Trying to decide how to phrase this.... not a political statement. The main problem with this is the U.K. is really not an island nation but on two islands......one with a very open border with an EU country. That is always hanging out there when policy is decided. Lots of issues. Locking itself onto one island or two probably can never happen realistically. .I totally believe the island with England, Scotland and Wales could get the numbers way down. They could lock themselves off except for the Ireland issue . We have no physical bridges so just close the Chunnel...........it could be done but not expecting it. The need to get the economy started with Brexit feels more pressing to the government and I wish they would give it a couple more weeks at least. There are so many issues that are so political with NHS, etc. plus personally think the drinking culture there creates covidiots in greater numbers. My village has no cases, lots of older citizens, and many commuters ......some who normally work in London a couple of days a week but live in the village full time. Most of our friends spread across the country are actually in similar situations. Locked down with no or few cases. The exception is the dc’s friend who is a nurse in a care home that has patients with Covid. So far she is healthy. She is married and not living at her family home, her poor husband is American and must be very...... horrified. He hasn’t lived there very long. Most of my British friends are being very careful by US standards as most have not even left their homes for shopping. That includes my younger friends . They have truly locked themselves down and that is the case in many places there. Making scrubs for the NHS is the creative focus not masks is the focus. I am actually mailing masks there to people who will not be able to make there own when they finally realize they want them....vulnerable friends.

Tourism is a whole new can of worms. Been reading about how Disney will be reopening.....mainly speculation in local press. Plans are out there to do things like hotel rooms being deep cleaned and then being rested for two to three days, the whole park ride experience being essentially on a fast pass so never a line etc. I am also reading all the U.K. press ....... U.K. is probably going to be requiring all returning residents to quarantine for 14 days when they lift stay at home. My family has no problems with that for us in our return England as we would have certainly restricted ourselves naturally. Many of the people around us are vulnerable there. Lots of conversations in our household right now about all the other visitors who need to comply that won’t ...........

As the mom of a child who gave up naps by one it might be easier on all to just have a quiet time where he needs to stay on his bed with his stuffed friends and play quietly........sometimes sleep happens sometimes it doesn’t. Time change, lifestyle change, everything change.....the little one has a whole lot of adjustments to make. Because of bonding I would start the routine and just let him fall asleep in your bed and move him. It probably makes him feel very secure. Eventually you can read etc in his bed and let him fall asleep there.

On Goodreads they list it as 1.5 but it takes place at the same time as the beginning episodes or chapters of Leviathan Wakes. If you are enjoying the show don’t worry. I was being a really picky fan girl at that point. It explains/details why Fred is the Butcher of Anderson Station which is how he is referred to as the book series continues. Short, 40ish pages. Right after reading it I compared it to episode descriptions and think (that is completely think) is the same time period as the first season. Probably not essential at all for enjoying the tv show, defiantly not needed for the books .....I was watching the tv series after reading the entire book series except that teeny tiny piece which is what the tv series was concentrating on. Btw I ended up reading all of the novellas in this series and only really found Butcher of Anderson Station and Strange Dogs really good, important?, useful😂 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11570653-the-butcher-of-anderson-station?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=arSJrII3Cb&rank=1 Apparently there is a new novella.....Off to research...... @Robin M I just finished Nora Roberts Taming Natasha which I must have read in 1990 when it was first published. Just got the second in the series ready to read.....Luring a Lady. What a title!😂. These definitely deserve to be counted as old book friends.

I really loved The Expanse books, I probably should watch the show. I watched the first episode months ago and realized it was the prequel which I hadn’t read so I stopped watching intending to read the prequel.....well, I read The Butcher of Anderson Station but never watched the show again. 😂I think we are all in a weird sort of limbo. Compared to normal I have created very little in this odd time.....the need to make masks is almost a compulsion. I will admit I find them oddly satisfying and am in the process of mailing several to England to friends who do not sew so won’t be able to make masks for themselves when the time comes. Mask making is not the big thing there.....everyone is making scrubs and scrub bags to donate to the NHS. From reading the papers I suspect masks will be part of the loosening policies so am sending a few over to friends. Your yard is huge by Florida standards! I think our neighbors with minimal yards and kids are dreaming of having a yard right now. I suspect your house will sell quickly as soon as people feel comfortable looking again.

