Wednesday 27th Jan

 Weds 27th Jan

Yesterday saw the death toll in UK pass 100,000 souls.

It is heart-breaking - and fury-making in almost equal measure...  

Mr Johnson had the gall to say  "..truthfully, we did all we can" 

I don't need to tell you what I think of that - just to repeat what a parlous state we are in.

Looking back over the last week we had some lovely cold crisp days and since then it's fog drizzle and rain.

Keith enjoyed his birthday on the 20th - Bridgie, Tim and Phil had arranged for a lovely box of fruit for him...so he's enjoyed fruit salads every day!

The course team at the club have been working hard and the newly enlarged bunker on the 9th hole is now compete. A new type of sand - heavier - is being tried out, hopefully it won't blow away so easily!

I try to avoid walking out at busy times but on a bright and sunny day there are usually a good number of dog-walkers and sometimes families. I am fortunate that I can go out at different times to avoid being around too many.

The sky is often dramatic and this cloud was wonderful. It brought hail when it arrived but was catching the setting sun beautifully.

We've also had some glorious sunrises, this was a beauty and it prompted me to go out for a walk towards the Crown's Mines. 

 There had been a heavy frost overnight with several millimetres of ice on the big puddles.

The air was beautifully clear and the colours fabulous.

I had taken a flask of coffee with me, so stopped here at the top of the path that goes down to the actual mine workings themselves and enjoyed it there.

I had seen hardly anyone  on the walk out and met just a handful on the way home so that was perfect. 

It was really enjoyable. Later that afternoon we were treated with more wonderful clouds.

I popped up to the Carn and there was a finger of cloud pointing towards me.

As I waited for the sun to go down, the shard of cloud grew and grew, interestingly not in the direction of the wind.

 It came right across in the end - there were also some great pictures of it from Land's End on Twitter - a remarkable cloud.

I have enjoyed reading too. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens had been recommended to me by two people in two phone conversations and I enjoyed it very much. 

I've also been baking - my most successful loaf so far although it did stick a bit!

And continue to enjoy the biathlon and cross country skiing on eurosport. 

 I am content - I try to do something positive every day and have enjoyed lots of whatsapp or zoom calls. 

Next Monday I head into Penzance for the first time in ages - I have a visit to the dentist. I'm hoping to drop off jigsaw, books and possibly marmalade at Lindsay's - she may have some for me in exchange! We should be able to manage that safely.

Wednesday 20th Jan

 20th Jan

Being back in lockdown came as a relief and with the person at Cape testing positive I became even more vigilant.

The good news is that that person and their family and friends had no further issues and completed their quarantine without symptoms or more cases. 

So good to hear that.

As you can see from the picture the camellias are full of flower!

Someone asked me the other day what do I do during lockdown?

Well, if I haven't had a longer walk I will often just pop up to the Carn to look at the view and we have had some beautiful clear days with Scilly very clear.

Sometimes just  looking out of the window is enough -  the amazing colour of Carn Kenidjack was from the sunset.

I've walked down to the Club to take pictures of the jobs they are doing on the course. There are a lot of bunkers that have been "ground under repair" for a long time, so whilst no-one is on the course they have been digging and filling and seeding these areas.

Enlarging this bunker

Filling in this one

Hopefully with some good weather the seed will sprout quickly!

One day, despite the murk Little Red accompanied for a walk down Cot Valley!

He's the perfect size to slip into my pocket!

Although he can be demanding - he needed rescuing from a stream and decided to practice his climbing too!

I may have to make a book  of his adventures.

It was misty and murky but these trees looked amazing.

I am ordering my groceries from Claire in Stones, the fruit and veg shop in St Just and I was excited to discover that she had Seville oranges.

My Bedford friend Hilary always made me some special marmalade (with ginger) and as I had finished my final jar before Christmas I thought I'd have a go at making it myself.

And what fun it was!

Hilary sent me a photocopy of her recipe... she scribbles notes on her recipes like I do so that was lovely!

I delighted in the whole process - over a couple of days and was really pleased with the result.

I enjoyed it so much I hunted in my shed for more empty bottles - and made a second batch with even more ginger and a touch of Drambuie at the end.

Really pleased with this one too!

So I'm well set up for toast and marmalade now and I understand why Hilary enjoyed making it so much.

When I have a few more empty jars I may try a grapefruit version!

And I made some bread too!

There are primroses out - these are in my neighbours front garden.

And I painted my bathroom ceiling!

I need to paint the kitchen ceiling so this little area was really a trial run to see how awkward it might be! I shall have to do the kitchen in small sections as my neck was aching by the time I'd done this little bit!

Anyway - it's a start and I'll be able to begin the kitchen on the next fine day (drizzle, gales and fog at the moment!)

In between times I've been doing some Fiendish sudokus that Bridgie bought me for Christmas, reading, watching tv and doing a difficult jigsaw of the northern lights!

The golf ladies exchange lots of encouraging snippets on our Whatsapp group ...one of the best was of four of our ladies sat together in the sunshine on a bench eating pasties after a walk! It was so heartwarming to see... looking forward to when we return to that one day. 
 

