Diary of a self-isolator – week 66

 A light-hearted look at a few memories and the situation over the last seven days in our house.

Sunday 13/06/2021 – Day 451

No sign of the promised sun yet, but I am sure it will make an appearance. I love Sundays, it reminds me of my childhood when Mum would have to peel about twelve pounds of potatoes for lunch. I would eagerly await the peelings and then run down the estate to a lady who kept chickens, she would always give me one penny for them. Of course there were no shops open in those days, but down in the village the petrol station was always open. The owner’s mother lived in the sweet shop next door so she also opened on a Sunday. She sold the best homemade ice cream in the Midlands, sadly, they were threepence and I couldn’t afford one, but that penny gobstopper lasted a very long time.

Today in 1842 Queen Victoria travelled by train for the first time, from Slough (near Windsor Castle) to Paddington, accompanied by Prince Albert. A special coach had been built earlier, but the Queen had been reluctant to try this new form of travel. On her first journey, the engine driver was assisted by the great civil engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. When they say ‘assisted’ it conjures up images of him throwing shovels full of coal into the engine.

Also today in 1910 Birth of Mary Whitehouse, English co-founder of the ‘Clean up TV campaign’ and Honorary General Secretary of the National Viewers’ and Listeners’ Association. I used to hate this lady when I was a teenager, always moaning about one of my favourite programmes, ‘Till Death us do Part’. Every week she would count how many times Alf Garnett said ‘bloody’. Yes, I used to hate her but I dearly wish she was still with us now, the poor woman must be turning in her grave at the absolute rubbish on TV today. Not to mention the language.

And finally on this day in 2013 A man was given a warning after he dialled 999 to complain about a prostitute’s looks. A police spokesperson said, “The caller claimed that the woman had made out that she was better looking than she actually was and he wished to report her for breaching the Sale of Goods Act.” The Sale of Goods Act 1979 gives consumers legal rights, stipulating goods which are sold must be of satisfactory quality, be fit for purpose and must match the seller’s description. Only in England eh?

There were 7490 new cases reported today with a further 8 deaths,

Monday 14/06/2021 – Day 452

The day is once again starting off really cloudy and threats of rain continue all morning, but at least it gave us the opportunity to do a lot of those little garden jobs that have been piling up in the hot weather.

It’s ‘B’ day today. At 6.00pm this evening Boris will address the nation on what is going to happen on 21^st July. Will he extend the deadline for another 4 weeks? That seems to be the general consensus at the moment.

Commiserations to Scotland losing 2- 0 to Czechoslovakia earlier today, never mind lads, still two more opportunities, including us on Friday. My old friend in the Shetlands Angus Mc Coatup is not very happy, he paid an enormous amount of hard-earned cash so he could receive Sky Tv, He was complaining because Skye is only 350 miles away and he thought he’d have got a free signal. I understand he is now demanding a refund, but not until after Friday evening.

Talking of disasters (just joking Scottish readers) my Flymo leaf Vacuum stopped sucking today, it will blow ok  but refuses to suck. As if that wasn’t bad enough, I tried out the irrigation system earlier, and the timer has gone Kaput. It is no longer working. So it was back to Amazon and those rob dogs at Flymo have now put their garden vacs up to almost eighty pounds. I have only had this one two years and I paid £39.99 for it then. Some of these miserly companies are determined to regain their lost revenue from the pandemic. But I bought a Garden vac that does exactly the same as theirs for £38, so it is their loss.

I’ve just had a thought – it’s Father’s Day on Sunday – I may even recoup the £38 with the help of my offspring, Result!

On this day in 1982 Argentine forces surrendered at Port Stanley, ending the Falklands War. 255 Britons and 652 Argentines died in the conflict, Tension first started to boil over when a group of Argentine scrap metalworkers landed on British-controlled South Georgia, 810 miles east of the Falklands, on 19 March and raised the Argentinian flag. Then, on 2 April, around 3,000 Argentine special forces invaded Port Stanley, the islands’ capital, setting the scene for conflict.

Today on the 14th June 2021, the people of the Falkland Islands and British Forces South Atlantic Islands, will celebrate in Stanley the 39th anniversary of Liberation Day, that is when the Argentine occupying forces surrender to the British Task Force sent to the recover the Islands.

The day will commence with a Thanksgiving Service which will be held in the Christ Church Cathedral, followed by the Liberation Day Parade and Ceremony at the Liberation Monument. The Ceremony at the Monument includes an Act of Remembrance and the laying of wreaths by government representatives and military officials. Members of the Royal Navy, British Army, Royal Air Force, and the Falkland Islands Defence Force will be on parade.

A further 7742 new cases were reported with deaths thankfully dropping to three.

