Category: Blog Post

Hello everyone. I haven’t written all week mainly because my son Peter, his wife Claudia and my three grandchildren rented a house nearby and I’ve been spending time catching up with them. We had a great week although sadly, because of lockdown regulations, we couldn’t meet up altogether with my daughters and their families.  Still we had a meal with the Tanners in the garden one day, another afternoon with the Bennetts, a pub lunch, a brunch and altogether ate too much. And some even drank quite a bit. I went shopping with Christian to buy him some new clothes – that was a first. He’s recently been losing weight so needed some togs that fit properly, I really enjoyed visiting House of Fraser with him. Another day Alice came to me and we made a baked New York cheesecake together with cherry topping. Very delicious and she’s a great little baker. I think that’s what you call proper family time.

Prince Phillip was laid to rest today. Liking a bit of pomp and ceremony I put the tele on to see what was happening. Windsor looked beautiful in the sunshine as did the men in uniform (and some women no doubt?) As for the rest, I found it all rather boring except for the part where the pallbearers carried the coffin up the steps of St George’s chapel. Now if anyone says they didn’t tune in to see what the women were wearing or to see if the brothers were talking etc. etc. I don’t believe you. I’m not sure if Camilla was there but maybe she was  and I still don’t know why the royals have all those medals stuck to their chests. Did they ever risk their lives saving others? They certainly are a strange lot. No doubt though that the Duke of Edinburgh gave up his freedom to marry the queen and his award scheme has given pleasure to many. And, what we didn’t see on the tele – a topless woman running through the street in Windsor where people had gathered for the funeral. She was shouting ‘save the planet’ but was grabbed by the police and led away covered in a blanket. Gotta love the Brits, we know how to do things.

My two daughters made better use of the sunshine than their mum and cycled to Swanage from Bournemouth with their hubbies. From the photos it looked absolutely stunning and I think they deserve a medal for their efforts.

Last but not least an 89 year old pensioner in Wales had been in hospital for some weeks fighting Covid. She was to be taken home by ambulance and her daughter was awaiting her arrival. Unfortunately the ambulance crew got her details mixed up with another patient and she was delivered to the wrong house. The people there also had a relative in hospital and said take her to the bedroom and make her comfortable. I believe the bed was empty but it was an hour before anyone realised the mistake. Hey people, let’sd be careful out there and nighty night 💤💤💤

All the news of course is the death of Prince Phillip at age 99. Mostly a controversial character and certainly not a ‘yes man’ but I suspect he was probably an asset to the royal family. The BBC has received more than a few complaints over its coverage of the event. All programmes cancelled and endless archive stories about HRHs and what they might and might not have done. A bit of a pain in the derriere for those viewers who don’t have Netflix or similar.

More importantly Friday was also my youngest daughter Sam’s birthday. We had a nice little get together in the garden and lovely Alice baked a delicious three tier cake. We’ve decided to wait until next week when the shops are due to open before I buy a present and then we can have a lovely girly day out.

The UK has given over 39 million Covid vaccinations so far and nearly 7 million were second doses. The first one ever in the UK was given on 8th December so we’re averaging four million per month, not bad that man. However not all countries are doing as well. In the Philippines punishment for breaking Covid rules are harsh. A man decided to pop out to buy some water after their 6pm curfew. He was caught by the police and made to do 300 squats. He managed to get home afterwards but was in agony and later had seizures which led to his death. Other punishments include being locked in dog cages and being made to sit in the midday sun. I visited Manila once and found the poverty and living conditions of many there extremely unacceptable.

A dad was in the dog house this week after he went to collect his daughter’s pooch from the pet parlour where it had been groomed. He only picked up the wrong dog and took it home much to his daughter’s horror. Sort of thing I might do especially if the animal had had a good hair cut. I think he did it on purpose because the dog was called Gucci, poor man was probably embarrassed.

There’s been a mini snow storm in the Greater Manchester area which caused an eleven vehicle pile up on the M60. I’m happy to report that there were no injuries. Reports say that we can all expect more snow and colder weather for the next few days although local weather forecast here in Bournemouth doesn’t agree. We’ll have to wait and see. Other reports say we can look forward to a mini heatwave towards the end of the week. Don’t hold your breath, the shops are opening and outdoor dining so it’s bound to rain.

In South Carolina a hunter killed a 12ft crocodile (or maybe it was an alligator). He wanted to make Gator sausages and then have it stuffed so sent it off to be butchered etc. The taxidermist found some interesting stuff inside including dog tags proving that it had eaten several dogs. They can make some good hot dogs with those sausages. Hey people, let’s be careful out there.

