Day 86: Food and painting.

Dear family, friends and followers.

Here we are, another weekend and another day in lockdown. Whilst sitting in bed drinking the first cuppa of the day. It struck me that the only news we seem to be getting is about the Coronavirus and Donald Trump. Is there no other news going on across the world right now?
What has happened to the conflicts?
What has happened to the starving children of the world?
What has happened to climate change?
Yes we hear about the none existent sport and we get the weather, but apart from that everything is around the virus. Also why are they only mentioning certain countries? This virus is worldwide and yet it is the same countries that get mentioned. It is just my observation.
My first task of the day was to feed Mr Robin, who was sitting on the fence waiting to be fed.

This morning, we thought we would see if Mr Robin would take food from Keith's hand as well as me and the answer was yes. He was a little wary at first, but the thought of food got the better of him and he flew to Keith. I have noticed he is feeding a partner and that is why he comes more often. I do not feed him every time, because he needs to find his own food, such at caterpillars and bugs. But I am happy to supplement hi food with the odd piece of suet. It is nice to have him around.

Next job was to give our saloon rug a good beating and brushing. We have the rug down during the Winter when on the mooring and I roll it up and put it away when we are out cruising. The reason being, that when out cruising we sometimes walk through the boat with dirty boots and it is easier to clean the laminated flooring than it is to clean the rug. Anyway as it seems our cruising season is at a close, I decided to put the rug back down as it is warmer under foot.

Task three. I have been touching up the paintwork on the forend, where the paintwork was scraped off whilst out at the beginning of March. Having done the prep work, I undercoated and double top coated the Red, White and Blue. It is not perfect, but tidy, which is absolutely fine. I can now turn my attention to the cabin side and roof. Once the pontoon side is done, we will then turn the boat around and I can do the other side.

Yesterday Mr BT came and sorted out our broadband and phone line, which were playing up. It turned out it was a cable problem into the boat, so he very kindly put a new box in our bunker at the stern, so we can now plug in both ends. We now have a clear line and quicker broadband, which is a huge bonus. Having a landline on our mooring is such a joy, because we do not have to run out of the boat in the pouring rain with the mobile phone. Because we have no windows only portholes, we do not get a good signal inside, which can be such a pain. Therefore the landline is a godsend. The added bonus is having the broadband, especially at the moment.

We had a Tesco delivery booked for between 4 and 5 pm. The driver arrived at 3.50 pm, with our precious food. She dropped the bags at the gate (not literally) and had a chat, before she was on her way. Although very busy, the drivers are finding with no traffic to contend with they are actually getting their deliveries to there destinations a little earlier than normally, which is a huge help. I stowed away the food in the fridge/freezer and cupboard. This will see us okay for a while. The bonus was I got UHT and fresh milk. So if I cannot get any fresh milk, we can go back to the UHT.
Neither of us is keen to go and queue up for shopping, because it has its dangers as far as spreading the virus, even with the precautions being taken by most supermarkets. Keith misses his weekly trip on the bus to Aldi, but I am thinking about our safety first. So as long as we can get a delivery slot, we will carry on. I am using our shopping slot to buy for others in the Arm, which is a help to them as well.

I thought I would finish today with Pam Ayres.

Pam Ayers has been at it again. I think she wrote this for me and all the oldish girls out there.

This needs to be read so true and funny.😷😂😂

I'm normally a social girl
I love to meet my mates
But lately with the virus here
We can't go out the gates.
You see, we are the 'oldies' now
We need to stay inside
If they haven't seen us for a while
They'll think we've upped and died.
They'll never know the things we did
Before we got this old
There wasn't any Facebook
So not everything was told.
We may seem sweet old ladies
Who would never be uncouth
But we grew up in the 60s -
If you only knew the truth!
There was sex and drugs and rock 'n roll
The pill and miniskirts
We smoked, we drank, we partied
And were quite outrageous flirts.
Then we settled down, got married
And turned into someone's mum,
Somebody's wife, then nana,
Who on earth did we become?
We didn't mind the change of pace
Because our lives were full
But to bury us before we're dead
Is like a red rag to a bull!
So here you find me stuck inside
For 4 weeks, maybe more
I finally found myself again
Then I had to close the door!
It didnt really bother me
I'd while away the hour
I'd bake for all the family
But I've got no flaming flour!
Now Netflix is just wonderful
I like a gutsy thriller
I'm swooning over Idris
Or some random sexy killer.
At least I've got a stash of booze
For when I'm being idle
There's wine and whiskey, even gin
If I'm feeling suicidal!
So let's all drink to lockdown
To recovery and health
And hope this awful virus
Doesn't decimate our wealth.
We'll all get through the crisis
And be back to join our mates
Just hoping I'm not far too wide
To fit through the flaming gates!

Pop back soon xxx