Wednesday 15 April 2020

Strange Times Wk 5 Post 1

I'm ready to rob a bank.................or just go shopping!

4 layers of cotton that was originally a basket liner, bag ties threaded in the top seam to make a nose clip and elastic around the ears, but that was painful so another piece of elastic round the head. It's very bodged but might work, certainly more coverage than one of the thin pleated surgical masks, although the advice is still not to wear masks for "day wear" outside.



We did a family Zoom meeting on Sunday afternoon which was hilarious as the grandchildren kept disappearing, re-appearing and putting their faces right up against the cameras. Polly cat came to join in too, as she always does when she hears me talking to anyone. One positive outcome of the virus is getting more tec savvy! (Although more by luck than knowledge)

 Have you been watching more TV than usual since lockdown?  I have, especially before the warm weather of last week.

I don't often watch TV in the mornings (except perhaps wet Sundays) - a habit that remains from many, many years ago when I was the "nasty Mum" who wouldn't let the children watch TV before school.
Lunch time is Bargain Hunt, where they rarely buy anything that makes a profit, even more so since introducing the rule when teams have to spend more than £75 on one of their three items.
 The TV is definitely turned off after the local news as Doctors is one of the silliest soaps  -  for one thing the waiting room is always empty! I avoid all the other soaps too.

I like all quizzes and some game shows  and have been enjoying the repeats of House of Games. We used to watch Countdown everyday but it's not so much fun on your own - no one to listen when I say smugly " I've done it" to the numbers bit! (less good at the words).  Monday nights was 3-Quiz-Night until Only Connect finished and only one more week of University Challenge. I wonder what will happen for next year if they record it before the summer break.

There are more films on than usual but I'm not a huge film fan....although if they were to show any Kevin Costner films I'd probably turn on - unless it was Dancing With Wolves which I've seen loads of times but it makes me cry and I hate crying nowadays.

Then of course there has been the Coronavirus Update each day which I've usually watched, it's quite interesting to see MP's etc actually speaking normally as opposed to being interviewed by someone who interrupts them (Radio 4 Today Presenters I'm talking about you!) or shouting at each other in P.M's Question Time. The Q & A's from journalists gets a bit repetitive so the TV goes off then.

Friday night has been cheered up for the next few weeks with the return of Have I got News For You. I wondered how they would do a new series with all the social distancing stuff but all 4 of the team members plus the weeks guest host  are recording from home via one of the group broadcasting things. Paul Merton is his usual droll self and Ian Hislop as witty as ever. Always funny, cheers me up no end.

I started watching the first few series of Line of Duty which I didn't watch originally, on iplayer but discovered they are all a bit 'samey' if you watch one after another and I've been finding some strange programmes about Alaskan living on DMAX.

Sunday evening is always Countryfile - a programme that many proper farmers dismiss as rubbish but I like it and the the 5 day weather forecast is useful for deciding which days to do the washing.

I've been glad of the TV to keep me company but I'll be even more glad when I don't need it. And I'll really miss the tennis this summer.


Back Tomorrow
Sue

39 comments:

  1. I love that mask! Beth gave me a couple she made yesterday (without elastic because she'd run out, but I have some at home) so I need to get them finished. Not as good coverage as yours but, in the words of some shop oir other, every little helps.
    xx

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    1. Whether I will actually be able to go out and breathe properly in it might be a problem!

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  2. More tv is a sort of yes and no here - when I could go out and garden all day long, that's what I was doing, but then if I'm awake in the middle of the night I can catch up a bit (blardy steroids). If I'm up early, I sometimes play catch up.

    We are going to have withdrawal symptoms from University Challenge as we've really enjoyed that - two very clever young men in the final (Brandon and Wang) who could carry this off without the other 3 in the teams! We all enjoy Have I Got News For You, occasionally watch quiz programmes but Keith prefers to have anything about antiques so we are always tuned in to those and if I leave the room, I come back and he is watching Only Fools & Horses (back to back if he had his way, as it makes him laugh) or The A-Team or The Avengers or something From The Past! Or Forces News. We all love anything to do with History, Archaeology, old houses, the countryside and wildlife - have been watching some cracking wildlife programmes recently (David Attenborough, my hero!) I see Wolf Hall has returned, so we've recorded that, and in the bad times of the early days of the Pandemic/run up to Lockdown we found ourselves taking comfort from Midsummer Murders and the like!! We have Sky/Prime/Netflix and have been enjoying Outlander, and a series called Carnival Row which is a weird Victorian-style distopian setting with the Fae Folk from Tir-na-nog as the underdogs. . . Distracting, and Orlando Bloom as lead roll looking his age now.

