Spring, a change of name, and worries about Corona in The View from the Terrace

I am really enjoying the spring weather. On Thursday it was warm enough to sit in the garden, albeit with a fleece over my jumper. I managed to prune some roses when I was at home on Wednesday and yesterday afternoon I planted the trailing anemones in Cat’s garden. I have to say that I shouldn’t really be calling her Cat anymore as she changed to using one of her middle names, Louise, a while back. It was her way of moving on and I have been calling her that for some time, but I didn’t change it here as I thought it would be confusing, but it is beginning to feel inappropriate so I am going to change over. It seems to be a bit of a tradition in our family not to use your right name. My mum’s name was Mildred but she hated it and was always called Poppy from a pet name her father called her; her sister was Winifred but went by Jackie as her surname was Jackson; while my great grandmother changed from Mary Ann to Marion because she thought Mary Ann was a maid’s name! Hubby’s dad was Clarence Archibald but his wife always him Arthur and Hubby changed to his second name when he left home so Louise (Cat) is in good company.

I haven’t been feeling too well lately. I’m still getting bouts of nausea and I am beginning to wonder if it could be a side effect of the blood pressure tablets. I did mention it to the doctor when I saw him last Wednesday but he just said it wasn’t a usual side effect and told me to double my dose as my blood pressure is still high. I decided to wait for the nausea to settle first, but it got really bad for a couple of days so I haven’t increased the dose yet. It’s a lot better now but still not right. Then the night before last I woke about 6am with a cough. It turned out I just had a runny nose and was on my back. I often get a runny nose at the start of a migraine and that was all it seemed to be until late morning when I started feeling feverish. This continued on and off through the day but no other symptoms and I wasn’t too worried until I turned on the news and they were talking about elderly people being at a higher risk if they get Corona. I feel better today and I don’t think I’ve got anything but is it just a matter of time for all of us?

I was planning to go home on Tuesday for our folk club on St Patrick’s night but should I go? Even if I don’t I know Hubby will and, if anything, I am more worried about him as he is always so ill when he just gets a cold, whereas I am usually not badly affected. They are talking now of telling all elderly people to stay home for months. I can’t see how that would work if they live with younger people who are still going out. It would be really difficult for us as Louise (Cat) can’t drive alone and I wouldn’t get to finish pruning my roses! Oh well, now that the weather has improved I suppose we could at least spend time in Louise’s little garden.

Last updated March 15, 2020