Updated as I remain sequestered. Lost days of the week, no particular milestone to punctuate my limbo. Managed to almost destroy address book, day pages. They drowned due to my wandering mind and then the rains came, the storm next. Due to my senior status I remain sequestered. It’s not all downhill, spurts of creativity put me into zen flow, then I wake to next project. Try to tackle household chores needing attention naw, not now, not in the mood . Anyone else experiencing this?

So remain focused and busy. One side of #LittleFreeLibrary are of the kids in the neighborhood. I borrowed image as Kimberly was sharing with her siblings what I was teaching her. She’s clever and smart, on the telephone. Long distance learning before I even knew it was a thing.

This is the other side with my cat Luna. And a motion light for night time use. LOL

Most of my followers of this blog have read the origin of this Library know it to be the first registered LFL # 23056 here in Lake Worth Beach. A cosmetic overhaul certainly is a improvement and waterproof . Inside is another painting of a mother reading to her baby. Before it was papered with my calligraphy practice sheets. ( we were 3 building our libraries together. Ted Johnson and Dean Sherwin ). Ted’s a sailor, so we papered his LFL inside with nautical terms and pages of a sailing book. Dean’s was the show stopper he made a replica of his home.

Anyone wanting to contribute this library was made to house youth and tall children’s books. Oh course take a book , keep it, share via reading to a cat or younger sibling or bring one to share.

Send to printer

And it’s HELLO after a two week break when my IPad got lost and then found again, thank goodness, so here I am wondering how everything is in Lake Worth Beach.

Here in England things are progressing little by little …… restrictions are lifted slowly to make sure the numbers don’t go up again and instead of closing everything when they do, the immediate area of the worsening is locked down and lifted again when numbers go down. It really is just a matter of people being responsible for each other. Masks/face coverings are worn to protect others so I do not understand people refusing to wear them, uncomfortable as they are it’s about protecting each other!!!

This week nail bars were allowed allowed to start operating again so I took that opportunity to get mine done, I did not realize how much difference it makes, it is wonderful, they look so nice and I feel good. My nail technician is called Hanha (Hannah) and she and her husband Hoan. Run the U.K. nails bar in Southend on Sea. I had not realized that the last time I saw her in early March she was just pregnant, so imagine my surprise when I saw her looking as if she was going to have a baby any second,!!!

They are Vietnamese and wanted to know how I liked Vietnam when I was there at the end of February. I had almost forgotten it, but I did remember my overriding memory of how lovely Vietnamese people were. And in all this time they have only had something like 27 deaths from Covid. If I Remember, everyone on the tour was amazed that they were so organized early on, they all wore masks, our temperature was taken everywhere we went, there were posters everywhere sanitizers at almost every corner and at the airport everyone was tested. …..of course we got home to England on one of the last planes out and waltzed, no tests no checks and the rest is history. And so every day another country is put on the black list as numbers fluctuate, people go on holiday and find the country they are visiting is put on the black list. the next day which means quarantine for 14 days when they get home, this causes a big scramble for flights home before the deadline. I have made the decision that I am not traveling abroad until it is totally safe to do so and I won’t find myself rushing home and be in quarantine. – it’s a strange world in which we live at the moment.

I have been very busy at the community hub where scrubs are still being made to order it’s incredible. Masks are being made to ensure everyone has at least one, every Monday is mask giveaway day and every Monday there are lots of people arriving to collect masks for themselves and their family. I love it as it gives me a chance to see all the lovely people who live in the community and catch up on news etc. many of our people are on and have been staying in shielding their own and finding its very difficult to come out , they are nervous of people and would rather stay at home. Where they feel safe. I am hoping the masks will change that for them. And they will feel safer wearing them and will start going out again.

And the children are due to go back to school in September after 5 mo. At home. There have been many debates about this and schools have worked hard to ensure that schools are safe places to be. And children will be looked after. Many of our schools stayed open during lockdown and children of key workers (hospital workers vital services and and many more who are needed to keep the country running ) children were taught on a daily basis along w nurseries . Key workers were also given priority shopping times , deliveries of food and supplies whilst working to keep them safe and making sure they had food and sustenance during the awful time at the beginning of the pandemic

Here in England schools have different holidays to USA ….our school year starts in September, there will be a one week break in late October , 2 weeks break at Christmas, one week in March 2 weeks for Easter, one week in May and six weeks in summer mid July to early September. This gives both students and teachers regular breaks. This year no examination took place for our year II’s the first time ever , so the end of school results were based on teacher assessments . . . Not perfect but fair. The schools both leaving at primary level, 11 yers old and Secondary School (16 ) missed out on proms , end of year parties and saying goodbye, such important milestones. I know some schools are still going to celebrate at some time when it is appropriate and when it is safe to do so. Young people need to be back in school , they need to be learning and they need routine, it will be hard for them to settle back into working but not for long. …. they are very adaptable and for many the can’t wait to get back to their friend and the camaraderie of their friends.

