Never a dull moment

 August 24^th to 29^th 2020.

 

Awoke Monday morning feeling a bit down a bit iffy, bit Monday morning ish. No plans ahead, weather looking reasonable. Ian was well chipper a bit too chipper for me in my down mood but he soon had me rallied round. Out into the garden, the front garden. Pruned back some shrubs, cut the yew hedge and a general tidy up. Then we went to our favourite DIY store B&Q and bought some bark. I know that you are all hanging on the edge of your seats to know what happened next. Well we went home and yes you guessed it put the bark down. It does look nice & tidy but smells very strong. Willow stinks of it, I cannot believe that he likes to lie on it, you would think that it would offend his delicate cat sense of smell a lot but he is undeterred and snuggles down on the wet stinky chippings. Delightful.

If you thought that was a fun filled knuckle ride of a day wait until you hear what happened on Tuesday.

Tuesday was a write off really, met up with Sara and went to Stubbing’s nursery for a coffee. 1^st time indoors with many people but well spaced out so felt ok  I have decided that I need to get on with it (life that is) Well that is the feeling of today, I it change hourly as you probably do yourselves.

Howling winds and torrential rain are prevalent today and Marlow is getting more than its fair share. We just hunker down and watch back-to-back race round the world. We are addicted to it. About 8.30 we get a text from Donna over the road to say “Have you seen the Police barricade down the road?”. What???? I go up stairs to look out and Ian ventures outdoors into the eye of the storm. Can’t see anything and cars are driving up the road. Must be a tree down on Woodside road I say. Back indoors I text Rhiannon who informs me that at 7.40 3 police cars and a SWAT team were preparing for a raid outside their house and they were armed! There had been a disturbance on Hillside road and someone reported a shot being fired. We missed all the excitement, it must have been over fairly quickly but the tom toms went on for a few hours. Sadly it appears that man who has mental health issues was trying to get out of the house and his parents were trying to stop him when he became extremely violent. A neighbour reported hearing a gunshot (we hear that this is most likely not at all true but a near neighbour getting hysterical) It must have been frightening though.  See I told you things got more interesting. I wish Rhiannon had told us earlier and we might have seen a bit of the action. She said she was going to text me to flush our drugs away as the cops were on route, Ha ha. We are ok with that we keep them in the kennel with the Rottweiler.

After all the excitement of the previous evening Wednesday dawns nice & sunny if not a bit Autumnal, yep we are feeling it creeping in. We venture into High Wycombe as Ian has a haircut and I occupy myself with some food shopping. Such a nice warm if not hot day we walk into Marlow upon our return home and try to get an eat out to help out deal. Everywhere is packed and we are just about to go home to raid the fridge when Ian has the idea of trying the Vietnamese kitchen. Success. We had a lovely quick lunch, it was excellent. I have only ever heard how expensive this place is, I know we paid about half price but it was so very good. We have booked to go again on the last day of EOTOHO and will return even when we have to pay top whack.

Later that day Rhiannon wanted to visit an exhibition one of her arty friends was hosting in Chalfont St Peter. I am up for doing anything that gets me out and about at the moment. (Fearing the winter and maybe reintroduced restrictions) So I follow her to drop Cais car off and then we travel together in the same car!! Whaaaat.? Laugh, we both wore facemasks, after all the things we said about people driving in cars with masks on here we are. Who the hell would have thought we find ourselves in such a situation.

