Poorly chicken

[patsylabrador]

I was thinking about what you said about your boy and I have to ask if he was happy at school before. I've mentioned before that I took all of mine out of school to teach at home. He just reminded me of my ES who was sort of squashed by school. His character changed overnight and he's gone on in life fine. He's the one in Japan now. Internet wasn't available to us then so I think it would be a doddle now with all the online resources. I'm so jealous of parents home educating now. 

[Cat tails]

1 hour ago, soapdragon said:

Personally I think that going from 2m to 1m social distance would make a huge difference to many, many aspects of life. Not sure why we have 2m when the rest of the world seems to go with 1m?

We have 1,5 m...

[soapdragon]

1 hour ago, patsylabrador said:

I was thinking about what you said about your boy and I have to ask if he was happy at school before. I've mentioned before that I took all of mine out of school to teach at home. He just reminded me of my ES who was sort of squashed by school. His character changed overnight and he's gone on in life fine. He's the one in Japan now. Internet wasn't available to us then so I think it would be a doddle now with all the online resources. I'm so jealous of parents home educating now. 

PL, he is a normally gregarious, happy and outgoing chap. He was the only one from his tiny village school of 42 pupils going on to a secondary of 680 and made a small group of good friends really quickly, hence my worry. Every time I try and broach the subject or offer to arrange a meet up he just says 'no thanks'. 

[patsylabrador]

Ah, poor kid. The whole situation must have really made him anxious. It's been tough on adults but at least we have a degree of control. I can't begin to imagine what's going through kids' minds. There seems to be a lot of useful articles online by parents with the same worries as you. This might sound daft but maybe a drive through KFC or Starbucks with a picnic in the car park would do the trick. Something that feels normal with other people doing the same. The first time we did it, it really raised my spirits. Good luck. 

[Cat tails]

Maybe organise a Zoom party for his class? We did it with all exams students and the invite was a can of nuts that I hand delivered to all my mentor students. A bit daft but lots of fun!

[Valkyrie]

Well I did it.  I got in Geronimo and he was dead.  The AA man came and defibrillated him and unfortunately the battery appeared to be at the end of its functional life and the virus finished it off.  So as I have a different battery to normal vehicles ( typical we just have to be different!) AA man didn't carry a spare one of these - big thing it is!  But he rang a car spare parts shop and they did have a spare.  So he suggested he follow me through the back doubles to Tivvy and he'd swap it over.  While he was charging the battery he was chatting with OH while I grabbed my things and said while the charge wasn't enough for starting the car, it was still usable for electric fencing and with a trickle charger - ideal.  So at the spare parts place he swapped the battery while I went and paid.  He then went round the back and told the guy in the shop that he was taking an old battery and I ended up bringing 2 batteries home for spares!  Geronimo lives and I can confirm that the AA man was a very, very nice man indeed.

It was nice to see the views again.  I only wanted to send a parcel off.  Lots of cyclists around and Tivvy was very busy.  I didn't see a single mask until I got to Bampton where two elderly peeps were shopping.  Good to see the social distancing in parked cars . . . well double parked in the middle of the road! Some things never change - love it!  With this new freedom I will not be travelling elsewhere.  Seems there were a couple of cases in the next village as the people work in London, so they kept indoors, and our architect had to batten the hatches as a guy working on their house tested positive, so they had to wash everything - and they aren't even living in it at the moment because it isn't finished - they are in a cabin on site!  In Bampton there were 12 cases as they'd all gone up to the Cheltenham and Gloucester festival and brought the virus home with them.   It just ems to bring it all much closer to home than we realised!  But that was earlier on and nothing recently that I know of.   I'm not sure about the pod thing - I'd hate to pick a child to be with, it would look like favoring one over the other - not to mention our parents.  So we'll stay away.

[mullethunter]

You’re not a million miles away from a load of my family Valkyrie - they’re in Molland and North Molton.

[Valkyrie]

Now South Molton is where I found a really nice quilt shop.  That's about 40 minutes from me.  A bit like being in the last house - I used to travel about 40 minutes to Andover - although the trips here are more scenic and the A303 was a bit boring when you've done it for years!

