9th April 2020

The media has been entirely focused on Boris Johnson and his condition in hospital. Although he is receiving oxygen, he has not been placed on a ventilator, but he is clearly very unwell. If there is even a small positive to take from this, it is that it serves as yet another wake-up call to those who believe they are somehow immune to the circumstances in which we now find ourselves. This virus respects no one.

President Trump believes he may have found a silver bullet: hydroxychloroquine. Convinced of its potential, he ordered a large quantity of this anti-malarial drug from India. Unfortunately, India imposed an export ban on it about a week ago. Trump’s response was to phone Prime Minister Narendra Modi and threaten India with retaliation if it did not release the drug. No doubt the world hopes hydroxychloroquine proves to be the solution; it would likely be the simplest get-out-of-jail card we could play. However, many questions remain unanswered regarding its effectiveness. In fact, Trump appears to have silenced his chief medical adviser on the matter. If this anti-malarial concoction does turn out to be our saviour, then thank you, Donald, the world owes you a great debt. Perhaps this was the reason God made you President of the USA (I struggle to think of any other). If it does not, then it only reaffirms that you remain the bullying, self-absorbed control freak that most of the world already believes you to be. I do hope you are right, but I am not optimistic.

It was a warm, sunny day. I planted two more rows of potatoes and queued for twenty minutes outside Wilkinson’s to buy more onion sets. After several days of sunshine, the soil is drying out quickly, so this afternoon I rolled out the garden hose and gave everything a thorough soaking. Sue is still enjoying her spider-hunting. Today, she evicted an entire population from my garden shed. I believe I now have the tidiest and cleanest shed in Leicestershire; it has even been hoovered. I wonder if she will venture into the greenhouse next?

In the afternoon, we had a fleeting, socially distanced visit from Jamie. He picked up his mail, bicycle, remote-controlled aircraft, and some cable connectors before disappearing in a cloud of dust down the drive.

08/04/20
The warmest day of the year so far was overshadowed by grim news: 938 deaths in the UK from coronavirus, the Prime Minister still in intensive care, and the head of the European Union’s top science organisation resigning in frustration, citing institutional and political obstacles that prevented him from swiftly setting up a scientific programme to combat the virus.

In the vegetable plot, another row of soil was dug over, and onions and beetroot were planted. The lawn received another therapeutic session of mowing. In the greenhouse, I sowed five pots of spring onions and, as an experiment, five pots of turmeric. I had earlier purchased 50g of turmeric tubers from eBay.

Late in the afternoon, Sue delivered an order of vegetables from our local farm shop to her friend Doreen, who lives in a block of flats on the other side of Harborough. Her complex has gone into complete lockdown, with residents told to stay in their apartments. Like Doreen (87), most of them are elderly and either unable or too afraid to venture beyond their front doors. A farm worker placed the vegetables in the boot of Sue’s car in a large box, and she dropped them off outside the front entrance, where she watched Doreen collect them. Life has become so uncertain and frightening for many.

I rang Jim in Cyprus. He was well but grateful for the call. Isolation can’t be easy without family or even pets for company. He mentioned that Polis has had its first two confirmed coronavirus cases, one being the wife of a doctor who also worked as an administrator at the local hospital. Interestingly, a coronavirus hotspot on the island was traced back to a cat. At first, there seemed to be no link between the infected families until it was discovered that one of them owned a cat that roamed widely and was regularly fed (and petted) by the others. It makes you think!

09/04/20
For those observing the lockdown, life is starting to feel a little repetitive. The necessary restrictions on lifestyle and movement are particularly difficult to endure when the sun is shining, and shorts, T-shirts, and sandals, more suited to the beach, become the outfit of the day. Holidays are already fading into memory, and plans for future ones must remain on hold until the world is once again safe for travel. There are far more pressing issues for governments to address before that happens.

With some irony, I noted that the Irish Garda are now setting up roadblocks on the Northern Ireland border to prevent crossings without checks. A very sensible measure, but weren’t border checks precisely what the Irish insisted must not happen, causing great delays and disarray during the Brexit negotiations? Does this now call Schengen into question? How quickly the world’s priorities and values have shifted.

Back to routine: another row of soil was dug over, and more shallots were planted. Last year’s pickled onion recipe was exceptional, and come autumn, I am determined to make several more jars using the same ingredients. I also planted a few early potatoes in tubs, ready for the salad days of summer.

Jamie paid us another fleeting visit, this time to pick up some cable for a project he was working on at home. Sue took the opportunity to insist he also take his golf clubs, which have been cluttering up the shed for years. She is on a mission to return all those long-forgotten items that have been stored around the house and garden back to their rightful owners.

This evening, we went to the theatre again, virtually, of course. We watched a brilliant performance of Jane Eyre by the National Theatre. The acting was superb, the minimalist set was highly effective, and the music and songs were absorbing. We thoroughly enjoyed the three-hour performance, accompanied by Doritos (Nacho Cheese) and beer, a wonderful evening of entertainment that, for a while, transported us away from the troubles of the present and into the imagination of Charlotte Brontë.

Later in the evening, the country came together to make a ‘Noise’ in appreciation of all the key workers keeping the nation running.

10/04/20
Boris Johnson has been moved back onto the wards, indicating that he is at least out of immediate danger. His father (quite rightly) has said that he should take time to recover before returning to work. I don’t expect Boris to take much notice of that advice!

It seems that Premier League clubs have finally been shamed into doing the right thing. After several top teams placed their staff on furlough while continuing to pay their first-team players, who earn, on average, £70,000 a week (yes, a week!), it became clear that ordinary taxpayers and supporters were footing the bill. No matter how much backtracking or protesting about what they intended to do, the damage was done. You have lost the respect and faith of the majority of the country by failing to immediately step up in support of the NHS and the people of this country. Wealthy, privileged, and yet found wanting when it mattered most, hardly the mark of a true team player for

‘Team UK’. Perhaps it’s just as well that, if the season resumes, matches will be played behind closed doors. I suspect the reaction from supporters would not be pleasant.

Yes, another row of soil was dug and rotavated. And despite still working our way through last year’s beans from the freezer, I’ve sown two more rows of broad beans.

This afternoon, in exchange for two bottles of my Rosé infused with Mango, our neighbours, Viv and Ian, handed over a lovely cantilever garden parasol, passed carefully over the garden fence, of course. Like us, they’ve been having a clear-out, and although they bought it several years ago, it has never been used as it doesn’t fit over their patio. They even provided the slabs to support it! Either they’ve been incredibly generous, or I’ve seriously undervalued the quality of this year’s vintage Rosé.

Jamie made another fleeting visit, this time to drop off some meat and pick up a few patio chairs for his garden. A little more space clawed back!