I am not a Grumpy Old Man
I am a middle aged man who occasionally gets slightly hacked off with things.
My politics are greenish and to the left of centre.
I am married again, following being widowed. I own two bikes, one car, one campervan and half a cat.
I love cycling (hence the bikes) and cycle sport especially road racing. During the winter I enjoy watching football (soccer if you are North American). I sometimes paint and enjoy cooking and eating.
Duster seems to be getting back to his old self again. Perhaps not 110% yet, but he jumped down from his basket when I went into the kitchen this morning. He then kept head-butting my legs and meowing until I fed him. We cancelled this morning’s vet appointment. We didn’t think we needed to pay £50 to be told that he looks a lot better.
A vixen and her cubs live somewhere around here, I’m not sure where exactly. They often make an appearance in our garden. We decided to try to block up some holes in the fences in the vain hope of discouraging them.
Diane was also wondering about the ethics of feeding foxes. She is worried that during lockdown, their normal source of food (dropped kebabs and discarded Big Macs) will not be available. Consequentially they may be going hungry. Looking at our visitors I don’t think this is the case. Anyway she posted on the local New Malden Facebook group asking people’s opinion. Almost everyone seemed to be in favour, one person saying that they cooked sausages for them every night. I don’t know what friends and family (most of whom are from a farming background) back in the Borders would make of it. I was sorely tempted, but resisted, posting a reply, asking anyone who thought that starting the New Malden and Rayne’s Park foxhounds was a good idea, to DM me.
Day 82 Saturday 13th June
Duster — looks harmless, doesn’t he?
Duster is feeling much better. Which is good news, unless you are a local mouse. When we came downstairs this morning, he had brought us a little present to thank us for looking after him. I don’t think that a dead mouse was what we were hoping for….
The ice cream was not allotment produced.
As we hadn’t visited the allotment for a while, we decided to take our lunch up there. The pasta was cooked on our gas ring, somehow it tastes better at the allotment. Because we have actually had rain recently, there has been no need to visit every day to water. A bit of weeding, strimming, and watering was also carried out. We also managed to pick some raspberries for tea.
Later our neighbours came round for a suitably distanced drink in the garden. This worked well, until it started raining. We may have breached the guidelines slightly trying to get everyone under the umbrella.
It was eleven weeks ago tonight that Bozo interrupted Coronation Street to tell us that the United Kingdom had given up on trying to contain the virus, and we were now trying to delay it. He was probably at least two weeks late in doing that.
I’m not sure exactly what phase of our attempt to control the virus we are at now. Ever since Dominic Cummings’ excursion to Durham became known, people appear less willing to observe any type of restrictions.
New Zealand took early and decisive action. At every stage of the process, Jacinda Ardern, the New Zealand Prime Minister gave a clear lead and the people of New Zealand knew what was expected of them. Her Health Minister broke the lockdown rules, and was disciplined, in stark contrast to what happened to Dominic Cummings.
So, all in all, a total failure. Yet still he could say, even as we finally overtook Spain and Italy in the deaths per million stakes, even as the official death toll topped 40,000, and the real one headed towards 70,000, how “proud” he is of the government record on Covid. Still he can talk of apparent success, avoiding tragedy that befell others, blah blah effing blah. Talk about gaslighting.
Alistair Campbell New European
It is probably easier to control the virus in New Zealand than the UK, but the facts are that New Zealand was able to return to normality (with precautions) last week, whereas we are still stuck in limbo.
Because the Bongo went off to its new home yesterday, we decided to bring the B.G.B. over to New Malden. I also made a start on cleaning out the garden shed. I did get rid of a lot of junk, and about three-quarters of my garden tools are now at the allotment so it is a bit tidier in there.
Day 78 Tuesday 9th June
Tuesday, and back to work. But only a two-day week this week (more later). I am getting slightly bored, because I don’t really have a lot of work at the moment. I have always preferred to have a little too much work rather than not enough.
In other things. The reverberations from the toppling and subsequent dumping of Edward Colston’s statue in Bristol harbour continue. However, I feel that we have learned more about British involvement in the slave trade in the past few days than we did in the past 300 years. The slave trade was mentioned in my history lessons. I may be misremembering, but, what was euphemistically known as “the middle passage”, appeared to be presented as the logical thing to do. You transport manufactured goods from Bristol to West Africa, where you sell them. You wouldn’t want to have a ballast passage across the Atlantic before you load sugar to take back to Bristol, so what do you do? Fill the hold up with African slaves to sell when you get to the West Indies or the Americas. Then you fill your holds with (slave produced) sugar or tobacco for the trip home. A very profitable business.