Tuesday 15/06/2021 – Day 453

Did you know that Rats multiply so fast that in just eighteen months two rats could have  one million descendants? Think about that the next time you leave the cheese out overnight.

Busy day for Mrs H and I yesterday, cutting the grass, trimming all the bushes, feeding the fish, sorting out the irrigation system, and moving some plants, I have no idea what Mrs H did.

Off to get the paint for Sarah’s decking today, it is in dire need of a coat of paint, has to be non-slip of course – for safety. It will allow her – when possible – to sit outside in the sunshine.

Prior to decimalisation in 1971, there were 12 pennies (written as 12d) in a shilling (written as 1s or 1/-) and 20 shillings in a pound, written as £1 (occasionally “L” was used instead of the pound sign, £). There were therefore 240 pence in a pound. For example, 2 pounds 14 shillings and 5 pence could have been written as £2 14s 5d or £2 14/5.

The farthing was in circulation as early as 1200. Farthing means ‘fourth part’ of a penny, it was taken out of circulation on December 31^st, 1960.

The halfpenny, often called a “ha’penny” (pronounced HAY-p’nee), plural halfpennies (“ha’pennies”) for the coins, halfpence (“ha’pence”) for the monetary amount. It was demonetised on 1^st August 1969, although it would make a return in 1971.

The ‘penny’ was a large copper coin which wore holes in your pockets and made your purse bulge. there are many expressions using the penny: ‘penny for your thoughts’, something or someone is ‘ten a penny’ (i.e. very common, nothing special) or children asking ‘Penny for the guy’ before November 5th. they were used in circulation from 1714 and the last One Penny was struck in 1967 and taken out of circulation in August 1971 before the introduction of the ‘New’ Penny in 1971.

The thrupenny bit was always my favourite coin. Plain 12-sided coin with a crowned portcullis and chains on the reverse. Although originally made of sterling silver up to 1920, the threepence was minted from nickel brass after 1944. Often called a ‘thruppenny bit’ or ‘thrupence’ in spoken English, these coins were often put in Christmas puddings to be found by the luckiest person at the table. The silver threepence was often called a ‘joey’ but whether you used this nickname would have depended on what part of Great Britain you came from. Then of course it was the coin you would receive when returning an empty pop bottle to the grocers shop. It went out of circulation in August 1971.

The ‘tanner’ was the next pre-decimal coin.  After 1947, sixpences were made of cupro-nickel rather than silver. Sixpences have always had the reputation for bringing good luck. In some parts of Britain brides would put a sixpence in their shoe or people would put the coin in the cork from a wine or champagne bottle. Sometimes they were used in Christmas puddings instead of threepences. In my childhood it would allow you access to the Saturday morning minors at the ABC

Their nickname was a ‘tanner’; it’s believed this dates back to the early 1800s and comes from the Romany gypsy word ‘tawno’ (meaning ‘small one’). There were many references to sixpences in songs, etc. including the nursery rhyme ‘Sing a song of sixpence. A sixpence also used to be called a ‘bender’, probably because it’s high silver content meant it was easy to break in half. They were often given as love tokens for this reason and there are traditional stories where the man returns from a long sea voyage and is only recognised because the two halves of the broken sixpence match. From this slang word we get the expression ‘going on a bender’ because sixpence was enough to get completely drunk.

The shilling or the old ‘Bob’ was in circulation in one form or another from 1502 to 1970. When decimalisation came in, the 5-pence coin was deliberately made the same size as the shilling to make it easier for the public to familiarise themselves with the new decimal coins. For that reason, the shilling remained legal tender until 1990 when 5-pence coins were made smaller.

The Florin Also known as ‘two-bob’ or two shillings (2/-), the florin was the first decimal coin since they were worth a 1/10 of a pound. The name ‘florin’ came from the name of an early 14th century Florentine coin called a ‘floren’ (flower) because the original Victorian coin had the picture of a lily on the back. Originally made from sterling silver, they were minted in cupro-nickel after 1947. The new 10-pence coin was minted the same size as the florin in 1971 to help the public recognise it and so it remained legal tender until  1993 when 10-pence coins were reduced in size.

The Half Crown sometimes known as “half a dollar” was demonetised in August 1971 just prior to the new decimalisation.

The 10-shilling note disappeared from our pockets in 1971. The first Bank of England Ten Shilling notes appeared in 1928 but in 1971 were eventually replaced with a 50 pence coin.

Back in the early 1980s you could buy a lot more things with £1 than you can today; a pint of milk cost 21p, a loaf of bread cost 38p, and a whole pint of larger only cost around 93p!From 1983 the £1 banknote was gradually replaced by the £1 coin, and the note ceased to be legal tender on 11th March 1988.

The number of new cases were above 7000 for the fifth day in a row, 7673 new cases were reported whilst deaths increased to 10.

