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Omicron land
We’re living in Omicron land here with the new variant taking over as the most dominant in Scotland as of today. Things change so rapidly. Last month the UK was in the best position in Europe to manage the virus over the winter. Then Omicron arrived. I’m not so worried about getting sick although I’d […]
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Second jab side-effects and the ethics of vaccination
I spoke too soon in my last post about not having any side-effects after the second Pfizer jab. A few hours later I developed a fever, headache, aches and pains, and a swollen lymph node in my armpit on the vaccinated arm. After the first dose it felt like I had a marble under my […]
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Ripping the bandaid off
I had my second Pfizer jab last night. Aside from a sore arm and feeling slightly tired I haven’t had any other side-effects. I felt a bit tired after the first jab too and several days later developed a swollen lymph node under my arm on the side I was vaccinated. This went away after […]
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Happy birthday to Victoria, open again, and a successful competition
It’s Victoria’s 1st birthday today. At least we think it is. She was born on or around the 26th April 2020. Here’s a little video of her having her fur brushed which she loves. It has been more than a week since I posted anything which is unusual for me. Things are looking up for […]
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Ben got his vaccine appointment letter
Ben got his vaccination letter today! It’s for the end of next week. The appointment day and time is sent out to each person and you don’t have to do anything other than attend on the day. It’s very organised and methodical. They’ve been going from oldest to youngest and Ben’s group is the 50 […]
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A new crochet jumper
I made myself a jumper. The diagonal lines are deliberate; it wasn’t me stuffing up 🙂 I got the pattern on Etsy and it’s quite an easy one to follow and a relatively quick project. The daffodils are starting to flower here. Apparently Aberdeen has 11 million daffodils and I can believe it. They’re everywhere. […]
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Pancake Sunday
It’s still lockdown here. We’ve been in lockdown since Christmas. I was sure back then that restrictions would be relaxed in January. How wrong was I? We have had to cancel our April holiday. This is the same April holiday we cancelled last year in April – we moved it to this April. Now we’ve […]
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I’m next for the jab, AstraZeneca vaccine cuts hospitalisation risk by 94%, and the South African variant
People aged 40-49 are to be prioritised for the vaccine in the next phase which means I could be offered my jab anytime from mid-April onwards. This is great news and much earlier than I was expecting. The UK has now given 27% of the population at least one dose. The UK has made a […]
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Vaccinate me, please!
Nearly a quarter of the population of the UK has now received at least one dose of the vaccine. This is great news and something we can all feel pleased about. Uptake of the vaccine has been very high at over 90% so far. This compares with a typical vaccination program in the UK which […]
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A year of blunders
The UK has made so many mistakes during the pandemic. We started by following the flu pandemic playbook which meant our goal initially was to slow the spread but not eliminate the virus. Something which is too late to do now and perhaps unfeasible anyway. I also realise that no one expected vaccines to become […]
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A dream come true
Today was a good day. It has long been a dream of mine to ice skate outside in a natural environment and today I ticked that off my list. Aberdeen has had several days of sub-zero temperatures, freezing the water in lakes and ponds. We found what is really just a puddle of water on […]
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Full lockdown for Scotland
The covid situation in the UK is pretty dire right now with close to 60,000 cases per day. It’s worse than it was back in March at the height of the first peak. I read that hospitals in London are now cancelling vital cancer surgery. This is the reason covid is so deadly. It may […]
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The Oxford vaccine, lockdown in Aberdeen, and online games
We woke to some good news today: the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has been approved for use in the UK. I had been hoping and expecting this news for a couple of weeks now and was wondering why they were taking so long given the trial results were released at the end of November. They took much […]
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The Nightingale Hospitals and snow at Drum Castle
We are in tier 4 covid restrictions here as is most of the UK as the sick in hospital reach record numbers. At the start of the pandemic the government was following its pandemic playbook which had been written in the years/decades leading up to 2020 but specifically for a flu pandemic. The plan included […]
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Christmas 2020
Many people saw their Christmas plans scuppered this year thanks to the dreadful plague. We were meant to be in the Highlands today but had to cancel our trip last week. It hasn’t all been bad though. Christmas arrived on Christmas Eve this year with snow in Aberdeen and also a Brexit deal at last. […]
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Lorry queues, supermarket queues, food production, and Christmas dinner
Victoria helped me wrap some presents today. Actually, she was a right nuisance and ended up tearing the paper. I went to the shops early this morning to beat the rush but still there was a long queue outside the food court at Marks & Spencer. I decided not to go in. I’m not a […]
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Still not testing enough and vintage clothes
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 […]
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Two countries and their Christmas strategies, the 5-mile boundary, and Manifesto
One of my coworkers lives in Italy and he told me they’re going into lockdown from December 24th – 27th and then again from December 31st – January 3rd. This is the opposite of what’s happening in the UK where everyone is in lockdown now but we’re free to meet other households from the 23rd […]
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Abedeen in tier 3 for Christmas
For the second time this year we’ve had to cancel a holiday due to covid. We were due to go to the highlands on Monday for 6 days to self-catering holiday accommodation but they’re moving Aberdeen into tier 3 on Friday at 6pm which effectively puts a fence around the city for everyone living here. […]
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Her Majesty’s butler
Last week Victoria began showing interest in wanting to go outside. Being the softy that I am I conceded and now she wants to go outside everyday. This would be fine except that I have become the butler to Her Majesty as she constantly wants to come in and out all day long. She begs […]
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