As of today, Wednesday 18th of March 2020, we will have no care support for my mother – entirely our choice – in order to preserve her heath and well-being as best we can

Instead, my sister and I will perform all care duties, isolating ourselves, and Mum, for the coming weeks. We’re lucky. We are together. With a garden too. I’ll let you know how we get on!

Others are not so fortunate. So let’s all look out for those who might need our help. News links above though personally, I’m rationing the news, ramping up on reading  or listening to music, or, and this is new, gardening. Strange times indeed…oh, and writing a book that will come to be called, Love and Care.

choose your own language

Day One of our own lock down and I’ve been thinking about how I can contribute anything of value to anyone else, especially through virtual media when there’s no shortage of twitter noise and instagram posting. No need to add to that

So I thought I might outline what we’re up to here, in the hope that it might amuse or even inspire, because the isolation shouldn’t prevent good ideas being shared…not that I’d make any big claims

 

I’ll do so every so often but to leaven the offering, I’ll try also to think of one music track for each post that I can share, solely because it appeals to me

And one object that carries with it a train of minor memories, like ducklings swimming gamely behind Mum, or Dad, because that’s cute and I can’t think of another metaphor right now

 

…so here they are, right, and below

Three grow bags, a gift from me to us, more for the joy than the produce, strategically placed by the kitchen door and ready to receive the tiny tomato plants I bought ten days ago from the garden centre. This is not about physical survival or beating the empty shelves, this is about giving ourselves a sense of purpose and a bit of joy...
...and the tomato plants, alpine strawberries and parsley that will grow up to live in the grow bags this summer, or perhaps live in little pots of their own, who knows?

track of the day

Who else to kick us off?

 

If you could bottle the confidence of the performance, it would sell like hotcakes..…though the biography I read suggested Frank worried throughout his long career about whether he was any good

 

He was okay, you know, pretty good actually…I could have told him that… 

…and flying to another planet is suddenly rather appealing in the light of…need I say more?

object of the day

And a competition…are these two creatures the same creature? If not, how are they related? And how would you know anyway? (that’s just annoying…)

So, relieve the tension and read their story whilst I leave you just with a name that might just belong to him, or them…

 

Fearless the Earless (One Eyeless) Dog

 

CLICK ON EITHER PHOTO TO READ THE FEARLESS STORY

Much against my better judgement – I don’t photograph well – Mum and I have joined the Instagram generation in spirit at least, and you can click on either image to the left to see a bit of video in which we celebrate Mother’s Day under lock down conditions…alright, in the garden under lock down…and with prosecco…and crackers…and Dairylea cheese…cause we’re classy like that…

Day Twenty-one…and episode fifteen is now available…just click on ‘season three’ in the menu

 

 

Day Twenty-one of our own lock down and the vegetables are blushing at the attention we’re giving them, blushing and growing…of special note is the sun/frost/wind shade, a green bimini for the tomatoes recycled from a sun lounger that gave up the ghost. Ingenious, no? Monty has got nothing on us…

 

The great Bill Withers died on March 30 2020. In tribute,a live performance from 1973 and a super doc called ‘Still Bill’ from the BBC

episode sixteen: a hopeful hashtag

 

alternative visions of what it is to be a man..both have their risks!