Some good news for the island this week (my name for the UK). We're now allowed to mix indoors, six people from two households. And eat indoors in restaurants and pubs! Also on the list: cinemas and theatres are reopening (socially distanced seating) and gym classes can resume. We can also go on holiday to countries on the green list. In reality, this is Portugal. Although the list includes places like Australia, they have not opened their borders.
So some good news in terms of getting back to some sort of normality, although it's all slightly clouded by the Indian variant of Covid 19 and the havoc it may yet cause. The government didn't restrict flights from India until April 23, purely because Johnson was going there for trade talks (flights to Bangladesh and Pakistan had been suspended on June 9).
Our next round of freedoms, to be announced in June, may yet be curtailed because the boffins are concerned that numbers will start to rise again.
I may be experiencing some of these new freedoms myself today (Weds). I have the day off. Mr Mutton is off on his bike holiday, cycling a thousand miles from Land's End to John O'Groats. It's been a fraught few weeks for him. Was the holiday going ahead? Would GWR be running any trains? (The service was more or less suspended for a week because of cracks that were discovered in carriages).
But now he's ready to go, Covid tested, sleeker of frame, having lost 8 kilos (16 pounds) and weighed down with new cycling apparel and gadgets.
He will be going by train to Land's End so I'm going with him to Paddington station to help if necessary. The carriage for bikes, and the carriage where he's sitting, are at opposite ends of the train so if the train is late, or on time, there's barely any time to accomplish both.
Last time I did this was at Euston. I had to push his bike along the length of a very long train, with interested mamils (Middle Aged Men in Lycra) casting their eyes over his fancy wheels and thinking I was lucky to own a bike like that, even if it did look a bit big for me.
Once I have waved the train off, the rest of the day is mine. Some of the museums are reopening for the first time in months on this very day, as are some of the cinemas. I'm quite tempted to see Nomadland, although it isn't showing in the Leicester Square cinemas. Or I could go into a clothes shop for the first time since before Christmas, even if it's just to indulge in the atmosphere of somewhere like Selfridge's. A nice little lunch, indoors, is also a possibility.
Meanwhile there's talk of a team lunch next week, which will involve going back into the office for the first time since February last year. At the moment you can book using an app if you want to work in the building, but there are only a limited number of places. I was quite keen, but some of my colleagues, being in their 20s and 30s, were less so because they haven't yet been vaccinated.
Today's Photos
The clematis was looking so wonderful I had to take some photos. There are three clematis montana along the fence, two pink and one white; it actually looks best from the lane, outside the garden, because I often chop too much off during the summer when really it should only be pruned immediately after flowering. I'm going to try to resist the temptation. The smell is wonderful, a bit like marzipan.
They're often described as thugs because they're so rampant, but I love how they have hidden the fence, and how they help to enclose the garden and make it seem more complete.
I shopped my wardrobe: everything is old. The skirt is regularly stocked in M&S each summer and I have it in 3 colours.
I was thinking of doing a post where I talk about how I created the garden, with before and after pics. Would that be of interest? Let me know in the comments. Also - what are the first things you plan to do following the relaxation of rules? (Or what did you do, in countries where the rules are already relaxed).
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Now it's time for #WowOnWednesday, where readers can find new blogs to read, and bloggers can find new readers. Last week we had a bumper number of entries which I was thrilled about.
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Laurie from Vanity and Me with her post "HM spring summer linen neutral style." showcasing the elegant, luxurious style that Laurie is renowned for.
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And here I on a vacation cycling 50km a day...... good of John! And mamils!! Had to lol!
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