Chai And A Chat #83 #ChaiAndAChat #CoronaDiaries Week 7

11 May 2020 62 Comments

by Ritu in Chai and a Chat Tags: , , , ,

So, it’s been seven weeks of living in this surreal world of lockdown. How are you coping?

  • We started the week with May the 4th, or Star Wars day, as it is recognised by many!
  • I was in school on Monday with the children. There were five children at the start of the day, and we had a pleasant day, learning about VE Day, making bunting, aand even creating a bunker from some large boxes my colleague brought in, because one of the children wanted to!
  • I was so proud of myself on Tuesday. I had to pop into work again for a couple of hours, to create a document to aid the transition to nursery for those parents who have children starting in September. Instead of a simple Word document, I made my first ever Power Point presentation! And it looks pretty good, even if I say so, myself!
  • A not so quick trip to the supermarket followed. The queue was long, and so I composed a story on my phone while waiting!
  • There was no more school for me the rest of the week, so it was devoted to online learning and writing short stories for the Story A Day in May challenge I have signed up to, as well as reading.
  • Lil Man has rediscovered his love for the dhol again, and he really impressed me with his skills!
  • I even spent a whole afternoon looking at the books I had to read on my Kindle, and comparing them with my Amazon orders, then compling them into a LONG list on the computer. I now know I have a book problem. It is a long book problem, involving nearly two hundred books I have to read! I shall have to use the wish list function on Amazon for other books I want to read, so I make myself read what I have before getting more!
  • There were the VE Day socially distanced Street Party celebrations on Friday too. It was fun to bake for a purpose, and we stayed for a short while, sitting at a distance from the rest of the neighbours, but close enough to be able to have a chat, before coming home. The weather was glorious too, so we came home and lay in the sun, practicing mindfullness by colouring!
  • The weekend was a mixed bag, weather-wise. A sunny Saturday followed by a dull, colder Sunday. On Saturday, Hubby Dearest managed to get his plants and flowers and coloured the garden beautifully. The hope was to get the lawn reseeded and watered, but the new hosepipe we ordered won’t stay on the tap! Oh well! I managed to get the kids to help hand wash the two family cars at least! Sunday was glorious in the morning, then the clouds came, mid afternoon. Here, we had a smattering of rain, but I know some places in the UK were deluged with the wet stuff!
  • Old BoJo made his announcement on the Sunday, so now the lockdown looks like this… Much the same, but with some ambiguous statements. He’s changed his statement from Stay Home to Stay Alert. What does that mean? There was talk of if you are unable to work from home, and work in industries such as construction or manufacturing, you should be trying to go in, in a socially distanced fashion, and avoiding use of public transport. And from Wednesday, we can go out for exercise more than once a day, but still only with your household, and by walking.
  • He did mention schools… the possibility of staggered openings but not until June 1st at the earliest, at the stage two of reducing Lockdown, depending on statistics and that R number they keep on talking about. This would possibly involve Primary schools first and the year groups Reception, (my year) Year 1 and Year 6. And maybe, children due to take important exams next academic year, such as Year 10 and Year 12 may hope to get back for a while at least, before the official Summer holidays, to prepare for their big years next year.
  • Basically, I think we are still just as confused as we were before. I’m not convinced that allowing the youngest back first is the best idea. They are going to be the hardest to socially distance! Oh, well. clueless as ever. Let’s see… There are more government meetings tomorrow. We might hear more by then.

This week, I am not on the rota so other than a possible Zoom meeting (my first real one) with my Reception team, I will be mainly concentrating on online leaarning, writing, and occupying the kids!

Oh, what joy!

What have you been up to?

Stay safe, my dear friends!

62 Comments (+add yours?)

  1. robbiesinspiration
    May 14, 2020 @ 18:23:14

    You are lucky you’ve only had one Zoom meeting. We mainly use Teams but I have, on average, about 3 hours of such meeting per day and sometimes more. They are set up with no breaks in between so I have to sneak out to use the bathroom and eat lunch with my camera off – grin!

    Liked by 1 person

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  2. Jennie
    May 14, 2020 @ 03:07:47

    There is so much confusion. VE Day must have been the highlight. We won’t know until the end of the week if there will be any relief in the lockdown. Small businesses are desperate.

