish the people who think it is great to flock to the parks/seaside would not spoil it for others as I can see controls having to be even tighter.

My workplace is now only open when the Post Office is  but they have at least one member of staff self isolating now due to symptoms.  No one has been in touch with me from work itself (my friends keeping me in the loop as to what is occuring though).  Several staff have taken the view, like me, that we are non essential workers(not a food retailer other than soft drinks/sweets in our store) and are staying safe for themselves and others by taking unpaid leave.  I should have been away on holiday with family next week so already had that booked out.  My next phone call in should be interesting to say the least! 

I am sure your writing  block will be temporary  but at least you seem to be able to keep yourself occupied with other things.  I now have no excuse to avoid housework ha ha but on the plus side have managed to read a whole book, the first time in quite a while to have finished one within a few days!!

Right  time for a morning cuppa before the next exercise routine goes live.  Stay well and safe.  Jules

Good morning Jules.

Thanks for the great photo on the other thread. Yesterday we had one standing on our neighbours rooftop but by the time I had got my camera out it had flown away. The last few mornings we have been treated to Mr blackbird singing his heart out. He starts about 5.15 a.m. and it is so nice to hear. Love the simple things like this. 

They have started work near us. They are going to take the childrens playground down and move it behind a row of nearby houses. Then they are going to put a roundabout in  and construct a new road where the first phase will be 125 houses. In the long term they plan to build 3,500 to 4,500 house near to us. I know there is a shotage of housing but it is taking up valuable farmland and habitat for wildlife.

We did our weekly shop yesterday and got all we wanted except Mrs B couldnt get any flour. The shop manager said no one can get any at the moment.  I did however manage to slide another pack of frozen chestnuts into the trolley which wasnt noticed untill we got to the check out. I tried to deny any knowledge of how they came to be in the trolley course but Mrs B knows me too well. 

The signal booster has worked really well for the telly and we can now pick up stations I didnt know we had. Well worth the money I paid for it as I now dont need to pay for a new ariel now. Still cant get the signal booster for my computer set up though. I dispute the claim it only take 60 seconds. Will try again later. I dont like being beaten. 

Mrs B's Bluebells will soon be in bloom and it looks like we have a lot more than last year. We also have an azalea plant just opening its leaves. Plus her Lilac is in bud so she is well pleased. 

We have been watching Hazeltins Train Jourey on the telly as he was riding the rails in Canada. Very intersting progran and am sorry it has now finnished. 

Take care of yourself and stay safe, Brian