After yesterday’s orchids here is a picture of rubbish
This lockdown will have come as a real shock to some people, even though many saw it coming. When we decided to go into self-isolation we had two or three days to prepare ourselves, not only in terms of getting in food and other necessities, but also psychologically. Moreover, it was something we chose to do, rather than being forced on us. Today many, many people will suddenly, and perhaps unexpectedly, find themselves isolated and frightened.
For some families this period will be fraught. Younger children had been shielded from the rising sense of panic, but are now having to come to terms with it. They are angry, bewildered, scared, missing their friends and full of excess energy. Parents may feel worried because they are unable to meet their children’s educational needs.
But for most of us it’s not all that bad, if you can put aside the constant anxiety.
Here are some of the blessings…
Friends and members of your wider family, some of whom you have not heard from for a while, will contact you. If they don’t, then contact them yourself. My brother lives in Canada and we are now on a weekly Skype, whereas before we tended to email. My cousin phoned me yesterday from Australia. It has brought us all closer together.
You can now get on with all those projects that you had been putting aside until you had the time. That could mean culling old documents (I found bank statements from 1998), clearing out cupboards, sorting out wardrobes, having a good go at the garden, writing your memoirs, starting an art or craft project, reading those books you had always intended to read, even putting books into alphabetical order.
You can be creative with your cooking. Some ingredients may be unavailable but this is a good chance to try some new techniques or be inventive with what you have got. My son told me that he had made pizzas with naan bread, and it worked very well!
So what have I been doing with the extra time at home?
In the photo you can see five large bin bags full of shredded paper. We used to have the cheapest of shredders, but it was very temperamental and kept breaking down. So we decided to upgrade to a slightly larger one and are very pleased that we did. The shredder now sits on a chair in the living room with a bin bag open beneath it, and we feed it with documents every time we go past.
I was running a committee room for the General Election and there is quite a lot of confidential material that needs to be disposed of. Also, we both have filing cabinets dating from our time as councillors – but we stood down in 2010 and there is very little that we need to keep now. We have been going through and sorting the confidential stuff from the papers that can go into recycling. I imagine there will be quite a queue at the tip when all this is over.
Then my other half thought it might be a good idea to get a jigsaw on the go. So I climbed onto a chair to get to that top cupboard in the spare bedroom where I thought they were. What I found was not only half a dozen jigsaws but probably every board game ever produced. Down they came and I dusted them and sorted them into three piles – ones we might actually play again (not many), ones in good condition to give away to the grandchildren or the charity shop (a couple), and the rest, which I have been deconstructing and putting out for recycling or for the tip. I’m pretty shocked at how tacky so many of those expensive games were. For the price of several good books you got a board, some written instructions plus some bits of coloured plastic.
Please note
We have been in full self-isolation since 16th March to protect my husband whose immune system is compromised.
If you are in self-isolation then join the Lib Dems in self-isolation Facebook group.
You can find my previous Isolation diaries here.
* Mary Reid is a contributing editor on Lib Dem Voice. She was a councillor in Kingston upon Thames, where she is still very active with the local party, and is the Hon President of Kingston Lib Dems.
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26 Comments
Will it be as much fun after three months? This is a very serious question for many people.
If you have a copy of Robinson Crusoe maybe it’s time to dust it down and read it all over again.
I work at home now. Sorting out all the stuff I have accumulated over the last few years. Should take me months. I did venture out last Monday to the post office. Not many people about but I would rather stay at home now. I have plenty of books to read.
Down Under
https://www.eastbourneherald.co.uk/news/environment/former-eastbourne-mp-leads-call-him-and-other-holidaymakers-be-repatriated-new-zealand-2517011
I’m greatly enjoying your diary entries, Mary. Many thanks!
As I was sorting out some stuff came across a letter from my mother. In it the following newspaper cutting-
Daily Mirror 10 January 2000 p7
KILLER FLU: THIS IS THE BIG ONE WARN MEDICS
Epidemic may kill 26,000
Victim David Short,17. Found dead in bed by his mother
Victim Kieren Gregory, 33. Ex-ruby star died after leaving hospital
Picture of a refrigerated trailer being used as a morgue to store 60 bodies in Eastbourne as hospitals struggle to cope with flu victims.
There will be much more fly-tipping! My car now has stuff in it -my Community Recycling Centre was closed this morning – although no warning on the internet. The hard items i will keep in the car … the organic items will be returned to the environment – just in a different location.
