Raise a Glass…

For the first time in a long while we went out, this time to the Hope in Carshalton where we had a few drinks with friends, because we could.

Booster jab…

We have both now had our booster jab, this time the Pfizer to complement our previous Astra-Zeneca. We have had sore arms around the injection site, but otherwise no side-effects.

Winter is Coming…

It is getting colder again as we move into the metrological winter and there was a slight sprinkling of snow to let us know.

Christmas Fair…

New for Dorking this year was that they closed some of the main roads to have a Christmas fair, with stall holders, food sellers, music and roving entertainers. It was all a very jolly affair, and we ended up buying a lovely painting from a local artist John Arthur which is now hanging up in the dining room.

Ollie’s Birthday…

We joined in celebrating Ollie’s 16^th birthday where we had smoked ribs (from Dave’s new smoker), and later some of Sue’s chocolate cake.

Country Walk…

It was nice to walk in the countryside after a long while, due to the redecorations around the house and poor weather. We noticed were had become more unfit, but the weather was a brisk and bright winters day, and we did stop for a pint in town before returning.

Odd Weekend…

We had an unusual weekend in Kent recently. We had planned to revisit the old Roman site of Richborough where there was a planned archaeological dig of the stadium. Unfortunately, unknown to us the team did not work on a weekend, and we could not see what was going on. Instead, we visited the old Cinque Port Walmer Castle, where the Iron Duke of Wellington had died. We stayed at the Blazing Donkey pub (run by cousins of friends), and where we attended their inaugural Drag Ball which included singing by Angie Brown. It was all very ‘fabulous’ but quite out of the ordinary for us.

Changing Rooms…

We have been redecorating the dining and living rooms after new double-glazing windows and a new set of French doors were installed at the rear of the house. It was a case of one job leading onto another. The was quite some construction required to take out the old windows and replace them and where the dining room window was taken out brickwork to make space for the new double doors. This made a mess and required some finishing, which led us to look at redecorating the dining room, which meant we should have the ceiling replastered, and then that would make the front living room look dowdy, so that would need a repaint too. Luckily, we were able to get a man in to do a lot of the skilled work and Sue and I spent many an evening and weekend sanding and treating floors, moving furniture, cleaning, and finishing off. But now we have done – for now… …the kitchen could do with some work… …and so on

Garden of Delights…

We went to visit the Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden with Terry and Katherine not too long ago and were sad to hear of her death in August. There is a trail through the gardens where sculptures are to be found, mostly for sale, and often very expensive. It is a magical place to visit.

Tom goes to Uni…

Tom’s family had a small gathering to celebrate before Tom goes off to Cardiff university. We sat around the fire pit in the back garden and ate, drank, and talked for many hours.

Flower Show…

We joined a couple of our neighbours for a visit to see the RHS Wisley Flower Show. It was a lovely day and although there were many thousands of other people also visiting, the stands were thoughtfully arranged to minimise crowding as much as possible. We walked for miles that day and thoroughly enjoyed it all.

Jazz at the Castle…

Another sign of things starting to return to normality was a live music event. It was held outdoors in the picturesque surroundings besides the Guildford castle. The event showcased the Latin Jazz ensemble of Picante and was a lively show with many of the audience enticed to their feat to shake their stuff.

Face to Face…

For the first time in a long while several of us managed to get together to play board games, and we managed to recruit the son of one of our regular group to join us. We hope to make this a regular (monthly) event.

Norfolk ‘n Good…

The first full week in September, once the children had returned to school, we went on a holiday to East Anglia, mostly Norfolk but we passed through Essex, Suffolk and cam back via Cambridgeshire.

It would seem that as a result of the Covid travel restrictions a greater number of people have been holidaying at home (staycation) and so finding accommodation was difficult. Originally, we had hoped to book a boat on the Norfolk Broads, but what ever was left was prohibitively expensive. In the end we found a couple of places through Airbnb, and even then, we had to compromise on dates and location.

To break the journey up we travel part way on the Friday, stopping at Canvey Island. We were not expecting much and were not disappointed, staying at the large but distinctly average Oysterfleet Hotel. We did however find a nice restaurant on the Thames Estuary called the Labworth, which was lovely and had very friendly staff.

The next morning, we drove to Southend-on-Sea for breakfast and a look at the pier. It was a grey morning, so we continued to the pretty seaside town of Southwold, where, as the sun was now out, we walked along the beach and through the town stopping for lunch at the Sole Bay Inn located at the base of the lighthouse and just around the corner from the Adnams brewery.

Afterwards we travelled on to Ormesby Broad and the Boathouse where we stayed in one of the lodges that they have available, for a couple of nights.

