BACK IN THE COVID - The Lockdown Diary Day 120 (119)

So there they hung, shrivelled up, scrotally as it were, from the Euonymus beside our patio, glaring back defiantly at me as I opened the French door blinds this morning.



Yesterday was a busy day, hence the missing entry in this journal. To return to the day before, day 119 in the year 1AC (Anno Covidii), the dreaded wavering mentioned earlier took a more literal turn when the head painter fell over backwards, bounced on her ribs and started swearing at the ground in a manner worthy of the flag draped, drunken, nationalist thugs we see too often mouthing off on the TV. In this case though, as always with this well brought up lady, articulated in a forceful but demur tone and pronounced with precision.

Badly shaken and feeling bruised the aforementioned tradeswoman, with help from some strong painkillers spent the rest of the day and much of the following morning half asleep and uncomfortable but resting up. Fortunately she was not up the ladders wavering but down on the ground and thus, luckily, a visit to the hospital did not seem to be necessary but the poor dear was very shaken. So shaken in fact that I could not avoid volunteering to prepare all the vegetables for an evening social dinner planned at ours.

Instead of writing yesterday I sat quietly in the garden and spent a contemplative few hours unhurriedly preparing dinner to a magnificent work of timeless art that is Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier, my only desert island choice if I needed to pick just one to be marooned with.

As the day progressed our injured chief painter morphed into the head cook, magically conjured up the best chicken, bacon and leak pie anyone had ever tasted and our evening celebration dinner for Jonny’s birthday, went ahead as planned. Jonny is the latest edition to our extended family and very welcome he is too.

Here we are, wavering in respect of social distancing rules somewhat in evidence, but under the prescribed number. We have, between the six of us, one pregnant, one diabetic, one near diabetic, two with compromised immunity systems, two over 70’s but nothing to stop us enjoying each other’s company.



Raucous laughter, good food and fine people. Simple pleasures in a supportive, unselfish, close and open hearted family.

And just for those few precious hours it was virus? What virus?