I am now limiting myself to a couple of news bulletins a day. Of course my iPhone beeps every time there is some piece of news that AppleNews decides I really must be told straight away. On the whole it's been reasonable and not sent me trivia. I was chatting to neighbours (at a distance of about 20 metres so hardly a 'chat' really) and we agreed that this isolation isn't too bad. Of course, we are fortunate to have big gardens and lots of space.
My Woodlands coffee buddies and I chat either on the phone or on video chat for a virtual coffee. The phone is forever pinging with another WhatsApp message. The rest of the time messaging, emails and snail-mail are all going full pelt. Communication is at a remarkably high level.
It looks as though Gaz, C and B will arrive home early next week. They will, of course go straight into quarantine. They will, however, be home and, hopefully, safe.
The weather has been very varied so today I spent several hours in the garden in a coldish wind but a beautiful cloudless sky. Then suddenly a snow squall came through and I abandoned the outdoors. Within half an hour the sun was back.
I had not done a jigsaw for about three decades but a friend gave me one last year and I've started in in the conservatory. I won't be needing the big dining table for the foreseeable future.
At 8pm I joined the country in clapping for all those who are keeping things going. I think, today, I've been particularly thankful for my neighbours who do my shopping, the delivery drivers and the postmen who keep us supplied.
For all this I am very, very thankful.
What a view! A chair out there to sit and take it all in would make a nice photograph, if you can time it right.
ReplyDeleteMaywyn, one of the things about Lewis is that it's usually either too windy or too midgy to sit outside in comfort. We have relatively mild weather but we very rarely have really warm weather either.
DeleteWe're grateful for those working so hard to fight and solve this problem. So many are stepping up to the plate and deserve gratitude.
ReplyDeleteStay well, Graham...stay happy. :)
Thank you, Lee. I'm fortunate in being, by nature, happy. Another thing to add to my list of things for which to be grateful.
DeleteLooks like the perfect place to sit and do a puzzle when the weather isn't so good. Yes having a big garden certainly helps make self isolation a lot easier. Plenty to keep yourself busy - there certainly is in my garden!
ReplyDeleteSerenata, when the sun shines the conservatory is heaven. What I really love about your garden, apart from its size, is its shelter. Mine is open to every wind that blows.
DeleteThank you for posting regularly here, so those of us who love you from afar can be reassured that you are still well. That helps so much with the stress we're feeling.
ReplyDeleteJust FYI - since jigsaw puzzles are fun but take up a lot of space that you may not want to relinquish, there are several really good online jigsaw puzzle websites. You can save your puzzle wherever you leave off, and finish it at your leisure. My favorite site is www.jigidi.com ... I have uploaded over 8 pages of images to puzzle, and you can find images online that you'd like to puzzle, and upload them to the site and do them! Loads of fun. You can also adjust the background color and size of the pieces you're working with to best meet your comfort zone. You can look up puzzles made by specific users, as well... my Jigidi user name is "Withnail", if you're interested in seeing what puzzles I've uploaded.
Marcheline, living where you do with the job you do it is I who should be doing the worrying about you. Which, of course, I am. I'll pop over and have a look at the jigsaw site but somehow it wouldn't seem the same. For me one of the advantages of the jigsaw where it is is that it gives me a break from my electronic life (I play Words With Friends for electronic relaxation).
DeleteI feel you on the electronic bit... it's just that I love a jigsaw puzzle that doesn't take up actual space in the house. All my favorite puzzles are 400 or 500 pieces, so they aren't something I can whip together in an hour or two. Another bonus is the sheer variety of pictures to puzzle... you aren't limited to kitties and puppies and butterflies, or scenic panoramas of the Alps. There are just as many sorts of pictures to puzzle on that website as you can possibly imagine - famous works of art, nature, ocean, geometric designs, it just goes on and on. The fact that every day, more people are uploading new photos to puzzle means the stream of new images is basically endless. I love me some variety, some spice!
DeleteMost of the puzzles I've uploaded are automobile ads from the 1950s, and other vintage stuff. I find that very calming - time travel in my mind, and all.
Marcheline, I will go and have a look but this is the first jigsaw I've done in at least 35 years and probably longer. As you know, lack of space isn't my problem. But then I don't have a menagerie either😂
DeleteI was thinking you might be lucky enough to escape the Covid-19 but apparently there are no 'safe' places' on earth, even surrounded by a body of water.
ReplyDeleteYour view is spectacular, makes staying at home a lot more tolerable than those poor folks surrounded by four walls and concrete.
We've been putting puzzles together also, cleaning brass and copper, sorting out the potting shed, and now the sunshine has returned, so mowing season has begun.
Stay safe and enjoy the company of your loved ones.
~Jo
Thank You, Jo. Hopefully it's been contained but, in these days of unlimited travel (pre-Covid-19) it's virtually impossible especially as the Universities closed and many students returned home. Not to mention people (like my son and family) stuck the other side of the world and about to embark on a journey through that dangerous world of air travel to get home. Of course they will be quarantined but nevertheless..... I am, indeed, fortunate to live with big skies, the sea and the countryside. At times like this it is especially a blessing. Yesterday I thought I was going to be mowing the grass today. It's snowed! We don't even usually have snow in midwinter.
DeleteYes the clapping for essential services has been happening here too except it's at 7pm. So is your family going to be staying with you?
ReplyDeleteAmy, my son lives in one of Lewis's remote villages. He's fortunate enough to have a lot of land (a big croft) to roam around with access to hills as well.
