20th – 26th July

Tuesday 21st July

The much anticipated and long awaited trip to the hairdresser today! And I feel like a new woman. Only 2 clients allowed in the salon at any one time and no dry cuts so I had a cut and blow dry. I was greeted by a handheld (by the hairdresser) questionnaire to read concerning the virus. My answers were all No. Had they been otherwise I would have been turned away. Then my temperature was taken before having to don a mask which I didn’t like but needs must. My hairdresser wore a mask and a plastic apron. 

This is I suppose the new normal. Felt very strange but we’ve all just got to get used to it.

Alexandra, North Wales

Sunday 26th July

While we were in lockdown, birdwatching was one of the few activities I could share with my two-and-a half year-old granddaughter. One sequence of events resulted in a bedtime story as well. Here it is:

LOVELY GRUBS!

Syra’s Granny was poorly and she had to stay at home. She couldn’t go out to see Syra and her Mummy and Daddy, or her friends, and so she was lonely and sad. 

Daddy had an idea. Why don’t you feed the birds? he said. Then you could watch them from the window, and it would be like having some little friends.

What a good idea! said Granny. Will you get me some bird food when you go shopping?

So next time Daddy went shopping for Granny he bought a big tub of dried grubs so that she could feed the birds.

Granny put some of the grubs on an old plate.  She put the plate in the garden and went to watch quietly from her window.

The robin and the blackbird loved the grubs. Lovely grubs! they said to each other. They took some of the grubs back to their nests to give to their chicks. Lovely grubs, they tweeted to the other small birds, you should come.

So, the blue tits and the wrens came too. Granny smiled and was happy to see all the little birds hopping about and enjoying the meal.

But, oh dear! Next time Granny looked out of the window, some big birds had arrived. There was a magpie, and a crow, and a wood-pigeon. Lovely grubs! they said to each other. But they pushed and they shoved, and they gobbled up all the food so there was none left for the little birds.

Granny wasn’t happy any more. She didn’t like the big birds. Their bird-table manners were atrocious and they bullied the small birds. What can I do? she asked Daddy.

Why don’t you get a bird feeder that the big birds can’t get into, Daddy said.

What a good idea! said Granny. That’s what I’ll do. She went shopping online and ordered a feeder that was just for little birds.

A few days later, the postman came with a parcel. That’s just the thing! said Granny when she opened it. It looks like a big red apple with holes in it! Granny put some grubs inside the apple and hung it up in the garden. 

The big birds were cross, because they were too big to reach the grubs inside the apple, but the little birds were very happy. Lovely grubs! they said as they pecked away.

And Granny was happy too, because now she could watch her new little friends.

THE END

Hilary, Lancashire