Covid-19 (’22)

Well, I have it. Now. (updated Day #4 – WE have it now)

It’s well over two years now since our ‘Dick’ of a Prime Minister said that

• A) “everyone should stop non-essential contact and travel” and later
• B) that the UK can “turn the tide of coronavirus in 12 weeks” (via this link). FFS!

During the first eight months Covid-19 unofficially claimed my dad (link) and ‘officially’ claimed my mum (link).

The UK Government eventually took two months from when the World Health Organisation declared a ‘Public Health Emergency of International Concern’ to lock the country down.

During those two years, the Government’s political strategist Dominic Cummings broke the law by driving to Durham and then to Barnard Castle, to test his eyesight!  The staff and residents of Number 10 Downing Street held a variety of parties during 2020 and 2021, while the rest of us were ‘locked-down’ and restricted from seeing the rest of our families.

• https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-59952395
• https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-59577129

None of that seems to have affected the government, except for several by-election losses that they can afford (They currently have a working majority of 73 seats)

Final restrictions were lifted in March 2022. Too early in my mind, but hey ho!
(In Spain, they still have to wear masks on public transport!)

So anyway, I have finally succumbed to whatever the current variety of Covid is. (Link)

It started a tickly cough, a headache and a runny nose when I woke yesterday (a summer cold?). However, because it was Chester’s 4^th Birthday and they were coming around for lunch, I took a Covid test as a precaution. Well, I am led to believe that the NHS-provided antigen tests are not fool-proof and that they have often given false-negative results, but, their record for positive tests is exemplary. Mine didn’t take long to jump up to two bars and stay there.

I have the plague.

As the day went by I became very tired and my joints began to ache, so I took myself off to bed and dosed myself with paracetamol and ibuprofen. I slept fairly well on Sunday night but the headache and cough had become worse by morning. The cough continues to get worse as the day goes by. I’m still tired, but my joints have stopped hurting (which could be because I’m still in bed, or thanks to the ibuprofen). Nevertheless, had I not had the test I would have just put these two days (so far) down to serious man-flu.

Hopefully, this will quickly pass quickly and I will luckily have had the milder version, rather than the early 2020 version which no one was prepared for and which many, sadly, died from.

Cartoon Credit: https://www.boredpanda.com/comics-coronavirus-tips-jubes-comic-blog-julie-liu/
Screenshot image: via The Poke.
Man Flu image credit: https://www.pinterest.com.au/quinto2016/_saved/
Toon clips – link on image.

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Addendum

Well, day 3 wasn’t pleasant and it certainly wasn’t man-flu. It was also the day that Sharon tested positive and gradually went downhill as the day went by.

I had a thumping headache all day and my ribs became quite sore with all of the deep chest coughing I was doing. I still felt tired, so I tried staying in bed but the bang, bang, bang inside my head was far from relaxing. I eventually got up after lunch (I still have an appetite) and as the weather looked good, I spent the afternoon mowing the lawn and trimming the hedge. Whilst the various pains were there, they faded into the background. The headache seemed to recede as we watched T.V. but came back big-time as we went to bed.

Day 4 has started with the same bang, bang, bang inside my head, but the coughing doesn’t seem to be as deeply seated – it’s still painful but not as much as yesterday. Hopefully the corner has been turned for me. Sharon, on the other hand is more poorly than yesterday. She doesn’t have the same headache, or depth of cough, but she’s tired and listless.

Addendum #2

Sharon’s illness didn’t last as long as mine and she tested negative some days before me. My own negative test was on the tenth day. Luckily, as we had planned to travel to Wales on the Wednesday.

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Daylight Saving

I had my Coronavirus (Covid-19) ‘booster’ jab yesterday.

Mainly because I understand that whilst the science behind it is not yet perfect, the vaccine will hopefully help to protect me from contracting a serious form of this virus. After all, I have had a ‘flu-jab’ every year, without a problem.

Along with wearing my mask in crowded places, shops and similar public spaces and regularly sanitising my hands – I feel that I am doing my best for me, for my family and for the public at large.

But at what cost!  My arm hurt so much last night that I felt at times like gnawing it off.

