So there we have it, two weeks of lockdown done. I must say the time seems to have flown. Granted, we probably have a few more weeks ahead of us, but if it keeps going at the pace the last two weeks have, it will soon be over.
Darwin came into the room at 6am this morning and promptly fell back to sleep. I think that’s the most annoying part about being woken by him, not that he does it, but that he could just carry on sleeping in his basket. I am sure he is doing it just to wake me up…
I managed to fall back to sleep for an hour or so after the rude interruption. As it happened I was in such a deep sleep that I only just made it out of the shower in time for 9. Sarah took the dog for a walk first thing meaning I could call in to my team huddle in peace. There was nothing particularly important to discuss, seemingly because important changes and decisions are not being taken at the weekend. After the call most of the morning was spent responding to emails and making phone calls, with Darwin sat at my feet for most of it once he had returned from his walk.
Despite the promise of good weather today, it has been cloudy on and off, and it even rained for a few minutes. This has not stopped the birds though, in particular the blackbird pair who have been scavenging around the lawn on and off for much of the morning. I even saw the female bird catch and eat a worm from the grass. Of course I was not fast enough to catch it on camera, so you will have to trust me that it happened.
By lunchtime, it had warmed up a little, and when the clouds cleared and the wind dropped, it could almost be considered hot. Sarah and I sat in the garden for a few minutes and played fetch with the dog. He loves chasing the ball, he just struggles with giving it up again once he has brought it back to us. For food I ate some of the leftover bolognese, which was still delicious cold.
This afternoon was back to the emails and phone calls. I managed to speak with 2 patients I have been trying to contact since lockdown began, and thankfully they are both doing well. By mid afternoon, office dog Darwin suggested we should take work outside for a few minutes, while Sarah went to the Supermarket to get supplies for her parents.
Just before finishing work, I found out one of my colleagues’ husband has been told to self-isolate, meaning she has to do so too. He is a renal medicine consultant, and although he has tested negative for COVID (yes they are testing front line staff, at least some) he was still advised to self-isolate until at least Wednesday. My colleague herself is well, with just a minor cough, so she will do what she can from home, but of course any face to face work will need to be shared out.
Darwin and I chose dog-shit alley again for our walk, and this time I took my phone with me. The image above is the view of Leeds at the halfway point. It usually looks desolate, so I cannot blame the lockdown for the bleak looking shot. A little further on and I passed an old people’s nursing with a resident sat in the carpark waving to passers-by. At the moment I am allowed to go out for a walk and to the shops, it must be another level of difficulty to be stuck entirely in a nursing home for your own safety.
Nearly back home and we passed this little set up in a neighbour’s garden. It’s a little on the bizarre side, but if the goal was to bring a smile to people’s faces, it worked for me.
Dinner this evening was baked cod, air fried chips and roast asparagus, our homage to fish and chips, only quite a bit healthier. I followed this up with some ice cream, just to make sure it was not too healthy.
Sarah has decided we need to watch a programme called A Day in the Life of Coronavirus. It appears they have filmed a variety of people living through a day during the Coronavirus lockdown (essentially my blog, on TV). I am not a fan of reality TV at the best of times. Watching reality TV about a pandemic we are currently living through is not high on my list of televisual experiences. Of course I won’t mention that to her, better hope she is not reading this…
Self-Indulgent Twaddle 