They’ve back-tracked on the Christmas relaxation of restrictions and instead of allowing three households to mix from the 23rd to the 27th December they can meet on the 25th December only. Not only that but from the 26th December all of Scotland will be in Tier 4 lockdown which is back to what we had earlier in the year with everything but essential shops shut. The reason for the change is that evidently there’s a new and more transmissible strain of the virus on the loose.
We already had to postpone our holiday so this new restriction will not be too arduous for us but I do feel very sorry for all the hospitality businesses that will be hard hit, as well as all the shops which normally would see a roaring trade at this time of year. I also feel disappointed that we’re almost one year on from the start of the pandemic and still our only trick is to shut everything down. It’s not sustainable to do this and it shouldn’t be necessary if we adopted an approach similar to South Korea. They have had to lose some personal freedoms but you don’t get a much greater loss of freedom than being confined to your home.
What I find particularly unforgivable is the only way I can get a test for covid is if I have symptoms. But we know that around 30% of all people are asymptomatic which means we’re missing all of these all the time. I should be able to walk down the street to a testing station any day of the week and get a test. If I’m positive I self-isolate for ten days after which point my life returns to normal. But I can’t do any of this because I don’t have symptoms and have never had symptoms so I’ve never had a covid test. Yet I have family in Australia who have been tested multiple times this past year, despite not having symptoms. Why, after nearly a year, are we still not testing people?
On an unrelated topic, several months ago I struck gold in a charity shop and have been meaning to post my findings. I went in for a browse just as they were putting out a selection of vintage clothes from someone’s estate. I have no idea who died but she had wonderful taste in clothes and was almost the same size as me. I realise my obsession with vintage clothing is a bit silly as I probably won’t wear most of the items unless someone invites me to a fancy dress party. But I like looking at them and trying them on.
This dress I may actually wear. It’s lovely, cotton and fits perfectly.
This dress has 1970s written all over it and is for that fancy dress party I’ll never go to.
This dress is really too small for me and I can only wear if for about 10 minutes before I start suffocating.
This one is a nightie with a matching dressing gown.
This last dress isn’t vintage. I just liked it. It is second-hand though!
rachel.blog 
Leave a reply to Sarah Hird Cancel reply