Genevieve's Blog begun March 21st 2020...

To be continued...

Lockdown - Genevieve's story

Saturday and Sunday March 21 - 22

It began with a weekend visit to mum and dad’s. On Saturday evening we watched ‘A star is born’ which was both happy and sad. The next day I began to see things were not right when we could not go to the pub for Sunday lunch for Mother’s Day. Mum and dad told me that we couldn’t see Sam and Lucy either and I felt sad and confused. Dad said we could Skype them, and we’d be able to see them on the computer. This made me happy. Sam called us, and when we answered, they appeared on the screen! We had a great chat and that cheered me up. As they had closed the pub, I helped mum and dad cook a roast dinner at home, and I gave mum some chocolates for Mother’s Day, then they took me back to Longfield where I live.

Monday and Tuesday March 23 - 24

Monday was ok, but on Tuesday it all went wrong. Jackie told us we would not be able to leave the house due to Corona Virus and I became very angry and frightened. I ran into the lounge and threw a glass at the wall. The house manager, Velma, phoned mum and dad and told them I couldn’t cope, and would they come and collect me. I am now ‘locked down’ at mum and dads until who knows when…

Wednesday March 25

More ‘ground rules’… I now wash my hair in the morning and have a bath in the evening. After I dried my hair, and had my breakfast I watched some tv while mum and dad did some work. After lunch dad and I went to the shops. We saw Neil and Sara who said the shops were quite well stocked. At the butchers we had to join a queue and order at the door. Dad bought mince and butter, then we went to the Co-op and bought bread and milk, wine and juice. I watched a bit more tv, then helped dad cook chilli for tea. It was then bath and bed.

Thursday and Friday March 26 - 27

Thursday began another sunny day. I helped dad in the garden, clearing and weeding the borders. We had cheese on toast for lunch, then dad and I watched Monsters Inc, and made turkey pasta for tea. I did some bead craft, watched evening tv bath and bed. On Friday morning after breakfast I fed the fish in the pond. Just before lunch Edem rang dad from Longfield and they set up a Skype account. Edem then rang on Skype and I saw all the guys in the house! We had a great chat and Velma and Chrissa waved hello. Mum came in and showed them Rusty, the guinea pig. Mum and I made lunch and dad’s friend Martin arrived with our new back gate. After lunch I watched ‘Airplane’ which was very funny. Dad and I then did my blog, before we started on tea.

Here’s me doing my blog on dads computer!

Saturday March 28

We’ve run out of Grape Nuts so Special K for breakfast instead! Then I helped mum clean out the guinea pigs run and tidied up the back extension. I went to the Co-op with mum and got a French-stick and some cheese. We had leek & potato soup for lunch which The Courtyard had made for the February Farley Common open day. After lunch mum and I watched ‘The Other Bolyn Girl’ then we Skype’d Sam and Lucy to catch up with their news which was nice. For tea dad made cauliflower cheese which was yummy!

Sunday March 29

The clocks go forward! I didn’t get up until half past ten. After breakfast mums fire stick arrived! Mum and dad set it up on the tv and we can now watch Disney and Netflix - very exiting! Mum had also ordered an Amazon Dot, so she now walks around the kitchen saying “Alexa play music”. Mum and I watched ‘Lady and the Tramp’ on the Disney channel, and I watched ‘Outlander’ . At the end of the afternoon I helped mum and dad cook the roast dinner, roast lamb yum yum! Then we watched ‘Countryfile’ and ‘Antiques Roadshow’ which dad likes but mum can’t stand.

Monday March 30

I got up at 9.30 and had Special K for breakfast again. Mum worked from home and dad had work to do as well, so I watched a lot of tv today! Our remaining chicken has started laying again so mum and I had egg on toast for lunch. I watched more tv in the afternoon as it was too cold to go out. In the evening mum and I watched ‘Moana’ while dad cooked a yummy chicken curry. We ate the curry while watching Frank Skinner’s ‘Room 101’ - very funny!

Tuesday March 31

I slept in this morning until 10 o’clock, then had a bath. After breakfast I helped dad in the garden. He dug out a long weedy border full of brambles and I helped cut them up. Dad was pretty knackered with the digging, so we had a cup of tea. Then dad and I planted some very old seeds, so it will be interesting too see if they come up! Mum is cooking tea tonight, and we’re having moussaka - my favourite! Wednesday April 1 - April Fools Day! It’s a warm sunny day today. Dad and I have been tidying the garden. At 11.30 we rang Longfield and got onto Skype eventually! It was good to see the guys, I’m missing you all! More later. Love Gen xx

At the end of the morning, I helped dad paint the summerhouse. We have decided to renovate it as somewhere to sit and enjoy a cup of tea. I was in charge of the repaint and used ‘corn-flower blue’ that we have used before. I was about 14 when I last painted it!

