Monthly Archives: May 2020

Weekly Zoom meetings with Councillors and MPs.

by

Abigail Marshall (@abigailmashall) | Twitter

Message from Councillor Abigail Marshall-Katung

Dear All
As we continue with the lockdown and stay home guidance, we have decided to engage with all our ward residents via zoom every Friday from 6-7pm.  We will also have our MP Hilary Benn join us every other Friday starting today.  I am inviting you all to please feel free to join us if you would like to engage with the rest of the ward as community leaders serving our ward.  Below are the registration details.  Please kindly pass on the registration details to your members.  Many thanks again for all your continuous and priceless support.
Our best wishes
Javaid, Kayleigh & Abigail.
You are invited to a Zoom meeting.
When: May 22, 2020 06:00 PM London
Register in advance for this meeting:

Connecting Leeds COVID-19 Transport Response

by

Connecting Leeds COVID-19 Transport Response

As part of the council’s response to Covid-19, Connecting Leeds is taking emergency action to help the public safely make their essential walking or cycling trips. Enabling people to keep two metres apart will help protect the health and safety of the public.

They welcome your ideas on their four themes below or go directly to “Suggest a Scheme” to help them create better spaces for walking and cycling in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.

See link below:
    Street fight in Leeds city centre leaves man with serious injuries ...

National Theatre at Home ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ from Thursday 21st May

by

 

National Theatre continue to stream a show each week while they have to be closed.  The shows go out on YouTube at 7pm on Thursday and then are available for 7days

Watch the Young Vic’s hit ★★★★★ production of Tennessee Williams’ timeless masterpiece, A Streetcar Named Desire, with Gillian Anderson, Vanessa Kirby and Ben Foster.    You can find the play here

Shared Moments: Day 35 ‘Only a month since my hair appointment was cancelled…..’ by Maureen Kershaw

by

Dear all,

Day 35 – Only a month since my hair appointment was cancelled yet already I’m wondering how the lovely David of The Story of O will prioritise his clients when able to re-open. Will we all be lined up outside the Salon whilst David walks along as in an identity parade, deciding on whose needs are the greatest? Of course I have to be prepared for the possibility of the over 70’s being in isolation for much longer. When I shop at the ‘older shoppers’ hour it is a privilege but slightly rankles to be not challenged with “surely not, you’re much too young”.

I wonder how many during this period will be tempted to finely tune their locks and tresses? I’ve owned a pair of hairdressing scissors for years which sit carefully at a distance in a drawer, rather like yum yums or a cream doughnut in a Cooplands window – tempting but I shouldn’t really. I miss my early morning chats with David, occasionally interrupted by Otto, his lovely long haired Dachsund as he wanders from his day bed to the window chaise to observe the passing world. He too must wonder what on earth has happened to his daily routine. After my shampoo I am presented with tea and a Greggs caramel shortcake. It may only be 8am but it’s never too early. I miss our chats putting the World to rights, I miss Otto, the choice of background music, the aroma of the huge vase of lillies on the desk, the antique decor and the standard lamp. Sadly unlit at the moment as I walk by but oh how
welcoming it will be when the lamps are glowing again. By then I may be asking for a cascade of curls down my back but instead of joking, this time I could mean it.

Wonderful Maureen, I will be in the identity parade too, although I have never been offered a caramel shortcake 🙂

Poetry Corner: Feelings of Dealing with COVID19 by Sandra McShane – 20th May 2020

by

‘Feeling’

I don’t know how I’m feeling.

I think I feel all right.
I’m busy doing nothing
From morning until night.

I don’t know how I’m feeling.
I left the house today.
I went to do some shopping.
I sang along the way.

I don’t know how I’m feeling.
I gave the bags to mom.
We smiled and laughed and she was fine.
Then I went back home.

I don’t know how I’m feeling.
Today I’m not too sure.
The numbers keep on climbing.
Will they find a cure?

I don’t know how I’m feeling.
I just don’t need this stuff.
Some cake and wine and chocolate,
But boy this thing is tough.

