New Prime Minister

Monday. 6.45 a.m. I awoke in the night to the distant sound of thunder. At first I wasn't entirely sure whether it was thunder, but then it broke and there was a torrential rainfall storm. It seemed to go on for a while, but then it came to an end. When I went out with Alfie around 6 a.m. there was virtually no sign of any rain. The ground looked dry, although the air was heavy with moisture.

Tuesday. 6.35 a.m. It's a good deal cooler this morning. I am waking later and later each day.

So, Liz Truss had been selected as Britain's new Prime Minister, replacing Boris Johnson. She will be going to Balmoral to see The Queen and officially transfer power between the two leaders. As I write this, I have BBC Breakfast on television, and they are reporting from Downing Street as Boris Johnson will come out and give his final speech as Prime Minister. 

9.30 a.m. Boris Johnson's speech was short and sweet, and as usual, there was a certain amount of levity in it. I know he made many mistakes and told a few lies (well, to be honest, more than a few, but don't all politicians bend the truth?) All his MPs stood on the pavement to listen to him, and then he and his wife, Carrie, drove off in a Range Rover. I can't think where, but if he and Liz Truss have to go to Balmoral, which is somewhere to the north. in the depths of Scotland and close to Aberdeen, they would need to leave soon as I imagine it would take seven or eight hours by car and probably less if they went by train. Possibly a private plane? Well, the Queen is head of state and she can choose where they meet, for Boris to resign and Liz Trust to get the keys to Number 10. Usually, this takes place at Buckingham Palace, but her majesty didn't intend to return to London, to break her holiday. Well, she isn't in the best of health and, considering her great age, late 90s, who can blame her?

Cincinnatus was mentioned in Boris's speech. I had to do a Google search, to discover he was a Roman statesman. It passed me by so quickly, but unless you have a grounding in the classics (which Boris obviously does, but I don't.) it would take the likes of Mary Beard to explain more about this Roman figure.

1.30 p.m. I took Alfie to The Groom Room within Pets At Home in Bletchley for his 11.30 appointment. He is now home and looks a good deal neater than he was when he went in. His nails are trimmed, his teeth brushed, his face is tidy, and you can see his eyes properly.

I had to fill in 90 minutes whilst Alfie was being groomed. I had a salad roll, Danish pastry and tea in Greggs, which is a few doors along from Pets At Home. Then, a browse in T.K. Maax. There's always lots to see there, but I didn't buy anything, but I was tempted. I looked in Sports Direct and have seen a couple of pairs of trainers which I am determined to buy, which have leather uppers and look quite smart compared with other styles of trainers and at a reasonable price.

Liz Truss came back from Balmoral where she had met the Queen to be officially installed as Prime Minister. It made me think, surely she would have had to travel all the way to the north of Scotland. How would she get there? It couldn't possibly be by car or train, because she was expected back in Downing Street to give a speech to the nation. It transpired that she had gone by private jet. The plane came back and landed at RAF Northolt and then she had a drive into central London as part of a convoy of what would have been security people. Then the weather changed, it began to rain, and I was somewhat amused to see the podium which was put out in front of Number 10 by staff and, as the rain fell, the microphones on it were covered with a black bin bag. The rain became heavier and the podium was moved indoors and it wasn't clear where Liz Truss's speech would be given. Indoors? In the room where all those press conferences were given by Boris Johnson during the pandemic? Then the rain came to an end and the podium came back out! 

We saw the convoy of vehicles driving through the streets as it approached Downing Street and it eventually arrived outside Number 10 Liz Trust got out of the Range Rover she had travelled in and immediately went to the podium to give her address. To me, it seemed amazing that she arrived in Downing Street and was delivering that address within minutes of arriving.

Lockdown Lifting!

Tuesday. 8.30 a.m. Yesterday afternoon we had another of the, by now, rather a familiar coronavirus press conferences from Downing Street, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson in charge.  The best news was that the 'Roadmap' out of lockdown will go ahead as planned, without any u-turns or diversions along the way. So Monday will see most of the restrictions that have been in place for many months being lifted, but still with a certain 'cautious optimism' pervading the whole. One of the restrictions being removed is, being able to hug family members. A great deal is made of this! As I imagine you would expect.

