I had a visitor yesterday.

There would be nothing unusual about this normally but these are not normal times.

Neighbour called in with some scones she had baked and stayed for “a wee chat”. We sat in the sun outside and chatted for well over an hour. As she was leaving I pointed out to her that apart from the odd Garda, shopkeeper or hospital security bloke, that she was the first person I had actually spoken to face to face in nearly two weeks. The only other conversations I had had in that time was with Herself and that was on the phone, or the dog.

Life here is very quiet. There is no radio and the television occasionally gets switched on late in the evening if I watch a film. I never watch the news these days. I suppose they are still droning on about how many died today or how many new cases of the Virus. I cannot see any point to these daily updates except to depress us.

Cat and Penny are enjoying life as usual. Cat has however decided that she won’t eat anything unless it is poured out in front of her. Anything she chooses to leave has to be chucked out. She is showing no signs whatsoever that she misses Herself and carries on her own mysterious private life where she either sleeps or wanders the neighbourhood. They say that a dog belongs to a person while a cat belongs to a house. Cat is a perfect example of that as she couldn’t give a flying shit who is here [or who isn’t] just so long as she’s fed and can sleep in her basket at night.

Penny is just Penny. The only thing she’s missing is the trips to the coffee shop, as am I.

My biggest worry is that the coffee shop will never reopen. It’s not a big place and there is little chance of “social distancing” inside or out. So they are going to be closed for long time to come. Even if the restrictions are lifted they will have missed most of the summer which they relied on for their main source of income. It was my one bit of respite retreat where I could get away from being a carer for an hour or so a week and could just relax and chat to my mates down there.

Herself is grand. Each day she robs her cellmate’s phone and we have a bit of a chat. She’s enjoying herself and the food, which apparently [and unusually] is very good. There is no sign of her coming home at all, though that may change tomorrow as doctors and specialists return from their bank holiday weekend.

So the quiet life goes on.

May the 4th be with you.