Thursday – are you still with me or have you nodded off again? It’s a holiday day; we have booked to go to Petworth House in Sussex. Weather set to be ok until 3. Picnic sorted (ham rolls, crisps and choccy biscuits with a flask of coffee)

We arrive a full half hour early, not sure if the National Trust volunteer police will let us in as we are not within our designated time but phew in we go. After a wee and a coffee we set off. However the coffee was rather strong and I was seeing double for about half an hour after, honestly a large glass of white would have had a less and a more pleasant effect. As the rain is set to arrive mid afternoon we decide to get the walk in before we visit the house. Mr. NT warns us the weather is gathering over the downs and will hit in the next 30-40 minutes and we should take the short walk. We do the short walk and the weather remains the same so we carry on, trying very hard to escape the family with the screaming kids who are dogging our footsteps 30 yds behind us. We spot a small herd of deer and try to sneak up on them so Mr. F can use his amazing photographic skills to take 358 pictures of he same animal (only joking) Ground too uneven for me so we move on, to our right more deer appear and as the landscape unfolds there are so many deer. Little Bambis calling for their mothers, mothers calling for their Bambis and the occasional bellow from the Stag keeping his harem under control. A mere 2701 photos later we sit atop a knoll and eat the aforementioned picnic. It was so peaceful and beautiful, I loved it. Watching, listening to the deer calling, munching and running about, the deer not us. Some were still in the typical spotty dappled summer coats and some were already darker and getting ready for the rut. When Ian downloaded his photos I was amazed to see the Stags were shedding the velvet on their antlers, some looked like they were streaming with blood. (Remember my earlier post about the reindeer?) A few drops of rain has us scurrying back towards the house. Mr. NT is still there and looks smug as the bad weather is coming in, however I point out that we had a much longer walk than if we had listened to him.  Unless you are an ardent lover of very dark and old paintings don’t bother. The house from the outside is unremarkable; the inside is an art lover’s paradise. In every room the walls are covered in Turners, Van Dykes and Gainsborough’s to name but a few. Some are stunning and some so darkly painted you can hardly see the subject matter. The Art overwhelms the rooms and I find it all very dark, dismal and depressing and after a while am desperate to leave and get some fresh air. This maybe enhanced by the fact that we have to wear face masks. Homeward bound Oh deepest joy the M25 is a car park, just as we enter onto the slip road we are at a standstill. We recollect memories of horror journeys home from work and delight in the fact that those days are behind us.

Friday another sunny start to the day. Mooch down to the river and sit awhile soaking up the sun in the churchyard whilst keeping an eye out for any Peregrines. Later we rediscover our Alaska trip next year and take advantage of some good airfare deals that we can change or refund. Its nice to be planning something and are both very excited about it.

 

Rounding off the week with a quick walk past the Llamas and down the hill into Seymour park road. Ian preps dinner which today is roast chicken. I finish off my diary. We are out tonight over the road for drinks unless the weather turns like it did yesterday and we have to reschedule again. I might get an hour or 2 in the garden as well.

 

Well that was our week hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

 

Some other points.

 

Rishi has announced capital gains and corporation taxes are to rise to pay off the covid debt.

30 pupils from a school in Marlow went to Zante for a holiday upon return 4 of them so far have tested positive for covid and the school is having to delay the return of pupils for another week.

The number of global virus cases tops 25 million.

India set a new record for a single day rise with over 78,000 cases reported.

Schools and universities prepare for students to return.

Czech republic and Switzerland are added to the quarantine list.

Last night of the proms is set to ban the singing of Land of hope and glory and rule Britannia as it is built upon slavery.

 

 

Food.

 

Various dishes using up the roast lamb from Sunday, including lamb with ginger and spring onions stir-fry.

Smoked haddock risotto.

Tortellini

Spag Bol

Roast Chicken.

Bahn Mi Thit Nuong (Honey glazed pork with 5 spice and lemon grass in a baguette.The French occupation of Vietnam in 1880’s lasted for 6 decades and resulted in a strange but delicious fusion of foods. Ian had a campfire Beefsteak.

I believe he enjoyed that

It's all about the weather.

 Week ending Sunday August 23^rd 2020.

 

Temperature this week has been around the 20+ some days very hot & sunny.

 

It's been a mixed bag of things this week both weather wise and day to day things. The weather has been raging winds, heavy rain, boiling sunshine, sunny and overcast some of this all in one day!