[soapdragon]

I finally managed to get YS together with one of his class mates yesterday - they went for a walk for an hour whilst ES played tennis with his mates for an hour and 3 mums sat, socially distanced, chatting. All very civilised! He was much better in himself yesterday evening and I am hoping that it will become a regular when ES plays tennis 3 x per week. 

That said, I am beyond livid having seen crowds shoulder to shoulder trying to get into shops when my two are stuck in their rooms trying to learn online for 6 months. There seems to be no consistency any more and I am beginning to feel as though those of us who are religiously abiding by the 2m rule etc are becoming just mugs!

[Grandmashazzie]

I know Soapdragon, certainly here the 2 m seems to be decreasing daily. I was thinking was the first big breakout 2 weeks ago when everyone swarmed the beaches and there was dire warnings of second surge?  It doesn’t seemed to have happened , possibly as everyone looked young and perhaps have been a symptomatic. Who knows! No one I think!  I suppose we just wait and see. I for one will be trying to go to small independents as they must be struggling.

[Patricia W]

I cannot understand the desire to go to High St shops.   But each to their own - so long as we don’t have a spike.  I don’t see us going out into the wider world for a while, but when it happens it will be to local shops.   Went for a walk in the Buckinghamshire countryside this weekend with grandchildren.   Didn’t see a soul otherwise.   Waved as I went past again Soapy!   Maybe one day soo, we can meet up.  

A neighbour has just stocked up with chickens this weekend.  Rationed to two as there is a waiting list of 400!   She got hers because she was an old customer.  Most of the 400 are new customers.  Wonder if they know what they are doing?  Another place is selling day old chicks to anyone who comes along!  Are there no regulations about this?   Feels dangerously akin to cruelty - like puppy farming to me 

[mullethunter]

I understand the frustration with a lot of people seemingly ignoring the 2m rule - I even had that in the sea yesterday! But I don’t understand feeling like by sticking to it yourself (and your family) you are the mugs. I know a big part of it is about protecting others but by keeping your 2m you’re protecting yourself.

1 hour ago, Patricia W said:

Another place is selling day old chicks to anyone who comes along!

I don’t like the sound of that ☹️

[soapdragon]

Whoever is selling those chicks is totally irresponsible! When we bought our last hamster we got such a grilling that they should have added cheese. And that was with a super big , well set up cage taken along to put him in. It makes you wonder where these poor little chicks are being kept, what they are fed on etc 😩.

[Valkyrie]

And if they have the warmth that they need!  Pure craziness.  According to our local weather guy a load of "muppets" were fighting to get into Taunton Primark.  I find the hypocrisy is extremely irritating.

Glad your son had a better day with a friend, Soapy.

[patsylabrador]

I'm avoiding crowds because I don't like crowds. I think I'll let people be excited to get to places and just hold back a bit myself. New cases are dropping consistently and it's apparently weaker as well so I'm not particularly worried about the virus yet. I fancy getting away but think we'll wait until summer is done and hopefully people are back to routines. I'm going to avoid spending money in areas that were rude about Londoners during lockdown which is pretty much the rest of Britain. I really miss the London museums, China Town, the Thames and all the weird little churches and markets dotted about so I've got lots here to catch up with. Looking forward to all the protesters clearing off too. 

[patsylabrador]

Hurray! Cineworld is opening July 10th. That's something else I've really missed. 

[soapdragon]

Oh dear.....I'm suddenly feeling very flat. Now we are allowed to go on a 'staycation' I'm trying to book a self catering somewhere-found a lovely in Dorset near to BIL/SIL and beaches (prefer the beaches!) but can't get hold of anyone to ask them to provisionally book whilst OH checks it's OK! Have e mailed x4 and telephoned but getting frustrated!

[Blackrocksrock]

After seeing the DOrset beach fiasco I think I wont be going anywhere anytime soon.    People are not conforming and they are just pigs leaving the litter around - it is happening up here too and leave tents and rubbish everywhere.   Even the hairdressers I will hang back a bit till things recover a bit,

[mullethunter]

What worries me is that this is exactly what happened the week before lockdown, and if this causes another spike we could be right back where we started. Except we won’t be because I can’t see how the country can afford that, so just a lot more people could die. 

Also, quite apart from anything else, why does anyone want to go to a beach so crowded? Why wouldn’t you just turn around and change your plans when you saw it?!