Thursday April 2

Its a bright day today so we are going to do gardening again! The garden bin is full and dad nearly missed the bin-men! He had to chase them down the road to catch them but they were kind enough to wait for him. We filled the bin and four garden bags and there’s still heaps to go! Dad is still digging out lots of brambles but the borders are slowly getting clearer - we’re going to need lots of plants to fill them! After lunch dad finished mending the floor in the summer house and we put some chairs in there and had the first cup of tea in there for twenty years! Dad cooked sausage casserole for tea and it was very nice.

Friday April 3

I slept in again this morning. After I had washed my hair and blow-dried it, I had Weetabix for breakfast. More gardening again today and I’m in charge of clipping! There’s heaps and heaps of it, and dad is still digging up more.

Dad cooked a yummy but hot chilli for tea, then we watched ‘Have I got news for you’ which was filmed ‘live’ with the panel in isolation in their own homes - very peculiar!

Saturday April 4

Another day’s weeding and clipping and the borders are very nearly clear! Mum joins us for lunch down the garden and she’s quite impressed with what we’ve done!

Sunday April 5

Toast and peanut butter for breakfast today! We’ve got back to the blog after three days and it’s a struggle trying to remember what we’ve done each day… Dad and I work it out using evening meals as the key, and we think we’ve got there! I’m relieved to say that dad has had a shave at last, he was beginning to look like an old tramp…

Monday April 6

More gardening today! Dads friend Jay was working up the road in Liz and Dudley’s garden. Jay is a tree surgeon and drives a big truck towing a chipper. Dad rang him to ask if he could take away all our garden clippings and empty our garden bin. Jay was happy to help, so then with an empty bin, dad and I got back to clipping!

There is a big beech tree at the bottom of the garden which sheds loads of leaves on the patio and it was my next job to sweep all these up and put them in the garden bin. That took a long time, and now the garden bin Is full again!

For tea dad cooked a chicken curry with what was left over from Sunday’s roast dinner. In the evening we watched ‘Would I lie to you?' and ‘Room 101’ - very funny!

Tuesday April 7

I got up at 9.30 and washed my hair. Weetabix for breakfast, then I watched ‘Transylvania 2’ while dad did his emails. Then guess what? More clearing and clipping! Will it ever end?

Here’s the patio area we are renovating, and that’s the beech tree behind the chairs.

When Sam and I were tiny we went for a walk in the woods on Farley Common with mum and dad. Dad found an acorn and showed it to us. “This is the seed of an oak tree” he said “we’ll take it home and plant it in the garden. When you are both grown-up it will be quite tall”. We planted it at the bottom of the garden 30 years ago and here it is now! It had got completely overgrown with wild honeysuckle, but when Martin put up the new fence, he and dad cleared away the honeysuckle to reveal our oak tree. Dad has this crazy self-standing ladder and he used it to strip remaining honeysuckle off the top branches of it. I was a bit worried but he said he was ok and it was quite safe! Time for a cup of tea…

Wednesday April 8

Dad and I took some tadpoles round to dad's friend Christina for the girls. We left them on the doorstep and went back across the road. Dad phoned Christina and she came out to talk to us with the safe distance of the road between us - social distancing big-time! It was good to catch-up with their news!

Thursday April 9

Mum and dad have work to do first thing. After my  hair wash and breakfast, I watched 'Jumanji' on  Netflix. Dad rang Longfield to set up my weekly Skype call to the guys, but only Jackie was there and she doesn't know how to use Skype, so she said we would have to wait until Edem got back from Edenbridge where he was collecting supplies. I asked dad how long he would be but dad said he couldn't tell. We all know this is a problem for me understanding time and it makes me anxious, so dad said to watch another movie and he would call me when Edem rang. I watched Peter Rabbit, but still kept going to dads study to ask if Edem had rung! Eventually he did call and we got on Skype, and it was good to see the guys at last!

Friday April 10

Mum and dad had work to do first thing, so after breakfast I watched 'Boss Baby 2' which was funny. It's an exciting day today as Zoe arrives! Zoe is a two-year-old rescue greyhound from Romford. She was delivered by one of the charity team as agreed before 'lockdown', and we all kept our social distance! It was another sunny day and we took her for a walk across the fields by Spring Shaws. As soon as we got back, Zoe found her bed and stayed there all afternoon!

Saturday April 11

The big challenge is getting Twiglet, our cat, and Zoe to accept each other!. At the moment, Twiglet is eating his meals in the bathroom! Thank goodness for a big house and a big bathroom… Twiglet is sneaking past Zoe and through the cat-flap, hoping no-one is looking! More gardening today! Mum and dad and I must prune and tie-back the wine-berries! This involved a lot of clipping and filling even more sacks, and took us about 2 hours!

