Freedom

Lockdown Day 12

It was such a beautiful morning that I decided to get up and go out early for my daily exercise which was a 4 mile walk across the fields again.  It's perfect as I don't need to get in the car, I just walk around the corner and straight into the fields.  Early is by far the best time to go, I only saw a couple of dog walkers and this girl on her horse when I was near the stud farm.  

Before I went out, I was thinking that it was boring that I only have two options, the field or the undercliff walk, but then I realised how lucky I am to have the choice of these two wonderful places when my friend Louise said how she'll miss seeing the lambs this year.  I see them on every walk, as well as the horses and can listen to the beautiful birdsong, so yes I'm very lucky!  

I was back home by 11am feeling happy and refreshed, I spent Alan's lunch hour with him and then when he went back to work I cleaned the bistro set on the terrace and sat outside in the sun.  I fancied a glass of wine, but was good and poured myself a non alcoholic beer and saved the wine for later when Alan finished work.  I phoned mum and had a chat with her, she sounded in positive spirits which is good, and she's doing as she's told and not going out.  Her neighbour picked up a bit of shopping for her so I know she's looked after which puts my mind at rest and I speak to her every couple of days.

We sat in the Palace had wine and pizza and watched Chris Moyles live DJ Set on instagram which he does every Friday night.  It was great fun so I think that's going to be our Friday night entertainment for the time being.

Today London's Nightingale Hospital was officially opened virtually by Prince Charles, and will be ready for patients from Monday.  Today the number of deaths in the UK was 684 taking the total to 3,605, and I saw the following post on Vanessa's FB page and decided to post it here for a record of what's going on at this crazy time:

Clapping at 8PM every thursday in the streets to say thankyou to our NHS and key worker heros.

Fuel prices dropped a record amount (now £1.02/litre)

Self-distancing measures in full swing, and potentially getting stricter.

Tape on the floors at food stores (inside and outside) to help distance shoppers 2m (6ft) from each other.

Limited number of people inside stores, therefore lineups outside the store doors.

Pubs, theatres, cinemas, non-essential stores and businesses mandated closed.

Parks, trails, entire cities locked up.

Entire sports seasons cancelled.

Concerts, tours, festivals, entertainment events - cancelled.

Weddings, family celebrations, holiday gatherings - cancelled.

Funerals limited to children/parents/spouses of deceased.
No other family or friends.

No masses, churches are closed.

Schools are all closed and all Exams cancelled.

No gatherings permitted.

Unable to socialize with anyone outside of your home due to Government mandate.

We are to distance from each other.

Shortage of masks, gowns, gloves for our front-line workers.

Shortage of respirators for the critically ill.

Panic buying sets in and we have no toilet paper, no disinfecting supplies, no paper towel no laundry soap, no hand sanitizer; shelves are bare where pasta, meat, pet food, beans, fresh bread, milk used to be in abundance.

Manufacturers, distilleries and other businesses switch their product lines to help make visors, masks, hand sanitizer and PPE.

Government closes the border to all non essential travel and makes it mandatory to self isolate for 14 days when returning.

Fines are established for breaking the rules.

Fines for those price-gauging others.

Stadiums and recreation facilities redesigned and opened up as emergency hospitals for the overflow of Covid-19 patients.

Press conferences daily from the Government, whose Prime Minister, Health Secretary and Chief Medical Officer all had to self-isolate with flu-like symptoms.

Barely anyone in the street or on the roads.

People wearing masks and gloves outside, and people swapping sides of the street to avoid each other.

Essential service workers are terrified to go to work.

Medical workers are afraid to go home to their families.

Many people placed on furlough and unable to work with the government paying 80% of their wage.

They say it started in Wuhan, China at a seafood market. Hundreds of thousands affected, dead, dying, critically ill.

Many recovered.

This is the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic, declared March 11th, 2020 - although the first cases appeared in the UK on 31st January 2020.