It's bright and sunny as I write this, but still not particularly warm. Just thinking of the saying 'Nay cast a clout until Maybe out.' Which may or may not (sorry about the pun, unintentional or intentional??) refer to the May tree, or hawthorn, or possibly the month of May. Meaning, to not take off a layer of clothing until the month, or possibly, the May tree is blooming. Possibly winters were colder than they are now, because the hawthorn, or May, is definitely blooming at the moment. So, is it such a good idea to go out without your coat at the moment? That's a matter of debate, but I have gone out without mine on a few occasions, but then, when it's felt cold, I have regretted it.  Similarly, the Shakespeare line in one of his sonnets (can't remember which one.) 'Rough winds do shake the darling buds of may.' It's from Sonnet 18. (I cheated as I did a Google search, but never mind.)

I've done some more writing! I had started a sequence and then had some thoughts on how to improve it, so I started it again and have amended it with the new addition. There is more of it to go and it seems to be working better now. I can't believe I was working on this so early. Barely 7.30-8.00 p.m. I just need to construct the conclusion of this sequence. I have to say I rather enjoy the construction of plots. If I say any more then it will give things away. It has a 'meta' feel to it. If you understand literary terms, then you will know what I mean.

A trailer for EastEnders as I wait for something or other to come on this evening. I think it was for 'Money For Nothing.' Anyway, a lot of shouting and being really nasty to each other. A wedding of a couple of characters. Don't ask me who, why, etc. But you can always tell what the outcome will be, don't you? Always ends in disaster. What is it about living in Walford that means a marriage ends in tragedy or at least total disaster? Is it the water? Just living in that run-down square? In real life, would you choose to live somewhere like Albert Square? Why not simply move away? 

Wednesday. 6.50 a.m. A bright and sunny morning. Very still as we walked down Strudwick Drive and an almost perfect blue sky. How long will it last? 'Sunshine and showers', according to Carol Kirkwood on BBC Breakfast which is on the television as I write this.

Later. I've managed to write a good deal more. The only problem is that Alfie is staring at me. It's difficult to concentrate on what I'm doing. I give him a couple of treats out of the treat tin on the bookshelf. I write a bit more, but he continues to sit on the sofa, staring at me, his gaze shifting towards the treat tin. I attempt to ignore him but this is a dog with an incredible ability to get what he wants, so I take a few more treats out of the tin. Several are placed along the edge of the coffee table and one on the back of the sofa. He finds the ones on the coffee table, and from where I sit it amuses me to see his little face appear above the edge of the coffee table and he manages to pick one up with his mouth and then he jumps onto the sofa and finds the one on the sofa back. So, he settles back down and I continue to write. 

At around 9.45 I decided to take Alfie out. It is threatening rain which I can see from the kitchen window. Dark clouds gathering and when we come out onto Strudwick Drive there are definite spots of rain that fall onto my face as we walk along. I had to buy somewhat inferior poo bags from Morrison's because for some reason, Sainsbury's didn't have any in stock when I did my last online order, and then when I visited the store there were none. Probably stock availability due to lockdown or something. Morrison's version is thinner, but they do their job more or less adequately. On returning along Strudwick Drive I can see blue flashing lights at the junction of Strudwick Drive and Chaffron Way. I can vaguely see what must be a police car in the distance, the green and blue check design identifying it, or if not a police car, at least an emergency vehicle of some sort. I couldn't be certain, but I reckon someone has attempted to turn out onto Chaffron Way and got hit by a passing vehicle. Generally not advisable to turn right out of there, but to turn left and then do a complete circuit of the roundabout and continue along Chaffron Way.

Another Day Older

(Tuesday) Today is the first anniversary of the beginning of the first lockdown bought in as an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus, Covid 19. And what a year it has been! It's no exaggeration to say it has had an enormous impact on life in the United Kingdom, although why on earth Scotland and Wales, and possibly Northern Ireland, have different rules and regulations I can't understand. Surely it would be better to have all of the rules and regulations the same throughout the United Kingdom because some people would live in one country, for example, Scotland, but work over the border in England. Nicola Sturgeon would have different rules just to be awkward and because she doesn't like the English and wants desperately to be independent. I should leave it at that and not get into a debate on the pros and cons of Scottish independence.

It's turned out relatively mild today. Thank goodness the wind has calmed down.

I've got to really enjoy a great television show on BBC1 which has been running for a couple of years. I think it began on BBC2, but because it become so popular those in charge of these things at the BBC decided it ought to reach a wider audience, so it transferred to BBC1. It is usually on during daytime, at 4.30pm., where the latest season is currently and on every day during the week. It is also on during peak time, around 8p.m. on a Wednesday. What intrigued me today was an item which was bought into be repaired. a Kenwood Chef food mixer. My mother had one of these exact machines, being given one by my grandmother after she had been married for ten years. There was an earlier model, with a more rounded design, which was replaced by the more modern and squarer model. I do remember that the attachments, which included a mincer, juicer and a bean-slicer, worked on the original model, but when the later model came along the attachments wouldn't fit on the new model because the new model had metric screws, whilst the earlier model had imperial, so the attachments were somewhat redundant.

