Lockdown day #41 - Sunday 26th April 2020

Today I should have been on a train ride on a steam train - but it has joined the ever growing catalogue of cancelled events.

I did Sunday morning worship via Zoom (I still don't like it ... it feels 'unconnected' and clinical).  I also downloaded a few old War Cry's from around the world.  Some of these are connected with my research.

These are from the United Kingdom, the Caribbean, South Africa and Canada.

I had pork, with potatoes, broccoli, carrots and turnip for my lunch ... I am determined to have a "proper lunch" every Sunday.

A cousin dropped me an email, and I chatted to a few friends, and finished the evening with a spot of reading before bed.

Lockdown day #40

Today was lovely and sunny.  I should have been in Bury as my dance group was booked to perform at Bury Pride - but that has been cancelled.  There was a 'Bury Pride in the Home' consisting of pop music on a local radio station, but that is a poor alternative.  I am grateful for one blessing due to the cancellation - I didn't have to wear my kilt on such a hot day!

Instead, I downloaded more reading material.  Today this consisted of:

* The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Vol 4, Issue 2

* Nordfrim Great Offers 2020

* New Zealand War Cry 18 April 2020

I also received in the post the Royal Mail Postmark Bulletin Vol 49, No 5 - May Postmarks  

 

What an eclectic group of publications to read!

I watched a video on how to make Bara Brith - now all I need is to find Self-Raising Flour in the shops, and buy dry fruit, and buy some tea .... maybe it is not such a good idea to try and make it.  Bara Brith was originally a traditional Welsh standby thing to cook, because all the ingredients would be readily available to most housewives.  Having to put in most of the ingredients doesn't make it a cheap standby meal.

My exercise today was a trip to the shops (specifically B&M Bargains and Asda) and I managed to buy a box of Jaffa Cakes .. well a big box of Jaffa Cakes (100 in the box) - not that I am panic buying or anything ....

I finished the evening by watching the film "Out in the Dark" - a film about love across the Palestinian/Israeli divide.  Edge of the Seat stuff!

Lockdown day #39

Today I was up nice and early and decided to spend the day reading.  None of the books I read today are physically owned by me, and all were free downloads to help us "readers" who are running out of material to read.

Today's "must reads" were:
*The Golden Miles, Blackpool Corporation Tramways 1885-2010
*Hawaii's Religions
*Independent Buses in North Wales and
*MDS Books for collectors and enthusiasts 2020 Spring Book News.

I also received in the post the Cyprus Post News detailing their upcoming new stamp issues.

I took the opportunity of the sunny and warm weather (21 degrees near me) for a nice walk in the sun.  My ankle is easier to walk on and it felt good to be in the sun.

In the evening I "attended" the Lockdown Ceilidh - streamed live from a kitchen in Nottingham - great fun to watch, but a tad difficult to do by oneself.

Lockdown day #38

Today is St George's Day - and so I am wearing my green top from the 2002 Commonwealth Games for the Welsh team - with a dragon on it.  You can't have St George without the dragon, now can you?  This is a picture from the 2002 Games - and it is not me - but it shows you the design of my top today.

The morning started with a discussion group on Zoom - I am slowly getting to work my way round this new thing (as are many of us I expect).   I am still without a camera or a microphone, but have found the online chat function, so I can communicate.

I have read an online book - "Lancashire United The Fleet 1900-1981 Second edition" (the second edition bit is important - it is a special .pdf version for the days of the Corona).  Fascinating read.

Then I visited the Portico Library and viewed their new exhibition, online, entitled "What is it to be here - Colonisation and Resistance"  Apparently today is the 250th anniversary of the arrival of the first colonialists in Australia.  I am pleased to say the exhibition looks largely at the viewpoint of the original people of that continent.

It being Thursday it was the "Clap for Carers/NHS" night.  I didn't clap but had a red bell and played that.  There was quite a cacophony round here.

I rounded off the night listening to a strange piece of music - Pachabel's Canon like you have never heard if before - played on hundreds of train horns. 

