Lockdown continues. Another week in the life of Trimley and the Corona Virus: Week 4.

  Pink Moon   Courtesy of Laura Locke

 

Over the last three or four weeks, regular correspondents have been contributing weekly reports about their life in self isolation to this Blog. One of the common features of all correspondents is their positive approach to the crisis of the Covid 19 pandemic. Everyone is sustaining themselves with work, gardening, reading and many other activities and where possible, helping their neighbours. Some continue to work, others are juggling both work and childcare in constrained circumstances. This doesn’t mean they aren’t fearful of what is happening or might happen, despite their individual resolve to remain cheerful and forward looking. I am immensely grateful to all of them for their time spent writing their contributions.

However, there are others who are not in the position to cope with Corona Crisis.  Sadly, I am all too aware this Blog does not necessarily reflect the many people who are fearful for themselves and others, struggling to cope with loneliness, isolation, bereavement, mental health issues or just finding the wherewithal to purchase the necessities of life. The weekly report from a Head Teacher illustrates this situation; many families need support  on many levels.

Caroline Ley also expressed this well in her latest report:

“In many years to come, I wonder whether people might look at these posts and think, well, despite all that we were taught at school, things don’t seem to have been too bad in and around Trimley during the pandemic. They will have read how we enjoyed country walks, found ways to do our shopping, became used to some serious queuing, dealt with jobs that we have been putting off for years and generally managed to get by with the support of the family, friends and neighbours, albeit at a safe distance, on the phone or online. These are our lived experiences, but perhaps they don’t reveal the full truth about life in our villages during the pandemic. Some people will be experiencing something very different: for them this may be a time of great loss, a time of fear, a time of anxiety, even a time of hunger. 

I read on Saturday that the Food Foundation had said that 1.5 million Britons reported not eating for a whole day because they had no money or access to food. We all hope that there is nobody in our villages who is in that terrible situation, but realistically it is quite probable that some local people are indeed staring catastrophe in the face and not knowing what to do. So perhaps this is a time for us all to check that our neighbours are coping and, if we can, to donate to our local food banks, so that everyone can carry on carrying on.”

Knowing there are a significant number of the population who are needier than others is one thing; actively supporting them is another. If you know or suspect someone needs help or support, please let them know they can contact:

• Felixstowe Citizens Advice Telephone: 0300 330 9016
• The Samaritans Telephone: 116 123 (free and open 24 hours a day)
• The Benefice of Walton and Trimley (for pastoral support, particularly those who feel isolated) Telephone: 01394 670090

 

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A list of all the  major posts on Trimley Facebook this week:

Bird spotting observations/  spring in the Trimley  countryside/ Bin collection/ bonfires/ takeaways/ Cooking online with Lisa Williams/ Felixstowe Radio with Laura Locke/ old  photographs of the Felixstowe and Trimley area/ Applauding the NHS

 Sandra Abbott

Here we are again, amazing how quickly one week passes. Extra phone calls, WhatsApp messages, FaceTime and House Party exchanges all help make us feel so very connected with , what we once considered, our normal world. 

Holy Week was certainly different this year, but I did indeed take my Palm Cross on a pilgrimage during my health walk on Palm Sunday. Tuesday 7  was a Red Letter Day for us! Clifford’s cress was just right for harvesting. So afternoon tea was our menu. We did the works! China service came out, crusts off the bread for egg and cress sandwiches followed by………bread and butter pudding, well we certainly couldn’t waste all those crusts! 

We have been so blessed by lovely weather that gardening has continue to be a joy, however, last week there was still a chill wind, so my infamous Sheep hat was still warn. My friends in Falkenham Church watch for the day I arrive without my hat, they declare this heralds the true start of Spring!  Well, thanks to dear Clifford, on Wednesday 8 an absolute disaster was avoided! The wind was chill as we left Sandford for our daily health walk, but , walking in the shelter of trees, the sun was really warm. We paused to view the scenery and I popped my coat and hat over the fence. With no word of warning my hat disappeared over the fence, totally out of reach. I wish I could have snapped what happened next.  My gallant husband made a ‘fishing rod’ out of a thick bramble and managed to ‘catch’ the rascal hat, which, apart from being a little dusty, had come to no harm.  I put it in the wash the next day, thinking time for it’s Spring holiday!

