I was out with Alfie quite late yesterday afternoon. (Monday)Well, when I mean late, I don't mean it was dark, with the sun going down. I mean, around 4.45. Oldbrook Green was busy, but any sense of social distancing had been totally disregarded. There were youths in the skateboard park, using it to . . . skateboard. People sitting on the grass in groups. We walked around and one boy was on a bicycle, attempting to ride it on its rear wheel. He came up behind me on the final lap, near the children's playground, and didn't make any sort of sound, which made me jump somewhat. What would have happened if he had come off and hit his head, requiring hospitalization? There were a couple of girls climbing over the fence into the children's playground, which was locked and had a notice clearly stating it was banned from use, due to the coronavirus pandemic, but it was obvious that they wouldn't have seen this notice and then proceeded to sit on the swings, not designed for people of their size.
I had a telephone call this afternoon. Wow! That's a thing. From the cardiology department of Milton Keynes Hospital. I am going to get a call on Thursday at 3 p.m. from one of the cardiology doctors to see how I'm getting on. Not bad, just bored and sick of the lockdown, but I don't suppose they can do anything about that. Or maybe they can. Would be good if they could.
(Tuesday) Here I am, wide awake at 4.55a.m. I have had a shave, and done all the washing up (my kitchen must be the tidiest in the country.) Lockdown has turned my world upside down. It's no use sleeping, as I just can't get back to sleep. I have watched a further episode of the Peter Ackroyd 'Thames' documentary series on History Hit. It's fascinating. Read a bit more of the Simon Heffer book, 'The Age of Decadence,' and currently reading the chapter on the Suffragettes. What a brave lot of women. When people say that they don't intend to vote in an election, they should bear in mind all those who fought to get them the right to have a vote, not just women, but men as well. The force-feeding of women in prison would be considered abuse by today's standards.
I needed a different place to take Alfie for a walk this afternoon, so I put the cage in the back of the car and installed his nibs in it and we drove down Chaffron Way to the Ouzel Valley Park, which Carol and I visited on many occasions with the dogs. I was able to let Alfie have a run, and he seemed to appreciate the fact that he could run free, but I made sure that there was no livestock in the meadow we were walking across, although there were cattle in the adjoining meadow. There were lots of other people who had the same idea as myself, many with dogs, in family groups and many with children in various forms of pram and buggy. We walked through several kissing gates. This is how Wikipedia describes kissing gate:
'A Kissing gate is a type of gate that allows people, but not livestock, to pass through.
The normal construction is a half-round, rectangular, trapezoid or V-shaped part-enclosure with the free end of a hinged gate trapped between its arms. When the gate is touching an arm, it must be pulled or pushed to pass through. The gate may need to be pushed to give access to the small enclosure, and when in the enclosure, the person pulls the gate past the bulk of the enclosure to exit. Some examples have latches. Most are installed self-enclosing, to the side away from the pasture (livestock field), by hinge geometry, a spring or weight.'
So, if you didn't know, now you should. They are usually installed where livestock are in a meadow and allow people to move through without allowing the livestock to go through, usually where there is a cattle grid. (no, I'm not going to explain what they are here.)
We went through several kissing gates and then began the walk back towards the car. Several more people with dogs and then as we approached the car park, a couple was coming towards me with a large dog. Alfie was on his lead and when we got closer Alfie began barking and the dog came at him, attempting, well it seemed to me, that it wanted to pick him up in its mouth. I scooped up Alfie in my arms and the couple were most apologetic. Alfie was just as much to blame, barking as he always does, but he always wants to be friends with every dog he meets, as he has virtually no fear. The other dog continued to growl. Probably because it didn't like Alfie's aggressive noise, or so it probably was thinking. What do dogs think? That's a matter of dispute. I was upset, as anyone would be who has their dog attacked by another dog. But it probably wasn't. The bigger dog was probably just putting Alfie in his place, a big dog telling off a smaller one. We walked on and I put Alfie in the cage in the car and drove him.
