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25TH – 31ST May

Monday 25th May

Another gloriously hot and sunny day and the strong winds have gone. I watch the children able to play in the unusually quiet street and am filled with such yearning to be able to go outside. But I am shielding, advised to stay safe at home or risk extremely serious consequences if I get Covid 19.

The picture shows not just the children being creative and enjoying being together in the street which is empty of traffic, but it also shows the nostalgia of the shielded person looking through the window.

You could just say: admiring their freedom and aching for my own. 

Marian, London

Tuesday 26th May 

 I think the weather has been our friend during lockdown. The weather this week has been mainly warm with temperatures ranging from 10 to 21 degrees. My son-in-law was in Aberdeen on Saturday to take his daughter and boyfriend to the airport so he came past, with one of my other granddaughters. Due to the fact that my son-in-law has tested negative for coronavirus, I allowed him and my granddaughter to come in the house, maintaining social distance and washing hands, when appropriate. It was a joy to see two members of my family after seven weeks of lockdown. They brought me a beautiful bunch of roses and lilies plus a cake baked by eldest granddaughter as I haven't seen her for 9 weeks and unlikely to for the foreseeable future as she is travelling to England. 

My chores this week have been general housework, weeding, watering plants, sorting out old photographs and cutting the grass. I made another banana loaf, a trifle and some fishcakes this week - it helps to relieve the monotony of seeing the same old things in the cupboard or freezer.  

I have been continuing to participate in my online U3A Poetry class and do some personal writing. I successfully managed to create a digital photo album for my youngest granddaughter. My grandchildren usually help me to do this so was quite proud that I managed it on my own.  

I have had a range of contacts with family and friends via texting, telephone and WhatsApp. I have kept up my daily walking and have averaged 1.5 miles per day this week. On two occasions, I have met friends out for their daily exercise. It was such a joy to see familiar faces in reality and exchange a few words. My 8 year old granddaughter sent me a drawing she had done in the style of Picasso - a homework task. It certainly brightened my day. I spoke to three of my grandchildren this week as the eldest one was flying to Brighton via Heathrow to her boyfriend's home. There did not seem to be any problem in booking flights and travelling to England.  

The economic impact of the coronavirus/ lockdown is beginning to be noticed. My current account interest of 3% has been reduced to 0.06%.  We have been given notice of the road map for easing the lockdown in Scotland. It will begin on Friday 29th May. I feel that the majority of people are already in the predicted phase 1. I have not been impressed by the actions of Dominic Cummings and the fact that he offers no apologies for his actions - don't think this reflects well on the government, especially when their handling of the pandemic is getting unfavourable press.  

Irene, Scotland 

Friday 29th May 

Lockdown has created a new life when you have no idea which day of the week it is. Therefore, it’s time to introduce some light-hearted discipline 

• Only wear Fawn socks at the weekend 
• Put off some gardening till Saturday morning 
• Have proper Sunday lunch 

The problems that Boris Johnson and his Government are having under the eagle eye of interviewers like Piers Moran (ITV) or Kay Burley (Sky) are far removed from the warm sunshine and the problems of trans potting the tiny seedlings which are about to overwhelm the greenhouse  

Staying with Kay and Piers for a moment they are both so negative, so critical without offering solutions that they are mostly subject to censorship. I just switch them off and go back to reading my book and organising the greenhouse. 

Then enter the delight of the book group tyranny. It is now essential I read books I have never heard of and would probably never choose every six weeks. 

 All this adds up to a focused set of targets. Of course I have lived all my life with targets, homework targets, fitness targets, sales targets etc etc and these have been called all manner of things but KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS was the buzz phrase in the later years, after Stick & Carrot, commission, incentive bonus etc 

So, it is with evil delight that I calculate the number of pages and the number of days to reach a KPI of say 20, or 30 or 40 pages a day! 

I can then sit in my dressing gown from say 0730 to 0930 fully occupied and committed.  

Richard, Hertfordshire 

Monday 25th May 

Dear Marmite 

Eid Mubarak!! 

I expect you hold our Christmas' together close to your heart if only for the turkey stock and rice that came in abundance after the big meal. We both missed out on Chirstmas 2019 but yesterday with a blend of cultures - Eid and an early birthday - we managed a much smaller celebration. This involved a dog and plonk. 

Instead of turkey we had roast lamb and our replacement for Christmas pud was "grown up banoffee pie" which had rum in. My daughter, D and her boyfriend came over with Shadow.  The bonhomie remained respectfully distanced while the drink flowed reasonably freely. We all played very silly games and of course hats were compulsory accessories for the entire day. 

For those who have celebrated previous Christmas' with me, I am sad to say we didn't do spoons. Coronavirus is not conducive to this game so that was clearly a no-no. It would be a real clincher if Dominic Cummings were caught playing spoons as well as galavanting all over Britain spreading his germs when everyone else was on lockdown. He is a disgrace. Marmite, you have my full permission to maul his ankles. Kill! 

Andie, Buckinghamshire