Our daughter in law has friends who were looking for folks to sew P.P.E. She thought of me, the packs would arrive next week. Our next task was obvious, find the sewing machine and Clifford would give it a good overhaul. Wishing to test it out first, I found a pair of curtains that had shrunk in the wash, but lots of material and images of play clothes in The Sound of Music flashed before my eyes! I had an easy pattern for a pair of trousers and was thrilled by the end of Thursday that my efforts actually resulted in a garment definitely resembling trousers! So I feel I’m ready for the challenge of P.P.E. sewing next week.

Thursday evening was marvellous. 8pm the neighbours in our little  row all convened, socially distanced of course, to ‘Clap for Carers’. It was so moving , because it felt like being one with not only the rest of Trimley but also beyond, as we also heard the ships horns from Felixstowe too. Such an uplifting experience. 

Good Friday 10 April, I would normally be at Church playing for services to mark this solemn day, it seemed very strange.  Then , the wonders of modern technology, my inbox contained a note from Trimley Church to say our local vicar broadcasts on Radio Felixstowe, Tea with the Vicar on Thursday afternoon at 4pm, if you miss the life show you could catch up on an app. Which I somehow have managed to do! So I had ‘Tea with the vicar’ Paul Clarke, on Good Friday morning! I later received an email from our Falkenham Benefice containing a Stations of the Cross Service, which we read in the evening. So I felt prepared for the coming celebration on Easter Sunday .

Saturday was another glorious day, and our new fruit-cage is nearly renetted!

Easter Sunday after listening to the Morning Service on Radio Suffolk, I had read ,even though we couldn’t worship together, we could join together at 10am by singing outside. I couldn’t move the piano out, so I opened the windows and played Jesus Christ is Risen today, Alleluia, Thine be the Glory, and two other favourite Easter hymns that I love to play. Imagine my delight when I later received a text from our neighbour, Jamie, saying they’d enjoyed listening to Sunday Service piano. So a wonderful Easter Sunday. And so warm …….we had to have lunch in the Shade!

Easter Monday….what a difference a day makes, a really chill wind, glad my Sheep hat is dried an aired, as I certainly needed its comfort as we took our health walk across the Railway Bridge! 

Weather forecast seems to indicate we’ll be having gardening weather again towards the end of next week.

Lorna Adamson

The work following from the lockdown as Treasurer of The Arts Society South East Suffolk and from the arrangements from not meeting as a Governor of Trimley St Martin Primary School has lessened this week.   I have concentrated mostly on weeding out the long couch grass in my very large strawberry bed ready for the flowers in May and hopefully lots of fruit in June.   I can manage two hours a day on this before the muscles in my right hand and legs complain too much.  We must be grateful for the lovely weather here.  I heard from an old school friend from Felixstowe Grammar School that she is in her third week of social isolation in an apartment in Edmonton Canada, where there is still snow on the ground.

 

‘B’ – seven years old

It’s been a really fun week – I got to see A, I got to see M and I got to see I.  It was on Facetime and we talk and talk!  I liked relaxing in the sun and playing with my family. 

I’ve enjoyed making a car out of egg boxes – I painted it in pastel colours, and it is called the Rainbow-mobile!  I’ve also done painting, ink marbling and made faces with googly eyes. We cooked cakes and scones and flapjacks.

I love my night time walks with my daddy.  I splash in muddy puddles and I found a stick which I use as a walking stick.  We go out at night because of my asthma, so we don’t bump into anyone else.  I have a bath when we get back.  We made an obstacle course in the garden – I can jump and hop and crawl.

