Sunday 28th March 2021

Day 2 of the weekend and Easter Holiday. Kinda.

Anyway, it was to be cool and windy. Stormy even.

So, there was no going out snapping plants, as I had all week for that. I thought.

Instead Jen was coming for lunch, and there was the question of a haircut. Now, we have trimmers and all that, but hairdressers open in two weeks, could I wait for that?

I thought I would try.

In fact, my fringe and mop at the front of my head is the right length, its the back half down my neck that is long and feels like its beginning to curl.

The next question was breakfast: fruit or something else?

Well, I had failed to put one pack on fresh bangers in the freezer, and there were the rolls which were for the ham in the fridge for supper, but if there was another way.....

Yes, I cook the sausages and put them, split in half, in the rolls, which we much down heartily with fresh brews.

Yes, that felt better.

I like fruit, but not every day.

I make soup for Monday's dinner, and prepare the steaks for lunch.

I am a blur of activity.

(not really).

Anyway, the soup is another triumph, but that came with the fresh stock I put in with the butternut squash and carrots.

Jen arrives at midday, so we sit down for a came of Meld (Jen wins), after which I cook dinner. It all comes together well, and so we sit down to eat at half one.

Here is the pictorial evidence.

And after washing up and packing away, we play another game of meld (I win).

By which time it was nearly time for football, England playing in Albania, or playing Albania.

A closer game than some thought, but England win 2-0, so alls well.

We have lamb samosas for supper, something light. By which time it was nearly eight, and time for #wildflowerhour again.

The weeks rattle round pretty darn quick.

And that was the weeend.

Nothing to see here, move along

So, yesterday the Sunday Mirror has the interview with Jennifer Acuri about her four year affair with our current Prime Minister. On "Andy" Marr, the Mirror was bottom of the pile in the paper review and they ran out of time just when the review reached it.

And today, with the i newspaper joining in, there is still no mention on the BBC website.

Remeber two weeks ago the BBC lead with sotories of a former Prince and his wife being interviewed in the US, but not something that strikes at te very heart of our democracy: that when Mayor of London, somehow she got paid £125,000.

Don't get me wrong, in France a politician HAS to have had an affair, and as long as it does not affect his judgement, allowing him or her to be subject to bribery, then all when and good. But where public funds have been channeled into her company, who at the same time just happens to be shagging the Mayor of LOndon, and is now the PM.

Can you just imagine if this was Keir Starmer or Nicola Sturgeon? The press would not stop until they were hounded out of office, and yet Johnson gets a free pass.

He told Acuri not to worry about being seen kissing in public with him as it was "his" city.

Let me be frank, there have been many times when Johnson or many of his Cabinet *Should" have resigned or been sacked, there should be no doubt about this, Johnson has a relationship with monogomy like he has with the truth. It is not good for the country as long as he remains in power. There should be consequences for actons, for good ones and for bad ones.

And our State Broadcaster should be covering this, not be hiding in fear about losing it Charter. But it is.

Another group who were lied to

At the end of the month, next week, about 500 Britons who made Spain their retirement home will be deported back to the UK because they did not complete the required paperwork to stay or don't mee the criteria.

One couple who set to be forced back to England were reported as declaring, "I voted to leave, but didn't think it would affect us. My wife is in tears".

I would laugh, but I won't.

There people, and hundreds like them, were told a Vote for Leave would not affect them. And indeed had the UK kept freedom of movement, it wouldn't have, but dogma trumped reality, and this is where we are.

Funny how Brits living in Spain are expats, but EU citizens living her are migrants or immigrants.

It will be spun to blame Spain of the EU, but it is May and Johnson who defined Brexit this way, and the EU would have the same rules as the UK for UK citizens living in those 27 countries. Blame the liars not the lied to.

But listen to the experts who said this would happen, and even this year when this group were told what would happen they lived in denial.

So it goes, so it goes.

Don't worry though, despite your pain and heartbreak, Johnson's chums have made billions, so silver lining and all that.

Saturday 27th March 2021

The weekend, and first day of the unexpected holiday.

Ahem.

Anyway, was going to be sunny and pretty windless in the morning, so we may as well go and do some tampling round woods, looking for orchids.

It was the last morning of winter time, as the clocks "spring" forward in the morning, or something, which will make it lighter in the evenings, but darker in the mornings. For a while.

We are up and about quite late, due to the gammy shoulder I lay awake for a time during the night, but fell back to sleep at dawn, and did not stir until twenty past seven, by which time the sun was high in the south and the chill of the early morning was burning off.

We have coffee. Second coffee and criossants, and were ready to go out by half eight, to drive back to Petham for a walk round the wood to look at Early Purple rosettes.

