Any misgivings I had about whether we were right to stay home fell by the wayside yesterday. I felt even worse than the day before, and my temperature climbed to 101º F. Can you imagine if I'd been on a plane feeling that bad?! Even paracetamol couldn't knock my fever back entirely. In addition, I am a coughing, spluttering, nose-running mess. I doubt they'd have even let me on the flight.
The one bright spot in all of this is that it appears NOT to be Covid, though it easily could have been. My test this morning was negative, and I'm sure if it were Covid, it would show up by now. (Unless, as Sabine mentioned in yesterday's comments, it's some newer variant that doesn't show up on older lateral flow tests. I don't know anything about that.)
Dave said yesterday he thinks he's a couple of days behind me -- meaning he's feeling the first twinges of it too. So he'd have been infecting people as well. We'd probably have been sick the whole time we were in Florida.
In other news, you may be wondering what this sheep-shearing illustration is all about, to the right.
Remember how I said the Russians were piling bags of stuff at the front of the house from their renovation project? I was mystified about what all this stuff was. They told me several weeks ago they were replacing floors, but this clearly wasn't flooring. So I peeked into one of the bags, and it turned out to be old plaster and wooden lathe. Clearly they are knocking out at least one wall.
This one is from a series called "Products of the World" that highlighted the production of raw materials in Britain's far-flung colonies. My guess is, some tradesman tucked it into the wall before plastering over it -- creating a sort of time capsule. The Russians just put it out with the trash. It makes me wonder what's in the rest of those bags, but someone came last night and picked them all up, so it's too late to find out.
I don't think it's valuable. Here's a whole set of "Products of the World" cards for sale for just £20. According to that page, they're from 1928, which is consistent with what I've heard about the age of these houses.
So, a pretty cool little find! But way more information than I ever needed about sheep washing.
I finished "The Last Resort" yesterday, and I enjoyed it. Thank goodness I have lots of books to read during my illness. I checked out more than I thought I would need from the library, and as it turns out, I need them all.
(Top photo: Morning on Finchley Road, last week.)
29 comments:
It may help to know there's a major storm brewing that'll affect almost the entire country. Snow, wind, and the coldest temps in 30 years. I think Florida actually gets a pass, but travel disruptions are likely to be epic and not likely to be resolved quickly. Take it easy, both of you, and be well.
Well, it is a good thing you cancelled the trip, but sorry you’re feeling so rotten. I hope Dave doesn’t get hit as hard. That card is a bit of a treasure. I wonder what else was tossed out. Maybe “floor” is the Russian word for “wall.”
38.3 degrees. As the English say, you are quite poorly. You were wise to cancel, no matter how difficult the decision.
The card find is interesting. I am surprised at the cheap price of 1928 set. I don't think sheep are ever washed here before shearing, even though we export fine wool.
What are you doing rooting around in waste bags like a down-and-out guy when you should be tucked up in bed with a hot lemon drink? Get Well Soon!
In my experience from my wife's world of medicine, that the old lateral flow tests still work but it takes several days of symptoms before you will test positive, which really doesn't do anyone any good if one has been traipsing around for those several days. We gave one of our original test kits to our neighbors this past weekend and they tested positive on it.
Glad it doesn't seem to be COVID, and it is better you're home. There's no place like home when you're not feeling well.
It does sound like you made the right decision. The ongoing Russian neighbor hijinks cracks me up. What ARE they really doing, ha!
You would have been so miserable if you'd come. Not only would you feel terrible but it is going to be quite cold. Yes. Even in Florida. I'm so glad you made the decision you made.
Well, hope this illness clears up quickly for you and Dave so you can enjoy your break.
It's amazing how BAD a fever can make you feel (or at least me). I'm so glad you weren't trying to travel with that!
I love the "trading card." Of course I do - I has sheep. Ha!
Sounds more and more like a good decision. I hope you both get well soon though.
I used to have a book one of my brothers filled with a collection of cigarette cards from Woodbine cigarettes my father smoked. It was a wildflower collection, the book printed to give the places for the flowers. Since woodbine is a wildflower, I suppose that's the reason for the theme. Kevin had every card except rosebay willow herb, so maybe that was a rare one. They were very well printed, color separations, everything.