(Wednesday) It has been raining, although very lightly, this morning, and we didn't remain out very long. I think Alfie was quite happy to return home quickly when he discovered that he was getting wet. We needed the rain, whatever the amount. It didn't last long, and it barely laid the dust. The grass is beginning to look very brown and parched in many areas.
I have managed to stitch together various parts of my writing project and it is now over eighty pages long. I cut and pasted these elements into the 'core' storyline, and I'm grateful to the technology because I can't imagine writing it in longhand or on a typewriter.
I had a telephone call this afternoon. Wow! That's a thing. From the cardiology department of Milton Keynes Hospital. I am going to get a call on Thursday at 3 p.m. from one of the cardiology doctors to see how I'm getting on. Not bad, just bored and sick of the lockdown, but I don't suppose they can do anything about that. Or maybe they can. Would be good if they could.
(Tuesday) Here I am, wide awake at 4.55a.m. I have had a shave, and done all the washing up (my kitchen must be the tidiest in the country.) Lockdown has turned my world upside down. It's no use sleeping, as I just can't get back to sleep. I have watched a further episode of the Peter Ackroyd 'Thames' documentary series on History Hit. It's fascinating. Read a bit more of the Simon Heffer book, 'The Age of Decadence,' and currently reading the chapter on the Suffragettes. What a brave lot of women. When people say that they don't intend to vote in an election, they should bear in mind all those who fought to get them the right to have a vote, not just women, but men as well. The force-feeding of women in prison would be considered abuse by today's standards.
I needed a different place to take Alfie for a walk this afternoon, so I put the cage in the back of the car and installed his nibs in it and we drove down Chaffron Way to the Ouzel Valley Park, which Carol and I visited on many occasions with the dogs. I was able to let Alfie have a run, and he seemed to appreciate the fact that he could run free, but I made sure that there was no livestock in the meadow we were walking across, although there were cattle in the adjoining meadow. There were lots of other people who had the same idea as myself, many with dogs, in family groups and many with children in various forms of pram and buggy. We walked through several kissing gates. This is how Wikipedia describes kissing gate:
'A Kissing gate is a type of gate that allows people, but not livestock, to pass through.
The normal construction is a half-round, rectangular, trapezoid or V-shaped part-enclosure with the free end of a hinged gate trapped between its arms. When the gate is touching an arm, it must be pulled or pushed to pass through. The gate may need to be pushed to give access to the small enclosure, and when in the enclosure, the person pulls the gate past the bulk of the enclosure to exit. Some examples have latches. Most are installed self-enclosing, to the side away from the pasture (livestock field), by hinge geometry, a spring or weight.'
So, if you didn't know, now you should. They are usually installed where livestock are in a meadow and allow people to move through without allowing the livestock to go through, usually where there is a cattle grid. (no, I'm not going to explain what they are here.)
We went through several kissing gates and then began the walk back towards the car. Several more people with dogs and then as we approached the car park, a couple was coming towards me with a large dog. Alfie was on his lead and when we got closer Alfie began barking and the dog came at him, attempting, well it seemed to me, that it wanted to pick him up in its mouth. I scooped up Alfie in my arms and the couple were most apologetic. Alfie was just as much to blame, barking as he always does, but he always wants to be friends with every dog he meets, as he has virtually no fear. The other dog continued to growl. Probably because it didn't like Alfie's aggressive noise, or so it probably was thinking. What do dogs think? That's a matter of dispute. I was upset, as anyone would be who has their dog attacked by another dog. But it probably wasn't. The bigger dog was probably just putting Alfie in his place, a big dog telling off a smaller one. We walked on and I put Alfie in the cage in the car and drove him.
(Wednesday) It has been raining, although very lightly, this morning, and we didn't remain out very long. I think Alfie was quite happy to return home quickly when he discovered that he was getting wet. We needed the rain, whatever the amount. It didn't last long, and it barely laid the dust. The grass is beginning to look very brown and parched in many areas.
I have managed to stitch together various parts of my writing project and it is now over eighty pages long. I cut and pasted these elements into the 'core' storyline, and I'm grateful to the technology because I can't imagine writing it in longhand or on a typewriter.
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