where art collides philosoperontap

Feels a little like the end of the first world war. The armistice has been signed but the bullets haven’t stopped yet. A vaccine has been announced but the virus is still out there killing people…

Booked lane swimming session for 12.5 on Monday.

In parental news had to nip out to the chemist to buy dad some antacid stuff suggested by sister Ann (our in house GP). He didn’t eat the magnificent breakfast I cooked for him and served up in suitably small portions: home made hash browns, Foster’s spicy Lincolnshire farmhouse sausage with dry cured bacon, organic cherry tomato, a small chestnut mushroom and a small slice of sourdough fried bread. I had the same but slightly more of it innit.

All is now quiet. I missed the Festival management meeting so that’s been postponed to tomorrow. I do want to get some garlic bulbs planted which I’ll do before lunch. This year’s batch was a bit disappointing so I’m hoping that planting before Christmas will make the difference.

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Garlic planted, red currant bush lifted, more Anne’s Vans setup. Lunch was toasted sourdough baguette with cheese spread, spring onions and chopped chillies. Discovering that the chillies are quite hot 🙂

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Bit of a rugby watching afternoon and evening innit.

A month of Lockdown 2. I guess whilst Lockdown 2 officially finished 2 days ago because we are in Tier 3 it hasn’t really finished except the gym and shops are now open. Tomorrow I will be able to book a lane swimming slot for Monday.

Outside it is chucking it down and the forecast is for snow although it won’t stick as the temperature isn’t due to go below zero (other than the fact that the “feels like” value is minus 4). 

Joe goes back to London today and I am in theory dropping Anne off at Doddington Hall where she is meeting some pals for socially distanced coffee. Not sure how that one will work as like I said the weather is terrible. The plan is for me to buy a Christmas tree whilst there.

The weather is strangely comforting. I think it’s the sound of the rain on the conservatory roof. Maybe it’s because weather like this reminds me of my childhood in North Wales. I’ll light the fire in the front room this afternoon methinks.

Coming back to the Lockdown subject I’m pondering when we can officially say Lockdown is really over. Maybe when we get back to Tier 1 and can meet friends in the pub.

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Now in the shed and in opening this doc the thought Chinese dentist sprung to mind. Tooth hurtee. Childhood joke that probably didn’t get us laughing even then 🙂

The roof of the shed is quite noisy. It not only gets the rain/snow but also the fallout of the evergreen oak tree that is above it. If it isn’t rain it is pigeons. I bought Solomon the Owl to put on the roof of the shed to see if it would keep the pigeons away but when I got it home I figured it would be better placed on the deck. Suspect the pesky pigeons would have seen through my ruse anyway and I didn’t want what is a substantial wooden sculpture blowing over and falling on the greenhouse. Moreover if it scared the pigeons it might have had a similar effect on smaller birds that I am happy to entertain in the garden.

Made some good progress with setting up Anne’s vans on the new site including setting up with the Stripe payment processor which I had thought might be a ballache but turned out not to be. Didn’t need business account after all so all the fuss with lloyds bank was unnecessary.

Finally picked up dad’s medication. 6 dossets for 6 weeks worth. Also did a Waitrose shop and of course forgot some of the stuff I had intended to buy: toothpaste and apple pies. Therefore went to Coop on carholme road after picking up the stash from pharmacy. Threw in some chocolate mini rolls, apple pies, a McVities Jamaica ginger cake and a box of maltesers. Might as well give dad a few treats. Held the maltesers back as not totes sure whether I should be overdosing him with chocolates. See how it goes.

Tonight we had vegetable curry. Joe is totes a dab hand at this. Afterwards we had a chat with the Cooksons and then sang some carols in the conservatory with Joe on keys. Was a bit emulsional doing that and determined that we would have Carol singing around the fire on Christmas Eve. This is the first year we haven’t had carol singing on Christmas Market Saturday in 30 years.

