Began the day by finishing Agent Running in the Field by John le Carré then did some school work to the accompaniment of the new Ed O’Brien CD.
Have a listen to Track 1.
While I did this, Mrs H did her aerobics, put her affairs in order and read her book.
After lunch we did some gardening, hacking dead bits off the apple tree and a forsythia. Good to get the garden bin filled again. Then I did some edging in (Sarah) and Mrs H cleaned the cooker.
Some nice weeds in the grass that will be mown up tomorrow.
Album of the day. A great rearrangement/remix by George and Giles Martin.
I thought it was about time that you heard from Management, so here I am. I mean we’ve already heard from one of the house cats, so I thought maybe I’d give you an insight into my exciting day, spent within the confines of the house and garden.
Today’s tune of the day, “Man of the World” by Fleetwood Mac was chosen for no reason other than it was the song that was going around in my head when I first woke up today at 5.50 a.m. The reason for this early morning trip to the teapot must be because today is the first day of the Summer Term and so of course it’s back to work.
After breakfast the first thing to tackle was Smartlog Training – we really can’t have me running around the house if I’m not able to spot asbestos or know what to do in the case of a fire. Must consult Mr H to find out where our fire assembly point is. I worked my way through two courses, but needed to resit the Fire Safety three times before I was awarded my certificate.
That done, a little light cleaning, which involved hoovering a large amount of topsoil from the duvet. This has been brought in by a cat, who came straight from the garden to commune with us during our early morning cup of tea. The cats enrich our lives in so many ways.
A little bit of social interaction was necessary after all this toil and so it was nice to Facetime with Claire and say hello to Jim. It was lovely to also be treated to a tour around their newly refurbished annex.
Ironing, a chicken sandwich and a sit in the sunshine, followed by the Beep Test (is it Bleep or Beep?) was next on the agenda. This was followed by another Facetime call. This time from Heather – well you have to chat to colleagues because we must remember that today is a work day.
After that a little look online to see if there are any bargains to be had. One of the things that’s been worrying me these past couple of days is the scarcity of baby clothes. Everyone else is panicking about toilet rolls and someone mentioned a potential tea crisis, but yesterday I was alerted to another serious issue – no baby clothes available from the usual shops, even online! This is causing me concern as I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of a small grandson in mid July. Having had a scout around online it would seem that most baby clothes are out of stock. Do we import them from China? Luckily Tim and Katherine are forward planners and lowered my rising blood pressure when I Facetimed with them yesterday evening by telling me that they had stocked up already. Phew!
Well that’s nearly it from me as I need to go and think about cooking up a sumptuous tea.
Rest assured that tomorrow you will be returned to the usual format with our resident blogger, who will entertain you with the traditional array of photographs of cats and flora.
And lastly, onto the Elbow of the day. We received this only yesterday and it’s very hot off the press as it was only released on Friday. That’s how up to the minute we are around here!
Due to lack of circumstances, this blog nearly didn’t get written.
We did have a video call catch up with Jane and John last night and today we caught up with Violet, Ivy, Anna, Ollie, Jonah and Baz. Mrs Henderson also caught up with members of her family. Mrs Henderson’s Christmas stocking is nearly finished – just waiting for a name.
Probably, because of the weather, this must have been the slowest day so far in this lockdown isolation history. So there is very little to report. I have been especially lazy. Apart from dragging myself out for some exercise I have sat on the sofa reading. I have read half of Agent Running in the Field by John le Carré which unsurprisingly is brilliant.
Caroline, however has been very busy planning ahead, making a Christmas stocking for a little boy that we haven’t met yet.
Mrs Henderson thought that it might be a good time to explain how this is working. To start with, we are not going out; this is because I am considered vulnerable and Mrs Henderson is supporting me so that living together is possible. So we haven’t seen the outside world for 30 days. I was last in a shop on Saturday 15th March. I have taken the car out twice now just round the village to check that it still goes and to stop everything seizing up.
We are lucky to be able to get supplies delivered and are very grateful to our family, friends and colleagues who have delivered essential things and things that are just nice, either by leaving stuff on the doorstep or ordering it off the internet. It is lovely that many colleagues are moving into the friend category.
The internet has been a god-send and the issue of how we would have managed before is clearly irrelevant. However how we would managed without, knowing that it existed is another matter! We have been able to order things to be delivered to ourselves, friends and family and also, like you all have been able to see our people too; either singly or in groups. We have enjoyed quizzes and drinks. And morale has been buoyed by WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
As regular visiters will notice, there is a routine – when wasn’t there? Life is routine and people who say it’s not are liars. We try to differentiate between weekdays and weekend, though that is hard because all days feel the same. We try not to overeat or drink alcohol during the week. At weekends the gloves are off.