I am really looking forward to the Easter Bunny visiting tonight.  I’m not sure if he will have any eggs because of the Coronavirus, but I’ve made him a card.

 

Becca Atherston 

Mud…and Tiny Triffids!

I am still smiling about the wonderful use of the word ‘gigantanormous’ from one of our contributors. It threw me back to my childhood when my Father would help me and my brother make dens. We didn’t see him much as he was a doctor working hard in London as a senior registrar prior to becoming a consultant anaesthetist. But he was inventive and fun! Whenever he had a weekend to spare it was brilliant.

This week, more mud (which I have tried to create round the birdbath) is being scooped up not only by magpies, but blackbirds too. I watched a female blackbird drilling into the lawn to scoop out moss, just like the squirrel. We are not fussy about our lawn, there are dips in it, but every creature has a right to make the best from Nature. I always think how much we would miss if the lawn was a ‘no go’ area. While a lot of people view rabbits as a pest, we don’t. In fact, we are probably doing the farmers a favour as the bunnies come here rather than the fields. Now, there is a lot of conflict going on about territory; very Watership Down!

 We are looking forward to seeing the crops grow. This is the beauty of living in Trimley St Martin. We have to fight to save this wonderful environment from mindless development through greed. Never before have we needed to examine how fields sustain us, feed us.

With the sun out, I have chucked the paintbrush down for a while. Poppy seeds planted in abundance, a flower I love. The seeds are collected from last year’s poppies. The same too with marigolds. I also thought I would tidy up our little conservatory. I made a narrow flower bed alongside it some years ago and planted nasturtiums. As it’s in a sheltered spot, they kept going through the winter. They found their way under the door. They exploded triffid-like inside, crawling over 2 bikes in there and there are even a handful of flowers. It’s very pretty but you can’t ride a bike trailing nasturtiums along the road! Sadly, I cleared them out as I want to make use of the conservatory. The Tiny Triffids had to go.

I went to bed thinking about the predicted Super Moon on Tuesday night. Right on time I woke up. I hadn’t set an alarm. I bumbled out of bed and grabbed my video camera. What a treat!  So awesome, I felt microscopic.

 Robin Biddle

This is a rare occurrence, for once, I’ve been totally lost for words. Thankfully I’m taking my ‘permitted’ exercise, cycling around the village, for those that can, it’s easier to keep a distance without making it too obvious. Trying to comply with the lockdown, gardening keeps us occupied, why rush, it will still need something doing. I’ve realised that I haven’t walked anywhere for a month, but I’ve probably ridden about 50 miles. There are some superb flowering trees and shrubs in the village, even the verges are trying lots of daisies and another good dandelion year. The back roads have had several patches of celandines and stitchwort, the thorn hedges and gorse have also helped to brighten thighs up. (Yes, I know I’m missing capitals, it’s giving the red under liner something to do)

To my wife’s great relief, we have a delivery slot, almost a month away (and we do have a couple before then) but we were beginning to wonder. A thought, will the lockdown birth rate compensate for those who sadly don’t survive?

Going to miss seeing the granddaughters next week, first holiday, half term etc. since they were born fifteen years.

Major disaster on Easter Sunday, no Virgin internet all day.

 

Sue Biddle

We are so fortunate to live in this lovely village of Trimley St Martin. In many ways the present situation reminds me of when my husband and I moved here in 1972. Neither of us could believe how quiet it was after living along the High Road in Trimley St Mary, with all the dock traffic rumbling past during the week, and not being able to cross the road to visit the in-laws on summer weekends, when there was nose to tail traffic all day long. In the morning pouring eastward to the coast, and evening heading westward towards Ipswich. 