I finished a book with an interesting cover that I actually think it’s cute ....historic home wallpaperish. 😉 The cover is probably what attracted me to read the description and check out the book. I really wasn’t expecting it to be a pretty traditional historical romance with four unhappy young women trying to have the right to choose who they marry in a world where men decide everything. The Earl Not Taken is a very much a historical romance but the author AS Fenichel has written some urban fantasies also. So if anyone recognizes the name, I did, this book may not be quite what you are anticipating. This is the first in a new series that I will read more of if I happen to see them.........

Just finished Love Never Dies. Thanks!

My very first Harlequin at 12 was a Betty Neels.......we were on a family vacation and I ran out of books. I started eyeing my mom’s Harlequin bag and she gave in and handed me a Betty Neels. Betty Neels books are clean love stories that almost always feature some sweet girl marrying the famous surgeon. I was destined to like it because of all those Cherry Ames mysteries. 😉 I spotted a review of a Betty Neels book today and discovered my overdrive has a few. I will probably check one out......I already have the first Nora Roberts Stanislaski series (Taming Natasha) ready to read. https://dearauthor.com/book-reviews/overall-b-reviews/b-plus-reviews/review-the-bachelors-wedding-by-betty-neels/ https://dearauthor.com/features/essays/reading-betty-neels-across-the-years/ I stayed up late finishing a Patricia Wentworth. It was The Clock Strikes Twelve which I am pretty sure I must have read years ago. Maybe it was living in my mom’s book bag too!

The plan is to organize the more like a garden.......green grass, several rows of flowers, with blue sky on top. Someplace I saw something similar but didn’t save the image over on Pinterest. I finished my Amos Decker listen and was able to listen to about half of the second Rosalind Thorne regency/cozy. I like the quite a bit. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31452762-a-purely-private-matter I am back making masks.....

That’s how my college roommate and I made them......

I just ran into this so have not read it yet....... Kelley Armstrong, the author of the really popular Otherworld series, is writing a free serialized book during quarantine. She is releasing chapters twice a week. http://www.kelleyarmstrong.com/book/cursed-luck/ Planning to try this later today. I spent yesterday listening to Baldacci’s Amos Decker and hand quilting tiny hexagons.......grateful to have found a series that grabs my attention. Posting a picture of the project box from a month or so ago. Using scrap fabric bits which I have been saving. Not sure what I plan to do with these........maybe a bag but I need to make many more.

I finished Baldacci’s Memory Man on audio today.It was a great listen because it was so well paced. The main character is an ex policeman who because of a head injury can never forget anything. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23153154-memory-man Because I am waiting on several audiobook hold’s I went ahead and checked the next in the series out and plan to start it tomorrow. I also binge read The Chase Elle Kennedy. Binge read means I couldn’t put it down but I need to add that it has significant blush worthy adult content. I have the next in the series ready to read......enough said.😉. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34851664-the-chase

I am throwing them into the laundry in lingerie bags which I already own. I don’t always put them in the dryer. I do grab them and iron when the iron is out because I am making more. In my house that works and personally the iron is easier than boiling. I think hand washing in soapy water is just fine. Dh read to boil for 3 minutes.......this is my I am sure my mask has Covid on it. My lazy idea is putting them out in the sun in a glass jar to preserve filters before washing..........of course that means I start needing filters. I think whatever works for you is fine, remember your clothing was exposed to whatever your mask was which is why I haven’t had a problem letting soap and water do it’s thing. But if you come home with the urge to up your laundry game after an outside encounter that is the time to boil your mask. Imo

@JennW in SoCal I was thinking about your dog while riding my bike because there were two golden’s out for a walk. If I remember right you have a golden retriever. Today I started Fortunes Fool https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45274933-fortune-s-fool?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=A17YZC0Gm5&rank=2 by one of our own @Angelaboord. I am embarrassed to say I have had it on my kindle for awhile. So far I am hooked..... @Lady Florida. Wondering how you move is going?