Many of you were surprised to discover I had taken up regular exercise and dieting this year not because of a new New Year’s resolution; it coincided with an opportunity to do a Pulmonary Rehabilitation course. I have lost 18lb and had joined a gym. Exercise is a real challange – difficult to get motivated and lack of space. Luckily Edward left a couple of 4kg weights at home and I have been lifting these and doing the bleep test. Mrs Henderson does an aerobic class on the internet and the bleep test. I haven’t put on any more weight and I think my fitness has stayed much the same.
The weather has helped. It is interesting to note that the weather in 2020 before lockdown was 150mm rain, mostly overcast. Since lockdown – 1mm rain, mostly sunny and warm.
This has enabled us to get into the garden and this has been an excellent thing. We have been able to do some exterior decorating but most importantly I have been able to “do” the garden. The garden has never been so weed free. I have also chronicled the passage of time in the garden – this slowly, everchanging landscape. You will have enjoyed the beauty of the flowers that have arrived. It is also great to be able to watch things move and change on an hourly basis. When at work, gardening at this time of year was mainly a weekend activity and a frantic, frustratingly rushed and never ending activity. I have always known that the beauty of gardening is that you have to go at the speed of the garden and that gives one time to think and get lost in ones thoughts. I actually feel in control of the garden for the first time in years, if not ever.
We have advertised widely that we have listened to a lot of music. This isn’t something new in our lives. We have always listened to a lot of music. I thought it might be a nice idea to listen more to whole LP records that we do more infrequently – we have uncovered some old favourites. We hope it has inspired you to do the same and maybe try some of ours…
We read. Probably more than when we were working, but not loads more. We never read much during the day and it is difficult to concentrate. We both find ourselves falling asleep.
We don’t watch much television. Partly as a rule and we never watched television during the day before, except perhaps the odd Spurs game or test match. There is also very little worth watching (now you know we’re old). When thinking about watching on demand (thank you Baz and Timmy) or catch up it is sometimes difficult to motivate oneself to watch because one can “always watch it another time”. WE NEVER WATCH THE NEWS.
The news is of course depressing and makes us angry. Watching it also changes nothing, certainly gets you no nearer the truth. I have tried – not always successfully – to avoid political polemic. Mainly because it is boorish and if you are reading this blog you probably share my views.
School work has of course been strange. And if I’m honest I have rather enjoyed this way of working remotely. I have time to consider what I’m doing. Many things don’t change; there are the same irritations and jokes. I can’t elaborate…
Time is the one thing we have in abundance and there is no doubt that the pace of life has s l o w e d down considerably. Once we’d got used to this I’m not so sure that it will have been a bad thing.
The immensely positive thing for us is that we find that we still get on just as well as we always have. In fact I would say given the relentless togetherness this situation has forced us into – probably better than ever. We are very lucky. We have always known that and continue to acknowledge it.
We are fortunate to have the company of two wonderful cats. We love the cats…
Sometimes you have to theme things – it gives structure. Funny LP sleeve mash-ups for example – I’m sure you’ve noticed others. But ultimately a themed approach is a cul-de-sac of stagnation.
We have tried to give you a flavour of what we’ve been doing. And we have tried to be positive. We hope it has helped you through this – it has certainly helped us. It’s been nice to know that this has been read and to receive your comments.
Actually, this is all a cover – we got up late today and did nothing. Spent the day in our dressing gowns watching daytime television eating family sized packs of crisps.
ONLY JOKING!
Mrs Henderson finished her jigsaw.
I did some watering in the garden. The plants continue to develop.
Thank you to the Blowers for the excellent quiz last night. We narrowly avoided last place.
Album of the day.
And it’s Cottage Pie for tea. Tomorrow as well looking at the size of it.
Finished my book – Kolymsky Heights by Lionel Davidson. An average thriller that was moderately diverting. I give it 5/10 and wouldn’t particularly recommend it to my friends. Then got up. Cooler this morning. A sock day.
A choice today.
or
Spent three hours this morning doing school work that would normally take thirty minutes.
A good haul in the post today. Thank you for the jigsaw, Anna and the painting by numbers, Timmy and Katherine.
Had nice video call with Baz and Jonah. Then lunch.
FaceTimed with Anna, Violet and Ivy, watching them scoff a whole Lindt bunny each (not Anna).
Happy Easter. Because we couldn’t get to the shops for Easter cards we improvised. Guess whose is whose.
Listened to the Archers Omnibus. It must be lovely to live in a village untouched by Coronavirus. This was followed by a programme on Radio 4 with John McCarthy, Brian Keenan, Terry Waite and Jill Morrell reflecting on the time when the first three were held hostage in Beirut. Made us realise that we haven’t been having it so bad. A rather lazy day for me, mainly reading and a bit of cleaning. Mrs Henderson cleaned the upstairs windows taking care not to fall out.
We did do some exercise and we did the bleep test together. I acted as pacemaker dropping out at level 7 and watching and helping Mrs H to her personal best, getting to level 9.
Some garden pictures.
LP of the day.
Looking forward to lamb shanks for tea followed by half an Easter egg. Happy Easter.
Isolation 