Here in St Martin there was no A14, it was still under construction, therefore no traffic noise – the birdsong was loud and uplifting, and the lovely sound of ‘cuckoo, cuckoo’ was common in the spring. Our ‘new’ home had very little passing traffic, so the dog was free to take herself down the little lane which was where the northern entrance to St Martin’s Green is now, however, this was mainly because we didn’t have a back gate to keep her in at the time!  The evening dog walk was regularly taken down this lane, often with our small daughter, and the cat. We’d lean on the fence to see how the A14 was coming along, and look over towards Capel Hall Lane. ‘Our’ little lane was once part of the ‘main’ road from Capel Hall to Trimley St Martin; these days houses have been built, the trees have grown and matured, so no signs left that this was once the main road from Trimley St Martin to Capel Hall. 

So, it is quiet here once again, but not for a good reason, the Covid-19 virus, and the uncertainty and worry associated with it means life isn’t peaceful here as it once was. 

However, we now have computers and can keep in touch with friends and family, and even see them for an online chat. We’re able to order food and necessities, so during this lockdown period, if there is something you really need, it can be delivered to you. My grand-daughters are home schooling, their teachers are setting work, which is done online, and then, handed in the next day. My daughter and son in law are also working from home and their dog is confused. 

There are also other worries. What action should be taken if someone in the street is not conforming with ‘lockdown’. Should their comings and goings be reported, and to whom? We were all brought up not to tell tales, however Covid-19 has changed that, but we still need to live together peaceably when life returns to something a little more normal. The biggest problem of course is the more people who flout the rules, the longer we’ll have to wait for that day. 

 

Alison F.

Deliveries but not deliverance

I’m delighted to say that at long last, we have had a delivery from Iceland.  We’ve also had deliveries from the local farm shop; at least we can purchase our Fibre now (the nutritional sort, not the techie type).  We have heard that one woman who had been self-isolating for a number of weeks, caught and died from the coronavirus.  If she hadn’t any physical contact with anybody, then she must’ve caught it through her deliveries.

 Everyone who has been delivering to us has been very good with ringing the doorbell and just standing back and waiting for us to open the door and then leaving.  Anything wrapped up in plastic is supposed to be left for 72 hours.  The first package I got, I left in the bath and it sat there looking at me ominously for the next couple of days, every time I went to the bathroom.  I decided not to take a bath with it in the end and washed it.  

 Apparently, the virus lasts for two hours on paper, so any post is moved from the doormat and left for a couple of hours before we tackle it.  Then we get a letter from Boris and we know he’s had coronavirus and been in intensive care.  We better leave that letter on the doormat for at least a week. 

So we get our freezer delivery from Iceland.  We can’t leave that out for two hours or put it in the bath, so it has to go straight in the freezer.  Job done, now our hands need to be scrubbed while singing God save the Queen.  Actually hubby has banned me from singing that, not that he’s anti-monarchy it’s just he can’t stand my singing. Oh dear, now I’ve touched the freezer door handle so that will have to be sprayed with a diluted mixture of bleach and water.  After scrubbing my hands till they are red raw, I then apply hand lotion so they don’t crack.  At this rate it isn’t only my fingers that are going to crack.

It was a great relief when our pharmacist, Hado, delivered our medication for a month,  as we had seen on the television, long queues of people waiting outside pharmacies.  Interestingly the lady delivering from Hado was the only person we have seen wearing a mask.  My brother in the states has offered to send us masks but I explained that there was no need at present, as one of the experts the government is deciding to believe, has said they wouldn’t help.  The ghastly truth is that there doesn’t appear to be enough personal protection equipment (PPE) for our wonderful health service staff and care workers, let alone the general public wearing masks.  I told him that if he did decide to send them later, then he must label them as mouse pillows or something, but not masks, as they would never get to us. Our daughter tried sending us a breadmaker but that got ‘lost’, as she had labelled the package correctly as a breadmaker.  Hubby says that I should make masks out of my old pairs of pants anyway.

I really don’t care for being in this Hollywood disaster movie which is reality now. Every time one of us starts to cough, get a sore throat, have a migraine or feel inexplicably exhausted, I start to panic. Could this be it?  We have planned exactly how we would self-isolate from each other should the need arise.