    Annoyingly, just when I could sit down for once and watch wall to wall Chelsea Flower Show - there won't be one!!

    Films - anything with Jason Statham in (who, after his beard-trimmer buzz cut last week, my son is looking the spitting image of!) and old B movies - good Viking one of that ilk yesterday!!

    Must make myself some pollen masks I think . . .

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    1. I think I've seen all Midsummer Murders......Twice!

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  3. P.S. Tam and I greatly enjoying Belgravia, but Keith happy to go to bed and leave us to it. We like a good period drama . . .

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    1. I'm with your OH - not a fan of costume drama..as Colin used to say "a soap in old fashioned clothes!"

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  4. I watch hardly any tv; I go to bed around 9 and listen to old QI's on youtube until I fall asleep.
    Countryfile, to me, always seems aimed at the general public, to garner appreciation for farmers.

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  5. Your glasses are the same as mine! Monday evenings will be odd once there is neither OC or UC to watch (I prefer Victoria CM to Jeremy P) I think they are managing HIGNFY very well. I agree about the samey-Ness of Line of Duty. I think I watch less TV in the summer anyway - looking forward to the return of Sewing Bee. One question--why do so many programmes begin with a disclaimer saying "This was recorded before the Lockdown"? Do they think we're stupid, and are going to complain that all those people are not socially distancing?

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    1. Yes the "before Lockdown" statement has made me puzzled too

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  6. No more tv here than usual which isn't much and the set is never turned on during the day. I turn on for the daily Briefing and then turn over for Pointless immediately and then watch a few recorded programmes that I watch over and over again. I don't watch dramas, too much violence, but am enjoying The Quiz, the story of the coughing major is excellent.

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    1. I never watched Who wants to be a Millionaire first time round and haven't watched the new series with The awful Jeremy either.Saw the trailer for Quiz and thought no - won't bother.

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    2. The drama The Quiz doesn't necessitate being a follower of Millionaire or having ever seen it, it is superb acting and intrigue. I think you would actually like it. There was a lot more to it than just the coughing in the audience.

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  7. I've been thinking of making a mask for myself, but not got round to it. I'm not sure I actually need one. Almost becoming a recluse except for the odd trip to do some shopping.

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    1. I made one just in case Morrisons said I have to wear one to be allowed in the shop. So far no rules on it so don't wear it, just carry it in my pocket.

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    2. I'm only out near people for shopping too. I thought I'd make a mask just because I could! hope I don't need it

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  8. I tried wrapping a scarf around my face when I visited the bank. They obviously still recognised me as they didn't hit the panic button and report a bank robber in their midst! The trouble is I found it kept slipping and that I was actually touching my face a lot so I gave up on that one! Husband is fan of bargain hunt, he says he is just waiting for the news but I know better! I too listen to the daily government update although I usually listen to it on Iplayer later in the evening and yes off it goes when the press start on their repetitive questions.

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    1. I tried a scarf a few weeks ago but it was too hot and like you say kept falling down

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  9. I may have got it all wrong. But.... the Asian countries that have always been known for their facemask-wearing in the streets must have been using them to protect others from their colds etc. Obviously use of protection for carers now is a different story.
    BTW The Golden Fleece knitting book from the Library is with me until the rules change and I am able to return it!

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    1. Also to do with the pollution levels in their cities I think

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    2. Our homemade masks and those used in hospitals don't compare. The hospital ones are high tech and of course, very important for the users.

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  10. Love Richard Osman's House of Games, but we tape it and watch it later on, as we do the new series of Escape to the Chateau. Searching the Radio Times has resulted in lots of films. All in all, plenty to watch of an evening - all to lighten the mood!

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    1. I usually find something different, although there won't be many new programmes being made so lots of repeats due next year I think

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  11. I don't watch a lot of TV I only have a ordaining Tv no catch up features etc. but I did watch on Monday about the Shepherd on the Dales very interesting BBC 2 not a channel I would normally watch but was a real pleasure to watch. Then i watched Dolly Parton was good so I should see BBC 2 another time.
    Like Angela I am waiting to see the Sewing Bee again.
    The sun is shining another nice day in the garden.
    Hazel c uk 🌈🌈🌈

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  12. We managed to get some masks and gloves from a supermarket before they became scarce. My husband hasn't worn one yet when he goes shopping. Perhaps if we lived in a city he would.

