Category Archives: Activities

Garden Work

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We have had a busy two days. Last week we had a delivery of bedding plants from Yarnton Garden Centre. They have now reopened and I went down on Sunday to buy more bedding plants. We have now potted them all up and these photos show some of our efforts. There are still more plants to come that we ordered online so we are not quite finished yet. Hopefully they will be with us in the next week or so. Then we can enjoy the garden save for grass cutting and the weeding which seems to be never ending at this time of year.

This post makes a change from the doom and gloom of our “lock down” experiences!

Lockdown – Week 5

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Home made planters

Still in lockdown, but now getting used to it. I’ve been making full use of the good weather and have produced these two planters for the garden. I’ve also made another smaller one. Just wondering what to do with the rest of the wood I have. I don’t want to use it all up at once as our local DIY stores have yet to reopen. There are big queues at the ones that have opened.

Spirits still okay, plenty of food and toilet roll! At least we won’t starve, neither will Jimmy, the dog! I suppose we are getting used to this new experience, but it will be great when we can actually do away from the “social distancing”. We can speak with friends but still have to keep 2m away from them or shout across the road.

Lockdown – Week 4

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Week 4 in lockdown now underway. UK is on track to have the most deaths in Europe as now over 10,000 people here have died. We are well and staying safe in line with guidelines. Jimmy, the dog still needs to be walked, however, living in a village, there are not so many people around compared with cities. We can take him for walks and not see anyone.

It is so quiet with little traffic around. This means that we can hear the birdsong which cheers us up and gives us hope for the future. Still no sign of when the current lockdown rules will be relaxed. I can still see us having some form of lockdown for at least another two months.

We are both experimenting with cooking which is fun. The days seem to have gone quite quickly, perhaps the good weather has helped. At least we can spend time in the garden. We feel sorry for those who are stuck in flats with no garden to enjoy. It must be hard for them.

Living in lockdown….

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The UK is in virtual lock down in a concentrated effort to limit the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus. We are allowed to shop for essentials, virtually all shops have closed save for supermarkets and other food retailers. We are lucky that our village shop remains open albeit with reduced opening hours. Exercise is allowed but we have to keep a 2m exclusion zone around us if we see others whilst we are out.

On Monday I was able to get into Banbury to buy compost and others bits and pieces to keep us occupied should a “lock down” be implemented. Fortunately the weather during this past week of “social distancing” has been very sunny and mild. As a result the garden has been tidied and the car cleaned both inside and out. We are lucky in that we have a fairly large garden and have therefore spent a lot of the days outside.

Non essential car trips are discouraged as last weekend several parks and beauty spots up and down the country were overwhelmed with visitors. The police now have powers to hand out fines to anyone they consider to be breaking these new “rules”.

We are taking turns to walk the dog. As he is 15 we do not need to go so far with him. Naturally we would like to go further but it is best to adhere to the guidelines that have been put in place. From what we have read online and in the newspapers there are varying degrees of virus. These range from very mild symptoms through to death. The death rate is rising and even some with no underlying health conditions are succumbing to it. However, so we are told, the majority will only get mild symptoms.

Are we worried? Not really, but it is a niggling thought that we might end up getting it. We have to remain positive and put up with the inconveniences that have been thrown at us all in these uncertain times. Theatres and cinemas, pub and restaurants will all reopen at some point and we look forward to these days.

Coronavirus – Covid-19

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This whole pandemic sounds as if it is from a science fiction novel. However, it is not, it is actually happening. More and more countries around the world are taking extreme measures to slow down the spread of this virus. Conspiracy theories will no doubt come to the fore. Was it a scientific experiment that went horribly wrong? It is now making its way around the world and is affecting our everyday lives.

In the UK it has not yet come to lock down but it seems to be going that way. Schools are closing, students are being sent home from further education establishments. Panic buying is commonplace. Toilet rolls, nappies and cleaning products have flown off the supermarket shelves. People are stockpiling leading to shortages. The powers that be do say that there is absolutely no need for this as there is plenty for everyone.

Life for us in north Oxfordshire goes on as normal. The dog still needs walking, the garden needs tidying. It has been said that everyone’s gardens will look good this summer. We still go out to the shops for food, however, between the fridge, freezer and larder we should be able to get by for a bit if there is total lockdown. Well, I hope so!