My brother who lives in upstate New York, has tried to reassure me by saying that compared to any of the other places where his friends and family are, we live in the safest place.  Apparently Suffolk compares far more favourably for the number of detected cases of coronavirus with Norfolk,  Cardiff and Walthamstow in the U.K. and Boston, USA, Paris and Basel, Switzerland.  I find it hard to believe that Suffolk is safer than Switzerland and pointed out to him that the UK only tests those who arrive in hospital and no one else unless you happen to be royalty or a government minister. Thinking about it we haven’t heard any  sirens in Trimley for the last three weeks or have they all been switched off? 

 Something rather obnoxious is being sprayed on the field at the back of us and hubby says we should stay down wind of that because that will definitely kill the virus.

Chandra Grover

Chandra sent a copy of this poem reprinted here. If you wish to learn more about its origins, please follow the link:

https://www.irishcentral.com/culture/irish-american-teachers-poem-covid19-outbreak

And people stayed at home
And read books
And listened
And they rested
And did exercises
And made art and played
And learned new ways of being
And stopped and listened
More deeply
Someone meditated, someone prayed
Someone met their shadow
And people began to think differently
And people healed.
And in the absence of people who
Lived in ignorant ways
Dangerous, meaningless and heartless,
The earth also began to heal
And when the danger ended and
People found themselves
They grieved for the dead
And made new choices
And dreamed of new visions
And created new ways of living
And completely healed the earth
Just as they were healed.

A Headteacher

A quiet week of the new routine this week.  I am in school for either two or three days a week and the days I am not in school, I do not leave home.  I try to do my weekly food shop after a school day and the things I cannot get (it was flour this week) we make do without.

The new families have been bringing their children to school this week.  The children have all had a great week and parents seem grateful their children have fun whilst with us.  More new children will be starting on Tuesday as more come out of self-isolation.  I am proud of the way all my staff have stepped up to nurture, protect and to make sure all the new children feel safe and secure whilst they are with us.

I wrote a postcard to every member of staff this week.  Just a few lines to show that although I may not see all my team regularly, they are all held in mind.  I thanked those that are able to work and wished those that are not able to be in work, a safe and peaceful Easter.  A few hours of my time and the cost of a stamp but judging by the texts and messages I received over the last few days, a gesture that has touched many.  In the age of instant messaging, a card with a thoughtful message has been well received.

My family have been at home for over a month now.  We have settled into a new, easy routine.  Bedtimes are relaxed, we are all spending much more time together – cooking, reading, exercising and talking.  My hope is that when this is over, we remember this time and keep the best bits going.  My job is all-consuming, and it is difficult to balance the needs of the school, a large staff, the families and the children with the needs of my family.  I promise to do better, to try harder, to put my family, my children first – at least some of the time.  When my daughter asks to play a board game – I hope I remember to say yes, rather than wave her away and to ‘give me 10 more minutes’… which is invariably another hour.

 

Susan Hughes

It is indeed a challenge to have a fresh report each week. Sarah and I have had our walks curtailed, because as you say, it is becoming very busy out there. We were trying different times, but found we were encountering too many groups and cyclists. Thankfully, I have a small garden which we both enjoy. 

Sarah has painted the shed and a bench. We emptied the compost bin and spread the contents and Sarah has planted a cat pot with nasturtium seeds that I harvested last year. I also found some French Bean seeds in the shed, so they have been planted in tall pots. We wait with anticipation for them to sprout.

It will be Sarah’s birthday on the 18th. I had bought tickets to go and see the Pirates at the Hippodrome in Great Yarmouth. This of course, has been cancelled.

I have run out of flour, but contacted the Country Market and Sandra will make a chocolate birthday cake. A colleague from work who is an amazing seamstress is making Sarah a skirt. These will both be a surprise. Which reminds me, I must get in touch with John at the card shop for a Birthday card. I was going to make one, but would like to support local business.