We spent the next day exploring the Norfolk Broads and then meeting up with an old friend at the fabulous Gunton Arms. We had a few drinks and started to catch up the 30 years since we saw each other. The evening we went back to their house in Mundesley where they provided dinner and we talk on for a few more hours.

The next day we packed up and moved on exploring more of the Norfolk Broads including the bustling Wroxham, then on to the coast for lunch at Cromer (crab naturally), exploring the beaches there and at Sheringham.

Our accommodation for the next few nights was a small cottage in Swanton Novers. It was quaint and old fashioned without any frills (no TV, microwave, freezer) though it did have wi-fi. It was however well located for north Norfolk, with any place less than an hour drive away.

In the morning we explored the nature reserve that was behind the cottage before heading to the northern beaches at Cley next the Sea (an enormous shingle beach), Wells-next-the-Sea (a busy resort town full of holiday makers) – here we had lunch at the Crown Hotel where we had the most amazing sandwiches (Sue had crab, and plenty of it, and I had ‘fish fingers’ which were more like small fillets). Then we moved on to Brancaster which has a fabulous large sandy beach.

For our final full day in Norfolk, we went to Sandringham. We didn’t go into the house, but explored the lovely gardens and then found an old pub, the Rose and Crown, with a lovely walled garden for lunch (amazing crab cakes). After that we went on to Old Hunstanton beach, another large expanse of sand, before returning to our little cottage for the evening.

During our holiday we made sure we took time to relax as well and we had a few board and card games we played of an evening, a good music system, and books to read. It was nice not to be rushing about all the time.

On the Friday we packed up and drifted southwards, stopping briefly at Oxburgh Hall (undergoing some major roof repairs) and Thetford Forest where we had a lovely walk and a picnic lunch amongst the trees.

Eventually we made it to the small city of Ely for the last night of our holiday. We stayed in the posh Poet’s House opposite the cathedral. We walked down to the river passed the lovely old buildings and had a couple of drinks before returning and getting ready for our slap-up dinner (courtesy of my company).

Pandemic - Part 5…

At last we have started to get out and about as the rules are relaxed. We have visited pubs, eaten out with friends and family, enjoyed the company of others, and started to socialise again.

We visited RHS Wisley for Sue’s birthday and walked around their new gardens. A lot has changed over the years especially this last one as they have a new research centre to complement the new entrance and shop.

The delayed Euros football competition gained a lot of support as the English team advanced to the finals. Ultimately it was not their year though.

We have almost completed our garden project, just have some final touches to make (adding some tiles and building a storage unit to hide the bins). We have had a few visitors over and it is interesting to see how they use the space.

Olympics has started, another delayed event. The lack of crowds of supporters does change the atmosphere somewhat.

Sue went out into London with Deb and Lynne to see Alexander O’Neil perform at the Canary Warf Boisdale club.

We visited my Uncle and Katherine and went out to watch the Aldbury Morris Men perform their first public show of the year at the Aston Abbots Fete. It was good to see the side in good form. We went back to his home and had a lovely evening staying over the night.

Taking a couple of days off work we went into town and visited with Jamie, helping him pot a few plants and tidy up his patio area. We had a lovely evening with him, and a couple of his friends, and we even stayed over the night for the first time.

Pandemic - Part 4…

 And so it continues.

In the UK there are signs that things may be improving, Sue and I along with a large percentage of the population have had our first vaccine jabs (the only time I have looked forward to an injection), and restrictions are gradually being lifted in accordance with the governments plan. However worldwide the story is more mixed – Australia and New Zealand have opened up to each other and my mother has had holidays in country, but India and other countries are showing significant spikes and new variants.

As a result, we have decided to delay our 2019 Spanish holiday another year as we cannot guarantee that this COVID situation will be back to normal by the summer.

Sue and I continue to work from home, and we are quite happy for the arrangement to continue.

As the weather in the northern hemisphere improves, we have been out in the countryside (we are so lucky with where we live for access to wide open spaces to roam). The Rule of 6 means we have hosted several small outdoor gatherings, mostly around a fire pit as it is still quite cold out. We have managed to get together with family and friends in gardens (often to help with projects). We have had a mini heat wave, and times, snow.

All of this has prompted us to do some work on the house and garden, with plans to replace the windows at the back, adding  patio doors to the garden, and to remodel the open space by moving the furniture to a new patio and digging out a sunken area where we can put a dedicated fire pit to keep us warm during the colder times. We are getting help which is just as well as I am feeling the repercussions of physical exercise in my old bones.