I don’t know how I’m feeling
When I stand and clap so loud.
So grateful, happy and so sad
In the isolated crowd.

I don’t know how I’m feeling.
When will that dream job come?
I’m optimistic, hopeful,
And luckier than some.

I don’t know how I’m feeling.
I saw the news today
But only very briefly.
Why won’t it go away?

I don’t know how I’m feeling.
I don’t know if I’m sad.
My friends and family, they’re all fine.
For that I am so glad.

I don’t know how I’m feeling,
But this I know is true.
We’re all in this together.
It’s me and them and you.

Do you know how you’re feeling?
You know that it’s okay
To sit and cry and wonder,
To want a better day.

Let’s just hold this feeling
Of love, of light, of hope.
Let’s relish all the quiet.
Be proud of how you cope.

I don’t know how I’m feeling.
I think I want to cry.
I don’t – I make a coffee
And stare out at the sky.

Today I got the feeling
That soon this will be done.
Our lives will change forever,
But look up at the sun.

You know that deep down feeling
Of joy, of loss, of pain,
The love, the sadness and the hurt.
You’ll be okay again.

One day we’ll get that feeling –
Was all this even real?
Hold onto that feeling.
In time we will all heal.

Written by Sandra A. McShane, 24.4.20/sourced.familyfriendpoems

Take care everyone

Snapshot in time: Great Outdoors!

by
This week I have focused on the great outdoors.
*
Sylvia wanted to share this delightful picture of herself in her national dress. This was before the lockdown at home in Montserrat.
Our friends and neighbours of Woodhouse at Craven Road and Delph View tending to their garden.
Pictures taken by Karen on the 7th May on Woodhouse Ridge “This morning we met Alfie the horse and a duck “
Thank you everyone for sharing, we look forward to more in the coming weeks.
Keep safe and well

Lockdown Island latest written by Oliver Cross

by
Lockdown Island latest
I’VE decided that I would like to spend the rest of my life exploring small islands, though this only happened after the lockdown made island hopping an impossible dream for anybody unlucky enough not to be Sir Richard Branson or a sea turtle.

Still, in my experience so far, spending time on a remote island is very similar to being in lockdown.  My partner Lynne booked us a week-long, out-of-season break on the exclusive (but only in the sense we were the only tourists there) island of Pag, off Croatia. It was very safe in modern terms, there being no theatrical, sporting or other interesting events to take our minds off washing our hands and avoiding crowded thoroughfares.

After a while on the island, we felt quite at home, knowing many of the local people and vice versa, so that when we got stranded by a huge downpour, a local taxi driver came, unasked, to our rescue, having observed enough of our habits to know which restaurant we would be eating in that night (a choice of three) and when we would be asking for the bill.

It was a kind of pre-virus version of the NHS phone tracing app introduced on the Isle of Wight keep tabs on potentially-infected people. I’m worried that the NHS may be wasting its money because the average small-islander is likely to be far better informed about people in the vicinity than the most costly surveillance devices.

Another island which appears to be in permanent lockdown is Sal, in the Cape Verdi group in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Its great attraction is that there are no annoying distractions, such as sophisticated restaurants or exotic wildlife. There are, instead, very pleasant and entertaining people, lovely beaches, the small tip of an extinct volcano and a mirage which doesn’t really work unless you squint a lot.

The only place we visited that resembled a regular tourist attraction was the Museum of Salt, celebrating the industry which gave the island its name but which doesn’t exist any more.

The museum seems to have pioneered the epidemic-led policy of closely controlling entry to public places. The receptionist was so alarmed at the prospect of visitors that she had to call her supervisor to check whether they were allowed. The supervisor, who said she should have been at home on her day off, had to come round to peer at us because islanders like to know what’s going on, and we had to show an implausible fascination with the few old salt-shovelling implements on display, so as not to appear rude.