 My daughter, in unlocked times is a co-farmer at Potsford Farm in Wickham market. One of the support staff has compiled a newsletter. There was a challenge in it to build either a wooden bird house or a cardboard one. Sarah was keen to try the cardboard one….no cardboard. I had a newspaper which I had bought on the last day I worked, and some glue. We found a double page of a blossom tree and a picture of butterflies. (You can see the result above.)

Morag Liffen

 Morag’s tidy garden

It’s been a week of gardening during this unseasonably warm and sunny April lockdown. The vegetable plot is coming along nicely and the home-made compost has surpassed itself.  Managed to get a delivery of 2 fence panels, so John has now replaced the ones blown down in a gale several weeks ago. Let’s hope I haven’t been too premature in planting out my cabbage seedlings. 

We are amazed at the amount of wildlife in the garden. The ponds are brimming with frogs, tadpoles and newts, and the blue tits have been checking out the bird boxes. We seem to have a lot of blackbirds too. Or is it that I’ve just had more time to notice and appreciate them?

Likewise, the pink moon. I got up at 3am to view this in all its glory, knowing that it didn’t matter if I overslept, as I didn’t have to get up for work in the morning.
I have avoided going to the supermarket this week, preferring instead to go to Gosling’s and Roselea farm shops, where I can get most things with far less stress and hassle, and both are in walking distance.

After an anxious week, am relieved to hear that Boris Johnson is out of hospital. A sobering reminder of how virulent this disease is. Also heard news from friends who had lost family members. We are living through strange and worrying times.
The highlights of my days are bedtime stories with my grandsons via Skype. It’s so lovely to see and talk to them, even if I can’t give them a hug.
Those days will soon come – let’s hope so, anyway.

 Laura Locke

Boredom – what’s that? Busy is my middle name.

Tutoring with the University inevitably grows in intensity near the end of the academic year in May. Assessments are due and dissertations being finalised. But now everything is online the teaching environment has really changed. Students and tutors are in their own homes, with all the distractions of children, parents, siblings,  dogs and cats. One student was making risotto in the middle of a class!

And the technical issues encountered when working from home are not solved by a visit from a friendly IT support team member, or by asking a savvier colleague sitting in the next desk. But I am so lucky to spend time in our village of Trimley St Martin. Super walks with my dog Bess, two convenient farm shops and a general store. And the sausage shop is still serving daily. Joy in a sausage!

I rarely need to go out of the village other than to present a radio show from the Felixstowe Radio studio in Maidstone Road. All my interviews for my regular Friday morning woman’s hour programme on Felixstowe Radio #LauraUnlocked are now on the phone, which rather causes anxieties that the technology is going to work. Last week I had the great pleasure of interviewing Liz Rastrick, our very own Trimley Recorder about her lockdown activities and her brilliant book tips. And on Good Friday Lisa Williams from Church Lane, who operates the Stennetts Community Cafe, chatted to me about daily cooking videos she is running at 2pm. They  are great.

As the lockdown seems to be extending to infinity I try to keep positive but at times the loss of physical contact with my family, friends, work colleagues, students etc feels like a bereavement. But it takes one phone call to bring one back to the reality.

After doing my first support call for Helping Hands to an elderly lady, who lost her husband in December and is totally locked down, I became ashamed of my self-indulgent moans. Her daughter is in America and her son in north Suffolk and she could have been forgiven for bemoaning her fate; being confined to her house for the sake of her health but with no close relatives at hand and so recently bereaved. But she was so upbeat and positive and the only thing she said she missed was her daily Express for the crossword. 

I am always advocating that one should always walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. This lady, with arthritis, still does miles on her exercise bike every day, sometimes twice a day.  I must be more like her!

 Kitty Moss

It’s all getting a bit serious now, what with Boris going down with it as well.    