The government has devised a great plan to get the restaurants and the eating places back on their feet. And to encourage people to go out again – on Monday Tuesday and Wednesday every week till the end of August all meals are half price with the government paying the other half!! We have, of course been making the most of this and have eaten out with friends and family at this reduced rate……our favorite of course being the five star restaurant and hotel on the seafront where the food is excellent and of course pricey …. not with this scheme, it was fabulous!!!

Everyone who has been asked to make hospital scrubs and bags and hats and masks has been asked to submit a 4×4 square of something appropriate to the whole experience and all of theses sqares have now been made into a beautiful and exquisite and emotionally charged quilt. I watched these squares coming in one by one and sa it put together by Carolyn and has now been completed. The last square completed by me for someone who could not complete one due to work commitments. It has now been hanging in the hub for some 3 weeks and every time I look at it , I see something I have not seen before. I have the photo here but to see it for real is much better….the writing in between has been sewn from comments made by workers during the process. The fourth square from the top left is the one I have now completed.

So now Monday I am ready for the Monday Mask giveaway…. because we have to wear face coverings in all shops and enclosed places these are offered for free or donations. Again these are beautiful, different designs and lined for putting in a filter, made with love and effort because people care

The garden is thriving and plants are still growing, tomatoes in abundance which taste so much better when they are home grown!!!! The community hub is having a overhaul of the garden with bushes being cut down and fences being replaced. It is getting ready to welcome back all our lovely groups and projects and community members, I cannot wait! For now we are still having our yoga classes on Zoom but hope before long but resume the classes back In the hub ….

And another library has been installed in a little town called Hockley, this library is surrounded by beautiful land where a yoga studio is being built along with Yurts and all kinds of peaceful things . And on that note of peaceful tidings. I will say goodby until next week. My overriding wish is that all the wonderful things that have come out of this awful time continue long after it is all over. .. and that the country which comes up with the vaccine, shares it with the world rather than make it inaccessible to some countries, we are after all , in this together, everyone has been affected by this time in one way or another. Have a peaceful and happy week. . . . .

And what a good week it has been albeit very busy. Firstly, I Want to ask how things are in Lake Worth Beachand how everyone is coping now? Here in England things have not changed that much, lots of relaxation of lockdown has been postponed because of a spike in numbers of people contracting COVID 19 and pockets of the country are being put back into lockdown as their area Falls into the risk category. This, in turn, is affecting every aspects for life …. the economy which was beginning to grow again, once again starts to fall once more. Jobs are lost as business after business fails through lack of support. We are still having to wear masks in shops and enclosed spaces hoping that this will be enough to stave of the awful virus.

people seem to be much better at social distancing now and understand how important it is to follow the rules. And so, with travel out of the question at the moment, at least abroad, we have decided to take staycations in order to see all those places in England that we have never seen. I am still on our first trip, which has braught us to Newcastle upon Tynewhich is the north east of England, known for being a shipbuilding and manufacturing hub. It is now a center of business, arts and science.
what brought us here is Hadrians Wall which stretches some 73 miles from coast to coast, it was built 123AD: to guard the wild-northwest frontier of the Roman Empire. It s now a UNESCO World Heritage site. Can you imagine this amazing treasure being built over a period of six years interspersed with forts every few miles which would protect the people within the boundaries.
here we are near the end of the wall and loving every minute of it. Yesterday we walked up a very steep stone path to the fort, phew,! The view from the top was spectacular, parts of the wall remain stretching both left and right of us. Sheep wandering freely across the grass. It was easy to see how they lived from the remains, communal toilets were at least 10 People could sit quite a convivial affair in those days obviously.! Romans were a extremely clever people, underwater heating and education being two important things passed down amongst many others.

I got to thinking what our generation will leave certainly it will not last For thousandS of years like these amazing artifacts. Things then were built to last, beautiful brick walls stone placed on stone with no concrete at all to keeping it upright, incredible.!! Today we live in a throwaway society where nothing lasts, a huge shame that Knowledge of our wonderful world will be passed on digitally. But we have had fun here and today we have walked and walked. We visited the local market which is Somewhat smaller Than usual, because of COVID. We have half the market this weekend And the other half of the market next weekend, better than nothing of course. Newcastle Castle was our objective after the market and having booked our places for 1 p.m. we spent the next couple of hours reliving castle life in the ruins of what once the most beautiful building dating back to the 1100’s

And tomorrow we return home after visiting The Angel of the North , a Hugh contemporary sculpture designed by Sir Anthony Gormley . Completed in 1998 , it is a steel sculpture 66 ft. Tall with wings measuring 177 ft across. The Angel, like a lot of his work , is based on a cast of his own body. It is Britain’s largest sculpture and the largest angel sculpture in the world. I cannot wait to see it having seen his other work. It seems to me that staycations will be the new thing as everyone decides to stay at home, already it seems that many hotels and places to stay are booked already. I love an adventure and look forward to many more.
It is a huge shame that we will not be coming to Lake Worth , it is where we feel at home and will miss our friends hugely.
Editors NOTE. I will wait until tomorrow To post this so I can include some Angel of the North Photos until next week, take care and stay safe . I am sure that this period will pass, when I do not know, but hope it is sooner rather than later.