You and Dave made the right choice to stay home. It sounds like it would have been a miserable journey with the added risk of getting sicker and infecting others. I hope you two start to feel better soon and have some time to truly enjoy the holidays. Take care there.
I understood from my father (a smoker) that originally the cards were included in the cigarette packets to protect the contents from being damaged in use as the packets were paper and not stiffened otherwise. I remember the "blocked" packs being brought in, and thus the cards were no longer necessary and fell out of use.
You certainly did make the right choice. Sorry that it happened to you. I had dinner with my friends Julie and Dave last night. Dave leaves for Buenos Aires Friday to spend time with his son and then Julie leaves the next Friday and they meet up in Chile before setting off on a trip to Antartica. Apparently the trip is very expensive, non-refundable and they don't have travel insurance for it. Julie was saying that she's very concerned that she or Dave might get sick before the trip. She is wearing a mask anytime she's around groups of people.
You are so lucky there was no penalty for canceling your tickets. Sorry to hear you are feeling worse and that Dave is probably coming down with it too. I wonder if the Russians saw you rooting through their trash bag and what they might think.
It's almost gratifying when you get sicker and realize that what you've put off was a good idea. I have a sore throat, cough, phlegm and pink eye this morning. Yay.
Sometimes it's really hard to do the right thing. You did the right thing and now you're glad you did. Run out and buy that turkey!
I hope you get through the worst of this soon and can enjoy some of your vacation, although it won't be how you envisioned it. Reading lots of books is much more relaxing than travel. :)
There is something so comfortable about waking up in one's own house on Christmas and not having to go anywhere. Don't get me wrong, I love a social Christmas, but the homey one also has its charms. Ok, you urban anthropologist, bed is prescribed for you, not matter what other interesting artifacts the Russians might be discarding! Interesting what Sabine said. Feel better, both of you.
It's sort of gratifying to have one's symptoms validate the decision not to go, but it also sucks being that sick. Hope you are better soon.
Looks like you made the right call, hard to miss a trip one has been anticipating. Number of years ago we were headed to Italy for a bike tour, I got sick just before departure, suffered like an animal for a fair amount of the trip. Didn't really feel better until we got bake to the US a month later. Hope you feel batter soon.
I hope you two have some chicken on hand that can be turned into chicken soup! It is the best remedy for this crud or flu or whatever it is!
I hope it doesn't hang on too long! Have whatever kind of Christmas you can depending on how you are feeling!
Seconding everyone else: sorry you had to postpone your trip but thank goodness you did - and that this bug hit before you were on the plane. Glad you have a ton of books to read over the holidays, and I agree on the chicken soup!
Chris from Boise
Glad that's not Covid..and that you are missing a major storm.
Safe at home, if not what you had planned.
I hope you start to feel better by Christmas Day. It's going to be very cold in Jacksonville this weekend. We're getting down in the 20s at night.
Love,
Janie
I'm glad you took a peek inside one of the garbage bags! I thought there might be something interesting there, though I'll admit I suspected something perhaps a little more nefarious than cigarette trading cards. 😉 In another lifetime, when I still smoked, I spent a summer in England and Players were my choice of poison.
I hope Dave doesn't have a bad case of whatever it is and that both of you are feeling good enough to enjoy your break from school. Get well!!
LORD! I miss a couple of days and the whole world falls apart! It's good you cancelled, and this bug might be RSV or influenza, neither of which are any picnic and neither of which you want to pass on, so I'm glad you can rest and recover. I've always felt it's very cozy to spend a holiday with your significant other away from the world, but maybe that's not for everyone. Something to consider, though :)
Olga will be happier, so there's that, too :D
At least you've got your sheep to keep you warm. (hahaha)
I used to collect cigarette cards and have a (quite) small collection but my favorite was the Royal Family with a very young Elizabeth and Margaret that someone had put in a booklet designed for it with captions. I should dig those out and do something with them!
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