Four Weeks of Lockdown

Surviving and probably, thriving? Viv has switched from learning Cymraeg to español, thinking it may be of more use in the future ….as Plan A is still to leave this moronically stupid Kingdom for las islas canarias.

Meanwhile, we seem to be OK – better than most, free to walk our dog in the strangely quiet countryside, the shops are all fully stocked and the view . . . is great. I expect the llywodraeth Gymru (Welsh Government) to announce an easing of the lockdown soon – independently of the English gov, as they just seem keen to throw people under the bus – that big red one with 350million for the NHS on it?

Luckily, our area seems to have no cases of the virus, so far……

The same view across our fields . . .so strangely quiet

The Whisky Exchange came thru with my order – three whisky blends to try

Warm enough to put out the solar kettle – brews enough boiling water, in 3 hours, for two cups of tea.

UK politics remains the same, such a rich ground for satire! Get your copy now!!

A very strange site at the local Nisa store – a cold cabinet totally full of loo rolls . . . a photo to remember . . . bit like tins of Spam in WW2?

Quite a big store with wide aisles so eveyrone keeps apart – plastic screens for the staff . . .another photo for the album – 2020 – remember that year?

On the way back from the city, we find a small footpath to walk the dog – a magnificent display of gorse.

Viv buys her tea from the Kent & Sussex tea & coffee Co. – all good stuff. Lots of coffee beans to keep Steve going for months plus a selection of healthy teas – the chocolate orange tea was a free gift.

The highlight of my day is the morning coffee – freshly ground and made in a filter with a spoonful of condensed milk – after that, the day goes downhill . . .

back at the local walk to castell coch – this big dip of a field leads to a dodgy walk/climb down to the beach. There used to be a style here but that’s gone. Two guys were down there, stripped to the waist and making improvements to the track – kind of unofficial I guess but looking forward to the beach parties of the future . . . should there be one.

I know it’s a black blob in the sea – not a lobster pot but a grey seal! Honest, he bobbed around for quite a while.

the panorama shot – showing that precarious path down . . .one day I’ll venture down there . .

and one of the guys digging out the path . . .

so strange to walk down the centre of the roads – so little traffic

Poor old Toby – he is getting on now and hobbles about after a long walk but acts like a puppy once he’s out, chasing the ball and squirming on top of it.

Thanks to James Wong (aka @botanygeek) for his tip to produce candy stalks – these popping corn seeds were planted in the dark and watered for a week – the shoots really are quite sweet.

I was thinking of adding some music – Viv and I found an old recording of Muse at Glasto last year and spent 2+ hours dancing to them. What other music could we recommend? Another One Bites the Dust, by Queen – perhaps not. I do some of my exercises to old trance numbers and this one struck me as apt – Better Off Alone

More like the music wot I listen to . . . .

A modern version of this pathos song . . .

And perhaps the original . . .1932 . . .