Easing Lockdown

Day 69 - June 1st

Boris Johnson announced 4 days ago that the lockdown will ease a little from Monday (tomorrow) and we will be able to meet in an open space as a group of up to 6 people 👨‍👩‍👦👨‍👩‍👧 (not from same household). Social distancing must still be priority and we must still keep 2 metres away⛔️🧍🏻‍♀️➖🧍🏼‍♂️

Vulnerable people who have been shielding for the last 2 months can go outside from Monday 🎉

Face coverings are now recommended in all enclosed areas 😷to help protect you and others. They don’t have to be medical masks but just something to lessen any chance of catching or passing on germs. 🦠

The main message is still to keep washing your hands. 🤲🏼 It’s recommended you don’t wear 🧤gloves and use anti bacterial wipes, sanitizers or better still wash hands. 👏🏼

You are now allowed out of your homes to do shopping but also to exercise 🚴🏼‍♂️as much as you want now in an open space and currently with one other person from another household 🎾

Excel in East London (known as the NHS Nightingale 🏥), built in 9 days with the capability to care for up to 4000 patients hardly been used 🙏. If it had reached its capacity it would have been one of the largest hospitals in the world 🌎.

From Monday (June 1st) schools will be reopening 🏫for Nursery, Reception, Yr 1 & Y6 ages only. They will prioritise the key workers children & the vulnerable first. You will not be fined etc for not sending your child if you chose not too. High schools are due to open to year 10 & 12 two weeks later . For everyone else parents are home schooling 👩🏼‍🏫and teachers are doing remote learning using the internet. BBC bitesize also has been created to help teach children who don’t have work or want more help etc.

It was announced some non essential shops will open from 15th June but details are unclear. 💸 Lots of take aways are now open and some restaurants are offering takeaway services

This Thursday evening was the last stand clap 👏🏼👏🏼for the NHS staff, all standing united on our doorsteps, balconies and open windows applauding and cheering for all our amazingly brave👨‍🔬⛑ NHS staff who so courageously and selflessly battled on to try and save as many lives as possible ❤️

Live experiences are now available, to watch anything from a Live theatre performance🎭 , a visit to the zoo 🐘or an interesting chat in a museum 🦖

Petrol ⛽️ price close to home 🏡 is £100.7p per litre for unleaded/ £105.7p for diesel. 

The current statement from the government has changed from stay home ⛔️stay safe to Stay Alert, Stay Safe ☹️

We are working towards lowering the “R” curve and keeping that below 1. As long as we keep doing that then lock downs will ease. 〽️We are currently between 0.7 & 0.9

Tape on the floors at supermarkets & shops is a normal sight now 🏬 to help distance shoppers 🛒 from each other. Essential service workers & nhs staff are given priority in supermarkets at certain times.

Limited numbers of people were allowed inside shops, 🧍🏼‍♂️➖🧍🏼therefore, queuing outside the store doors is the norm, 2 meters apart 🏬

Businesses were told to continue to work from home unless unable to, then as long as the safety measures are in place, you may return to work 🚫

The Government is paying 80% of wages to all employees across the country who were furloughed due to Covid-19. 💷 furlough has been extended to October.

Airlines are still grounded ✈️ but any travel abroad must now be followed by a two weeks quarantine.

Air pollution has improved. Rivers cleaned up. City & traffic emissions reduced. ♻️

Parks are now open for exercise but playgrounds remain closed 🏃🏼‍♀️

Everyone has been advised not to use public transport 🚌unless there is no alternative and if you do use then you must wear a face covering😷. Also there will a maximum of 25 people allowed on a bus at one time.

Entire sports ⚽️ 🏉 🎾 seasons have paused.

Premier league Football ⚽️has just been announced to continue from 17th June. Golf⛳️ has already restarted but all of these will be conducted behind closed doors.

Olympics postponed to 2021. 🏆

Concerts 🎫 tours 🚌 festivals 🤹🏻 entertainment events 🎭 all cancelled and all theatres closed for the foreseeable future.

Weddings 👰🏼🤵🏻 family celebrations 🥳 holiday gatherings cancelled 👨‍👩‍👦‍👦.

