Well, it seems our decision to self-isolate was only a day in advance of the government advice. Today came the inevitable but sad news that Family Tree Live is cancelled. My ‘Forthcoming Talks’ list is diminishing by the day. I have abandoned the hope of being able to sell enough books before August, in order to make room for the new novel. Most of my copies are sold at talks. The August launch is assuming printers are still working, which they may well not be and I do still have to finish it. I am opting for a slightly alternative 2020 within its pages! Oh, you want another hint – it is about intolerance.

So, what has been going on in isolation land? No more gardening; I am a fair-weather gardener and its raining. Tip one for passing the time:- If you’ve never shopped online before, try setting up an online shopping account; that should while away an afternoon. Although we are well stocked for food, I thought I’d better schedule a delivery, ready for when things begin to run out. Normally, I have my own personal shopper, when the fisherman of my acquaintance brings things in from the town, so online shopping is a whole new learning curve. No matter how often I tried, I could not get ******’s registration system to recognise my decades old loyalty card number, so I ignored that. After much frustration, I finally cracked the system. The next available slot in my area – 6^th of April, no wonder people feel obliged to stockpile. Who knows how many things will be unavailable by then? About half the things I might have ordered are currently out of stock.

I understand Amazon are limiting deliveries to essential items. I can understand why but it is the ‘non-essentials’ that are vital to the mental well-being of those in lock down. I am really hoping the printer cartridges I ordered a few days ago make it through. I am not sure how those working from home or home educating will manage without this sort of thing.

Have I been washing my hands with Lady Macbeth-like vigour? Well, actually not, as we haven’t been anywhere. It is very odd. I have the one small bottle of hand-sanitizer and one packet of anti-bacterial wipes that we managed to buy. They sit on the shelf like talismans, as if just having them will keep the evil at bay. I am terrified to start using them in case I can’t get any more. We have broken the duck with the anti-bacterial soap and are using that but it is disappearing frighteningly quickly.

I’ve been trying to support friends online and on the phone. It is frustrating not to be able to be of more practical assistance. I have been following the news but not obsessively. I must admit, that I found seeing the BBC breakfast news presenters sitting apart on the red sofa chilling. For me personally, my routine hasn’t changed very much, as I often have a few days when I don’t go out. I am sure that prolonged hibernation will get more difficult as days go by.

My piano teacher offered to conduct my lesson by Facetime – errr yes, well, maybe. It turns out that I don’t have the technology for this, so we are going for Facebook calling instead – I’ll let you know how it goes. With all this time to practice I will be a virtuoso by the time this is over.