ISOLATION: DAY SIX




They say you shouldn't look at phone screens in the last hour before you sleep and that is advice which I usually follow. I was dozing off when my phone pinged and, possibly because of this very this very anti-social environment I currently find myself in, I picked it up. It was Eddie (NZ based son) asking me what Red Tractor was, as he had been annoyed by some of their posts on Facebook. So, an like an idiot, I looked at the post which was being liked and shared widely in the UK.
It was aimed at knocking NZ farming practices compared to British and using that as a reason to question the new trade deal, which if I remember correctly the UK government came looking for? I was really annoyed by it and after a night of twisting and turning I was up at five researching and writing my reply! I won't bore you with the details but it was a great example of all that is bad about Facebook, people taking a few facts out of context and sharing them with dumb people who inadvertently share it with dumber people etc etc. I know better than most people that there are some excellent farmers in both countries ..... and a few fairly average ones. I was surprised that a group like Red Tractor would stoop this low? Surely a consistent supply of products, like lamb, is an opportunity to grow the market? And the UK exports more lamb than it imports from NZ! Sadly, nowhere in their silly little comparison did it mention the hot issues of sustainability and carbon footprints, surely a key issue for the future of livestock farming over the next twenty years? I wonder why? You wouldn't find many sheep in NZ crowding around troughs, knee deep in grass, waiting to eat imported linseed and maize (like these lambs in mid Wales recently were.)

End of Rant!

After breakfast there was a knock on the door! Yes it was day six and the cyber-girls were back to play the swab game. This one scored 7.5 but was very gentle and I didn't even sneeze! I love the way they ask me if I have a preferred nostril......."I quite like my right one but I try to treat them both fairly!" And they were harbingers of good news! Either I have misread the protocol or they have changed the interpretation but I get out on MONDAY afternoon, not Tuesday as I had previously thought! So tomorrow is half way day!

I decided Sunday should be a day of rest so I settled down to finish the book and listen to some music. 'The Sweetness of Water' is a very good read. I  finished 'The Underground Railroad' by Colson Whitehead just before I left the UK, and the two books have much in common but I preferred 'Water', maybe it had stronger characters and a better storyline? I was surprised in the interview with Kim Hill (See day 5) to learn that Nathan Harris had never read "Of Mice and Men." Steinbeck is still my all time favourite American author and he loomed like a giant over this book. But 'Sweetness' is a great first novel and I'm looking forward to the second one.

Bonny came and waved at me from the carpark! I talked her in on the phone and we waved at each other! It is strange how much little things like that mean at the moment. The boys, including Chris her husband, have headed over to the West Coast, white baiting. Once again I have managed to miss that trip. I hope they come back with a few surplus kilos! And thanks everyone for all the WhatsApp calls/ Face times/ Zooms /Texts etc. I think I am quite a gregarious beast (no need to post comments on that, thanks!) and these snippets of conversation help to keep me engaged with the big world outside the wire. Keep them coming - I'm back on my same old/same old NZ mobile now  0274323115 for kiwis who might wish to get in touch.

At 5pm I ordered up my second bottle of wine from reception, opened a packet of chips (crisps if you are reading this in the UK) and settled down to a little music, while I waited for my roast lamb dinner to arrive. The "desert" tonight, for the first timer was cheese and biscuits. Their offering reminded me of a famous line from the Crocodile Dundee movie: 

"That's not cheese and biscuits.......that's cheese and biscuits!)





I have decided to construct an isolation playlist - 14 days/ 14 tracks/ 14 artists. I'll publish it on my last day but the Dylan track is a bit obvious : "I shall be released!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBACxgvrCGo 

Two exercise slots today with the second one at 8pm. It was a beautiful, balmy Christchurch evening with a lovely sunset of clouds heralding a  Nor-Wester. Ha ha ha! I bet its pissing down on the West Coast Whitebaiters!

I have now set up 'followers'- click on the button top left of the blog, to follow me and be informed of future posts.


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