Funerals ⚰️ are limited to 10 guests that are socially distanced so lots of funerals are now being shown over Zoom etc 🚫

The new way to chat with friends and families has been by using apps like Zoom & Teams 👩🏽‍💻🧑🏾‍💻as well as the usual what’s app and FaceTime. It has almost become the new “norm” to have a catch up with family via zoom, or have a quiz night with your mates!🎥

If you are fortunate to have a neighbour who is a Singer or in a band, 👩🏼‍🎤then you might be lucky enough to get some free entertainment live from their driveway or balcony 👂🏽

No masses are allowed as churches ⛪️ 🕌are still closed 🚫however again the use of modern technology is slowly creeping into this world and mass is now streamed on a Sunday.

Still a Shortage of masks 😷 gowns 🥼 gloves 🧤 for our front-line workers. Since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, over 1.48 billion items of PPE have been delivered to the health and social care system in England,

Shortage of ventilators for the critically ill 🤒 in many parts of the world. Formula 1 racing teams and Virgin Galactic designed and produced ventilators in the space of a week.

Panic buying 🛒 set in in those early days, but it seems that eggs and flour are the main things that people still struggle to get .🐥🍞🥚

Manufacturers, distilleries and other businesses 🏢 have switched to make visors, masks 😷 hand sanitizer🧴 and PPE 🧤

Fines have been established for breaking lockdown rules 🤑 and this has been done to break up many a house party

You are still not allowed to visit or stay anywhere other than your own home 🚷but you are allowed to drive now to an exercise place (like a bigger park area) 🚗🛣🌳🌳but they would prefer you to stay within 25 miles of your home 🚐 Public toilets aren’t open yet so they advise people to stay away from beaches ⛔️if you don’t live by one .

Press conferences are daily from the PM 👩🏻 and other government 🏛 officials. Daily updates on new cases, recoveries, and deaths ⚰️

Seeing People wearing masks 😷 and gloves outside 🧤has become “normal”

355,356 deaths globally so far from 28 May 2020. And 37,837 in the UK.😢

This is the Novel Coronavirus 🦠 (Covid-19) Pandemic, WHO declared March 11th, 2020.

We have so much we need to appreciate that we take for granted.

Be thankful. Be grateful 😌

Be kind to each other - love one another - support everyone 🥰

Stay Alert, stay safe. ❤️

A bad feeling

Day 15

Today we have a new highest record in the daily death toll 😭 786.

UK total 6,159.

💔We are seeing videos from patients inside hospitals, begging people to stay at home as to not catch Covid-19. 

💔We are receiving daily death tolls and counts of the number of people admitted to hospital with the desease. 

💔We have adverts or updates on the TV, radio and even Spotify, telling us to stay at home in order to save lives. 

💔We see news teams entering into ICU wards to get an understanding of the scale of this pandemic and how it is affecting patients and staff and the families left behind. 

💔We are seeing names and photos of the nurses, doctors and other "front line" staff that are dieing due to this illness simply because they were doing their job trying to save people.

Today we had the news that Prime Minister Boris Johnson is now in ICU struggling to get enough oxygen!

Should we make it through this, I very much doubt that life will be the same. We as a nation will have lost so much and had to give up so much, just in order to slow down this desease, never mind stop it.

Stay Home. Stay Safe. 

Summer's Birthday

Day 14

My bubba girl turned 4 yesterday!

I have no idea where that time has gone!

Despite being in lockdown, I think that she enjoyed her day. A few family members has posted their gifts and sent cards, so she was lucky enough to have a little pile of presents to open.

She had some "elsa" balloons (snowflakes) and some bunting. Mum managed to have the number 4 blown up at the corner shop! Yay! I was so grateful and happy after DPD had let me down on the helium canister. 

There was a wee incident with the balloon though... 

So...Here's what happened...

We walked the dog down to the lane, and Summer took her new birthday car for a spin, we took her helium balloon with us, tied to the spoiler.

Naturally, the ribbon came lose and up floated the balloon! Luckily a nearby tree caught it.... Time for Mummy to save the day!

I took a run up and scaled the hedge, got attacked by thorns and branches in the process, then had to climb the tree to reach the balloon!

I have a few scratches and scrapes and a rather muddy pair of jeans, but a rescued balloon and a happy birthday girl! 

Annoyingly the balloon popped on the way down! Never fear, we patched it up with tape and blew it up with air!

We had a video chat with the family, where we all sang Happy Birthday and Summer blew out the candles on her cake. 

Its a real shame that we couldn't be with our family as had been originally planned, but I am so thankful that at least Mum was with us and that Summer enjoyed her day. 