Wednesday 16/06/2021 – Day 454

Another beautiful start to the day, no need to go out watering the garden though, I bought a new timer for the irritation irrigation system and the garden is nicely watered while Mrs H is still in bed pushing the z’s out.

We called in at Sarah’s yesterday and we were nicely surprised to see her sat up in bed without any support. Next step is to find a way to get her downstairs and out into the garden and the sunshine. That’ll do her much better than being in a stuffy bedroom.

Speaking of the garden, Mrs H and myself are going to give Sarah’s Garden a bit of a facelift. It looks ok since the grass was cut and the borders weeded, but with the decking given a fresh coat and the garden woodwork re-painted, it’ll look a lot better. Whilst I am doing this Mrs H will plant a few roses and plants and give the borders a makeover.

Whinge of the week. Where I sit in our lounge I have a good view of the road and the green on the other side, it is a wonderful, grassed area with large trees and a host of daffodils which come up every year. I believe it is owned by the council as the grass is cut regularly. But now some of the people in the cul-de-sac opposite are starting to abuse it. They are turning it into a car park. There has been a van parked on there now for over a week, there is another car parked at the end because the young couple save a few yards by parking there, such a shame, it is the equivalent of people parking cars on a golf course. What is wrong with folk today? Whinge over.

Another regular site is an old chap walking his dog. I see him at least eight times a day, (not that I just sit in my armchair all day you understand.) He is not actually walking the dog – the dog is taking him for a run – he is pulled along at a great pace and his one arm must be at least six inches longer than the other as he is tugged along. I mentioned it to Mrs H the other day and the old chaps regularity, and it seems that he has two identical dogs!

On this day in 1915 the foundation of the Women’s Institute, regularly referred to as simply the WI. Its two aims were to revitalise rural communities and to encourage women to become more involved in producing food during the First World War. It is now the largest women’s voluntary organisation in the UK.

There was a sharp rise in new cases today and for the first time since January the figures were over 9000 at 9055. Registered deaths were at 9.

Thursday 17/06/2021 – Day 455

Had a very productive day at Sarah’s yesterday, while I gave the sorry looking decking a nice coat of anti-slip slate grey, Mrs H and mollie painted the trellis, the flower boxes and moved the furniture around and gave the garden a general ‘once over’.

Shefali our local weather forecaster has struck once again. She told us on last night’s news that we would probably be awoken in the middle of the night by thunder and lightning, the only thing that woke me was a full bladder (apologies ladies). When I rose this morning there had been a shower enough to form a small puddle where Lake Geneva normally is on the road outside. So, basically it didn’t rain ‘Cats and Dogs’.

Have you ever wondered where some of our old sayings came from? Here are some of the more obscure but fascinating one’s.

There’s an old Hotel/Pub in Marble Arch, London , which used to have a gallows adjacent to it. Prisoners were taken to the gallows, (after a fair trial of course) to be hung.
The horse drawn dray, carting the prisoner, was accompanied by an armed guard, who would stop the dray outside the pub and ask the prisoner if he would like ”ONE LAST DRINK”.
If he said YES, it was referred to as “ONE FOR THE ROAD”
If he declined, that prisoner was “ON THE WAGON”.

The next time you are washing your hands and complain, because the water temperature isn’t just how you like it, think about how things used to be. Here are some more strange facts.
Most people got married in June, because they took their yearly bath in May and they still smelled pretty good by June.
However, since they were starting to smell, brides carried a bouquet of flowers, to hide the body odour. Hence the custom today, of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, “Don’t throw the baby out with the Bath water!”

Houses had thatched roofs, thick straw piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying “It’s raining cats and dogs.”

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom, where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top, afforded some protection. That’s how canopy beds came into existence.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying, “Dirt Poor.” The wealthy had slate floors, that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh, until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entranceway. Hence: a thresh hold.

Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon, to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could, “Bring home the Bacon.” They would cut off a little, to share with guests and would all sit around talking and ”Chew the fat”.

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning & death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

Bread was divided, according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or ”The Upper Crust”.

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days.. Someone walking along the road, would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of ”Holding a Wake”.

Churches were old and graveyards small and the local people started running out of places to bury people. So, they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, thread it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell.
Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night, (the graveyard shift) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be, ”Saved by the Bell ” or was considered a ”Dead Ringer”

When it’s sunny I want to sit in the  beer garden. If it’s raining I make my way to the pub, if it snows then I sit in front of the TV with a case of beer, I’m beginning to think I’ve got a problem with the weather.

Another dramatic rise in new cases today saw the highest number since February 20^th. There were 11007 recorded. Also a substantial rise in registered deaths up to 19.