(Wednesday) 7.10a.m. Mild and dry this morning, but quite foggy nevertheless. I woke up and then went back to sleep and didn't wake up as I usually do and then immediately thought 'I ought to take Alfie Out!' and got dressed. I walked through to the lounge, at which point Alfie would normally have been barking and expecting me to slip the lead on his harness and take him out, tucked under my arm to carry him out, but he was asleep in his bed near the television, but as soon as I got close to him, it set him off on his usual noise.

2.16p.m. At last! After nearly seven months my Driving Licence arrived in the post this afternoon! Very late delivery I must say, but at least it's arrived and sorted out. I didn't think it would ever arrive and it still makes me wonder what on earth happened to the original Licence. Lost most likely.

Oh no! Yet another wretched Coronavirus press conference from Downing Street this afternoon. This means the BBC1 schedule is disrupted so there's no edition of The Repair Shop and Pointless moved to BBC2. I really don't want to have to endure another of these confounded doom-laden conferences, so I prefer to avoid them by watching BBC2 while I eat my evening meal.

(Thursday) Out with Alfie really early, just gone 6a.m. It's mild. Thankfully, none of that horrible wind and no sign of fog. So what does the day have in store? Probably the more of same.

A Roadmap Out Of Lockdown?

 (Monday) 7.30a.m. So Boris Johnson is to unveil a 'roadmap' out of lockdown later to day. Another of the infamous press conferences from Downing Street at around 7p.m. I just hope it's a road that has no hold-ups, with men in the road putting down cones and then you have to drive off the Motorway onto narrow country roads and then stuck behind a slowly-moving farm implement like an enormous combine harvester and then you go off down a narrow country lane and end up in a very muddy farmyard. Sorry for the mixed metaphors, but I just couldn't resist. I just hope that Boris has the roadmap the right way up and he has some sort of sense of direction so we don't end up in a cul de sac or even stuck under a bridge like a double decker bus whose driver doesn't have any idea of the route he's taking. Any more puns based on 'roadmap' write on a postcard or email to me.

I opened the curtains and looked out. Quite dry on the weather-front. There's a white van parked immediately outside and it has 'Bathroom tiling' emboldened along one side. It's obviously had a former life as it has 'Motorway Maintenance' on the rear with red and yellow stripes, the sort of vehicle you see going up and down the M1 or any other Motorway. Or is it (my stupid sense of the ridiculous.) an individual who is a motorway maintenance operative who does bathroom tiling on the side? Just hope he doesn't get the two jobs middled up and start tarmacing some dear old ladies bathroom or then tiling the hard shoulder of the M25 by accident. . . 

Later. I was supposed to have an electrician or someone come to do a safety check of the power points or something this afternoon. It was booked some while ago and I forgot about it but then it was rearranged for this afternoon, but I got a telephone call to say the workman was ill or something so it's had to be rearranged yet again. March 10th in the morning. I shall have to make sure I'm in when they come.

Later still. 'A one-way road to freedom' is how Boris Johnson has described the infamous 'roadmap' out of lockdown. I hope it is 'one way' and that there will be no u-turns. To mis-quote Margaret Thatcher, 'the gentleman's not for turning!' It's going to be cautious, but we must get out of this deadly ambush of our freedoms.

Could this possibly be aforementioned 'roadmap'? Bumpy road ahead, with one or two diversions for roadworks methinks, perhaps?

Later. I took Alfie out at around 2p.m. We went out through the door directly into Strudwick Drive and as I opened the door the wind made the door make a weird vibrating sound. I must say, the wind is quite strong at the moment, but to have a door making odd noises is really amusing and somewhat strange, but at the moment it's probably good to have something odd to take my minds off the relentless boredom of lockdown.

Back to reality, if that's possible. Now completed 26 pages of writing. Contemplating whether to transcribe it into word processing or not, the thought of it not a good idea as it's not my favourite job. I enjoy the actual writing (which, by the way, I do in pencil as it means it's easier to change as I go.

Wednesday 24th February. It's mild but windy this morning. Alfie curled up in his bed. He seems to like it as it's his own space.

I ordered a side unit on Amazon. It is small enough to go in the space currently take up by a red IKEA coffee table which I bought to the flat from the house in Eaglestone. It has drawers and shelving in it and should be an idea replacement. It was ordered on 3rd February and is supposed to arrive today, but I still can't understand why it's taking so long to be delivered. Generally if you order things from Amazon they take around a day to be delivered (I have Amazon Prime so you usually get preferential treatment regarding delivery and post and packaging. Also, you don't always know where an item comes from when you order. Goodness knows where this piece of furniture has come from and why on earth it's taking three weeks or more to arrive here.