Had a bit of a setback with Lloyds Bank today. We need a new business bank account for Anne’s Vans but Lloyds aren’t letting anyone open new accounts. This is a real pain in the arse as we need to sign up with Stripe for credit card processing. I complained and they put me through to someone whose job it is to handle complaints. However he told me it was absolutely useless to complain as they wouldn’t do anything about it. Really crap customer service. Holding back business progress. It hasn’t endeared me to Lloyds bank and will consider whether to stick with them in future.

Hastily written entry on my phone in bed early on day 29. Busy day yesterday. The issue (whatever it was) blocking dad’s prescription from reaching the pharmacy has been sorted. Also amazingly got through on phone to surgery a few minutes. The record is 70 minutes and occasionally there have been so many people in the queue the system has just not accepted any more.

Also homing in on finishing off next year’s budget plus cracked on in the evening with Anne’s vans setup on new marketing site (more on that on 15th December). 

The big news is the approval of the pfizer covid19 vaccine for release. We now await messages from the docs inviting us in for the jab. When the invite will arrive is another issue.

In non lockdown news the brexshit negotiations are reaching a climax with boxes of pizzas being delivered at night to those involved. The sticking point is fishing quotas apaz. The fishing industry is tiny compared to others that would be massively impacted by no deal but for the tories is a very emotive subject. They have so much political capital at stake. I am enjoying watching tory infighting right now.

On day 28 my t-shirt and sticker from Four Seasons Total Landscaping arrived. Exciting eh? V expensive really for what you get but hey… Need to figure out where to put the sticker.

In other news December is well underway with minds on Christmas. Present purchasing has been underway for some time but family talk now is on what meals to have and who is cooking when. I need to get my mind around the food shop and buying the tree.

The length of this entry is governed by the fact that it is after 10.30 at night and I have less than 15% battery left on the laptop.

Up before 05.30 to finish the narration for a video I needed to get in to Cisco in advance of next week’s WebeOne virtual conference. Bout 2 weeks late but hey. Worked out ok in the end.

Bit of running around mid morning trying to sort dad’s prescription. Pharmacist hadn’t seen the “order” from the doc. Receptionist at the surgery saying it had been sent last Friday. In the end got them talking to each other and don’t yet know the outcome. Still time. Current lot runs out on Sunday and I knew to check early in case of issues. Contingency innit.

This morning’s loaf looked as if it hadn’t risen properly but the outcome after baking in a Dutch oven was actually not too bad. Problem is I get distracted with work and forget to do stuff. Same problem with cups of tea that go cold.

Tonight Liverpool beat Ajax to win their Champions League Group with one game to go. Means they can rest key players and give others a chance (expert talk here 🙂 ). 

Getting into a routine with dad. Tomorrow’s clothes ready on the chest outside his room etc. Same in the morning. Pills onto a saucer ready to be taken at 8am. Quite a bit of effort looking after him actually but I consider it a privilege. He has Parkinsons and is very weak. 

Busy work day. They are all busy. This evening did some Anne’s Vans stuff. We are using a new booking system and advertising on a 3rd party website that will remain nameless for the moment as they are planning a big launch on 15th December. Need to get it all done by this weekend.

7% battery – gotta go 🙂

Raining quite royally here this morning, if that’s a saying. V busy day ahead. Starting a new loaf and using some stone ground flour I found in the flour basket. The sound of the rain on the conservatory roof is relaxing, at least from the perspective of the living room. It would probably be deafening if I was sat in the conservatory.

Carer Laura in sorting dad. I usually wait in the house until he has had breakfast and is settled in his chair in front of the news. Champing at the bit this morning tbh. I have to start and finish a 5 minute video for a Cisco Virtual Conference that we are sponsoring and am well overdue with it.

The talk in the news over the past few days has been of covid lockdown restrictions, the vaccine and to a lesser extent brexit. We are all pretty fed up with the whole sitch now and looking forward to release. At least the leisure centre is open from Wednesday – Anne and I have booked lane swimming yay.

Joe due home at lunchtime for a few days break.

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Too busy right now to be able to write as much as I feel lockdown 2 deserves. Will persevere.