I am sure this will not be the last of this but we have hope that things will improve.

Pandemic - Part 3…

The continuing saga.

After a general relaxation of the rules at Christmas that spilt the country into those who welcomed the possibility of getting together with family after such a long time, and those of us who thought this was a mistake after the revelation that a new and much more virulent strain of the virus was sweeping the country. We took the decision to hunker down and not meet up with family in the traditional festive gatherings and now in the New Year as we are in an ever more stricter lockdown it would seem that the freedom given was resulted in a terrifying upsurge in cases and consequential deaths (more per day than ever in the whole pandemic). But the three vaccines currently certified for use that are being pushed out to the most vulnerable in an unprecedented rate is some cause for hope.

Overall Sue and I are very fortunate in that we have our work and the companies we work for are continuing, so we have financial security; we live in a beautiful part of the country with access to fabulous countryside from our doorstep, and we walk when the weather permits; so apart from the worry about the safety of our friends and family and the repetitive ‘groundhog day’ nature of life at the moment we have to be grateful.

Pandemic - Part 2…

 As things got worse, then better and now are getting worse again, Sue and I have continued to work from home and to take things cautiously – shopping online and rarely venturing out where there may be crowds. We have though relaxed a bit as time went on.

We became a ‘support bubble’ for Deb (Sue’s sister) and she has stayed with us a few times, and Sue often stays over at her place so that she can spend more time with her family.

As the weather improved, we visited Chris (Sue's eldest brother) & Lynne and spent a lovely afternoon down at the seaside in Seaford and in their beautiful garden.

 A heatwave swept across the country and we experienced temperatures in the low to mid-thirties for several days in a row leaving us sweltering and characteristically complaining about the weather. 

Our garden continued to be our refuge and we planted, cultivated and reaped the rewards of our small vegetable plot (Apples and the soft fruit was exceptional this year along with the tomatoes, cucumber and chilies).

On Sue’s birthday we took time off work and went to the seaside, enjoying a walk and fish & chips during the day. In the evening I cooked, with ingredients provided by Cotes, a restaurant chain that had adapted to the restrictions with a delivery service. It was a tasty French inspired menu courtesy of Cotes at Home. Afterwards we curled up on the sofa and watched a movie.

The street party celebrations continued and there was a special event for the 4^th July.

Our walks in the countryside evolved as we started venturing further afield, sometimes on our own, sometimes meeting up with others. We helped out at Sue’s mum’s, gardening and cleaning as she had come down with an unknown illness (tests only proved that it was not COVID-19 but not what it actually was). A couple of times we travelled to Tring to visit my uncle and his partner for socially distanced lunches in their garden.

Our virtual conversations with friends and family further afield continued and we managed to link my mum and uncle into regular family talks, which was good for all of them.

Dave’s (Sue's other brother) 60^th birthday was celebrated in Deb’s back garden and it was the first time since lockdown that mum came out (apart from those trips to hospital!).

We bought a large gazebo for our deck to provide shelter from the sun and rain so that we could entertain more outdoors and hopefully keep socialising as the restrictions of people indoors became tighter again.

Our first holiday since lockdown began was to the Peak District, glamping in yurts with friends (Deb, the Whittenbury’s – Deb, Dave, Tom, Ollie, Sam & Steve, and Paul and Lorraine). On our way up we stopped at Calke Abbey which has some impressive gardens to explore. Much of the holiday revolved around BBQ’s, Swedish hot-tubs and plenty of drinking. We were based on a farm that had camping facilities near the village of Monyash and it was here that we walked around Lathkill Dale. Driving further afield we visited the quaint village of Tissington and the market towns of Buxton and Bakewell. The weather was variable so when rain made going outside less fun, we found refuge in the Devil’s Arse cave. Partying continued in the rain though. We had some lovely walks around Carsington Water, Dovedale and the magnificent gardens of Chatsworth house.

As the summer continued, we watched Tom and Ollie play cricket on a local village green.

Jamie bought a house in Peckham, and we went to help him move. The removal deliveries were unusually by bike (an electric assisted delivery bicycle with huge trailer) run by a friend of his and called Pedal Me. later on we took mum up to visit him (along with a car full of presents).