The pouring with rain day was a bit of a worry and has highlighted to us that we need to prepare for winter, i.e. making sure we have the things and equipment to complete jobs that need doing around the house, in case we get locked down again. So we are compiling a list and buying things in for those rainy days. Also it is becoming apparent that we need to plan ahead and book things in advance. Everything that we want to do needs pre booking, from days out, National Trust, Wetland centres and restaurants. Off the cuff plans are not going to work anymore unless we just want to go for a walk or a drive out somewhere.

The gazebo has had to be taken down due to gale force winds blowing in from the west. It was easy to get down and pack away, so that’s a good thing. Many of our friends are now buying them; it seems to be the way forward for entertaining at home. However Ian & I think that the winter months are going to be long and possibly lonely, if we don’t get to meet up with friends somewhere. I am still uneasy going into pubs, coffee shops etc. as this (in my opinion) seems to be the cause of spreading at present.

Tuesday Ian Max and I had a lovely walk up to Bovingdon Green and into the nature reserve there. Ian has mentioned it a few times but I have never been. It was a warm day and nice a cool in the woods. We stopped at the Royal Oak for a coffee on the way back. £3.75 for 3 drinks. 6 miles done tick.

Had a visit to my hairdressers, which was rather nice, not so hurried as last time. He lives in Soho (works in Wooburn Green) and says that Thursday to Sunday Soho is dead, pubs are empty as are the restaurants. However Monday to Wednesday with the ‘eat out to help out” is a nightmare. The main street in Soho has been pedestrianized and the road filled with tables and chairs. This in itself is lovely, very continental and a great thing to do, safely eating outside rather than indoors. This however has the adverse effect of overcrowded pavements as there is no room to walk into the road and self-distancing on these days is non-existent. He had to go home, as he felt very unsafe with so many people around it was quite unsettling.

It appears that France and South Korea is spiking. Croatia, Austria, Trinidad and Tobago have all been added to the quarantine list.  The R rate is reported to be at 1.1 nationally speaking. I am certain it will be lower here and much higher in Oldham, Blackburn and Pendle which have been partially locked down.

Thursday we went to Highclere Castle (Downtown Abbey) we had a lovely day, a Holiday day. The weather was fabulous blue sky and sunshine, still a bit windy but lovely warm wind. The house was so interesting although with the lack of paper guide notes (Covid safety) little information was available. Volunteers were around and did a great job of talking through things but as we had to keep moving albeit slowly we missed a lot. It’s a super place to visit and we were lucky to get tickets. I have tried in previous years but fully booked months in advance. With the lack of overseas visitors it was a easy to get tickets and the reduced numbers allowed on site made for a pleasant and safe day out. Well I say day out its really a half day even taking in the grounds and nice gardens. We decamped an headed across country to Streatley where we sat in the gardens of the Swan on the Thames had a beverage and a spot of people watching, before driving back to Marlow and an early supper at Da Luca. What a lovely day we had.

Saturday saw us mooching about the house quite at a loose end. The weather was hit & miss and as soon as we decided on doing something it started to rain. We did manage an hour or 2 weeding in the garden and mowing the lawn, which had grown so much it, was like a meadow and clogged up the mower. Cricket at the Ageas was on and off due to “rain stopping play”. We started watching race across the world, which several people have recommended to us. Ian was not keen but we binged watched the 1^st series and thoroughly enjoyed it, having been to a lot of the places they visited.

Being rather bored and fidgety late Saturday afternoon, we were delighted to get a message from Pauric that he & Coleen were walking down to the rugby club for a swift beer. A, it broke the boredom and B, we got some more steps in.  It was rather windy and as the evening drew in a tad chilly too, a splash of rain added to the event and the smell of Autumn crept in. How amazing we said that we were all prepared to sit out in the cooling breeze and spitting rain normally we would have dashed inside but all were quite content to stay because we needed the company and change of scenery.

