Cherry takes the reins

Cherryfudge

Today I'm thankful for a good night's sleep last night and a significant drop in Spanish and UK Covid deaths. Also for 'seeing' church folks online this morning and a family video call before tea.

DH made chicken chasseur for dinner - I was on an anti-meat day so I had mine sans chicken but it was still very tasty. During the afternoon Dh went for a walk and I pottered about having a restful time but getting quite a few things done including feeding and watering a lot of plants, potting on my orchids and cleaning around DS2's vivarium (which has somehow always been my responsibility). I meant to clean the fish tank too but ran out of time.

It's been interesting hearing from the inside of the hospital world: H confirmed the high incidence of diabetes amongst Covid deaths and DS2 confirmed the high incidence of learning disabilities (people with LD often have comorbidities and aren't being tested for Covid) in the Covid ward. The directives on who gets tested come from central government - how did they manage to miss the fact the many people with learning disabilities live in shared accommodation and have staff going in and out?

I don't know if I'm working or not tomorrow: I should get a phone call about it and if not, I will need to make one as I think I left my computer glasses there yesterday! It's a bit concerning as we are being expected to take annual leave if they have no work for us. While I can see that leave has to be taken to some extent at times that are suitable for the employer, I can see us running short of leave as the situation in my sector will continue for a while. The other extreme, where we take none and everyone wants most of March off, is obviously to be avoided, but I'm wanting a chunk of leave to go and finish clearing Mum's house. So the options for tomorrow are: no residents and no work, one or more residents so work for staff, possible resident(s) so staff come in and if no one shows up, go home at eight. We are still finding jobs to do around the unit - online training, files to update... me and the garden of course. We'll see.

in_need_of_direction

I get the whole leave issue as staff don’t want to use it during lockdown.  My big concern is that we lose bank staff as we can’t give them shifts and then can’t get cover when people want leave in the future.

Cherryfudge

in_need_of_direction said:

I get the whole leave issue as staff don’t want to use it during lockdown.  My big concern is that we lose bank staff as we can’t give them shifts and then can’t get cover when people want leave in the future.

Our lovely relief staff aren't coming in and while in some cases it's choice there just isn't the work for them. I'm okay with taking a reasonable amount of leave, I just don't want it all to be gone over the summer then no more left for the rest of the year. And suppose for some reason I left this job? How would I pay them back for leave I hadn't 'earned'?

Cherryfudge

Tonight I'm thankful for work to go to today, for rain (yes, rain!) last night and for a couple of days off coming up.

It's been another day, another dollar. Option 3 came true - we went in for the afternoon shift but had no residents so were sent home at eight. I spent an hour and a half disinfecting things (it's done three times a day now so I took the slot between the cleaner and the night staff) then had a very lengthy risk assessment which checked I know how to use PPE and social distancing in various scenarios, then ran through health and mental health concerns. So I feel fairly thoroughly assessed! It helps that the manager who did the interview seems happy to take individual circumstances on board including DH's medical risk.

I didn't get much done other than work but I've got Tuesday and Wednesday off now.

Sun_Addict

I wondered how the C210k followed on from C25k.  I'm on week 7 of C25k now and up to the 25 minute runs which are a lot better than I thought. Still not sure I want to progress to 10k though because once I'm back at work properly I'll be back to walking to and from work then the gym classes. Anyway we'll see.

I don't think it's fair to expect you to take annual leave if you have no work, hope you're enjoying your couple of days break anyway.

Cherryfudge

Sun_Addict said:

I wondered how the C210k followed on from C25k.  I'm on week 7 of C25k now and up to the 25 minute runs which are a lot better than I thought. Still not sure I want to progress to 10k though because once I'm back at work properly I'll be back to walking to and from work then the gym classes. Anyway we'll see.

I don't think it's fair to expect you to take annual leave if you have no work, hope you're enjoying your couple of days break anyway.