As always, its a quiet run along the A2 to Bridge, down through the village and over the bridge in Bridge, again, and out to Hardres to Petham.

It looked warm, so I refused to pack a jacket, meaning I was cold when we got out the car, but soon were walking through the quickly drying muddy tracks, where Jools spotted a butterfly: a Comma. With the new lens, I got get clear shots without getting too near, so it didn't fly away.

Species number 2 for the year.

Later we would see at least three Brimstones, but after an hour of chasing them, I still hadn't got a shot. I gave up.

Between then, we walked to the path, and down, checking the orchid rosettes, which were more advanced, but not open or putting forth a spike, that was still sheathed.

But the Primroses and Lesser celandines pined the path both in and out of the woods, and in the woods, a few more bluebells were in flower, and beginning to droop with the weight of the bells, which were blue in colour.

We walk back to the track, and investigate firther along the track and came to another path, so we followed that, and managed to get a few shots of a Dark Edged Bee Fly as it hummed between flowers in a clearing.

On the way back we came to another, larger colony of orchids, but again none flowering, but probably will be the first to flower, maybe next week. I learned later that the first ten Early Spiders were open in Dorset.

The madness has begun.

We make it back to the car and drive back home, stopping nowhere else on the way, getting back before midday, but hungry after our walking.

The day before I had bought a giant pasty from the butcher. And I mean giant, this is me with it:

I warm it in the oven, cut it down near the middle and we have it as our main meal.

We barely finish it.

That gave us the afternoon to sleep it off, though neither of us actually sleeps, we also don't do much.

I listen to football, listen to Huey on the i player, but after 11 years, his Radio 2 show i ending in a month, where will we be able to get our weekly dose of "Get Your Led Out"?

Everything changes.

We have some cheese for supper, with the last of the loaf I made. Smoked tomato and garlic cheddar. Which went well with the bread and a glass of red wine.

I watch Czech Republic play Belgium in the evening, ends 1-1 with Belgium hanging on for the point.

Still odd with no fans.

Of IT lessons and a fireman's pole

Fnarr, fnarr.

So, in today's Sunday Mirror, Boris Johnson's alleged IT instructor revealed that instead of teaching him IT from her fireman's pole in her flat, they were engaged in a four year affair.

No, really?

That Johnson denied this, and survived an inquiry into improper use of funds, will this now be reopned, that she received nearly one hundred thousand quid of public money for some vague IT project?

At the same dinner he groped Jennifer Arcuri under a table, he, with his other hand, groped a female journalist with his other. Which NUmber 10 had denied.

Can we all just agree that Johnson always lies and causes those around him, even those who should be impartial, to lie to cover for him? I mean, we still don't know the exact number of children he has fathered. We assume its less than ten, but who knows?

Meanwhile, the Good Law Project have seven cases related to the PPE fiasco having been approved to go to Judicial Review (JR), so the cash for friends and doners scandal might be solved.

Or not.

And it emerged that external advisors were drafting ministerial statements for Parliament about their own activities. Now if that doesn't stink, then I don't know what does.

Have a great weekend.

COVID: One year on

26th March 2020

And here is the first in a series of reminders that as far as COVID-19 is concerned, we have not yet reached the peak of the outbreak. In fact the is the very start of the steep slope upwards in graphs recording infections and deaths.

No one knows how long the virus will spread through the global population. But we can be sure that the UK will not have beaten it after 21 days of lockdown or the US can go back to normal on Easter Sunday. You could go back to normal, but kill many more thousands of people.

We do not know if summer will slow the spread. In China and Korea, it is warmer than here and that did not slow the virus down. Nor that there won't be further and more significant waves of infections later in this year or into next.

Nothing is known, nothing can be said now that could indicate when the current measures, or even more draconian ones, could be relaxed.

Nor has the virus mutated for many months, or hybridised with another virus. It might, or it might not.

We do not know.

But until there is a vaccine, some or all of the measures, or worse, will be in effect or be being held in reserve as the infection rates climb again.

This will be a long fight.

THURSDAY, 26 MARCH 2020

Boredom

Life in the military was once described as long periods of boredom interspersed with brief periods of excitement. But that can really describe life in general.

Having been in the military, deep sea survey industry, wind industry among others, yes there were exciting things, but a whole load of dull too.

In the RAF we used to see the long dull hours by playing cards. Hunt (chase the Lady), Nom and Bridge. At Laarbruch there were up to four bridge schools at lunch time, now its impossible to find one other person who can play. But two of you is no good, you need four.