Bit of excitement in the wee small hours of Sunday morning (just before 1am). Dad has fallen out of bed and we can’t get him back in so have for the first time ever dialled 999 and have called the Ambulance service. He is just too heavy for Anne and I to be able to pick him up and has a bad shoulder so we daren’t heave him. He did suggest he did a press up and we hoist him up when his arms are fully extended but that is just his imagination working overtime. He can’t do a press up.

So we have made him comfortable on the floor and he is asleep whilst I wait up for the ambulance to arrive. In Cardiff they use some sort of inflatable contraption to get him up. It’s just under an hour since I called and it could be another hour. They couldn’t say. Ah well.

It isn’t quite true to say we have never dialled 999 before. When Tom was small he did it accidentally by just repeatedly pressing the same button on the telephone handset. The operator was cross with him 🙂

So now I’m sat on the settee in dad’s room waiting.

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02.42 still waiting…

My brain is not sufficiently awake to type anything interesting at this time of night. I’ve read the news, again and unsurprisingly there isn’t much movement on Facebook at this time of night.

At 3am the birds are singing away outside. I suspect the street lights mess up their body clocks.

We will have to investigate a mechanism that will prevent dad from falling out of bed in future. Some sort of side.

Would be quite nice if the Ambulance service had some sort of alert to tell you how far away they were or where in the queue you were.

04.08 still waiting. Not complaining but it would be nice to get… arrived 4.09 phew

04.30. Finished and gone. Mega efficient. 3 of them. Time for bed.

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Somewhat frazzled this morning. Took me a further 30 mins to get back to sleep once upstairs. Dad now snoozing in his chair.

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Out for a stroll to the Lindum and sat on a bench in front of the clubhouse. Only saw one other person, Harry Pickering, walking across the field, and he didn’t see me sat there. Quite relaxing sat there feeling away from it all, nobody knowing you were there.

Back in the house we have an afternoon of sport. Cricket, South Africa v England, rugby Ireland v Georgia or Snooker UK Championships with Ronnie O’Sullivan. Formula1 also! Quite dramatic with Grosjean escaping a fire.

I have a nice rib of beef to prepare with the last of the home grown tomatoes, home grown onions and home grown parsnips. Nuff said. Oh and green beans and sprouts (!yuk!).

Saturday morning. Le weekend. Bread into the oven. Looks great although I did have to put it back in after it had come out of the tin, just to dry the base out a little. The proof will be in the eating at lunchtime.

Fryup this morning. Am trying to restrict cooked breakfasts to the weekend. Had some grapefruit segments as “pudding”. Anne picked up a few tins on sale in Lidl. 

Usual Saturday morning festival management call. Now getting ready for a trip to the recycling centre. Couple of old cupboards and a desk chair. The small excitements that light up our locked down lives.

The afternoon promises a bounty of live sport. Brighton (someone like that anyway) v Liverpool at 12.30 followed by Wales V England rugby at 4pm. The outlook for the latter is not good for a Welshman but we shall see. I have some work to do this pm so can do it whilst watching the games in the shed.

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Stopped to chat to Coops after tip trip then went for a spin in the defender with dad. Back at the hoose dad had cheese and biscuits for lunch and I had bread and jam. My load of this morning turned out great with President butter and strawberry jam. 

Bit of work in the shed to get a quote off to South Africa, UK snooker championships on the telly then Wales v England. Would have watched Brighton v Liverpool but the kids had maxed out the streams on BT Sport so that avenue of pleasure was denied to me. Wales lost but a much better performance than we have seen this year.

Now waiting for Anne to rock up with the chinky. I opted for that description as for the whole of my life my generation would have described a chinese takeaway as a chinky. The kids would be horrified to hear me use that term considering it to be politically incorrect. The plates are warming, the cutlery is out.

We are now watching High Society. Bing sings together with Frank and Satchmo

My first gin and tonic for a week. Been a good boy innit. Sat here in the shed sipping away whilst dad has a cuppa tea. He has had both biscuits so seems fair.

