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Sunday June 28th, 2020

Another stormy day. It’s not raining too heavily but is coming down persistently and there’s a definite wind behind it. It must have been warm during the night, though, because the milk we had in a ‘hot mug’ had gone off so I had to get fresh to make the morning tea. Gave the cats their Sunday morning ‘junk-food’ treat (a bowl of wet food and a bowl of normal whiskers crunchies instead of their more usual dried food). As normal, they were there as soon as they smelled it! No movement from the dog, though, who was settled on the sofa and didn’t make any attenpt to get up and go out at 7:30! Her Sunday morning treat is a piece of chicken jerky.

Made Highland Eggs for breakfast (one of my favourites). Used home-made potato pancakes and sweetcorn pancakes that we had in the freezer frmo last time I made them as the base. On top of that is a slice of haggis, some fresh baby spinach, hollandaise sauce and poached eggs. Absolutelty delicious.

Struggled with a couple of puzzles after breakfast (one of them was really hard) then out with the dog for a walk in almost rain, wind and with very ominous skies. We managed to get out and back without getting caught in any real downpour. The river was really high, it may well be breaking it’s banks again over the next few days. It was certainly too high and fast running to let the dog go for her usual paddle. The sandy/muddy beach areas were all well under water. She didn’t seem to bothered when she saw it.

Good news on the BBC website today. Scotland should be COVID free by the end of the summer. There’s been no confirmed deaths attributed to the disease since Thursday (only 3 days ago but it’s a glimmer of hope) and the number of confirmed new cases yesterday was down to 15. Another positive, Scotland has around 9% of the UK population but overall only accounts for around 4% of Coronavirus deaths. I think the way the lockdown has been communicated in Scotland has been better, the later and more cautious lifting has helped and the weather tends not to encourage sights like you see on the southern English beaches recently. Smaller, greener cities and towns with more accessible green spaces makes the ability to get out of the house and experience some natural environment easier. This, in turn, makes it easier to cope with the pressures of lockdown. Also, I do think there is more of a sense of community and societal spirit in Scotland. It is much less of an individualistic nation. Over 2000 deaths is far too many and the disease is still frightening and capable of causing devastation if we let our guard down but, hopefully, we’re past the worst and will be able to manage future outbreaks more locally and more quickly. Perhaps Nicola Sturgeon can join Angela Merkel, Sanna Marin, Katrin Jakobsdottir and Jacinda Aderne as female leaders who have handled this crisis better than their male counterparts in other countries. The world needs more female governmental leaders.

This afternoon we played the Doctor Who game. Two rounds, “E” won both so she’s happy!

Sunday Roast for Dinner – Pork this week. I maanged to find what looks like a lovely piece of pork in Tesco which what should turn into fantastic crackling on the top. We’ll have it with roast potatoes and yorkshire puddings (of course) and also roast carrots and onions and green veg.

Film Club this evening and we’re watching the only film to have reduced me to tears as an adult. About Time.

Loved the film as much as usual. It’s now nearly bedtime and the weather, particularly the wind, is getting quite wild.

Sobering news from the Guardian: “The coronavirus death toll has passed the grim milestone of half a million deaths. The number of people who have died in the outbreak stands at 500,108 according to John Hopkins University tracker. The actual number of deaths is likely to be significantly higher than the tally compiled from government figures. The US has the highest death toll at 125,747, followed by Brazil at 57,070. Some 43,634 people have died in the UK.”