"Keep calm and carry on"...

Never has the phrase "Keep calm and carry on" been more apt than it is at the moment! I didn't sleep well last night as I am worried about Mum and Dad and also about one of us contracting coronavirus and being really ill. I think from now on, we are going to severely limit our interaction with people and I will go and do the shopping, rather than Keith.

At least the sun has shone today, but we have a bitterly cold wind that made the letterbox bang like mad all day! After a slow start (not much to do or places to go at the moment!) Sophie and I went over to Tesco at Kettering to get some much-needed bits and bobs. We called to see Mum and Dad on the way and they both looked quite bright and had even been out for a short walk, so that was great.

Tesco wasn't anywhere near as bad as I thought it would be. People seemed calm and unhurried but there were still empty shelves and Sophie was almost apoplectic with rage when she went to get some feminine hygiene items and there wasn't any to be had! The shelves were empty save for some organic ones and cost a fortune!

We both bought what we needed and called back to see Mum and Dad as they had wanted us to get a couple of items. We then drove to Beckworth as I wanted to get Mum a present for tomorrow and I knew that the shop and garden centre were still open as normal. The place was busy but not frantic and most people seemed to be acting normally, which was good news.

We went home, had lunch and then went to collect Mike from town as he was ready to come home from Abbie's house. Her mum had just had a cold the other day but I'm still wary about him being around other people. The less contact we have, the better!

In the evening one of our local residents on our Facebook page set up a "virtual pub" and we all logged on at 7.30pm and raised a glass to one another. I think it was a brilliant idea and it was fabulous to see so many people take part and upload pictures of themselves having a wee tipple. One of the very good things about this awful situation is communities pulling together to help each other out and make sure everyone is OK. I felt quite emotional as the messages and photos started coming up on the page and I hope it's something we can all do again soon!