[Luvachicken]

1 hour ago, mullethunter said:

What worries me is that this is exactly what happened the week before lockdown, and if this causes another spike we could be right back where we started. Except we won’t be because I can’t see how the country can afford that, so just a lot more people could die. 

Also, quite apart from anything else, why does anyone want to go to a beach so crowded? Why wouldn’t you just turn around and change your plans when you saw it?!

Totally agree with you and in fact, because of how people have been on the beach, various demonstrations and shopping, they have ruined all of the hard work that those of us staying at home have done.

We may as well send all of the children back to school and be done with.

I was lucky to spend the day at home but I did have to work in school yesterday and the heat was unbearable.

At home today, I had access to lovely cold water, ice cream and of course a toilet whenever I needed it. The noisy neighbours next door were out and I listened to the birds, watched the bees and butterflies and did my daily walk.

If I want to go to the beach, I light a Summer Scoop candle and turn on my laptop so I can listen to the waves - no annoying people and no one with germs either. 

[Beantree]

The French are staggered by the beach fiasco and it featured on all the news broadcasts. May be the factor that decides on EU quarantine for UK visitors, same as has been set for Americans, as the virus could be deemed out of control and may well become so when pubs open. With the UK mortality rate running at TEN TIMES the rate in France, which has the same number population, I'm surprised France hasn't imposed quarantine for UK visitors already and I'm surprised Spain has opened its boarders. In the meantime here it still isn't going away. We have approximately 400 a day leaving hospital and 300 going in. Problem is half the people who catch it don't realise, so can potentially infect others for about 10 days. Even those who do develop symptoms are infectious for 2 days before they get them and can then isolate. Social distancing is vital to avoid a second wave.

Why aren't people in the UK wearing masks? The other thing featured here is that applying alcohol gel to your hands and then going out in the sun can cause serious burns.

[Luvachicken]

57 minutes ago, Beantree said:

The other thing featured here is that applying alcohol gel to your hands and then going out in the sun can cause serious burns.

That's interesting Beantree.

I know it is lovely and sunny but the children that were at the beaches yesterday and the day before should still be at home doing their school work.

Working in a school, I know how hard the teachers are working to put lessons on the computers and answer all the questions they get sent back. Some of the parents get miffed if the teacher hasn't replied within half an hour and then phone the head to complain. I am so glad I am not a teacher, although I always wanted to be.

1 hour ago, Beantree said:

Why aren't people in the UK wearing masks? 

 I don't get this either.

I don't have a mask for school.

Even some of the reporters wear a mask and then take it off when they interview someone or have moved further away from the scene.

What they don't understand is that we can still hear them with their masks on. 

[Daphne]

I think the French aren't the only people staggered by the beach fiasco. You do wonder what goes on in people's minds, where can the pleasure be in being crammed on a filthy, noisy and dangerous beach, with few/if any toilets or refreshment places, after a hot and annoying journey after you fail to find a car park?  However, I do think there is a certain amount of devil-may-care after the Dominic Cummings case, many people are thinking that they are fed up of obeying the rules and having to experience awful life-affecting traumas in isolation, if some people don't seem to have to, despite the potential cost to themselves, their families and friends, and total strangers.

[patsylabrador]

The thing that really bugged me about the beach was the litter they left. I never, ever leave litter, ever. 

I'm annoyed about all the riots and protests that are allowed to go ahead despite everything. I actually saw a Police Commander remind people of the No More than 6 rule and then go on to say but if you feel strongly about the subject of the protest that's OK. Well, no it's not actually. Despite my objections I have followed lockdown and so should they. We just drove by a grey gaggle of Climate protesters and they were not social distancing. 

The rule should be for everyone or no one. 

[Beantree]

I had to smile when I saw a game show on TV here. To obey the distancing rules the audience has been reduced to a third and put on the empty seats are full size cartoon style cardboard cutouts of people. The real people in the audience are wearing cleverly disguised masks. What has been done is a photo of the persons lower face has been printed onto the mask, so you can see what they actually look like, rather than everyone wearing blue ones. They are so well made that they are not obvious at first glance.

Some 'mask snobbery' has emerged. People are having masks custom made and the attempt by a supermarket here to sell half the normal price tissue masks has failed completely. They are now on special offer at half the price again without success; people just don't want to look cheap.