Alice entertains new visitors

Well, summer didn’t last very long. Yesterday, the wind came round from the north-east and the temperature went down by about 14 degrees. It’s the same today, so sitting out with family (and sticking to Covid rules) will require coats and hats.

Yesterday, Margaret and I went over to Max’s. It was the first time Margaret has been able to see Alice. She has stuck to Covid rules more strictly than I have and yesterday was the earliest they have been able to meet in their garden. Of course, it was too cold to sit in the garden, so we were all inside, except for a two-hour walk around Syston with the dogs and sleeping baby.

It was nice for Margaret to finally meet her new grand-daughter and Alice was suitably charming. She was also able to catch up with Max and Inna, who she hasn’t seen for more than six months.

We stayed for four hours, including the long walk, and then Sam, Lucy and family arrived for a visit. They had been to see Sam’s university friend Dave Miodrag (I’ve probably spelled that wrong) who lives in Leicester and has two children of a similar age. They popped into Syston on their way back. There’s a lovely picture of Saoirse and Alice sitting looking at each other. Saoirse hadn’t seen a small baby before, and she was fascinated.

On Wednesday night, I watched a film called Contagion. It was made in 2011 and is about a deadly pandemic virus that starts in China and sweeps across the world – does that sound familiar? The similarities with Covid are staggering, the film could almost have been a news report on Covid. It even started with a bat in China, spread via air travel, droplets and touching surfaces; there was social distancing, food shortages, a battle to find a vaccine, delays with vaccine production – even a social media blogger who rubbished vaccines and promoted various conspiracy theories.

The only things lacking were UK government incompetence (which is an ongoing) and a US president who thought injecting the population with bleach would be a good idea. The film-makers also anticipated that the WHO (World Health Organisation) would play a heroic role. In reality, they have been side-lined due to national interests and rubbished by some leaders to play to popularist galleries in their own countries.

Aiice rolls over

The weather has been lovely – more like June than March, with daytime temperatures of 22 degrees C. Monday was a big day in the battle against Covid-19 as more restrictions were lifted. There was an increase in positive cases as schools went back, but these has dropped slightly, so the next stage of unlocking was approved on Monday.

It meant people could play golf and tennis and up to six people (or two households) could meet outdoors. Margaret celebrated by having Joyce and my sister round for tea and scones; although this easing of lockdown only means that people are now openly doing what they’ve been doing for months already.

I’m already some steps ahead of the government in my easing of lockdown. Some of the rules are so stupid that I think common sense is a better guide. For example, the dog groomer in Thorney is open, but the hairdresser isn’t; you can get your windows cleaned, but the cash-wash is shut … I could go on.

Yesterday, I went over to Max’s to finish painting the fence and weeding his raised beds. I think last week’s work must have inspired him because he’d made a start by taking down fences we’d put up to stop his dogs jumping on the beds and by painting a couple of them. We got the rest of the jobs outside finished and can now crack on with painting his lounge (next job on his list). The outside looks much better and once we’ve got some more pots and baskets it should look lively in the summer – a nice spot to sit and for Alice to play.

I got there a little later than planned (because I’d forgotten to put the car on charge) so Alice was awake when I arrived. On Tuesday, she rolled over onto her back for the first time (CLICK for video) and I can see that her core strength and head control is getting much better. She’s also looking at things more intently and is starting to grab. She sat on my knee very happily for half an hour while I had tea and biscuits and Inna had a cheese scone (leftovers from the end-of-lockdown party).

Yesterday morning Tom and I drove across to Spalding to scout out some locations for a story he is shooting about tulips. The desk jockey at AP had seen a colourised photo from the 1950s of a massive windmill and a field of tulips in front. It would have been a good shot to get. The windmill was Moulton mill, the tallest surviving windmill in the country (and it is a big one) however, the field in front of it is now fenced off ready for a new housing development (Mill View or Mill Fields, no doubt). There were no tulips in bloom anywhere yet and the main crop (apart from some daffodils) was cauliflowers. They were everywhere and most of them looked past their best.