Corona in Cortona… Isolation in Italy…..Covid Chronicles…. part 10

6 min readApr 29, 2020

Sat 25 April 2020 — Thursday 29th April — Days 46–50 of Lockdown. Happy Birthday Captain Tom + Looking to the Future?

I must be going a bit stir crazy… I emailed several people saying that it was nearly 3 months that we had been in lockdown… of course it is only nearly two. And the other day, I put my plastic rubbish out for collection, convinced it was Wednesday, rather than actually Tuesday — I wondered why they didn’t collect it!

My friend told me that her neighbours left a whole pile of coloured chalks on their back wall. She was a bit confused, but her daughter knew what was expected… so now they have rainbow coloured bricks — what a good idea.

Sunday the 26th of April

The Chelsea Flower Show, which has obviously been cancelled, but apparently it is going virtual. I have fond memories… I first went as a weather presenter when I was with Sky. I arrived at five in the morning, and wandered around looking for my camera crew. Failing to find them, I went into the marquees, and had the whole thing to myself. After that, I was addicted.

In 2002, I and two friends were looking at the Courtyard Gardens, when I suddenly had the bright idea that we too could do a small garden. My plan was to base it on photos of Cortona, and use it to highlight the possible results of global warming.

I called it ‘View To A Future’, with the idea that in less than twenty years, it was certainly a possibility that the English countryside, and maybe our gardens, could be looking much more like Tuscany. To cut a long story short, I was advised that if I wanted to get accepted with absolutely no experience whatsoever, getting sponsorship in place would be necessary. I went to Tony Ball, at that time chief executive of BSkyB, and, amazingly, he said yes, and he gave me a budget of £10,000. I then had an on site meeting with Mavis Sweetingham, the then Chelsea Flower Show manager. We got there early, and laid out a plan of the proposed garden, using twigs, scarves etc, and we got accepted.

There is a saying, attributed to various golfers including Gary Player and Arnold Palmer, ‘ funny how the more I practice the luckier I get’. Well, I put a huge amount of work into the detailed planning of the garden, and I also had some huge pieces of luck.

This meant that we had an extraordinarily strong team, and the garden was every square inch the garden that I hoped it would be, despite the fact that we built it in pouring rain every day.

In the end, the long miserable wet days finally took their toll on me. Monday is the day the Queen comes round. We knew she wasn’t coming our way, but we still all had to be on our gardens. Five times Olympian, Steve Redgrave, was supporting the garden next to us, as they were supporting a diabetes charity; and just down from him, another garden had a scotsman on it…. with a bottle of whisky.. I hate whisky but I was so cold. In the end, I was too wet, cold, and tired even to attend the special members evening that night. Despite having paid a lot for tickets, I just went home.

What happened next? See the next installment!

Out walking the dogs today, I saw the first poppies… it reminded me that they are symbol of the all the deaths of the first world war. I wonder what the symbol for these strange days will be? The rainbow maybe?

Do I hate Trump? No, He scares me; and he also makes me laugh — a lot. If you feel the same, and need a good laugh, this two minute video is well worth a watch…. The Liar Tweets Tonight…. https://www.facebook.com/hazel.murray.923/posts/10157593112914209?notif_id=1587676989695841&notif_t=share_wall_create

26th April — Italy’s daily death toll has fallen dramatically from 415 yesterday to 260 today, that’s the lowest rise since March 14. Also, the Italian PM, Guiseppe Conte, has given details of how the lockdown will be eased. From 4 May… people will be able to move within their own region ie Umbria or Tuscany, Calabria etc, but not outside it. Visiting family members will be allowed, but not social gatherings. Parks can reopen. Funerals can take place with a maximum of 15 people. And bars and restaurants can do take-aways. All of this with masks and social distancing.

As long as the figures continue in the right direction, there will be more restrictions eased on the 18 May, and more still from June 1st, when bars and resturants will be allowed to fully reopen. So, phased unlocking, ‘a piccolo passi’… in small steps, with the PM saying, “if you love Italy, keep your distance”.

So, it seems that wearing masks and gloves, and the staying the requisite two metres apart, is the key to life here, in the months (or years?), before we get the vaccine. I’m really surprised that in the UK they’ve decided against making masks mandatory. It makes me feel safer, when I go to the local shop, that we are all wearing masks. Why would you not? Well, ok, so my glasses steam up and I can’t see where I am going, but surely that is a small price to pay?

The fewer cases of Covid in the hospitals, the fewer pictures like this one … poor Elena Pagliarini comes off duty and collapses with exhaustion, still in her mask. At the time she apologised — can you believe it? Later, she discovered that she too had the virus. Thankfully she did not have to be hospitalised and was able to recover at home, where she was interviewed. Apparently, she had dreamed of becoming famous by winning the equivalent of Master Chef. Instead she has become a symbol of Italy’s fight against Corona. I am not a crier, but just writing this brings tears to my eyes, literally.

Wednesday 29th

Another hero of Covid is of course Capt Tom Moore… I have been following his progress since 99-year old started doing laps around his garden on his zimmer frame.

He was hoping to raise £1,000 for the NHS Charities Together before his 100th birthday tomorrow (30th). Each day the amount raised has been going up by staggering amounts, and last heard it was 30 million pounds. Not only is he a hero, but every single person that sent a donation is too. But the real heroes are the workers on the front line — wherever they are.