Hello,
Apologies for vanishing; sadly neither to a luxurious holiday somewhere (though presumably would need to be an alternative dimension kicks TARDIS to make its chameleon circuit activate; nothing to see here, ahem or a distant planet or simply a different time...) nor off being International Woman Of Mystery.
V pleased that the custard creams with delusions of grandeur were so well-received. I like to think that Nessie herself has a, er, fin in the making of them. Or at the very least is the official taste-tester. On subject of huge creatures + yummy confections, I feel the need to share that yesterday my local museum held a Walrus Tea Party; & I’m v sad I didn’t realise in sufficient time to bake something in honour of The Mighty Horniman Walrus. (When I finally crack from the pressure of shielding & start a cult I’m thinking of having your one here as Sacred Being Type. [Admittedly cult-starting might be a wee bit awkward what with my being a Catholic, but as the Pope said we can crack on with Protestant-style auto-confessionals during the pandemic I’m sure it’ll be grand...] Helpfully the Ice Bear in question already has a Twitter account...)
Have had my shielding letter directly this time (first one I only merited one via my GP surgery; obviously I now feel v loved & special so) & frankly am a wee bit baffled as in the midst of the bubbles & pausing & away you go to work & sure you’ll be grand (except this’ll [half-]kill you if you get it so you don’t want to do that) it actually says to stay at home as much as possible (as well as the whole strictly socially distancing when DO go out). No advice as to how to manage to socially distance (never mind strictly) when they’re reducing the distance to keep from people from 2m to 1m. (Maybe they could send us badges &/or lanyards. Might shut up the fecking annoying people who keep banging on about how they’re shielding when what they mean is they’ve decided to stay in. You do you, but wanting to be “special” is beyond weird. A reverse-leper!bell? Special dispensation to use - very low voltage - cattle prods of some kind? And permission to up the voltage in cases of repeat offenders... I really love where I live, & if you ever look at an aerial map of London my wee corner is surprisingly green. There’s a male tawny owl I’ve been hearing on the regular since the Autumn; apparently the female tawny lives the other side of the river (& possibly the wrong side of the tracks; well done that owl). My garden is THE top vulpine nightspot for SE London & the river has kingfishers living in it as well as a wild heron having decided the local duck pond made a good home. But it is still inner London. There are an awful lot of people wanting-needing to use that space (& to say hello to the deer who are blatantly MY deer, sharesies with the Queen, who is polite enough not to go clarting up the place) & though they are generally very nice people their ability to give me space that doesn’t exist is, well... (The media get rather obsessed with the ones who are overfond of guns & drugs [inc running county lines] & gangs & knives [& resultant stabbings]; & the poor feckers experiencing assorted terrible things. Much less interested in all the people who are pushing back madly against all those things at all kinds of levels in all kinds of ways. And not as a pandemic thing - pretty sure the reason the National Mutual Aid thing began here was because there were so many existing projects ready to adapt & extend; & so many communities where minding your elderly & vulnerable people [& giving to charity] is absolutely the social norm. I kind of love that a chef from the Oxo Tower restaurant is currently in charge of providing meals for shielding & self-isolating Irish of the Borough - ones that used to use the community/cultural centre, anyway, or have been put in touch with them. Plus anyone else they see looking a bit hungry, naturally 
But yes, sorry, bit of a ramble that to say I’m not really sure how I can manage safely going out. Ech.)
Have wittered on about myself vastly too much. Sorry.
Hope that you had a lovely birthday @Redcherries 
@FuzzyPuffling
Am so pleased for you you’ve been able to manage even brief wee trips to the beach. Hope you can keep on doing it & other people respect your space. Are you able to take advantage of it being light vvv early?
@BeyondDreamsOfBeyondFourWalls
I think in some places people are coming out to people who’re shielding; in some places there are specific time slots for people who’re shielding; in others they’re just booking them in first thing. They might be able to provide transport for you - I think it’s one of the things offered by the volunteer services; but they might say you need to ask someone to give you a lift or you’ve to get a taxi. Amount of help available in different areas seems to vary hugely. My haematologist has decided it’s safer for my daddy to drive me to & from the hospital than for me to use patient transport for appointments & that means mixing with a non-shielding household. If they say you’ve to go to them have you anyone you trust to have been observing lockdown properly you could ask for a lift? And then obviously you wear a mask (& decide what combination of gloves & gel & hamdwashing works best for you). Sorry you’ve the worry of it & hope it’s sorted for you soon.
On subject masks, I have just ordered myself this very mature & sensible dinosaur one from Vistaprint having done lots more reading & research online & heard them recommended lots. Have realised it’s wise, even with my jaunts outside being so limited, to invest in several masks; & thus also wise to figure out the best type for me. A filter will add safety but might make the whole breathing thing harder (& for obvious reasons washing after each wear is vital) so removable ones FTW. (And yes I have a mutant tiny head so it’s all about the children’s masks. In the same way I’ve to get children’s hats & children’s glasses. To be fair, given I also get children’s shoes as if I’m paying VAT needlessly & gloves & some clothes [am not into looking like an actual child & unsurprisingly my proportions are wrong] I suppose I’m sort of in proportion if we leave aside my noodly limbs...) But yes. Masks. Admittedly saying they’ll take 1.5 weeks to arrive; but masks...