I am starting to get an evening routine on Disco (nickname for my boat Discovery). Come back to the boat, put on the kettle for some tea, get some logs and kindling from the bow and get the coal skuttle. Go outside to the shed taking the logs with my gloves and head torch. Fill the skuttle with coal, using gloves and head torch. Get the axe and wood chopping boat and chop some wood. Go inside, clean out wood burner of ash, lay the fire, light it and then make a cup of tea.
I love being outside and chopping wood each evening. I need to come up with another plan, as I am sure some nights it will be raining.
Today I headed to my flat to do some work, was really weird being back in Leith area.
Honey and I went round the graveyard and I suddenly became very aware of the feeling of grass / earth. I realised that I mainly walk on concrete at the moment – the towpath is all concrete. Was lovely to walk on earth.
We came to a commemorative grave, which I know well, but now it has poppies marking each person whose on the gravestone, with their name on each one.
Was pretty touching.
Today is November 5th, so there has been many fireworks, Honey has not been so happy. Disco does not have good sound proofing, so we have had the radio on louder, but she is still hearing them.
On the bus back to the boat, she sat under the seat of the bus not looking happy. She has never done that before. Then back on Disco she spent most the evening with a toy in her mouth, which she does when she is anxious – I guess it acts as a comfort.
It’s only in the last year or so that she has not liked bangs, she used to be fine with fireworks – does the change come with age?
This morning I was super excited to see the Leamington Lift Bridge open for the first time. This is next to the enclosed area that Disco is in. I thought that the road would split in the middle and be more like a bridge, but in fact the whole road just lifts up – which thinking about it is why it’s called a ‘Life Bridge’ 😉
No boat was passing under it, instead it was having tests done.
So I said I would do a bit of research today about lockdown in England (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/explainers-52530518). Today (at 00:01) England went into it’s second national (full) lockdown, which is said to finish on 2nd December (Day 254).
Tomorrow I will do research for Scotland’s Five-Tier System, which we are currently in.
Here’s England’s lockdown points:
KEY POINTS
- Pubs and restaurants closed – but takeaways and deliveries are allowed.
- Non-essential shops, leisure and entertainment venues close.
- No households mixing indoors or private gardens.
- Support bubbles for people who live alone and single parent households can continue and meet indoors.
- Stay Home – only leave for specific reasons including education, work (if can’t work from home), exercise, medical reasons, shopping for essentials or to care for others.
- Outdoor exercise encouraged – you can meet one person outside your household (outdoors). Children under 5 don’t count.
- Children can move between homes if parents are separated.
- Support groups of 15 or fewer people area allowed, including those for new parents or people recovering from addictions.
- Informal childcare support bubbles for children aged 13 or under can continue.
- It is possible to visit friends and family in care homes as long as Covid Secure measures are in place . e.g. use of floor-to-ceiling screens, visiting pods and arranging outdoor or window visits.
TO CLOSE
- All leisure and sport centres to close – that includes gyms, swimming pools, tennis and basketball courts, golf courses, fitness and dance studios, climbing walls, archery, driving and shooting ranges.
- All personal care facilities to close – that includes hair, beauty, tanning and nail salons, tattoo and massage parlours, body and skin piercing. Staff cannot offer these services in people’s homes.
- Weddings and civil partnerships (apart from exceptional circumstances).
- Places of worship – except for individual prayer or services broadcast to the congregation.
CAN REMAIN OPEN
- Supermarkets, food shops, off-licenses, petrol stations and pharmacies.
- Bike shops, hardware stores, dry cleaners, banks, post officers, garden centres and pet shops.
- Motorway service stations.
- Medical services – that includes dentists and opticians.
- Libraries – to allow click and collect and IT access.
- Schools, universities and colleges.
- Funerals up to 30 people
- Stone settings & ash scattering up to 15 people.
- Moving House – can visit potential properties, purchase a new property and move into a new property.
- Stay in a hotel overnight.
- Estate agents, letting agents and removal firms can continue.
- Moving Home – people outside your household or support bubble should not help with moving “unless absolutely essential and you should wear a mask and maintain social distancing wherever possible”.
I must admit, it doesn’t seem anywhere near to the first lockdown we had in March. It feels pretty much what we were allowed to do as lockdown began to ease. It all seems pretty much what we have been doing in Edinburgh (Tier 3) for a good few weeks now!
With so many exceptions to the rules, I wonder how many people will stick with it?
Face-Mask Corner
Today we have Miles, who I saw at The Melting Pot yesterday. Miles has appeared a few times in the blog, which I can’t find easily using the ‘search’ button on my website as the name ‘Miles’ can also related to ‘miles’ as in distance. But an interesting fact about Miles is he loves my poem called ‘A Word’ which appeared in ‘Poetry Corner’ on Day 104.
Miles’ mum made his face-mask, she has made him a few 🙂
Miles was dancing in this photo, although it isn’t very apparent!
Thanks Miles, welcome to Face-Mask Corner. Looking forward to seeing more of your mum’s homemade face-masks 🙂
Music / Podcast Corner
Today we have a song sent in by Danny, it is another song by Pomplamoose. They first appeared in Music Corner on Day 222.
As I come to the end of this blog, I am feeling a little bit more settled in life due to slowly developing a routine. I love the fact that I sleep so well on Disco every night!
I feel a bit disappointed that the English lockdown, which is described as a the second national lockdown, is really not at all. I am sure if will impact many people’s lives, but I guess, in Scotland we have had more restrictions for many months. For example the ‘Rule of Six’ stopped us from meeting people in their households at all and could only meet two (and then later one) other household up to 6 people. Whereas England’s ‘Rule of Six’ has always been up to 6 people up to 6 different households.
Today the weather has been cold, but quite clear and sunny at times. There was a lovely clear sky as the sign went down.
Stay Safe!
Jim x