14th June 2020

Across the UK, 36 deaths were recorded with coronavirus – the lowest since 21 March. The official total of UK deaths across all settings now stands at 41,698.

Today, people living alone in England can begin forming “support bubbles” with other households. This paves the way for some grandparents to visit and hug their grandchildren again, while couples not living together can finally stay overnight at each other’s homes.

It was a warm and pleasant day in Harborough. As is now usual on dry days, I spent my time tending the fruit and vegetable plots, while Sue busied herself in the garden, sprucing up areas that had become unkempt since their last tidy-up. She also tackled the driveway today, blitzing the weeds and, it seemed, turning a lot of the gravel stones the right way up!

The easing of lockdown restrictions is becoming increasingly obvious; traffic on the roads has noticeably increased, and there seems to be an endless stream of pedestrians passing the end of our drive.

Sarah, Lee, Alice, and Mia took full advantage of support bubbling. First, they visited Jamie, who was nearby in Bottesford with Ruth this weekend. From there, they continued to Lee’s parents in Cotgrave, where Alice also met her new aunt, Sam White. Tomorrow, Sue and I will be forming yet another bubble, travelling to Newbold Verdon to see our grandchild in the flesh for the first time. Fingers crossed the weather holds.

Good news about our pheasants, Sue spotted the two males waiting impatiently by the Scots Pine, eager for her to stop turning stones so they could get to the grain left for them. Later, I spotted a very proud and protective mother pheasant leading a large brood of chicks along the riverbank. My task for next week: capturing some family pheasant photos!

Today, we finally met our new grandchild, Alice Thelma Price. Though we set off early for Newbold Verdon, we arrived to find Charlotte, dressed in full PPE, already in the back garden, giving Alice a good cuddle. Suraj and the boys had dropped her and Harry off on their way to buy a cycling machine in Newark. Sarah and Lee, looking grateful for the distraction, were able to enjoy a peaceful breakfast while Alice was fawned over by her eager in-laws.

The night before, Alice had been attached to a breathing monitor, which malfunctioned and kept triggering false alarms, ensuring very little sleep for her already-exhausted parents. Though cheerful, it was clear that fatigue was setting in. Charlotte, besotted with her niece, took quite some time before reluctantly passing Alice over to Sue, who, also suited up in PPE, was eager to make the most of every cuddle.

At such an early age, Alice’s vision is still developing, which is perhaps fortunate; otherwise, she might have formed quite a distorted impression of what human faces look like! Hopefully, in a few weeks, these precautions will no longer be necessary.

After an hour, we left Alice in Charlotte’s capable hands and took Mia for a long countryside walk and picnic. We saw only one other walker, a woman from a distant village who had stopped to ask Sue for directions to Newbold Verdon. By sheer coincidence, she turned out to be a friend of Sarah’s next-door neighbour, and her daughter lived just outside Harborough!

Our picnic spot was idyllic, set near dark, deep ponds that were once part of a sand quarry. We found a sunny clearing just off the path, surrounded by foxgloves. As we made our way back to the village, we heard the distant rumble of thunder, but the rain held off until we were safely back with Alice for another round of cuddles.

After a short visit, we set off home, just as the rain began. Yet, true to the fickle nature of the weather, Harborough was bone dry! In frustration, I fetched the hose and gave the thirsty vegetables a much-needed drink.

Later in the evening, we had an unexpected visitor, Jamie called in on his way back from Bottesford, dropping off some delicious-looking flapjacks he had made at Ruth’s. He also picked up some wood for a fire pit, as he was planning a BBQ that night.

15th June 2020

The UK death toll from coronavirus has risen by 38 in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 41,736. This morning, England’s high streets saw lengthy queues as non-essential shops reopened for the first time since lockdown began. Clothing stores, bookshops, and zoos were among the thousands of businesses welcoming back customers, while some secondary schools resumed classes and places of worship opened for private prayer.

Sir John Bell, Regius Professor of Medicine at the University of Oxford, told the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee that, with lockdown restrictions easing, the UK is likely to see a resurgence of the COVID-19 epidemic. Both China and Iran have already experienced a second wave of the outbreak, while Hong Kong is approaching its third.