    Liked by 1 person

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  3. H.R.R. Gorman
    May 13, 2020 @ 13:25:25

    Love the bunker idea!

    Liked by 1 person

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  4. susielindau
    May 12, 2020 @ 18:41:48

    Here in the States, they are discovering kids with COVID. Our schools are out for the summer. The jury is still out about next fall. And what about the teachers? GAH!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Ritu
      May 12, 2020 @ 18:50:34

      We’ve had kids get it here, but the argument is that they apparently don’t get it so bad… But they can still be carriers, can’t they? And keeping 4-6year olds separate???

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      • susielindau
        May 13, 2020 @ 01:04:18

        Three kids died in New York. Swelling feet, rash high fever. https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2020/05/12/dr-anthony-fauci-sen-rand-paul-spar-over-safety-and-death-rates-among-children-with-coronavirus.html

        Liked by 1 person

      • Ritu
        May 13, 2020 @ 10:26:05

        I saw an article, yesterday Susie. It is scary. I don’t know what they are thinking… but so far, these reports of the different rash and illness that the children inNew York have had, don’t appear to have been reported anywhere else. In Europe, some schools have reopened, and they are desperately showing us clips of how it is working for them… despite there only being a third of the class in, and the whole situation has changed. different time tables, staggered drop offs and pick ups… playtimes, all sorts…
        I don’t know what is right. I just know there is a deep fear within me right now. It;s not just for me, but for the children having to come in, and their families, and for my own family too. Whata if they prematurely open up, and I end up bringing the virus home with me?

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      • susielindau
        May 13, 2020 @ 16:15:49

        That’s exactly what I’m worried about. California just announced they won’t open any colleges this fall. Some of my friends are driving to the few retail stores that are open. Everyone has cabin fever and wants to get out. They were more vigilant back when we had half the cases!!!
        Here, everyone wears a mask. We drove to Pearl Street pedestrian mall last Saturday to see the tulips. I was curious since Colorado allowed retail to open with the restriction of 10 people in a store, including employees. I had wanted to take pictures to record the empty streets and figured I was too late. NO ONE WAS THERE! My sister works retail in Denver and went home early on Saturday. Same thing!!

        Liked by 1 person

      • Ritu
        May 13, 2020 @ 16:21:53

        I’m waiting to hear reports of our first day of relaxed lock down… But it’s worrying that Germany has recorded a jump in cases now, a week after relaxing…

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      • susielindau
        May 13, 2020 @ 19:38:55

        If people don’t wear masks, reopening won’t work.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Ritu
        May 13, 2020 @ 20:05:41

        When I went grocery shopping yesterday, there were less mask wearers than previous weeks… Not good. I had mine on.

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      • susielindau
        May 13, 2020 @ 20:09:33

        I can’t believe it’s not mandatory. We clean all of the containers upon returning home too. Grocery stores are Petri dishes!

        Liked by 1 person

      • Ritu
        May 13, 2020 @ 20:12:21

        They said they recommend people wear masks in enclosed areas… Still waiting to see this happen…

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      • susielindau
        May 13, 2020 @ 20:36:35

        It’s crazy not to wear one. Our numbers are way down in Colorado. If anyone goes to work, they need temperature checks, wear masks, and gloves in some cases, social distance with less than 50% of the workers in the building at one time. My daughter is heading back next Monday but half of her team started on Monday. They’re using an app that records symptoms before going to work. They show their number at check-in and get a temperature check. If their app number is low, they won’t be allowed inside. With so many working from home, there will only be about 30% on each floor. It’s so contagious! We’ll see how it goes.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Ritu
        May 13, 2020 @ 20:40:54

        We have to be so careful… Yet the amount of people who aren’t is just shocking….
        They need to be so much more vigilant here, big they’re not…

        Like

      • susielindau
        May 13, 2020 @ 20:41:38

        Stay safe, my friend!!

        Liked by 1 person

      • Ritu
        May 13, 2020 @ 21:29:20

        You too, mate 🥰

        Liked by 1 person

  5. Diary of a Dublin housewife
    May 12, 2020 @ 18:08:24

    I don’t understand how he can say it’s ok for your children to go back to school but it’s not ok for Parliament to sit???

    Liked by 1 person

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  6. willowdot21
    May 12, 2020 @ 14:10:07

    I think I said it all in my #WDIIA. We are busy bunnies are we not 💜💜

    Liked by 2 people

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  7. Mrs ESTJ
    May 11, 2020 @ 22:50:37

    Makes sense!