Later in the season we went on another holiday, this time it was in a static caravan down in Cornwall with Chris and Lynne. This consisted mostly of various beaches, busy roads and finding it difficult to get in anywhere. We surmised that many people of our generation without kids (they had gone back to school) and not wishing to risk travelling overseas (many countries had started to see rises in infection rates and travellers were having to isolate when they returned) had instead flocked to the UK holiday resorts. This in conjunction with closed facilities or reduced capacity at venues, meant there was loads of traffic on the roads and everywhere was packed when we arrived. Some restaurants were fully booked for days in advance and some had run out of ingredients to make their dishes. We still managed to have fun though exploring Port Isaac, Polperro (where Sue’s dad was evacuated to during the war), Praa Sands and Falmouth (where we ended up when we could not get into St Michael’s Mount). As we left the county, returning home on the Friday, we noticed a constant stream of traffic heading back the other way undoubtable making it even busier.

Now autumn is firmly upon is and temperatures have dropped from the summer heat and clouds and rain are a more dominant feature in the sky. The days are drawing in, the kids are back at school, universities have reopened, and the infection rates have spiked again, resulting in some cities being put under stricter controls verging on lockdown again. Our companies, along with many others, are feeling the pinch economically and some are making unpalatable, but not wholly unexpected, decisions.

We are bracing ourselves for a rough winter to come and hope we all can get through and out the other side in one piece.

Pandemic - Part 1…

It has been a while since I updated my blog and that is due mostly to the global COVID-19 pandemic that has had us in lockdown since after we returned from my birthday trip away in February (I went into isolation before it was made mandatory).

I had a cold around Valentine’s Day (pretty sure it was nothing more, but now every cough and sniffle makes you nervous), otherwise we have been quite healthy (touch wood). We were worried about Sue’s mum who was very ill for quite sometime and even got ‘blue lighted’ to hospital a couple of times. It was much later that she got a test which showed she did not have it, but not the antibody test to say if she had had it before. My family in NZ have had a much better time of it thankfully as that is a huge weight of my mind, anxiety being the worst thing that I have had to deal with.

The weather improved and was unseasonably warm and dry during the strictest part of the lockdown period and so we felt very fortunate to have a garden to sit out in and an abundance of countryside on our doorstep to get our exercise in.

Sue and I set up an office space in our attic games room at either end of a gateleg table. This meant we had a regular work routine to keep us occupied and were able to leave things set up overnight without the equipment impacting our living space. Another regular event emerged for a while as people stood at their doorsteps one day a week to ‘clap for the heroes’ (NHS staff and other essential workers who were keeping the most important services working and caring for the mounting sick).

There was a rise in the use of video conference technologies to keep people in contact (Zoom and Houseparty appeared and new features were added to FaceTime, WhatsApp, and Skype). We ended up with calls almost every other night with family and friends and even ended up played a few quizzes and games using them.

Musicians and actors trapped in their homes started to broadcast shows online as concerts and shows were cancelled. These events provided a glimpse into the homes and lives of our favourite artists that we would not normally see. The Globe showed some very interesting performances, there were global musical concerts arranged, and there was even a Comic Relief Dungeons & Dragons event.

We stayed away from the supermarkets and only ventured into our local bakers and corner shop. We managed to source our provisions from other local venders who would deliver (meat from the butchers, fruit and veg from a deli/coffee shop, fish from a bit further afield, English cheese, and of course wine… …lots of wine).

We have been drinking a lot more than normal (and we were never that abstemious in the first place), but it has become one of the crutches to help us through the days. We have started doing Pilates via YouTube and have done some length walks out in the countryside, but it hardly compensates.    

As companies felt the financial pinch Sue and I made some sacrifices for ours. Sue took a pay cut and started working five days a week rather than the contracted three, and I took 10 days unpaid leave one day a week. Some of our friends and relatives were furloughed (a word that we were previously unfamiliar with but now everyone knows), and the government but in schemes to try and support the workforce. This spare day I used to do some tasks around home (paint furniture, plant and tend the garden, and even try my hand a baking).

Inspiration came from unexpected places and the country (indeed even beyond our shores) became captivated with 99-year-old veteran Captain Tom Moore who was raising money for the NHS by walking 100 laps of his garden before his 100^th birthday. His story prompted a duet with Michael Ball that went to number 1 in the charts (and gave him another record) and he raised tens of millions of pounds for charity. He was given an honorary military promotion and a knighthood for his efforts and many other people were inspired to do similar fund-raising events.

Many memes and jokes circulated as antidotes to the increasingly desperate news broadcasts and we started to learn some new terms:

Lockdown lingo

*Coronacoaster*

The ups and downs of your mood during the pandemic. You’re loving lockdown one minute but suddenly weepy with anxiety the next. It truly is “an emotional coronacoaster”.

*Quarantinis*

Experimental cocktails mixed from whatever random ingredients you have left in the house. The boozy equivalent of a store cupboard supper. Southern Comfort and Ribena quarantini with a glacé cherry garnish, anyone? These are sipped at “locktail hour”, ie. wine o’clock during lockdown, which seems to be creeping earlier with each passing week.

