Page 16 - Through a glass brightly

of the last flights home from South Africa on Saturday via Dubai after a trip to Namibia, finds his whole summer cancelled and no prospect of any income.
So, apart from forays to the local shops it’s cultivate your garden - or at least clear out the brambles - and entertain your grandchildren for me. How is it for you?
Look after yourselves and stay safe, all the best.
From Jenny at 15.51
Good afternoon. I have a spare 10 minutes so thought I would reply to Val's invitation to participate.
As some of you already know I am indeed self-isolating at home - on my own - Peter is doing the same in his house - we FaceTime or phone! Because son-in-law James is in the middle of chemo treatment for non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. Gail and the whole family (Martha 13 and Alice 10) have also been self-isolating at home for the past couple of weeks - and another 10 to go. I can't afford to mix with them in case I infect James obviously - and in any case I can't really afford to get the virus as Gail doesn't need anything else to worry about. I am lucky that a neighbour has offered to do shopping for me, so I am not having to go out at all, which suits me - at the moment - until I start climbing the walls. With this week's glorious weather, I sit in the garden to do crossword etc, but will have to start doing gardening soon as my gardening company has notified me that they are stopping for the time being! Likewise, my cleaning lady and that is a more serious challenge - I hate housework! I cleaned the shower room this morning - that is enough for a day or two!!
Started full of good intentions, making a list of all the things I could do during incarceration, and even drew up an outline schedule, but I have not got very far with it yet. I am too easily distracted with making phone calls, incoming emails and ‘WhatsApps’ with the family etc but I have started to sort out family photographs which is the most enjoyable activity on my list.
Daughter Kate in Skipton is at home with her 2 boys (Theo 7 and Adam 5) but as a 'key worker' she may be called into school to supervise students, although this week hardly anyone turned up. Husband Dominic is a radiographer so is also a key worker and will probably be 'redeployed' to fill gaps in the system as they occur. Just hope he will be given the correct PPE if he has to deal with infectious people.
Life as we know it seems to have been put on hold - for the foreseeable future. Choir and Pilates all stopped - I could do things online but not got there yet - too complicated. People talk about Zoom, but it sounds horrendous. Peter's birthday and his daughter's 40th celebrations were all cancelled last week and all the nice little things that we were looking forward to have had to be cancelled. I suppose the most unsettling part of it all is that there is no clear idea of when all this may end - an end date, even if a long way off would at least give one something to look forward to. I must admit I had a cough/cold earlier in the week and began to think I might be succumbing, but it all seems to have subsided and is just 'a cold'. The insanity in London meant that there were no thermometers for sale in any pharmacy so could not check my temperature as I had dropped my old thermometer in the washing up bowl and it was not working any more!! Just as well I seem to be getting better. I may be tempted to get the car out tomorrow and go for a little drive - if only to prevent the tyres from 'flat spotting' which is what I understand they do if a car stands still for too long!
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