Yet Another Week of Lockdown

(Thursday) I've been to Waitrose this morning. There's things I can't get elsewhere, such as soap and I like their bath foam. Good value, considering it's  a Waitrose Essentials product. There was the obligatory queue system to get in, similar to that at Sainsbury's. I was in and out quickly and I used a manned checkout as I'm not sure about the self-service machines. It was a clear run down Chaffron Way and it was odd that there was virtually no traffic, as Marlborough Street, where it crosses Chaffron Way, is usually chocker-block at around 8.30a.m, which is around the time I'm driving to Camphill on a Tuesday morning. None of the nose-to-tail along the road, people obviously going to work. At the moment they will do doubt be on lockdown.

(Friday) Seems amazing to think it's 1st May. How did we get here so quickly? It doesn't seem that long ago that we were celebrating Christmas.

I'm having a bit of a Shakespeare festival currently. I know it was The Bard's birthday last week (how old would he have been? I think around 456 or something like that.) and I watched the National Theatre's production of Twelfth Night with Tamsin Greig as Malvolia, The Globe's version of Romeo and Juliet and, on BBC iPlayer, 'Hamlet.' As for other productions, available, free, on YouTube, I saw the National Theatre's 'Frankenstein' with Benedict Cumberbatch as 'The Monster.' It was a good production (I say 'was' because it's no longer in the National's repertoire. I'm not entirely sure how long ago it was on. I believe Twelfth Night was around five years ago.) but the only problem I have with watching via YouTube is that it doesn't work too well. I suppose I shouldn't look the proverbial gift-horse in the mouth, but generally speaking you don't get the full 'live' theatre experience seeing these plays on television. Well, you can't expect too, but it's great that they are recording these performance because once a live show finishes, there's usually no record of it for future viewing or for future generations to enjoy or for those who wouldn't normally go to the theatre.

(Saturday) It doesn't feel like the weekend. It doesn't feel like any particular day of the week. It's probably due to the lockdown, when each day seems to melt into one another. There's no focus to the week, such as going to Camphill on a Tuesday or church on Sunday.

I have been watching 'The A Word' and today watched two more episodes of the first season. I know there's a new, third, season due to start in a week or two so I want to have watched the second run before getting to the new season. Having worked almost exclusively with people with autism, I can identify with the problems of the family it's about. The little lad who plays Joe is amazing. I can't think how they get such a brilliant performance out of a child of around 5 or 6. They must have a great deal of patience.

(Sunday) I was out with Alfie before 6 o'clock this morning. He kept looking at me, which is usually his way of telling me he needs to go out. It was quite mild, thankfully. I usually do washing up from the night before, so I did that and the kitchen is again sparkling clean.

I have now seen the final episode of the first run of 'The A Word,' and I will start on season 2, probably this afternoon. I don't watch episodes back-to-back, but iPlayer almost insists that you with the next episode as soon as the previous episode is finished.

Having the windows open has it's disadvantages. Some delightful person drive up in their car and parked right below my window and had thumping pop music playing on their radio (it might have been a CD or from a mobile, but never mind.) This sort of thing is annoying. Please don't do this at such an hour of the morning. But Noel Coward was right when he said 'strange how potent cheap music is,' which is a line from his comedy 'Private Lives.' Just awful thumping news. People never play something calm, a bit of Beethoven or other classical music, and why play it so loud that it interferes with out people's lives, and in my case, concentration?

Having had a scan of what's on iPlayer, there is no excuse to say 'there's nothing much to watch.' Just overwhelming by the stuff you can watch.

Alfie insisted on another outing, as he was staring in his usual way so I felt obliged to take him out as soon as I'd finished watching 'The A Word.' I have to say, having worked with people with autism, it seems a very accurate portrait of someone with the disability. I'd be interested to know whether the writer had first hand experience of life with an autistic.

The Sainsbury Shuffle

I have attempted to avoid going out to shop too many times, but there comes a point where I simply need some basic items, such as milk, bread and potatoes. I did some washing this morning and had things back, dried and put away by around 9.30, so it seemed a good idea to go to Sainsbury's as early as possible. On arrival at the underground carpark, I found a space on the upper level and had to join the queue that had formed around the outer edge of the carpark. I had thought the end was part-way back from where I had parked the car, but I was wrong. I had to walk down the slope to the lower level and was shocked to see the end was a good way further back, where I stood with everyone else, with the recommended 2-metre (six feet) gap between myself and people in front of and behind me. The queue shuffled along, hence the term 'Sainsbury Shuffle' which I have used as this post's title. It makes me wonder what a docile nation we are in Great Britain. We seem to put up with a great deal, including queuing. But today people don't seem to have the patience. If the coronavirus pandemic is to be bought under control, people need to obey the social distancing advice in order to prevent the virus spreading. I think it's asking a great deal of people if the government expects everyone to just sit at home and do very little, even though the weather is fine. It is, as I write this. The sun is out and there's no wind. Let's just hope and pray that this situation improves or, better still, comes to an end.