I don't think I've done all of C210K before, though I ran 10K off my own bat just because running was going particularly well at that point. Funny how that comes and goes a bit. Today, when it was warmer, it was harder. The first week of the 10K prep is four sessions of ten minutes running each followed by a minute walking. For me it's going to be important to be hydrated, dressed in something very breathable and run at cooler times if I can.

Why not progress to 6K, then see if you want to do 7K? I'm very impressed with you combining it with other exercise and a busy life even if you stop at 4k.

Cherryfudge

Today I'm thankful for a pre-birthday chat with a friend, a good run with DH, counting 46 onions in the veg patch and managing to steer clear of the last of the coffee cake.

The weather's warming up again, and I've contacted the chap who chops trees: for another thirty pounds he'll take down an elder that's not wanted and do some judicious pruning on a lovely birch that's fouling the phone wires. I don't know yet when we can expect him but our garden will be quite a bit lighter when he's been!

I've done the laundry including hand washing, avoided the back garden 'cos J and L were borrowing it, had a chat with them through our upstairs window and thoroughly cleaned the fish tank. Those accounted for my afternoon. Tomorrow we need to get some fruit and veg but there's been no shopping today. Dh has taken to heart that we are spending more on food as he's mentioned a couple of things to do with reducing spending. Today's tea was tuna pasta, and a spare portion has gone in the freezer. Yesterday DH finished up some sausages and I had leftover beef and bacon casserole with pasta from the freezer - so we are doing some things right.

That's it for now: another day off tomorrow but really I ought to do some business-type phone calls. 

Cherryfudge

It's glorious here today, but actually too warm to work outside comfortably, or go for a walk. I'm one of those 'not good with heat' people. However I've planted a tub of basil and donated an errant lemon balm to my neighbour, so a little has been done. Really, of course, I'm trying to avoid doing any loathed business phone calls to do with Mum's old house, though the insurance needs renewal and there are some shares that need to be transferred to our names if possible.

Dh has done the vacuuming and been to the greengrocer's (£8.37) for fruit and salady things. He has a habit of only eating the white bit of spring onions so this time I must find a pot to plant the roots and grow them back!

Cherryfudge

I managed not to do the phone calls but have made some progress in the garden. The side that didn't have sunbathers in (I'm assured they were working too) gets lovely dappled shade in the afternoons so I did  a bit of weed clearance and potted up another 50 or so onions that had been standing in a tray of water rather than shrivel up. I know they need more space but I'm hoping to keep them going till I can make a  proper bed for them.

While hosing the plants and the wheelie bins, I came across a bundle of short planks that DH had put by the bin, and realised they are the remains of a spice rack that I thought went to charity many moons ago. Dh was out cycling so I scrubbed them (they had been in the shed and were cobwebby) and set them to dry in the sun and now have plans to put the rack together again and paint it. I kept a smaller rack when I got rid of this one but it's overflowed to a drawer of herbs and spices and some that won't fit in there either. I reckon another spice rack is called for, but I don't know where I'll put it!

This evening I baked a couple of lemon drizzle cakes while DH had his zoom meeting. It was lovely having the doors open all evening: the birdsong was tremendous. As dusk fell I could hear the sheep and lambs bleating somewhere out of town. I don't know how far the noise travelled as I haven't seen sheep in the nearby fields. There was a red afterglow from the sunset but a clear sky - and birdsong. Dh and I went for a saunter after his meeting. Everything was very still till suddenly two police vehicles appeared with sirens screaming and lights blazing as they hurtled past us. Goodness knows what was going on. Where we live I hear sirens several times a day and lately I've assumed most of them are ambulances, especially the distant ones as the ambulance depot is further away than the police and fire brigade. However I've not seen any ambulances, but this is the second time we've seen police activity since lockdown.

Anyway peace was soon restored and we arrived home about twenty five past ten - and there was still a trace of light! I'm at work in the morning but have been asked to go in later than usual as we have no one staying.

I'm thankful for a beautiful day and all the wonderful sounds, smells and colours in nature right now.

in_need_of_direction

I’d be thankful for someone passing a slice of homemade lemon cake