And there was Uckers. Uckers is a Navy game, Ludo with attitude. Every section on an RAF base would have an Uckers board, and their own rules too. At Marham we had different rules for each day of the week, and rules for exercises so a game could last 12 hours when we should have been building bombs or something.

And there was drinking too.

Lots of drinking.

So, with all the above, there wasn't any real boredom. As we would be doing one of these, or working. But mostly one of the above.

Times change, and once I was in the survey industry, we all had laptops, so would swap pendrives for video parties, passing box sets from one to another.

And so one eight week job off the coast of Norway one winter, we watched the last 5 series of The Sopranos, including one day where we did a 20 hour session in the crew room with no breaks.

So with thanks to Tony Soprano and Sim City, I got through those long dark days waiting on weather.

The 1970s were a decade of boredom.

Looking at the back pages of the latest Superman or Silver Surfer comics to see the endless great TV that was on in the US, and we had less than 12 hours a day, there was no "entertaining TV until midday when ITV would put Rainbow or Pitkins on, but then it was news and then Crown Court and then House Party and the Old Country.

If you were lucky kids TV started at four, but ended less than two hours later.

And then there was the three day week, power cuts and brown outs, where there was nothing.

And I don't think we were really bored. Really.

So, asking people to stay inside for 21 days, only go out for urgent tasks is not too much to ask, even if it is sunny and there are orchids and butterflies.

We have the i player, the internet, Kindles i phones and all the rest, we should never be bored. All to stop our friends and neighbours from getting sick. We can do this, no?

FRIDAY, 27 MARCH 2020

A sense of perspective

Back at the end of 2005, early 2006, having left the RAF, I was living the life of an international playboy, one that was happy living in a mid-terraced house in Oulton Broad. But I had money in the bank, tasks to do; writing, taking photos, listening to the radio, and so on. So one month drifted into the next and all was fine and dandy.

But with no money coming in and the mortgage and bills ging out month after month, something had to give. And it did.

In the early summer, I can out of money, no money to pay the mortgage, and so far in debt they wouldn't help me.

Mum did.

She paid two months of mortgage, bought me some shopping and in the meantime I found a job delivering chemicals, not the best job, but a job and it just about paid my bills.

The point here is that when threatened to lose your home and all you have, things like football and other sport are unimportant. Which is why if you read some of my early posts I talk a lot about 22 men kicking a bag of wind about, because, that's what football is. Why it matter so much to fans is the be there, or to share in the magic moments.

It has been two weeks since football was suspended, three weeks since Norwich won that penalty shootout at Spurs, but already the pain of missing it all is fading.

I am used to there being no football. I don't really miss it that much now, its the new normal. I'm sure there are others for whom it is like losing a friend, but, in the cosmic scale of things, football, and footballers, don't matter that much. Same for pop stars, rugby players and the rest of society that has a skill others are only to happy to pay them a king's ransome for. And at the same time, we have seen how those we take for granted; nurses, doctors, delivery drivers, shelf fillers, postmen and women, people in the care industry just get on with their jobs, for the same crappy money they have always done, and yet it is these, for superstar footballers and commentors that are keeping the country together, eating and moving.

I only hope we remember this when all this chaos is over, that people the Government themselves saw little value in when it came to immigration policy, or a decade of cutbacks and 1% payrises for nurses, we pay people for what they have done. Rather than the very people resposible for austerity and running down the NHS, setting it up for failure, and yet are photographed clapping in support of our nation's carers last night. A few months ago they same people were clapping and waving order papers when they imposed another year of 1% payrises on nurses.

We must never, ever forget those who did great stuff in these days, and those who tried to con and spin things.

I will go back to watching football, and cheer when Norwich win, and be miserable when we lose. But it no longer defines my life. And it hasn't for a long while now.

FRIDAY, 27 MARCH 2020

Fatal dogma

Yesterday, it emerged that the UK had failed to take up an offer from the EU to participate in the first four rounds of emergency ventilator procurement.

Initially a spokesperson for "Number 10" said it was because the UK had left the EU.

But during the transition the EU would treat the UK as if it were still a member.

A few hours later another spokesperson said the e mails had arrived in the wrong folder and had been missed, but the UK would think seriously about participating in the next round.

I mean, what next, the dog ate the invite?

And later still, video of Health Secretary on last week's Question Time saying the invite had been received and the Government were going to take up the offer.

This morning the Financial Times carried a report rubbishing all of the above.

The UK Government refusing aid because of what, dogma? Not accepting aid from the EU?

Now both the PM and the Health Secretary both have been confirmed as having "mild" cases of the virus. It would be easy to wish them ill, but I won't. I hope they get better really quickly, and no other ministers fall ill, lest Chris Grayling is left in charge.

