Had some happy news from Capena yesterday. Debora, who looks after my holiday houses when I’m away, gave birth to a beautiful baby boy after a really difficult pregnancy. Welcome to little Valerio.
The weather is beautiful again. Everything seems clearer and hyper-real. With the twittering birds and surreal sights such as families dutifully exercising together, it’s like living through a dystopian David Lynch film with a dark underbelly.
Mum’s ward must be understaffed: the phone constantly rang out yesterday or was engaged. Today it’s been engaged when I’ve tried, but will keep ringing…Update: they finally answered. Mum’s fine but the doctors had only just arrived on the wards to do their rounds, so no decisions yet.
Was feeling a bit homesick yesterday so went to the supermarket and bought myself a big Lindt chocolate Easter bunny for a late Easter treat.
Later I was feeling slightly guilty so went for a run around my patio (my new favourite hobby). I managed to run 3km in 35 mins, not great but considering I only have a space of about 25×25 to run in I’ll take it.
This morning I took delivery of my MIDI keyboard which should keep me busy at least for a little while.
Another beautiful day today. I’m getting out a little earlier now and it’s definitely worth it.
We’ve just had details of the food parcels we can have delivered for £25 by the village self-help group. It looks great value and they’ll be delivered free to those who can’t afford it. I think Dad will turn up his nose at chocolate Weetos and white bread, but the virus doesn’t make any allowances for those who normally eat muesli and wholemeal bread. Those fig rolls look great. And sausages! What’s not to like?
This is the “cleaning pack” for a fiver.
I ordered some hand sanitizer from Amazon today: £15 for three 100 ml bottles. It was a last resort because I can’t get it from Sainsbury’s or elsewhere. Speaking of which, I need to try and get another grocery order delivered. Dad has insisted on making the next online order because of what he sees as my profligacy, but he hasn’t managed to get it together yet. I’ll run through a list with him tonight at Happy Hour.
I’m still working and also putting together a quiz for the Cardiff Translators on Friday with a friend. It’s become a regular event and it’s our turn to set it. This is the pic for the caption competition: what’s Trump’s Italian interpreter saying (or thinking)?
I’ve called Mum’s ward a couple of times this morning but no reply. Will keep trying and update this post when someone answers. Update: tried all day and the phone either rang out or was engaged 😩
Yesterday I was so desperate for a run that I decided to run around the small patio in the house. It ended up going quite well, I managed to do an hour pretty easily (however I was very dizzy by the end.) I’m now considering maybe trying to run a half marathon down there at some point soon.
Some (relatively) good news today:Seville registered just 17 new cases of Coronavirus yesterday, the lowest since the beginning of the Pandemic. I am still holding out hope that the measures will begin to be relaxed (slowly) on the 26th April!
Another beautiful cloudless day, but a bit colder than before. Got going a bit earlier than usual because it’s a working day. Actually I’ve been working over the weekend too. It’s a good distraction
Let’s hope a few people who owe me money start to pay up this week. I already have a couple of big invoices past due and l’m getting horrible reminders of the last recession. There’s nothing more soul-destroying than not getting paid for something you’ve conscientiously slaved over.
Leon managed to cut his hair with the aid of Lily and a new set of clippers. He’ll be looking spruce on Microsoft Meetings today. I’m getting more and more unkempt. It’ll take more than a quick whip round with the shears for me. Lucky I don’t usually meet clients face to face.
Just phoned the ward and mum isn’t flagged as “query discharge” today. Her sugars were high in the night and her own consultant isn’t on the ward today and hasn’t replied to my email.
I had a visit from Vikki, one of the organisers of the new village support group yesterday and we spoke about getting some permanent help for Mum and Dad when I (hopefully) leave at the beginning of June. It sounds as the temporary crisis group will morph into something more permanent when the emergency ends, which is great for our family.
Vikki said that all of her family had gone down with something very covid-like in mid-January. Two members had needed hospitalisation with oxygen treatment and the disease then developed into pneumonia. I’ve heard other stories like this from the UK and Italy. Has the disease been round for much longer then we thought, or is it just the latest urban myth?
2022 and all that 