Christmas Day EU/Britiish Trade Deal At Last!

(Thursday 24th December. Christmas Eve) So, it seems that a trade deal with the European Union has been struck. I heard this on BBC Breakfast this morning and a statement is due to be made by Boris Johnson but as I write this at 10.05a.m. there is nothing and everyone is waiting. The BBC had cameras outside Downing Street and they kept cutting from the television studio in Salford to Downing Street. Felt a little bit sorry for the policeman who stood outside. The Downing Street cat got a walk-on role and at one point we even saw a fox slink past! If this goes ahead it will be a very nice Christmas present for Boris Johnson. It's seems amazing that they've been negotiating a deal for most of the year and it's four-and-a-half years since the Brexit referendum and the country voted to leave by a very tiny majority.

This afternoon it was announced by Boris Johnson that the Brexit deal had been done. So, at least he has lived up to the mantra he had keep on about during last year's General Election (just over a year ago.) 'Let's Get Brexit Done.' It seems to have been a tortuous effort to get this thing sorted out, but it now has to be ratified by the EU parliament as well as the British parliament. Let's just hope it doesn't get voted down otherwise we will have to endure more negotiations. I feel sorry for the politicians, as the document which outlines the 'deal' is some two-thousand pages long and it will take them some time to wade through it.

(Christmas Day. Friday) I've been out with Alfie as usual and we found it to be quite chilly. There was ice on the pavement leading to Oldbrook Green, but that horrible patch of water I keep mentioning has gone. I think it might be cold enough for snow.

I have my Christmas dinner all ready to cook and have already peeled the potatoes. I have a turkey roast, not a turkey. There was no point getting one as I wouldn't have eaten a whole one, let alone got one small enough to fit in my electric cooker. It's supposed to take around 75 minutes to cook so I will have to work out when to put it in the oven if I want to eat my meal at around 4 o'clock. I did the Brussel sprouts yesterday evening. A really fiddly job. My father grew Brussel sprouts on the farm at Cardington. A lot bigger than those they sell in Sainsbury's. I used to feel sorry for the men who used to pick them, working in horrible wet and cold conditions in the fields. Then they were bagged and went to Covent Garden. A lorry used to come and collect them, the company who bought them called Bennet and Hawes. I don't know why people make such a fuss about Brussel Sprouts. I rather like them. I know if they're cooked to death they they can taste bitter, but I can't remember them being bitter. We had no choice, we had to eat everything put in front of us. I've seen a programme on television showing a machine that picked Brussels and probably no more than two people operated the thing as it moved across the field. No such technology on the farm and it must have taken quite a few men to do the picking.

Later. My Christmas lunch has been a great success. The Brussels were cooked to perfection. Certainly not bitter, which they can be. My roast potatoes were crisp and the parsnips just as i like them. I had to take Alfie out for a walk around Oldbrook Green after the first course. Some odd person on the grass miming boxing. Well, I think they were miming or just training, but it did look odd. A lot of people over the past months exercising around Oldbrook Green, some doing strange things which do look odd to other people who don't know what they're actually up to. A few women who walk around waving their arms around as if they're being windmills is another oddity.

Another Week Of Lockdown

(Tuesday) They're saying that the first peak of the coronavirus pandemic has probably been reached. It's still not possible to ease the lockdown restrictions, which means that shops selling 'non-essential' items are going to still be closed. It seems odd that D.I.Y. centres, such as B and;Q and Homebase can reopen, as long as they have social distancing measures in place, but garden centres cannot. This doesn't make any sort of sense and if things are relaxed it looks as if a lot of plants will be destroyed once they reach the point where they can't be sold. In that case a lot of growers are going to go out of business, as will many retail outlets, particularly those that sell clothing. Debenhams have already gone into administration, and a lot of overseas suppliers have been told they won't be paid for orders which had already been taken. Things look in a precarious stage at the moment.

Boris Johnson is back in Downing Street, having been in hospital recovering from coronavirus infection. I think it will inform how things now develop, having experienced firsthand how the NHS is coping. We should now get some idea how the lockdown will be lifted, probably gradually, allowing for more businesses to re-open, provided they use social distancing.

