Author: June

The Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison was trying to hold a press conference in what looked like a residential suburb. Just as he was getting into the swing of his press release explaining how his government were going to help homeowners,  a resident came out and said ‘Can you get off the grass please’.  The PM apologised and asked everyone to step back. The homeowner said sorry and added “I just seeded that’.  The head honchos around the world can’t seem to get the simplest thing right.

While on the subject of PMs our very own BoJo has managed to keep out of the limelight but that is mainly because of other stories making better headlines. Reports now hint that he and his government could have many questions to answer regarding their reaction to the pandemic. It’s certainly easy to judge from the sidelines and hindsight, as I’ve said before, is a great asset. I wonder if hindsight will give us answers that make sense of anything that has been going on. Could we have locked down earlier? would the British public have listened earlier and stayed at home? Is there only one way of comparing statistics with other countries and should we always look for a scapegoat? Our head honcho’s ratings have definitely plummeted over the Cummings debacle. We all did what we thought was right, we followed government guidelines and now we feel let down that a couple of clowns giving out advice felt they were way above such mundane rules.

From June 15th masks will be compulsory  on public transport. In London volunteers will be handing out free masks to those passengers who don’t have one but only at some stations. The rest of us will need to stock up if we wish to take a bus or train. Ryanair says all passengers must be wearing a mask to board their planes. In true Ryanair fashion they aren’t giving any out and some ticket holders have been turned away for not having a face covering. Wonder if they got a refund?

I had a zoom reunion with friends today, very enjoyable to see them all together, but separated, and makes me just wish that this could all be over and we can get out for a lunch or afternoon tea or maybe we’ll have a freedom party, can’t wait. Following on from that I took part in a quiz with my lovely nine year old granddaughter Jessie. She texted me to say her Nana had already done one with her and would Nanny (that’s me of course) like to follow suit. She booked me in for 4 o’clock and told me to have ten questions ready. FaceTime called on the dot of four, I was sort of ready but our Jessie only had 7 questions prepared. No problem she announced, I’ll get some more while we’re playing. I didn’t know the answer to the first one but then got into the swing of the thing. Not sure who won but it was fun and she has decided to teach me how to use PowerPoint next time I visit.  Good Might honchos.

 

The Trump has a new moniker, Bunker Boy, given to him after he escaped to the White House bunker because there were peaceful protestors stationed outside. He didn’t like his new name and has since been trying to prove how tough he is, it isn’t working. He looked like a complete moron standing in front of a church waving a bible. This was supposed to show him in a good light. It didn’t happen. Most of the world is pleased as it means he’s losing votes, I don’t think even his wife will be voting for him, not judging by the look on her face when she was made to pose with her Bunker Boy. He’s also ordered some new high fencing to be erected around the presidential home but he’s not scared. Oh no.

A Harry Potter first edition hardback has sold at auction for £33,000. It was found in a skip by a teacher twelve years ago. I bet you’re all wishing you’d bought the hardback instead of thinking that the paperback would do. Still, if everyone had bought one it wouldn’t be rare so in fact you’ve saved more by going cheap.

In Ilkeston, Derbyshire a man has rescued ten cygnets who were stuck in fast flowing water in a weir. He removed his shoes and socks, paddled in and returned the babes to the swans on nearby grass. Reminds me of when we had a mother duck nesting in our garden and we awoke one morning to find a brood of ducklings running around on the grass. I decided to take them down to the nearby river and collected them in a cardboard box. The mother duck didn’t like it but there wasn’t an easy route out of the garden to safety. She squawked and flapped around me all the way to the river, I thought she might attack me. Just as I arrived, one escaped and plopped into the water and I realised that even though the new borns  couldn’t fly, they could indeed swim from birth. I upturned the box, their mum jumped in after them and they swam peacefully away.The coronavirus doctor who said he would quit if Dominic Cummings didn’t, has left his job with the NHS. He had stated that he hadn’t seen his own parents since January and Cummings had spit in the face of all their efforts. Good luck to Dr. Dominic Pimenta.

Bournemouth is to recruit volunteers to help council workers deal with the influx of visitors to the beaches. They will help with crowd control and anti social behaviour (such as using the space behind beach huts as toilets, I hope). I can’t imagine what sort of response they will get but if they’re having problems they can watch a couple of  recent Bunker Boy videos and get a few tips. Nighty night. Sleep tight.

A rainy day in Bournemouth town and elsewhere no doubt, but I was here . Not a lot of rain, more of a very fine drizzle all day long. Good for the plants and people’s gardens but not sure if it will be enough as it’s going to be dry for at least another week.

