Tag Archives: life

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.

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.

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