New Year's Eve with the Coronavirus

 

So it turns out that my heavy cold and Bert’s raging man flu are actually Covid19.

I’ve been phoning around the folks that were at our Boxing Day supper. So far, just Jazzer has tested positive.

I am hoping to feel a bit better tomorrow.

Christmas Without the Internet

This Christmas, apart from the usual things, I have spoken to at least fifteen different BT Call Centre Operatives. I have had one (useless) visit and then a broken appointment with an Openreach Engineer. Today I received a temporary hub and that will be that, until the next appointment with an engineer in five days' time.

Martha and Bert sorted the Christmas tree. We had a clump of Korean pines that had got too close together so Bert cut one down and used the top as our tree. Martha did the decos.

Still Freezing

 

First, to establish, that is not Bert - it was his late Uncle Paddy who kept sheep. Bert hasn't bothered with sheep, except for a time when he was a boy. He tells me that it was selling the lambs that got him the money for his first greenhouse and set him off on a different career.

Here at Springhill, it is just one degree above freezing and it's been foggy all day. I have to go out later to pick Hannah up (taxi cabs are rare as hen's teeth) and I've just watched a YouTube tutorial on locating the foglights on a Toyota Hiace van. It's been a while.

In other news, Pippin has been spayed and will be allowed out again when she has completely recovered. Personally, I think her vet is a bit of a fusspot for she's been out already. She doesn't stay long. Two months as a house cat has softened her up.

Out buying my Guardian this morning and another interesting man caught my eye. Curly hair, bearded, fiftyish - had that bodhran player vibe going on. He bought The Times. I was sad for him.

Freezing

 

Despite Hannah's dire warning, we ventured out today. Bert drove and all went well until, outside our favourite breakfast cafe, the van got stuck in the icy car park. We were helped by a small Englishman and his partner who steered us out while the rest of us pushed. I was so grateful that I nearly wished England were still in the World Cup tournament.

After that small adventure, we went to a nearby fishing supplies shop to search for some Tasmanian boots. Sadly, their stock was low and my size was not available. It was an interesting shop though. I never knew that fisherfolk needed so much stuff. They have special everything. 

I was supposed to go to the bank to cancel a direct debit but it was cold and I had a longing for my wood-burning stove so went home instead. I have changed my phone contract and I know that more savvy people than I can do their banking from the comfort of their own warm fires but somehow i can't get the hang of it. Maybe it's because my phone hasn't enough memory. I have bought some memory and now I have to work out how to get it onto the phone.

Bert didn't have music last night so we thought we'd watch an episode or two of Motherland but then the TV started playing up and that was after me getting new superfast broadband. I'm wondering now if we need a new firestick or a new television. Everything is about technology nowadays. Les called round with very fancy marshmallows and instead of an insert telling one what flavour they were we were expected to use a QR scanner to connect us to the company website. Bert thought he could do it with his phone because it's a Smart Phone duh! He had no luck with that not having installed the app. Luckily I had it because I needed it to scan something for the Van Gogh immersive experience I'm (supposed to be) going to in January.

Well, we had marshmallows with our tea and I went to bed with this laptop. A friend contacted me on Facebook to ask me about a mutual acquaintance. Next thing she's calling me. I didn't know Facebook could do that. I pressed the appropriate key and there is a picture of her favourite cat and her voice filling the room. So there I am, in bed, laptop in front of me and Vinny talking to me just as if she was sitting at the end of my bed. The news wasn't good. The fellow she was telling me about had died. He had been a friend of her late husband and was the brother of two of our friends. As a Mr Heffron once remarked to me (at another funeral, of course)

They're taking them out of our pen now.

All over social media, friends and family have been taking photos of the winter wonderland outside. Not I. It's too cold. Instead, I offer up a picture of my fridge, c. 2005. Maybe you're on there. In your younger days.

Like A Bottle

Hannah was up early this morning and warned me that I was not, under any circumstances, to set one foot outdoors as the yard was like a bottle*.

But what about my paper? And I need milk.

Don't worry. I'll get your paper and milk. Anything else?

Nothing else.

The yard stayed iced over all day and like a good obedient person I remained indoors the entire day. It wasn't that much of a hardship. I could get used to having my paper and milk delivered.

Saturday is the one day I buy a newspaper - the Guardian. It's my weekly treat. I didn't get it last week as I was in Leitrim and Yer Man has it anyway.

The last time I bought the Guardian myself was two weeks ago in the local Spar. I picked it up and went to pay. There was a very nice-looking gentleman in the queue before me. Trim, neat white beard, clever-looking. He must have spotted my Guardian and started muttering to himself, 

Oh yes. Paper, paper, paper...

And left the queue.

