Thursday 4 June 2020

This and that.

Early evening and looking out of the window I see that it is raining heavily - not just a drizzly mist as we had yesterday but a really heavy downpour.   Already the sun is trying to break through so it won't go on for long but what a welcome my plants will be giving it.   They have perked up already.

I notice on the parts of my garden which are planted up (ie the parts that have no mares tail) that there is such a lot of bird life.   I know several sparrows and a blackbird nested in the hedges and now their offspring are fledged.   Because the garden is mostly rocks they are jumping around from rock to rock, still expecting to be fed by busy Mum and Dad.   I would love to feed the birds.   I always have done in the past but now I no longer feel up to filling feeders and I would have to climb steps to do so anyway.   So I feel it is best not to start.   I don't scatter seed and bits of food on the patio because I think that just encourages a visit from vermin.

The central heating is back on today.   We were warned here down the East Coast that the temperature would drop over the past two days and it is really quite cold - certainly cold enough for the central heating to be back on again. Are we clapping for the NHS again tonight?   Nobody seems sure.   Apparently the lady who first thought of doing it feels we should stop while everyone is still doing it rather than go on until it begins to tail off.   But I see in the television schedule that five minutes is allowed for it at eight o'clock.   Perhaps we shall all do the same - open the front door and see whether others are doing the same.   I have mixed feelings about stopping but I would hate it to just tail off which would suggest that our appreciation is tailing off and I am sure that for everyone nothing is further from the truth.  NHS workers must all be absolutely exhausted by this pandemic and yet they keep going - they are a brilliant lot from the ancilliary staff right up to the surgeons - doing their job, working all hours, often neglecting their own families,  we are all very lucky to have them.

19 comments:

Derek Faulkner said...

Blimey,CH in June, hope it doesn't get that cold here.
I decided last week that my last "clap" would be then and so will miss tonight's if there is one locally.
We've all shown our appreciation and it has to end sometime.

John "By Stargoose And Hanglands" said...

We've just had our first rainfall of the week, though it's been threatening to rain for a couple of days. It'd do the NHS more good if people stopped ignoring the advice they've been given.

pat chester said...

We haven't had any clapping now for several weeks. I live in a cul-de-sac of 16 houses and only three of us were doing the clapping although I am sure the lady who introduced it said to end it last week. Several of the houses are student homes so are empty although next door but one we have Chinese students staying there - don't really see them though. We had a very small rainfall today, could do with a better one but the temperature is a lot cooler.

Sue in Suffolk said...

So much colder and very windy here. Hope the CH doesn't come on but it might first thing in the morning. Still NO rain.

JayCee said...

Only showery here and cool but gale force winds forecast for tomorrow!

Bonnie said...

I'm glad to hear you have had more rain for your garden. So far we have had enough rain here, thank goodness. The summer heat arrived almost exactly on June 1st and we now have our air on as the temps are in the 90sF. Have a nice evening!

Tom Stephenson said...

I put my short coat back on today. Do you remember the children who did not want to out shoes back on at the end of the Summer?

ATM CARD said...
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Joanne Noragon said...

I hope you let us know what you and your neighbors did tonight. Your NHS is the best.

Cro Magnon said...

Being out here in France, and being way out in the countryside, we haven't taken part in any clapping, but this doesn't mean our appreciation of the NHS is any less. Let's all pray that it stays the way it was intended, and it continues to be funded correctly.

thelma said...

Our village hasn't done any clapping, Jo rung the church bells at midday for someone who had died. When I turned the BBC news on there was a silence of 8 minutes, 46 seconds at a memorial service. Things have moved on I suppose.

Christine H Hancock said...

Small amount of rain here in the night, but we could do with more. We popped our CH on this morning as there was a definite chill in the air.

Librarian said...

It is Friday morning as I am writing this, and I have just turned the heating back off after an hour of it warming the bathroom. My study, where I will be working all day, faces North; I have the heating on in there, as it gets very uncomfortable when I sit there at my desk without any additional heat.

Heather said...

I feel the same as you with regard to the clapping. I was ready at 8 last evening but everywhere seemed quiet, but I still thank everyone in my heart for keeping the country going and doing their best to keep us safe and supplied.
It has been cooler down here but very little rain as yet, though the skies look more promising this morning. I had better hurry up and get out there for my walk.

Frances said...

Have you thought about getting a " window feeder" for the birds? Many different types available, and in the winter especially ,ours gets lots of the smaller birds coming to it....only a few feet from where I sit!
I stopped clapping a couple of weeks ago. On the basis it was a great thing to do the first few weeks, but wasn't actually doing anything very useful. If it helped to get the NHS and other lower paid but essential workers a better salary I would clap for ever!!

Derek Faulkner said...

No body in my road clapped last night, so it has clearly served it's purpose and now had it's day.
Heavier rain forecast for here on Sheppey this morning, amounted to 15 mins rain at 05.30 which was immediately followed by strong, gusty and cold winds and some sunshine that saw the wet surfaces dry in minutes. So we continue on into our drought.
Can't believe how quickly people turn to CH again, surely a sweater is enough.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Tom your comment about sandals made me smile and brought back a memory of over fifty years ago
My son was at the Cathedral School in Lichfield and when the Headmaster ordered it The Sandal Order came out - the long grey socks with yellow tops and the black lace up shoes were discarded and bare legs/feet and sandals were worn. Once that order came in this was uniform until the start of the Autumn term regardless of the weather. There were often some cold feet.

Sue said...

There were mixed messages on social media last week saying it was the last clap, but as you say it was definitely in the Radio Times that there was to be clapping for the NHS at 8pm. I think maybe there should be one last Giant Clap for the NHS and then call it a day.

After the previous day of heavy rain, yesterday was a drizzly grey day and yes, cold enough to make me light the log burner last night to take the chill off the house.

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