Mega busy day today. After breakfast started the dough for tomorrow’s bread bake. It is now in its tin ready to prove overnight in the fridge. Actually a bit of a rush this pm as not only had lots of work on but took dad to the surgery for his flu jab. Had to call my regular pharmacist to ascertain that he would be happy to make up the dosset – dad’s medication is complicated – 8 pills first thing then three other lots over the rest of the day. At the docs they said few pharmacies are doing that now due to workload but seeing as I was a regular they agreed to do it for dad (phew – would have been pretty complicated for me to do myself otherwise).

Back to the hoose afterwards, dropped dad in front of the South Africa v England T20 then in to make the pancake mix followed by putting the bread dough in the tin (skipped the dusting/tensioning stage and just bunged it in tin). Now in the shed meself with my gin, as previously mentioned.

We are officially in Tier 3 which ain’t good. If you look at the national covid infection rates map Lincoln glows bright red so it comes as no surprise really. Ah well. 3 weeks into Lockdown 2. At least the gyms are reopening so will hopefully be able to get back into the pool.

Now sat in shed with dad watching “Cofiwch Dryweryn” with Huw Stephens on S4C. It is dark outside at 16.40. Quite fancy a beer but it’s a non starter. Dad would want one and not sure that would be sensible. Saving it for the rugby on Saturday. Wales v England. Might be England v Wales. Will find out soon enough.

Swung by Fosters this morning, now reopened after their covid scare. Purchaysed some sausages, bacon and a rib of beef for Sunday dinner. Dad came for a spin and we did the sights of Lincoln. Brayford, Castle and Cathedral. Usual things.

Back at home we had sandwiches for lunch. Home cooked ham on homemade sourdough bread with president butter. This evening I made bruschetta with the sourdough – v tasty fair play to me.

We finished watching Huw Stephens in dad’s room after dinner then a substitute carer rocked up (early) due to the planned person’s daughter being ill. I’m quietly laughing here as she seems nearly as old as dad 🙂 He was certainly taller than her and dad, in his old age, is shrinking not growing.

Wow where did that one go? Got going on a new loaf today and that is now in a tin in the fridge proving overnight. It’s looking promising and I am optimistic of the outcome. Also made a celeriac remoulade a la last night’s Mastercheff. Turned out great – served with pan fried salmon fillets, sauteed spuds and asparagus tips. Not too heavy and v delish.

Been busy with customer proposals today. Getting set for 2021 with lots of new projects coming out of the woodwork, notably from South Africa. In the afternoon had dad in the shed – stuck some S4C Welsh language programmes on iPlayer for him. Some good stuff fair play although the documentary on the river Ganges was a bit on the boring side.

Today Tom moved into his new flat with BBC Radio 1 colleague Jacob. Near the Arsenal ground and a 20 minute walk from Hannah which is exciting. Won’t be long before they are all home for Christmas. The Christmas lockdown rules published yesterday tell us they are all ok to come home. The biggest issue now is whether Lincoln will be in Tier 1 post lockdown on 2nd December. Influences what happens on my birthday on 9th December.

Nipped out this morning to get some supplies. Fosters was shut. There were some notices on the door but didn’t stop to read. WIll pop down tomorrow now as I need a joint of beef for Sunday and some bacon and sausages for general weekend breakfasting.

Once the carer has been and gone we are going to settle down to watch Liverpool v Atalanta in the European Champions League (European Cup)

First day for dad with carers today. They can’t come until 8.50 so I’m sat here somewhat nervously waiting. Looking like a nice sunny day out and most of the leaves appeared to have dropped. Fairly busy day ahead with Netaxis meetings and the arrival of the carpet fitters to do John’s bedroom. It will be our main guest bedroom although John is clinging on to ownership which is fair enough. We effectively have two spare double rooms plus two singles.

Currently in the front room so that I can see the carer arriving. Will set the fire for the weekend in here. It’s a lovely room to sit in and a perfect size for the fireplace. 

