1st April 2020

It’s the last day of March, and it has certainly been an eventful month for both the UK and the world. Poor Italy and Spain continue to be ravaged, with no end in sight to their dreadful ordeal. While I believe the worst is still to come for us, the UK is rapidly mobilising resources to fight back. There now seems to be a collective mind-set, driven by fear, perhaps, that we are all in this together and that our individual actions do make a difference. The British spirit of stoicism, that famous ‘stiff upper lip,’ has carried this country through many hardships in the past, and I am sure it will do so again. April will be the true test of whether my optimism is well placed, as the next thirty days will see COVID-19 reach its peak, with its grim toll ultimately measured in lives lost.

The photo was taken by Charlotte this morning on a walk with Lucas and Harry (note the social distancing). What a beautiful world we live in.

This morning, my government-sanctioned cycling exercise was replaced by digging. It took me two hours to turn over a 40-metre stretch, three spade-widths wide, of heavy, rain-compacted soil. Normally, my entire vegetable plot would have been dug over last autumn, but the monsoon-like weather at the end of the year put a stop to that. The plan is to dig the same amount each day until it’s done, and then begin planting potatoes.

For lunch, Sue made cheese toasties using the mozzarella I made a few days ago, and they were absolutely scrumptious. I’m not exaggerating, they really were!

In the afternoon, Sue cycled down to the pharmacist to collect her prescription. She was ages, reporting that the delay was due to a huge queue while the pharmacist served one at a time. Queuing is a necessary inconvenience we’ll have to get used to, at least for the foreseeable future.

Charlotte had been working in Harborough during the morning and made a whirlwind visit in the afternoon to pick up a large bag of fire ash that Sue had been saving for the chickens. Apparently, they love to bathe in it, as it helps to get rid of lice, or so I’m told.

I spent the rest of the afternoon sowing a row of peas and carrots in the raised beds, followed by planting courgettes into pots in the greenhouse. What would I do without a garden to occupy my mind and time?

Now that Suraj is working from home, he has rearranged his study to accommodate this. Ellis asked if he could do his online schoolwork in the same room, and his dad happily obliged by setting up a similar workstation for him. How sweet is that?

Sarah chose to have a relaxing day, as she returns to work tomorrow. Like Lee, she will be working from home via phone and Internet. For the time being, her time will no longer be her own. She decided to get creative and spent the day working on the tiger in the photo.

Jamie seems to have turned philosophical, sharing the following on the family Messenger group this afternoon:

*”TRAFFIC is gone, CAR QUEUES are gone. FUEL is affordable, BILLS extended. KIDS are at home with their FAMILIES, PARENTS are at home taking care of their CHILDREN. FAST FOOD replaced by HOME-COOKED MEALS, hectic SCHEDULES replaced by NAPS. The AIR seems CLEANER, the WORLD QUIETER. PEOPLE are conscious about HYGIENE and HEALTH again. MONEY doesn’t seem to make the WORLD GO ROUND anymore. And WE now have TIME, finally, to STOP and SMELL the ROSES.

Finally, we get to see women’s real eyebrows and hair colour.

It seems like this COVID-19 is a RESET BUTTON for HUMANITY!!!”*

Jamie has also set himself the task of teaching Ruth the skill of binary trading. He is using it as a live teaching strategy for his company, Binary Destroyer and fxLearning, via Zoom on his own YouTube channel. It could be a powerful approach. I hope it works!

01/04/20

Traditionally, today marks April Fools’ Day. Its true origins are uncertain and could be linked to various cultures, festivals, or events, but I particularly like the connection to the Roman festival of Hilaria, when people wore disguises to celebrate the resurrection of the Roman god Attis. Hilaria is also known as Roman Laughing Day. However, this year, there is little enthusiasm for mirth in the midst of global despair, especially in Italy.

Today, I received terrible news from Joan in Santa Vittoria. Phil had been taken into hospital on 23rd March with abdominal pain and underwent surgery to remove part of his bowel. While the operation was successful, doctors discovered a heart condition, and he also suffered a severe bout of gout. Being a tough old soldier, he managed to recover well enough that Joan expected him to be sent home today. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen; he developed a high temperature and is now on antibiotics. Due to the lockdown, Joan hasn’t been able to see him since he was taken away by ambulance, though they do speak on the phone. What an awful situation to be in during such horrendous times! Our hearts and thoughts are with Joan and Phil during this nightmare. Hopefully, they will soon be reunited in their lovely home in Marche.

In Leicestershire, it was a cold and dull day. I completed my daily digging exercise and rotavated the strip I dug yesterday, finishing before midday. Meanwhile, Sue made leek and potato soup, which we enjoyed for lunch while watching Bargain Hunt on TV.

In the afternoon, I repaired the door jamb on the side door to the back garden, which had loosened against the wall, probably during the storms while we were away. I finished off my working day by mowing the lawns. They didn’t really need cutting, but I find it quite therapeutic, and I think we could all do with a bit of that at the moment.

A sign of the times: I had a conversation with Claire (from next door) via text, despite us being just 30 metres apart. She was weeding our shared driveway while I was mowing the lawn under the spruce tree. Now that is social distancing!