Lockdown (continued)

 

I haven't used the 'Lockdown' label for a while. We've been trying to escape Lockdown. We have failed. If I look at the Government Information I ascertain that there are no Covid cases in our postcode area, nor in Kate's postcode area, nor in Nell's postcode area, nor in my mother's postcode area. There are a small number of cases in Mike and Sarah's area.

 

However, in it's undoubted wisdom, the Government has felt it necessary to lock us down again and doesn't allow us to visit each other.

 

So far as I am concerned, Lockdown will continue until parkrun can take place every Saturday morning, the London Marathon takes place, and the TGO Challenge takes place in its traditional format. If I live that long.

 

Meanwhile, I suppose we just have to make the best of a bad situation and thank our luck at being financially secure.

 

So the weekly Zoom meetings continue. We have five or six of these, including a family one (above) that usually features a game of Pictionary in which I always come last.

 

We have enjoyed a few visits to Mike and Sarah and Millie, who live a half hour bike ride away. We enjoy a coffee and a chat outside their back door. Risk factor? Too great - we would now have to meet in a park.

 

 

 

We've also visited Paul and Jeanette, in their big garden, well distanced, and in admiration of well-behaved Rufus, their new dog.

 

 

 

We now have to meet with them in a crowded park as their garden is deemed to be an unsafe venue.

 

Last week Sue went Wild Swimming in Sale Water Park, with lots of others. She was frustrated that the local swimming pool had not been allowed to open. It has now opened, so she can now swim at Total Fitness. This is deemed to be safer than allowing someone into our garden.

 

 

 

We had new curtains. They are heavy. The rail collapsed. The fitter soon sorted this out. I'm not sure whether he would now be allowed inside the house. The small print of the ever changing rules is beyond me. The Health Minister is interviewed on TV and says one thing, but the rules he then disseminates say something different.

 

 

One morning Sue spotted some poo on the doorstep.

 

 

A 'poo identification' app, possibly sponsored by the Conservative party, informed us as to the culprit.

 

 

(We think they may have got the animal pictured above confused with a hedgehog.)

 

Meanwhile, as some of you may have noticed, I've been scanning some old photos. Many of them come from a huge old home made album that I'm currently dismantling. It contained over 500 pictures. 'Processing' them is not a quick job!

 

 

 

Meanwhile, Jessica's leg has been broken and is now getting better, with the plaster cast having been removed last week. We hope it continues to heal well.

 

 

Our local parkrun starts by a statue of Oliver Cromwell that was removed from the centre of Manchester some years ago. It's a good place to sit before or after the run. But not now it's surrounded by a flimsy barrier.

 

 

Wythenshawe Hall, renovated after the fire, is surrounded by a somewhat sturdier fence, so that's out of bounds as well.

 

 

This third picture, (all three were taken from the same place), does however reveal pleasant parkland in which we are free to wander.

 

 

I've been continuing to keep in touch with Markus, who lives in Dornbirn, Austria. Their Lockdown was quicker and stricter than ours, and at the moment they seem to be recovering well. Markus is trying to entice me to Austria with these pictures of the Salzkammergut area, where he is planning an eleven day trip in October.

 

 

One day, perhaps...

 

 

My daily (not)parkrun 5km jog includes a section along the canal towpath. This chap just stands there, keeping a wary eye on passers-by.

 

 

Until they get really close...

 

 

Yesterday, Annie, Sue and I did our 20th parkrun quiz hosted by Vassos Alexander and his family. So that's 20 parkruns that have been missed. We enjoy the quiz, but we'd prefer to run. Seven weeks ago parkrun set up (not)parkrun, whereby every day you can enter your time for a 5km run or walk on their website. I missed the first week, but since then it has provided me with motivation for some daily exercise. The last few are shown below. My times do vary somewhat!

 

 

Meanwhile, various family members, have been visiting and cooking for Great Grandma Dot, whom it appears that we are now banned from visiting. I suspect we will be taking the Barnard Castle route where necessary. She will not be left high and dry.

 

So that really brings us up to date regarding Lockdown, which looks like continuing indefinitely.