New house, new month, new rules?
So here we are in the middle of March and on Friday the Welsh Government announced some small changes to the rules in Wales. The vaccination programme is going well with more than 23 million people now having received their first dose of the vaccine across the UK and nearly 1.5 million having had both doses. Across the UK we have also been in lockdown which itself has an impact in reducing the spread of the virus. Deaths have fallen sharply as have new cases and hospitalisations. The death figures for today in the UK are 175 and there are 6,609 new cases. There has been some pressure mainly from business and some politicians for coronavirus lockdown rules to be eased and in England the Westminster government has published a "road map" giving various dates when changes will be made, assuming that cases continue to fall or at least to remain low. Schools have gone back in England this last week and in Wales many more years of school will reopen next week so there is a concern among medics and scientists that time should be taken to assess the impact of this on case numbers before other changes to the rules are made.
Wales has its own rules on handling the pandemic and is probably generally a bit more cautious than England. The changes that were announced yesterday are very much in keeping with that slow and cautious approach. Since Christmas we have been supposed to stay home except in very limited circumstances such as essential shopping or medical appointments or work if work cannot be done from home. We have also been supposed to exercise from home and not to meet others even outside although that has been relaxed a little very recently to allow two people to meet outside, first for exercise and then without the need to be engaged in exercise. Well now the stay home rule has been replaced with a stay local requirement which will still not help us to see our wider family. We shall have to wait to the end of March to see if the rules are relaxed again to allow us to travel within Wales although that still would keep half of our children and grandchildren out of reach. We can however now meet in gardens within the stay local restrictions so if it warms up a little we might return to our weekly meet up with local friends which has been taking place on Zoom over the winter. It will be good to be able to have a face to face conversation in our garden or theirs and to chat over coffee or cake.
These changes were fairly widely trailed so we were not expecting things to shift very much, although hairdressers can reopen which will be great. I am not sure when I will be able to get an appointment. If my hairdresser's facebook page is anything to go by I am not the only person longing for one! So I have been distracting myself from being unable to plan to see our people. Some of this distraction is directed towards buying things (not that usual for me. I am not a keen shopper.)
Here is a beautiful new lampshade, hand printed and hand made by Hannah Madden I have liked what she does for a couple of years now but as we were getting ready for moving I had quite a thing about not buying more stuff. Now that we are here and settled I decided to go for it. There is something really special about having something designed and made from start to finish by one creative person. I love the design and the sense of having something unique and most of all I love the sense of supporting one person's creative venture rather than pouring my money into big business.
And here is my second bit of retail therapy: a new dress from White Stuff. I feel as though I have worn the same clothes for weeks and weeks as we got ready to move: stretchy leggings, top, fleece. Even though I don't like shopping I do like clothes so I decided I wanted something to take me out of my covid uniform. This is great. It is warm and comfortable to wear and it has pockets!
And as a further distraction from not being able to see our family I am continuing with more exercise. For the third week in a row I have run three times, slowly as always, but I think that this coming week I will get back to being able to run 5k. From there I need to gently increase if I am to have any chance of running 10k in the summer. I have registered for the Chester 10k again but at the moment there is no way in the world I could run that far so that is my aim.
We are about to see our local grandchildren outside for a short play so there is that to look forward to. Maybe we are inching towards being let out. How is it for you?
I was really down yesterday. For some reason, I was expecting greater freedoms, and as for staying local, how are they going to police that? We are only 6-10 miles away from several beaches here in South West Wales, but we are not supposed to go to local beauty spots according to the Welsh Office. And as for the news that we can now shop in the upstairs of our local Tesco - Wow! What a dispensation.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I'm totally fed up wearing the same clothes endlessly. Back in September I bought a lovely jumper, and was bought a big scarf to go with it for my birthday - neither havet been out of the box.
Sounds as if you should break the scarf out of the box! For me it seems to be these little things that help with managing the sense of being stuck in endless lockdown. And spring is on its way so summer warmth and sunshine will definitely help too! Hope you are feeling a bit better!!