This is the fascination of small islands, Relatively small things, such as the salty cheese on Pag, the Museum of Salt on Sal or the coloured sands on the Isle of Wight, become especially significant when, until we reboard the plane or ferry, that’s all there is.

I particularly like the Isle of Man, which, although not so small, sounds pretty dull compared to hot-spot islands in the Mediterranean or the Caribbean.  Actually, I tell people before they start to yawn, it has one of the world’s finest transport systems, with electric trams, steam locomotives, horse trams, a mountain railway and an unusually efficient bus service.

I think the objection that many of the island’s public service vehicles date from the nineteenth century, and therefore tend to rattle or jerk, completely misses the point. Regular commuters may long for a smooth ride but island-hoppers prefer things quirky or even jerky.

And I’m now worried that my nostalgia for out-dated transport systems may be a result of locked-down syndrome; perhaps I’m only thinking of trams and trains because it may soon be decreed that we must only travel by bike, foot or private car unless we need to save the economy by going to work on public transport, in which case the risk is on us.

Thank you once again Oliver, until next time!

‘Monday Mind Workout’ – 18th May 2020 – answers

by

Caring Together’s Monday Mind Workout Food and Drink Quiz Questions and answers

  1. If you asked for scraps in a chippy – what would you get? Bits of batter
  2. What is an eggplant known as in the UK? Aubergine
  3. What meat is in a Glamorgan sausage? None – it’s made with cheese
  4. What are Pontefract cakes made from? Liquorice
  5. In which country would you most likely be offered Ouzo? Greece
  6. Saffron comes from which flower? Crocus
  7. What nut is used in marzipan? Almond
  8. What fruit is a Whitby bun flavoured with? Lemon
  9. What county did the Eccles cake come from? Lancashire
  10. What is the most consumed manufactured drink in the world? Tea
  11. What is the main ingredient in guacamole? Avocado
  12. In which county is the Rhubarb Triangle? West Yorkshire (between Wakefield, Leeds and Bradford)
  13. Which bakery created a stir with a vegan sausage roll? Greggs
  14. If you were eating fondue, what would you be dipping into? Melted cheese
  15. What are the 3 main ingredients of a mocha? Coffee(espresso) chocolate and hot milk
  16. Which West Yorkshire town holds a liquorice festival each year? Pontrefract
  17. Chesnut, oyster and shitake are all varieties of what? Mushroom
  18. What type of food is Port Salut? Cheese
  19. What forms the inside of a Baked Alaska? Ice cream
  20. What is Paddington Bear’s favourite food? Marmalade sandwiches

How did you do?

Mental Health Awareness Week 18th May to 24th May 2020

by

Mental Health Awareness Week 18th May to 24th May 2020

Focus this year is on Kindness, and in Woodhouse and Little and London I’d say you are doing your bit by the bucket load!

As a community your kindness is heartwarming!

You are calling on neighbours, friends, family and us too :))

You are helping where you can, with telephone support, getting a daily newspaper, shopping and gardening for others

You are making meals; baking, making Jams, pickles, fruit cake and tending to the allotment and sharing with others

You are being creative and artistic and sharing this with others.

You are sharing facetime with family and friends, and zooming over a cuppa

You are sharing walks and picnics together (2metres apart) films together, conversations about nature, what you’ve watched, and theatre together

You are sharing interesting articles, digital imagery, messages of safety, poetry, quizzes, memoirs and short stories

You are spreading your kindness with your concern, care, a smile, a wave and in words, silences, and cards

and please share some kindness with yourself too

And you are even making kind donations; financial, and with food and stamps 🙂

And finally you are sharing what its like to be human: your loss, your love, fears, sorrow, wisdom, tears, hope and laughter

Random acts of kindness during the coronavirus outbreak | Mental ...

 

MindWell, the mental health website for people in Leeds, launched a Coronavirus Mental Health Hub which will act as a ‘portal’ bringing together information about mental health and Covid-19 for people in Leeds.

https://www.mindwell-leeds.org.uk/

MindWell Week of Kindness – seven days, seven themes