This series is awesome! @aggieamy your people will like these.....

Kareni, Sending hugs and prayers!

Hi Everybody! I have gone back to mask making so have been listening to audiobooks more. I finished Null Set https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41793435-null-set which is the second in a series that starts with Zero Sum Game. I enjoyed listening but Zero Sum Game was much better. I started listening to David Baldacci’s Memory Man......it is so good, it completely hooked me within minutes. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23153154-memory-man?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=FmJ7iWOKWF&rank=1 This is the first in his Amos Decker series and I loved the John Puller ones. I think the narrator is the same! I have been on a bit of a historical romance kick......a read a new author’s first To Have and to Hoax and found it entertaining https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49519916-to-have-and-to-hoax. I am currently reading the second in a popular series by Diane Freeman A Ladies Guide to Gossip and Murder https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42204311-a-lady-s-guide-to-gossip-and-murder which is far better than I remember the first being. I also finished the latest in a favorite cozy series by Miranda James, Careless Whiskers https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45553401-careless-whiskers and a contemporary romance called Not My Type by Anna Zarlenga https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48745987-not-my-type which I needed for a Z......not a favorite.

Vacuuming.....probably because my kids do it for me. 😂. Honestly I don’t think my house gets as dusty when the vacuum is ran often but no proof.

Great news!

Thank you for this thread! Posting in part so I can keep track of it. That highlighted makes me so sad because how in a pandemic can anyone seriously be expected to have a placebo group, which means those placebo patients would receive zero treatment.

👏👏👏 Great job!

Going to be honest and say nothing has gone as expected for several months. I hope the world returns to normal travel wise very quickly for my own life. My first thought was a what if, and I shared it. There are just so many possibilities that would have been unbelievable “what if’s” just six months ago that are now reality. I have friends just plain stuck places where they never expected to be long term. Much of their problems stem from a decision that in hindsight was not so urgent. Things happen, rules change in this CV world quickly. I am currently feeling pretty cautious about planning a two way trip. Going and staying there, no real hesitation beyond travel safety precautions.

I am so sorry. Trying to be helpful not harsh but my first thought was what if he gets there and is prevented from coming back home to you for several months. Is he prepared for that?

I know there is some serious protesting at my kid’s Uni to recover fees as well. So I think it is probably a thing at most Universities.....have to wonder why the student at liberty skipped right to suing. I suspect they will eventually refund the activity fees etc. We(parents) just received our refund for season baseball tickets.

Thanks for the link.......So I will still go with Shards of Honor as it sounds like the fun way to start a rather long series........I made masks, gave away masks, mailed masks, and have decided to take a mental health break from masks. I wanted something that I could finish quickly so..... Dd has made a couple of arugami Pikachu characters which are really cute. When I spotted a freebie quilt block on a blog I follow I decided we needed to change our creative entryway display which is normally seasonal. The block is done but not quilted so tomorrow I guess we will be celebrating Detective Pikachu for a couple of weeks . Even I loved that movie! I finished my audiobook today and thought A Useful Woman was great. It’s the first in a cozy historical series that was slightly different..the detective is a 19th century party planner or better described as a disgraced member of the ton who survives by using her insider knowledge and connections. I have the next on hold and am looking forward to it. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26067944-a-useful-woman I started listening to Null Set today. I abandoned the book earlier this year and decided to try again in audio as I really enjoyed Zero Sum Game which is the first in this series. The series is considered Sci Fi and actually is but on the surface is about a mathematical genius PI in LA. It’s a creative detective story.....and much better as an audiobook.😉.https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41793435-null-set?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=eUuzxcsSaI&rank=1