And came back. With the Daily Mail. I was so disappointed in him.

As I drove home I told myself this story. The Mail wasn't even for him. It was probably for his ancient, racist mother.

*Like a bottle - covered in ice

Lunch With Jazzer

Jazzer and I went for lunch today in a little restaurant beside The Junction, just outside Antrim town. Jazzer lives in Antrim and I was born in Antrim and yet we still managed to make a few wrong turnings before we got there. Still, we found it eventually and had an enjoyable time. 

Back home again I continued with a little project I've set myself and that is to make a hard copy of this blog. I started yesterday and have got three months' worth down which, so far, amounts to 20000 words. Only another 217 months to go.

Whilst doing this I came across this snippet from 18 years ago.

Yesterday Jazzer and I set off for Toys,R,Us in Whiteabbey. Jazzer did the directions which were hopeless and we got lost. Typical Belfast-bred and she hasn’t a clue how to get anywhere. Before we found Toys.R’Us we found Woolworth’s where I bought a DVD player and some kitchen scales. I have decided to become a champion baker of cakes. We did find the shop eventually. I cannot say what was purchased, as to do so would contravene The Santa Act, 2004.

Jazzer and Nelly - getting lost together since 2004 

A Trip to Leitrim

 Lough Gill from Slish Wood in Sligo

On Friday morning I caught the train to Belfast and boarded the bus to Enniskillen. Mooched around Enniskillen for a while before I met Dr Leitrim Sister. It has been a long time, way too long, since I visited there. 

There have been quite a few changes to their house since my last visit - new kitchen and bathroom- both completed during the lockdown and a lot of the work was carried out by my multi-talented sister. 

No visit to Drumkeeran would be complete without a visit to the delightful Wynne's Bar. I did not spot any sheep the night I was there. I expect they were all rounded up by the time we got there.

We also took a trip to Sligo, where the sister and I did a bit of shopping and my brother-in-law went to the theatre (where he works). We all met up for a bite in Lyons, an old-fashioned department store with a popular cafe. And on the way home, we took a walk with the dog in beautiful Slish Wood.

It was a lovely, relaxing visit.

I only brought one book with me, knowing that if I finished it too soon the sister's house is well-stocked with literature, much of it to my liking. However, my Tana French lasted the course. I started it on the coach to Enniskillen and just as the train pulled into Ballymena station I finished it. 

It was great to see Bert and the dogs in Cullybackey and a relief that the kitten had not been lost. We watched the very silly Handmaid's Tale and Simon Schama then off to my own wee bed. Pippin too. And back to Elizabeth Jane Howard where Mrs Hugh Cazalet is having a baby. I got her the length of her bed last night. And stopped reading. Today she was still labouring away. I stopped reading. I expect her to deliver (hopefully safely) when I pick it up again tonight.

#Diary Entry 5

Bert and I have been watching The English on Swisser's recommendation and have enjoyed it. It is beguiling, intriguing, beautiful to look at, well-written and well-acted. The ending was a bit of a faff but no matter. The only thing that spoiled it was our internet connection which is not behaving well at all.

So - I phoned our internet provider and spoke to someone who sounded like Martin Compston. I fell slightly in love, even though it's highly likely the fellow was young enough to be my grandson. Anyway, he was most helpful, giving us faster broadband, a new router, and a cheaper and better phone deal, all for less than we've been paying for half a decade. I should have phoned him five years ago except he'd probably only have been doing his GCSEs at that time.

That done, went shopping and bought a new coat, my first in many years. It's navy blue and is reminiscent of the Burberry I wore when I was a pupil at St Louis Convent Grammar School. Needless to say, I love it. It's so smart and sensible - no matter how Einstein-like my hair, how stripey my socks or how unfortunate my trousers, this coat will pull everything together and make me respectable. Cannot wait for Leitrim Sister to meet me off the Enniskillen bus and be wowed by my chic.

Did I mention I'm going to Leitrim at the weekend? Leitrim Sister and Yer Man should know that I have set aside some of my winter fuel allowance to spend in Wynns of Drumkeeran  - for what could be more warming than the local gin?

Right Place Right Time

 

My horticultural daughter during her early years. 

Sometimes online shopping doesn't work out. My gardener daughter asked me to buy her a particular pruning knife as a Christmas gift and I was glad to oblige. But because this thing was exceedingly sharp and pointy and I was ordering it in Antrim and having it delivered to Norfolk I was unable to satisfy the requirement for age verification. I phoned the company and they were lovely about it but said it was a tricky one, rules and all that. 

