Monday, November 09, 2020

Published Monday, November 09, 2020 by with 0 comment

Coronavirus - Sunday 8th November

Went for a swim on Monday morning. If will be the last one for me for a month or so but M may go on Wednesday. I've made a bit of a mess of the stonework above the window. Part of it is scratches made by the ladder (before I thought of putting socks on the end) part of it is sloppy painting that I am annoyed with myself about. I tried going at it with a scrubbing brush but it doesnt have any effect. Not sure what to do about it.
Did some harmonies for the Counting Salmon song. Watched the quizzes and a thing called The Undoing we have started watching on Now TV.  Put a coat of masonry paint on the window sills on Tuesday morning. I stopped feeding the birds during the first lockdown, not sure why, maybe I thought it wasn't essential. Anyway I've decided to start again so went to the big pet supplies at the retail park near Morrisons. Got the usual, peanuts, sunflower hearts, dried mealworms and thought I'd try some suet balls. I thought it might take a while for the birds to come back but it was only 15 mins or so except for the suet balls. They are in a more exposed position though at the front of the wisteria arch. Apart from the fact that schools are staying open there's a bit of a relaxation in the meeting up outdoors rule in this lockdown. If you are on your own you can meet up with one person from another household. A new chest of drawers arrived for M's dressing room. Its made from recycled furniture.
I put the second coat of masonry paint on the window sills so that job is finished now except for getting the double glazed sashes put in which will also involve some touching up plus sorting the stone above. On Wednesday I'd planned to a ride to a ford over the Thames at Duxford.
Me, Kelvin and Andy got a train to Didcot and met Charlie there. He lead us to Abingdon. The ford was down a footpath.
We thought we'd have our sarnies on the footbridge in the sun but there wasn't one so we headed for the churchyard at Hinton Waldren.
The ride out had been quite pleasant if unspectacular but the ride back wasn't so good. The roads themselves were in need of some serious maintenance. They are a bit narrow and windey so it was hard for traffic to get past and then they just got busy. I also had a bit of trouble navigating on unfamiliar roads. We stopped off for a pint of Landlord at the Hart of Hartwell. Charlie  had been forcing the pace most of the way. Wednesday was the last day the pubs were open so First Thursday was changed to First Wednesday. Charlie also does a First Thursday in East Hagbourne and they changed there's to Wet Wednesday. The original plan was to go to the Fox and Hounds but they were fully booked so I managed to book a 6 to 8 slot at the Castle Tap. We had 4 pints of Yellow Peak which hit the spot. I went home after that but the others managed another 3 in the Butler. Thursday was the first day of the new lockdown. During the bad weather of the last few weeks we talked about taking advantage of the good weather and seeing as it was a really nice sunny day I thought I'd head out on my bike to see if the Loddon Brewery shop was open. Took this snap on the way.
It was open so bought a selection. 
l cycled back through town. It's not as quiet as first lockdown. There were school kids around  things like estate agents still open, some restaurants and coffee bars doing takeaways and some shops doing click and collect. Clas Ohlson also seemed to be open. I'm not sure why. It was the US election on Tuesday but there's no result yet. It looks like Biden is edging but some states still have postal votes to count. They do it differently in different states some count them before, some after. Had a zoom call with Kevin, Adrienne and Penno in the evening. K and A are thinking of retiring to the coast and had visited Plymouth but other trips are now on hold due to lockdown. Penno's university life continues. I mentioned my ford spotting activities and Adrienne sent this.
Did some shed tidying on Friday then went for a walk along the Kennet to Milkmaid's Bridge. Saw Kelvin and Graham on their bikes taking advantage if the meeting up with a person from another household rule. I'm not sure which is Milkmaid's Bridge, they are both at Southcote Lock, probably the second one which is very narrow.
On the wayback I went to the shops in Coley Park. They have opened up a bit of metal fence from Coley Ave so you dont have to go through the iron kissing gate anymore. Its been blocked off for at least 36 years since we lived in Upavon Drive. I wonder if its because of covid or to make cycling easier or both.
Stayed up late on Friday. Went for a walk along the Kennet again with M. This time just to the bridge near the Brunell retail park and back through Waterloo Meadows and Elgar Rd. We had to go via the crossroads that supposedly is the only one in the country where a road, street, avenue and lane meet. 
A brisk 3 mile walk. A few minutes after we got back it was announced that Jo Biden has won the US election after winning Pennsylvania. Had a tweet forwarded to me from Dave Kirkham saying there's no beer collection from the Castle Tap because the manager has been told she has to self isolate. That's where we were on Wednesday evening. She's not ill just been contacted by the app it said. M had planned a ladies cards night for the evening and as a result I had planned a trip to the Phantom Brewery with Steve, Andy and Kelvin but both had to be cancelled. Judy and Mike did a zoom quiz instead, me, M, Stuart, Clare, Bobby and Fiona took part. We were second, B and F won. They had a couple of rounds with an online buzzer which was quite interesting. Very lazy day on Sunday. On Saturday we had done a bit of youtubing and Venus by Shocking Blue had popped up. Quite an intetesting song so had a stab at learning it. Its got a country style guitar solo. M cooked a really good Ottolenghi tray baked chicken dish. Included some flat breads made with our new rolling pin.
Then we settled down to watch telly.

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