allweatherhaulage

With the easing of lockdown 3.0 rapidly appearing the other side of the weekend, several recent conversations have centred on planning a celebration. This morning, I found myself answering that my first haircut since early December would be very welcome and useful and whilst the first pub pint since August 2020 would be even better, I wasn't rushing into anything.  Not least because just from a walk-by assessment, I'm not sure which of my local pubs will have survived  to open next week. My favourite and, based on it always being busy, the one likely to be in the best position to have weathered the lockdown closure, only has a tiny garden. With a cruel piece of timing they had only re-opened from a month long closure for refurbishment 2 weeks before the start of lockdown  - or Lockdown 1.0 as we would now refer to it. Over the past 12 months we have all been forced into and then developed new daily routines and weekly habits. Some may not return with the easing of lockdow...

I notice a number of co-incidences this morning as I return to the blog. A symmetry of posting dates since 2008 and unbelievably at first sight, 10 years since I last posted. But more importantly in my thoughts this morning, 1 year since lockdown started.  I remember having a 48 hour head cold over that weekend last March and worrying whether it was anything more serious. Lockdown, no travel or contact and my first ever flu jab just prior to Christmas have meant a year free from bugs, colds and sneezes - apart from a token bout of hay fever in that glorious May weather last year. Having had my first vaccine jab on Saturday morning, I have had 48 hours soreness in the jab site and aches, surprisingly mainly in my fingers. Nothing that confined me to bed but a general feeling of being under the weather and woolly headedness.  What a well designed process the vaccination was. From the initial booking via the NHS website two weeks ago, to the volunteers at the site - which was a s...