June & July 2020

Andy Junior 

This little rascal has entered our lives. We have been without dogs since we lost Coco and Ellie when the boys were small. Milo had pestered and pestered us about getting a dog. He even set up a campaign to get a dog by emailing information, video clips and sad faces to us. Then, someone living in Palm Meadows posted about puppies being available. We researched about how to get a dog back to the UK and the ups and down of dog ownership in India. But we seemed fated and this little pup became ours.

His name is Andy (name given to him by his owners and not to be confused with Andy C
Snr) and he has moved in and won everyone over. Andy is the most chilled puppy we have ever met. He sleeps all day, sits when told and waits patiently by the door if he wants to go out. He can even make it through the night ...
Of course, he does have his mad moments. We have discovered that he likes the rain which is more frequent at the moment as it is the monsoon season. He then runs around like a maniac. Luckily, we have a garden for him to run around in as he can't go out yet for another couple of weeks until his next set of vaccinations are completed. But standing in the garden with an enormous umbrella to keep off the rain has become the new norm for us in the evening.

When he is not in the garden then he is on the terrace, sleeping again or watching the world go by. He is safest on the terrace which has been 'puppy proofed', so if we have to pop out we can leave him there. This is because Mala has never had contact with a dog and she has not got used to closing the doors behind her! She laughs hysterically when she is near Andy and if he is in a playful mood then her floaty Indian clothes become a biting tug -of -war target and we have to intervene. Even so, he likes to sit at her feet in the kitchen and she is is becoming more confident with him.

Covid (and Milo's birthday)

India had such a good control on the covid spread initially, then the movement of people began and, at the moment, the numbers are increasing daily. We are stopping in Palm Meadows as much as we can and only Andrew is going out and that is just to work. The papers are reporting that some hospitals are having problems, but it seems to be the government hospitals that have bed shortages and a lack of doctors and equipment. The private ones seem to be ok. (We hope!).

This means more online shopping. I spent about an hour this morning ordering various things from various places to get some deliveries, but we can order anything and it is generally quick. If I was actually going to the shops physically it would take me much longer, so now I have worked out all the different online payment systems and which are my favourites, then it is not so bad.

On July 14th we were back in lockdown for a week, so there will be no more going out anyway, the work on the factory has to slow down too, which is a bit annoying.

It is Milo's birthday and he was having a party for his friends but we've had to postpone it until next week. We dont think its a good idea to have screaming children in the back garden during the lockdown as a lot of the senior citizens are rather nervous which is understandable. It means Milo will have two birthdays, one with us (official B'day #1) and another one next week with his friends (#2). He's being very stoical about it all, but I'm sure two ice cream cakes will make up for it all.

Dengue

Not only do we have COVID to avoid but we also have 'Dengue' to avoid. This is more worrying because it is carried by a mosquito that comes out early in the morning and as dusk falls. It does not buzz so it can sneak up on a person and the bite does not hurt. If an infected mosquito bites you and you get Dengue, it can be quite unpleasant and deaths do occur. Milo's friend has just had it, he is better now but was quite poorly, and there have been several cases in Palm Meadows. Wearing a mask does not help the spread of this disease, but long trousers and sleeves and staying in at the right time can help. Spraying the house with copious amounts of mosquito spray helps too which I try to do every day (not sure of the environmental impact of this or even the inhalation effects - remind me to ask my advisor Donald Trump about this!) . The Palm Meadows community has decided to start "fogging" to try and stop the dengue mosquitoes. We also have an organic sprayer three days a week. Fingers crossed we can avoid this nasty virus too.

'Attention seeking' Andrew

 (He looked a bit rough! Carla helped considerably the                                                with rabbit ears in the background...)

After last year's steak choking incident and an emergency trip to the hospital, Andrew decided that he would do it again (attention seeking!). This time, he was just about to leave work and he decided to eat his pear from his 'pack up'. Unfortunately, he did this in a rush and got a piece stuck in his food pipe.

Poor Arjun had to drive him the hour long journey to the hospital near our house with Andrew occasionally coughing and other unpleasant sounds resulting from the semi -stuck fruit. Andrew being Andrew didn't make a fuss and he only rang me after he had been treated. He came home and was fine, but after only being in for ten minutes, the hospital rang and asked him to go back immediately. Arjun had gone so Andrew drove us there. The ENT consultant, who he'd seen, had arranged for a CAT scan to check his food pipe (very efficient of them!). 

After a couple of hours all was done and the consultant told him not to eat or drink ready for an endoscopy the next day. We got home about 10:30pm and Andrew had a small opportunity to eat as he was starving (this time chewing properly and slowly)

So the next day, we arrived to be told that Andrew would have a full 'knock you out' anaesthetic which we were not expecting. After several hours all was done and sorted and another consultant seen (again very organised).

Everything was very efficient and the hospital seemed safe and in control with regards to the covid situation.

Andrew has been absolutely fine ever since and just had a couple of follow up medications to help with his digestive needs.

Covid Message 

During the UK lockdown period Simon and the Micronclean Directors have each been sharing video messages to express their heartfelt thanks and appreciation, for the continuing hard work being carried out by our staff to support the UK business. Micronclean have been able to continue to serve their customers, keeping the country going in providing our essential services to the healthcare, pharmaceutical and specialist cleanroom and food production sectors.
Here is the link to Andrew's message: https://youtu.be/fRk7jaLZloU Andrew's message

The Weather

It is the monsoon season and this means a change in the weather pattern. I am reading a book called 'Chasing the Monsoon' by Alexander Frater. It is about a journalist who follows the monsoon as it passes through India and it is fascinating. I have now become an avid watcher of the clouds and weather reports. (Andrew suggests that it's yet another excuse for sitting down for hours!)

In monsoon, as the clouds build they become darker and fuller, usually this occurs in the afternoon. Then there will be sudden increase in the wind. The wind comes from nowhere and that means the rain is coming. You have only about a minute to do something before the rain really starts to pour once you feel the wind.

You can actually see the rain advancing towards you. The droplets are enormous too. If the washing is out then there's no chance of rescue. Sometimes there is thunder and lightning and it can get quite loud at times. Usually the storm can last anywhere from an hour to several hours. But here in Bangalore it does not happen every day like it does in other places. If you look at the weather reports, it will often say rain and nothing happens. Most days, at the moment, it is sunny/ cloudy in the morning,cloudy/rainy/sunny in the afternoon.

The temperature has dropped, it's about 27 degrees today, but this means it is comfortable to walk in and we can now sleep comfortably at night without the need for air conditioning. Although the other day there was no cloud what- so -ever and it was too hot to sit in. Bangalore is more of a comfortable climate and does not have the extremes of Delhi or Chennai.

A&C's 30th Wedding Anniversary:

Just to add to the excitement of June and July, with birthdays, puppies, lockdown and un-lockdown shenanigans, there was a special event that had to be celebrated with the social distancing and restrictions in mind. As restaurants were still closed, holidays not allowed, we had lovely day long delivery of celebratory treats provided by Rishi and the team at the local Marriott Hotel. Flowers, scrumptious food, drinks and even a cake with our wedding photo emblazoned across it, were home delivered to us. We also had chance to pop open a couple of bottles of bubbly with our friends that visited us, as a wonderful surprise (dressed in full beautiful Indian saris)