This week

 Friday 7th Jan

Since last Friday we have moved back into a proper lockdown. The rates are so high, over 50,000 new cases every day and deaths almost up to 1000. Hospitals are full to bursting - it is not a good situation.

But first, back to last weekend. We played 18 holes on Saturday - it looks lovely in the pictures but is was exhausting! Several ladies stopped after 11 holes and that was a good decision.

It was very cold so we had to wear many layers, and the ground is very wet so it was heavy going.

I was absolutely exhausted by the time we finished and came home, had a shower and some soup then with aching hips and legs fell asleep for an hour on the settee!

I felt a little bit better the next day and we had our usual family zoom although Bridgie couldn't join us.

I had a couple of days doing very little, I love watching cross country skiing and biathlon and was able to lose myself in Eurosport for a while.

But always at the back of my mind is the parlous state we are in. Once again, we (family and friends) were feeling that we needed another lockdown and eventually Boris Johnson caught up. 

Once again he left it till things were out of hand... he seems to have learned nothing. Right back in September his scientific advisory group Sage asked for a two week lockdown to make a break as they could see the second wave rising. Their advice was not taken and now we are in a third devastating wave with hospitals at breaking point.

I feel for the doctors and nurses and all the staff - I honestly don't know how they cope.

So on the fourth of January a Lockdown was announced. Thank goodness.

It was certainly a relief.

We have had beautiful weather since - cold and clear frequently accompanied by a bitter.

The clear morning skies have meant I have been moon watching first thing in the morning!

And it's been great!

Occasionally the wind would drop and then it was possible to sit in the sun (with a coat on!) and feel some warmth on your face.

Little Red completed his quarantine and was very excited on his first walk out!

He likes a Selfie... and wants to live in this house!

Can't say I blame him - it has an amazing view.

And that brings us up to yesterday... more great moon views,

and a beautiful frost.

I was able to pop out later in the car to collect some logs and ventured on down to Cape which was looking beautiful.

The days are getting a little longer and the light was amazing so I popped up on to the Carn - it was impossible to capture but the light was wonderful, almost luminous sea patches and the sunset too!

We also heard that one of the staff at Cape had tested positive for Covid. They had last worked at the club on the 30th. The weather had meant that we haven't played much and I had been in to use the toilets on the two occasions I'd played golf but had had no contact with anyone -  needless to say I am being extra vigilant. 

With all our anxieties here it was astounding to watch the awful happenings in America - words fail.

Christmas and Beyond!

 Christmas and Beyond

This morning saw the dawn of a new year.

It was beautiful.

I hope and pray that this will become a better year for us all than the one we have had to endure.

Following on my my last post, the last two days have seen over 50,000 new cases each day, and over 900 deaths each day... I cannot put into words what awfulness that means.

So, I'm looking back the other things from the last week or so instead. Christmas eve saw three of us out on the course for some fresh air and that was rapidly followed by a Christmas Eve quiz that Tim had prepared.

It was brilliant!

He emailed us answer sheets for us to complete and then we launched into it on Zoom.

Questions ranged over a whole variety of things and to start with we had to put a list of events in chronological order with extra points for the correct month.

Tim had done a brilliant job, there were music and sport rounds and a Bowers family whatsapp round with "Who said what?" This included a few gens from Trump and Johnson too!

All in all it was great fun! 

Christmas day we were zooming again and opening our gifts together, orchestrated by Tim as tradition requires!

That was great fun again with some fabulous gifts all round. Keith had a mandolin from the "Babes", (though they're a bit grown up to be called that any more) and I had a telescope for night sky watching. Both absolutely brilliant presents!

A tableful of gifts...and Bridgie had made Keith and I a "stocking" each... a box of lovely goodies!

It was a lovely day. 

A real changing of the guard when it's us who get the 2stockings2 and great presents!

The weather wasn't good for star gazing or golf but we had big waves and it was beautiful walking albeit very windy indeed!

The wind was so strong it blew open Elizabeth's Velux window, it was a struggle to get it closed because of the position of it but with the help of Rosie's dad we managed it!

No-one was playing golf but it was certainly looking lovely!

We had a lot of spume thrown up on to the path,

and treats like these wonderful rays.

It was cold enough to need extra layers and Bridgie's scarf was a brilliant bonus!

30th Dec saw the arrival of these two treasures! They'd travelled all the way from Tasmania to cheer me! Brilliant job with Little Red by Jeannie and his Christmas companion (love his colouring) was made by Jac! They certainly cheered me during these darkest of our Country's days so far.

And that brings us to yesterday - Tier 3 restrictions now in force so the Golf Club had to empty it's rooms of guests and cancel a special meal arranged for New Year's Eve.

Fortunately we are still allowed to play golf, Lindsay and I played 15 holes for the first time in ages.

It was beautiful - not too windy and warm if you had lots of layers on!

During the night the sky cleared so at 3 am this morning I was trying to take pictures of the moon on my phone - via the telescope! This took about half an hour 😂 it's lost some definition but you get the idea! It is wonderful to see. 

Well, we're all up to date. I am so glad to say that the family are all well and now I dearly hope that the vaccines are made available to all.

Hoping very much that 2021 will be a healthy and better one for us all.