locked down again
9th January 2021
Perhaps I have got a bit too relaxed about the Virus.
On my cycle trip I was generally in wide open spaces, and keeping well away from other people.
It’s hard to get back in the habit of caution, and everyone seemed to relax over Christmas.
But Ruffy says the Science shows we must be more careful than ever, to avoid catching the New Variant.
Well, if I had it, I’d go to bed and stay there till I got better.
I have a nice home. It’s no problem to stay here.
Lopsy came round to bring the blanket that she’s knitted for the Baby.
We shouted to each other through the crack of the door. She said she was two metres away, and wearing a mask, but I didn’t see her.
Meanwhile, I’ll dream about dreaming.
keeping to the rules
16th January, 2021
We’re all locked down.
Of course some people still have to go to work.
Ellie is going in to work at her nursery.
Little Strawberry is working as a volunteer, helping old people to get to their vaccinations.
I wonder when I’ll get the vaccine.
I’m not eighty yet, so I suppose I’ll have to wait till the really old bears have been done.
My friends are all being very sensible about the Virus.
The ones who are old or vulnerable, like me, are staying at home.
The others are very kindly running errands for those of us who can’t go out.
They all wear their masks, and keep their distance from other people.
So I was surprised when Walrus telephoned.
Oh dear oh dear.
I wanted to telephone Monkey straight away and beg him not to drive Walrus to the seaside.
Monkey’s young and impulsive, and I’m sure he’d be easily persuaded.
But on second thoughts, I decide to telephone Ruffy instead, and ask him to have a word with Monkey.
I’ll ask Bimbo to have a word with Walrus.
Bimbo should be persuasive, with his first hand experience of the Virus.
So there’s nothing I can do about stopping Walrus.
I suppose it was a mistake to mention what fun we’d had at the seaside.
The Baby and I did only go on the roundabout at night, when there was no one else around, but really we shouldn’t have been at the funfair at all.
It’s so easy to get carried away and forget about the Virus.
I wanted to give the Baby a little treat. It had had such a hard time.
Which reminds me – where is the Baby?
Oh Baby, no! Come down! That light bulb is hot!
I hope Ellie hurries up and brings round the books she’s going to lend me about how to tame babies.
trying to catch up again
26th January 2021
Before I went on my bicycle ride, I was busy with a lot of things.
I was working on my triangle-playing for the Zoom Ensemble that Bimbo’s organising.
You can hear me on the Zoom Ensemble page. I was playing rather more silverily then. I’m afraid I’ve got a bit rusty lately.
I was learning to speak Welsh.
I was doing yoga.
I was doing some experimental cooking.
I was reading books for Ellie’s Book Club.
Teddy was encouraging me to make masks on my sewing machine for people who need them.
But then I went off on my bicycle expedition.
I didn’t realise I was going to be away for so long. The seaside was much further off than I’d realised.
And since I got back, the Baby has been taking up a lot of my time.
(I meant to give it just the little snippets of string to play with, but somehow it found that big ball.
I’d better put it away out of reach as soon as I can. I don’t want the Baby to strangulate itself.)
So what with one thing and another, all those jobs have been neglected for quite a while.
Oh yes, and also I was tidying up, and sorting out a big boxful of different things.
One thing that turned up in the box was a key, and I set myself the task of finding what the key was for.
I did rule out a lot of things that it wasn’t for.
I was very busy. No wonder I needed a holiday.
I almost need a rest now, just thinking about all these things waiting to be done.
I’ll try to multi-task. I’ll start up my yoga app, and set up my triangle, and get the key, and see if I can combine them all. And practise some Welsh at the same time.
I can use the key for playing the triangle.
Dw i’n joio chwarae’r triongl ac dw i’n joio gwneud yoga.
Well, the key is not the perfect beater for the triangle.
And unfortunately the Baby likes to swing on the triangle.
I have an idea.
Look Baby, this bag is full of marbles. You can put a marble in each of these holes.
It likes that. Perhaps it has a special talent for tidying up.
While it’s busy, I’ll pursue my key investigation.
Let’s try the fairground ride.
It was made in Japan, but the writing is in American. I’ll translate it.
It means “Holiday land aeroplane ride”.
If only I’d remembered that I had this, perhaps it would have been enough to make Walrus feel he was at the seaside.
Can I wind it up? Yes I can, but it doesn’t need my key.
If you look at the box as well as the roundabout, you can enjoy most of the elements of a good funfair in the comfort of your own home.
We could have set up a whole seaside scene.
I could have invited Walrus to come and enjoy it, six feet six and two thirds inches apart, and then he wouldn’t have felt the need to go off to the seaside in real life.
Which was a reckless thing to do, in this pandemic. I hope he won’t get arrested.
This is an immersive experience, with sounds and sights and ice cream.
The weather was chilly when I was at the seaside, so it’s very realistic.
I think I’ve got an old 78 somewhere, of fairground organ music.
Yes, here it is. His Master’s Voice.
Listen, it’s a Marenghi organ, with 92 keys.
But I shouldn’t be sitting around listening to old music.
It’s not the time of year for swimming trunks or ice cream.
Better get back into my warm clothes, and get things done.
Oh, there’s the phone.
That’s a very good idea.
It’s so good to get advice from someone who really knows about babies.