A reminder

Day 11

Today the UK has had its highest death toll within 24hrs (to date) by Covid19.

684

Giving us a total of 3,605. 

I saw a post on Facebook that I want to keep as a reminder in the many years to come. Something for me to look back at (should I survive this pandemic) and something to be shown to younger generations.

Just so I NEVER forget.....Friday 3 April 2020

Diesel price at Morrison’s was £1.10
School cancelled
GCSEs cancelled
A-Levels cancelled
Self-distancing measures on the rise.
Tape on the floors at shops to help distance shoppers (2m) from each other.
Limited number of people inside shops, therefore, lineups outside the doors.
Non-essential shops and businesses mandated closed.
Pubs, theatres, restaurants are closed.
Entire sports seasons cancelled.
Concerts, tours, festivals, entertainment events - cancelled.
Weddings, family celebrations, holiday gatherings - cancelled.
Churches are closed. Graveyards are shut. 
Don't socialise with anyone outside of your home.
Children's outdoor play parks are closed.
We are to distance from each other.
Shortage of masks, gowns, gloves for our front-line workers.
Shortage of ventilators for the critically ill.
Panic buying sets in and we have no toilet paper, no disinfecting supplies, no paper towel no laundry soap, no hand sanitiser.
Bread, pasta, flour, chicken and chopped tomatoes are sold out everywhere 
Shelves are bare.
Manufacturers, distilleries and other businesses switch their lines to help make visors, masks, hand sanitiser and PPE.
All non-essential travel banned.
Fines are established for breaking the rules. Police patrolling the streets.
Arenas open up for the overflow of Covid-19 patients.
Press conferences daily from the government. 
The government throws money at businesses to try to keep the economy from imploding.  Grants and loans. The government to pay 80% of employees wages where businesses cannot continue to do so.
Daily updates on new cases and deaths.
The dead are denied wakes or funerals and barely anyone is allowed at the graveside.
Barely anyone on the roads.
People wearing masks and gloves outside.
Essential key workers are terrified to go to work.
Medical field workers are afraid to go home to their families.

This is the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic, declared March 11th, 2020.

Life is precious and not to take the things we dearly love for granted.

We have so much!
Be thankful. Be grateful.
Be kind to each other - love one another - support everyone.

Life is uncertain right now. 
Stay Home! Stay safe! 

Just keep sweeping

Day 4

Gravel and toddlers don't mix. 

It's a recipe for disaster, so with that in mind Mum started to sweep it up!

It is just as well that we can't go anywhere and have nothing else to do. So we did it, we swept the entire driveway, Summer included and she even scraped her knuckles on the gravel in the process... Hereby proving the danger!

I braved the infectious world outside by going to the local shop for some essential food items. I had to queue up outside, 2 meters apart from the next person. There was a member of staff at the door, allowing 4 people to be in the shop at any one time. As soon as someone left, you could go in. 

It felt eerie.

 Like I shouldn't be there.

 Like it was wrong. 

In the afternoon we took the dogs out, having our one daily exercise outside. It was another beautiful day! 

You can find the pictures on Instagram @amy.r.n

Sock Toss

Day 3

It was another glorious day!

Once again we found ourselves on the front steps.. Myself rather red raced from the day before. 🥵

We had a relaxing morning, just keeping each other in high spirits and Summer entertained. 

We played a game of Sock Toss, earning points depending on where the sock landed. Great fun!

We threw the ball endlessly for the dogs and Summer found some bits and bobs laying around.

Our exercise was a wonderdul 2 mile walk in the sun. Its technically "round the block", however the positioning of Mum's house, makes it a rather big block.

Find pictures on Instagram @ amy.r.n

😁 Day 3, survived! 

Sunny Afternoon in Lockdown

Day 1

We were fortunate enough to have some sunshine on the 1st day of our UK Lock down and so my mum decided to clean out her car!

We sat on the front steps on the driveway, soaking up the sun and naturally we drank lots of tea. I watched Mum hoover the car and then Summer joined in when it came to washing the outside.

I drew some circles on the floor which Summer had to jump in, making her way from one end of the driveway to the other without leaving the circles... She loved it so much that we ended up with 50!!

Our one form of daily exercise comes in the shape of dog walking, and I have made it my mission to take a photo everyday and share it to the social media world. Find it on Instagram at amy.r.n

Thanks to the lovely weather, our first taster of the lock down didn't seem too bad.