My FitBit has been playing up. I can't get it to function, even though it appears to have a charge. My only real complaint about it is that it only keeps a full charged battery for a week. Why can't it be for longer? You never know exactly if it has started charging when you put it on the charging device. There are three metal pins (Brass? I'm not sure.) which are supposed to align with pins (prongs?) on the actual device. If it was a Apple device it would make a very decisive sound, which my MacBook does as it starts up, but the FitBit only makes a sort of shiver or vibrate which should denote it is charging, but the screen makes no sign of life. I haven't therefore been able to wear it when I take Alfie out for the past couple of days (more like, a week or so.) I emailed FitBit and got a response and have had the thing charging connected to the MacBook. It is now showing 99% charge, so something must be happening, so it would appear that all is well, or so I hope.

Later. The FitBit is back at full charge and is on my wrist and working as it should.

The sun is shining and we're stuck indoors. We're not supposed to go out. What? Indoors on a bright sunny day? That's awful. It may be to prevent the spread of the dreaded virus, but how long does the government honestly think the average person is going to endure this lockdown? Let's be perfectly honest, not long I would imagine.

Alfie can't seem to understand why we're cooped up indoors. I am sitting and watching a programme about Waitrose and he sits on the sofa next to me, staring. It's actually quite intimidating (how can a small Yorkshire Terrier be intimidating, you may ask? Well, when that dog stares and whenever you move, he follows.) In the end, once the programme was over, I just gave in and put him on his lead and took him out.

(Sunday) It's bright and sunny and we're still locked inside. We mustn't go out . . . But I hear the police, who have been given powers under new legislation which has recently been bought in by the government, to make sure people don't gather in groups, in an attempt to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. But I am hearing reports that the police have been somewhat heavy-handed over this.

We're now being told that the government may even prevent us going out to exercise. My goodness, we're slowly but surely becoming a police state! So, how on earth will this be policed? Doesn't bare thinking about. . .

(Monday) I've found it difficult to know what day of the week is is, as they are beginning to blur into one another. Having my Tuesday as a sort of focus of my week, and now that it's gone (but I quite intend continuing there as soon as things get back to normal, whatever 'normal' is now.) that focus has disappeared.

I have been out with Alfie, at around 7.15, and I found it quite over-cast and it would appear that it must have been raining, if only slightly, over night.

Boris Johnson has been admitted to hospital, as he has tested positive with the coronavirus. We haven't been told what he's been admitted for, but he is still in charge of the government and presumably keeping in contact with the cabinet and other politicians.

Keir Starmer has now been elected as leader of the Labour Party. An improvement on Jeremy Corbyn, who, quite frankly, wasn't Prime Minister material. He had a sort of 'couldn't-care-less' sort of attitude, well, at least that's how he came across. Untidy. His scruffy appearance didn't help. Remember what happened to Michael Foot and his donkey jacket? Well, I do and it's similar with Corbyn. Also, his crazy financial policies didn't help, particularly as he had no idea how to pay for them. Tax those who make wealth, those who set up businesses which create jobs, not a particularly good move.

I'm getting on with my writing. I seem to have found a way forward and as I write this I'm doing some research and have done quite a few pages which I'm writing in pencil, as I usually do and it will eventually get transcribed into word processing.

It is reasonably sunny at the moment and I will make something to eat for lunch and probably watch 'Bargain Hunt' as I eat. I hope it's a new episode rather than a repeat, but I suspect they will have suspended production because of the pandemic.

Later still. We may be in what is being called 'unprecedented times,' which is becoming something of a cliche and, frankly, rather an annoying term to describe the lockdown, due to the coronavirus pandemic, but we may be able to watch free presentations of theatre productions as a result. Most have been recorded with the intention of them then being broadcast in cinemas, although some have been 'live' broadcast. As all theatres are closed due to the pandemic, this is a good chance to see many of these theatre productions, and this evening I am watching a production of 'Hamlet,' which is a recording made at the Shakespeare Globe Theatre.

Tuesday at Camphill

I went to Camphill as usual on Tuesday. I leave to drive there a good deal earlier in an attempt to avoid the traffic, which can get really busy at around 8.30a.m. Regardless of this, it can still be extremely busy. Crossing the roundabout where Chaffron Way crosses Marlborough Street as well as Brickhill Street crossing Childs Way and finally Portway, can be really hairy. It's a matter of just being a good deal more aggressive and go for it when the road is clear, but it's not pleasant and a build-up of traffic which can tail back a long way. The journey should take no more than 10 minutes, but at that early hour it can take a good 45 minutes.

