Tuesday 31st March
I keep a small bottle of spectacles cleaning fluid by my desk. This is now accompanied by a small bottle of moisturiser. Regular and prolonged hand-washing is playing havoc with my skin. I complete a lot of chores today – errands for Mum-in-Law, ordering new exit doors for church, ready for when normal service returns, collecting a bag of dog food from our dog trainer (left safely in their yard), organising a “zoom” get together with friends for this evening and moving garden shrubs. To paraphrase those who are retired, I don’t how I found time to do everything during normal pre-lockdown times. Our dog trainer came out of her door for a brief chat across the yard. She wondered if chatting online instead of face-to-face would become the new norm. While out and about I note two separate runners who suddenly veer into the road to socially-distance themselves from others on the pavement, and see the first local person wearing a face mask – common in cities and large stores, but not in local villages. This afternoon I pop into a local Co-op, since I am passing, in a vain attempt to see if any crusty loaves are left on the shelves. Bread shelves are empty, as are shelves for tinned goods. I had thought that retailers were now recovering from panic buying.
Richard launches his drone from his garden further up the Lane and photographs the immediate area – early afternoon roads with no vehicles. This afternoon we meet some younger neighbours also out with their dog, recently back from visiting family in Australia. They were concerned about being stranded, and so spent £1500 on a flight home three days earlier than planned. They subsequently discovered that had they taken their originally booked flights they would have been stranded in Dubai. This evening our virtual pub meet-up went well – six of us connecting via Zoom, and one, unable to download Zoom, via Facetime on an i-pad balanced on another participants knee. We caught up and chatted over a couple of beers or glasses of wine for well over an hour. It is not quite the same as chatting in a pub, the conversation not quite flowing smoothly, and we had to remember that ladies were present in the background. I think our dog-trainer’s concern that face-to-face socialising will cease is unfounded.
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.
