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Hi All . . . what unexpected and rather scary times.

The Corona Virus Covid-19 has spread worldwide and we must all change our ways for the present in order for the nation to cope.

Tourist areas like Cumbria, the Scottish Isles, the Scottish Highlands. National Parks and other remote areas are saying please don't visit

so as to avoid bringing in the virus or overloading the local health services should you feel unwell or have an accident.

The Mountain Rescue are saying "don't go on the fells" because in the event of a callout they may not be able to deploy full teams.

This is not a holiday off work so please don't treat it as such.

Think Foot and Mouth . . . but this time the countryside is open but "people to people infection" is the problem.

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Here in Loweswater the pubs and hotels have been re-assessing if they can offer anything, now that they have had to close the bars and accommodation.

Older folk who have been running a website for 20 years have been asked to self-distance,

keeping contact to an absolute minimum . . . I guess that means us !

It looks like technology will be good for keeping in touch and the garden will end up getting lots of attention this summer.

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It all hit home here in the last few days with the arrival of these three emails from Loweswatercam viewers.

This bug travels fast . . . Lloyd, about as far away as you can get from here. He is in Invercargill, in the south of South Island, New Zealand.

Tenak-wei Roger, The mass hysteria has hit us.  We've got a few cases of ‘Le Bugg’ up north first, then Queenstown got caught with one last week two days ago my next door neighbour has gone in to 2 weeks quarantine he is just back from Holland for his mother’s 90th.  Sadly the day after that his father died. NZ currently have 28 confirmed cases (as of 21st March). We have our first case here in Invercargill and it looks like a whole school is going to have to be tested. The super-markets have gone under siege, people being stupid and buying up large quantities so that the shops are placing restriction on entry and what you can buy. Its certainly going to be a real doosie for some time, and its really hitting hard on the economy/tourist side of things and there will be more restrictions. You will have the high fresh air and lovely views of spring to while away the time.  I've been busy getting ready to batten down the hatches for autumn and maybe a record rough winter ahead.   Watch out for that damned virus and stay healthy. Lloyd.

And the "bug" has reached the parts that other bugs don't reach . . .

Good evening Roger and Ann, Canada seems to be following Britain’s course with the outbreak, though we’re a week or two behind you. Cases of infection are just beginning to pop up here in Saskatchewan, a prairie province regarded by big city dwellers on either side of us as being more or less the end of the earth. In fact I have a friend who says of the ranch where he lives, “This isn't the end of the earth, but if you stand on tip-toe you can see it from my front porch.” So for the moment our autumn Cumbrian holiday plans lie fallow. We’ve confirmed accommodation in Ennerdale Bridge, Buttermere, Newlands, and Rosthwaite. We’ve gone rambling in Britain every two or three years since the early 1990’s, and have always known that ‘this one might be our last chance’. If and when we do go on what we have code-named "The Dame Nellie Melba Memorial Absolutely Final Farewell Tour of the Lake District" we plan to visit the three lakes that have escaped us so far: Ennerdale Water, Loweswater, and Crummock Water. Thanks to your recent post on Angler’s Crag we’ve decided that the upper path is probably a little more secure than the lower one if we’re circumnavigating the lake. When the Covid -19 pandemic blows over, we will undoubtedly have a question or two before we pass by Loweswater, but in any case we will continue to follow your ambulatory adventures on loweswatercam with much enjoyment and just a little envy. This is the view from our fence line this afternoon. Mind you, it’s beautiful country, without a bunch of mountains blocking the view of the scenery … and an easy place to practice “social distancing” during an epidemic. Wishing you the best, David and Cathryn.   (Saskatchewan Canada.)

And an email from Austria . . .

Helmut is a medical doctor in Austria. He is in Winzendorf, not far from Vienna.

Hi Ann, hi Roger, Hope you are well!  What are the measures in the UK? They say, that Mr. Johnson first wanted to do nothing, waiting for the epidemic to come, in hope of herd immunity occurring earlier, but as far as I know he now also had the school closed and gives "recommendations" for people not meeting together in big numbers. Much too less. Restrictions should be taken immediately like in China or in Italy. The problem is, that many people have big difficulties to estimate what an exponential growth means. Doubling of cases every 3 days would mean that from 10 cases you get 10.000 within a month. So, please, stay home, very carefully walk the dogs, walk fells pretty alone or only you two who stay close together all day anyway. Don´t meet friends, don´t go to the pub or church or shopping. Avoid accidents as much as possible (not to be forced to meet other people at the NHS). Don´t approach other people nearer than 2 m. Wash hands after returning home from shopping (food), don´t touch your face or your eyes before that hand washing. All the best, take care, stay healthy! Helmut

If you need any more convincing about safe-distancing and changing your plans then click here: Dr Jack on LBC

It should open a YouTube sound-only video from a LBC Radio, A London phone-in programme.

(Backspace on the YouTube page to return)

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So what about that suggestion for us to get out into the garden . . . after all the weather has changed and it has stopped raining.

A tidy up of the flower bed by the house and also adding a first few colourful border plants I bought a week ago.

Down at the Lingholm octagonal walled garden I've planted some onion sets and tidied up the over-wintering spinach.

The fruit cage has been pruned . . . I'll have time to check out to see if more needs doing.

The rhubarb has made an appearance . . . food in weeks to come.

Winter kale will do a few meals but I'm down to the last 20 sprouts, and I mean sprouts not sprout plants !

The potatoes have started sprouting and I'll cover them once they have grown a little and the soil has warmed up.

These are in the greenhouse now but will be pot-grown outside once the frosts are over.

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Those of a keen eye will notice that the inside of the greenhouse needs a paint too . . . how do you self-isolate and buy paint ?

My log pile, large as a result of several winter storms, is starting to be converted into logs for the fire.

For once I will have enough logs for this winter and if we have a nice summer, a buffer to take me into the autumn.

If this self-isolation goes on as long, as they are suggesting, it will all be cut, chopped and stacked much sooner than planned.