Lot of people missing today. Co-workers as well as residents. I had to read in for those who were missing, although it was only a line rehearsal. Then we were sorting out costumes for the actors. We had to go under the stage and into the costume store and bring up rails of the costumes, some of which had carrier bags attached which had hand props and bits and pieces which made up the various costumes. But when we got to the door of the costume store the keys would not unlock the door so we spent a great deal of time trying various keys but still the door would not unlock. It took at least 20 minutes before we were able to find the correct key and then take the rail of costumes up into the theatre.

We have now been told that the final drama workshop session before the Christmas break will be on 17th December. A group who use the Chrysalis Theatre,  Phoenix Rising, will be coming to see what will be, in essence, a dress rehearsal of 'Stranger Danger.'

I've been asked if I would like to work on a Monday with the singing workshop. It would be good to have an additional day's volunteer work. When I went to the Willen Hospice coffee morning in John Lewis I sat with the group that are newly bereaved and separate from the larger group I usually sit with. I spoke to one of the volunteer ladies and we were talking and I mentioned my interest in Shakespeare and she said, had I ever considered being a volunteer at the Shakespeare Globe, the reconstructed theatre on the Southbank of the Thames? I had never even thought of it. She was a volunteer there and said I might be good at that sort of thing. You have to go for an interview and it's not about your knowledge of Shakespeare that would want, more your ability to engage with the public, being a  friendly face that the audience members would see when they visited. I'm not sure I want to go all the way into London (you get your train fare reimbursed, apparently.) And it's likely to be a long day and coming home at night would put me off, crossing London on the Underground and the fact it's noisy, dirty, and generally unpleasant so it might not appeal to me in that respect, even though I would love to be involved.

Remembering Carol- Part 2

There's not enough room in one blog post for me to really write all I want to say about my late lovely wife Carol. So here's the second instalment. 

We found that we had plenty in common. We enjoyed each other's company. I went to her home in Crownhill for the first time and her little dog, Poppy, a West/Shitsu cross, must have taken to me, because she peed on my leg! Was that a sign that Carol and I had a future? Possibly. But it was a start. We went out together on quite a few occasions. She drove me all the way to Leicestershire in her Hyaundai Matrix and we visited the village of Thornton, where she lived up until 1979 when her family moved to Bournemouth. I saw the house where she lived and the infamous reservoir, or 'resize' as it was better known. I even saw the school which she attended. We went back more recently and also went into the newest town to Thornton, Coalville. 

Another day out we had together was to London. We went to Tate Modern, which I had never visited before but had always wanted to, since it was opened in 2000 by H.M. Queen. It was here that she thought she'd made a slight fool of herself, by her own admission. We were looking at a painting by the artist Monet, and she turned to me and said 'is it a real Monet?' To which I said that it was, and it seemed unlikely that the Tate gallery would have a fake. I wasn't in the least bit fazed by this remark, because anyone could have made that statement. Well, at least she appreciated art in the same way that i did. We spent some time in Tate Modern and then walked along the Thames embankment and past another place I was keen to visit, the Shakespeare Globe Theatre. I would very much like to see a performance but have, up until now, not done so.

We had other outings, which included a trip to Stowe Landscape Gardens near Buckingham. I think it was here that we decided because we loved visiting the properties managed by the National Trust that we'd join as members, which meant that we could gain free admission. We had several more visits to Stowe as well as to other NT sites, such as Waddesdon Manor, Anglesey Abbey, Wimple Hall and Home Farm and many other places. We also went on holiday together to Yorkshire, staying in a rented property in a village called Cowling. We visited Bradford, which is only a relatively short drive from Cowling, as well as nearby NT properties and also Saltaire, which is a World Heritage site. We saw a permanent exhibition of paintings and other material by David Hockney, one of my favourite modern painters. When, several years later, we went on holiday to Flamborough Head, we went into Bridlington, which is a few miles away, and we leant that Hockney had a house there and spent quite a lot of time in the town. Then he produced a series of paintings and  a sort of video installation which featured the landscape around Bridlington and within the Yorkshire Wolds and there was an exhibition of these paintings at the Royal Academy, of which David Hockney is a member. So, we had a shared interest in art and artists.

Carol was very spontaneous. She was always eager to get out and about. During the long summer holidays from her job at Milton Keynes Academy, we would we out virtually every week, going to different places. We very rarely sat indoors when the sun was out. We went to one of my favourite places, Whipsnade Zoo, which is no more than a 30-minute car journey down the A5 near Dunstable. We went on several occasions and had joint membership, which meant that once we were members we could visit as many times as we liked without having to pay. Then Carol discovered that, because she was a science teacher and also had a degree, she could become a Fellow of Z.S.L., the Zoological Society of London. I could go with her, as her guest! We could no only get free entry, but we could also take the car in, so in effect we saved something like £75-£80 each time we went into the zoo. We had many happy times visiting, loving the lemur walk-through exhibit, the butterfly house, as well as the meerkats and other animals.

