Houseplant Jungle

This is the other jigsaw I was given as a xmas present, which I really enjoyed completing. I also thoroughly enjoyed watching the fifth set of Andy Murray’s match this morning and the last two sets of Emma Raducanu’s match at lunchtime. I would have watched the 4th set of Andy’s match too, but when I looked on Discovery + under Amazon Prime, only Eurosport 2 and Extra were there, not Eurosport 1. I tried different ways of getting to the channel, but to no avail, so I had to ring Amazon’s Helpdesk who updated my firestick software and found it on the third route tried afterwards. Not good enough. This afternoon I did an Arts Society Zoom lecture on Ceremonial Music, which I enjoyed, although I was expecting a bit more general background info. Even the Arts Society had to send 3 different links out to get it working. It’s all getting a bit too complicated! 

Day 673 / Day 40 of Plan B (for my record only)
There were 438 Covid deaths reported today, still showing that even with restrictions it’s a very challenging virus to live with. 7.5% of deaths registered in England in w/e 7th Jan mentioned Covid on the death certificate. UK test positivity rates have fallen from 17% to below 6% (the WHO says 5% or below in needed to keep the pandemic under control). Scotland will remove all its Omicron restrictions from Monday, but the First Minister warns that cases are ‘still high’ and urged people to remain cautious in their social interactions. England’s Plan B restrictions will be reviewed next week. The Court of Appeal has overturned the High Court ruling that a contract was unlawful that was given to a company whose founders were friends of Dominic Cummings. To me what it shows is our controls / laws over awarding contracts in emergency situations need revising as they need awarding rapidly, but without being biased to personal contacts unfairly. Hong Kong is to cull around 2,000 hamsters and other small mammals after a Covid outbreak at a pet shop (11 hamsters tested were positive). Chinese state media is saying that parcels from overseas may have been a factor in the spread of Omicron