Tag Archives: diary

Lockdown Diary: Day Two Hundred and Seventy-Six. Christmas Eve.

Today started off with the most ridiculous levels of loveliness. Snow had come in the night and the sun was shining and I had a special Christmas Eve FaceTime with my dear friends in Wales and New Zealand. One of them was riding through the valleys on her horse (technology really is a miracle) andContinue reading “Lockdown Diary: Day Two Hundred and Seventy-Six. Christmas Eve.”

Lockdown Diary: Day Two Hundred and Sixty-Nine.

The sun comes out and shines down on Scotland as if it has never been away. My two morning clients cancel, so instead of staring into the Zoom I go down to the field. All the mares are in a trance of profound pleasure as they feel the warmth on their backs for the firstContinue reading “Lockdown Diary: Day Two Hundred and Sixty-Nine.”

Lockdown Diary: Day Two Hundred and Sixty-Seven.

There’s a strange tension in the air as people don’t know whether to be more unsettled by the pandemic or by Brexit. Brexit got pushed to the back of the room for a while, because the coronavirus was a global threat and leaving Europe felt rather parochial by comparison. We would muddle through, because weContinue reading “Lockdown Diary: Day Two Hundred and Sixty-Seven.”

Lockdown Diary: Day Two Hundred and Fifty-Seven.

A friend is mourning his mother, who has died of the coronavirus. He posts a photograph of her in her final days. She looks serene and slightly otherworldly, very beautiful, and with a faint twist of disdain on her lips as if she is saying, ‘This damn virus is not going to defeat me’.  ButContinue reading “Lockdown Diary: Day Two Hundred and Fifty-Seven.”

Lockdown Diary: Day Two Hundred and Twenty-Five.

The Americans are doing something truly wonderful. They are turning out to vote in historic numbers.  I watch them in awe, as they go to the polls. A very, very old woman says, in a soft, nostalgic voice, ‘I remember voting for Roosevelt.’  In Philly, the women are turning out in droves. One man inContinue reading “Lockdown Diary: Day Two Hundred and Twenty-Five.”

Lockdown Diary: Day Two Hundred and Eighteen.

I start to think that all that matters is love.  I mean all the loves. I mean the big loves. I mean the loves that can change minds and move mountains. I mean those loves that let you know that you are not alone, that it is all worth it, that you can hang onContinue reading “Lockdown Diary: Day Two Hundred and Eighteen.”

Lockdown Diary: Day Two Hundred and Fifteen.

In the village, a young man gazes up at the sky. There is something arresting about him. I stop and look at him as I pass by. He’s perhaps twenty-six or seven, and he wears one of those old-fashioned forage caps like the ones they had in old war movies. He’s got on a longContinue reading “Lockdown Diary: Day Two Hundred and Fifteen.”

Lockdown Diary: Day Two Hundred and Fourteen.

I adore politics. I’ve always been fascinated by politics, ever since I was a little girl and I used to watch my dad frowning at Mr Heath when he came on the telly. (I think quite a lot of people frowned at hapless Mr Heath. Looking back, it seems astonishing that such a person everContinue reading “Lockdown Diary: Day Two Hundred and Fourteen.”

Lockdown Diary: Day Two Hundred and Thirteen.

In the world, there is a person who has just written a policy paper asking the government to build beautiful hospitals. I love this almost more than I can express. I also love the fact that people get better more quickly if they are in beautiful surroundings, and work better too.  Elsewhere in the world,Continue reading “Lockdown Diary: Day Two Hundred and Thirteen.”