From my point of view nothing much good has happened because of lockdown, unless it actually did stop the spread of Covid-19 and how will we really know? Still, my son made me think about this when he posted a lovely photo of my grandchildren today and said he would look back with fond memories of this family time at home. The environment has definitely benefitted, I even read that locally there are more sea horses in Studland Bay. A diver discovered 16 including pregnant males and and two babies.  The other good thing is that many, if not most, of us have spent a lot less money and British households have repaid record amounts of debt paying off credit cards and loans. A massive 7.4 billion pounds was repaid during April the first full month of lockdown. This ignores the other massive debt incurred by our government during the same period. Just saying.

I’ve had another busy day. I’ve managed to do a sketch of Tina Turner, just a small pencil one, I might post it. I also cooked dinner again for the movers and shakers who are still surrounded by boxes in the new home although they each now have a bed to sleep in and their family lounge is furnished.. Today I had promised Italian meatballs in a tomato sauce, always a favourite with the younger generation. I decided to take a starter and I made tuna in ‘escabeche’ which is a Spanish vinagrette sauce. My family love it and I promise to put the recipe on nannyjune web site, hopefully tomorrow. Unfortunately, Andrew and Alice were on their way back from their rental property in Sandbanks when they were involved in an accident on the Wessex Way. A Ford Escort driver lost control on the wet surface, skidded, hit the central reservation, spun around and hit them full on front to front. Some shock indeed, but no injuries, following a few already stressful days. Andrew had nothing but praise for the police who attended. He was breathalysed but that was negative and then the officer offered to drive them home luggage and all. No mean task as they had just emptied the rental and had suitcases, bedding, bags etc. It was all piled in and Alice who was getting over the initial shock made sure she had a photo of herself in the police car, very cool Alice. We don’t know what the neighbours thought of these newcomers being brought home by the police.  We all managed to enjoy our dinner in spite of the excitement, apple pie desert included. Good night campers, Sleep well.

 

The Trump had the police clear the roads outside the White House of peaceful protestors using tear gas and flash grenades. The reason? because he wanted to stage a photo op at a nearby church. He held up a bible let reporters take some photos and walked away. Biden called Trump a narcissist and said that words he had used towards the protestors were the words of a racist not a president. A Washington bishop said she was outraged at the POTUS using the church for a photo op. Meanwhile protests have continued in cities around the country. The white police officer who killed George Floyd is awaiting trial for murder and his colleagues have been suspended and arrested. How did they not know that their action was against the law. The black people have reason to be angry but it isn’t that all white police officers are racist. In Houston the Chief of Police gave a message for Trump telling him ‘if you can’t be constructive, keep your mouth shut’. He said it was time to be presidential, he was not on The Apprentice. In  Many cities police officers have knelt before the protestors as a sign of solidarity with them

So, we are still in semi lockdown but many people seem to be taking it as a holiday. Makes me wonder why they’re not all back at work. Today the weather was hot and it seems that Bournemouth beaches were packed. I didn’t go down today so couldn’t check it out. I’m never sure that the photos in the press releases are photos of today or taken last year or some other time. What I can say is that the car park was nowhere near full. Tomorrow will be different as rain is forecast, shame, I don’t mind the odd shower but I’ve been enjoying continental type weather.

My daughter’s container arrived at her new house this morning. 300 boxes were unloaded and stacked around the different rooms ready to be unpacked tomorrow. The removal company will be returning to assemble furniture, beds etc. I cooked them dinner and took it round, roast chicken, potato salad (Spanish style, I must put the recipe up on the nannyjune site) and a mixed salad. We sat in her new garden and had a nice family meal. Lovely.

Meanwhile a  part of the cliff in the Isle of Sheppey collapsed causing a house to fall into the bottom of a ravine below. The house had been called cliff hangar. The owner, a mum of five purchased the property less than two years ago. She couldn’t get insurance as it was too near the cliff edge. She had said it was her dream home. I really feel for this poor woman but surely we have all known about the erosion of our coastline. The fact that the previous owners wanted to sell it and no insurance would give most people a clue. She thought she would get forty more years before the cliff gave way. That’s really sad. Twenty other families have had to leave their properties Nothing funny today, sorry. Sleep well, Good Night.  😴💤😴

 

The first day of June and summer tourism got off to a fine start. Italy opened up to visitors including the colosseum in Rome and the Vatican museums. Advance reservations were required at all venues in line with the strict control measures still in place. Everyone had their temperature taken and had to wear masks but there they were happy to be part of the tourist industry. The Italian beaches were open but strict social distancing was in place (unlike many UK beaches).  All across Europe hotels, bars and restaurants are beginning to open to the public. . Spain has had its first day without any coronavirus deaths but their tourism minister has said that British tourists would not yet be allowed to enter the country. Quite right too seeing the way they have behaved on the beaches here.

