Thursday 26 March 2020

In Spite of Everything...







Spring is coming along both outdoors and indoors. 

We've been having lovely sunny weather all week (although still a bit chilly), and I've been too busy, and spending too much time outdoors, to feel isolated. On the whole, the biggest change for me so far in the ongoing drama is that I spend more time now trying to keep up with the latest news; which leaves me less time than usual for "normal" things! (Not to mention all the tips of "things to do in quarantine" that keep flooding the internet...)

Short summary:

Saturday: Long walk into town and back. Kept my distance to people, but took quite a lot of photos; and then blogged some of them. Also bought more tulips (again, my only purchase, and a very quick one, with no queuing involved).

Sunday: Blogged a Sepia Saturday post; and after lunch went out for a walk. Ran into a couple of old friends (but we stopped ourselves before we got too close!) They came on bikes, wearing helmets and sunglasses - if one of them hadn't recognized me, and called out my name, I would not have realized it was them. We stopped and chatted for a while - still keeping respectful distance, of course... (Even if three people is not yet officially considered a crowd here!) 
  
Monday: Payed bills and did some other "have to" things online; went for a walk; and changed curtains in the kitchen (and some other decorations too, to follow the changes in nature outside).

Tuesday: Did my online shopping order from the supermarket (to be delivered Thursday). The order took longer than usual, as everyone is still stock-piling stuff - so I had to spend more time than usual guessing what, and searching for strategic alternatives.

Guess what category had vanished completely and could not even be found on the website, neither by the search box nor any other way I could think of? Where ever you live in the world, I'm sure you guessed it. I'll just have to keep hoping that the situation will normalize before I reach the bottom of my own pile...

I also felt I had to be a bit creative about certain other things. Last time, for example, I had ordered two cartons of my standard soy yoghurt, but did not get any - which surprised me then, because they usually have more than one brand, and if they're out of what I ordered, they usually send another similar product instead (unless I have checked a little box to say I don't want that particular thing to be replaced with anything else). This time, to be on the safe side, I ordered three different kinds (two soy, one oats). Of course now I ended up getting all three - so if nothing else, no lack of yoghurt for breakfast for a while! But actually I got most of the other things I wanted as well. Except... Kitchen paper! (I suppose bought buy all the other desperate people who could not find the other kind...) 

On the other hand, there is still no shortage of fruit and vegetables from all over the world. Which I find quite surprising, under the circumstances. Grapes, mango, bananas, avocado, eggplant etc -  no problem. I got everything I had ordered of that kind.

Wednesday: Washing day in the afternoon. Just now a good thing that the common laundry room in my building only has one washing machine. That means one is usually alone down there (provided people respect the rules and keep to their time slots). And yes, I wash my hands etc - and always wear vinyl gloves down there anyway.

Thursday: Got my groceries delivered in the morning; and went out for a walk after lunch. Back home, watched the usual daily press conference with our various Expert Authorities on TV in the afternoon. How quickly one gets used to very strange things! I can't even remember now when exactly that became a daily thing. A few weeks ago, I don't think I even knew we had such a person as a State Epidemiologist. Now he's our chief guru and we rely more on him than on the prime minister (or any other politician). He seems to be on every newscast and every talk show in every channel around the clock; patiently answering the same questions over and over again. So far, Sweden has been taking a slightly different approach to things than most other countries: Here (so far), more recommendations and partial restrictions than complete lockdowns. For how long, and whether right or wrong, remains to be seen (perhaps - or perhaps we'll never know). But in the meantime, it can of course be speculated about a million times.

Phew. Enough for today. Past my bedtime already...
Keep safe! ♥

7 comments:

  1. I'm glad you have been keeping busy! I ADORE your curtains!!! I like them even better than the flowers. I have never ordered groceries, though our daughter-in-law does all the time. We have our own virus expert on T.V. most days; we are watching him now.

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    1. Ginny, having been in early (and health-related) retirement for many years already, and living alone, I'm used to thinking ahead and trying to be prepared for situations like perhaps having to stay in for a week or two if I get sick, or in bad winter weather. Ordering groceries online is a possibility I jumped at as soon as it became available here, because of having no car of my own + difficulties lifting and carrying heavy things.

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  2. Those curtains are so, so pretty! They wouldn't look out of place in my bedroom - if I were to have any curtains (my entire flat is curtain-free; I like them in other people's dwellings but somehow can not bring myself to have them).
    Yes, Sweden's approach is slightly different. I read about it yesterday. The rules about schools for younger children still being open while high schools and universities are closed is one that I really do not understand. But of course I am no expert and have to trust those who (hopefully) know what they're doing.
    Like you, my life is not less busy than before. I still work my 36 hours a week, and although I save time by not travelling to and from my clients' places, I need part of that time to make all my own meals, with everything involved from food shopping to cooking and cleaning up.
    None of the "what to do in quarantine" tips are relevant for me - I have plenty to do, and am sorry for those who are really not allowed or able to leave the house every now and then.

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    Replies
    1. Meike, to summarize the reasons given for Sweden's decisions about the schools (so far): High schools and universities have switched to distance studies. Lessons are kept online. The teachers are still teaching, and the students are still supposed to be studying. Equal to working from home, really. What is gained for the society as a whole is more social distancing: Not as many people gathered together in one place; less people using public transport. The schools for younger children are still kept open, because 1/ children in general seem not to be a risk group with this virus (neither getting very ill from it, nor spreading it much), and 2/ children can't be left to their own devices, so if they have to stay home, their parents must stay home too, even if no one is sick. And a lot of those parents are health care staff and others needed to keep both health care and other vital functions of society going. If there is need for a certain school to close temporarily (like because of lack of staff), that decision can be made locally. Should the situation drastically change nationally, there are back-up plans. But for now, this is how it is.

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  3. we are now reconizing faces and names of people we did not know existed also.. seems to be a head honcho for every dept.. THEY all talk like they know what they are saying until the next one talks and says something different.. glad you are able to get out and to get food. we are all making adjustments as needed. now if we could see the end of the tunnel that would be nice. your kitchen looks great. I always enjoy when you change your curtains.

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  4. Well I'm now on day 9 of self-quarantining and I am busier than ever. It's quite weird really. I'm still going for a walk when the weather permits and I'm doing a lot of physical work outside over the last few days because the weather has been fabulous.

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  5. Seems like you've been busy, that's pretty much the only way to be though, we are all under lockdown here.

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