Month: April 2020

First of all my apologies to Captain Tom yesterday as I posted that he was 98 when he was in fact 99. Today however, and as you all know, Captain Tom celebrated his 100th birthday. The army promoted him to Honorary Colonel, the Queen sent him a birthday card which was delivered to his home by The Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire, Prime Minister Boris Johnson recorded a message wishing him a happy birthday and thanking him for lifting the spirits of the nation. His fundraising reached 30 million pounds and the MoD organized a fly past in his honour. He truly has become a national treasure as well as being a perfectly nice gentleman.

Posh back pedalled from furloughing her staff and expecting the tax payer to help out so she could keep her money in the bank. Takes courage to admit to a mistake. Still be nice though if she could learn to smile.

My daughter and son in law celebrated their 23rd wedding anniversary today. They both forgot it and she couldn’t remember how many it was when I called to congratulate them. Sam, it’s 23, I know because I was with you in Barbados with Sandy and such a lovely day. Congratulations to you both.

I forgot yesterday to mention that I joined my Spanish conversation group online for the first time since lockdown. John Hanson our group leader organized it and it went very smoothly indeed. We are going to continue every Wednesday until we can go out again. His group certainly has helped me to remember my Spanish that I learnt all those years ago.

BoJo tries to sound positive when delivering his speech and Piers Morgan continues to be negative. Easier for Piers who has the benefit of hindsight. Even I could tell the government what they should have done but nobody is going to pay me the enormous sums of money for doing so like GMB are doing for Piers. So shut up Piers, even a 100 year old man has raised money and the spirits of the country while you just sit there looking smug and being negative. Although I have to admit I’ve not yet tuned in, I just pick up comments from news online. Maybe I should also shut up.

Fortunately the neighbours didn’t shut up and there was plenty of clapping for the key workers tonight at 8pm. Even where I am, although I can’t see people I can here them and there seemed to be more this week. That’s all I’ve got today I’m afraid, I’m about to go online to the US so I need to get going. Sleep well and dream sweet dreams.

 

 

Congratulations to Carrie Symonds and Boris Johnson on the birth of their son, Not the first to be born to a PM in office at 10 Downing Street but the fourth. They’ve not had an easy nine months awaiting the arrival of baby BoJo, with Brexit, elections and then covid-19 to heap stress on this couple. I’m hoping they can settle down and just enjoy the new arrival.

Today was also the 9th wedding anniversary of Kate and Will so more congratulations to them and hope that they manage to have a happy day. All festivities and celebrations will need to be subdued this year.

Michelle Obama has made a documentary which will be released on May 6th about her book tour which promoted her biography Becoming Michelle (great title). Unfortunately it is to be shown on Netflix so unless you have paid up you probably won’t get to see it. I must say that I am an Obama fan.

A French doctor, Christian Chenay, who is 98 years old is still working as a GP in Paris. (Same age as our Captain Tom). He said one of the reasons he keeps working is because there is a shortage of GPs in rural and low income areas. Another reason is because he enjoys his work and not only meeting people but helping them. The last reason is that he believes that if he stops being active he will go downhill. That’s funny, our queen apparently said this week that if she stops she’ll probably drop. Congratulations to all our active and inspiring  nonagenarians worldwide.

I’ve been working, with the usual help, on my nannyjune.com web site today. It seems to be working well with sections and links etc. and tomorrow I hope to add my first recipe which will probably be gazpacho as I’ve already mentioned that in a previous blog. Take a look if you have time and tell me what you think, constructive criticism welcome. It rather looks like congratulations to me and my IT man.

Last but not least on my congratulatory journey are the men in the Lake District. I watched a BBC programme this evening called The Lake District, A Wild Year. Very beautiful scenery, to be expected of course, the changing seasons and the wildlife but also some amazing people. There was the rock climber who alone climbed great heights to rescue lone sheep that had become stranded. He swung around on the end of a rope to rescue them. and then the guy who builds and repairs dry stone walls, again alone, manhandling great lumps of rock into perfectly beautiful structures. I’m here to tell you girls that they were well fit. Congratulations to them and something for you to dream about, sleep well, night night 😴💤😴

 

It’s been announced today that there will be massive Covid-19 testing for people aged 65+ and those leaving their homes for work and their family members if they show symptoms.  More importantly all NHS and social care frontline workers, hospital patients & care home residents will be able to get tested whether or not they have symptoms. Seems a bit like shutting the gate after the horse has bolted but I suppose it’s better than nothing.

