Relaxation caution needed

So, the Prime Minister has called a halt to the relaxing of covid restrictions for another month because of the rise in India/Delta covid variant infections. A sensible move, while a massive effort is made to get all over 18s vaccinated before the final step of relaxation takes place. It's believed this measure will help limit the rise of new infections, hospital admissions and deaths. Let's hope so. 

After that 11-18 year olds will be targeted for vaccination in England. It's already happening here in Wales. Un-vaccinated younger people may well get a milder dose of covid and in general recover more quickly, but the intention is to curb symptomless transmission of the virus, as it has been discovered that the doubly vaccinated are significantly less likely to pass infection on if they are unfortunate enough to get a dose of the virus. Covid infection has proved to be a moving target this past year. Some politicians are now honest enough to acknowledge that it's not going to be possible to eliminate it, any more than we can eliminate 'flu or the common cold, as these too keep mutating from year to year. Controlling the scale of infection rather than eliminating it entirely is the best that can be hoped for.

Mid-morning, I walked to Pidgeon's for the funeral service in their chapel, with just three mourners. Friends of the couple who had been there for the husband's funeral three years ago are now too frail and vulnerable to attend, or else died since then. The burial took place in bright sunshine in the new section of Thornhill cemetery. I waited with the funeral attendants an extra twenty minutes in bright warm sunshine while the hearse and mourners made a detour past the family home in Rhiwbina. Were any of their neighbourhood contemporaries watching out for the hearse? I wondered. Or have they too passed on or moved away?

We had an early lunch and then I drove Clare over to the Heath Hospital for an eye appointment for the second time in two days. Yesterday's visit was in error. She'd put the wrong date in her diary. On my way home I drove down Whitchurch Road, looking for an outlet of the 'Cartridge World' printer ink supply chain. I couldn't find the shop, checked on my phone and discovered that none of the four shops there used to be in Cardiff are now open. There's just one main store/deport in Bridgend. Most annoyingly if you google it, the store address is 'Bridgend, Cardiff' twenty miles away, fifteen outside the city limit. How misleading!

Now everything is done by mail order. This may suit some users, but I hate it. I simply don't like shopping on-line as it takes much more time to find what you want out of a huge product inventory, pay for it, wait several days for delivery and then have to waste hours waiting for a delivery to arrive.

Clare had choir practice early evening, and that was when I went for my walk of the day, and listened to the Archers on my phone when I was on my way home.

Another marvellous heat of Cardiff Singer of the World this evening, with singers from the USA, Russia, South Korea and Austria with varied song programmes from each singer. It was an outstanding dramatic musical performance by Austrian soprano Cristina Gansch which commended her to the judges. It was followed by an hour of 'The Repair Shop', a delightful celebration of different kinds of craftsmanship and the restorer's art, marvellous to behold.