Have I really not posted a single word during Easter weekend? I can hardly believe how fast the days pass. Second one in lockdown although I think it’s been easier than last year’s with the start of easing. Good Friday I played at being a couch potato lazing around and watching tv as I wasn’t feeling too good after my second dose of Covid vaccine. Saturday I went to visit Margaret and David in their beach hut and had a very tasty afternoon tea there. Five of us altogether so still within the rule of six. Easter Sunday my first BBQ of the year at Elena and Andrew’s eaten in the garden in the sunshine. The girls made some delicious treats for desert and the Tanners visited too. A nice family get together. Oops, nearly forgot, they have an eight week old cocker spaniel puppy, very cute, mostly white with black eye patches and freckles.

There’s not been much news to be fair although I did read that a man got bitten on the bum by an 8ft long python when he was sitting on the toilet. I believe it happened in Singapore. Someone pulled it out afterwards and disposed of it.  And in Dubai a group of women have been arrested for posing naked on a balcony in the upmarket Marina district. I’ve been there with Elena and I can’t imagine how they thought they would get away with that one. Apparently it was part of an Israeli publicity stunt – no mention of what they were publicizing so we leave that to your imagination. The girls though were mainly Ukranian and either teenagers or in their early twenties so they probably had little idea of what they were letting themselves in for. They will probably spend a few months in prison. I just hope they got paid up front but I don’t suppose they did.

Travel is still not allowed and quarantine is supposedly in place for visitors. However it seems that 8000 tourists arrive every day – that’s 56k a week – and there’s no sign that they’re quarantining although they’ve signed a paper saying that they will. They can put down any fictitious address they like and no further proof is required. Still, it seems they haven’t come to Bournemouth because the town has been pretty empty this Easter weekend. Durdle Door had an influx of idiots again with some of them climbing up the rock with enormous back packs which contained parachutes to help them on their way down. Didn’t work too well as the coastguards still had to be called out. What will the summer bring?

I must mention the lovely Dr Jill Biden before finishing. She’s in trouble over the pond for wearing fishnet tights which are not deemed suitable for the First Lady. Ha! they looked pretty good to me and not even fishnet, just very nice black patterned tights – or maybe stockings? I shall definitely be getting some. I do hope Dr FLOTUS doesn’t back down. Hey, let’s be careful out there. 💤😘😘💤

 

I wonder why we still celebrate the first day of April as Fools’Day or indeed why we ever did. Nobody really seems to know but it might date back to the 1500s and a change in the calendar with the year ending as it does now instead of at the end of March as it did in bygone years. I don’t have any idea but I do know that I was overdue to give birth at the end of March. I was taken into hospital on 1st April to be induced but I politely (I think) declined their offer and said I would prefer to wait until the following day. I didn’t want an April Fool baby. So tomorrow 2nd April is the birthday of my son Peter. I must add that no one in Madrid where he was born knew what I was talking about as it wasn’t a date celebrated there.

I got a phone call at 1 pm today which was to offer me my second Covid jab. The caller apologised saying it was very short notice but could I go at 2.15 pm? Not an April Fools’ joke, luckily, and I said yes, I’ll be there. Yesterday when I spoke to the doctors’ surgery they said there was a shortage of the Pfizer vaccine and they couldn’t tell me when it would become available, they obviously got some in or had less people turn up at the clinic. I’m happy no matter what happened. Someone told me that the second Pfizer dose often causes a bad reaction but so far so good. A newspaper headline today said that it is preventing 91% of cases in the six months after people are immunised. I need to organise plenty of outings, parties and holidays to be taken before October.

Antiques Roadshow often gets a headline in the news and this week was no different. A woman took in a vase which turned out to be a piece of ancient imperial Chinese pottery. Not good enough it seems to have ever made it into the Imperial Household but good enough today to be worth between 30 and 50 thousand pounds. I’ve got a few old vases here, I wonder?  I love it when people have valuable items which they have picked up in a charity shop, found in a skip or picked up at a car boot sale for just a couple of quid. Gives me hope that one day I might be lucky. It would help if I actually frequented any of those places.