So, we decided that we got on with one another. Our relationship blossomed and we decided that we should marry. So, exactly a year to the day I left hospital, on the 26th May 2007, we were married, at Rutland Road Church, which I was a member of when I lived in Bedford. A beautiful day, made even more beautiful by the fact that everyone at Rutland Road pitched in and made it what it was, providing all the music and the food for the reception. I was imagining that only a few people would attend, but it turned out the entire membership attended and made the day unbelievable, along with the whole church band.

Another time, on the way back from somewhere, I'm not exactly sure where we'd been, we stopped at Stonehenge. I had never visited before, had passed by, but never stopped. It's an interesting and quite amazing place and it was here we decided to join English Heritage, the organisation which co-manages the site along with the National Trust. So we were able to visit their sites, free, as we could with the National Trust membership.

It's no good. I still have lots more to say, so I'll end this post there and continue with a third blog post. Who knows? This might even stretch to a fourth.

Eleventh Chemotherapy Cycle

When we go out we usually have to leave Alfie behind. Going to the oncology department at Milton Keynes Hospital, for example, we obviously can't take a small dog, for hygiene reasons, although we'd love to take him and I'm sure the other patients would love him and he'd be spoilt rotten. He usually stays in the kitchen, where he has his nice warm bed, some food and water and it's generally quite pleasant for him. Sometimes, if I say 'kitchen' to him he goes all pathetic, ears laid back with his tail between his legs. I think tone of voice could suggest that he's done something wrong, even when he hasn't. If I say this, he sometimes forgets where the kitchen is and runs upstairs to our bedroom. Well, you can't blame him for preferring to lay on our nice comfortable bed to being in the kitchen. But yesterday morning, when we were about to leave the house for the hospital, I attempted to get him into the kitchen. You have to have the door into the front hall shut, and get him into the kitchen from the lounge through the door from the lounge. But he wouldn't comply. He usually goes in there without any fuss and bother. But he'd picked up fairly early on that we were going out and leaving him. He goes into the trembling-dog mode, all pathetic and really crazy. I had to attempt to open the kitchen door and just put him through, but he just wouldn't stay, with as much effort as he could, he rushed back through into the lounge. For such a small dog he has quite a lot of strength, surprisingly, so we decided to leave him to it and have the door between the lounge and the kitchen left open so be could wander about safely when we were out, so at least he had food and water and a choice of either laying on the sofa or using his own bed in the kitchen.

So, yesterday Carol started her eleventh chemotherapy cycle. Just one more to go and all twelve will have been completed. We got to the oncology unit far too early. We were due there at about 11.30, but as there can be a real problem with parking we got there about an hour too early and, fortunately, we were able to park quite easily. There were several vacant spaces. We went to the Friend's shop which is near the restaurant, and bought sandwiches, drinks and crisps so we had something to eat at lunch-time.  It was really warm in the oncology department. I know cancer patients need to be warm because the chemotherapy they have to undergo can have the effect of making heat and cold quite unbearable. This was particularly evident over the winter months as Carol had to wear gloves and a scarf, usually over her mouth when we went outside. But it's quite warm at the moment and the doors and windows were open in the department when we arrived but had to be closed as one patient, a fairly elderly lady, insisted on having them closed. A bit unfair on the rest of those in the department.

Today (Wednesday) I've spent some time cutting the grass with the new cordless grass trimmer (as mentioned in an earlier post.) I'm having to deal with a lot of brambles growing up near the fence to the left, because the trimmer isn't powerful enough to cut these branches. It's good at cutting the grass, though, and from my experience of using a Strimmer or at least a cutter that uses fishing line, it's more efficient and I haven't had to stop to deal with the cutting blade (similar to that which is in the mower we have.) With trimmers with fishing line in them, this line tends to brake very frequently and you have to stop and deal with it, pulling out the line before continuing with the job in hand.

This week I'm doing an on-line course through something called 'Futurelearn.' It's called 'Shakespeare: Print and Performance.' It's a course run by King's College, London in association with the British Library and Shakespeare's Globe. I've done several of these courses before, an earlier one on Shakespeare called 'Shakespeare and His World' and another about Hadrian's Wall. Most of these courses are free, but they've started to keep them free for the duration of the course, but then you need to pay to continue to have access after this period. There are video 'lectures' on various topics as well as downloadable material which you can print out as well as points where you can join in discussions and make comments on various topics. A really interesting course as it covers two subjects which I have an interest in, Shakespeare and history. Learning a lot of new stuff about Shakespeare I didn't know about before as well as about the history of Tudor theatre. I never realised until doing this course that there were so many theatres in and around London at this time, because you only seem to know about The Globe Theatre when studying Shakespeare.