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As it is today … looking NE
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… looking SW …
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… and as it was during WW2!
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The daily routine during 'lock-down' tends to consist of reading, jigsaw puzzle puzzling and TV watching with a bit of exercise thrown in – we have a static bike and try to do half an hour on it each, and I take part in a weekly Pilates session by Zoom (which would normally be in the village hall). Dil does quite a bit of cooking, and she has also been asked to make 'scrubs' (medical clothing) for the local doctors' surgery – these are being made from old duvets! Can the NHS really not provide its own?
Meanwhile Spring has sprung and the weather is clement, which makes it all the more frustrating not being able to have communal gatherings, picnics and the like.
So here we are after the first week of 'lock-down' due to the Coronavirus. I see that the first two letters in the Sunday Times yesterday are suggesting that the "Lockdown is more deadly than the disease" – and I can't help wondering if that isn't true. During the Asian flu pandemic of 1957, I don't remember any of this sort of panic. I went on holiday in France that summer. Perhaps it wasn't so serious, but perhaps it was because we didn't have internet and social media to hype it up. Who knows? We'll see what the next few weeks bring. I just pity all those poor souls who are now losing businesses, finances and much else beside.
Everyone's been busy cancelling (or, more optimistically, postponing) events this week. We have two holidays booked, but it looks doubtful if we'll be able to take either of them. Food supplies seem OK locally at the moment. Dil has discovered some seeds for lettuce, beans and the like which we bought last year but didn't use – maybe we should plant them now. It will have to be in pots, as we have no other place to grow them, unless we start digging up the lawn. Shades of 'Dig for Victory'!
Luckily, before the crisis fully hit, we were able to launch the book on the Farnham Theatres which I'd spent many weeks typesetting. You can buy it on Amazon.
We took the opportunity last week – while we over-70s were still allowed
to get out and about! – to visit some old haunts, including the village
of Chalfont St Giles where I grew up. Some things had changed since the 1940s,
but I noticed that Warners the butchers is still there; I remember it with sawdust
on the floor.
I took the picture of the WW2 soldiers through a shop window – part of
a display of old photos. I would have been born about the time the photo was
taken.
|
As it is today … looking NE |
… looking SW … |
… and as it was during WW2! |
9th March 2020Great fun last week watching the tree opposite our house being taken down by tree surgeons. |
As it was … |
… then bereft of branches |
… and finally, |
All the news is about the Coronavirus spreading round the world and disrupting people's lives one way or another. One potential plus side is that an economic downturn may ease global warming. You win some, you lose some.
There was I, paintbrush in hand and dripping with white gloss from doing the
doors in the kitchen, when the doorbell rang and there was a man from BT wanting
to check our broadband. Not really a convenient time, but he insisted it had
to be done then and there, so in he came and fiddled around with the phone wires
while I carried on painting.
It turns out that the new router doesn't like working with the tangle of old
wires leading to the office from the master phone socket – so we moved
it to the hall and plugged it directly into a new master socket which the man
fitted (free of charge) and all was well as far as he was concerned. Only trouble
was that it needed a power point to be fitted in the hall – so my next
job, after finishing the painting, was to find an extension lead and enveigle
it through an internal wall to plug into an existing socket in the lounge. Luckily
I still know how to wire up a plug safely!
We bit the bullet and decided to redecorate the kitchen. A certain chaos now
prevails in the house!
But at least we were largely spared the ravages of the latest storm (Dennis)
to hit the country.
The country was hit by storm 'Ciara' yesterday – and although we were generally sheltered here, a tree came down and blocked our road yesterday afternoon. It also hit a parked car, though fortunately nobody was injured. After much communal activity and the help of a retired tree surgeon, the road was cleared and the wood (acacia) piled up on the grass verge. Added a bit of excitement to an otherwise dull day!
So, we're finally out. The UK formally left the EU on Friday 31st January 2020.
I never thought it would happen – but that's because I'd always hoped that
common sense would prevail over parochial bigotry. I was wrong. I think it will
come to be seen as a very bad decision.
When fish leave the shoal, or birds the flock, they are likely to be picked
off by large predators. Why does this country feel strong enough to take on
the world while not strong enough to take on and guide Europe? It makes no sense.
So now we leave the management of continental Europe in the hands of ther Germans
again. That didn't turn out too well in the 20th Century, did it?
I've been typesetting books for several people over the past few months: Grayshott,
from Then to Now; Marks in the Sand; A Tale of Two Theatres;
and Inspector William Donaldson.
The end of January marks the end of this procession of books, so I'll have to
find something else to do with my spare time. I'd quite like to write another
play, but can't easily think of a suitable subject.
Meanwhile there's various things to do for Headley
Theatre Club, as Dil and I are running a 'Green Room' in a month's time
and directing the Summer Show in July which will be an homage to WW2 –
and we still have to write the 'script'.
Have pantomimes had their day? We did a brilliant show over the last two weekends (6 performances) but had the lowest turn-out of audience ever. Perhaps they're all watching Netflix now!
The first weekend of Snow White went well – see
pictures.
Now we're into that 'between shows' week when we've still got our minds on the
performances to come, but we also have time to think about other things for
once.
Back from a cruise on Friday, we got plunged straight in to panto preparations! This year it's Snow White.
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