Tuesday 24th March
I start each day with Radio 4, and it is strange listening to reporters and some presenters broadcasting from their front room, with variable sound quality. It’s the same on TV, with slightly fuzzy pictures. Dropped the car at the village garage for a pre-arranged tyre fitting this morning. Reception was locked, and I rang the new doorbell. The door opened slightly, and Simon, the proprietor, reached through the crack for my keys. Walked the dogs back home via Croft Hill, meet up with our friend Amy, with her two dogs, and we walk around the Hill together. Social Distancing is actually quite natural with four dogs and Amy’s eight your old son running around. Amy’s partner works for a specialist precision engineering company and had been put on “short time”, but the company is now working full time manufacturing parts for hospital ventilators. There are some changes to dog walks. Ellie is attached to a long trailing “training lead” which I can stamp on if she tries to run up to other walkers to say hello. If this fails, I can use it to pull her in from a safe distance. When we see other dog walkers, we would normally exchange greetings as we pass. Now we wait at a distance for them to move on. I work at home for the rest of the morning. From time to time the “virtual desktop” used to access the office “system” freezes, probably overwhelmed by demand. Later I drive past the local Honda dealer. The normally full forecourt is empty, all cars locked away in the rear compound. Simon and Kate call with a WhatsApp video call. Last night while Chantal and I were pre lock-down shopping after Boris’s statement, they set off to Norfolk to collect a Labrador puppy, originally due to be collected after a Norfolk holiday next week. They arrive at midnight and get home at 4am. We are introduced to puppy Frank, snuggled on Simon’s lap. Simon is working at home full time, apart from a weekly visit to the office, just to check all is well. It is pub night, and the weekly “dog walkers” will miss the walk, pints and chat, especially now that the muddy footpath is dry. I make my first “Face Time” call to one of our group, who is over 70 and isolated for a week. He is fine, with his neighbours keeping him supplied. Andree paid for last night’s shopping with a envelope full of 20p, 50p and £1 coins. I have gone from being cashless to having a pocket full of potentially infected shrapnel. It should be the other way around. Andree calls Chantal to ask if her gentleman friend should visit her, but doesn’t seem happy with Chantal’s response. I text to say Government advice is to decide to stay apart or live together, and then keep this arrangement, but that if Alan is self-isolating as strictly as she is, then the benefit will outweigh the risk. Self-isolating for Andree is a different ball-game to those of us living with family and technological communication.
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.
