Yellow Rose

I drove back to North Norfolk today after a wonderful 4 days in Milton Keynes catching up with family and friends that I haven’t seen for nearly two years. I was mostly meeting them outside, so the glorious weather was a real bonus. I walked over 27 miles over the 4 days, so am feeling quite tired today - not helped by watching Emma Raducanu’s semi-final win starting at 3am this morning. What an achievement to become the first qualifier ever to reach a grand slam final. And how amazing that she’ll play another teenager in the final in New York, both born after the horrific terrorist attack on the twin towers. I popped into Tesco on the drive home for some groceries and picked up these lovely yellow roses too, they were my mum’s favourite.

Day 543 / Day 54 of Step 4 of Roadmap Easing (for my record only)
The R rate remains unchanged in Eng this week at 0.9-1.1, with an estimated daily growth rate of -1% to +1%. The ONS weekly infection survey of private households reports 1 in 70 with the virus in England (unchanged again); 1 in 45 in Scotland (up); 1 in 65 in Wales (up); and 1 in 60 in NI (up a tad). Denmark has lifted all Covid restrictions except for face masks at airports, and advised at medical facilities. Dame Sarah Gilbert says that vaccines are providing strong protection a year on from the initial two doses from analysis of ongoing trial data. The Dogs Trust has seen a 35% increase in phone calls about giving up dogs in the last few weeks as things return more to normal - no surprise, but it does still upset me at how selfish / thoughtless people are.