We are now officially in Easter weekend and can stuff ourselves with hot cross buns and chocolate eggs. I, however, have forgotten to buy any and am wondering if the shops are open tomorrow. If I were a proper old fashioned grandmother I would be up early baking the buns and easter biscuits. Sadly it’s not going to happen and I see myself down the local co-op in the morning to see what’s left on the shelves. Happy Easter everyone, let’s be careful out there. 💤 😴 😴 💤

 

 

Tomorrow 29th March, or probably when you’re reading this, today UK will begin the slow process of easing lockdown. This will take place in the open air so we are all praying for good weather. Six people or two households will be able to be together in an outside location but social distancing will need to be maintained. The guidelines also say that we should stay local but no further details so how long is a piece of string? I think in some cases it might be more a matter of a piece of elastic. Sadly the weather forecast will be great for just two or three days this week but then we can look forward to another cold spell which might make Easter gatherings rather uncomfortable. No doubt patio heaters will be in big demand this week.

Thirty million of us have received at least the first Covid jab and this includes the over forties. Not bad. I’m waiting for a phone call about my second jab and hopefully the phone will ring this week with a date. Not that it will give me any more freedom than the person who hasn’t had any. But, I will know I’ve had it and that will make me feel better. As far as I know I haven’t been positive in spite of the fact that I’ve been shopping, met up with friends – one at a time – and bubbled with family. I wonder if some people are just naturally immune?

The Suez Canal is blocked, again. I don’t know why but this story is keeping me entertained more than TV at the moment. The Ever Given (whoever gave it that name?) with up to 20,000 containers on board has got itself well and truly stuck in the shipping lane. This means that no other ship can pass through either, there are 300 in the queue. That’s some constipation. I keep wondering what might be in the containers. It was heading towards its first port of call Rotterdam and three days later was due in Felixstowe. I’ve read there could be a shortage of anything you see in your local supermarket such as coffee and toilet paper – what again? So far dredging under the ship has been happening and there is a hope that that together with a rise in the tide might free it. If not they are considering removing some of the containers to lighten the load. Whoever was in charge of that ship might be looking for a new job.

Following Brexit Brits living in Spain might find they have to head home after 31st March. Non residents will only be allowed to stay for 90 days at a time unless they have a job with a contract or have an income of 2000 euros a month for one person. I was an illegal in Spain for 10 years, same rules way back then, 90 days then out. A bit scary especially with the fascist government but nobody bothered me until I wanted to leave. Then I paid a fine. Hey people, let’s be careful out there.  💤 😴 💤 😴 💤

In reality I should be writing Day 365 but I’ve obviously missed 100 days. Made me think of that book One Hundred Years of Solitude written by the Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez which I read many years ago in Spanish. Both unbelievable. Who would have thought that we would all still be in lockdown a whole year later, not me that’s for sure. It’s probably a good thing that we didn’t know, would have made isolation much harder. Well done everyone for learning how to survive. The vaccine is the thing that will help us get back to normality and a trial finds that the Astra Zeneca is 79% effective at preventing Covid and 100% effective against severe Covid.

We’ve all filled in our Census form by now (except maybe a few criminal individuals). I did mine online and noticed that there were several links to sites that were obviously not the official one. Also I felt a little uncomfortable giving so many personal details. National Insurance number, passport number, maiden name, mother’s maiden name etc. etc. Enough info for a criminal to steal your identity. I’ve never trusted government web sites as being safe and cannot believe that absolutely everyone that has access to it wouldn’t be tempted to sell some of the data.

The following day news headlines said that we should beware of scammers trying to collect money from people for supposedly not filling in the form correctly. They pretend to be official and try to collect a fine. Warnings were also issued about scammers phoning to say your NI number has been compromised. Again they ask for money to fix it. If anyone tries it on me I shall simply say ‘Sorry, I’m an illegal, no papers, no numbers’.

It seems that 200,000 households have boycotted the BBC and cancelled their license fee with BBC bosses stating it is causing a funding crisis. Now, seeing as there are 27 million households in the UK I can’t see how 200k is going to cause a crisis. They should just start by cutting a few of the hefty salaries paid to presenters and bosses. And I wonder how many additional fees are being paid by the over 75s? Honestly do these people think we can’t do simple maths?

Prince Harry has been given a job with a Californian company called BetterUp. His job description is ‘Chief Impact Officer having input into product strategy, decisions and charitable contributions. He will also speak publicly about topics related to public health.’ He left Eton with two A levels. One in Art the other in Geography. Should be helpful. He’s certainly learnt a lot of motivating statements from the Google School of Medicine and I’ve no doubt he’ll be an asset to the people of LaLaLand.

Am I the only person who doesn’t like Line of Duty? What an unappealing bunch of characters and useless storyline, if you can find one amongst all the abbreviations they are so fond of. Not for me. Now people, let’s be careful out there.