This may be worth a read, megadoses of vitamin C v Coronavirus… it has references for its main points and suggests that you can boost your immune system and thus fight the virus and/or not become infected in the first place. Cost of vit C has rocketed BTW so many people are trying it.
https://www.ovulation-calculators.com/blog-en/coronavirus-and-vitamin-c/
Frank
Got a bottle of 150 vitamin C tables yesterday ฿845.
tablets
How I understand we have been trying to move house during a lock down. Rubbish and chaos everywhere 😕
Is enough being done to protect those working in the food chain, particularly those working on the checkouts and making home deliveries, and those maintaining the utilities etc, on whom we all depend? Government announcements have shown a total lack of sensitivity, and awareness, when it comes to these people without whom we could not surviive!
Be very careful about any claims for something that will cure or prevent getting the virus. I checked the article that Frank West linked to and it suggests you should take up to 6 grams of Vit C each day! Other studies are trialling up to 24 grams per day. The recommended daily dose is 90g per day and the high dose tabs you can get are 500mg.
There is ongoing research on many potential treatments, including Vit C, but there is a real danger that people will a) take very high doses but not under medical supervision or b) think they are protected when they are not.
Please read this: https://inews.co.uk/news/health/coronavirus-conspiracy-theories-condoms-fingers-vitamin-c-cure-covid-19-fake-news-2235511
Mary, agree there are many articles on the web saying Vitamin C will not work against the Coronavirus but the theory is that megadoses help the immune system which in turn will help fight the virus or stop it getting to the serious level, 1000mg pills are widely available, BTW – or were until everyone started buying them. Still, I am taking four 2g doses a day instead of my normal 1g in the morning (been taking it for decades and rarely get a cold) and have had a definite midday energy boost, no longer having a coffee at that time. Of course, if I don’t get the virus it does not mean that is down to Vit C but if I do get it and it progresses to a dangerous level it will mean that it did not work and I will report back (unless it does for me!). You used to be able to buy 1000 1g pills for around £16 so the cost is not high (possibly four to five times that at the moment).
If you take too much vitamin C the main effect is one of a laxative, to the extent that it is well know for purging your system. The Chinese trial they are doing intravenous 20g a day, I think, which of course would be rather dangerous if done on a DIY basis but perhaps useful to try where doctors have decided that the patient is not in group that benefits from ventilation… although most evidence is that Vit C is better as a preventative than cure.
Wandering off topic even further…
I am reminded of case studies and lab reports about high dosage of almost anything. There is the grim tale of the subject who overdosed on carrots, which turns skin green, but less amusingly made the subject very ill.
Lab rats die if they consume too much water. It is the same for humans, although they are not tested in laboratory conditions.
Phil
“Lab rats die if they consume too much water. It is the same for humans, although they are not tested in laboratory conditions.”
For humans it is too much whisky.
Re clearing and sorting – no luck yet, people know I am at home, so lots of problems winging their way here. Ranging from problems getting gluten free and dairy free products to boisterous toddlers being kept to not making a noise for ill person in flat below. People from Church to be keeping in touch with ( some of us have a list each), and friends who live on their own. Not that i resent any of it, glad to still being of some use.
To go back to sorting books, John has ours in alphabetical order for fiction, but in topic groups for everything else. Like the dishwasher, i leave to him to do!
as for the office – well least said the better but will need to make some things look better for my first zoom conference tomorrow.
just testing to see if I get the birdy on my name
Back off topic!. Just trying to get the info out there, preferably into the hands of Ed who might pass it on. NY Post report says they are using Vitamin C mega-doses and it seems to help (this for people in hospital rather than as a preventative where it is much better according to moi).
https://nypost.com/2020/03/24/new-york-hospitals-treating-coronavirus-patients-with-vitamin-c/
If you sit down with a cup of tea, you’ll discover myriads of tasks you’ve been putting off for years if you’re anything like me. And then there’s the garden. The one exercise a day is a god send and long may it continue. If you combine it with your shop, you reduce carbon output as well as time and probably infection risk as long as you carry some sanitiser and use it.
Peter – the joy of tea in confinement. In Vaclav Havel’s prison diaries he records how with endless empty hours to fill he turns the ceremony of serving himself tea into a true event relishing every stage and fragrance. I am off to make some instant mash potato. Not quite the same 😊
test to see if birdy there
Well done, Mary, for culling the paperwork, and for having invested in a voluminous shredder to cope with confidential waste. It puts me in mind of when I moved three years ago from a flat that I had occupied for 31 years. And like you I had been a councillor, also coming off the Council (Lambeth) in 2010. Sorting through 30 years of casework paperwork, and huge amounts of other paper to sort confidential material from recyclable material was a real nightmare. I was more than pleased to come across this company which disposed of confidential material. I managed to fill 10 sacks for them to collect. I can recommend the company for anyone else needing to get rid of confidential waste in quantity (presumably other shredding companies are available !):
https://www.homeshreduk.co.uk/about-our-sacks
Eek. Wrong link. It was the Home Shred company I had used: https://www.google.com/search?rls=aso&client=gmail&q=homeshred%20&authuser=0