British Airways will make 12,000 staff redundant, SAS (Scandinavian airways will cut their personnel by half. John Lewis said it’s unlikely they will open all their stores after lockdown and this is the tip of the iceberg as far as redundancies go. Let’s hope that British entrepreneurs will find a few new initiatives here at home and create a few new jobs.

We are now going to be allowed to visit our local dump with garden waste. Social distancing will need to be maintained  and you will need to be the proud owner of a garden – supposedly. People will definitely be excited about having this outing on their agenda, bet you never expected that to happen.  Meanwhile a church in Florida remains open during lockdown because the pastor believes that faith will cure coronavirus. Other churches remain open because the pastors have convinced their followers that it is their right to have religious freedom. I hope they stay alive long enough to enjoy it.

Under EU smoking regulations menthol cigarettes are to be banned in the UK. In fact any flavoured smoking product will be banned from May 20th. I’m really glad I stopped smoking.

I keep thinking about cooking different things and today for some reason I was considering meatloaf. Not something I’ve made a lot of in my life and not something I even like very much but there I was looking up the recipe. I realised that I didn’t need details of how to make it as I already knew. Now I don’t know whether to give it a go or not. Am I the only person doing this in lockdown? I’ve also been updating my nannyjune.com website, with the help of my son of course. I’ve now got different sections apart from the blog. There should be, recipes, short stories, artwork and that’s for starters. Except I haven’t started to add anything yet, it’s on my todo list.  There is talk of lockdown beginning to open up in two to three weeks so if I don’t get a move on with my todos I’ll have to stay at home while you’re all out enjoying freedom.

I think all of Britain who was able to stopped today for the one minute silence. Well done everyone, together we can do this. Good night

Yesterday I had a moan but today I’m starting with a clap or two. I’ve read that Poundland are rewarding their staff for their work during the current pandemic. The company will be giving employees an extra week’s holiday, they will be doubling staff discounts and will be closing all stores on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. The MD Barry Williams said he wanted to thank employees because they were the real heroes of the business. Sounds good to me.

Tomorrow Tuesday 28th April there will be a one minute silence at 11 am in memory of all key workers who have died in the coronavirus pandemic. I’ve set my alarm and I hope you will too. Downing Street also announced that £60,000 will be paid to families of NHS and Social Care workers who have died of Covid-19. Elsewhere the Jenner Institute in Oxford will be testing their new coronavirus vaccine on more than 6,000 people. They had previously carried out trials on a vaccine for an earlier coronavirus and found it to be harmless to humans. The scientist at the Jenner Institute say that if they can get emergency approval ‘a few million doses of their vaccine could be available by September’. Tests have been carried out on monkeys at the National Institute of Health in Montana with positive results.

Kids in China are being made to wear one metre wide hats for school to help them maintain social distancing. They look like fun as parents seem to have been very creative. There were helicopters, helmets, cowboy hat but all with a wing sticking out either side. We could try that when we send ours back to school. In fact everyone could wear one when they leave their home.

Not much going right for Virgin lately as thousands of Virgin Media users went offline today. They keep offering me a line into my apartment, I’m glad I refused. A man in north east London has given himself a tattoo every day in lockdown. I’m sure it’s a little less painful to write a blog.

BoJo is back in office and appearing at the daily press conference. Until now the government representatives make their statements and then invite questions from the press via video link. From now on members of the public will be able to ask questions too. You or we will need to submit questions to the government web site, an independent polling organization will choose one question each day. The person who sent in the question will be contacted by 3pm and asked if you would like to record a short video of yourself asking the question which will be shown during live broadcast. I contacted Jeremy Vine a couple of times but never managed to speak to anyone. I’ve got a funny felling this will be even harder. I think I’d rather speak to JV anyway, I’ll keep trying.

