susan_

I popped in to Peckham Library earlier today - seemed to have all the normal services operating. I returned books using the self-help machines, browsed throughout the stacks, saw people studying at the little desks, can?t recall if anyone was using a computer. At the entrance to the building there?s a track and trace desk and hand sanitiser station. All in all I was delighted to be back using library service normally (:

I visited Camberwell library on Saturday and it was open, allowing people all the way in - was lovely to Brose and they had boxes to quarantine books that had been touched as well as a cleaner walking around wiping surfaces down. Delighted to see this small return to normal service (:

I?ll email too, not on Twitter. I just went to check the due date of the books I was finally able to collect a couple weeks back and found that 1-not everything I collected is checked out to me 2-two of the books I returned (when i collected) were renewed instead of marked returned....oddly the other 2 I returned were marked returned I too really want to go inside the library and select books, including on a Sunday...for this click-and-collect I only ever choose books that are available at the library I want to collect from...and some of these are still not ready for me six weeks later. Maybe the availability is out of whack? Anyway really missing regular access to my library and ready for it to be as available as other ?shops?

Nope - no fees for click and collect I emailed on Sunday evening and received a call on Monday late morning that my books were ready at Camberwell (as I had requested). I walked over, used the hand sanitizer at the door, dropped off my returns and picked up my books...took all of 2 minutes inside the library (everyone was wearing masks and it was all very clear where to go / what to do) I miss browsing the stacks but a bit of searching the catalogue found me a few grat options and I?m sure the librarians would offer suggestions! (see their website for phone and email https://www.southwark.gov.uk/libraries/order-and-collect)

I?ve been using the app for a couple weeks now (iPhone) and joined a zoom meeting last week to hear some preliminary findings / update from the scientists who run it. It was interesting and I felt happy to be doing something helpful. I really encourage people to download load it from App Store or wherever you get your apps and to log in every day (it takes a minute or less for me). I know they are keen to have more people reporting and have updated the app so that you can add multiple profiles if you wish to report for your whole household. If you search for it ?COVID Symptom Tracker? it?s the top one and the icon is blue with a big C-19 logo.

Cemeteries will be open again from 25 April- see https://www.southwark.gov.uk/births-deaths-marriage-and-citizenship/deaths-funerals-and-cremations/cemeteries

I really don?t want to lose my daily exercise outing but every time I?ve been out since ?guidelines? came into effect I have encountered someone very blatantly ignoring them. I try to be the one to move out of the way and i try to be on the street or grass side so that i have the space to move myself out of the way. so many people seem to consider 1m or less to be 2m. I have no issue stopping or going into the road so I can proactively manage the distancing with anyone coming towards me from in front. The difficulty is with people who come up behind me and overtake at <1m. I shouted ?Come on mate 2m? at a lady runner and two teen runners who did this to me this morning and one of the teens shouted F*** Off back at me. I?ll still try to remind people and to avoid/manage all the encounters proactively but I really don?t see the problem as a tiny minority currently.

The sign I saw today around 3pm indicated the Nunhead cemetery was closed today for a funeral ( only mourners allowed in for the service)....I had presumed from that sign that it would be open again after, but I didn?t think to take a photo of the sign. I?ll post again if tomorrow?s exercise takes me that way again

I walked up to Ruskin Park yesterday and someone had helpful written in chalk on the pavement in multiple places kind reminders of staying 2m distance and little diagrams showing this distance. I don?t have any chalk or I would happily add similar round the Rye... I go out every day for a walk or a run and try to maintain the prescribed distance. It?s worth remembering that we all forget sometimes (I mean it is a dramatic change from normal life in an urban environment!) so I?d be very glad of a (friendly) shouted reminder if I forget momentarily that the world is turned upside down at the moment. At the end of my run today I saw a lady hurrying on her way pass very very close to an elderly lady with her shopping. I wanted to call out some (friendly with a smile) reminder but nothing sprang to mind. Maybe ?2m please! We?re all in this together??

Hi centra95, we haven?t been meeting regularly anymore. I?d love to be part of a knit night again but at the moment am not in a position to try to reinvigorate this one. Our group was simply people coming together with their own crafty projects (knitting, crochet, embroidery, paper piecing, etc) in a welcoming venue to natter and chat. I think this knit night is ongoing if you?re willing to travel a little https://www.yarninthecity.com/knit-night

Oh sorry you?re sick Jen, take care of yourself (: Anyone else?

Hey gang, are people coming out this evening? I?m delayed on my way home from work due to snow so not sure what it?s like in Peckham/ ED.....I don?t want to wander down if no one else is able to come out (: Nb - I have had votes by PM from Cat who is out of town

Looking forward to seeing you on Tuesday (: Here?s the list for our February meeting on the theme historical fiction The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. All the slaves lead a hellish existence, but Cora has it worse than most; she is an outcast even among her fellow Africans and she is approaching womanhood, where it is clear even greater pain awaits. When Caesar, a slave recently arrived from Virginia, tells her about the Underground Railroad, they take the perilous decision to escape to the North. In Whitehead's razor-sharp imagining of the antebellum South, the Underground Railroad has assumed a physical form: a dilapidated box car pulled along subterranean tracks by a steam locomotive, picking up fugitives wherever it can. Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate Based on one of America's most notorious real-life scandals, in which Georgia Tann, director of a Memphis-based adoption organization, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country, Before We Were Yours is a riveting, wrenching and ultimately uplifting tale. The Alice Network by Kate Quinn In an enthralling new historical novel from national bestselling author Kate Quinn, two women?a female spy recruited to the real-life Alice Network in France during World War I and an unconventional American socialite searching for her cousin in 1947?are brought together in a mesmerizing story of courage and redemption. The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah Hannah's vivid depiction of a struggling family begins as a young father and POW returns from Vietnam, suffering from PTSD. The Allbright family, barely making ends meet in 1974, moves from Seattle to the untamed wilderness of Kaneq, Alaska, to claim a parcel of land left to Ernt by a slain Army buddy.

Happy New Year bookclubbers!!! I?ve just finished the book and looking forward to chatting about it with you all (: on the 22nd.

We were a bijoux group last night and had a good discussion about the Children of Men. We chose Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty for our January read and will meet on 22 January at 7:45 for 8. Tippler menu has been somewhat reduced and the 3for offer is no more...much as I like this venue, if people will be expecting to eat dinner (I do) then we might want to consider alternatives? Let?s chat when we meet in January. I offered to do the February list if anyone else is burning to do it, let me know)