The Sheep

..... stands alone. The rest of the flock was not far away however.

We ventured out for the first time in almost a week, almost two weeks since we have seen proper countryside.

We have been really missing walking. It was important to find somewhere quiet, with a good chance of seeing very few people. So we travelled to a small village, and parked near a closed pub. Then walked across the fields, A short walk - but we are completely out of practice, and what should be easy was actually a bit tiring. But good nevertheless. We were careful to be socially distanced from cows and their calves, which was the only tricky bit and required some rerouting,  Sheep on the other hand were fine.

Returning to the car a noticeboard had appeared in the doorway of “The Swan” - opening July 15th. A young woman came out and started taking photos, I guess for the pub’s website. They will be keen to get up and running again,

For those shielding, tentative steps outside are going to be very challenging. What has become a “new norm” for many people is a strange world, and the need to be very careful is not going to go away just because the government says it is now OK. Risks remain risks. So the ending of the Shielding regime on August 6th is I think not going to be any real kind of end.