 

 

A new lockdown is to be introduced in France with Paris and several other regions being targeted. The French Prime Minister has said that the new restrictions will last for one month with only essential services opening. Having said that, it seems that schools will stay open and outdoor activities will be allowed. So, not lockdown as we know it. Let’s hope our much more severe restrictions have a positive effect on the pandemic in the UK, making the effort shown by the majority worthwhile. I’m beginning to see that many people have had just about enough and are seriously tiring of being trapped at home. New cases in France are about seven times those in the UK.

Meanwhile, Gibraltar has become the first country to vaccinate all of its residents. That’s just 33,700 people which is not exactly a large population – Bournemouth has 187,500 but I’ve no idea what percentage have been vaccinated. Neither could I find out how many cases of Covid there are currently on The Rock and I can’t help wondering if they had to vaccinate the monkeys as well.

Did you know Ringo Starr was already 80 years old? Neither did I, but then why would I? It seems that people keep asking him how he manages to still look so good. His answer – late nights and a healthy diet. He doesn’t go to bed before midnight and he’s a vegetarian eating lots of berries. How things change when midnight is a late night. Got to be a sign of age. Personally I’ve also been told I look younger than I am. My answer could be the same although I usually don’t find my way to bed until 1 am and my diet includes chicken and fish. I don’t always believe what people tell me either.

And while we are on the subject of age, a woman of 65 returned from a holiday to find that her job had been given to a younger woman. She had been working at the Indian embassy in London and was told she needed to apply for an extension but it had been rejected while she was away. She had to wait seven years for her case to come to trial but the judge awarded her £109,000 for unfair dismissal based on ageism. That’ll teach ’em. There’s life in us oldies yet.

Last but not least I have to tell you that BCP (Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole) council decided to go gender neutral. Mr & Mrs will become obsolete and replaced with Mx. I’m not sure if this is purely plural (try saying that when you’ve had a drink) but it is how the 395,000 residents will be addressed so I think it’s everyone. Miss and Ms will also disappear. I have a couple of questions. If I write to a married couple, do I put Dear Mx & Mx…. Also, how do I pronounce it if I’m not writing or maybe we will only be allowed to communicate in writing, we are nearly there anyway. I’m still learning to pronounce Ms. Hey let’s be careful out there. 💤 😴 😴 💤

 

I’ve been trolling through the news to find something inspiring for International Women’s Day. Not much there I’m afraid. Nazanin, the British Iranian woman who has been under arrest in Iran has had her ankle tag removed and therefore is ‘free’. Nothing to do with Women’s Day, her sentence has come to an end. Can she leave the country and come home? No, she can’t, men in charge there have come up with another supposed crime and she will go before their cout again on Sunday.

Duchess Meghan sat with the queen of tv interviews Oprah Winfrey and neither of them did anything for women anywhere. I’m sure that life for the new duchess was not easy. All young women (and probably young men too) meeting their new in-laws for the first time will have a hard time. Any bride preparing for her big day suffers from nerves and anxiety. Add to all this that the new family is the British royal one I can only imagine how nerve wracking that might be. I also believe that some members of that family are probably racists. But, there she was saying that she was a strong independent woman who had earned money since she was 13 years old and in the next breath saying how her new life affected her mental health and she considered suicide. I do wish she had stood up to them and refused to hand over her passport, had gone out to meet her friends and bloody well told the Firm and the press that she did have black blood and was proud of it. Instead she said her prince had to cradle her and kiss her better. And how did she get those watery eyes and not have her mascara running down her blushed cheeks? Just asking.

My friend Anna however posted a lovely tribute about the foster mother Helen Holgate who cared for her third and premature baby when she herself couldn’t. They are still friends today and had a long zoom catch up to celebrate International Women’s Day. Two strong independent women among the many that I am fortunate to know.

We know that Banksy owned up to the painting on the wall of a Victorian prison in Reading which showed a prisoner escaping while holding a typewriter. He has now said that his previous art work which showed up in the entrance to Southampton General Hospital entitled Game Changer will be put up for auction with proceeds going to the NHS. He will sell the original canvas and a copy will grace the walls of the hospital. Banksy is hoping to raise £3 million. A note accompanied the painting when it first  appeared saying ‘Thanks for all you are doing. I hope this brightens the place up a bit, even though it’s only black and white.’  I’m sort of hoping that some one will buy it and donate it back to the hospital, now that would be really cool.