This morning it is still sore, but has been helped by the extra (luxurious) hour in bed that we are allowed every October when the mornings brighten up a little (but for only a short while).

Why, in this day and age do we still move our clocks backwards and forwards??? The Scots must hate it.

https://www.westerntelegraph.co.uk/news/19684128.clocks-go-back-2021-change-clocks-uk/

https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nc/charlotte/weather/2021/02/24/why-daylight-saving-time-

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Online Medical Advice

I mentioned my Plantar Fasciitis in a post I made on June 19^th. https://saturdaywalks.wordpress.com/2021/06/19/plantar-fasciitis/

I still have the sore foot!

After two months of pain and religiously following the information and advice available for my condition on NHS site I was no better, so when I re-read the advice, I noticed that I had misread the ‘but see a GP if the pain does not improve within 2 weeks’ as 2 months!

After two months, it was much worse and I needed help.

However, what has happened to all the doctors? I was wary of calling the local practice because of all the comments I’d seen and heard about doctors (everywhere, not just local) hiding behind their telephones and not seeing anyone.

Since March last year, at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been an understanding that doctors (and nurses) have been at the forefront of the crisis. It’s thanks to them that the NHS has survived the crisis (so far).  I’m not sure how close to the front-line family practitioners have been, but for most of this time it has been quite understandable that they have been cautious about when and how to see their patients. 

Anyway, I rang. I was third in line but was answered in less than 10 minutes (some folks talk about being seventeenth in line and of being ‘held’ for much longer than that). The receptionist was polite and patient as I explained the problem and she asked if it was urgent. I told that it was urgent only in as much as I had already had the pain for two months and simply wanted to know what to do that would help me get better.

A doctor rang me back within about two hours.

We discussed the pain and the exercises I was doing – he decided that something stronger than ibuprofen would be better, given the lack of progress my current drug regime was having and prescribed Naproxen to be taken twice a day. To prevent the stomach problems that often accompany the use of this drug he also prescribed Lansoprazole, to be taken once a day. This intervention seems to be working well, as after two weeks the pain is much better. It’s still not right, but I guess the residual pains I still have are those associated with walking strangely for over two months.

Naproxen is Long Acting and Ibuprofen is Short Acting

One of the most important differences is the length of time they act for. Ibuprofen is considered a short-acting NSAID, with a relatively quick onset of action. It is better suited for the treatment of acute pain […] Naproxen is considered long-acting, and can be given twice daily. It has a slower onset of effect and is better suited for the treatment of chronic conditions.

From: https://www.drugs.com/medical-answers/naproxen-ibuprofen-difference-3117722/

So, there you go. I’m getting better slowly, but the inability to go out on my 4-8 miles walks is driving me mad. Sitting around the house is boring (although I have borrowed a bicycle from a friend – which helps).

We move house next week, so look out for a fairly long rant about other professionals hiding behind Covid-19.

Picture from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_doctor_on_the_telephone_(which_is_linked_up_to_a_televisio_Wellcome_V0011546.jpg#filelinks – see CC licence there.

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Voting

Once upon a time, I actually voted Conservative.

I’d just gained the age to vote and Edward Heath seemed to be a really nice chap. He became Prime Minister on June 19th 1970, having defeated Harold Wilson nationally. However, my vote didn’t affect the local result and the incumbent, J. P. W. Mallalieu (Labour) retained his long-held seat. He had been the sitting M.P. for Huddersfield or Huddersfield East, since 1945. His role in Huddersfield has, since 1979, been taken up and maintained by Barry Sheerman, who is currently the second longest serving Member of Parliament. It is my experience that he is approachable and works hard for his constituents.

Only afterwards, during Heath’s tenure, did I really start to notice (and as I began working, after college) how little the Tory Party cared about the NHS, and how little they knew about people like me or cared about people with backgrounds unlike their own. In my mind they were the selfish party; the party that looked backwards, rather than forwards. That’s not to say that there are no decent Tories, just that they tend not to rise up and take power.

From then on, I tended to vote for whatever the Liberal Party called themselves both locally and nationally and I did so for an awful long time. I even canvassed for them once. Their policies seemed to be fair.