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Carer here. Charlotte. Very cheerful and dad seems to get on with her. Whether 45 minutes is enough remains to be seen. Charlotte is a Lincoln City fan. I now have the carer schedule. There are a few of them lined up to come which isn’t ideal but I guess we are lucky to be able to get them.

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Ended up a busy day with conference calls left right and centre (so to speak) including a chat with Joe re Anne’s Vans website. Had lunch with dad and Anne and have since been in the shed with the occasional cup of tea being delivered. In other news Sue has booked herself into the White Hart from 23rd to 28th December. She has booked a double room so will be able to entertain one guest for breakfast each day. There will not be a shortage of nephews and niece to do breakfast with her. Also there is the cocktail bar!

Nice mediterranean pork casserole for dinner tonight.Then GBBO with Anne and dad after carer had been and gone.

First time I had to get up and get dad ready for the day. Not going to go into details but I’m glad we have a carer lined up to do this on an ongoing basis. It is tough enough having to do the day job without also having to sort out your elderly dad as well.

In other news it is a nice crisp day out. Temperature dropped to just above freezing overnight. Cosy enough in the shed. Had a meeting rescheduled this morning so the afternoon has a clear diary. Doesn’t mean I have nothing to do obvs.

Decked dad out in fleece, coat my best/warmest timberland gloves, my black yak himalyayan wooly hat, Tom’s scout blanket and the really nice warm woollen blanket stolen many years ago from Air Canada business class having ascertained from the flight attendant that nothing would be done about it if caught. Not seen any other airline blanket in the same league since. The BA First Class cabin ones are duvets not blankets and not only too large to pinch but also it wouldn’t have been appropriate 🙂

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Dark out now. Dad ensconced in front of back to back Lucy Worsley documentaries or similar. Anne on one of her regular zoom call with mates and I have done enough work for the day and am chillin a bit. Ordinarily would consider cracking open a beer but a) it is a Monday and b) I think having dad here is going to put the kybosh on that until Christmas. Need to have all my wits about me. Innit.

Today Boris announced the new tier system post this current lockdown. How it affects us is going to come down to which Tier we are in and there is no clue yet as to how they decide that. This morning when I looked Lincolnshire was 44th worst in the country for covid infection rates. I understand we will find out on Thursday. 

It is potentially going to affect my Land Rover experience Day out on my birthday in December plus we have one or two nights out planned with friends post lockdown. Need to be in Tier 1 but suspect Tier 2.

Cardiff. Out for beer and curry last night with Sue after picking up a few bits from dad’s flat. Collecting him from hospital at 11am this morning. I am glad he is coming home to Lincoln for a few weeks but there is an element of trepidation as I’m not sure yet how much looking after he will take. It will at least keep me off the gin for a while 🙂

Now just chilling at Sue’s.  Car is loaded up and I have just enough battery left on my phone to last until we set off and I can plug it in. Forgot to bring a charger with me innit. 

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Uneventful drive back to Lincoln and now unpacked, fed watered and settling down in dad’s room (the TV room) to watch the Liverpool v Leicester game.

Awake at around 5am so now downstairs. Still very much dark outside although the presence of lights everywhere are a noticeable feature of the hour. LEDs in the shed, bedroom, TV room, kitchen, bathroom and shower room and the streetlights on the road at the front of the house. Anne’s turn to make the tea this morning but I will do it seeing as I’m up and about.

Off to Cardiff later this morning to see Sue and get sorted for bringing dad back to Lincoln tomorrow. I may not have time for a diary entry tomorrow. Will see what can be done:)

Booked dad in for a flu jab next Friday. Last week when I called to register him with the practice I was on hold on the phone for 70 minutes starting at number 4 in the queue. Yesterday I started at number 6 so settled in for a long wait and began a festival meeting with Tom. Suddenly after 16 minutes I was through to the receptionist and caught completely by surprise. When I mentioned this to her she thought I was complaining but actually I was pleasantly surprised.

More anon…