    Liked by 1 person

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  8. Mrs ESTJ
    May 11, 2020 @ 22:28:10

    That makes sense. It is lovely though.

    Liked by 1 person

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  9. Mrs ESTJ
    May 11, 2020 @ 22:19:30

    Where do schools get that blue rug from? My daughter has been to two infant schools and both her classrooms had this.

    Liked by 2 people

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  10. johnrieber
    May 11, 2020 @ 20:26:12

    What a week of accomplishment! Bravo!

    Liked by 1 person

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  11. Erika
    May 11, 2020 @ 20:20:32

    Wow, Phil Collins would be jealous when he sees that video of Lil Man!

    Liked by 1 person

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  12. OIKOS™-Publishing
    May 11, 2020 @ 19:41:23

    Wow! Another fully creative week, Sis! Compliments to a very talented family. Sonu as a #starwarskitten is priceless. Lol But maybe some day in the morning he will change his shape, and will be shown as prince from the space. 😉 Have a wonderful evening. Michael

    Liked by 1 person

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  13. syl65
    May 11, 2020 @ 17:45:24

    There are plans in place to reopen the country slowly. Every state is using its own guidelines. It appears to be a month to month basis.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  14. TanGental
    May 11, 2020 @ 17:02:04

    Glad you’re well and confused… blimey what a convoluted message. I have a feeling there’ll be a long list of frustrated people interpreting this in different ways and the news monkeys will have a field day

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Ritu
      May 11, 2020 @ 17:30:43

      It is already happening. I mean, the memes and crazed posts started within seconds of BoZo… Sorry, BoJo getting off the screen!
      And we’re none the wiser with this set of instructions apparently being sent out today! Still so many ifs and buts…

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  15. dearanonymousfriend
    May 11, 2020 @ 16:08:20

    Our state, South Carolina is opening up. We still have cases, and schools will not open again until September, possibly. They are holding socially distant high school graduations here. The restaurants are open today for the inside dining, but there is a long list of restrictions concerning going into them. We will just continue to avoid eating out…. the restaurants can only have a 50% occupancy, and everyone must have 6 ft apart. We went back to church this weekend, families were allowed to sit together, but, there had to be six feet between each family and the rows of chairs had six feet between them. They’ve closed down a street on main area of downtown so that restaurants can have outdoor dining in front of their facilities. This is all half confusing and frustrating. But, it appears this is a new normal. Hope you have a good week.

    Liked by 1 person

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  16. Rebecca Moon Ruark
    May 11, 2020 @ 14:59:31

    We had a weekend of feasting and fun, since Friday was my mother-in-law’s birthday and yesterday was Mother’s Day, here. Now, I need to be fasting! After submitting invoices last week, my freelance writing has stalled, at least for the time being, which isn’t good but frees up some time. I have been doing the occasional agent query–though, can you imagine a worse time? I’ve been submitting short stories to journals. And I’ve been blogging and doing a lot of reading (never as much as you!). But, I need to get back to my novel–at least sketch out the rest, since I’m already 30K in. You inspire me with all your writing. A story a day is so impressive!

    Liked by 1 person

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  17. potatosandwich
    May 11, 2020 @ 09:41:48

    It’s the queues that are beginning to get to me. As I worked from home all of last year, it was up to me to prep the munchies for the rest of the crew. This meant I’d pop into my local supermarket each and every day, sometimes a few times during the day. Can’t do this now…I may eventually succumb to online food shopping I think.
    My little one started playing the dhol on a Thursday a few weeks back and now a few of our other neighbours now also bring out pots and pans, or something to bang along. It’s brilliant and last week we had every house on our street pop out. But I wonder what is going to happen down the line?

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Ritu
      May 11, 2020 @ 09:44:41

      Queues arejust ridiculous, but a But a necessary evil, I think.
      My Dholi loves playing, but gets shy, so stands in the garden!!!
      Our street is very patriotic so they are out without fail. Though there are some notable exceptions with some houses who never come out!

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  18. Marje @ Kyrosmagica
    May 11, 2020 @ 06:57:31

    I agree Ritu I am confused by it all and can’t understand why they want to send the youngest children back first. Crazy!

    Liked by 1 person

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