 

Sunday morning I was busy polishing some minor scratches off the Saab, she looks lovely and shiny now. The car parking fiasco continues outside our houses. One car has been parked outside our neighbours for the best part of 2 weeks without moving at all. These people all live along the Oak Tree road end of Hillside road but park outside ours all the time. Even Martyn commented on who the hell keeps parking outside your houses all the time, they are even double parking and blocking the road. Along where he lives there is none of this and hardly any cars parked in the road. Grrr

The cricket has been rained off again, hence me writing this. Ian is prepping dinner of Roast lamb; Rosemary roasted potatoes and Mediterranean veg. The Stay inn is possibly opening later on this afternoon but nothing else planned.

 

Looks like a busy week next week so stay tuned for an update.

 

Food items.

 

Spicy Thai crab cakes (needs more work not crabby enough)

Spaghetti Vongole

A massive Calzone (Mr F managed to eat the whole thing Surprise)

Sea trout, New pots and some horrid stringy runner beans.

I also made some Raspberry and Chocolate Blondie’s.

Almost forgot I made some blackberry vodka.

I can’t think what else we ate so it can’t have been very inspiring.

A recent Covid news update and other things.

 I thought I might dedicate a page to the current Covid situation, well that is if I can make head or tail of what is happening or what I believe is.

 

As of 4am today 15^th August France has been added to the quarantine list. Thousands of people were trying to get back before the 4am deadline. What the difference it makes I do not know, surely if there is a need to impose a quarantine then it should happen immediately and not give people 3 days notice to return to the UK and spread germs from their Covid ridden bodies all over the place.

Spain and Portugal come under the “only essential travel” banner, yet holidays still appear to be being taken there. The red top papers are full of so called celebs ( I have never heard of any of them) flaunting their bronzed bodies, skimpy swim wear, not to mention their charmed lives, on beaches across Europe, but its ok as they have arrived by private jet. Well perhaps they have a point there. I wouldn’t mind a private jet to whisk me off to somewhere but it would need to be people and Covid free, so not a lot of use at present then.

Social distancing is a farce, we have just been down Marlow high street (Saturday afternoon) and its quite busy but no distancing or thought for other persons on the street. However I did manage myself to walk into 2 shops without a mask on.  Ok when you are just going to the supermarket or B&Q it’s inbuilt in your mind to don the mask. Wandering from shop to shop down Marlow high street is quite a different matter though as I cant wear a mask for nay length of time so take it off when in the fresh air. Ian got shouted at by an assistant in Oxfam to sanitize his hands as he entered the shop. Having previously done it 3 times in the last 10 minutes I can quite see why he thought it unnecessary or just forgot, however she was not to know this, but she was rather frantic with her request, as though we would all drop down dead in the next 30 seconds if he did not comply.

Watching the cricket, well when its not poring with rain, is very strange. The players are now quite normal in their behaviour with each other on the pitch. They have all been in a bio bubble for months so can now hi 5, but no hugging. TV commentary is carried out at the specified social distance; it is very odd to see them standing so far apart. There is a virtual crowd and a low gentle crowd hum accompanies the play, not like that awful racket when the football is on.  TV programmes are the same you can now see when the soaps have been filmed.  On Emmerdale the other night it was so obvious that the actors were social distancing in real life but no mention of the pandemic is made at all in the script.

Apparently now I can have a facial, get eyebrows plucked, go to the theatre and gamble in a casino. Soft play areas are now allowed, skating and bowling alleys are reopening but I cant have more than 6 people from multiple households in my garden even if we social distance. However I can go to the pub or eat out at a restaurant (indoors too) with no restriction on numbers in the restaurant as long as everyone is at least 1m apart. It is conflicting and confusing. I would rather have 10 people in my garden than go to a restaurant with 20-30 people inside it.

We are now supposed to leave contact details with any pub or restaurant that we visit. I have been to a couple and this has been observed but friends have been and it is not happening.  It all very well for the media to slam the government for things like track & trace failing but if people don’t abide by the rules then it is all destined to fail. There will be an outcry if we get locked down again and those crying the loudest will be the publicans if restaurants and pubs are closed.

