We've decided we have enough material to go ahead with the February Lockdown Festival so I've let all the contributors know and emailed potential festival goers. The initial response has been good. Also tried looking for a place to stay next Christmas. Most places are asking fir non-refundable deposits now. There's been a lot of snow around the country but not here. M cooked a fine chicken and mushroom pie for tea. I started recording a new song and everything was going fine until my laptop refused to recognise the zoom mic anymore. I think its a dodgy usb connector in the mic so may need to replace. Watched Signs using the projector and a screen we have just bought. Pretty good experience. Went for a walk in the cold on Wednesday. Did the loop round to Southcote Lock but came back along the disused railway line to knob end. This could be one reason why Fobney Meadow floods every year.We sat in on a zoom talk about old roads that looked interesting but they were just trying get volunteers to work on a project. They mentioned using Slack which sent shivers down my spine. Watched Reading vs Brentford in the evening we were doing OK went 1 0 up and were looking the better side but they equalised a bit later. In the second half they started to pile on the pressure and we held out tothe 86th minute then lost 3 1. Brentford are a good side. I thought they'd get promoted last year I'm sure they will this. 21 games unbeaten. Then had a goolie zoom.

Went out for my first bike ride for over two weeks largely due to the decorating. Just went on the road bike to Shinfield to give it a road test after getting the rear mech fixed. All OK on that front. Some flooding near the Mad Stad though.On the way back I thought I'd see if you can get into woods around where the Berks CC offices used to be. Found a footpath that took me though and brought me out in Whitley Wood. The area is called Nores Hill on the map. Not been there before.I then cycled back through Whitley along Northumberland Ave. There's an amazing amount of stuff along that road. Several schools including the Mad Academy, health centres, community centres, South Reading  Leisure Centre, a library and quite a few shops. It used to regarded as a rough part of town, not so sure now. On Tuesday I went for a ride with Kelvin. The first ride with someone else since this lockdown began. Started off doing the ride where my chain snapped. Got up the hill OK this time. Lots of flooding at Pangbourne.
Wednesday's main activity was hanging the pictures in the front room. Its a job I hate. You have pristine walls and then have to drill holes in them and with our walls you've no idea whats going to happen. For the smaller lighter pictures I just used nails and picture hooks. Still a dicey business. Worked out OK though. The phono amp arrived and got it working with the bluetooth transmitter. Had a goolie zoom in the evening. It turns out Greg also likes jam with marmite. On Thursday set up the record player in the front room. Just need some bluetooth speakers now. Chap came to fix the gas fire in the kitchen. Nice bloke, very helpful. Managed to sort out the remote that we hadn't used for years, even gave us some paint for the fire in the front room. Didn't wear a mask though. Had a gigs and ale call in the evening. Its official Kevin is now a welder.
Went to the hygienist on Friday morning. Same routine as last time. Had to check in on line and wait outside until called. This time I had to put mycoat in a box though instead of hanging it up. It chucked it down early afternoon. Went to Screwfix click and collect for a cable tidy. Went for a walk to see what birds I could see in the flooded Coley water meadows. Not many and it was too flooded to walk down the path.Had a brief zoom with James and Amy on Saturday then we went for a walk through town to the Thames. Went past my favourite bit of graffiti.The flooding had gone down and we hoped we could walk to the Kennet mouth but the little bridge near Caversham lock was still under about 6 inches of water so had to abandon that idea. Instead went the other way, over the new footbridge over Caversham bridgeand back along the south side of the river. One bit was under water to had to take a detour down Thames Ave. It was a little bit too busy for my liking but most people were behaving responsibly. M cooked a curry in the evening including some excellent onion bhajis.
On Sunday drafted up a plan for the February Lockdown Festival. Had a roast chicken and watched telly. 

Took the masking tape off in the front room on Monday morning. It worked well with the exception of a few leaks that will need to he touched up. Matt and his mate came to install the new fitted cupboard. We all wore masks on arrival and then we just let them get on with it. For some reason the pilot light has gone out in fire in the kitchen and wont light again. Need to get a man in. On Tuesday I painted the cupboard. It looks great but will need another coat and its so dull by the time the first ones dried that it will have tp wait for tomorrow. I haven't had too many responses about the February Lockdown Festival so sent out reminders. Gave the cupboard another coat plus a fee other jobs on Wednesday. Had a zoom dpwn the Hop Leaf withAndy and Kelvin in the evening. On Thursday I started putting stuff back in the front room and Tony came to put the radiator back and fit new sockets. M went up to the library at the uni to pick up a book. All very quiet as hardly anyone around. Moved back into the front room on Friday. There's still a bit of touching up to be done round the sockets Tony replaced. A weird thing happened as the remote stopped working for the TV. Turned out to be the up arrow button that was stuck in. Watched a Cinematic Orchestra live stream on the telly in the evening. Thought I'd be able to cast if from my phone but couldn't so had to use the browser on the telly to get to it. That was a first apart from playing around when we first got it. URZ beat Bouremouth 3 1 to go fourth. A good start to the day on Saturday. We had a lie in but I baked some bread that was ready for breakfast. Did a bit more finishing off in the front room and putting stuff away. My January Berkshire Beer Box arrived. Had a zoom with the Lutonians in the evening. We did some of our quiz. Drank too much. A bit more touching up on Sunday and some research into bluetooth decks and speakers. The deck I wanted doesn't seem to be available. Have ordered a bluetooth transmitter to see if that will work with an existing deck. Did an experiment afterand think I will need a phoho amp as well.

