Boarding @ Home: Day 14/84: Red Kites the surprise of the day!

Red kites at dawn and till late afternoon! Not just one but four, terrorising the local neighbourhood. The picture I grabbed because although they occasionally flew and dived close by I was never fast enough to take my own.

And Yes, the sky was that blue all day as predicted by our Covid19 scientists with their urgent reminder that we are: "instructed not to leave our homes except for the identified reasons." There seems little doubt that for the lockdown to yield its benefit of fewer being infected at least another week is required after which Boris' longed for sombrero will appear. What surprises me is how little attention is as yet being given to how Wuhan is beginning to arrange returns to work. It's not been clear whether they were furloughed as we have been in the UK to a considerable extent or whether they just went unpaid. In any event, they seem to be ahead of us all in the West so watching how they re-engage has got to be the most helpful intelligence we can hope for. The Swedish and Icelandic herd immunity strategies initially espoused by Boris are also being closely watched.
For those blessed with gardens … as I reported yesterday, it seems to be 27 million. It can readily be assumed most if not all will have taken advantage, as have the red kites! The family next door, our's, continued their gardening exploits with ride-on mowers and beech hedging in their eastern garden. That hedging requires the d-i-y scaffolding we originally bought in 1977 as a tree house for Julian [8] and Mathew [10]; it was then lashed to two Scots pines in our garden at Great Billing. It's been good value across the years with roof repairs, exterior painting jobs, Christmas lights on trees in the garden as well as being the platform for the massive beech hedge. I have suggested to Elliot that with all their fine lawns now cut at The Manor House, croquet might be a sensible pursuit - not for us to participate, alas, but for them to enjoy. We'll see ...
Avril ordained that our Sunday luncheon roast would be convened at 2.30pm in our own garden so the latest sunshade had to be unfurled. That was successfully achieved but a gust of wind did the predictable, upturning the lightweight base and bending the metal shaft. It is now sadly kaput and an earlier shade has taken its place with a heavier base. Lunch was fine roast lamb and roast potatoes and parsnips, boiled celeriac and broccoli were its accompaniments; and for desert more cold rhubarb and custard. Altogether a delight.
Easter Week begins today, Palm Sunday It's going to be a most unusual Easter week this year with all our churches closed; and with my sister Anne celebrating her birthday on Maundy Thursday - for which I understand HM The Queen has cancelled her traditional donations this year but will be speaking to the nation tonight at 8pm. The problems Edmonton had getting Avril's cards here by air mail have been avoided for Anne however; we posted as soon as she left us on March 2nd … and she's decided to stay on with Bryan and Joan in Edmonton pro tem rather than returning to her home in Victoria BC - despite 6" of snow late last week.