It is difficult to know what to write at the moment. Do I grit my teeth in ‘keep calm and carry on fashion’? Do I write uplifting stuff? Do I list all the adverts that are turning up on my social media feeds, most of which are for cleaning products at grossly inflated prices, or items that feed upon my fear? ‘Protect yourself from all known germs for thirty days by wearing this magic (very expensive) virus disinfection card round your neck’. Really? In their desperation people will clutch at anything. There are always those who are quick to capitalise. Our baser survival instincts are kicking in and baser they certainly are. I’ll admit it, ‘My name is Janet and my bathroom cupboard contains more toilet rolls than usual’. Not a crazy amount but yes, more than usual and I did panic buy two tins of carrots the other day. I am not stockpiling but I am replenishing larder and fridge more often than I might. I am wondering just how long I could manage without going out or having anything delivered. Current thinking is probably about four weeks, maybe longer with rationing, I do need to lose weight. My diet would be odd but I would not starve. I don’t use bread or milk, which helps.

I am lurching between making an effort to do things as normally as possible and just wanting to lock the door for three months. I’ll be honest, mostly I just want to lock the door. Normally, I am not one to panic but this, this is unprecedented. I think of my worldwide circle of friends, my neighbours, many of whom are in the vulnerable groups and yes, I do wonder who will make it out the other side. I like to think I’d be calmer if I wasn’t (just) within the higher risk age group, if I didn’t have what is referred to as ‘a pre-existing condition’ but maybe I’d still be scared. Events, from the village weekly coffee morning to Rootstech London, are being cancelled and I am relieved that the decision is being taken out of my hands; I don’t need to weigh up how risky my attendance might be. Like most people, I’d really like to skip the next few months and wake up to a saner world.

In other news and you’d be forgiven for thinking there is no other news. Every conversation, every news bulletin, every social media post seems to be about nothing else but there really is other news.

I’ve recently started having piano lessons. I have had lessons before, for a year, when I was seven. That was a very long time ago and my fingers were not so stiff then. After three lessons, I can stumble my way through classics of the 60s and 70s like Streets of London and Let it Be. Just don’t try to sing along unless you sing very slowly. Next on the bucket list might be learning Cornish, although I am reminded just how awful I am at any language but English.

The various writing projects are making progress. It may be as well that it looks like I will be home for a month when I expected to be in Ireland on holiday. This will give me some breathing space. My new one-place studies booklet is pretty much finished and the one-place course, which will see its first airing in September, is coming on. Pharos are already taking bookings. The novel too is nearly done. The clue for today is that it includes a chapter set in a plague outbreak that occurred in 1646. I have re-written that chapter with a much greater understanding of the sheer terror that my characters would have felt. As I haven’t put up many posts lately, I’ll give you another clue. The modern strand is set between June and September 2020. This is causing some problems! I am too locked into that time span to change it. Things are occurring daily that mean I need to alter sections; when I wrote most of it there was no corona virus. I need to go to press in June. There will come a point where there will need to be an author’s note, explaining why my characters’ experiences may not mirror reality and I’ll just have to go with it.

One thing I am not worried about is my ability to hibernate. I can find plenty to do without leaving home. I am very relieved that I have a garden. I would struggle if I could not get outside, particularly in the summer. I think of all the projects that might get done in a month’s isolation, tidying, decorating, reminding myself how to spin, writing up more branches of my family history. Incidentally, if you are thinking of using self-isolation to turn your family history notes and files into some sort of story and would like some inspiration and motivation, there are still a couple of space on my online Writing and Telling your Family History course which starts on 31^st. It is a five week course but it will give you enough suggestions to keep you busy whilst the world calms down.

Look after yourselves my friends. Remember it is ok to be scared. Talk about it. Self-isolate but don’t be isolated. We need to care for our mental as well as our physical health. We are fortunate that we have the technology that allows us to support each other without meeting face to face.

Because we all need beautiful flowers right now