20,0000 dead and counting

More than 20,000 people have now died from Covid-19 in the UK (probably another 40-50% that when home and care home deaths are taken into consideration), We only get figures from those who have died in hospital and the health service will not admit some people to hospital. What’s the point in putting and 85-year-old on a ventilator?

There’s obviously lot more deaths caused by Covid-19 – people whose cancer treatment has been delayed and important operations postponed due to lack of capacity in hospitals.

This isn’t a good time to be old or ill.

The news on radio, TV and newspapers is universally depressing, so much so that I have turned the radio off this morning and I’m playing my “Driving Music” playlist on iTunes - Hetty and the Jazzato Band are cheering me up a little.

We have been in lockdown for a month, allowed out of the house only for an hour’s exercise each day or to buy essentials (such as food). It could be a lot tougher – I’m allowed to go to the allotment to work, we have a large garden and the weather has been pretty good. However, I can’t shake off a weird feeling about everything and a low-level anxiety which is always in the background.

Lucy, Arthur and Saoirse are staying with us at present. When France went into lockdown and we had to abandon our ski holiday in mid-March, they couldn’t get a ferry back to Jersey until later in the week, so they came back to Thorney. Sam flew to Jersey later in the week and then had to self-isolate at home while seeing patients by video or telephone consultation.

We don’t really know what is happening about anything in our lives from one day to another and it’s been even worse for Sam and Lucy. They were supposed to move back to the UK in the middle of April and have had to negotiate the stress that the crisis would prevent them selling their house, buying a new one or even getting off the island.

The sale was completed to schedule, but Lucy and Sam had to sign power-of-attorney documents for it to go ahead. Sam drove to the solicitor and they watch him sign through the window of his car. Lucy had arranged to go to Greenwood’s in Peterborough to get her document notarised, but then the government closed everything down with three hours’ notice from midnight the day before.

It seemed there was no alternative but for Lucy to fly back to Jersey, sign the documents and then fly back. We arranged an early-morning flight from Gatwick and a flight back on Friday evening. We’d look after the children. Then Sam discovered that if she flew back, she’d have to stay in Jersey for two weeks. What now? It looked as if she might have to go back with the children because she wouldn’t want to leave them with us for two weeks, but then a lawyer friend of Sam’s suggested that the document could be witnessed by a range of other people – a judge, a solicitor, JP, magistrate …

I called Ken Sheraton, a judge I know who lives in the village, but he was stranded in Wales at their holiday cottage. He did suggest a JP who lived in the village, so we managed to get it signed by handing it through the top window of his front room – very strange, but very welcome. It was sent to the solicitor yesterday and the courts in Jersey remained open for business and for the sale to go through.

We then heard that Condor had ceased all passenger services on its ferries, so Sam was not be able to leave Jersey with his car, which had been the plan. He flew back to Southampton (the only route left to get between Jersey and the UK) and the NHS paid for a taxi back to Thorney.

Their house purchase in Soham has been delayed by the lockdown and some feet dragging by the vendors. It’s a tough call, they would like somewhere settled to live, but it might be better to rent for a year and see what happens to house prices. If we get a 20 per cent hit to the economy (which some are predicting is the best we can hope for) then house prices are bound to fall … probably … maybe.

Anyway, they now have a completion date for the end of May, which will be something of an achievement considering the circumstances. Sam is due to start work the following Monday, so it will be a pretty frantic few days for them.

Living with Saoirse

With Sam, Lucy, Arthur and Saoirse living with us, we have quite a busy house.

It has been nice to be able to spend time with Saoirse at such a special age. She’s 16 months old but, because she’s a second child, she’s so much more competitive and so much more advanced.

She’s been walking since she was one and is now desperate to jump, run, go up and down stairs and to climb.

She escaped surveillance at Nirvana in Jersey before our no-ski ski holiday, climbed up the stairs and fell down them; then, while she was here (thankfully not on my watch) she climbed out of her high chair and fell onto the floor. We had to take her to a locked-down casualty department at Peterborough hospital, where she had a CT scan – no bleeding on the brain, but she did have concussion, which explained the vomiting and sudden crying.

That was a few weeks ago and she’s fine now.

She would love to climb our stairs, the high-chair has been taken out of service and used as a block to prevent her getting into the glasses cupboard.

Cupboards are a big attraction, especially the snacks cupboard, the one where the biscuit barrel is and the blocked off glasses. Holly’s water bowl had to be moved outside on the first day she arrived because it was great fun to splash in it.

One of her joys is going up and down steps. There are steps from the patio up to the lawn level and from the lawn up to the decking by the summerhouse. All of these are wonderful things and she will hold your hand and pad round and round her little circuit going up one lot of steps and then down another, saying “step” every time she comes to one. I’d reached the stage where I’m happy for her to go up on her own but, a couple of days ago, she made a dash to go down the steps from the lawn to the patio and (thankfully) managed to stay on her feet. She was so happy that she did it again, and again, and again.

She has been trying to jump for some time now. She will squat down and straighten herself up, convinced that she’s jumping. I remember Julia being desperate to learn to jump and Saoirse is the same. She’s now at the stage when she straightens up quickly, she also lifts one foot off the ground. So much effort goes in, it’s really funny to watch.

Her toddle speed has increased at an alarming rate. If you take your eyes off her for a minute, she can be at the other end of the garden about to do something hazardous. Sometimes, when you shout “no” she stops; at other times, she takes no notice.

Her two favourite games (apart from the steps) are to run round and round things. It could be your chair, the patio table, the playhouse, the slide – as long as she can toddle around something and have a little chuckle every time she passes you. The other favourite is to play with stones, Often, these are dropped into the watering can or Holly’s outside water bowl; or she just likes to pick them up and throw them. She isn’t very accurate or consistent with her throws, but she often gets one just right and chuckles with satisfaction.

When she’s particularly pleased with herself, she does her “happy dance” which is hard to describe. It involves head movements, arm movements and bouncing up and down. Her other happy signal is to put her arms behind her and lean forwards.

Saoirse will copy any sound and now has enough words for a conversation. She can let you know what she wants, and you can ask her questions. Being a toddler, she’s also more than happy to have the screaming abdabs if she gets porridge and she wanted an oaty bar. She attended baby signing classes in Jersey and she has a few sign-language messages. She can do “poo” and “dog”, although she prefers to talk rather than sign. Here are some of her words:

Uff-uff – that’s a dog. Often she’ll sign that as well.

Ess – yes

No – couldn’t be clearer.

Shnack – snack (also very clear).

Jump

Shtep – step (up or down, but generally down)

Shtone – generally when she’s found a good one for throwing.

Nana

Mama

Pretty – she’s quite self-aware and loves to be admired when she has a dress on.

Boo – another way to pass a few minutes. Boo from behind the curtain or through the windows of the playhouse.

1, 2, 3 – she counts to three, generally when going up the steps of the slide.

Wha dat – can mean “what’s that?” or “want that”. It’s normally pretty obvious in context.

Up – I want picking up

Wack wack – a duck or goose (she especially likes to see the wack-wacks at the goose paddock.

She loves books and her favourites are Chuffa, Chuffa, Choo-Choo or any lift-the-flap book. Where’s Spot? is a good one and anything in the “That’s No My …” series. 

That’s a quick report on Saoirse. It will be out of date in days, she’ll have new tricks and new words. Yesterday, she watched Arthur walk backwards and that’s been added to her list of things to do.