I’d moved out of Huddersfield by now and our local Liberal M.P. Richard Wainwright was a great chap. He worked for his community and for the people he knew from visiting local clubs end events.  After him came two terms of Tory (hard to say how effective he was, we hardly saw him), three terms of Labour (which passed me by), and two terms of Tory again from 2010. In 2017 we actually elected a really great M.P. (Labour). Thelma Walker involved herself in all areas of local life and she’d even stop and chat to constituents whilst shopping in Aldi, or passing by in the street.

Sadly, she lost her seat to her predecessor, following the media fuelled public backlash against Jeremy Corbyn.

My current, Tory, MP is not seen about as often (certainly not by me) and he follows the party line pretty much all of the time. I wrote to him recently to ask if he could oppose the takeover UK doctors’ surgeries by large American corporations. The reply was a mealy-mouthed, company script that compounded the lies we see and hear about the NHS every day from his party.

I stopped voting Liberal after the 2010 election when their leader Nick Clegg got them into bed with David Cameron’s Tories. That was it for me – never again. I should have realised that it might happen as my friend Jim, now sadly departed, always used to say “scratch a Liberal-find a Tory “.  At that election the liberals had their best chance of achieving many of their main aims such as free university education, and most importantly, proportional representation. Both, sadly unrealised as the party revelled in their position as Tory lapdogs.

We have local and Mayoral elections coming up this week. So now, with my hopes of a successful outcome to Brexit dashed and a raging pandemic that has given the most crooked Tory government I’ve experienced every opportunity to raid the coffers and to line their own pockets – I have the chance once again to choose who I vote for. I’d like to vote Green throughout but they have very little chance of upsetting the two-party balance. Nevertheless, Andrew Cooper has my vote, alongside Tracy Brebin. I wish either of them every success.

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I’m Still Baking

Way back at the outset of this year’s first lockdown, I started baking again.

For many years prior, I’d been happy with walking into the village and buying superb bread from The Handmade Bakery.

Whereas they were once located in the back of The Green Valley Grocery, just behind where we lived; the bakery moved itself to larger premises just a short walk up the canal. Here they flourished, with their share-a-table café being always full and a huge selection of bread being baked behind the well-stocked counter.

Once the Covid-19 lockdown commenced this activity stopped. Bread and ultimately flour, became hard to find. I touched upon these efforts in a blog post back in June. My Facebook posts at that time became a record of the different (not just bread) recipes I was playing with. But I never stopped baking bread.

I regularly bake the first recipe I developed (let’s face it, there are so many basic recipes that this one surely can’t be just mine) and have adapted the weight of flour I use to make pizza, bread rolls and burger buns. As I’m interested in easy recipes that take little effort, I have also begun to bake the Artisan Bread, that I first saw Betony bake. She showed me the website where she’d found the recipe and away I went.

This second type of bread is much chewier than the other and can be hard to shape – but it tastes wonderful (especially with olive oil and balsamic vinegar). As both bakes make far too much bread for us to eat immediately, I cut the first one into three and the second one into two – freezing the results for future use. That way, I always have bread on hand for when I need (no pun intended) it.

Also see THIS SITE for a superbly easy cake recipe.

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What shall we do today?

What shall we do today?

I asked that this morning, with my tongue firmly in my cheek. We’re into the second week of what is my second and Sharon’s first quarantine – as required by the UK Government following our return from Spain.

My first solo quarantine passed by quite easily, without too much pain or boredom. Because it was late September, the Covid-19 infections had not started to rise as much as they eventually did and the country was not in such a state of fear. I was able to pop out for a isolated walk each day and provided I picked my time, to go to the shop.  This time however, the country is just coming out of a national lockdown and the region I live in has gone straight in to tier 3.

We are therefore adhering to the quarantine rules as closely as we can, mainly because of what everyone else (locals, friends, relatives) might think of us breaking the rules. Today is Day #10, we know with almost 100% certainty that we do not have Covid-19 and that we are not infectious. However, we are still required to stay in for another four days. Hey ho.

Our first week was straight forward enough. Only a couple of days were bright and inviting, so the rest of the time was spent beginning the organisation of my mother’s affairs (she died on 26^th November – our reason for coming back from Spain before Christmas), playing games on my iPad, continuing Duolingo Spanish lessons, reading on my Kindle, blogging and cooking.