Stay safe and well.

People watching

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I normally walk along the street without taking much notice of my fellow pedestrians. However, here I am in one of Oxford’s numerous restaurants, this time I have decided to take stock of the other diners.

It is early, just before 6pm, but as it is still winter it is dark outside. It is dark inside too, the lighting is very subdued. Is it for ambiance? Or is it to save on electricity? Two girls sit at adjacent tables tucked away in a corner. The glow from their laptops light up their faces as they no doubt fit in some studying while waiting for their meals to arrive.

There are several groups of friends clustered round some of the other tables. Conversation and laughter flow from some groups. Others, however, converse in 21st century mode – their phones are on the table and they are busy texting away to friends who are not present. Unless, of course, they are texting each other. Not wanting to speak, they text, after all the standing joke is that the modern family no longer indulges in conversation, they simply text each other instead.

A man in a bright yellow jacket enters and waits to be seated. Like me he is on his own. Perhaps he is going to the theatre afterwards and is taking advantage of the “early bird” fixed price offerings. As usual I don’t fully take in what he is wearing until he gets up to go to the loo. He is wearing a kilt. Burns Night has been and gone, but there are men who are proud to wear the kilt on any occasion. He must be one of them, no doubt a fellow Scot, proud to wear national dress in everyday use. But wait, he is wearing long leather boots the length of wellingtons. His kilt is a mini kilt with no sporran sitting way above the knee. The sort of kilt young boys wear, the kilt that has been handed down from brother to brother, the embarrassing short kilt. However, he seems non plussed and obviously sees it as a fashion statement. Rather him than me I think, but each to their own.

I finish my meal, pay, and leave to go to the theatre. Films from the Banff Mountain Film Festival are being shown in the New Theatre, Oxford. Virtually a full house, the majority much younger than me. Maybe they are the sort who go on the adventures portrayed in the films. Me – I just like watching the feats and endurance of my fellow man. Maybe 40 years ago I might have gone on such trips, but not now. I like my comforts when it comes to travel.

The film showings over I leave and make my way to the bus stop. In front of me is my kilted fellow diner – he did go to the screenings after all. I wonder if he enjoyed them as much as I did. If he goes on such trips does he wear his kilt?

Dinner Companions

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The final “assignment” we had to write for the travel writing course was 250 words about “someone I met while travelling”. Juliet and I like to think we have caught the cruising bug and have undertaken several in recent years. You meet all sorts of interesting people on these trips and this is brief piece about one such encounter. I must admit a little bit of fiction has crept in – we did meet the people mentioned but my description of Sue is not 100% accurate in terms of her jewellery.

“Dev Patel is playing Saroo, while Nicole Kidman is playing me”. On a cruise you meet all sorts of people and this cruise was going to be no exception. 

Sue, from Tasmania was one of our table companions one night at dinner along with her husband and two other couples. Dressed casually in a short sleeved dress to reflect the Mediterranean summer her eyes sparkled as she spoke. Neck length hair complimented her choice of clothing. Her keen personality shone through as we chatted about life, families, the usual small talk when meeting people for the first time.

Dinner on a cruise is a chance for the ladies to dress up and wear lots of statement jewellery. However, Sue and indeed the other ladies on our table were minimalist in terms of adornments. Aside from the usual wedding band she wore a simple necklace, however, on her right wrist there was an unusual looking pearl bangle which glistened in the light from the chandeliers in the dining room. Carefully manicured nails with a shade of pale pink completed her look.

Intrigued we waited for Sue to continue. “John and I adopted 2 Indian boys back in the ‘80s. A few years ago Saroo decided to trace his roots in India and was reunited with his birth mother. Astonishingly she had never given up hope of seeing him again even after 25 years”.

“The bangle?”

 “It is from Madhya Pradesh where Saroo was born, a gift from his mother”.

In 2013 Saroo published his book “A Long Way Home” and the subsequent film “Lion” was released in 2016. It later transpired that his Hindi name was actually “Sheru”, which means “Lion”. Here is a link to a short film made by Saroo about how he used Google Maps to locate his birthplace – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXEvZ8B04bE