DeleteSo glad Gaz and family will be home soon. We're hoping to get my niece in Edinburgh on a return flight when NZ returns the Brits stranded here which I think is due to start in a couple of days. Enjoy that puzzle. It looks a bit daunting, I'd much prefer the view.
ReplyDeletePauline, my friend, Anna's, two daughters who are staying with a son in Napier at the moment, are returning on Sunday. So hopefully they will all go ahead as planned. I'm not sure what the attraction of a jigsaw is. When I was at senior school and Uni I used them to relax when studying.
DeleteI am glad that I don't possess a mobile phone that pings all the time. It's bad enough having to look at the news when one chooses to do so. We were also clapping out in our street yesterday evening though I took out my old tom-tom drums and hammered them like Ginger Baker on steroids. I'm getting a bit fed up of this pandemic now. Can somebody please flick the "normal life" switch back on?
ReplyDeleteYP, like that new-fangled thing you watch football on in the corner, phones have buttons to control what you want or do not want to see and hear. This is going to be 'normal' for a good while yet so you've got a lot more time in which to get fed up.
DeleteMy mobile phone is usually switched to "night shift", meaning that it never pings and beeps, no matter who is calling or sending messages. When I work, I keep it nearby and check every now and then because I know that my Mum usually sends a quick status report when they have both had breakfast; after my Dad fell down the stairs on New Year's Day, my sister and I insisted on her sending us a quick update every morning.
ReplyDeleteAnd of course, O.K. and I exchange a quick "kiss" every day at lunch time.
Good news about Gaz and family! A colleague of mine has been / is still stuck in NZ; his holiday there was supposed to finish last week but no flights were available.
You are right, we all have plenty to be thankful for. So many people in underpaid, precarious jobs are now the ones who keep everything going. I hope that the appreciation for all their hard work will last longer than the current situation, and be finally expressed in better working conditions for them.
Meike, amen to your last sentence. If it wasn't for the postal and delivery workers here life would be pretty miserable and far more precarious. I'm fortunate obviously in not having a work schedule so my phone is only on "night shift" at night and when I'm in, say, hospital or when it would be rude to someone else if I was disturbed. So long as it's not more than arm's length away from me I'm okay!
DeleteI am now reliant on my 'phone to keep in touch with my family across in the UK. Although we all have the same inherited hearing defect we still swap messages and photos every day.
ReplyDeleteYour view is wonderfully calming, Graham.
JayCee, Im the same. The phone is my lifeline. The view in the photo is the 'back' of my house. The view from the front over the beach and the sea to the Mainland is the one that gives me a strength and peace.
DeleteGood news that they have a flight. Not so good about the quarantine. Where do they have to go for that and for how long?
ReplyDeleteAdrian, they will come straight to their house on Lewis and go into quarantine for 14 days. It's not a bad place to quarantine. He has a big house and a big croft and hills behind the house to roam. The only contact with people in the UK will be in Glasgow airport, the taxi to his vehicle and the ferry. The ferry has distancing rules which is easy because it's carrying virtually no passengers.
DeleteThe way you said quarantine I was thinking they had to go to Birkenhead on a bus like the cruise ship folk. Sitting at home is fine.
DeleteHappy to hear your family will be able to make it back to Lewis next week. I'm sure they will be very happy to be quarantined on their own land and in their own home. Wishing them safe travels and good health.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mary. Hopefully soon everyone will be be repatriated to where they want to be in the crisis.
DeleteI relate to having the tape measure to hand at the start of the jigsaw Graham!
ReplyDeleteYes, Rachel. I thought I had all the edging bits but the measurements didn't work. It took a bit more searching.Now the edge is complete.
DeleteThanks for keeping us posted GB. We have been in isolation for several days now after three of us got a cough, but it's been very minor and I doubt it has anything to do with the coronavirus. Bryony, on the other hand, has been ill after dealing with patients with the virus and is very likely to have contracted it herself. Our NHS staff certainly are wonderful.
ReplyDeleteIt's great that Gaz and family will soon be home. Please give them our love, xx
Thanks, Helen. I shall. I've dropped Mark a note. I hope you all recover quickly.
DeleteThere is much to be thankful for and it must be a relief knowing your family will be home soon.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your jigsaw. I find they can be quite addictive. X
Jules, I find jigsaws addictive, frustrating and even irritating. I haven't done one for decades but I'm enjoying this with just the odd 10 minutes here and there.
DeleteHappy to see you jigsawing! I find them relaxing and irritating at the same time.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts exactly, Jill.
DeleteThis situation has brought out the best in so many people. Your space and large garden are most enviable. I hope that the virus leaves you and your neighbours well alone. I haven't been in Blogland recently so must now check back and see where Gaz & Co have been.
ReplyDeleteJenny, I am the first to recognise how fortunate I am. Gaz & Co are just about arriving in Kuala Lumpur at the end of the first leg of their journey. They have been in Australia. They went a while ago and their homeward flight was 'postponed' two days before they were due to fly. They have been marooned ever since until today.
DeleteI'm sorry to see on the very next post that covid-19 has after all reached The Island. Stay safe.
ReplyDeleteJenny, there are three known cases in the same family. I assume they were in quarantine after a holiday. We now have special arrangements in force for the Highlands and Islands and specialised isolating equipment available to get people to the mainland for for hospitalising if they need treatment.
DeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI am a poet. I am from India. I like your blog. I always take inspiration from others to learn.
It is said, “Everyone has something to teach us”.
I have a blog. Please visit mine and leave your comments.
https://pushkarsbisht.blogspot.com/
Regards,
Pushkar
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