 

We already heard that Bournemouth have been busy preparing to host the Air Festival this year. Now the news is that BCP Council are planning Festival Coast Live for as early as May. The event will be made up of a series of outdoor activities showcasing professional and community artists, musicians and dance groups who will be performing at pop up experiences. There will also be a celebration of food, culture, heritage, health & fitness, wellbeing and lifestyle. Nice to have something to look forward to in the not too distant future. Bring it on, I say.

In the meantime Boscombe will receive £21.7 million grant, announced in this week’s budget, to refurbish and regenerate the area. There have long been plans to bring the area back to life and the newish Sovereign Centre will disappear but the lovely old Royal Arcade and Royal ballroom will feature at the centre of the project. Let’s hope the money ends up in the right pockets. Bournemouth does not have a good reputation on this score. The government, of course, has been accused of choosing mainly conservative run councils as recipients of these town grants.

In West Sussex thieves have been busy overnight. Residents and workers were surprised to see that about 50 expensive Yorkshire stone slabs were stolen from a library car park. In fact a whole pavement was left bare and the local police were left scratching their heads wondering where they might have gone. Someone is going to have a nice new patio area for their summer barbecue.

The budget also granted nurses a 1% pay rise. I googled to see how much a nurse earns on average and found it to be about £33,000. This means that the pay rise would be £330 a year. Take into account potential increases in things like fuel, car parking and food and take off tax to be paid back to the government. There isn’t much left. Just saying.

A Spanish woman aged 64 gave birth to twins following ‘assisted reproduction’ in the US. Supposedly the treatment was not available in her own country. One has to wonder why it would be allowed anywhere but could it be about money? Once back in Spain where she gave birth the babies were removed from her care by social services as they were considered vulnerable. She has an 11 year old daughter already who was also taken into care and is living happily with relatives in Canada. The Spanish courts will allow her to appeal every two years but they don’t predict a different outcome. What a sad situation.

I’ve just finished reading an excellent novel called The Dutch House by Ann Patchett. A story about an American family who moved into a beautiful house that had been built and originally owned by a Dutch family in Philadelphia. The characters are so believable and wonderfully characterised. There’s no real mystery, just what happens when people are faced with life and life’s happenings. I hate it when I finish a good book, I now have to find another,  Hey, let’s be careful out there.  💤😴 😴💤

 

Captain Tom was today given the send off he deserved. Six Yorkshire regiment members carried his coffin draped in a union jack and a guard of honour fired three volleys. It might not have been the funeral it would have been in other, non Covid, times but then had it not been for the pandemic this ‘veteran and a gentleman’ would not have started walking around his garden and thereby raised £33 million for the NHS. There was a fly past by a world war two-era plane and the queen sent a wreath made up of 100 white roses. A fitting tribute for a 100 year old man who inspired a nation.

I had a lovely walk through Bournemouth gardens today and then along the pier. Amazing how many people were in the water, although I should add it was mostly kids or surfers neither of whom seem to notice it was cold. The sun was shining, beautiful blue sky and everyone looked pretty happy. Yesterday, another gorgeous day, I trotted around Compton Acres with my friend Joyce. Not too busy and there were quite a few winter and spring flowers in bloom. Such a lovely place and we bumped into a couple of friends there. Funny how we always seem to know people when I visit these gardens.

I watched Prince Harry taking an open top bus ride with James Corden. I don’t know if the chatter was supposed to appear spontaneous but it seemed to me that they were working from a rehearsed script. Harry asking to use the toilet when they were visiting the Prince of Bel Air house and James’ stilted phone conversation to Meghan. Then the assault course which supposedly saw the prince crawling through mud under a net and coming out the other side sparkling clean, just like a washing powder advert. His face was hidden under a baseball cap so I’m putting it to you, was it Harry or was it his stunt man? I know what I think.

If you were driving along the M5, M4 or M32 on Saturday you might have been surprised to see a Boeing 727 in front of you. The plane was being upcycled into office space and being hauled from Gloucestershire to Bristol. The plane had taken its last flight in 2012 so no doubt the buyers got it for a good price. You normally have to pay to have your rubbish removed so maybe the purchasers just offered to take it away.

A woman in Romford, Essex was mystified when three (yes, that’s right, three) council workers turned up at her one bedroom flat to demand that she remove her doormat. It was Havering council – I’m sure that’s my cousin Angela’s council – who said she would be fined if she didn’t remove the ‘tripping’ hazard. I have to agree with the tenant who said that surely these three workers could find something better to do with their time and tax payers’ money than worry about door mats. Hey people, let’s be careful out there.💤😴😴💤