The weather has done a u turn. From being bright and sunny, it’s become wet and cold, which I noticed when I peered out of the window in the kitchen this morning. Alfie was as keen as ever to get out, but as soon as we got outside and were walking along Dexter Avenue, he wasn’t so keen as he got a bit wet. We got to the grass along Strudwick Drive, spent some time sniffing the grass, did a wee, and immediately headed home as fast as his little feet could carry him! No time to hang about and  consider ‘other matters.’ He couldn’t wait to get back into the flat, and I can hardly blame him.

I'm not watching much television news at present because it seems all they can discuss is the pandemic and to be honest it's becoming somewhat tiring having it thrust down your throat every time you turn on the television. I watch perhaps a few minutes at the beginning, to get the headlines, but there's no other sort of news, so I have either switched to another channel, such as BBC2 in the evening, where they have moved Pointless at this time, or I watch something on BBC iPlayer and on Tuesday I watched the first episode of a new series presented by Mary Beard about Rome, called 'Meet The Romans,' in which she discovers the 'real' Romans, the ordinary people who lived at street level. It's a revelation, and she doesn't mince her words, some of it down and dirty. What annoys me is that I didn't know that this series was on until I was trawling through the E.P.G. (Electronic Programme Guide) on my Freeview box. It hasn't been trailed on the other channels and I would have missed it otherwise. Thank goodness for the BBC iPlayer.

I've been to Sainsbury's again this morning, arriving at the carpark at around 8.15, to discover the queue further round the carpark than the last time I was there. Even so it didn't seem to take as long to get into the store. I had made a detailed list on Monday, which made the job easier and quicker as I had worked out well in advance what I needed. No point dithering around trying to think and being stuck in the store longer than usual. I was in and out of the store within around 40 minutes and used a self-service till to pay. I'm actually getting quite good at operating these self-service tills and it's probably best to use them and use my debit card with either contactless or 'chip and pin' to pay.

Another series I have only just discovered, about the Renaissance, and presented by Waldemar Januszak and called 'The Renaissance Unchained' in which he challenges the traditional views of art's most important epoch. Another brilliant documentary series which the BBC seems to insist on burying and not bothering to trail and I only discovered it when I accidentally came across it on the E.P.G. There are three more episodes and thank goodness for the ability to either record or view on iPlayer through my Freeview box. All the junk television such as Holby and EastEnders as well as reality shows get all the attention but the better stuff, the intelligent stuff, gets forgotten. They are not adhering to John Reith's three founding principles of the BBC, to inform, to entertain and to educate, probably in some form, but not entirely. I think it's because everything is ghettoised on different channels, because at one time, when there were fewer channels, BBC1, BBC 2 and ITV, you had a more mixed schedule and you were more likely to come across something such as a programme on the arts or history, by accident. Now it's just become very boring, and every day is identical, the same programmes on at the same time every day. I remember a time. probably when I was at school in the 1960s, when you would, for example, have a classic play on Sunday evening, when the BBC did 'Play of The Month,' and you could see a play by, for example, Shaw, Ibsen, Chekov or Shakespeare, or when they did 'Play For Today,' written by playwrights such as Alan Bleasedale or John Mortimer and directors of the calibre of Stephen Frears, Mike Leigh or John Slesinger. I don't think the BBC or ITV ever do what they term the 'single play' in a similar vein, except the BBC afternoon drama 'strand' called 'Moving On.' Everything has to be part of a series, probably because they don't imagine an audience being able to cope with material that ties up within the running-time and only managing to deal with on-going plots in a run of episodes.

(Wednesday) It's rather wet and dull today. But, saying that, it is mild. Alfie isn't keen to be out as he really doesn't appreciate getting wet, even if slightly. I only have to say to him 'Alfie, home,' and he immediately changes course and heads back to the flat. I got a belt for my shorts when I was in Sainsbury's yesterday, with the idea that I could start wearing those shorts, but as the weather has now changed, there is no likelihood of me wearing them for the foreseeable future. In some ways it's good that the weather has gone like this as it means people aren't tempted to go out and start gathering but remain in isolation and keep the social distancing going.

The news is that Boris Johnson's fiancee, Carrie Symonds, has given birth to a baby boy. In the midst of all the awful news regarding the pandemic, it's good to have something positive, but it must be a rather traumatic experience, when you think of the possibility of contracting the coronavirus.

We have had a church meeting using Zoom. It's a strange experience. We have had a sort of coffee morning and a communion service using Zoom and Pastor Ross does a devotional each morning at 10 o'clock on Facebook. I can watching through an app called Facebook Video on my Fire Stick on television which means at least that it's on a bigger screen and not just peering at the MacBook screen or iPad, or, if it comes to that, my iPhone, but in that case it would be far too small.