CORONAVIRUS - a poem.

Hello Chris, what a lovely cheerful poem. You are right though, we just have to enjoy our gardens and the wildlife!
It is a worry though as Rick isn't as fit as me and older and would find it harder to stay in as he isn't able to garden now. But as you said, we just have to look forward to the summer!
Your garden is looking very spring like now even if they are wrong way round ! Hahaa! xx

Lovely! Here's to lighter nights, warmer, calmer weather and lots of garden time! Lucky folk that we are!

Beautiful springtime colour Chris! Loved the poem too, lovely description of nature amid the current issues.

Yeah....well said Chris. We have so much to be grateful for. And I hope and pray that we will all stay healthy over the coming weeks and months. I have just cancelled our Hotel for Seville in April and Scott is with his friends right now, deciding what to do about their planned Golf trip to Portugal. I also cancelled my hair appointment for Thursday. It's going to be a long haul I think, but thank goodness for home delivery services. We will all be relying on them for a long time to come! Like you Chris, the idea of socially distancing myself just feels like someone just gave me permission to do exactly what I like! lol!

Thank goodness for GOU, and our own garden spaces. Stay healthy.

Hear hear!

I realised yesterday that some of the areas in the shipping forecast are relevant to what's going on onshore just now:

Forties – very stormy in the toilet paper aisles
Fisher – looking for hand sanitiser
Fastnet – grabbing whatever is nearest
Rockall – what’s left for the rest of us
Sole – successful self-isolating

Rough seas ahead Andrew!!!
😊😊😊

This toilet roll thing is absolutely ridiculous! Lol! Baked beans...that’s what we need!! Lol

Lovely poem,Chris,and we all need to be as positive as we can,in the forthcoming weeks,so my sentiments exactly..At least we have the time of year in our favour,to hopefully get out and about in our gardens,and watch the season bring the miracle of new life back into our lives.The damned Virus won't stop that from happening,at least ! Stay safe everyone..xx

I agree a lovely poem Chris , your garden is looking very bright and cheerful . its a good job we have our gardens and friends to chat to to keep us company , Karen I was wondering about hair cuts it could grow quite long in 4 months my daughter suggested a pony tail Haha .. I hear Iceland are opening their stores early mornings for the elderly to shop I thought about it but did wonder if it would be even more crowded if everybody descended in-store at once !!

I appreciated the thought about Iceland,Amy..but in rush hour traffic for Commuters,plus the elderly,I don't think I would want to risk it .Plus not being able to use your Bus passes at that time in the morning,if you haven't a car ? Oh dear,could be a disaster :o) x

You have put it really lovely about how we all feel at what is a scary time but a lot of us were born in 1943 ! some before some after .

So we are a resilient crowd between us and we have gardens !! be they big or small or even a balcony which will see us through fingers crossed .

Thanks Chris that was lovely … I don't mind not socialising, it's something I never do anyway :) I have plenty to do in the garden so probably won't notice the time dragging (as long as we have favourable weather lol)

Thanks to each and every one of you here.
I too have been thinking of my hair ( how very trivial of me I know!! ) but long hair does not suit me one bit! Mind you, not many will see me anyway!!

On this website I can feel the warmth and friendliness of you all, which will matter more than ever as the weeks go by.
Thank you
xx

Amy...I had my hair cut far too short after Rachel’s wedding, so I am happy to let it grow...oh...about 2 years should do it! ;) I hope we aren’t shut down for that long!

On social distancing: I’m reminded of the song from Sting: “Don’t Stand So Close To Me”

On the run on toilet paper: In a crisis like this with so many ramifications and all people can think of is keeping their rearend clean??? (I expressed it in such a way as not to get flagged- I hope :) )

Your garden photo's look so bright and cheerful, W'rose thankyou for the poem, we need lots of reading material to keep us going... I am a solitary person by nature so having to self isolate does not usually bother me one iota, the timing could have been better though as we all like to enjoy the outside world during spring and summer, hopefully it will reach its peak and then go away as fast as it came, its a very sad and worrying time, we will not let it beat us though.......
However cannot put into words my thoughts on the state of our supermarket shelves,( I would be banned from Goy) all the ridiculous panic buying, very selfish people around, I hope their freezers and fridges all stop working and mice get into their store cupboards..grrrr You have all known me a long time and I'm not normally a vindictive person but it really beggars belief.......

