Global confirmed cases: 2,416,135; total deaths: 165,939 (JHU)

UK confirmed cases: 120,067; total deaths: 16,060 (DHSC)

Challenges in Turkey have delayed delivery of an urgent shipment of PPE, government minister says

Doctors warn hay fever sufferers not to confuse their symptoms with those of coronavirus

New coronavirus vaccine would be a long shot, chief scientific adviser warns

Thanks to some lovely sun, the weekend was…rather lovely. This is our second summer in our house and there is finally no excuse not to get on with the remaining garden jobs. Well, almost no excuse. On Saturday we spent 3.5 hours paining half of one side of the garden fence (we did the other side last year then ran out of steam). I was so pleased I thought we could do the remaining bit on Sunday.

Of course we could, said himself. We could just go for a little bike ride on Sunday morning and if I felt like it when we got back we could finish it off. Now, I wanted to go for a bike ride as I’ve not really left our village since all this started – my 10km runs are loops around the village so I can pretend I’m not going as far as I am.. and walking is lovely, but it’s mostly fields and woodland. I love both, but wanted to see somewhere a bit further afield. I wanted to see the sea! But we’ve not cycled in about two years (last year was all about the marathon training) and I had new shoes and new pedals (the sort that clip to each other) so it really couldn’t be too far as 1) I’d be saddle sore in a very short distance and 2) I was likely to fall off every time I had to unclip my shoes from the pedals at traffic lights. ‘Just a short, fun ride’ Himself said.

We went to the sea. All of it.

• 

• 

• 

Yes, that is 33km. He knew what he was doing…there was no hope of paining the fence when we got back…I was practically broken! It was worth it though. Blue skies, freedom and….well, cycle paths so busy with entire families that we cycled on the roads which – for once, in central Brighton – were quieter. And I didn’t fall off!

And in other news, Mum and Dad hatched an escape plan and went for a wander in the empty woods over the road from them:

They didn’t see anyone else, but I’m wondering if the bigger danger was the hungry trees:

On a serious note, there is talk in the press that lockdown will be lifted in stages with the older and vulnerable group asked to stay inside for considerably longer than the 12 weeks stated so far. I wonder how many people could realistically do that. 12 weeks seems an impossibility. Longer….?

They also very proud of their sweet peas :)

And to Sister 1:

• 

• 

• 

Well, that’s mostly Little Pea. Sister 1 painted his entire bedroom this weekend (she wasn’t stupid enough to go on a bike ride and finished the job). Little Pea loved having one of the dogs in bed with him. And we were assured that the rather angelic photo pf him in the bluebells was pretty much the only time he was angelic that day. That might be why Sister 1 also sent this:

……

Sister 2, meanwhile has been running in the gorgeous countryside around her:

That looks like the start of some sort of epic film, doesn’t it?

And has been chatting to chickens (I’m informed this one is Freida):

(Did you know some chickens like cuddles?)

And she’s been taming dinosaurs:

(That’s using the google thingy here: https://9to5google.com/2020/04/11/google-3d-animals-list/. Apparently it’s a bit buggy, but if you can get it to work you can get photos with all sorts.

I’ll just stick to the real thing for now though, I think. I love my Norman and his evening cuddles:

Stay safe, you lovely people. x