*Le Creuset wrist*

It’s the new “avocado hand” - an aching arm after taking one’s best saucepan outside to bang during the weekly ‘Clap For Carers.’ It might be heavy but you’re keen to impress the neighbours with your high-quality kitchenware.

*Coronials*

As opposed to millennials, this refers to the future generation of babies conceived or born during coronavirus quarantine. They might also become known as “Generation C” or, more spookily, “Children of the Quarn”.

*Furlough Merlot*

Wine consumed in an attempt to relieve the frustration of not working. Also known as “bored-eaux” or “cabernet tedium”.

*Coronadose*

An overdose of bad news from consuming too much media during a time of crisis. Can result in a panicdemic.

*The elephant in the Zoom*

The glaring issue during a videoconferencing call that nobody feels able to mention. E.g. one participant has dramatically put on weight, suddenly sprouted terrible facial hair or has a worryingly messy house visible in the background.

*Quentin Quarantino*

An attention-seeker using their time in lockdown to make amateur films which they’re convinced are funnier and cleverer than they actually are.

*Covidiot* or *Wuhan-ker*

One who ignores public health advice or behaves with reckless disregard for the safety of others can be said to display “covidiocy” or be “covidiotic”. Also called a “lockclown” or even a “Wuhan-ker”.

*Goutbreak*

The sudden fear that you’ve consumed so much wine, cheese, home-made cake and Easter chocolate in lockdown that your ankles are swelling up like a medieval king’s.

*Antisocial distancing*

Using health precautions as an excuse for snubbing neighbours and generally ignoring people you find irritating.

*Coughin’ dodger*

Someone so alarmed by an innocuous splutter or throat-clear that they back away in terror.

*Mask-ara*

Extra make-up applied to "make one's eyes pop" before venturing out in public wearing a face mask.

*Covid-10*

The 10lbs in weight that we’re all gaining from comfort-eating and comfort-drinking. Also known as “fattening the curve.

VE Day celebrations were different and some streets, such as ours, set up in the front gardens, taking advantage of the good weather, to responsibly socialise. One of our neighbours had a powerful sound system that was placed on his van and played music and reruns of historic speeches. The music show became a regular event for a while allowing us to check in with our neighbours.

We saw more wildlife as spring moved towards summer and watched the birds nesting, feeding and the young emerge. Our trips in the countryside seemed full of life as the lack of airplanes and much reduced road noise allowed us to hear and see more than usual.

Initially we were horrified as the numbers of infected and dead increased in countries ever closer to us such as Italy and Spain until we eventually saw the UK death toll surpass them. It was of some comfort that the efforts in New Zealand seemed to be much more successful. Any stoic constraint and patience the UK population may have had with the regulations and controls put in place by our government soon waned as the rules started to be questioned.

As the weather continued to be good and a series of Bank Holidays approached we were somewhat concerned as lockdown restrictions seemed to be flouted (even by government officials). People flocked to beaches and countryside in large numbers that ignored the social distancing rules. When the Black Lives Matters, protests blew up in America and spread around the world thousands of people gathered close together in groups. At a time when the infection rate was borderline under control and the death rate was decreasing many of us were increasing worried about a future spike as has been evidenced in historical viral outbreaks (like the disastrous Spanish Flu amongst others).

The lockdown was eased to allow small gatherings outdoors and now single people can extend their ‘bubble’ to one other family to help them with the isolation. More businesses are starting to open, and some children are returning to school. We though are continuing to play things safe and are limiting our interactions with others to only close family and friends now.

I am sure this will be an ongoing saga that will continue for quite some time to come. Somethings may never return to how they were before as this becomes the new normal.

Birthday Treat…

For my birthday this year we took a few days out in Oxford. The accommodation was a converted prison, and although we were not in the old cells our lovely room had large picture windows that looked out across the exercise yard at the old wing.

We walked around the historic streets visiting many of the academic and non-academic sights in the chilly but bright February sunshine. We had lunch at the Eagle and Child (a pub once frequented by CS Lewis and Tolkien), then we went onto the Thirsty Meeples game shop for a couple of games and a few cocktails.

That evening we wandered over to the Jericho Tavern to see a gig. The main act was Sarpa Salpa, but them and one of their support acts, The White Lakes, were too headbanger for us. The opening act, Sara, was fabulous.

The following day we meandered back stopping at the lovely National Trust property Greys Court House, and then onto Henley for a stroll along the Thames and a pub lunch.

A lovely weekend.