News from Shields Buildings

The past 12 months has taught me a lot of different things, and one thing that’s really stuck with me is just how small our world is. Of course, during a global pandemic, that’s often not a good thing – the UK variant seems to have made its way all over the world very, very quickly.

I’m sure we’ve all had our fair share of unwanted Christmas presents, but this year, we’ve all received a late festive gift that none of us wanted: Yet another lockdown.

Here we are – in the words of John Lennon:

The events of this year have had huge impacts on our way of life, and perhaps one of the most striking changes has been the amount of ‘stuff’ we all buy online.

You know the funny thing about cleaners? They almost always have the messiest houses. You can understand why – getting home from work after a day of cleaning and donning the marigolds is akin to a busman’s holiday, which is why plenty of them struggle to do it.

Driving around over the last couple of days has made one thing clear: Christmas has definitely come early.

This week’s seen some very welcome light at the end of the tunnel, with the announcement that lockdown will end on December 2^nd, as well as some very positive updates on the vaccine front. Unfortunately, the easing of restrictions came rather too late for the afternoon tea I had planned at the weekend to celebrate a friends birthday, but we’ve all got fingers crossed that we’ll end up in a Tier that allows it to go ahead next month!

I signed up for Netflix at the weekend, for one reason and for one reason only: The Crown.

How’s lockdown going for you? I must admit I found it rather easier at the weekend, with the golden sunshine highlighting the beautiful reds, yellows and browns of the autumn leaves.

Like the unwelcome guest knocking on the door when you’ve just put your dressing gown on and settled down to a nice film, lockdown is back. Thankfully, I think it will be a little different this time.