The Royal African Company (RAC) was an English mercantile (trading) company set up in 1660 by the royal Stuart family and City of London merchants to trade along the west coast of Africa. It was led by the Duke of York, who was the brother of Charles II and later took the throne as James II. It shipped more African slaves to the Americas than any other institution in the history of the Atlantic slave trade.[1]
Wikipedia
Day 79 Wednesday 10th June
Our pussycat Duster is a bit poorly. He seems to have got into a fight and has ended up with a nasty wound below his left ear, which has become infected. This necessitated a trip to the vet. This also required getting him into his travel basket. Something he does not like. Even a poorly Duster put up quite a fight. The vet cleaned the wound, gave him an antibiotic shot and gave us some anti-inflammatories to put in his food.
We bought him a new food dish and some of his favourite (expensive) food. Paid the bill and told him that the next time he gets into a fight he can pay his own vet’s bill. We got home and let him out of his basket. He promptly disappeared. We eventually found him under the bed in the spare bedroom hidden behind all the boxes of stuff that live under there. We left him there.
Day 80 Thursday 11th June
I normally work on Thursdays, but today was Diane’s granddaughter ‘Tilda’s third birthday. Her mum decided that with the latest loosening of lockdown conditions that an afternoon tea in the garden with her grand-parents (and me) should be OK. As we hadn’t seen ‘Tilda (apart from on Zoom) for about three months we weren’t going to argue.
First however, we had to take Duster back to the vet to be checked over. He was quite poorly, judging by how easy (comparatively) it was to get him into his basket. Another injection and another bill and an instruction to bring him back tomorrow if he was still not good. He seemed OK, if not 100%, so we left him to recuperate while we went off to party. We took the B.G.B. to give it a run out, and because I like driving it. It was also useful. We had a rather large present, and some helium filled balloons to transport.
Cake for a three-year-old.
We had a wonderful party, and when we arrived home Duster was looking a lot better.
The weather gods obviously read my blog. Today, we had 12 °C during the day and enough rain to give the allotment a good soaking. That was fine but…. If it is OK with you guys could we order day time temperatures in the 20 to 22 °C region (with fluffy white clouds and a gentle breeze) and a bit of rain sometime between midnight and five in the morning.
Like most households in the UK, we have discovered that we have too much stuff. Like a lot of people we have spent some of our time in lock-down sorting through that stuff, and discovering that we don’t actually need a lot of it. The problem is that during lock-down, most of the outlets for excess stuff, charity shops, Freecycle, and the tip are closed. We were very pleased when Diane’s son Ben announced that he was getting a skip, and that if there was any room left over we could use it. We loaded the car up and set off over there after lunch. Diane made fairy cakes to say thank you.
After supper (stir-fry) we watched a rather strange film.
We joined the Black Lives Matter protest in New Malden this lunch-time. I was fairly low key event compared with the protests yesterday in London. The organisers asked us to keep two metres apart and to wear masks. The physical distancing and the mask wearing wasn’t perfect, but it was better than normally experienced in Lidl or Waitrose. The event was noisy, but passed off peacefully. The police drove up and down the High St in their BMW i3 (a nod to eco-responsibility) a couple of times, then disappeared, presumably bored, so back to the station for a cup of tea.
We now only have the one campervan. Diane’s Bongo went off to it’s new home this afternoon. It was a bit sad, but we don’t really need a campervan each. Still as she explained to the woman who bought it, “How was I supposed to know that six months after buying it I would meet a bloke with his own bigger and newer campervan?”.
I am getting fed up of this weather. People from Scotland do not thrive when the day time temperature is constantly over 25°C. Also having to visit the allotment every day to water is becoming a bit of a chore. It is now officially summer, so where is our traditional British Summer weather. I want 15°C day time temperatures, I want rain for three days solid. More to the point farmers probably need it. I know that the allotment needs it. The only downside I can see is that the grass will grow and I’ll have to cut it.
Serious point
We have just come through what is probably the hottest and driest May on record. I’m not certain, but I think that the daytime temperature has topped 20°C every day, and in London at least I don’t remember it raining. I know that the Covid-19 pandemic, and police riots in the USA are grabbing the headlines right now, but we need to seriously get on top of the causes of climate change. There was some good news on that front though. Because of the reduction in energy requirements due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the exceptionally sunny weather Britain recorded its first ever month when no electricity was generated by coal fired power stations
Day 72 Wednesday 3rd June.
