Day 52 Thursday 14th May

I should try to keep more regular when writing this blog. I can’t remember much about what I did on Thursday. Could be a sign of age, or just that nothing much actually happened on Thursday.

I did have difficulty finding one site that I needed to visit. It was a workshop, tucked away in the middle of a maze of streets, alleyways, and cul-de-sacs. I did find it eventually. I probably should have, like Theseus, unravelled a ball of string behind me to help me find my way back again.

That was about as exciting as it got on Thursday. At the centre of the labyrinth was an air receiver not a Minotaur.

Day 53 Friday 15th May

Today was a day for rejoicing. We have finally finished decorating the bedroom. The bunny rabbit (hares if you are being pedantic) wallpaper has been pasted on the final wall, and we are done with papering and painting.

We still need to get the carpet fitted. That has been ordered. A nice grey colour. We should just about manage Fifty Shades of Grey by the time we have finished. The carpet fitters assured us that it can be fitted within the requirements of keeping two meters apart. We let them in, they will go straight upstairs with the carpet, and fit it. It should work.

We probably should have celebrated with champagne, but settled for a take-away from Chennai Dosa and a couple of beers.

Day 54 Saturday 16th May

We spoke too soon about being finished decorating. We discovered that we had forgotten to paint inside the top part of the wardrobes, where the ceiling had been plastered. Still, it didn’t take too long. The afternoon was cleaning and putting all the decorating equipment away. We had a trip up to the allotment for a cup of tea (and some watering and weeding).

We also picked the first crop of the year, radishes. They look and taste the part.

Diane’s son and his partner came round for a drink about six. We think that is allowed within the current guidelines, provided we kept two meters apart, which we did. It was enjoyable, partly because it was good to see someone other than each other for a change. Partly because it felt like normal life might return some day.

Day 55 Sunday 17th May

Our body clocks went a bit haywire this morning. We woke up at seven o’clock, which is way too early for a Sunday morning. We had a cup of tea and a chocolate biscuit, then dozed off again until a more appropriate time to get up.

The family Sunday Lunchtime Zoom had a theme of Aliens and Robots. It was originally supposed to be just Robots, but Diane’s robot ended up looking more like an alien, so she changed the theme.

The Zoom meeting ended up as a four-way WhatsApp video call. Zoom was not behaving. Still, we got to see everyone’s robots. Here are ours.

Apparently, we were not the only people to have Zoom problems today. According to the Guardian: “UK Covid-19 briefing hit by Zoom technical issues”.

We had a quiet Sunday afternoon, apart from cleaning the pond, followed by a Way Up Zoom chat. We would normally meet at All Bar One in Wimbledon, but it’s the best we can manage at the moment. Zoom behaved itself this time — apart from throwing Diane (who was the host out of the meeting). We carried on without her, she did come up stairs and share my screen.

That brings us up to date with my life in Lock-Down London.