23 March 2020 – Lockdown Day 11

 

Sunday 22 March

This is the only day of the week when we keep to at least part of our pre lockdown routine.   We always clean the house each Sunday morning, whether it needs it or not!   The rest of our routine is to have a sit on the naya in the sun, and then go for a walk after lunch.   The continued wet and cold weather stopped sitting on the naya, and the Spanish government stopped our afternoon walk.

                                                                        

The above comments are a little tongue-in-cheek.  We do of course understand the need for staying at home and keeping safe, and indeed we fully support it.   But it is hard not to be able to have even a short walk.   And the continued grim weather just makes it all that much harder.   Finding something to do to keep occupied has become really important.

Monday 23 March

Jan and I have had two hobbies for as long as I can remember.   First walking, second wargaming.   We started wargaming together just after we got married in 1969.   It started when I painted Airfix model soldiers to make a diorama of the Trooping of the Colour.   I was in the army at the time, and this was to keep me out of the pubs whilst we saved to get married.   I ended up with a large collection of model soldiers, and found a book about wargaming in the library.   At first it was just another game, like cards or Risk.   But gradually we both became more interested, and started to take it seriously

As a result we developed an interest in the Napoleonic period.   This in turn led us to ten summer holidays in the 1980s and 1990s walking and discovering Napoleonic battlefields in Germany, Portugal and Spain.

But more importantly we really enjoyed wargaming itself.  I know that it looks like a game of toy soldiers which we all played as children.  But in fact it is really quite complicated, and at least on a bar with amateur chess.

For the past ten years I have been running a campaign based on the Napoleonic Wars.   For many years I did it online, and have a collection of 12 players throughout the world, each playing the part of a Napoleonic commander.  It was done to provide battles for Jan and I to wargame.   But the standard of game was pretty low.  So I now do it as a solo campaign.  This provides more interesting wargames, and takes me a couple of hours a week to administer.   It is a really good counter to the more physical walking.

The most important aspect, especially now that we are in lockdown, is that it gives us something to do for an hour or two each day.   And without the distraction of walking twice a week we spend more and more time at the wargames table.

21 March 2020 – Lockdown Day 9

 

Friday 20 March

The UK has announced what was called “draconian restrictions”.   In fact they closed bars and restaurants.  This was necessary because so many people were ignoring the recommendation not to use such establishments.   There is still no restrictions on movement, nor confined to homes.   Again it is a recommendation.   And again it will no doubt be ignored by many.

                                                   

I hate to think what will happen if they are finally forced to restrict movement and make people remain at home, as they have done in Italy, France and Spain for more than a week.

We are running low on food, but today is a national holiday in Spain.   Despite the emergency the few remaining shops, mostly supermarkets, close all day for the local “Father’s Day”.   How very Spanish to consider this more important than allowing the housebound population to do some shopping.

Saturday 21 March

Another wet and cold day, but it is now really necessary to do some food shopping.   Because only one of us is allowed to drive or enter the shop, it was decided Jan would do it.   But she was not sure this would be the best day.

According to Facebook there have not been the same panic buying or crowded supermarkets here in Spain.   On Thursday there were photographs of quite long queues outside the supermarket in Jalon.  But this was because only a small number of people are allowed in the shop at one time.  It is then one out and one in.   Everyone is aware of keeping personal space, and there is about 5-6 foot between everyone in the queue.   So what looks like a lot of people is actually much less than it seems.

The because of the shop being closed all day yesterday, and closed again on Sunday, we were concerned that there might be more than usual today.

There is no special time for older people to shop here.  Not that it would make much difference, because the large ex pat population in the valley are mostly OAPs.

However the decider was that it was raining.  We assumed that people would be less likely to queue in the rain.   Anyway Jan decided to give it a go.   If the queue was too long she would put it off until Monday.

Fortunately it was not too bad, nor too wet.   There were about 20 people in front of her, all with the required gap.   No one spoke, but all were patient and well behaved.   In about 15 minutes it was her turn to enter the supermarket.

She was pleased to find the shelves well stocked, including fresh fruit and vegetables.   There was also a good selection of meat, except for chicken which was sold out.

There was plenty of space to shop, and everyone politely avoided each other.   The  

Till ladies were behind a glass screen, similar to a bank.   Everyone kept their distance at the tills, and it was all very civilised.   How different from what we see and read about the shopping in the UK at present.

We only bought what we need for the coming week, and everyone else seemed to be doing the same.   The whole experience was much less stressful than Jan had expected and has made her less anxious to repeat it next week.

19 March 2020 – Lockdown Day 7

Wednesday 18 March                             
Another cold and overcast day here in Spain, and as so often happens they have been having much better weather in the UK.   The weather is almost as depressing as the new life style we are becoming used to.   It is so unusual to have a long run of cold and wet weather at this time of year, and the forecast is for more of the same for the next seven days.   It feels like even the weather is against us.

Everything on the UK TV and in the newspapers is about the crisis, and how hard done by they are over there.   At present they have been advised to keep out of bars and cafes, but many seem to be ignoring that advice.   There is no restriction on movement nor leisure activity.   From here it seems they have it pretty easy.   The number of new contacts and deaths are increasing, but still well below Spain, France and Germany.   So I can understand why so many seem to be ignoring the advice.   But I do think it is ill advised, and I hope that they will not come to regret it in a week or two.

It is also depressing that there are constant reminders that over 70s are particularly vulnerable.   I am 75 and Jan is 71.   Neither of us feel either old or vulnerable.   Both of us are probably fitter than many 50-60 year olds.   But of course I understand that your ability to fight the virus gets less as you grow older.  And I also appreciate that most deaths are in the 70 plus age range.   So we accept that we have to be more careful and avoid all possible outside contact.

We live on the outskirts of Parcent, and walk in the surrounding area most days.  Even before the Lockdown it was unusual to see anyone else.   Even more so now.   So it is annoying that it is against the law for us to go for even a short walk, not even on our own.

 

Thursday 19 March

Jan commented that our household waste is getting out of control.   We don’t have a waste collection from the house here in Parcent.   There are a lot of large communal waste bins, which are emptied most days.   And we usually take our kitchen waste out each day in the car and drop it off at one of the bins.   We keep the larger “green waste” and take it to the special bins each Friday on our way to Calpe for our weekly shop.   Obviously we have not done either this week, because we have not left the house.

This morning we received an email from the town hall confirming that the weekly bulk rubbish collection was suspended whilst Lockdown is in place.   This prompted me to reply and ask if we were allowed to take our household waste to the nearest bin.  We are still waiting for a reply.

We also raised the same question on Facebook and got more than 40 replies.   Almost all were already doing so, which prompted us to do the same.   Jan has spent the last few days pottering around the garden, when it was not raining.   I had spent all week inside the house.  So she agreed that I could do the first rubbish disposal run.

It takes about 15 minutes to walk from the house to the nearest bin, a 30 minute return journey.  I neither met, nor saw, anyone else at all.   So I neither risked spreading or catching the virus.   However I did wash my hands immediately I returned to the house, and did so for two slow “happy birthday”.

It was great to get out in the fresh air, even for such a relatively short time.   And in future Jan and I will take turns to dispose of the household waste.