Save the day
One year today Diane and I will be getting married. The venue is the Dryburgh Abbey Hotel, near St Boswells in the Scottish Borders. We will actually be getting married in the Abbey itself.
Diane has started her own blog counting down to the wedding. You can find it at silversplicer.wordpress.com. All the information will be there. Much more comprehensive and also more accurate than is likely to be found here. Don’t get me wrong, I am looking forward to the day immensely, and I will be giving my take on how things are progressing from time to time. Diane is counting the days down.
Diane’s son Chris and his partner Charlotte came round to help us celebrate the day, actually I’m not sure they knew that it is a year today until Diane started plying them with Prosecco. We hade a Lebanese vegetarian mezze from a new restaurant that has only just opened. They picked a bad day for their official opening – about a week after lockdown. It is called Noura and it is very good. We will go along there for a proper meal when it re-opens.
Day 73 Thursday 4th June.
The weather has changed. It is now a lot cooler than it has been. It even rained (a bit), so we didn’t need to water the allotment.
We sent out our “Save the Day” fridge magnets today. So unless we have forgotten any one, possible with me, less likely with Diane, everyone who we are planning to invite should receive a little reminder through the post soon. Proper invites will follow nearer the date, assuming that the current lockdown will be over by then. If not I will ask the band to devise a set of Scottish Country Dances that allow us to dance two metres apart.
It is now eleven weeks since Diane and I decided to move in together so that we could still see each other during lockdown. Though looking back I think that her bidet was also an attraction in a time when toilet roll was rarer than 🦄💩
We have survived a ceiling collapse and the subsequent redecoration of the bedroom. We like each others cooking and taste in music. I think we’ll be OK.
Day 74 Friday 5th June.
The day began early. Diane found some Oak Processionary Moths on the oak tree in the front garden. Left to their own devices they can strip the leaves off an oak tree and they are also hazardous to human and animal health. The mature caterpillars shed very fine hairs which an be the source of extreme irritation.
The guys dealing with them need full PPE, to make sure that they do not come ito contact with the hairs. They dealt with them satisfactorily.
We spent the day at the allotment. We hadn’t done much for a few weeks except water it. A good weeding was required. All our beds were given a thorough hand weeding. Chris and Charlotte can weed their own beds we decided. It all looks quite tidy. How long that will last I don’t know. We had some more rain this afternoon which will probably encourage the weeds to grow again.
While we have been wanting some rain for a few weeks now, the timing of todays rain was annoying. There had been a couple of short, but heavy showers which forced us to retreat to the shed, but not enough to soak into the ground. We decided to water the plants before we went home. which takes about three-quarters of an hour. While I was in Lidl looking for cheap gin to turn into rhubarb gin (there is no point in wasting Bombay Sapphire at £22 a bottle) the heavens opened. Enough to give the allotment a good watering. Also enough to give us a good watering as we rode home on our bikes. If we hadn’t spent the time watering, which in hindsight, we needn’t have, we would have been home and dry by the time the rain came.
Our original plan was to go to the seaside with Diane’s daughter-in-law and her grandsons. The next plan was to go to Frensham Ponds. After doing a bit of online research, we decided that neither was really all that practical for various reasons. We ended up going to Beddington Park instead. I took my bike along, in order to keep up with Freddie and Jack on their bikes. They are both quite fast.
We had a picnic lunch, and a game of football. Freddie and Jack spent quite a while clambering over a tree trunk that has fallen across the river. Surprisingly neither of them fell in.
We had to go to the allotment to water it on the way home, so after we had done the shopping, we stopped off at the fish and chip shop for fish and chips which we had for dinner. (We also stopped off at home to grab a couple of clod beers from the fridge).
Day 68 Saturday 30th May
We spent most of the day getting wet. We have decided to sell one of our campervans. It is going to it’s new home sometime next week. We decided that it needed a wash. After having washed the Bongo, it was decided that we may as well go the whole hog and wash the Little Lilac Car and the baby Merc as well. Three out of our four vehicles are now shiny and clean.
After dinner we had a game of Scrabble. Diane beat me quite comprehensively. (337 to 201) That’s the last time she gets to attack my Caol Ila.
Day 69 Sunday 31st May
After last night’s Scrabble we had a lie in followed by breakfast in the garden.
Sunday Morning Breakfast.
