A glimmer of hope for us all?

Heidi Hi,  

Snow is yet again fluttering down again this week, making our lives in lockdown a little less mundane and more interesting than the last nearly eight-weeks (fuck that's depressing). Today I start working from home (again) although this time I have a plan. I have moved the spare room around, I plan to buy a nice office chair, maybe a beanbag for the corner of the room and any guests I have to join me (probably one of the dogs or Mr Warehouse after he gets in). I even invested in a huge Mandela wall art piece so I can make it more boho and relaxing whilst WFH this time around, not that I need to be any more relaxed as the new job is like night and day from my last with so much less stress and the overwhelming intensity has disappeared entirely. Whilst it is different in terms of the work culture and workloads, I am enjoying it and honestly so glad I made the decision to move.

Tomorrow I will start my first full day working from my "new office" and am already so excited to light a new candle - The little things I suppose. But you have to take them where you can get them as the world is still amongst a grip of the COVID-19 Pandemic. As much as I have tried to distance myself from it, socially and otherwise, it is hard not to ignore that the UK has now surpassed over 100,000 deaths from the disease. The BBC confirms that the death toll is fading fast with just over 300 being recorded today (Monday 08 February 2021), a drop of 200 in the space of a fortnight. With more than 12 million people in the UK have now had their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine surely the end is in sight now? That's almost one in four adults in the UK - Incredible!

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the government will set out a "roadmap" for easing restrictions in England on 22 February. You can understand why people are chomping at the bit to get outside and back to normality as during the current lockdown the public have been told to stay at home other than for limited purposes such as essential food shopping, medical appointments and work. With schools also closed, I know many a parent who is slowly going insane being driven up the wall by the constant neediness from their children and seemingly never-ending want for snacks. To be fair though, I am not a child and Mr Warehouse nor a parent and yet I display all those traits of nagging offspring.

Here's hoping we can soon join the likes of the Isle of Man. Sky News reported last week that the small island situated between England and Ireland were able to welcome back pupils to schools and businesses could reopen. People will be able to leave their homes but don't get excited for your holidays just yet though as the borders will remain closed to outsiders. And don't think they fuck about either as the article goes onto explain that In December 2020, a man was jailed for breaching COVID-19 regulations after riding a jet ski to the island from Scotland to visit his partner. Ahh, sweet love or utter stupidity?

The island had not seen any "unexplained" community cases of the coronavirus for just under three-weeks and so this meant that islanders could hang up their face-masks and tell social-distancing to do one as many families and friends hugged for the first time since last year. Sky News continues that the current lockdown restrictions have been entirely lifted in the Isle of Man thanks to the "supportive, patriotic" public who have been praised for the way they have followed measures to tackle COVID-19. When being interviewed, Chief Minister Howard Quayle told Sky News "we had no COVID on the Isle of Man from the 15 June 2020 to the 7 January 2021 but sadly, we had some cases on the Isle of Man in which we had to go in quick and fast, shut down our island to enable us to eradicate".

One day. One day this will all be over and all but a blemish on our otherwise normal lives. A fortnight from now we will know a little more I am sure - But for now, we live by our windows, watching the world go by and waiting for the day we can get out and join them.

'Til next time, Love A.Lou x