Sunday April 12

Its a very sad day today. I'm going to have to be very brave because it hasn't worked out. Twiglet and Zoe cannot get on. They are both freaked out and so am I at the thought that Zoe will have to go back to her foster home, but we have no choice. This is Twiglet's home and his life mustn't be made a misery. It's a tough lesson learned for all of us.

Monday April 13

Twiglet is still feeling sorry for himself, and has hidden away in Sam’s old room and won’t come down. We’ll just have to give him time, I suppose. A really strong wind started up early this morning and when dad got up, the garden umbrella had blown away! He found it in the side border sitting on top of the monkshood but luckily the plant was ok. It’s a bright sunny day, but with that wind it’s freezing cold outside, a bit of a shock after being so warm yesterday! Mum and I went to the Co-op to buy soup and bread for lunch, pink lemonade for me and red wine for dad. In the afternoon mum and I watched ‘Dirty Dancing’ on Netflix, then dad and I did my blog. We had roast chicken for tea last night, so dad and I will make a curry this evening with the leftovers. The curry was yummy and quite sweet. We had run out of rice, so we had chips and sweet potato instead - mum was pleased as she is not a great rice fan! After tea we watched the last episode of ‘The Nest’ which I thought was alright. 

Tuesday April 14

Twiglet seems to have got over the shock of Zoe, and has stopped hiding. He spent the night on mum and dad’s bed and came down for his breakfast ok. 

This morning after I’d washed my hair and had a slice of toast and peanut butter, I watched ‘Wreck it Ralph’ on Disney. Dad and I went to the Co-op and bought chicken soup for lunch.

In the afternoon dad and I pruned the ‘Rose of Sharon’ and the ‘Fuscia’ in the front garden - now the bin is REALLY full! Thursday of this week is bin-day for garden waste, so we get the bin emptied and can get rid of seven garden sacks as well. At five o’clock dad and I started on the tea - we’re having ‘boeuf-bourguignon’ tonight, very posh!

Wednesday April 15

Hairwash then breakfast (peanut butter on toast) and then we were ready to Skype Longfield, but Edem rang to say could we do it after lunch as there was a management Skype meeting planned for that morning. I watched ‘Vicar of Dibley’ to pass the time then at two o’clock dad rang Longfield but Edem had taken the guys out for a walk! More waiting… Eventually Edem Skype’d us, and there were the guys! I could see them all, together with Jean, Chrissa, Jackie and Velma. We had a great chat, and Jackie said that Lunch Club had given me some little easter eggs!

Thursday April 16

I slept in this morning, and mum had to come and wake me up. After breakfast, dad and I did some gardening. Halfway down the garden is a small woodland area under a cedar tree. We cleared out some holly saplings and ivy and dad pointed out some young ferns that were just waking up after winter, and I saw the wild garlic was in flower.

It’s a nice bright day, so we do some more garden clearing, and we water the few ten-year-old seeds that have germinated out of those we planted when lockdown first started. They are a wild-flower set so should attract bees. For tea dad cooked a chicken and asparagus potato pie and I helped by chopping the onions. We baked it in the oven and it was yummy!

After clearing away the holly and ivy (more clipping) dad bent over to pick up a twig and broke wind! We laughed and decided it must be time for coffee...

Friday April 17

It had rained overnight and it is freezing cold today, so we won’t be in the garden, even though the bins have been emptied. Weetabix for breakfast, then I watched ‘Ratatouille’ then ‘Star Wars the Last Jedii’ which will last most of the day, as it’s a very long film.

Our remaining chicken is laying well, so we had egg on toast and baked beans for lunch. We are feeding the chicken wild celandine leaves which make the yolk bright orange!

After lunch, dad and I drive to the bottle bank to get rid of the empties. There are rather a lot of them! It’s still grey and cold and starting to rain so it’s back to Star Wars in the warm for me!

Saturday April 18

I started the day with a bath and hair wash. After breakfast, mum and I went to the pet shop and Co-op. This morning Lucy has a live streaming gig with Oxford Folk Weekend because of lockdown. They will be running it on ‘Zoom’. We bought a ticket and joined 24 other people in the live gig. Lucy was playing in their front room! None of us had done anything like this before so it was quite exciting. She played about nine songs and it sounded very good! After lunch we Skype’d Sam and Lucy to catch up with all the news which was nice.

Sunday April 19

After hair wash and breakfast, I watched ‘Peter Rabbit’ on Netflix. It’s a bright day, but a bit chilly just now. Dad and I will do more gardening today when it warms up. Around 11 o’clock we get started. Dad’s plan for today is to tidy the side yard which is a great little sun-trap in the morning, and smarten up the top patio by the pond. After lots of clipping and weeding the side yard looks quite smart and we move a little table and chairs round there.