In the US Florida Keys and other tourist spots opened to the public although beaches were closed on the Keys due to rioting. In the White House Trump took himself off to a bunker to escape from the number of protestors outside the building. He spent the night watching back to back movies, Disney channel I shouldn’t wonder.    Later he called state governors telling them to get much tougher.  He said they should catch the protestors and lock them up for ten years, he added that they were doing it in Washington despite the fact that governors do not have power to arrest citizens unilaterally. Reports have said that anything that the POTUS has said had only made matters worse but he just can’t shut up. A senator called him scum and another stated that the Trump is unable to summon even an ounce of humanity. Is this the leader of the free world we’re talking about. Meanwhile the brother of the murdered black man, George Floyd has called on the protestors to stop rioting telling them that the family was seeking another route for justice for his brother.

Last year the spice girls decided to go on a reunion tour although posh declined to go with them. Well, let’s face it, it is a bit beneath her now isn’t it? Still she managed to rake in one million pounds from the tour as she was entitled to one fifth of all monies made on endorsements, licensing etc. This was more money than she made from her fashion label. It also means that even before they had sung a note an ageing girls band managed to earn five million pounds.  I am flabbergasted.

It seems we have a new law. Sex in your own home with a person from another home is illegal, wow didn’t that government scientist do that at the beginning of lockdown. Must have been legal then. I thought I should warn you about this in case you missed it. It’s ok to BBQ with them in the garden though. Oh, and if you do decide on the illegal tryst, don’t worry too much because the police won’t be able to barge in. You heard it here from nannyjune. Time for bed sleepy heads. Nighty night.

Yesterday the police had to clear Durdle Door beach following three accidents caused by people jumping from the rocks into the sea (known as tombstoning), and also too many people crowded into this small space. I suggested that maybe the police should close the beach because it was impossible to maintain social distancing in such an enclosed area. Today they did close roads and put up notices saying the beach was closed, not because I said so, I’m sure. It didn’t hinder a rather large number of visitors who found a way to arrive there and some of whom continued to jump from the rocks. Police and coastguards had to attend to clear them, again.

Our two intrepid astronauts, Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken,  who rocketed into space yesterday in a private venture, today entered the International Space Station (ISS). They were in the Dragon capsule which attached itself to the bow of the orbiting lab 422 km above China. I bet the Trump didn’t like that, he’s bound to see a conspiracy or something with China so close. What an amazing achievement for private enterprise.

The horrific news of the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis by a police officer has sparked some of the worst riots where it happened and across America. It has also brought forth a number of offensive remarks by the Trump, unforgivable in a president. Four police officers have been arrested and one of them, who knelt on the victims neck for eight minutes, has been charged with murder. I’m very sorry to say that I don’t think equal rights for all will happen in my lifetime. Demonstrations in support of George Floyd were held in Trafalgar Square and Battersea in London with thousands gathering in spite of the social distancing rules. Hundreds marched through Manchester and a smaller protest took place in Cardiff. George might not now be forgotten but he should not have died in those inhuman circumstances.

I’ve been lucky enough to go for a BBQ this afternoon invited by my daughter Sam and Paul. Lovely to sit in the garden with family and spend time with grandchildren. Always a pleasure. I made an effort before going and coloured my hair. I’m sure nobody had realised that I had slightly grey roots but no harm in trying to look ones best. It was a bit of a palaver trying to do the back, lots of arm twisting but I think the result was ok. I don’t look at it that much anyway.

Dominic Cummings still has a job but Prince Andrew doesn’t. The Queen has decided (I wonder if a 94 year old woman makes this decision alone) that he should never resume royal duties and that they have no plans to review the situation. It seems that she will also pay off his debt of £6.7 million on a swiss chalet that he purchased with his ex wife Fergie. Seriously? she must be the only mum in the world who has that sort of money lying around to help her wayward offspring. I need to lie down. Good night, sleep tight.

