TradeShark Diary, 7th July 2020

It can sometimes be difficult to know the latest details of the lockdown rules. As I have said before due to Sue working on the Covid ward we have been extra careful especially when it came to Michelle, Paul (Son in Law) and the kids. Sue had arranged to go and see them this morning. She had initially said that as only one grandparent was allowed to visit inside the house could I drop her off and pick her up later? That didn’t sound right to me. It wouldn’t have been the first time she had got the rule changes wrong. She announced that the social distancing rules had changed to 1 metre about 3 weeks before it actually changed. A quick google search showed that it wasn’t just 1 grandparent. You can visit another family in their home. I knew she wanted to have time with Michelle on her own so they can catch up with all the family gossip etc so I agreed to drop her off. On Sunday Sue said I was allowed to go into their house when I went to pick her up. If I went after 3 pm I could see Ella when she got home from school.

I arrived just before 3. Michelle had gone to pick Ella up. I called Sue to check I was OK to go in. Her and Michelle have always been like a private girls club. They arrange things between themselves and are both control freaks (though to different degrees). I don’t know if that is also the case with non step parent families but I just go along with it after all these years. Maybe its just step dad’s who get the mushroom treatment. Anyway I walked into the hallway and 3 year old Ivy came running down the hall with her arms wide. “DADDAAADD!” As far as I knew we were still keeping a distance. I didn’t want to upset her by pushing her away. Sue called out from the living room. “We’re allowed cuddles!”

I wasn’t arguing. Lockdown hasn’t been that bad for me but something I have REALLY missed is these two little girls. Ivy was clearly very happy to be able to climb all over her personal climbing frame again. It was an amazing feeling. I had about 15 minutes to play with Ivy before Ella got home. Ella also likes to climb granddad but also starts her hugs with a running jump. She has knocked my over a few times when I was kneeling down and wasn’t paying attention. I was paying attention today. I caught her and she wrapped her arms and legs around me. After a few minutes it almost felt like the last few months never happened.

The only matches today that seemed to be worth posting about were at the Thiem’s Seven Exhibition. There are some decent players taking part so check the blog for those this week.

Apparently Tesco are removing social distancing controls from store on Wednesday. There will be no controls of the number of people allowed in the stores. No one way system around the store and no control of the queuing at the tills. There is still the “one metre plus” rule that, let’s face it, the majority of people are going to ignore. I’ll try to stick to the quieter times to shop which is usually what I do anyway.

TradeShark members should look out for something new that’s coming to the members pages. If you want a sneak peak here is the link. You will need to be a Tradeshark members or a subscriber to the trading tips emails to access it.

Stay safe.