A pleasantly warm day. I had no intention of joining the hordes desperate for retail therapy, so I spent the morning sowing a row of peas before turning my attention to the hedges at the rear of Willow Bank. However, my usually reliable electric hedge trimmer gave up the ghost after just a couple of sweeps of its chattering blades.

Determined to reward its years of faithful service, I stripped it down completely and attempted to rewire it. After more than twenty years of reliability, I was reluctant to part with it. Yet, after a couple of hours of tinkering and careful consideration, I had to admit defeat. Resigned to the inevitable, I went online in search of a replacement. Given how much the hedges have grown over the years, I decided to invest in a petrol-powered model with an extension.

Lockdown has had a significant impact on the stock that shops hold or can source. Site after site offered plenty of options, yet none were available for store pick-up or even future delivery (so why advertise them at all?). Eventually, I managed to track down the model I wanted at Screwfix, though not at the Harborough outlet; I had to pick up the last remaining one in Corby.

After a half-hour drive along roads that were quieter than expected, I joined a short queue outside the store. Ten minutes later, I was back on the road, victorious.

It took me about an hour to read the instructions and assemble the trimmer. I remember the days when you could simply unpack a new piece of equipment, switch it on, and get to work. Now, you’re given a box of parts and a set of tools to put it all together yourself. I have drawers full of spanners and Allen keys that have only ever been used once!

On the plus side, the trimmer worked perfectly on the first attempt. As a test, I trimmed a small section of the hedge, and it handled the job with impressive efficiency. Even better, it came with a grass strimmer as a bonus. If the weather holds tomorrow, I’ll put it to proper use.

16th June 2020

The UK coronavirus death toll has risen by 233. UK trials have shown that dexamethasone, a drug used to reduce inflammation in diseases such as arthritis, reduces death rates by around a third among the most severely ill COVID-19 patients in hospital. Remarkably, the cost of saving a life with the drug is just £40, cheap at twice the price!

I wrote yesterday’s blog entry during a tremendous thunderstorm, reminiscent of those the family experienced during the monsoon season on past holidays to the Far East. This evening, the skies have delivered yet again, torrential rain, constant thunder and lightning, all heralded by a huge gust of wind. Sooooo exciting!

We may not be travelling to exotic places for a while, but this is, without doubt, the most thrilling climatic event since returning from the Amazon last February. It’s a telling sign of lockdown fatigue when the imagination is so easily ignited by an ordinary British summer storm!

Today is my late mother’s birthday. It has long been a family tradition to travel to Caergwrle in North Wales, spend some time on the bench we placed beneath the castle in her memory, and then climb its slopes for a picnic within the ruined walls where we scattered her ashes. But this year, it was not to be; COVID-19 travel restrictions have prevented our family gathering.

However, this afternoon, I received a phone call and a WhatsApp message from Cerys, a Welsh cousin, who, knowing we wouldn’t be able to make the journey, sent a photograph of her two daughters sitting on the bench for us. A kind and thoughtful gesture, and very much appreciated. Thank you, Cerys.

It was a day of sunshine and showers. Sue had hoped to meet Doreen in the park for the first time since lockdown, but the unpredictability of the weather put paid to that.

After a dry bike ride, I spent the rest of the day cutting one of the rear hedges between showers. Job done, I managed to outwit the Council’s recycling website, which tries to limit visits to the tip to once a fortnight, by using Sue’s details and car registration in place of my own. However, even with one of the shorter hedges, I’ve already accumulated more cuttings than Sue’s car can transport. My permit isn’t valid until Thursday afternoon, so I’ll have to rethink my plan!

Charlotte briefly visited late in the afternoon. She had been working in Harborough today and popped in to check up on her parents. I currently have a glut of lettuce and managed to offload two large ones. She grows her own, so I suspect the chickens will be the real beneficiaries. I don’t mind, they’re going to a good cause, and we may get some eggs in return.

It was pleasing to see Ellis in a photo on Family Messenger, studying one of my books to complete a physics homework assignment. I hope he found it useful.

Lee was supposed to return to work today after his paternity leave, but when he logged on from home this morning, his boss told him to “Bugger off and not come back until next week!” How kind is that? Perhaps it’s a shift in attitude since the pandemic, but that’s exactly the sort of company we’d all like to work for, one that fosters loyalty and hard work.