 

I’ve been one of the people who went to the beach today although I didn’t actually go on the sand. I walked along the Southbourne prom with a couple of friends from U3A, we sat on the wall at the bottom of the cliff and ate our sandwich and drank our coffee. The beach was scattered with small clusters of people and it all looked very social distanced. For some reason, every year I forget that I might catch the sun just walking along and not sunbathing. Happened again today so when I got home and happened to glance in the mirror I had a pink face looking back at me. Some people never learn. Others who don’t seem to learn anything are the crowd who gathered at Durdle Door, small beach in a cove and the famous rocks giving the place its name. Visitors once again were jumping from the said rocks and got into trouble causing two helicopters and police to be called out. The helicopters landed on the beach with all the visitors herded together and being treated to a real live reality show. Great pic showing idiots being kept away from the rescue and then being shepherded up the cliffs and away. The police closed the beach. This isn’t the first time in lockdown that the emergency services have been called out to that area, I think it’s time the police closed that beach and clifftop until the end of lockdown.

I haven’t watched ‘Have I got news for you’ for quite a while but today I did following a news item referring to Ian Hislop’s Virtuoso Roasting of Dominic Cummings. He and Paul Merton were hilarious and I must say I enjoyed seeing it relayed via video link (I didn’t miss the canned laughter which spoils it on tv). Ian described Cummings’ ninety minute press conference explaining why he had ‘needed’ to break lockdown as utter  twaddle, or as nannyjune would say, absolute tosh. He took especial exception (as did the rest of the uk except a few conservative cronies) to Cummings’ drivel as to why he drove to Barnard Castle to test his eye sight. ‘Why’ asked Ian ‘would he put a four year old in the back of his car and drive for 30 minutes to see if he could in fact see?’

So. the engineer, designer of the all electric Tesla car has just managed to launch a rocket into space. I can’t help feeling that Richard Branson might have his nose put out of joint over this event. But that isn’t the point, the point being that as one twitterer pointed out ‘the guy (Elon Musk) has now built rocket ships better and cheaper than any government ever and just sent an astronaut into space on one. Remarkable’. It is currently circling the earth and has already passed above Britain twice. After travelling for nineteen hours it will join the International Space Station which is orbiting the earth. I hope they sleep well in their space suits, in their space capsule and I hope you sleep well too. Good night.

The Trump needs to learn when to button his lips. The riots in Minneapolis lead to him stating that the troops would be sent in and that when the looting starts the shooting starts. This is a phrase that had been used against black protestors by southern police in 1967. It was repeated by the White House in a tweet and subsequently hidden (not removed) by twitter for inciting violence. Separately, CNN say that the POTUS has made 654 false claims over fourteen weeks during the pandemic, they can be seen on CNNs web site. And finally (for me today) he announced that the US will terminate its relationship with the World Health Organisation. He more or less said that the WHO and China were in cahoots with each other. Could this man really get voted in again?

In Whitstable, Kent a man drove his VW Golf onto the beach to unload his jetski, he parked too close to the water and a wave floated the car out to sea. A few onlookers took to the water to attempt to push it back onto the beach and one of them attached a rope and they were able to pull it ashore. No one mentioned whether he was able to drive it away but I guess that is a little doubtful. I used to go to Whitstable on holiday as a child, I don’t remember any cars being on the beach, I only remember always being cold.

My daughter Elena and hubby Andrew took possession of their new house today. They can’t move in yet as the container with all their goods and chattels doesn’t arrive until Tuesday. Still, I was able to pop around and give it the once over while it is still empty. Absolutely lovely, spacious rooms, light and south facing, big garden and a great location. Quite near me.  I’m sure they’re going to be very happy there.

Anyone planning a family BBQ next week will need to read the government guidelines. They are suggesting a one way system around the garden and grill and guests should also arrive with their own cutlery and condiments. Now, they haven’t mentioned who provides the plonk and glasses but as everyone seems to have turned into a brewer or winemaker the choice should be interesting. Don’t forget that numbers should not exceed six and if by chance, once grannie and grandad arrive there are seven or eight, you’ll have to relay them in and out anyway. Will this be reminiscent of a game of snakes and ladders, or hide and seek? Maybe you could mark out a large board and if anyone lands on a snake, out they go.

I read today that Laura Kuenssberg earns £250,000 as political editor at the BBC, sounds like a lot right? and it’s described as a staggering amount. However the dopey Alex Jones who presents the very boring The One Show which everyone I know switches off after watching the news, is paid £450,000. Do you think I could read them my blog instead, I would only charge £50,000? Good night

 

BoJo has announced another easing of lockdown with groups of six people being able to meet outside, including private gardens from next Monday. I can’t help it but I’m picturing a family of five, mum dad and three kids, grannie and grandad want to visit for a drink in the garden. Now here’s the problem, someone has to leave the garden to keep the number at six. It could be achieved in a relay, one in, one out. kids probably don’t want to be there anyway but who thinks up this stuff? Why can’t they just say, small groups of people using their common sense and staying safe.