    I watch less television than ever now - Bargain Hunt at lunchtime (recorded episodes as we don't get to watch it every day), The Chase (recorded) and Eggheads (recorded) are a must at tea-time. Then I'll watch Coronation Street (my only soap) and something recorded at 9pm, just finished watching a few old Midsomer Murders which we hadn't seen with John Nettles. And of course, the update of the virus. So that's my lot. My husband does watch more after 10pm, but that's when I go and catch up on the blogs. Exciting isn't it?

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  13. Noticed a mask which was fastened by a length of crochet and two buttons, but the crochet could be replaced by something else.
    Can't stand quiz games, get worried when there are losers, so old fashioned drama repeats and Wallander at the moment, miserably dire for this time ;)

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  14. The carers going into my mum's independant living place (McCarthy and Stone) have no PPE whatsover - can't get hold of any now as all being diverted to the NHS - yet they are going from client to client assisting with their personal care. The government may have now acknowledged care homes but there are still a lot of vulnerable people in other places slipping through the net. If there is an outbreak in mum's place those residents who have no family whatsoever and don't have carers going in could easily be found dead in their flats one day.
    Love you homemade mask - hope it works for you.

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  15. Nice job on putting the mask together. I will be cobbling one together from a napkin and hair bands. But for now, I am delaying going to the grocery for as long as possible. I am not watching TV any more or less than normal, but I cannot seem to concentrate enough to read for pleasure. Been having a steady diet of audiobooks though, I want someone to talk to me, even if I cannot talk to them!!

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  16. I'm really missing Only Connect and the thrill I get from actually getting a question right or completing more than one line of the Wall. I get intermittently fed up with University Challenge, although I do admit to liking it when I can get a few questions right and amaze Alan.

    We've been watching a lot more television than usual I guess but it doesn't go on before teatime so I just record anything on prior to that, such as the new Morning Kitchen with Jack Monroe, and Jamie's nightly 'Carry On ...' programme, although I have to admit I'm loving it as much for the antics of his youngest son River and Jools' tweaking of the decorative objects in their filming room as for the recipes!!

    Mostly we are working our way through boxed sets, we are currently on Two Thousand Acres of Sky which is a light BBC drama from the early 00's. Anyway we are really thankful that we have a television in these strange times.

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  17. Robbing banks and/or shopping must be low on the totem pole of life's happenings these days. I can hardly recall what it's like to do those things - not that I've ever robbed a bank - but I do enjoy shopping!
    Stay well.

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  18. You did a great job on your mask. I'm going to be making some as it has been recommended that we wear them when out here. My husband had a few of the type you wear in the workshop and we wore those when buying groceries.

    It becomes too easy to watch TV these days. Most of our talk shows have been broadcasting from their homes these days and even their guests are shown from their homes. Some of our news people are also broadcasting from their homes. So many things have changed these days.

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  19. Glad to see your mask doesn't have wings and a sticky patch in the middle! x

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  20. I'm going to make a mask too, I loved Line of Duty, can't wait for the next series. I don't have TV on during the day, I prefer the radio.

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  21. Some of the masks people are making and using remind me of old Westerns where the baddie pulls up his bandanna before he robs the bank, but I hope you only use yours for shopping! LOL
    We always watch our daily government update as well, and the reporters certainly do ask some stupid questions afterwards. Sometimes they will even ask the same question several times (different reporters) and get the same answer each time. I don't know how the PM and her cohorts have the patience.
    Stay safe :) Mxx

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  22. Great Mask!!!
    Alaska shows are difficult to categorize, I liked Life Below Zero and Railroad Alaska, as well as the real estate shows. We were in Alaska in September and it's a whole different way of living . Milk at 9$ a gallon. Whoa. With Brit Box and Acorn we have access to a great many shows from the UK. I listen to iRadio Classicals through the magic of the internet.

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  23. The only time I wear my mask is when I am out shopping or running errands. I find that the mask causes my glasses to fog up.

    God bless.

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  24. If you fancy a bit of Kevin Kostner theres the Highwayman on bbc iplayer at the moment , it was surprisingly good

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  25. Love the mask! No more TV than usual here but I do find myself subconsciously thinking 'you're too close, don't touch, stop hugging each other' even when watching programmes that have obviously been recorded before lock down lol. Obviously the 11th commandment of social distancing is well and truly ingrained already. xx

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  26. We only watch the news at teatime, the TV stays off all day.
    I was a bad mum too and had no TV at breakfast.

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