Friday 18/06/2021 – Day 456

Well, despite the doom and gloom weather forecast for yesterday we eventually had enough rain to dampen a glass top table. According to the forecasters Armageddon was to be foisted upon us, but it never happened.

Mrs H and I returned to Sarah’s to finish off the transformation of the garden. Mrs Green fingers H did all the planting and I finished off the painting. But it was us that had the best surprise when our granddaughter Mollie disappeared and came back with her mum! Sarah had kept it a secret that with Mollie’s help she was able to walk a little. Fortunately, she has two handrails on her stairs and with Mollie’s help she managed to get down. She was determined to see her new garden. We sat and chatted for a while till it started to rain, so it was straight inside. We made sure she was back upstairs before we left. But what a brilliant surprise and a wonderful day.

The other good news is that I may have finally fixed the leak in the Garden room. We call it the ‘DC or Dominic Cummings’ leak, because it is irritating and pops up at the most inconvenient times to remind you that you are not as good as you say you are.

Did you know that on this day in 1583 The first Life Insurance policy was sold in London, and when a claim was eventually made, it was disputed. Some things never change do they.

Today is the first anniversary of the death, aged 103, of Dame Vera Lynn. She was known as “The Forces’ Sweetheart” and her songs helped raise morale in World War Two. Ahead of the 75th anniversary of VE Day in May 2020, Dame Vera spoke about the bravery and sacrifice that characterised the wartime nation and in the same month she became the oldest artist to get a top 40 album in the UK when her Greatest Hits album re-entered the charts at number 30. One of her best-known songs, We’ll Meet Again, was referenced by the Queen earlier in 2020, during a speech to Britons, separated from families and friends during the coronavirus lockdown. Dame Vera was also remembered for her songs The White Cliffs of Dover, There’ll Always Be an England, I’ll Be Seeing You, Wishing and If Only I Had Wings.

There were 10,476 new cases reported with a further 11 deaths registered

Saturday 19/06/2021 – Day 457

The expected thunder and lightning which was threatened by our own dear Shefali never materialised again. She is definitely now off my Christmas card list. The rainfall over the last three days wouldn’t have dampened a tea-towel, despite warnings of torrential downpours. Why am I telling you all this? Because had  I known we were going to have a dry week then I would have put a new roof on my shed. The materials I need were delivered a few weeks ago, so it is really annoying that the forecasters can’t get it right. Excuse me for a moment whilst I email Shefali.

That’s better, now, where was I? Oh yes the whinge of the week, last night’s terrible England v Scotland European clash. What a load of rubbish. England were on the backfoot for most of it and the only players worthy of being on the pitch were all sat on the bench. Harry Kane is a non-starter; he should retire with immediate effect. He showed no leadership whatsoever and limped off the pitch after 60 minutes.

1925 The birth of Charlie Drake, slapstick English comedian. His catchphrase ‘Hello, my darlings’ came about because his short (5′ 1″)stature placed his eyes directly level with a lady’s bosom!

1975 An inquest jury decided that the missing Lord Lucan murdered the 29-year-old nanny of his three young children.

1978 Cricketing star Ian Botham became the first man in the history of the game to score a century and take eight wickets in one innings of a Test match.

Tomorrow is a very sad day for me. Every day is tinged with sadness for Mrs H and I, but tomorrow emphasises our loss. Although I know that I’m going to have a brilliant day with my other 3 children and my four Grandchildren part of me will be elsewhere. Apart from Her birthday and Christmas it is the time I miss our daughter Vickie the most. I have written many poems about our loss and here is one I wrote for Father’s Day. My heart goes out to any dads out there  who have lost a child of any age.

Father’s Day

Some angels in the book of age
Wrote down Victoria’s birth,
Then whispered as they closed the page
Too beautiful for earth.
They let her bide with us a while
Till she was fully grown
They watched her life her loving smile
Then took her for their own.

A million words throughout the years
Won’t bring her back to me,
Neither would a million tears
For this was meant to be.
The memories sneak from my eyes
Come rolling down my cheek,
When lips cannot explain goodbyes
Crying is how I speak.

I’ve tried to write just how I feel
Living with empty heart,
But words I scribe are so surreal
The pages fall apart.
I held your hand that fateful morn
Fell to my knees to pray,
But from my clutches you were torn
They came – took you away!

So God no longer lives inside
Now that I’m old and grey,
And I can’t hide the tears I’ve cried
Every day on Father’s Day.

There were 10321 further reported new cases today, this brings the weekly total to 63767 a rise of 15898 on last week. There were also a further 14 deaths giving a weekly total of  74 a rise of 14 on last week’s total. There was a total of 4,299,835    recoveries a rise of 18,670 on the previous week.

Well folks, that’s it for another week. Over the coming week I am going to have to make a very important decision in my life. Watch this space!

Have a great week and stay safe.

It’s been emotional!