Oh Bother

I was due to visit the hairdresser this week for my usual cut but she is, obviously,  now closed.

My hair has started to really annoy me, hanging in my eyes and generally getting in the way, so I thought I would just give it a quick trim. 

How difficult could it be, I thought, if I just grab a handful and just follow the same line, chopping off an inch.

Thank goodness nobody else can see me now, or for the next few weeks!

Solitary Confinement

One of P's friends has just messaged him to say that he has been put into self quarantine for the next 14 days  as he has developed a cough.  Up until now he has been able to go to work as he is a key worker.

He now has to remain in his bedroom and keep separate from his wife and son who live in the same house with him.

His wife has had to move into the spare room so that he can have their bedroom with an en-suite.  I presume his meals are left outside his door for him to collect.

I cannot imagine how that must feel, unable to leave your bedroom for two weeks.

P is already going stir crazy here, only allowed out once a day (alone) for short periods of exercise and once a week to shop for essentials.   He is up to date with all his gardening jobs and is scratching around trying to find things to do that interest him.  It doesn't help that he now has a very painful backache after too much digging in the veg plot all week.

I try to suggest various things to try but he is not interested. He is an outdoors person and is itching to get out and about, especially as the sun is shining and the weather has improved.

I shall have to try to come up with some sort of project to keep him occupied. 

Any (sensible) suggestions?

Incredible But True

Well, according to the BBC this is true anyway.

A motorist was stopped by police on the M6 in Cheshire on Sunday after he had been out during the lockdown collecting some cheap windows he had purchased from eBay in Salford.

It seems the police found his wife was in the boot of the car as she "could not fit in the vehicle" for the return journey to Coventry.

Heaven help us.

Kindle-ing

A week ago our small local library invited all members to come along and borrow as many books, games and jigsaw puzzles as they could carry as the library was going to be closed for the duration of the lockdown period.

We could only find six books that we wanted to read. The lovely librarian, however, suggested that we also borrow one of the few kindles that they loan out to people on request.

It is a very basic model with around 100 books preloaded.  It is locked to prevent any additional books being downloaded.

I have never used a kindle before but this one is so basic that it looks quite simple to use. Scroll through all the book titles, decide which one to read then just tap on it to start.

I shall have to work out how to discard a book if I change my mind part way through.

We are keeping it to one side until we have finished the remaining "real" books.

It is freezing cold here today.  The forecast is for bright but cold and breezy weather for the next few days.  At least we have no snow !

Love From Oz

We were having a late breakfast this morning when the 'phone rang. We don't get many calls these days as we tend to use email or Messenger.

P answered it as I am not very good on the 'phone, even with a specially adapted one.

He was gone for ages. After 10 minutes I reheated his coffee and toast in the microwave and took it in to him.  Whoever was on the other end seemed to be doing a lot of talking.

After half an hour the call finished. P said that it was from my uncle in Sydney. He is my mother's older brother, 85 years old, registered blind and recovering from recent heart surgery. 

He and my aunt emigrated to Australia in the early 1960s and we have always kept in touch. I used to write regularly as a child and maintained correspondence with him through my adult life.  He retains some residual sight so I can still send him emails in extra large font which he reads on a 2ft screen attached to his laptop.

He said that with all the current turmoil going on he just wanted to call and speak to those people he cared about most. His family.

As Rachel so aptly commented earlier on another blog, we are all thinking about those we love and that love us.