Reading the news today it says that the virus is on the increase again and as more travel restrictions are imposed I have to wonder why further easing is going on. It is blatantly obvious that gatherings of people are causing the increase so why allow more places where lots of people gather to reopen??

Today the highest number of new cases a day for 2 weeks has been reported at 1012 cases. There are local lockdowns in the Midlands and Nottinghamshire is on the watch list. The R rate is uncertain reports SAGE but the South East is possibly the only area where it is below 1. Cases have increased by 65% over the last 2 weeks but some of that is put down to increased testing.

People that have had to return early from their holidays in France are now whinging that their summers have been ruined. Really heart-breaking (not) stories of how people have charted fishing boats to get them home and having to travel for 10 hours to make a ferry crossing in time to beat the 4am deadline fill the papers. This disease has been going on for months now. When you went on your holiday 1 or 2 weeks ago or perhaps if you were lucky even a bit longer. You knew what was happening all around the world and you also knew, unless you are extremely stupid that the likely hood of a lockdown or quarantine restriction were very high indeed, so please stop whining on. Enough said.

 

Rain was forecast for today but so far it has held off. As aforementioned we managed a stroll into town earlier so glad of a bit of fresh air. We did a strange walk yesterday not sure where it was going to lead us but we ended up at Handy Cross which meant we had to walk down a busy road to get back to the car. I was in a foul mood by the end of it as it very hard walking underfoot and cars and lorries hurtling past made me very uneasy. However it was another 4 miles under our belts, so there was an upside. Also saw that there are even more blackberries ripening now, so the plan is to go back tomorrow and pick some. We are going to have a go at making some Blackberry Vodka, will keep you updated on that one.

 

Ian is making Chicken curry for dinner, last night we had Spicy Lamb stuffed Aubergines. Today for lunch with some of the lamb I made some delicious flatbreads, which we had with salad.

 

The Stay in is closed today as the Griffins have friends from Otley staying nearby and they are meeting up in variouis hostelries. Also Jon has gone out somewhere on his own! Perhaps he has gone to a Casino, soft play area or ice-skating maybe even an eyebrow waxing ! cant wait to find out.

Its hotter than ever before. August 12th 2020

 Its hotter than ever before. August 12^th 2020

 

 

I am sitting here in a 30 degree heat waiting for a storm and hopefully some rain to hit Marlow. The thunder has been rolling around in the valley for about an hour and the ominous looking skies over Maidenhead / Cookham way are moving towards us. However I have a feeling that we are once again going to miss out on a good drenching and cooling rain. Which means dragging the hose up the garden again tonight to tend to the parched and dying plants.

 

What’s been occurring let me think. Joyce came to stay with us for a week, which was very nice. We went to the Abingdon arms near the RSPB Otmoor reserve and had a fabulous lunch outside of course. We have done quite a bit of socialising with the neighbours, popped into see Rhiannon on one of her brief visits back here from Tenby and had some people round for supper. We have also been eating out to help out, once at the Crooked Billet (not so good) and once at the Kings Head. Bargain lunches worth making the effort to go out as long as the places are abiding by the rules. Some places are not and it’s going to come back & bite us.

Coronavirus is kicking off again, ok so not in a big way as before but as soon as the pubs opened the idiots were out in force and I have to say its them youngsters again, without a thought for us oldies, they think we have had our lives well sonny Jim just you wait until you are my age then you will realise. We had more respect for our elders when I was that age. Etc etc.  Victor Meldrew.

Some towns have been locked downish mainly up north but Swindon is hovering around the danger zone.

 

We went to Ikea the other day, quite pleasantly surprised by the hygiene standards. Banisters constantly wiped down, handrails and every available touchy surface was constantly cleaned. I hard hardly squeezed myself out of the toilet cubicle before the girl was in there scrubbing and spraying after me and I only had a wee honest.