Sorry to inform you that tomorrow will bring rain so maybe have a lie in as you won’t have to water your garden. I hope my son’s newly planted veggies don’t get washed away. Sleep tight, nighty night.

 

Two people getting on my nerves at the moment are Posh and Richard Branson (Why doesn’t this guy have a nickname). Posh’s face is bad enough but the poor love is all upset because people are criticising her for furloughing her staff. ‘It’s not fair’ she whines. She’s now punishing her fans by not posting on twitter or instagram or whatever. Why would they want to see how she spent several thousand pounds on her kids birthday parties from her net worth of 350 million and now she wants UK taxpayers to help her out. She should go and hide away with her friend in LaLa land. The Virgin boss who is worth 3.8 billion pounds is asking the UK government for 500 million for a company he has registered offshore and therefore doesn’t pay tax. Denmark and Poland have said there will be no government help for companies that are registered in offshore tax havens. It’s time that all companies operating in the UK were made to pay tax and most of the loopholes were closed. In the meantime lets copy Denmark and Poland.

The POTUS seems to have fallen out with another of his friends, namely China and its leader Xi Jinping. Until the end of March he praised the Chinese leader saying that he was doing everything he could to control the pandemic and that the two leaders enjoyed a great relationship. However, since April 1st he has criticised XI Jinpeng and even WHO for a lack of transparency regarding COVIOD-19 even insinuating that the pandemic should never have happened.

I’m still wondering how I can get a reduction on my council tax. But, I’ve been for a walk today which didn’t cost me anything. Quite a few people wandering around the clifftop but the beaches were pretty empty. It all looked very beautiful with the sun shining and plenty of spring flowers. I’ve had a lovely FaceTime catch up with some family members, I enjoyed that and a few phone calls.

BoJo arrived back in Downing Street today, it was said that his entrance was low key and through a back entrance. I wonder if he was expecting or hoping to catch someone doing something naughty. Meanwhile in the Isle of Man some lockdown restrictions have been lifted. Some tradespeople can return to work , non essential journeys can be made and kids can kick a football with family members. Social distancing is still to be observed. This brought back another reminder of my misspent youth. After my stint at trying to become a top model (not very successful) and working in the Whisky-A-Go-Go (slightly more successful) I went off to work in the casino in the Castle Mona, Isle of Man. The weather I remember was mostly dreadful but the job was definitely fun. I’ve had my moan so now it’s time for bed. Good night you isolating tax payers. sleep well.

If I want to be honest sometimes at this hour of the day (usually very late), I do not feel like blogging.  But the nurses are working all through the night as are the ambulance drivers and the police and it would be pathetic to say I can’t write a few words before I go to bed. Also in the morning when I get some feedback I’m always glad I did. I’m amazed and more than a little surprised to see how many people follow and some even say they enjoy it. So thank you one and all.

Seeing the grown up grandchildren yesterday, not able to go out, Uni shut down, no clubs, no friends unless it’s online made me feel quite sad that they’re missing out on a part of their growing up. Also made me remember my life at their age. Having been brought up mainly in Essex I decided in the early sixties to leave home and went to live in a studio in Notting Hill Gate. I just remember life being very different, very easy in many ways, and of course fashion and music was exploding around us. Getting a job was no problem, there was plenty of work. I was trying to become a fashion model and in the evenings worked at the Whisky-A-Go-Go to keep my days free for visiting the fashion houses. I’ve read ideas that the Whisky opened in the 70s but I was working there in the early 60s. It was busy, it was fun and I can’t imagine being made to isolate.

On our roads drivers are taking advantage of lack of cars and speeding. Police have seen 150 mph and well over 100 in London. I had noticed that there is plenty of stupid driving here in Bournemouth, more so than normal. In the Channel migrants are still being picked up by coastguards. Yesterday 75 in five dinghies were taken to centres where they were put in quarantine.  Trump has unfollowed Piers Morgan on Twitter for criticising him regarding his remarks on curing the virus with disinfectant.  This was followed by a tit for tat response when Piers unfollowed Trump. So sad they were such good friends. And while on the subject of the POTUS the New York Daily News has given him a new nickname calling him a Total Bleach Bum. We should have a competition for the best moniker.

