and still it goes on

It's Friday and it's 4 weeks ago today that we hot-footed it out of Australia to return home to who-knew-what. We're coping but there are times when frustration sets in. The daily zoom conferences help a lot to pass the time. This week so far, my schedule has been:

Sunday night - Gary and Carole's screen off temporarily

Monday - Cycling group

Tuesday - Coffee group in the morning and CAMRA in the evening

Wednesday - Golf group

Thursday - Cycling group in the morning and, in the evening:

Tonight, it's our regular Friday night football virtual pub crawl. Thank goodness my beer stocks got topped up yesterday with a delivery from our local Strong Water Company.

This afternoon we're just awaiting delivery of our new washing machine. For the last week and a bit we've not been changing  our (external) clothes as often and Jo has been handwashing our smalls etc.

Since we got back, as if to taunt us, the weather has been perfect for golf. If/when we get back to playing again, no doubt the weather will turn again.

Have you noticed how prices of anything you order online have skyrocketed? One tin of paint was all I wanted - the first quotes that popped up were £85! I eventually ordered one at £40, but even that was just ridiculous. I appreciate manufacturers and retailers are having a hard time just now with their customer footfall either well down or zero, but if they push it too hard they will lose the public's support.

Oh - that's the men from Curry's with our washing machine - must go.

Happy Easter!

Yes - hope everyone is managing to enjoy the weekend, despite being deprived of our liberty for how many weeks now? The days merge in to each other. Some say it's important to have a daily regime and stick to it - others prefer to go laissez faire.

Jo and I haven't been taking full advantage of the government guidelines/recommendations on daily exercise. We've been going out for walks just 2-3 times per week. We've made a couple of supermarket trips as well, but they feel a lot less comfortable - despite the fact that the stores are well organised. With the best will in the world, it's almost impossible to avoid getting closer than 2 metres to somebody, however briefly.

I've been filling my days with:

• Compiling Headbangers' shows for River Dee Radio
• Occasional bits of home/garden maintenance
• Zoom video conferences

The latter has been a godsend - every day I either host or participate in at least one group video chat. Mondays and Thursdays are the cycling group, Tuesday is the coffee mob, Wednesday is golf, Friday is my regular Friday night pub visit with my ex-football pals and last night (Saturday) I hosted my first one with my former schoolmates. Then, of course, there's the family - Thursday evenings with Dawn, Barry and Helen and tonight (Sunday) we have another one with our offspring (couldn't think of another collective name - sorry).

So it's now mid-April and who knows when we can get out of this mess. There's a clamour for lifting some restrictions soon but surely that's going to start it all over again? Until they have a vaccine - or until we've all had the virus (and maintained immunity) - we can't return to our old ways. The best estimates for the vaccine are 6 months, but I heard Bill Gates talking about 18 months this morning. Worrying times.

It's 50 years this month that Jo and I got together - which also means that it's 50 years since I had the first of many operations and procedures on my right knee following a serious injury at football training. We can both recall the first time I met Jo's parents I had a "stookie" - a full length leg plaster. It felt a little surreal that day.

To finish on a brighter note, there are little rainbows appearing everywhere just now - I took the photo below from our 3rd floor bedroom window, looking down at the approach to Arbor Court: