JUNE 2021

Monday 7 June 2021

Love this huge G7 Mount Rushmore sculpture that is being built on the dunes over at Hayle. Hope it's still going to be there for me to see when I'm back in Cornwall in a couple of weeks.

However this whole G7 sounds like a logistical nightmare for the locals. Roads closed, road blocks etc. It doesn't sound as if anyone is going to be able to get around town to get on with their normal work. Oh well, ho hum, I won't be there and so far none of my visitors, who are staying in my house during G7 have cancelled. Apparently a lot of holiday makers have cancelled because they won't be able to get around town to do their normal things.

I still think there's going to be a massive surge in Covid cases though. There's bound to be, because thousands and thousands of security staff/media etc are going to be descending into our teeny weeny town.

I'm building a little cocktail bar. Lol! I seem to have acquired a lot of these little cans of cocktails/spirits. Bought them last year when I used to meet up outside with one friend and sit on a park bench 2m apart, keeping an eye out for the police, who were moving people on if they dared to sit down for a rest. I keep buying a couple every time I go to the supermarket and as I only drink wine when I'm 'home alone' I'm going to have masses ready for a big party when we're eventually allowed to have more than two people in our houses.

Tuesday 8 June 2021

I'm getting really worried about how this G7 thing is going to affect the holiday makers who are staying in my St Ives home over the weekend. Why a weeny, teeny, little seaside town was chosen to host a major international event I'll never know. Actually I do know. I think it's got something to do with the fact that Boris Johnson's grandparents came from Carbis Bay.

There's been a lot of negative comments on social media over the last few months. On the one hand I'm wishing I could be there to experience it all. On the other hand, it all just sounds like a chaotic mess.

A lot of holiday makers have cancelled (and as a lot of us haven't been able to make any income for 8 months.......... that's not good.) Fortunately I have visitors who are leaving tomorrow, and new ones arriving, so hopefully they'll make it in/out of town before the main road into town closes. It's going to chaos on the main changeover day which is Saturday. Delays of 2-4 hours have been quoted to get through the road blocks into town.

I've tried to be a good host and have sent my visitors lots of links to the Devon & Cornwall Police website and the G7 info page and both lots of visitors didn't even know that G7 was happening.

I'm getting a bit stressed because the logistics of moving around the area are so limited that my guests will start to get grumpy. And after working in a holiday let agency for ten years, I know that when guests get grumpy, they start to pick fault with where they are staying.

Oh well, ho hum, by this time next week it will all be over.

Friday 11 June 2021

First day of the G7 summit in St Ives. Seen lots of reports on social media about how its been taking three hours to travel what is normally a 10 min journey, due to diversions, roadblocks, security, etc.

However I'm now wishing that I was actually there to soak up the atmosphere. Originally, before I even knew that the G7 was happening, I was going to spend the whole of June in Cornwall because I had a wedding to go to. But then Covid happened and then the wedding got postponed till 2022 so I decided that the sensible thing to do was get the house rented out seeing as I've lost out on 8 months of income due to all these lock downs.

I still feel that the G7 is going to create a massive surge in the cases of Covid in St Ives. Having said that every time news of the G7 comes onto TV it is accompanied by an aerial view of St Ives and I can see my house. Very proud that the little town that I have called home for the last 20 years is hosting such a major international event.

Saturday 12 June 2021

My sister and brother-in-law have come to stay. First visitors I've had to stay in more than a year.

Thursday 17 June 2021

Sooooo................. the G7 summit is over and as I predicted there's a massive outbreak of Covid cases in St Ives. Pretty much half the pubs/restaurants/shops are closed due to staffing issues because everyone has Covid or has been pinged on the track & trace app.

Has it put me off going there? Of course not. Covid is not going to go away. We all just need to learn to live with it. Heading down to St Ives at the weekend.

Friday 18 June 2021

Does anyone else think that this 'track & trace' system is just paying 'lip service' to the rules? I've been out and about quite a lot since the 17^th May and most places seem to think that if they stick a QR thingy on their door then they're following the rules. Hardly anywhere has actually checked to see if I've actually checked in using this. Most people I know, just wave their phone at it and in they go. And what do you do if you don't have a smart phone? It's no wonder Covid cases are on the increase again.

Having said that all the restaurants/pubs that I've been into have felt quite safe. I think if I catch Covid it will be from the buses. It's the only place I go where I'm in contact with other people who are less than 1m away for more than 15 mins. So why don't you have to scan yourself onto a bus every time you get onto one?

Scanning QR codes, self testing twice a week, vaccinations, self-isolating, etc, etc, etc. Life seems so much harder than it was a year ago.

When will this ever end??????????????

Saturday 19 June 2021

Heading down to Cornwall today. Whoooohooo!

Sunday 20 June 2021

Back in St Ives and OMG, isn't it busy? It's like the middle of August and the schools aren't even on holiday yet. I guess it's because nobody is going abroad. Unfortunately there are a lot of restaurants/pubs/shops closed due to Covid which means that the queues for the remaining ones open are a mile long. It wouldn't surprise me if the whole town were shut within a couple of weeks.

Monday 21 June 2021

Unable to get a booking in any of the restaurants this evening so went into domestic goddess mode and made a fish pie for my two lovely neighbours.

Tuesday 22 June 2021

Last year we were in day 91 of lock down and were all looking forward to 4th July 2020, when we thought we would be FREE. Almost a year later and not much has changed!! In fact things seem a lot worse. Loads of pubs/restaurants closed due to COVID/isolating. The hospitality industry is never going to recover from this.

I’d like to say, ‘things can only get better’, but I’ve been saying that for more than a year now and things are definitely NOT getting better. Apparently Nicola is delaying Scotland’s route out of lock down and I’m pretty certain that Boris will be imposing more restrictions on 19th July 2021.

Wednesday 23 June 2021

My friends, C&T, have come to stay for a few days. Not sure what we're going to do. We normally spend the whole time eating and drinking but I doubt if we'll be able to get into any restaurants. C usually likes to shop as well but loads of the shops are also shut due to staffing issues.

Tuesday 29 June 2021

I think I need to re-evaluate my life! Is a city where I really want to be? This whole lock down thing is really difficult. I thought I loved it in Edinburgh because I had more friends there and a much better social life. And yet in St Ives, the weather is so much better so everyone is out more, so life feels a lot more normal. Even though I've been by myself for the last couple of days, I haven't felt isolated. I've felt very isolated in Edinburgh in the last 18 months.

Difficult decisions have to be made.

Wednesday 30 June 2021