Just when you think things can't get any worse, Johnson and his Ministers would rather people die than accept help from the EU. That's the long and short of it.

Bastards.

SATURDAY, 28 MARCH 2020

The new normal

Four weeks ago, on the last day of February, we went and bought a new car.

After selecting the beast, we then went on a drove to Crundale and Boughton Aluph churches before ending up at Challock to look for toothwort.

Then we came home, had lunch and I got ready for some serious football listening.

It was Jen's birthday, we went to hers to have a Chinese meal together and swap news.

It was a very good day.

Four weeks later, the whole country is pretty much under house arrest, as the initially mocked and downplayed virus (by the PM) has swept up and down the country, and now he, the Health Minister have tested positive, and the UK's chief medical officer is self isolating after the three of them, and the rest of Cabinet apparently, failed to take their own advice.

Both Johnson and Hancock were not overly ill and yet obtained testig that showed them to be infected shows how class has defined the virus as much as the rest of life:

The rich can pay and get testing whether they are displaying symptoms or not, get tested.

The white collar middle classes (like me) work from home if possible,

And the blue collar workers have to carry on, mostly without testing and protective equipment.

Testing for NHS staff, and only those showing symptoms, begins this weekend. Johnson, Hancock and Prince Charles get tested because, well, why'd you think?

So, we will stay at home and read, listen to music, watch The Expanse, and time will slip through our fingers. I am tempted to drive to a wood and look for orchids, but will resist.

SUNDAY, 29 MARCH 2020 The science never changed

History is written by the winners. Or those in power.

And according to Yes, Prime Minister you only have an inquiry to get the answer you want.

I say this because, contrary to what the Mail, Express and Torygraph might say, the current crisis can be laid at the door of Number 10.

For over a week Johnosn and his "Nudge Squad" perused the herd immunity plan as they they had modelled the wrong disease; viral pneumonia instead of VONVID-19. The BMA, WHO among others told Johnson and the UK Government they were wrong, but the course remained unchanged for two more days.

And then they realised their mistake, 250,000 additional deaths were possible, so journalists were briefed that the science had changed so tactics were changed.

This was not true then.

Important days were wasted, as was all of February when warnings were coming in from China and Italy about how bad things were going to get, and nothing was done. Sports carried on taking place, bars and restaurants remained open, and the PM carried on claiming it was all under control, shaking hands. The country will not get those wasted days and weeks back, and so this is where we are now.

The Torygraph has on its front page that the "NHS failed pandemic tests four years ago". This is not quite true, the NHS ran an exercise, found there were failings and shortages, wrote a report, sent it to Government who then did nothing. Exercises are important to highlight gaps, but those gaps need closing. Closing gaps at a time when central Government is slashing funding is impossible.

Johnson was part of successive Governments that signed off on spending cuts, wage freezes and scrapping nurses' bursaries.

But blame the NHS.

Blame China for it, but China did warn the rest of the world, after a slow start, but they did warn us, that those warnings were ignored is not China's fault.

Michael Barnier test positive for the virus, now the Mail is accusing his of infecting the "stricken" PM.

FFS

MONDAY, 30 MARCH 2020

House arrest

The whole country is under efective house arrest. The right to travel, work, be self employed or even worship has been suspended.

These restrictions have been brought under the implementation of a Statutory Instrument (SI), which means it has had no Parliamentary scrutiny. And the powers it gives the police could easily be mis-used, and evidence is already there that such powers have been abused.

The police are stopping people and turning them round, or issuing proceedings against members of the public if people are just going out for a drive, or if, in the police's view, the item being sourced is not essential.

The SI itself falls under public health law, and in such the police should only step in if there is an actual breach in the SI itself, or a danger to public health, not use the SI to restrict people's movement.

If the law is not applied correctly, it will be discredited and then ignored, and where will be then?

Members of the public are now watching neighbours and snitching on them on social media for any imagined transgressions, un-necessary journeys or gatherings.

Giving the police these powers without defined boundaries mean some will operate in a more draconian way than others.

People should be able to drive to take a walk or exercise their dogs or their families; what about those who live in flats and/or without suitable nearby spaces for exercise?

We should know by the end of the week if the social distancing measures are having any effect, if there is no such evidence, the people will be far less likely to obey current or future restrictions on their liberty.

It should be pointed out that this point, that social distancing on its own probably won't work, mass testing needs to be done, and as yet is failing even the most basic targets set by Matt Hancock.

TUESDAY, 31 MARCH 2020

The designated survivor

Last week Johnson, Hancock, the UK's chief medical officer and Dominic Cummings (AKA the Big Brain) were all tested positive for COVID-19.