Well we managed to buy a lot of stuff that we didn’t know we needed and they didn’t have the things that we did need. I had these lovely blue glasses from there and tripped up the garden step one evening, as I am prone to do and broke them. No at this stage I had not been drinking, that was later. Sadly they did not have these in stock but I managed to get some on line later.

 

Weather update, friends in Bourne end, Booker and High Wycombe all reporting heavy rain, flooding, thunder and lightning. Still no rain here, plenty of thunder and lightning though.

 

We have had extraordinary weather this August (up to 12^th); the Monday that Joyce arrived it was pouring with rain miserable and dull, by the end of the week it was so hot we could not go out anywhere. A morning walk was manageable but then it was too warm. Since then it has got hotter and hotter. Yesterday was the peak. Liz & Ray came for lunch and we ended up sitting up the top of the garden under the trees to keep cool. I still don’t want people in the house if at all possible. People say they have been careful and then whist talking to them you find out they have been here there and everywhere and inside others houses.

We have done our fair share of socialising but always with the same group of people and never indoors.

The kitchen thermometer has reached 31 degrees, the temperature up stairs at 10.30 pm is 29. Its up to 36 outside. All the windows and doors are pinned open to allow any breath of air to enter. We had the fan on in the bedroom the other night and I went in find Willow sitting on the end of the bed facing into the full force of the breeze. Hilarious.

We also had to set up the fan in the garden for lunch yesterday as there was little or no air.

I mentioned in my last issue that we had ordered a gazebo. Well it did not arrive; no tracking details for it and was declared lost. So I was refunded the money, ordered another and yes you guessed it the original one tuned up. Anyway it’s been a great success and even we have enjoyed it, we would not have been able to sit out in this searing heat without it. Also we have been able to entertain in the evenings as well as daytime as people now have shade.

We have lovely firefly lanterns and bunting around the gazebo so it looks very pretty and after a few incidents with people and steps we have installed a security light. You can now see our garden at night from the international space station or so it’s rumoured.

 

I was also waiting for a refund for some wrong plants being delivered and they refunded me the whole order not just the wrong plants. So £££’s in so far. Still waiting for the big holiday money to come back in though.

Also we had a visit from our financial advisor so that soon put us back down to earth with a bump. Worrying times ahead as today we have officially gone into a recession.

Quarantine coming into the UK is now required from Portugal and Spain, France is on the cusp of it too. NZ has 4 cases after 120 days with none. It has sent them into a frenzy and panic buying again. Ian is getting twitchy about toilet rolls and pasta. I have to keep a tight control of what goes into the shopping trolley. We are very concerned how this is all going to pan out over the winter months. Which reminds me to book our flu jabs. It is rumoured that over 50s will get them free but I think they will run out well before then.

The one-way pedestrian system in Marlow failed so they have changed it to, keep to the left. It is amazing how many people can’t tell their left to their right. Strange.

We went back to the reindeer farm for eggs and pleased to say the reindeer have completed the moult and are now looking splendid, the antlers are stately and magnificent but we are still not allowed to stroke the deer.

Sunday we went blackberry picking on Monkton lane where there is a plethora of the black beauties, plump and juicy and people don’t know they are there. We scrumped some apples from our neighbours, well we are looking after their cats so its seemed ok at the time. The resulting apple and blackberry crumble was a great success and followed Raymond Blancs method of preparing it and will never do it the old way again!

 

I have cancelled my Gym membership as I am not happy with being inside with a lot of people. Now I have to find something to replace it.

 

I will do another entry this month if anything exciting happens unless I have melted by then.

 

Things consumed.

 

Chicken fajitas with sumac yoghurt and pomegranate molasses.

Paella

Lamb kebabs

Lamb koftas

Prosciutto, Mozzarella and nectarine salad.

Sea Trout

Grilled Mackerel.

Beer braised pork.

Chicken Basque.

Sausage and Harissa traybake with crusty bread.

Blackberry and Apple crumble with Ice cream.

 

 

Tiny spattering of rain so off to feed the cats and water the garden.