I felt great excitement about the easing of restrictions and the return to personal responsibility until I realised that it’s going to be a very slow journey. I love to browse in a shopping centre. But shopping centres now come with a huge health warning. We must not loiter or congregate in the aisles. My husband Tim and I like to meet our friends for a dinner or a drink. Sanitising hands and maintaining social distance has made us nervous. It has taken the good out of outings.

Every summer the London cousins come home to us for a few weeks. It’s always a magical time. That’s not going to happen

I hope I will browse in a shopping centre again. I’d love to take my daughter Julie shopping. She hasn’t seen the inside of a shop since before her little boy Ricky was born in December. Every summer the London cousins come home to us for a few weeks. It’s always a magical time. That’s not going to happen.

Dinner or not

Last week, we invited four people from one family to join us for dinner. I was excited and planning what I might cook. Tim was thinking of venturing as far as the English Market for provisions. He loves the market and hasn’t been there since Christmas. I wonder what it even looks like now with social distancing in place. Apparently there are queues.

The very requirement to queue is adding time to the already-mundane shopping trips

In some shops, some people are proffering a receipt for fish or meat that they might have ordered online and so skipping the queue. That practice drives people that are waiting crazy. Queue etiquette has never been so important. The very requirement to queue is adding time to the already-mundane shopping trips. There’s too much time to judge the queue jumpers and those who don’t sanitise.

Shopping trips

Last Wednesday, I ventured to Ballincollig. Ricky needed new teats for his bottles. I planned to drop into Dunnes Stores for a few bits. Ballincollig was quiet with few people around. The car park had empty spaces. I entered the almost-empty shopping centre. A long queue lined with rope barriers was marked out in yellow, the COVID-19 yellow that now turns my stomach. Somebody was standing at every door monitoring the few customers. Why would you bother going in unless you needed something? I entered Dunnes Stores. The lady on the loudspeaker had spotted two people shopping together. “Please customers, one person per trolley. Please shop alone.”

They weren’t comfortable about coming not wanting to put baby Ricky or my son Diarmuid at risk

That was my cue to rush to the pharmacy, get the bottle teats and head for home. At least at home I can be me. I can forget about COVID-19 and get on with life away from the tense atmosphere. The countryside is beautiful and the garden is calling.

As the day approached for our friends visit, I rang to confirm. Following our conversation, we cancelled our dinner. They weren’t comfortable about coming not wanting to put baby Ricky or my son Diarmuid at risk. We realised that we were feeling the same. Emerging from lockdown is not simple for anyone.

Down on the farm

Three weeks ago, we had a growth rate of 95kg of dry matter per hectare. In just five days that dropped to 49kg DM/ha and further to 40kg DM/ha. It was almost difficult to credit. This is why we grass walk and measure every five days at this time of year. So 4kg/day of soya hulls were put in for the cows, for one week to slow down the demand. They are now on 2kg.

Dairygold upped the price of milk by half a cent

The growth rate is now up to 50 and hopefully rising. The target is to keep the average farm cover above 500kg. Teagasc research shows that where cover slips under 500kg; the growth rate can drop by 20%. We do need rain.

On the bright side, the cows are milking well. Dairygold upped the price of milk by half a cent. Dairy farmers in this area are very appreciative of our co-op having our backs and giving us a fair return for our produce. That matters.

The breeding season is nearly finished. The stock bulls have been let out with the cows for the last clean up. They will be out for 23 days so that every cow will have a chance to cycle if not already in calf. They will be taken away in early July. The figures are good with high conception rates. Scanning will reveal all when that time comes. Farming with all its challenges, beauty and triumphs makes compliance with COVID-19 bearable.