We have now completed our third week of SI.   The filing system is now slimmer and sorted.   The garden is nearly perfect.   The recipe books are being consulted for how to combine the long-lost ingredients which have been lurking at the back of my cupboards.   As I have still found it impossible to obtain a delivery slot, should I set myself a challenge to eat up everything I have in my store cupboard without weakening and asking a neighbour to help me out?   What, even my Very Special trophy tins from the last holiday in France, probably out of date by now?  I am panicking about having used the last of my Potato wedges … Compulsive Shopping Disorder?  Luckily, I have found a packet of German potato cake mix, from an even earlier holiday and when that’s gone, back to the recipe books. It can’t be that difficult to grate a potato.     At G&T time, we are only eating half a bag of crisps to make the dwindling supply last a bit longer.  Can see now why my mother-in-law used to sew her sheets from the sides to the middle to make them last.   We often gave her new bed linen for presents, but after she died we found them in the cupboard unused and unopened, saving them for best, I expect.  Or for a rainy day.

And the weather is so lovely … the moon is so bright … it’s as though the earth is recovering.  Are we brave enough to change our ways?   

Ah well, I suppose the next job is to sort out the photos.

 

Adrian Reynolds

Adrian supplies me with a report over the telephone and the following is a rough summation of what he said this week.

I’m in the middle of drawing up a list of things to do today :

Rub down the bench, paint the light in the garden, jet wash the path and the patio, clean out the garden shed, carry on tidying the loft.

I expect some of those will roll over to tomorrow. We spent most of Bank Holiday Monday watching television because of the big drop in the temperature.  My shorts are back in the wardrobe.

This situation is awful but we have to stay at home. We’ve given up going to supermarkets. The last time we went about a week or ten days ago, we were stopped at the door and told only one of us was allowed in the store. I was the one who did the shopping.  It was chaos inside. At the fruit and vegetable counter, people were leaning over each other to reach whatever it was they wanted. No-one observed social distancing. Someone told me it’s very different at Martlesham Tesco’s. Once you’re inside, it’s like a conveyor belt. You are kept at a distance from the person in front and you can’t go back if you have missed something. But we have decided to avoid supermarkets and are shopping locally now.

I think it has changed the way we will shop in the future. Why do one big weekly shop? We walked up to Goslings Farm Shop to buy good fruit and vegetables, which we haven’t really done before. I had a backpack and a bag to put food in and my wife bought some plants while we were there. When we arrived home my wife tried an apple and said it was the best flavoured apple she had eaten for a long time. We have also been using the shop in Faulkener’s Way. I’m a bit of a convert to local shopping now and this will be how  we do it in the future.

Yvonne Smart

Reflections 

Keeping busy continues to be my way of coping with not being able to see friends and family.

Taking advantage of the dry weather I have once again enjoyed pleasant walks,  been out in my garden and on the allotment. Potting up, planting out, sorting storage shed. Consequence of the latter I have netting, wood etc to pass on to others. There is always some satisfaction in recycling.  It’s not all been working with nature though. Phone calls to make, emails to answer, letters to write, newsletter to produce for art group. Oh, and bath and trim my dog!  Being a standard poodle there is a lot of him to do but he is good throughout the process, or rather, he tolerates it. If we get the rain promised I will have the bonus of the pleasant smell of shampoo coming through – little pleasures!

Dogs have been a huge part of my life and it’s hard to believe that there are people out there that are unkind to our animal friends. Be a domestic animal or a wild animal that is killed for their ivory or other reasons. Being an optimistic I hope the current situation the world is experiencing will make such people review their ways and discontinue such practice. I remember reading a quote several years ago that sums up quite well how I try to live my life. I will leave you with this quote;

                                            Leave footsteps of kindness wherever you go

 

As ever, I welcome  further contributions  from those who wish  to  give their own reports of  The Great  Pandemic in Trimley  St. Martin. If you have any comments or would like to be part of this Trimley St. Martin project, please contact me at:

trimleystmartinrecorder@gmail.com

LR  12/04/2020