There was bread to be baked (one artisan loaf, one normal), 500g of mince (thank you Asda – the only supermarket with a delivery slot available for the day we got back) to turn into savoury mince and chilli con carne; fish to be prepared, 800g of chicken thighs to be trimmed and turned into chicken curry and also to be frozen raw for paella, vegetables to be turned into soup, and so on. Each day, although similar was slightly different. I was also a bit naughty. Every day I donned my heavy-duty mask (home-made by Sharon and ideal for a: the weather and b: disguise), my rain coat and hat, and, as the darkness came down, I would go for a brisk walk around the village. Sitting all day would make my back hurt more than it does normally, so this small amount of exercise has been essential for my physical and mental health. I spoke to no one and passed very few people.

This second week has been more eventful and is probably why I had to ask ‘what shall we do today?’

It was my birthday on Day #8.

Each year we try to do something different for my birthday. The links here show just some of the things we’ve done in the past:

https://dsugdenholidays.wordpress.com/2018/12/24/birthday-surprise/

https://dsugdenholidays.wordpress.com/2017/12/16/ending-2017/

https://saturdaywalks.wordpress.com/2014/12/07/the-old-telephone-exchange/ (+1)

https://saturdaywalks.wordpress.com/2016/12/18/pensioner/ (+1)

https://saturdaywalks.wordpress.com/2013/12/09/hellifield-peel-castle/ (+3)

https://saturdaywalks.wordpress.com/2011/12/11/the-queens/

Where something special has not been possible or planned, Sharon has always cooked. Sometimes we’ve had friends around and sometimes (like this year when we are not allowed to feed friends or talk to them over the garden wall) we’ve been alone. For brunch this year, Sharon recreated something we’d seen on a Professional MasterChef ‘skill test’. Crispy Bacon, butter fried Rosti, roast tomatoes and poached egg. It was really tasty.

Just before dinner was served, Sharon had organised a Zoom meeting with those friends we would normally share a Christmas dinner dance with. That was a nice surprise.

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Then for dinner she prepared Arancini with smoky tomato sauce, followed by Roast Lamb (with a Cottage Kitchen inspired spicy rub), crispy Roast Potatoes, blanched Sweetheart Cabbage, Butternut Squash baked with chilli and cheese – all followed by a tangy Lemon Possett. We finished a bottle of Freixenet Cava and did serious damage to a bottle of Rioja.

So those of you still with me might see that Day #9 might have been something of an anti-climax. So what ARE we doing today? (More like what have we done? – er, nothing!)

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Covid-19 – Fuck You #2

Mum died today. She would have become 91 in three weeks’ time.

I posted about mum being in hospital – here.

Mum’s hip recovered well from the operation and the various doctors that rang me (at least five overall) reported that the wound was progressing well and that the ‘infection indicators’ mum was recording were not from the wound. They were (initially) telling me that she was on active treatment and that several x-rays had been taken of her chest. The ‘chest’ issue was, I think, because of mum’s positive Covid-19 test, but she continued to show no signs of that developing. She did however, complain bitterly (my words) about all of the needles and fuss she was required to endure whilst in hospital.

Eventually, she was put on palliative drugs and was allowed to return to Cilla and the team at the care home (mum’s Home for the last 2¾ years) yesterday.  She died peacefully in the night.

So – 2020. What a year!

It has cost me both parents, neither of whom I (or anyone) could visit or be with during their final months. I haven’t seen mum since the beginning of March. Also – just to note, today is my brother Peter’s birthday.

With dad, it was more tangible that the pandemic had affected him, but with mum, only the fact that I would not have been able to see and be with her (and the lack of flights from Spain at this moment in time) can be blamed – but blame it I will!

Fuck you Covid-19!

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A bijou restaurant in Slawit

This lockdown is certainly stifling the more usual good life. It causes problems, but then it also offers opportunities.

This week, Sharon cut my hair for the second time in six weeks.  She went much deeper and shorter this time, and it looks fine. Good work for a non-hairdresser. Had this occurred pre-Covid*, I may have shown my appreciation by booking a meal in a restaurant somewhere. I may even have asked a couple of friends to join us. However, all restaurants are shut tight and we have to stay away from friends. Quite rightly, given the seriousness of the virus.

