Blogs from Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 2

100 not out . A century in cricket . The batsman counting up to 100 hoping he will survive the bowling and reach a ton. The bowler hoping to bowl the batsman out before he reaches that milestone . For some wierd reason my brain had calculated that we had reached 100 days since Boris locked down . As I walked this morning I thought about that 100 and it seemed wrong but I was not sure why. I thought cricket . I thought about all those reaching 100 recieving a telegram from the Queen . Does she still use telegrams ? No probably a card handwritten . Happy 100th from Madge . Her hand aching from signing all those cards . Madge as Dame Edna Everidge called her would be sending a lot of cards ... read more

Week 40 of the year . It hardly seems like five minutes since week 1 - January . Cold miserable days . We had just returned from a fantastic Christmas in Normandy . We had plans . Lots of them . They did not include lockdowns, shops rationing food, face masks and everything that Covid chucked at us . All we thought was it was 2020 and we had the whole year ahead of us before Brexit . A year on free travel . And what goes and happens ? . Covid . February - a quick trip up North which did not go altogether as planned . March - who would have expected it or saw it coming ? Not me . I had my heads firmly in the travelling clouds . No-one , nothing ... read more

What time is it ? It is dark and gloomy and I have little idea what time it is . The sun has not risen and there is no finger of light punching its way through the curtains . It could be anytime between 4 am and 6 am. I lean over to try to read the time on the alarm clock . That is shrouded in darkness . . The luminous fingers of my watch are slowly moving around the dial but they are so weak that without my glasses I cannot work out what time they tell. It is Monday . I know that . I also know it is day 183 and the start of another Covid week - week 27. I should not be lying here screwing my eyes up trying to ... read more

"Let your mind wander in the pure and simple " The words of Chuang Tzu rang in my ears as I walked . Autumn is coming with Winter just around the corner . It seems a little strange to say winter is coming when the sun is beaming down. It is 25 degrees at least and feels much warmer. The sun has been like a large red ball in the sky. The wildfires of the USA seem to have created some kind of phenomenon where the smoke has been picked up by the jet stream . The jet stream has carried it across the Atlantic and coloured up our September sun. But nevertheless Autumn is lurking there quietly but there nevertheless . There are two more weeks to September and then another three before the clocks ... read more

Have you noticed with Covid and the new normal that all the days seem to run into one ? It is hard to distinguish a Saturday from a Sunday. Saturday quiet . Sunday quiet apart from the church bells . Depending on the wind that may be our local church or one further away. Saturday no swim. Sunday swim. The days drift into each other . Saturday cleaning . Sunday more cleaning . The weather seems the only topic of different conversation . Apart from will we ever find a house . Disappointed at the response of the estate agents on Friday we find ourselves scouring the pages of Right Move just in case we have missed something that might just be "our " house . Or something new has come on for sale . Most ... read more