That’s all for today, keep reading, keep isolating and most of all keep smiling, our very own BoJo will be back in office on Monday and now before bed I’m going to catch up with my friends in Texas. Nighty night, Don’t let the bugs bite. 😴💤😴

The thing is this, since I finished writing yesterday just after midnight, it has been my birthday. First one in lockdown, and hopefully the last (in lockdown) but in spite of still following government guidelines it managed to be fun. Lots of phone calls and FB posts, some lovely family photos were added even showing me when I was very young (thank you everyone) and then a group chat with friends that I often see on a Friday so we had a Zoom virtual reunion thanks to Lynn who set it up. Six of us chatting and almost felt normal. My daughter Sam popped over with Alex and Jack bringing cards, flowers and gifts as well as a balloon. Then Elena visited with Elizabeth and Alice and they brought a cake (made by Alice, photo posted) and more flowers and gifts. Social distancing was maintained at all times and I felt very spoilt. Still more phone calls later made it a proper celebration.

The POTUS has been at it again. Yesterday he heard that disinfectant could kill COVID-19 so asked if it couldn’t in some way be injected into people. The response was shock and horror from everyone, everywhere, could someone really be suggesting this? Today he back pedalled fast and said no he didn’t really mean it it was just a joke or sarcasm. Funny he’s never been known for a sense of humour or irony. My sister who lives in Australia and phoned today to wish me a happy birthday mentioned that he is also referred to as a cockwomble. That’s a new one on me.

In Suffolk a closed library has been thoroughly cleaned with disinfectant by their regular cleaner. When she returned the books to the shelves she put them in order of size, so they looked nice one presumes.  A librarian said the cleaner was lovely and it was an honest mistake so they wouldn’t want her to feel bad about it. No, of course not, that’s why they informed the BBC. Elsewhere a neighbour who fell asleep and didn’t go out to clap was shamed by her neighbours on FB. Self righteous indignation at work again.

Captain Tom’s single You’ll Never Walk Alone has reached number 1 in the UK charts. A news item says that when in a few days he reaches that ripe old age of 100 he will be the oldest person to be ‘top of the pops’. They might not have realised that he already is the oldest. I’ve been wondering how he’ll be able to pick out the Queen’s, birthday card from the 70+ thousand he has received. When Captain Tom was younger the Queen was sending out telegrams which would have been delivered by bicycle. Maybe there will be a special mail van this time. Good night everyone, thank you for a lovely day in isolation but not. 😴💤😴

For some reason daily life seemed calmer when I was busy and had a timetable with people to meet and a few responsibilities. Now with nothing much to worry about and spending the day faffing around and pretending  to be busy I can feel a bit lost. I never was very self motivated for long, I have to have a project. Truth is, I’ve got a few in hand or at least in my head but I’m not doing much with them, except telling you about them.

Captain Tom has received Pride of Britain award for raising the staggering amount of 28 million pounds. Furthermore several artworks which have been carried out to immortalise him will be auctioned for charity. I can’t imagine what the final figure raised by Captain Tom will be.  I watched the video of when he was told he had received the prize and am amazed at his humility and how quick his brain is at 100 years. He absolutely understood everything that was said to him and chatted with the presenters as if he were 20 years younger..

The POTUS hasn’t got enough to worry about with COVID-19, he has instructed the US navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats who harass US ships at sea. I think the world can do nicely without a war in the Persian Gulf.

Just to let you know and in case you missed it, several couples have married using the video app Zoom. I believe the couple in each case were together, just the guests attending the ceremony remotely. I’m not sure if they’ll have to marry again after isolation to legalise the event but I was told when I was young and impressionable that marriage was made in heaven. There, I’ve got that sorted.