So, tonight Sharon has been invited to a special little restaurant in Slaithwaite, just two covers, but with all the care and attention I expect from exceptional restaurateurs. We will be opening her favourite white wine, the last of our Vouvray collection bought when we were last in Vouvray itself.

A selection of Euro-themed hors o’euvres will be followed by chicken and ham tagliatelle, all home-made, including the basil infused pasta. Pudding has yet to be decided as the chef is a bit slack when it comes to puddings, but there will be pudding! The two cheeses offered at the outset are from Spain (actually from the Basque region of Spain, so the producers probably don’t see it as Spanish) and Italy – a delightful blue cheese. They may also be served post postres. The tomatoes are infused with basil, olive oil and garlic.

We may have a ‘proper’ version of Carmen playing on the T.V. at the same time – the last Carmen we attempted to watch on YouTube was awful – far too much thought had gone into making it awful too. Fancy going all the way to the Opera House in Madrid and being faced with interpretive dancing!!!

That’s it. Need to lay the table 😉

*This would never have occurred pre-Covid, my hair hasn’t been subject to wifely attentions in almost 40 years.

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Strange Times

We’re coming towards the end of the U.K.’s official Week #2 of self-isolation/lock-down. This period follows a previous week of phoney-war-type self-isolation that I like to call ‘the ACTUAL first week’.

Everyone over the age of 70 and those who are deemed to be vulnerable (diabetics, pregnant women, COPD patients etc.) are required to ‘stay-in’ and to avoid all contact with others – anyone! Everyone else should work from home where possible, and where not possible, must keep themselves 2 metres away from everyone else.

Nevertheless, we’re both ok just now, we’re keeping well, we’re keeping busy (ish) and we’re not killing each other – or anyone else, yet. It helps that we’re able to go out for a spot of exercise each day or to shop for essential items (no one has said exactly what is essential – we assume foodstuffs etc.) but then, we don’t fit into any of those ‘must stay at home’ classifications above. Those folks must be bored stiff, albeit they must surely have a better chance of remaining healthy and ultimately alive.

A hopeful picture, of a summer to come.

As the News Reports ramp up day after day, it becomes more and more obvious that, no matter who you believe, or which political party you support, we were simply not ready for Covid-19 in the U.K. Nor it seems, were many other countries. However, it is interesting to see how each one is dealing with the virus differently – with no real impact on the death count, which continues to rise and as yet, shows no sign of abating.  Here, after weeks of panic buying (toilet rolls and pasta? fgs! ) the supermarkets have introduced limits to what can be bought (e.g. Co-op 1x per item, Tesco 3x per item and Aldi 4x), how many people can be in their shop at any one time, and they have started asking folks to queue outside, each person to be 2 metres away from the other. Some of the queues outside Aldi are to be seen to be believed. But, at least everyone is trying to keep safe and the food stocks have returned to normal (ish) now.

Pandemics can never come at a good time. The last big global one (i.e. the one that killed c36 million people – HIV/AIDS) couldn’t really be caught in the same way as Covid-19; that pandemic was sexually transmitted and resulted in a much greater use of condoms. Nevertheless, HIV still casts a shadow over the world.

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/history-of-pandemics-deadliest/

The Covid-19, Corona Virus pandemic comes at an especially troubling time for us. My mum, 90, is in a care home and we are unable now to visit her. The likelihood is that I may never see her again, although to be fair she does have a very strong life ethic, and I’ve wondered how long she can last for the last 18 months, bless her. My Dad is 92 and, although VERY independent and strong willed, is slowly failing. Nevertheless, despite all advice, he goes out every day and buys his paper, his milk, his whatever. He refuses to ask either of his boys to shop for him. I speak with him a couple of times per week whenever he rings me, but I cannot ring him because he doesn’t hear the phone; all of his incoming calls are diverted to me anyway.

Fingers crossed – we hope for the best.

Links:

https://www.kirklees.gov.uk/beta/health-and-well-being/coronavirus.aspx

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

 

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