Then it occurred to me that the company's main shop is on a rather posh street in London and that I know someone who is not unfamiliar with upmarket shopping areas. Reader, I called Ganching and amazingly she was out and about and not tremendously far from the sharp things shop. A few hours later she messaged me saying the job was a good one. And she's doing the delivery too! Everyone should be so lucky to have a Ganching in their life.   

Very Kaffe Fassett

These are my own summer wallflowers, and I filtered the feck out of them. I think they look very Kaffe Fassett.   

Pippin continues her post-crate recovery. No outside allowed unless she is in her black and white polka dot cat harness. She tolerates it but it's obvious she'd much prefer running wild and free. But Bogdan was adamant, no outside. She dare not become pregnant and her spaying will not take place until January. Liver for breakfast has been discontinued and she is not best pleased. Thanks to Natasha, who gave me the heads-up, I now know no that liver should be an infrequent treat rather than a regular thing. What has become a regular thing is very frequent fights with Big Fat Fred. They are at it all the time. It's all fun and games until somebody gets hurt but, so far, that is only when he gives her a bit of a nip with one of his few remaining teeth. She has been spotted sniffing under his tail seeking out his non-existent balls - little floozy. Guess she's hit the catty equivalent of her teenage years.

In Which Fred Narrowly Avoids A Bath

The day started off horribly wet and cold. Pigs had a duvet day. It was Pippin's first full day of freedom since her horrible accident and she enjoyed it. She actually chose to spend time in her cage although the door was left unlocked so she could leave when she wanted. 

I went shopping before I picked up the girls and bought a new bed for Judy and another clothes airer. Since the rise in electricity prices, I have decided to drastically cut down the use of the tumbler dryer. The drive to empty the big freezer is going slowly - too slowly. I managed to stew some raspberries and whitecurrants today and made a plan for rhubarb and ginger jam. There is a strange fish in there which I intend to defrost tomorrow. 

Evie arrived covered in mud, something to do with falling on the grass. I was reminded of Fred, who turned up the other day absolutely clarried in muck. I couldn't understand how it had happened. The muck didn't smell foul but it had an oily quality to it and wasn't easy to get off his fur. Brushing it out made a start and the rest of it dried out and disappeared after a couple of days. That old boy is too old to be bathed. He would despise it.

After discovering a lot of fur (that flew) in the woodshed, Bert reckons he had a territory fight with another cat. Recently Fred has been spending a lot of time there and it's likely there is a nest of ratlings in there, somewhere. The rival cat must have tumbled him into the resiny, sludgy effluent that runs off the logs. But no harm done, he's fine now, spending more time indoors and tolerating Pippin following him everywhere he goes.

At the end of the evening, Martha showed me how to edit my videos and in return, I gave her a masterclass on the history of popular music from The Monkees to the Pixies. The only tracks she knew were Monkey Goes to Heaven and Smells Like Teen Spirit. Next week she is going to teach me how to suck eggs.

In other news, I discovered I have five of the Cazalet Chronicles and have started reading number one. Sadly. two of the five were duplicates and they are already donated to the Tesco charity bookshelf. I think I'm going to enjoy this reading adventure.

Freedom and Independence

 

Here's me and who is like me?

Off to Cookstown today for what we hoped would be Pippin's final post-op visit. And it was! Bogdan pronounced her to be doing well and said that strict cage rest was no longer needed. In fact, what Pippin needs now is lots of indoor running around to build up the muscle in her injured leg. Bogdan assured us that her limp would disappear as the leg strengthens.

The first thing she did when she got home was playfight with Fred, and then they both went upstairs to nap on Bert's bed.

And that was our news. In other news, I was sorry to hear that Wilko Johnson died. But not sorry to hear that the Supreme Court has decided that Scotland cannot legally hold an independence referendum. Not sorry because I think it will harden Scotland's resolve. Hopefully, the next GE will show that. 

Diary Entry #4

 I got Wordle in two goes today, with a little help from my friends, specifically Catherine from NZ. They are so ahead of us in time. When the end times come the McGuckin cousins will be raptured up to heaven before we Nordies even know what's happening. Enz ways - I went for ADIEU, got the A and the I exactly where they were needed and made an educated guess.

And also, today, applied the Jazzer method to my housework routine and had all redd up in two hours. Spent the afternoon being very bored as Bert was out at a dental appointment. Somehow the kitten, despite being under strict orders to stay in the damn crate, got out, got hold of Bert's dental plate and skited it about the floor til she broke it.

It was cold today, so put the central heating on for one hour and made macaroni cheese for supper.

Later, out of sheer boredom, bought two pre-loved books from eBay, one a recommendation from Ganching and one other.   

Diary Entry #3

 

Hedges, too Presbyterian, silage bales, too shiny, late Autumn light, glorious

Nellybert got invited to lunch this afternoon, delicious food, great company, good time. Met, for the first time, a wonderful pup and for the manyeth time, some wonderful twins.

