Welcome to our #LockdownLego #ThinkHand Lego Star Wars
MS Society UK
ebay charity auctions
Episode 1 mini figures
Naboo Swamp
Episode 3 mini figures
General Grievous Starfighter
Light Saber Duel
The Death Star Canteen
Thursday, 25 November 2021
#LockdownLego Pirates
Welcome to our #LockdownLego #ThinkHand Lego Pirates
MS Society UK
ebay charity auctions
Renegade Runner plus extras
Castaways Raft and Renegade Raft at Sea
Harbour Sentry
Buried Treasure
Pirate Copy
#LockdownLego Castle
Welcome to our #LockdownLego #ThinkHand Lego Castle
MS Society UK
ebay charity auctions
Medieval Market Village
Battle Wagon
Knights mini figures
Crossbow Cart and extras
Sunday, 1 November 2020
2020 MS milestones
By 2019, our sheds and our kitchen had become increasingly full of my collection of mobility vehicles. Taking up even more space than bikes (which is saying something in our house) I decided in 2020 some had to go.
First on the list were the never used Norman (my cheap normal foldable wheelchair) and Mac MacClaren the all-terrain Trekinetic that had served its purpose well in Corsica and Costa Rica. Both chairs seemed ridiculously huge and heavy in comparison to my made to measure tiny Purple Gekko I'd been using since early 2019.
Ebay to the rescue and both chairs were collected by new owners just before lockdown.
Meanwhile I couldn't remember when I'd last used Sitzkreig my little junior TravelScoot.
Relying on a motor, it always felt like I was being lazy by choosing this option. What I call the 'scooter' stage of MS is a slippery slope. Ok, walking to town is not possible and it's a good solution, but it felt like giving up. With determined practice my arms have become my legs and the Purple Gekko is now my means of getting out independently.
So Sitzkreig was despatched to a new owner in June and my PayPal balance has never been so healthy!
This might not sound much, but I am proud to progress to a wheelchair and keep my active independence. Not relying on a motor or being pushed around by anyone means a lot to me.
Let's roll! June 2020
Downhill I win! 😁
2020 milestones
Ignoring COVID-19 it's been quite an eventful and celebratory year for us.
Joe and his long-term partner Dustie married in Edinburgh in February, prior to Dustie taking up her new post lecturing at Busan University in South Korea. After a fair bit of battling with the Korean visa system and Covid travel restrictions Joe finally joined her to live there in July:
Joe and Dustie in Busan
Louise celebrated her 30th birthday in June and started her new post teaching an international masters course in ecology at Edinburgh University:
Lou with Molly the dog
My sister-in-law Kerensa quickly raised her by 10 years to turn 40 and I trumped the pair of them with my 50th to finish the month of July:
Not to be outdone Ali followed on in September:
South Devon sea dip to celebrate Ali's 21st
And here's one of all three of them from September 1999:
Today they are happy and healthy.
So proud of them all 💖🙂😊
Thursday, 4 June 2020
2020 #loveguernsey
Like all of us, planned summer holidays are being unpacked. Latest casualty a regular stay on Guernsey that we've been doing since before Alistair was born.
View towards Town from Jerbourg
Guernsey parkrun July 2019
Islanders 'Guerns' are of course sad to lose their summer visitor season, but are at the same time rejoicing and have good reason to be immensely proud. The Bailiwick (Guernsey, Alderney, Sark and Herm) have had no cases of COVID-19 since the last patient recovered at the end of May.
It takes a woman to be in charge.
♧♧♧
Guernsey's borders are closed for non-essential travel until (at the earliest) September. The owner of our holiday accommodation took the trouble to personally call guests to explain the situation and arrange for full refunds to be made.
Vazon Bay Apartments may not be welcoming any of the usual visitors from the UK mainland and Germany but will be far from empty. Staycations at winter-rates are available to residents throughout the Bailiwick. With popular Crabby Jacks restaurant next door now reopened, it'll be a busy and happy summer at Vazon Bay.
We'll be back.
Vazon Bay July 2019
Tuesday, 2 June 2020
COVID-19 week #11
11 weeks on from lockdown on Monday 23 March and we've arrived in June. In the early days steets were eerily quiet, hardly anyone around and very few cars on the road. Children painted rainbows of thanks to NHS and essential key workers (locksmiths everywhere have never felt so appreciated). It taught us who is vital and what we can manage without.
Guess who was nominated acting child in our house?
Thursday evenings at 8pm saw a nation stepping onto doorsteps, applauding and banging saucepans. If nothing else it was good for neighbourhood camarade. Other than that, the point of applauding people for doing their day jobs soon waned. As many NHS employees said, we don't need applause, please just pay us properly!
♧♧♧
During the early weeks we all dutifully did as told #stayhome except for essential shopping and once a day exercise.
Combe Hill Woods. I've rolled a tough one mile trail along through here many, many times now whilst John and Ali ran quite a lot further.
Indoors we discovered Zoom and businesses everywhere wondered why they'd ever wasted so much time, effort and money on international conferences. Skies empty of aircraft, I reckon at this rate we've been on track to reach net zero carbon emissions by the end of this year. Result! The earth says thank you.
UK Coronavirus deaths peaked somewhere at the end of April. Tragically many doctors, nurses, carers and porters lost their lives (viral load on wards must be sky high, coupled with a reported lack of adequate protective masks, gowns and gloves) and our, somewhat overweight, Prime Minister Boris Johnson nearly died.
Just as #stayhome was starting to wear thin on Sunday 10 May we were told in a bizarre pre recorded government publicity stunt...
Algebra that had everyone scratching heads
...that we could all get back to work, go out as much as we like as long as we #stayalert
Stay alert? Forever more I will think of viruses sneaking up behind us!
As numbers of new cases and deaths fell, the sun shone. With the fine example of Dominic Cummings, chief advisor to Boris Johnson, trust in the government plummeted. Sales of charcoal, burgers and beer soared as much as the temperature; thousands flocked to beaches and pretty much did exactly as they pleased
Things are starting to open and life is taking on a new kind of normal. Have been busy making masks for us all when inside shops, on a train or (for Joe) a plane to South Korea.
Strangely none of the men liked my vast collection of lovely floral fabric scraps so had to invest in tartan alternative!
♧♧♧
As at time of writing, nearly 40,000 people in the UK have died from COVID-19. Or as high as 50,000 if suspected deaths are included.
Either which way, we're not doing very well. We were slow to shut down, are we too quick to open up?
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