Started prepping for painting the front room on Monday. Managed to sand the window, door and skirting board but my finger ends are quire saw. Finished sanding on Tuesday, this time wearing marigolds, and washed everything down. Watched URZ v Coventry in the evening. 6pm KO which us not ideal. They won 3 0. Good goals but didn't play great. Started painting on Wednesday, Tony also came round to take off the radiator. Got one coat on the ceiling and made a start on the walls. Had a goolie chat in the evening. Got a coat of emulsion on the walls on Thursday. On Friday got a second coat of emulsion on the walls and ceiling. Popped out to pick up my bike. They replaced the rear mech also fixed a broken spoke I didn't know about. Made bread and pizzas for tea. On Saturday I taped round the coving and windows and painted the coving. It went on well I just hope its OK when the tape is removed. We heard from Tom and Sally that their Xmas parcel had arrived posted on 21st December.M had tried to chase it up in the week and been frustrated that she was unable to speak to a human so had contacted Alok Sharma the local MP. His office had written to the  Royal Mail CEO. Coincidence? We woke up to snow on Sunday morning. 

Did an early ride on Monday morning, down the Bath Rd, Nunhide Lane, Sulham, Pangbourne and back via Hardwick Stud and Mapledurham. Lots of red kites soaring. I got enough responses for the February Lockdown Festival to make it viable so sent out an email asking contributors to select their performances. Played around setting up a website for it. Added some wah wah guitar to Across The Universe. It turns out the black boxes I saw by the Kennet last week are dormouse nest boxes but they will be hibernating at the moment. Today's outdoor activity was meant to be an afternoon ride on my road bike going out through Caversham. I got half way up St Peter's hill when the same thing happened as when my chain snapped. I.e. the rear mech got jammed. Thus time the chain didn't snap which made this worse as the back wheel was effectively locked.I rigged up strap to put over my shoulder to lift the back wheel off the ground and headed back home. Bumped in to Kelvin who was going out on a similar ride. It was hard work so decided to lock the bike up in town and go get the car only to find the battery was flat. Went back for the bike with a better strap. Bumped into Carolyn and Steve who had been out for Seville oranges. Went for a quick early ride on Wednesday just to the Cunning Man. Got the breakdown service to start the car. Chap recommended a new battery. Took my bike in to Rotec. They dont seem to any thing like as busy as they were before, hopefully it wont take so long as last time, about 3 months. Took the cupboard from the front room up to the music room. It was a bit too much with the top bit but fine with just the bottom. Had a goolie zoom in the evening. Got the car battery replaced on Thursday. We decided on the colours for the front room so I went off to get paint and stuff. In the afternoon I was planning to cycle out to Fobney Lock and round the nature reserve to see what birds I could see. I set of on my town bike but my bad luck with modes of transport continued as I discovered it had a puncture and naturally it was the back wheel. Went on my mountain bike instead. The ducks I saw the other day were still there and they are definitely gadwalls. Nothing much else though apart from some long tailed tits.  A lot of the area south of the Kennet is land fill and therefore there are lots of these pipes sticking up.

The new regime is to try and exercise everyday so did the ride along the Kennet to Theale on Monday morning. I saw what looked like a group of commuters leaving the station there. A sign of normality. Got a bit muddy. M had made cauliflower soup so had some for brunch. According to the covid app cases in Reading are rising rapidly.

A lazy day on Monday. Did most of the Guardian Xmas crossword. Cooked a curry. Had a Sherlock Holmes zoom with JnA in the evening that worked out well. TnS got the picture of their main present in the post so had a quick zoom early afternoon so they could open. We got them 2 garden chairs that they seemed to really like. Went out for a ride after that but unfortunately my chain snapped going up Lambden Hill. That's never happened to me before. Had to call M out to pick me up. Had a gigs n ale zoom in the evening. KnA had had a very similar Christmas to us with lots of family zooms and games. Checked out the damage on my bike on Wednesday. The chain probably snapped on the join but the rear mech seems to be damaged as its sticking into the wheel. Left a message on the Rotec answerphone but they didn't get back. Bike shops can open in tier 4. Gave it a rare clean anyway. On Christmas Eve I had finally got a response from the Green Home Grants people saying they thought the cost for the underfloor insulation was too high.