Back in the family (mine that is), it seems that my stepson Colin Arthur in Cheshire and my grandson Christian Blandford in Kent have been having a remote bread making competition. Now I have to say that in true Arthur/Blandford family tradition they are both good cooks. Photos of the two entries have been shown on Facebook and I wouldn’t mind a slice of either or both. I wouldn’t however like to be the judge. I decided this evening to make myself an apple pie, old fashioned plate pie, because I had some apples that I wanted to use up. I don’t think it would have won any competition but it wasn’t bad. Now, of course, I have quite a large pie to get through and here I am on my own, Oh dear.  Nearly time for bed. Sleep calmly and wake in the morning ready to carry on. Good night. 😴💤😴

 

 

It’s been a busy day for me and others. The House of commons has reopened with the majority of MPs attending remotely via Zoom. I hope they don’t (or may I hope they do) get bombed like I did by a porn site. That would make fun watching when you tune into Today in Parliament. The new leader of the opposition Sir Keir Starmer did what he was voted in to do, oppose. He obviously, because that’s what he’s meant to do, accused the government of making all the wrong decisions regarding Covid-19. Hindsight is a wonderful commodity.

There’s a couple who met last November at a remembrance day service. They got on really well and started dating but then coronavirus hit and they realised they wouldn’t be able to meet up when lockdown came, so they decided to move in together rather than isolate alone. They are really enjoying their isolation and say they have now fallen in love and they are both 97. It’s never too late to be happy. Someone else who’s happy is the winner of Euro millions. He won 58 million and said he can now retire.

Now here’s what I’ve been up to. I went for a walk and popped into Boots as I needed some indigestion tablets. I couldn’t find what I wanted so asked a member of staff for something for my bloated stomach, ‘oh’ she said in a very loud voice ‘do you mean windeze’?  So much for diplomacy. I decided as the weather is warming up I would make some Gazpacho soup, something I love and which is also very healthy. I will add a recipe section to my nannyjune blog page as granddaughter Lou said she would like me to after I blogged about meatballs yesterday. Now I would like to mention that our Lou is an NHS nurse and loves a bit of the ‘good life’. She grows veg and stuff and makes her own pickles and jams etc. She’s married to Ben and they have two lovely boys. So recipe section coming up within the next few days.

This evening I’ve been watching GB Sewing Bee. I used to do a lot of sewing and it made me want to get my machine out again. I’m going to be busy aren’t I?  I’ve also thought that this is a good time to write a bucket list. Not that I’m thinking of kicking it any time soon but it’s going to be hard to do certain things from now on, at least for some time so I need to think about it. I realised that I’ve not yet seen the Shard in London so that might be number one or even number fifteen, it doesn’t matter. What does matter is that I do something. And you all sleep well, nighty night 😴💤😴

The Queen (and there’s only one as far as we’re concerned) was 94 years old today. She decided to make it low key because of the coronavirus and indeed it almost passed without being noticed. It’s reported that she received a video call from the Sussexes who ignored her wish for low key and informed certain members of the press. Presumably not the ones they dismissed yesterday.

BoJo is easing back into work this week and started with a conference call to the POTUS. (I love this word it makes me think of hippopotamus or walrus) He and Trump discussed the G7 response to COVID-19. This doesn’t sound like the easiest way to get back to work after an illness. It seems they also discussed a mutual trade agreement, let’s hope there is some trade to agree on. Over here Cath Kidson has closed all stores and will from now on only trade online. How many more, doesn’t anyone realise I like going shopping.

I keep seeing in the media that since the lockdown certain restaurants have released the secret recipes for food items they sell  Pizza Express are sharing their margarita, McDonalds share cheeseburger, its mcMuffin and other delicacies and now IKEA has released the secrets of their meat balls. I am astounded that not only do people need a recipe for such simple quick food but that they would want to make them. If I’m making meatballs they’re going to be Italian with a thick tomato sauce and served on spaghetti. Parmesan or Parmigiano cheese sprinkled on the top.

Gwyneth Paltrow is auctioning her Oscars dress to raise money for coronavirus relief. Wonder if that will be on Ebay? I’ve got a couple of dresses I could flog off. Having seen a film today of the queues of New Yorkers waiting for food handouts she might need to sell more than a dress. We really can’t imagine a society without some form of NHS or social security. It’s happening in the wealthiest country in the world.

Friend called today and was telling me about her daily visits to her allotment. Never wanted one before but I felt strangely envious. nothing to do with the veg she might be growing, it’s just about having somewhere to go. Not much to write about today I’m afraid but I could supply the recipe for meatballs although you should all know how to do that. Sleep well my lovely readers. Good night 😴💤😴