And So This Is Corvid

And what have we done?

An old world just over

And a new one just begun

It's two months since I last blogged. That's the longest I've gone in the many years since I started blogging at Instanta and carried on into retirement with this blog.


So did you miss much? No really. I suppose that I would have been doing the usual telling you about our cinema and theatre visits, our trips up to the family in Scotland and down to the family in Kent, metal detecting maybe and perhaps some special eBay treasures.
Before the pandemic set in we managed a final cinema trip.

Emma was just perfect in my opinion and it's so long ago now that you can get it on TV. If you do get the chance I can't recommend it highly enough from costume to sets to performances from the leads I loved it. My only niggle? Being a lover of antique ceramics a lot of the props were of a later period but only a nerd would complain about that.

Mum was visiting us from Spain and we'd planned to take her to see Military Wives while she was with us but as the severity of the virus became increasingly obvious we stopped all visits out long before the Government implemented its restrictions. She stayed with us until 12 March when we took her back to Stansted airport in gloves and face masks only to find social distancing non existent.

It was then decision time. We needed to check on the caravan in Scotland after the winter break and had booked to visit the wonderful Seafood Restaurant in St Andrews for Marion's birthday so we drove up to caravan site. We hoped to see the grandchildren but when we heard that they had coughs and high temperatures we had to just see them on Skype.

By this time we were seriously worrying about the pandemic and whether we would be safer in Scotland or Framlingham. We planned shopping for our time in the caravan and visited a very well stocked and very quiet Co-op in Cupar and filled a basket only to be horrified when the local comprehensive school broke for lunch and fifty hungry teenagers descended on the store. We were terrified (I know that sounds soft but we had been taking so many precautions) and headed to the fresh vegetable aisle where we stayed until the marauding horde had disappeared. It was half an hour before we went to the checkout.

We decided that Framlingham was our safest option and after just forty eight hours in Scotland we were back on the road home without seeing any of the family.

I did manage one detecting trip while Marion was packing the bags - no finds but a very peaceful couple of hours and probably the last detecting until the autumn at the earliest.

We also managed a walk along the famous West Sands before returning to Suffolk.

Shortly after returning to Spain, poor Mum who is now 94 had a very bad fall and ended up in hospital with a broken nose, three broken ribs and a punctured lung. We thought that we might lose her but the hospital is a private one that usually fills with British tourists and was not busy. She was very well treated and kept well away from any Coronavirus patients. She was out of hospital after a few days and, although she's not her old self and in a lot of pain, she is making progress. 

By the time that we were back in Suffolk, the Government was finally starting to take things seriously. Within a few days, the caravan site in Scotland was closed so we made the right decision in returning.

We wanted to try and do something useful as we could see that things were looking pretty bleak ahead so we prepared a flyer suggesting a neighbourhood WhatsApp group for our street and posted these through the letterbox of every house. The response was amazing and we now have over forty members in the group with lots of interaction and mutual help going on. The residents who don't have WhatsApp are also involved as we send out daily updates on anything relevant and send these by email as well as through the WhatsApp group. We've got regular meat and fresh fish deliveries organised, a connection to the local DIY shop (which though closed will deliver), people prepared to phone others who are lonely or struggling, a home budget guide, a list of volunteers willing to print for those without printers and most of the street has put teddy bears in their windows to amuse one of the few toddlers confined to the road. We've also published seven profiles that residents have sent in so that we can get to know people that we didn't know existed a few weeks ago.

Instead of our regular gym visits we've been keeping fit with Fitness Blender, Davina McCall and Joe Wickes on YouTube and Jillian Michaels' Thirty Day Shred on DVD. I reckon we're probably fitter than we've been in a long time. We've also been doing our lovely daughter Sarah's Yoga classes which she has had to change to online. She is now doing them on Zoom. So you no longer have to be in St Andrews to join her. Check her classes out. Please note that these are not just videos but live interactive classes - she can see you and guide you if necessary. Check the classes out here. 

Obviously there have been no theatre or cinema trips but we've enjoyed the following.

The National Theatre Live's transmission of Jane Eyre free on YouTube was fantastic.

The Tiger King on Netflix. The amazing story of Joe Exotic lived up to all the hype.

And Andre Bocelli's short concert from Milan on YouTube was wonderful.

We've also been doing the Thursday night virtual pub quiz on YouTube with friends on Zoom. Great fun.

Before all the troubles I'd been keeping myself busy on rainy winter days hunting for antiques to sell on eBay. My novel Mr Prendergast's Fantastic Find is about a man who did the same (albeit with more luck than me). I used to do it quite successfully ten years ago but have been too busy with other things since retiring but, with a bit of free time I started again.

I've made some great finds both on eBay and at auction.

I was thrilled when I found this beautiful French tureen for just £19.

And even more thrilled when it sold.

However. After years of moaning about broken buys arriving on the doorstep I finally felt what it's like to be the seller of one of those buys. It was packed with a ton of bubble wrap but it was shipped to Lithuania (of all places) and sent at the outset of the current crisis.

I've no idea how it happened but this is how it turned up in Lithuania.Maybe I should have known not to ship. Oh well. You win some, you lose some but what a big loss this was!

While stuck in lockdown I got an email form the iPhone Photo Academy. You've probably seen their posts on Facebook. They were offering a huge discount so I enrolled on their basic and their editing courses. I'm only a few modules into the course but I'm extremely impressed. I already know more about using the iPhone camera than I ever did.

I will leave you with some of my first attempts taken during my daily exercise.

Framlingham's Castle St experimenting with shadows

Castle Panorama

Castle Grounds

The old and the new

At least we've been able to enjoy some sunshine during lockdown