I went back to my house after breakfast. I needed to put the bins out. I also needed to bring the B.G.B. over. By the time I had done that, faffed around, then gone to water the allotment, it was half-past nine by the time we were back home. We hadn’t eaten, so decided a chicken stir fry was the quickest meal we could think of. No pictures, but it was pretty decent.
Day 70 Monday 1st June.
Today was a rather momentous day. I said that I had brought the B.G.B.* over yesterday. Today I gave it a wash – there is a lot more of it than the L.L.C. – but that wasn’t why today was momentous. Today was the first day this year we had taken the van out. We went to Headley Heath for lunch. Had a walk, then came home. It doesn’t sound that much but it felt good to be out in the van, even if it was only for the day. Next month, we are hopeful that we can get away for a couple of nights.
B.G.B. on Headley HeathHeadley Heath
*B.G.B. = Big Green Bus as opposed to L.L.C. = Little Lilac Car.
We moved some furniture back into the bedroom. Getting the mattress back up the stairs was a challenge. It was bad enough getting it downstairs when gravity was helping. Putting the bed back together also proved to ba a bit of a challenge as well. We managed to reassemble it then noticed that the sides were the wrong way round. We left it, but I knew that it would bug me.
We had our monthly games evening. Normally, we get together with four other couples to play board games (and eat, drink and chat). Catan and Carcassonne are the favourites, but obviously they are difficult to play over zoom. I’m sure that there probably is a way, but we haven’t worked one out yet. We have found some other word based games that seem to work. We had fun. Hopefully the next relaxation of lockdown will let us meet up in each other’s houses.
Day 62 Sunday 24th May
Lockdown relaxation now allows us to meet up with friends and family, provided we keep the two meter distancing. We met up with Diane’s son Ben, his wife and their two boys in Nonsuch Park for a walk and a chat. I played football with the boys, or to be more precise I was goalkeeper while Freddie and Jack spent half an hour kicking each other and occasionally kicking the ball instead. I was the first time we had seen them since lockdown started.
Nonsuch Park
Nonsuch Park is what is left of the grounds of Henry VIII’s Nonsuch Palace grounds.
After we arrived back home, the bed being wrongly assembled was still bugging me. I decided to put it right. Today, it all seemed simple compared to yesterday. I suppose when you have done a job once, the second time is easier, because you know the mistakes you made first time round and don’t make them this time.
Day 63 Monday 25th May
Another meet up with family. We took a trip down to the Devil’s Punch Bowl to meet up with Aimie. We hadn’t seen her since the week before the lockdown started. She is expecting twins sometime in the fairly near future. Diane insisted that we could not go for a long walk in case Aimie went into labour, and we had to get back to the car. We had a picnic (two meters apart of course) Aimie brought a rather nice cake that she and ‘Tilda had baked. ‘Tilda didn’t come. We thought that she might not grasp the concept of “social distancing”.
It was good to meet up with her after this time. Hopefully by the time the twins are born things will have relaxed enough so that we can go and see them.
Day 64 Tuesday 26th May
There has been a bit of a hiatus in posting. This has not been due to an unauthorized trip to Barnard Castle. It has mainly been due to the sudden social whirl that we find ourselves caught up in. Tonight was dinner at the allotment with Chris and his partner. Charlotte cooked us am excellent vegan supper. We brought the Prosecco and the crisps.
It was ten o’clock and almost dark by the time we left. Apart from being bitten by something or things, it was a lovely night.
Day 65 Wednesday 27th May
Quiet day. I didn’t have much to do work wise. Diane had a Zoom meetup with some of the girls that she went to school with. I find it remarkable that fifty years after they left school almost everyone in the class is still in touch with each other. While that was going on I took myself off to the allotment to water it.
Day 66 Thursday 28th May
I’m getting a bit fed up with lockdown, more than fed up with the mendacity and incompetence of our government but at least there is some good news today if you are an AFC Wimbledon fan
"We're going home!" On the anniversary of a key day in Wimbledon's history, we are delighted to confirm that the final construction contract has been signed. There's also news about a new minority shareholder. Full announcement: https://t.co/KyKy4Hm7Lt@TheDonsTrust#AFCWpic.twitter.com/xQXmZ8PXzI
“We’re AFC Wimbledon, and we’re on our way home” Hopefully our first game back at Plough Lane will be in front of a full stadium and not behind closed doors. The build is coming along.
