So yesterday we decided to clean out the larder. Partly because it needed doing and partly to see what weird assortment of food we might be eating in coming weeks. Excavating the larder’s recesses is always an interesting exercise and an opportunity to jettison anything that is seriously out of date or capable of meaningful independent life. I am pleased to report that nothing older than ‘best before 2006’ was found. That was an achievement. I admit a few things like the six year old cream crackers (tasted and edible) which would normally have been fed to the birds have gone back in the cupboard, ‘We might be glad of those in a few weeks.’ For one non-drinker and one very occasional (like about once a year) drinker, there is a surprising amount of alcohol, mostly raffle prizes waiting to be recycled. We are hanging on to that in the hope that we can use it as hand sanitiser, barter it for toilet paper when ours runs out, or for potatoes and onions, both of which are unlikely to last until our supermarket delivery is due in two weeks’ time (and judging by others’ comments they may not come then).

The virtual piano lesson went well. I am currently stumbling my way through Streets of London, Hallelujah and Let it Be. Encouragingly, my playing is showing slight signs of improvement but I was starting from a very low base. Martha and I have had a Skype recital between us. My author’s group will still be meeting, via Skype but whilst attempting to establish contact with each other, some of us have been waving at a random stranger who happens to have the same name as one of our group, oops!

Today it is beautifully sunny, so we went for a car ride to see the sea. Strictly not getting out of the car and actually (and thankfully) we saw few people in cars or on foot. Mind you, I think there may be more folk out and about this afternoon. STAY AWAY FROM EACH OTHER OR STAY AT HOME – no compromise however young/invincible you think you are. It is not only your own health that you are risking. We went in a ‘new to Chris’ car, which has an inbuilt voice-activated Sat Nav. Well, that was a challenge. Let’s just say we were nearly forced to drive to Hartland Road in Camden, instead of Hartland. I think we’ve sussed it now and it seems it does recognise a Devonshire accent.

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.

So yesterday I came out as a voluntary self-isolater, pre-empting the likely government restrictions for the over 70s and those with pre-existing conditions. It was not an easy decision. I was hesitant because I had several commitments this week and going forward. I am really not comfortable with letting people down, particularly when my absence puts additional work on others. Equally though, I was becoming very anxious about the prospect of mixing with others. After a sleepless night, anguishing over what I should do, I decided, for the sake of my mental and physical health, to self-isolate. I was prepared to do this on my own but the fisherman of my acquaintance, bless him, agreed to join me. This is particularly noble as he will find staying in very difficult. I am much more content sitting around at home. Left to his own devices, he would be rushing about doing everyone’s shopping and putting himself at risk. Mind you, I think our ideas of self-isolation do not exactly align. He’s of the ‘I’ll just pop to (insert your large supermarket of choice here) once a week’ mindset. I am more ‘I’ll just disinfect all those tins that have arrived in the online shop’.

Having begun to cancel my commitments, the sense of relief was overwhelming. I knew then that I had made the right decision. We are in this for the long haul. We know it won’t be easy but we think we can manage. So far we have twenty four hours under our belts. Yesterday we did pretty much what we would normally do on a Sunday afternoon. Today we did some gardening and the fisherman of my acquaintance power-washed the patio and the conservatory windows; we will be seeing a great deal of this area in the coming months. I would like to place on record that deciding to self-isolate is not a crafty way of getting all those ‘ten minute’ DIY jobs done!

So potential problems so far:- This is a great opportunity to tidy the garden but what will we do with the mowings and cuttings that we would normally take to be recycled? I could sign up for the paid council collection service but will this continue to run? Or we could build a compost heap that will end up being larger than my tiny garden. The jury’s out.

I have had nothing but support for my own decision. From many ‘me too’s, to kind remarks from those who I have had to let down. This is not universal however. I am hearing of more and more cases where people’s personal decisions are not being respected and they are being bullied into making social contact when they are not happy to do so. Nobody has the right to question the actions of someone else, unless their choices put other people at risk. I’d be the first to call out someone who says, ‘well I’ve been told to stay home but I think it’s an over-reaction so I’m going out anyway’. Yes, I have seen the equivalent and yes, I did comment. If people are withdrawing from events, it may be that they have a pre-existing condition, or someone in their household might be particularly vulnerable. Alternatively, they may just be s*** scared and are protecting their mental health. The reason is immaterial; it is their business and theirs alone. Let’s not make them feel guilty or, worse still, make them do things that could be harmful, or are against their better judgement.

Photograph by Jayne Poole