We then moved to the large bottom patio to finish that off and mum came and joined us. Most of the beech leaves have now been cleared up by mum and me. Dad has some fencing to repair over the next few days, and I’ve got the side of the summer house to paint…

We had roast chicken and apple crumble in the evening and watched Lady Gaga’s concert for essential workers which I enjoyed.

Monday April 20

It’s going to be a bright and sunny week, so more gardening! It was a bit cold first thing so I watched an episode of ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’. It’s a bit dark in places but I quite enjoy it. After lunch dad and I rescued the old Clematis that had got wrapped round a large bush sitting next to it. We repaired its trellis with gardening ties and attached it back on neatly. It’s got loads of buds on it so it should flower well.

After that I helped dad cook a chicken curry with the Sunday roast leftovers. We added onions which I chopped, red pepper and courgette in a sweet curry sauce - yummy!

Tuesday April 21 (we've been in lockdown for 29 days so far)

In the morning I watched Roald Dhal’s ‘The BFG’ on Netflix, which was very good. Today dad and I will take wineberry plants to dad’s friends Christina, Harry and David. They’ll get two plants each which means all of our excess stock have gone to good homes! On the way out to deliver to Harry, we bumped into Bo, next door who said could she have some wineberry plants as well - I hope we can find two more! After delivering the wineberry plants we had a well-earned cup of tea. Mum took a trip to Morrisons and came back with good supplies including a big bunch of asparagus so dad made a chicken and asparagus pie which was very tasty!

Wednesday April 22

In the morning I watched another episode of ‘Unfortunate Events’ while mum and dad did some work, then dad and I finished painting the summerhouse, it looks very smart!

For tea mum and I had poached salmon which was yummy, and dad had a fillet steak because he doesn’t like fish! We watched another episode of ‘The Crown’, then I had a bath and went to bed.

Thursday April 24

The bin-men arrived early and dad nearly missed them again - at least he was dressed this time! After breakfast I watched ‘Anne with an e’, an American period drama that was quite a sad story. Just before lunch dad called me up to his office, as Edem had skyped us from Longfield! I had a good chat with the guys and Jackie, Kim and Edem, then Edem walked his lap-top boutside to show us the rainbow the guys had made. I enjoyed that! After lunch dad and I attacked another border in the garden, with dad digging up weeds and me cutting them up.

Chief cook is getting a night off tonight! We’re having a simple supper of faggots, cabbage and potatoes. We watched the fund raising comic relief program which was very funny, but something was making me anxious and I got upset. I had my bath and realised I was missing Sam and Lucy a lot. Dad sat with me on my bedside and we talked about things, which calmed me down. After a little while he said goodnight and I went to sleep.

Friday April 24

Sara my key worker is coming over this morning to deliver my meds, some more clothes and my easter eggs! When she arrived we kept our social distance and had a good chat. It was nice to see her, I watched some tv then we had lunch in the garden. After lunch dad and I did some weeding. The long border is looking pretty good now

Dad had been to see Richard at the butchers so for tea we had liver and bacon which was very nice!


Saturday April 25

Mum woke me up at 9.30 to have a bath and hairwash as we have agreed to Skype Sam and Lucy at 10.30 this morning. Mum still had to have a shower, so we didn’t get in touch with them until 11 o’clock. It was nice to see them, and we talked about ‘our week’ and caught up with all the gossip. They are both still working from home. Lucy made a nice chicken pie and will send us the recipe! We said goodbye and ‘same time next week’. After lunch mum and I went to ‘Pets At Home’ to get bedding stuff for the guinea pigs, and fish food for the pond. Dad and I did more clipping and filled two more sacks, then sat down in the sun to write the blog. We are having ‘spagbol’ for tea which dad tarts-up with pate and wine and calls it ‘ragu’! I call it yummy!

Sunday April 26

I slept in this morning but mum woke me up at 10 o’clock to have a bath and hairwash. Dad and I will work in the garden this morning, then go for a walk this afternoon. Just before lunch our next door neighbour Louise arrived with some supermarket shopping for us which was very kind of her. After more pruning and clipping we went for our walk. By the old mill, we met dad’’s friends Dan and Hannah with their young boys Henry and Albert. They have bought the old British Legion building and are turning it into two cottages. We chatted to them for a while and Hannah told us she is expecting another baby in August. I am excited for them. Dad took us on the steep walk up to the old cricket pitch on ‘The Toll’ . It was pretty knackering but there was a lovely view at the top! The cricket pitch is now a rape-seed field and there were bluebells everywhere in the woods.

Monday April 27

I washed my hair first thing then had weetabix for breakfast. I watched ‘Dinner Ladies’ that made me laugh and Renee Zelwigger’s ‘Judy’ that made me cry. We had some lunch then dad and I planted the bee friendly seeds that ’38 Degrees’ had sent to dad. We watered them and put them in the summer house to germinate.

Please go to Page 2 for the next installment.