The Arctic Ocean, the North Atlantic Ocean, the North Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the South Atlantic Ocean, the South Pacific Ocean, and the Southern Ocean (Cape Horn and Cape of Good Hope are the two great capes)
Lake Baikal (it contains about 22 to 23%) of the worlds fresh water)
The Suez Canal
Mountains
The Dolomites
Aconcagua is the highest mountain in the Southern Hemisphere (and also in the Americas) at 6,959 m (ca. 22,841 feet). It is in the Andes mountain range, in the province of Mendoza, Argentina.
A mountain in Scotland over 3000 feet (ca. 914 metres).
Flags
Vanuatu
Solomon Islands
Tonga
Day 58 Wednesday 20th May
It has been very hot and dry for the past few weeks. At least that is the way it seems. From October to March all it seemed to do was rain. Am I the only person who is wondering if our Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter have been replaced with a wet season and a dry season.
I did some shopping in Sainsbury’s in Wallington, and bumped into an old friend. It was good to catch up with him, but the main thing I noticed was his hair. He obviously does not trust his partner to cut it.
I went up to the allotment in the evening to water everything. I watered half of it, made a cup of tea while the water tank filled up, then finished off watering the other half. A very pleasant and relaxing hour and a half.
Day 59 Thursday 21st May
Not too much happened today. The work that should have been done today got done yesterday, so all I had to do was write all the reports up.
I had a call from my friend Mike, who I usually meet up with, on Thursdays for a beer. The Duke’s Head is closed and probably will remain so for the next couple of months, at leas. so we haven’t seen each other for nine weeks. If the next phase of lockdown easing allows more getting together, I might invite him over for a beer in the garden.
Day 60 Friday 22nd May
The bedroom is finally complete. The carpet was laid today, and it all looks pretty good.
Just need to put the furniture back in.
We finished the day with a trip to the allotment, watering, weeding and a cup of tea, with some rather nice shortbread that Diane’s daughter had sent us. We also picked some radishes, which are the only thing that is actually ready at the moment.
After a hard days work, ensuring that the NHS. Or at least some of its pressure vessels were safe, I arrived home to discover that I needed to rescue a damsel in distress. Diane had gone shopping, on her bike, but had inadvertently, bought more than her bike could carry. I had to get my bike, and the ‘T’ bag and toddle down to Lidl to carry the surplus home. Damsel rescued, we came home and made supper. That’s not quite true, Diane had made a sweet potato and chick pea curry earlier. All we did was heat it up and cook some rice.
A family Zoom quiz completed the evening. We each had to produce ten questions on a specific subject. Mine was Geography. My questions are below. Put your answers in the comments (if you want to it’s not compulsory). Oh, and no Googling.
Geography
Capital Cities
What city is the capital of Switzerland?
What city is the capital of Uganda?
What city is the capital of The Solomon Islands?
Water
To be a true seaman (or woman) you should have sailed the seven seas and rounded the two great capes. Name the seven seas.
Which lake contains the largest volume of fresh water?
Where would you find the Great Bitter Lake?
Mountains
The branch of the Alps that extends into North East Italy are known as what?
What is the highest mountain south of the Equator?
What is a Munro?
Flags
Name the country. There are at least two things that link all three countries.
With no decorating to do we are at a bit of a loose end. Obviously, we can’t hop in the van and head off to the coast for the day. Nor can we visit family, much as we would like to. So, we changed the bed linen and did the laundry. This is what an exciting morning looks like in locked-down Britain.
Garden centres are open again, so, we wandered off to one of the local ones this afternoon. We were too late, it had been stripped bare by a swarm of locusts over the weekend. We did manage to find some plants that we wanted, some flowers for the garden at home and runner beans, courgettes, and sweet potatoes for the allotment.
The trip was cut slightly short because I had to be back home by four for a conference call. Work was outlining a few changes in our working practices brought about by the changes in government guidelines. It seems like we are almost back to normal, except the 2-metre rule still applies.
We needed to go up to the allotment to water and put the plants we had bought in. It was a beautiful evening, so we decided to take our dinner up to the allotment and cook it there. There is a single burner gas hob in the shed, so as long as it could be cooked in a single pot we would be fine. A packet of tortellini and a jar of pesto fitted the bill. Some Sauvignon Blanc to wash it down, and we had a dinner fit for gardeners.
Allotment Dinner
It felt a bit more special than if we had cooked it at home and eaten in the garden. For the first time in eight weeks we were “dining out”.
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.
Bunny Rabbit wallpaper
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.
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.
A Scotsman in Suburbia 