DeleteWow, I had no idea things were still so strict in the UK. In comparison, I think we have been really lucky in California. There is no real restriction on travel, just 'advisories' and, although we've been very careful, we were able to rent a house in Arizona over Christmas and regularly get together with our daughter, Emma, in San Francisco, albeit outside at the dog park or at an outdoor restaurant. It helps a lot that the weather is a lot more conducive to outdoor events here than in the UK. Restaurants are now opening up to indoor dining at 25% capacity (which I don't think we will take advantage of) and have been open for outdoor dining apart for a short period when it was just takeout. Mick and I have just had our second COVID shots - he was fine but I felt pretty sick yesterday with fever, chills, aches from the Moderna shot. In 2 weeks we will be fully protected which makes me feel less nervous about doing things, although I will still be taking the same precautions. The lovely thing is that Michael will be able to visit - he is coming for a couple of weeks at the end of March. The blossom and the tulips are out and there is finally the hope that the end of the tunnel is in sight.
ReplyDeleteIt does sound as though your restrictions have been much less stringent than ours although our cases have been so high I suppose it has been necessary. And I agree entirely about the impact of the weather. This time last year as we went into our first lockdown we had the most amazing spring, warm and sunny and simply glorious. This last lockdown has taken place over a cold and miserable winter. I can't wait for it to be warm enough to spend time outside and for it to be a pleasure! I am sure you have had a lot of fun from the new puppy as well which must have been a lovely distraction!
Delete'There is something really special about having something designed and made from start to finish by one creative person. ' I so agree - much of our furniture has been made by a local craftsman and I love it - he made me a table from the ancient lock gates on the Brecon and Monmouth Canal near our home in South Wales. I know it costs more, but I'd rather have fewer lovely things. My son who is now an architect tells me to spend money on the things we touch and use every day - like door handles and light switches and cutlery - and he's right, we literally 'feel' the difference thousands of times. Our new build in Pembrokeshire is progressing prior to moving there full time soon - can't wait to go down in a couple of weeks and see progress.
ReplyDeleteWhat your architect son says is really interesting. My husband and I have talked about the capacity to take pleasure again and again in something really satisfying or beautiful but I had not particularly been thinking of the value of the every day stuff. As we go on with our build I shall take that to heart!
DeleteI do not have any news or changes at the moment in Spain. Lockdown and curfew continue. Spring has come with its scent of orange blossom in Valencia but we can enjoy it little. At least we can walk through the parks and gardens we have around our home in particular the weekends with a beautiful sun.
ReplyDeletePatience to take it easy.
At least you have the sun and the scent of orange blossom Luz! Today for the first time really this year it was warm enough to sit out this morning for coffee with friends and I had to take my jacket off! Roll on more sunshine!
DeleteWhat a lovely start to my day - I have rediscovered your blog again after a gap of many years. We too have recently moved (in January, to Powys) and having spent the months leading up to the move giving vast quantitites of books and belongings away, I am now looking to have this, our final home, just as we want it. I love the Hannah Maddon lampshade and her other pieces. There may be an indulgent moment soon . . . Wishing you much happiness in your new home.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great surprise to hear from you! Lovely to have your comment. I hope you are enjoying your new life in Powys. It is a large but very beautiful county. Where are you roughly? And yes, the occasional indulgent moment which also supports someone's endeavours seems to me very worthwhile.
DeleteJust 2 miles from Builth, which suits us very well. We found a house that suited us for number and size of rooms, and the excellent Victorian stable range (for my husband's storage and workshop) and only now we are here have we found how perfect it is. We were so lucky it waited for us! FABULOUS walking and scenery and we have the views I wanted too.
DeleteThat sounds perfect. It's a lovely part of the world too. Moving is a big upheaval so I'm so glad to hear you're had been worth it! We have eighteen months or so in a rental house as we have a new house built so we are mentally ready to do it again! Can't be quite such a big deal as the one we have just done!
DeleteAll sorts of typos in there! Glad to hear yours has been worth it!
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