Page 19 - Through a glass brightly

Good morning everyone and thanks Val for coming up with such a good idea. It is lovely receiving news from you all. Like Sandy and Val, I am lucky here living in a small town with lots of open countryside around which is easy to reach and other walkers are few and far between. Those one does meet are always cheery albeit conversing from some ten feet away, and as of late all of us enjoying the wonderful sunshine. I am also fortunate in that I have ‘teamed up’ with a friend from Keep Fit, both of us having established we are virus free, now spend three days at my home in Oswestry - B, B and evening meal cooked and provided by self and three days ditto in St. Martin’s village which is about 5 miles from Oswestry. Not sure if this is entirely within government guide lines, but it works so well. No cabin fever, jobs shared in gardens, i.e. painting three panels of my garden fence two days ago (Hurrah!, lots more to go yet but it’s more fun with a companion). Even more important, walks around Oswestry are high up in the hills surrounding, where we have a steep climb to an ancient hill fort of some significance giving 360 degrees views across to West Midlands, Wirral and Wales, and not far from my home, again in the hills, the site of an old 19th century racecourse - again super views across Oswestry and still the derelict race course buildings and visible figure of 8 course to walk. In St. Martin’s for some years now a wildlife open space has been formed from the enormous mounds of mining debris left from the closure of the Ifton coal mines in, I think, 1956 (I suppose a bit like South Wales only on a smaller scale). A small stream runs along the edge, fully wooded with wild flowers and birds etc, and just recently the community has provided twelve cows to wander around doing what cows do naturally..... a small friendly breed called Dexters. Notwithstanding we are also surrounded by the Montgomery and Llangollen canals, so all in all no excuses for not keeping fit! Local supermarkets are taking such care, offering antiseptic hand wipes at the door for baskets and trolleys, limiting entry, etc, and shelves fully stacked. I hear from family living in the Midlands and in London that full shelves are most certainly not the norm there! Heather, my sister, who lives just north of Brisbane tells me the same silly syndrome of ‘fighting’ for toilet rolls has taken place there also. Think I’d rather have food in the house, never having had the pleasure of trying to cook a toilet roll in desperation - would you boil it or fry it - maybe with an egg on top?????
Keep smiling everyone and again great to be in touch.
From Val M. at 11.54
I thought I’d start another thread so that Pat’s address is correct and you can all just reply through this one if you prefer, though some of you have probably changed your own address line. I don’t quite understand how these things work. The trouble is that the questions I want answered online to these problems are so basic, the answers are not there - or couched in language I don’t understand. By the way, if anyone wants to add anyone else to the recipients list, I am happy to do so.
Hannah’s husband doesn’t seem to have corona - no cough - but is enjoying a serious bout of some kind of man illness, I hesitate to call it flu, but it entails a lot of time in bed. And I am adjusting to walking the lanes instead of the moor, largely because it’s like the middle ages here with no cars passing you, so no squeezing into a wet hedge every minute. And has anyone who likes to sing discovered the Great British Home Chorus run by Gareth Malone? The session yesterday was more warm up than singing and a bit confusing especially if you were not a soprano I think, but it’s fun and he may improve it. Zoom is set to become part of life - my Pilates class is moving on to it next week.
I’ll stop meandering. Don’t apologise for too much information, Pat - we all have a lot of time to read it and I for one thought how much I’d like a wood oven to say nothing of a husband capable of building one - and doing the cooking too!
Sunday, 29th March
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