Lockdown day #37

Today is the 50th Anniversary of the creation of Earth Day - designed to focus attention on protecting the Earth's resources.  Sometimes I feel we forget that we don't own the planet, we are just the current custodians of it.  There are signs, however, that this COVID-19 outbreak is starting to make the planet healthier - many cities which had a smog problem, now have more people in lockdown, less cars on the roads, and the air is better to breath.  I do hope when the time comes to come out of lockdown, that we live in harmony more with our planet, rather than trying to extract what we can from it for a quick 'buck'.

I stayed in much of the day, only going out briefly to get some essential supplies from Asda.  I managed to get some eggs, and there are signs that the supermarket shelves are less empty than they were before the lockdown started.  Perhaps the message that panic buying doesn't help anyone is getting through?

I read an e-book about coaches - Twelve Royal Tigers - described as the complete story of the coachbuilders Beccols & Bellhouse Hartwell and how Blue Cars became an important part of the tale.  It was very interesting.

I also read the first chapter of a book for a Study Group to be held on Thursday mornings.  Decision Making and Spiritual Discernment 

The only other thing I have done today is look back over Christmasses past - perhaps one day I will write my autobiography.  Watch this space ....

Lockdown day #36

So first I received a text message "reminding" me that the gas service engineer would come on 20th April.  Then yesterday the gas service engineer came along and looked at the boiler ... and TODAY I finally received the letter from the Housing Association that the gas service engineer would be coming ... perhaps tenants need to have telepathic powers these days!

I saw a weird short film called "Patrice" - about a black guy from Tunisia living in Germany.

On Facebook I was directed by a friend to a list of Disney films - and invited to add the film grossing the most at the box-office in the year that I was born.  For me this is "The Sword in the Stone" - an animated feature about the young King Arthur.  I hadn't realised it was released in 1963, but I have to say it is one of my top favourites for Disney films.

I sought out my DVD and watched the film again - I can see why it is in my all-time favourites list.

I did some work on my stamps ... which is very relaxing ... and took an evening stroll round the park.

But before I close today can I just say "Happy Birthday" to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II - 94 today.

Lockdown day #35

It is strange how the most mundane things have become an "event".  This morning I got some bin bags of rubbish to the dustmen ... it got me out of the flat, so that was something (and it cleared some clutter ... which is also good).

Opening my e-mails I read Dr Mark Pack's "Liberal Democrat Newsline".  I have to admit I would normally just scan this, but today I took an inordinate amount of time reading each article in it.  There was an interesting article on how normally liberals would be up in arms at the loss of civil liberties and free movement, but these unusual circumstances have seen instead criticism of the government for not imposing lockdown earlier.

On Facebook my friend James Baillie had published his original song "Hair Still Grows Fast (and it's in my eyes)" - very witty and fun to watch.

I am continuing to read downloadable books to do with buses and transport and this morning I read the Prestige Series book on "Bedwas and Machen", a small bus operator located near to Caerphilly in South Wales.

Later in the day, whilst browsing on Facebook, I happened across the opening clip of the film "55 Days at Peking", the clip where all the legations are raising their flags and playing their national anthems.  It had never occurred to me before, but the first anthem in the film was the Russian anthem - "God Save the Tzar!".  

I then searched on YouTube and found a lovely rendition by the Mikhailovsky Theatre Orchestra and Choir, performed at the State Hermitage in St Petersburg on 6 March 2013. I also loved that some of the audience stood for the royalist anthem of Russia - could there still be royalists in Russia today?

Having had a taster of the film, I went and watched the film on YouTube.  It is surprisingly relevant to today ... there is a line in the film, a quote of Napoleon "let China sleep for when she awakes the world will tremble" ... 

The other "event" today was I had another living person inside my flat - for it was the time of the annual boiler check ... and so the boiler man cometh - I couldn't really see him for all the PPE he was wearing.    In the evening I took some exercise in the local cemetery - lovely and sunny still (and quite warm at 6pm) but the wind was cold and brisk.