Diary Entry #2

I met an old friend today. I thought we'd spend a few hours together but she wanted to make a day of it and I'm glad she did because I enjoyed myself very much.

Bert was on his own all day and when I returned at around 5pm he was scoffing a filled baguette and a plate of pickles.

That's a late lunch.

Breakfast, actually.

You're not wise.

I kept thinking you'd be back with something nice to eat.

Why would I do that? Sure our shelves are groaning with food. I thought we had a pact to eat what is actually there rather than continuously buy more stuff?

That is actually true as we are trying to decommission a chest freezer. It is supposed to be emptied by Christmas but it's not going to be easy. 

Charity shop find, a present for my friend

Weather Report

 

It has been unseasonably mild these past few days. A warm south-westerly has been blowing and some summer-blooming annuals and biennials are even coming back into flower. According to BBC Weather, the unusually high temperatures are due to the action of the jet stream and the wind coming from the Tropics giving Northern Ireland its warmest November night on record.

Not that I'm complaining.

We had Ben and Sara for a sleepover last night. Ben was here for most of the day helping Bert split and chop firewood. This warm weather won't be here forever y'know. Sara had family commitments in Co. Derry so she came later bearing a pastry box from The Green Cat Bakery in Eglinton. Their salted caramel squares were blissful. Then I thought we might have a few little drinks and take in some great slide guitarists on YouTube but we ended up watching funny cat videos instead.

Which was good. Pippin enjoyed the cat videos too.

Tomorrow it is to piss down rain.

Diary Entry #1

I am definitely going to start using this blog as a diary. I might not always feel inclined to write reams on daily/weekly events and as I grow ever older I'll be glad to have the memories to hand.

Mick was here last week from Thursday evening to Sunday. Kerry Sister and family (all five of them and Jackie the dog) came up on Friday (staying in Glenarm) and leave tomorrow. They visited here on Saturday, I visited them last night - my first drive in the dark in months. I got to watch the moon rise from all the way from Broughshane to Carnlough which was beautiful.

Today I met Kerry Sister in Ballymena and I had a lovely sisterly time visiting nearly all the charity shops in Ballymena. And I had extra money to spend as my physio appointment didn't happen.

So tired this evening.

Extra Time

 

Ever since Pippin's disastrous accident on the 18th of October, and her surgery on the 20th she has been under the vet's order to stay in a cage. Strict cage rest they call it.

It was a tricky operation as her pelvis was broken in two places and the top of her femur was so damaged that it had to be removed. Then the plates holding her broken bones were so small and the screws so tiny that there was a real danger they could become undone if she was too active.

Four weeks from the 21st of October was the vet's initial advice. So we were all looking forward to the 18th of November. Freedom Day for Pippin. We have been taking her to Cookstown for weekly post-operative check-ups since her discharge. Today was her third visit. And today we were told at least another two weeks in the cage. Then they'll see.

Part of me sees the point of it. The vet who carried out the surgery is entirely invested in its success. She was (so far) the smallest cat he'd ever operated on and from our point of view, it was an expensive operation, easily worth 10 times the price of the average kitten. Not that that matters for Pippin is a very special cat. And another thing too - she's resting, she's eating chopped lamb's liver for breakfast every morning and she is growing - she's a much bigger cat now than the one Bogdan operated on. 

Sieve Eel Vein

Miss Evie's birthday is today. I baked her a cake on Monday, Family Meal Day, and took photographs. But they were not very good. As I get better at cake my photography declines. This was the best of them.

Saturday Routines

 I don't buy newspapers except on Saturday when I treat myself to the Guardian. Bert and I have our routines, we compete on the Quizword. I make a spare photocopy and do it separately. This morning I informed him,

I'm going to thrash you today. It's a Steinbeck theme.

When it comes to literature I have the advantage. He is much better at geographical and geo-political clues.

But - when I started the crossword I realised that quite a few of the clues were favouring Bert's expertise and as I admitted to him the ones I'd hoped would give me the advantage were actually Steinbeck-lite, meaning that most Boomers would have come across them in English class. He beat me by four answers. Admission - neither of us has ever completed a Quizword. 

To make things worse he finished his Wordle in three while I went to the wire with six.

A little later he came to me saying,

I suppose you know who Theon Greyjoy's sister is?

I said,

Depends on which one you mean. His sister in Game of Thrones or the actor's actual sister?

The actual actor's sister.

Lily Allen. Everybody knows that. Everybody knew who Lily Allen was before anybody heard of Alfie Allen. In fact, she had to write a song about him before anybody even knew about him.

We take our victories where we can. I also had to talk him through the Martin Rowson.