Tuesday 21st April
Working at home. Without the variation of visits, one day working at home is much the same as any other, listening to people complaining about other people from whom, thanks to lockdown, they cannot escape. Complainants are the usual mixture of neighbours upset by domestic noise and garden bonfires. One lady complains about power tools used by builders during the normal day. I explain that this is not unreasonable, and she then complains about construction waste temporarily piled in the neighbour’s front garden, since contractors are unable to hire a skip. She is convinced that the work was postponed until lockdown, to prevent any enforcement action. I am beginning to get the impression that after three weeks of lockdown and several
more to go, people are getting tetchy. Virtual pub night on Zoom. We are joined by the brother of one of the regulars, known to most of us for many years, “Zooming” from Wiltshire. The five Tuesday night regular “dog-walkers” has expanded to eight, thanks to lockdown. Richard has had a brief chat with our pub landlady, who reports that Everards brewery is supporting their tenants during social-isolation closure, promising to replace the beer that was in the cellar on the date that pubs were required to close. No rent is due while pubs remain closed. Despite virtual pub gatherings, we miss the Heathcote Arms. Tonight, Steven and I go outside at 10.36pm to view the string SpaceX’s Starlink satellites crossing the sky. Despite scanning the sky from both front and back gardens, we failed to see them.
Technically we live in Oaktree House, but sadly the tree had to go.
We now have a thriving Oakstump at the front of the house.
