Canny lass

Forgot to mention: I will Survive is the first song on the programme. Great choice, given the situation we're in just now.

Thanks for that Symptoms. I've wondered what might be the difference between a Public House and a Beer House. That could well be it but most of those I mentioned above were public houses where the landlords occupation was given as innkeeper plus one other occupation. Maybe the beer houses were taking away their trade.

It would be nice to hear from a few others how you're all getting along in these strange times. Italy, I understand is very hard hit. How's things with you 3g and Ex Bedlingtonian? Bryan, how are you coping way down under? And Eggy are you able to get out of bed yet? HPW, aa hevn't hord nowt from ye for ages. Hoo ye deein? Generally speaking how is the Bedlington/Northumberland area for cases of COVID-19? We are informed of the numbers country by country but a bit more local info would be appreciated. Also, sorry to hear your visits to Dot have been put on hold, Vic but it's for the best. Better to be apart for a short while rather than forever.

Online Ceilidh sounds interesting! Wednesday evening is online choir night here, rock & pop - there are many strings to my fiddle! It's a bit surrealistic with a 7000 strong choir all singing at home alone. It's a full choir practice with a physical warm upp to get the adrenalin going then breathing and abdominal exercises followed by singing and rehearsing for the show we will have in the capital city sometime later in the year - virus permitting, of course. It'll be a bit different from the twice a year concert in the school hall or the occasional flash mob in the shopping centre.with a choir of forty but necessity is the mother of invention so they say. Otherwise, I'm still keeping out of mischief. Polished the wheely bin today and polishing off a bottle of wine as I write (comiserating celebrating 31 years of marriage).

For those who may still be confused, this may - or may not - help. personally, I think it's more relevant to social isolation than social distancing:

Home quarantine, days 6-10: Keeping the home-fires burning in 2022. There are two more behind me. #Winning at social isolation!

That's it! But, as I remember it, it wasn't a powder, more a block of - something rather like a soap. You wet the toothbrush and worked up a sort of 'lather' on the block and then brushed your teeth with it. Tasted vile!

Hell's bells Malcolm .... I didn't think you were that old!

Anybody remember a capaign in infant schools in the early 1950s to promote good hygiene? Or maybe it was just Netherton? At the infant school we all had to have a toilet bag with a soap (in a proper soap box), a toothbrush and toothpaste (Gibbs dentifrice - small round tin with a pink block of something that tasted like Germolene ointment), a comb and a face flannel. These bags hung on our coat pegs and during the morning we were lined up at the few sinks to take turns at being instructed in their use. Now's a good time to bring a bit of that back - the soap and hand-washing. Good on ya Greggs! How about a few pasties for the nursing staff of the area.

... I hope that's because of involuntary knee jerks and not an overactive cough reflex! Seriously, I hope you've cut the missus loose from the kitchen stove so that she can pander to your every need and have you up and about soon!

Thanks for the tip! I had a look at this in the app store but there are several different versions. Which one do you have? Mind you, we have a third dimension to the game here. We have the English version of the game and we toss a coin to decide which language we use for the game. It can be very interesting as the most common letter in English is E but here it's A so there aren't enough A:s to go round if we choose his language. Also, his language has three more letters so the O:s and the A:s have to double up for the missing letters. It doesn't help that Y is a vowel here, either but it does make it a lot more fun!

Sorry Eggy! I was being facetious and making light of a very serious subject. Sorry if I offended. Of course there's a risk, not just to the baby but to all in the delivery suite, mother-to-be and midwives included. But giving birth, for quite a lot of people can be a very frightening experience - akin to dying alone. So, if one person can sit with the dying it seems reasonable that one person can sit with a woman in labour. I remember the time when fathers weren't allowed in the delivery suite. I also remember the time when their presence began to be allowed. They were not welcomed by many midwives who deemed them to be 'in the way'. However, ante-natal care has come a long way since then with many fathers-to-be attending pre-birthing classes with their partner. They receive an education there that makes them a valuable asset in the delivery suite, comforting, encouraging and assisting with prophylactic breathing techniques - time consuming work previously the duty of the midwife. Effectively they can release another midwife for more important things, maybe another birth occurring simultaneously. Then there's the experience itself to consider. For many it may be the only birth they can be part of. One child families, voluntarily or otherwise, are quite common. There's no re-run, no second chance. The risk of cross infection is minimal in a delivery suite as everybody, including the birthing partner, dad, mum, sister, best friend or doolah, is gowned- and scrubbed up and the air is changed every few minutes. Better than in a side ward or a four-bedder on the ward.

Very good initiative on your part, Malcolm! This is not a group that many will think about.

Home quarantine, day 5: Temperature 3 degrees, blue sky and sunny. Lovely day for gardening! I've managed to prune most of the bushes, everything except the Forsythia and roses. Too early for those. Morning and afternoon coffee outdoors on the south side of the house, sheltered from the wind. Lovely! I've also gathered up five wheelbarrows full of Birch twigs blown down by the fierce winds we've had lately. I wonder how many days that job would have taken without the help of the corona virus. #Winning at social isolation (and Scrabble)!

What is it that you don't understand? The newborn presents no health risks. It's been socially isolated for nine months.

Home quarantine, day 3: Finally had time to give the cupboard under the stairs a good going through! I've been threatening to do it for ages! . Even had a chat to my other half. Seems like quite a nice guy! #Winning at social isolation! At government level: New law passed today, allowing primary and junior schools to be closed if required. Non-compulsory education establishments, uIniversities and high-scchools, already closed.

I wonder if we'll still be saying that after 2 weeks, Vic! I'm surprised you're being allowed to visit Dot. All visiting to hospitals and homes for the elderly is forbidden here.

Home quarantine, day 2: It's amazing how much you can get done when life isn't getting in the way. By' life', I mean going to the gym, singing in a choir, a bit of retail therapy, fika (going out for a coffee), night classes, a bit more retail therapy, popping out to visit someone, someone popping in for a 'quick' visit, going to the dentist (won't be missing that). Today we cleaned our windows! All 16 of them inside, outside and even inbetween (our windows have four sides). Would have taken a week normally.

Over 70s are now in home-quarantine for two weeks here (to begin with) . Dug the Scrabble and the Yatzee out yesterday. Fortunately we stocked up on wine on a w/e in Germany a couple of months ago. Also hoping for a bit of good weather (we finally got snow that stayed, a couple of weeks ago) so that I can get some gardening done without interruptions.

Of old maps to judge, the PO moved from its location between the King's Arms and The Mason's Arms on Front Street West 1860-61. However, while I can remember it in more recent times once again on Front Street West, I can't remember when it moved there. ... and when the family was completed and the pram no longer used for transport of other household essentials the under-carriage made a great bogey! Two sets of wheels, three planks of wood: one long, two short and a bit of your mother's clothes line for the steering and the dragging it back up hills. Am I right in thinking we also called that a trambone?

Now that's a turn up for the books! Well done! It clearly went on to be called the Mason's Arms at some time before 1861 when it's named in the census. Something that's struck me as odd over the years is the number of Bedlington publicans who appear to have had a second string to their fiddle, so to speak. 1851 there's a shoemaker/innkeeper (I'm not sure which pub but somewhere between the market place and last house at the east end of the town on the north side of the road). Same year we also had at the Black Bull - innkeeper/cooper, and at the Sun Inn - Innkeeper/blacksmith. 1861 the Traveller's Rest had a Beer Housekeeper/labourer. Clearly, selling beer hasn't always been the lucrative profession it is today. There's also a Swan Inn. I've never heard of that one.

Cigarette machine on the corner! Who can remember those?