Loosestrife and Lincslass - well said to both of you.
There are certain times that we just need to say it as it is!!!

Just adding my twopence worth! As I am in the 'high-risk' category (cardiac issues plus type 2 diabetes) my OH went out at 07.45 this morning to buy cat food and cat litter as our elderly cat has been poorly and not allowed out for a couple of days.

In the supermarket the shelves in the pet food aisle were bare, a superviser announced that any customers being rude or abusive to their staff would be ejected and the queues were so long you'd have thought it was Christmas!

OH then went to a pet supplies store where a man had loaded a flat bed trolley with fifteen bags of cat litter ... needless to say he was not allowed to buy all of them ... just a couple and became very aggressive to the young lady on the till. What is wrong with some people?

Rant over ... I'm going nowhere but the garden for the foreseeable future ... :o)

Shirley, I was told about the lack of pet food on the supermarket shelves. It came as a surprise.
A crisis like this one seems to bring out the worst in some people. Your dear husband will have been glad to get back home again after all that!!
We are risking a visit to a farm shop later - not looking forward to it like I usually do, which is sad 🙁
Our gardens should benefit though from all the extra hours we can put in! 😊

Chris, the lack of pet food brought back a childhood memory of Mum spreading fish paste on bread and butter for our cat ... hungry enough to eat it too!

I would suggest wearing gloves at the farm shop ... :o)

A lovely blog and poem Wildrose such nice thoughts have gone into it makes you forget these nasty virus they make and put upon us all.

For you and others also Andrew I hope these facts spread like the virus being a world wide garden site.

All this panic buying is going to cost jobs hence why supermarkets are assuring people there is no shortage my grand son is one of the top managers of a big supermarket chain it's the panic buying causing the trouble not having time with deliveries and shelving it as sales are up at present but come when it dies down no one will buy because of the hoarding which will affect the market a slump which will cause jobs to go it will have a knock on effect .
Now I was informed yesterday Tesco no longer will be open 24 hrs to given them time to get deliveries in and put on the shelf it's now 6 till 10 hours even Sainsburys cafe has closed because of using the delivery lorries to get stuff in so good luck for jobs in the future every one who is connected to the food chain .
No there is nt any shortage it's just the panic buying . These that are panic buying most likely are the young activist about damaging our mother earth yet by their action of panic buying are doing more damage to the earth.

I havent been in the supermarket for a few days, but apart from there being less kinds of loo roll to choose from it was fine. However, Callum told me today that where he lives...other end of town, the pasta was all sold out.

We did go into a supermarket today which was much quieter than usual as most people had gone there for when it opened at 6am!
One of our sons was not very pleased with us for risking it - difficult choices have to be made?

Hi Wildrose most supermarkets are doing a few hours just for the elderly and vulnerable. I suggest you read what I have placed on Fernevers blog.

https://www.growsonyou.com/fernever/blog/33373-quick-blog

We can get sick and we can die through no fault of our own but what a capability we have to make ourselves miserable if we choose to do so.

Our daughter works in front line at the hospital she has made us promise not to go out which all seems a bit silly considering my OH has a hospital appointment tomorrow he rang this morning to see if its cancelled or re-booked for a later date ,they said no keep your appointment , he is saying if I have to sit and mix with all these people I might as well go shopping ... seems strange !