I went for a walk today, late afternoon, early evening and I have to say there were plenty of people still on the beach. Sunbathers, swimmers, cyclists on the prom, runners and plenty of groups which may or may not have been families who live under the same roof. The gardens were busy too with people sunbathing on the grass, playing football and generally enjoying the wonderful spring weather. Hate to be a wet blanket though, the weather forecast isn’t good, although it doesn’t look bad here in the south. I wonder if people will just move their reunions indoors? Cummings gave a good example of twist the rulings to suit the circumstances and then twist the circumstances to suit the small print in the ruling.

No one has said anything about hairdressers or barbers being able to open, other than a few supposedly funny suggestions on how it might be done. Oh, how we would all love to have a hair cut, not to mention getting the colour back to our normal natural look. No, it isn’t natural to have the roots a different colour to the ends. I wonder if our hairdressers will have survived lockdown and lack of earnings. I’ve been going to one of those salons where you don’t make an appointment, you just turn up and wait for a stylist to ‘do you’. Nearly all of the stylists are not from the UK, mostly they are east europeans. I’m not sure if they have a contracts or if they would have received any payment during lockdown. I do know that their working conditions are not excellent, I also know that they mostly are good hairdressers.

Now didn’t I say yesterday that I didn’t have much faith in the new track and trace system starting today? I would hate to say ‘I told you so’ but actually I did. Ex shop workers and probably exes of other employments are being paid £10 an hour to warn people that they may have been infected with coronavirus. The trouble today though is that they couldn’t log onto the system, neither could anyone else. Have you ever known any new,  official online system that didn’t crash or have some other technical problem? Well some people are still being paid £10 an hour and maybe that includes my hairdresser until she’s allowed back in the salon. Good luck to them I say. Good night, sleep tight.  😴💤😴

 

We’ve seen a lot of speeding in Dorset with the roads being emptier following lockdown. Maybe that’s why three young men in Oklahoma decided to take their motorcycle on a high speed ride down the interstate. Unfortunately for the bikers they were clocked by the police so one of the men decided to outrun the officers. Didn’t work even though he reached a speed of 183 mph. He eventually was made to pull over, was arrested, cuffed and taken away in the police car at which point he burst into tears. The officer told him that had he stopped as his friends had done he would only have received a fine, he could now be imprisoned or fined $5000 and would have to listen to the officers music. Maybe that’s why he cried. I always thought those hairy bikers were just big babies with their dungarees and sulky faces.

The Trump is understandably under pressure. He has threatened to shut down social media because twitter added fact checks to his tweets for the first time. What did it find? that a fact according to the POTUS, was in fact not fact!   He threw a tantrum.

An immunologist and ex employee of the WHO has stated that he believes the uk could be virtually back to normal by August and possibly sooner. He previously said that lockdown would begin to ease by mid May, and obviously he was right, and has been less pessimistic than others throughout the pandemic. Meanwhile the government’s track and trace system will be launching tomorrow (Thursday) and I have to say that I have little faith in the system working efficiently. Who is going to be chasing around looking for those people who have been in touch with people showing symptoms. And what about the chasers, won’t they be spreading the virus around as they chase?

Next month we can go shopping if we don’t mind queuing and if we can resist touching before we buy. I think shops will have to do more than mark out a one way system and try to keep shoppers two metres apart. We all know that women like to pick things up, put them down, feel the quality, hold it up against us and then rifle through colours and sizes prior to making our purchase which we will probably return a week later. I’m just saying, otherwise we might as well stick to Amazon. It’s also been suggested that pubs and restaurants could also open next month as long as they can maintain social distancing. I wonder if this will curb illicit liaisons? No canoodling in the corner, big brother will be watching.

So, we might be coming out of the battle with coronavirus but beware, there is more trouble on the horizon. In Virginia and North Carolina millions of cicadas are expected to rise after seventeen years underground. The insects have been growing for all those years and when they emerge they will be buzzing around making a deafening noise, they will lay their eggs and about three weeks later they will die, and we’re complaining about lockdown. In India there is a plague of locusts the worst in thirty years, which are eating crops and causing food shortages. In England we have been invaded by giant hogweed plants. The plants can grow over twenty feet tall, are toxic and can cause blindness and other life changing injuries.  Don’t let it keep you awake though.  Nighty night.