Johnson was given the "all clear" after some three days in isolation. I thought that should have been 14, what with a baby on the way and all?

Last night it was up to the UK Government's "designated survivor", Dominic Raab, to lead the country in the daily virus update.

Its not clear what role the designated survivor has in Cabinet/Government, not important I suspect as it has been given to the main appointed as Minister for Brexit and only then discovered that Dover was important for trade to the EU and was near to France.

Anyway, he repeated that the public and whole country should follow the Government's guidelines, all the time licking his fingers, showing that such rules do not apply to designated survivors, as he has a shield of protection.

And this brings me to a larger political problem. Bear with me.

In Brown's Government, the Minister for Transport was (Lord) Andrew Adonis, who knew a thing or two about transport and railways in particular, and was able to start projects to cascade trains from areas where they were not needed to where they were.

Since then, and to be honest for most of the time, Ministers are appointed with little or no apparent knowledge of the departments they front.

How is this even possible?

I mean, to be, say, Minister for Justice without having a legal background, other than watching Crown Court back in the 70s with nanny. Being appointed for Minister for International Trade without understanding how the WTO works and that for many countries with deal with the EU tied into FTA that cannot be bettered for any other country, not even the UK. Or that trade is mostly dependant on distance and geography.

Let's not mince words here, Johnson and co have bodged Brexit in the most appalling way possible, there is nothing to show they ever had a plan or knew what they are doing. And now they are in charge of protecting the country from a global pandemic.

They fucked up Brexit, which was always a shitty idea, but could have been made to kinda work, with minimum damage to the economy. And now they have to understand science, as told to them by experts and make decisions that dictate whether hundreds or hundreds of thousands will die.

I think we know how this is going to end, sadly.

Friday 26th March 2021

I am fine.

Really.

I have to say that all of my former colleagues from the old company that joined with me are also having trouble adjusting, and tempers are freyed, and stress levels are through the roof.

I have no idea how all this will pan out, but our mental health trumps everything, especially work, and work is not going to send me to an early grave.

I did sleep better, though awake shortly after five as it was getting light and the cats were having a sparring match, as opposed to an actual fight, just them wanting breakfast so they could get down to the main business of the day: sleeping and snoozing.

We have coffee, and because of the half ton of gravel still on the drive, Jools was going to shovel and move some of that rather than go to Jen's to do yoga.

I have coffee then have an early meeting to attend, followed by an informal department meeting on COVID. In Europe, there is a rise in infections, whether this is a 3rd wave remains to be seen, but there is fear, and a fear of the AZ vaccine too. In India, there is an election on April 6th, and no polititician wants to impose lockdowns lest they become unpopular. And the next week is the festival of colour, which again no politian wants to cancel, so with cases rising, life goes on as normal in one sense, but there is fear too.

And worse of all, was that one of my long-standing colleagues, Tina, started her gardening leave on Friday. She has eleven years experience in our systems and how the MS works, but all that is redundant, so is being discarded like an old tissue. Saying goodbye is so hard, though like Anette, she is positive for the future.

That I have had the vaccine, and the only one in the department to have had one, and our manager's wife has COVID now and he suspected, COVID is as close to me as it has been in the past year.

With my sudden decision to have a holiday, there was some last minute work to do before the end of the day, and another meeting to attend to as well, then I could pack up as I had to go to the hospital in Dover for a look at my shoulder to get a referral to have a scan, as the physio had wanted.

We go to Buckland hospital, wait for 90 minutes, in masks, then I am called in, they look at my shoulder. I am asked to move it, desribe the pain, and said referral is made.

I have to wait.

It was two in the afternoon. We drive to Preston, out on the Sandwich road, then back out through Hash to Preston where our order was waiting, dinner was to be something special. And then steak for Sunday, and Easter Sunday there would be beef.

Back home and pack the stuff away, Jen arrives and so we play cards; two games of meld. All very nice and relaxing.

Dinner was to be Bejewelled stuffed crown of lamb with Domino Dauphinoise and sweet chilli stir fry; the butcher had prepared the crown, so I prepare the fruit and spices, cook in a pan to combine, then fill the centre of the crown, covering it with foil. I sliced the potaoes, arrange like dominoes in a tin, pur on cream and grate nutmeg on top. Put both n the oven and tidy up.

I take part in the music quiz, don't do well, but as soon as I found the answer, I dialled off, went in to cook stir fry and dish up.

And what a feast it was.

And all washed down with pink fizz.

Cheers.

We tidy up and Jen goes home. Jools and I are fir for nothing except the sofa, so we watch a week-old Gardner's World on the i-player, and the return of Monty the Don.