So, I have just finished my seven days of self-isolation. I started a sore throat and dry cough late last Thursday, but never developed a high temperature, breathing problems, or any other symptoms. I had enough food to last for a week, and a friend delivered some more yesterday morning so I don't need to get anything for a few more days. I'm planning to go to a local convenience store on Saturday morning for one or two bits, and to check what they stock in case I can't get things from a supermarket.
Four out of five people don't get any problems (source - the World Health Organisation), but obviously those in "at risk" groups need to be more cautious. Apart from leaving the premises, I was able to do normal things, including gardening.

The government upto date Amy has said it s ok for the elderly to go out eg to take a dog for a walk or to get fresh air but to keep your distance from others especially crowded places.

Good luck Andrew there is nt any shortage of good s it's just panic buying that creates a shortage which they have told people but no one seems to listen .

A few days ago I could get potatoes lemons Brocoli today none at all I had to go to my local shop to get these items minus Brocoli..

Conversing with a friend of mine she said not to worry, things will go back to normal. I replied and told her that I disagreed with that. Things will be going back to a new normal.

Your so right on the Loosestrife2 to me it's a spray to catch a mackrel

ay up all :-) Just popped in to see if you're all right, and so pleased to see you all here. I've been volunteering at Citizens Advice Walsall since late October and Wednesdays at my daughter's Friendship Cafe. Sadly all finished for now. It's so sad for some of the friendship cafe regulars as most live alone or are carers. Rebecca and her friend Jo are keeping in touch with them via phone calls, but it's not the same is it. They all had a hug as they came through the door of the little local pub where Wednesday's cafe took place and at three other locations.They did jigsaws, crafted, played cards etc or just chatted (loudly) and had a good laugh. The session ended with bingo and a singsong. Let's hope it won't be too long before they can all meet again, like in the song they were rehearsing for V.E.day celebrations in May. Let's hope there will soon be a vaccine, or cure. Keep well and cheerful all of you, I find a little glass of something now and then helps :-)))))

The V.E. Day event here in Bracknell has just been cancelled (which is not surprising)

Good to see you again Ba, we're all in a very bad situation right now and I really do feel sad for the folk who will miss out on their social lives for some time.

Everything is cancelled now I think. I'm lucky having my little dogs for company. I had to have Rosie (smooth haired jack russell in profile pic ) p t s three weeks ago. She was at least 16/17 and was the most gentle, wonderful little dog. When I came in from Choir she appeared to have had a stroke. My son in law took us to the emergency vets. I hope to make a start on the garden soon, it needs it badly. I'm sure with the nicer weather I'll get the urge:-))

Oh Ba, what a shock for you to come home to. How many dogs do you have now? It took me a while to get interested in the garden again ... slow but sure now though!

Hello Ba..so lovely to see you again,and so sorry you have lost your lovely Rosie,but what a wonderful life you gave her .It's good to see you on Goy again x

We are doing the same as you Chris,but just being very cautious as to where we go.I think our Children worry about us ,more than we do !

Thanks for the welcome:-) I just don't want to be a drain on NHS, so ultra careful:-( Hello Bloomer\o/ and Shirley\0/ just noticed you have a bigger head than Bloomer! I'm thinking of writing a new recipe book for those who have too much left over toilet roll (garage full) once things settle down. Could be used as thickener possibly in soups or gravies,or if marinated in olive oil and herbs could could be used in place of lasagne sheets, just add mince beef or aubergine (if vegan or vegetarian) for delicious italian meal. Any suggestion welcome. I could make a fortune here:-)

I've been gardening today, first time this year, all troubles forgotten:-)

Oh Ba it is so lovely to see you again on here. Please stay!x

So glad that some time in the garden eased your troubles. It does, except when there is a bitterly cold wind blowing like we had today!!!

Take care, you have been involved in some really worthwhile projects and it is such a shame they have had to stop.

PS I don't seem to have as many toilet rolls as the rest of you!!! 😢

I don't really have a garage full, but I believe some people do. I should think when all the panic stops eventually toilet roll will be very cheap :-)