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Home Is Where The Heart Is

Hello fans of Cuckoo Gin

I come to you from the comfort of the front room of my house, as Boris and the government have now laid it upon us that unless absolutely necessary, we must now stay at home to stop the spread of Coronavirus. It was strange to watch Boris address the nation last night. On one hand, I sat there and felt as though I was watching a wartime message, where we must all pull together, get through this as a collective effort and felt a sense of pride. On the other, a huge wave of sadness came over me.

I was sat with my parents David and Maria, who, prior to this outbreak, were both still working in the community as care workers. They have both retired but went back to work doing what they love to do; taking care of people. The emergence of COVID-19 has unwillingly forced them both to now give up work, as they are people of the older generation and among the most vulnerable.

Your parents are the reassurance aren’t they? Whenever you’re scared of something or feeling fed up you ring your Mam, don’t you? I do anyway. That always makes me feel better. However, the last few weeks, I feel like the role has reversed. It’s my parents looking to me for reassurance, for positivity, for answers!

Answers I do not have, but a positive outlook I do. The good times will be back, they might go away for a bit but they always come back. We have have food, we (might) have toilet roll, we have clean running water, we have Netflix, we have music, we have FAMILY. As long as we listen to the guidelines, we will all come out of this happy, healthy and ready for a big party!

Apart from the obvious effects of this virus, there are so many other things that are effecting people. The knock on effects for the older generation is something I can’t stop thinking about. I can cope with staying in for a bit, it’s annoying and inconvenient but it is what it is. But imagine you’re only outlet is nipping to the shops or going to the tea room or getting the bus into town. All that taken away from you, it’s daunting and frightening for some people. These are the people we have to think about during this time. Stay in for your older relatives. Stay in so we can get back to normality sooner rather than later!

I won’t sit here and say I’m not scared, of course I am. But we all have people we need to stay strong for. You have to look forward and have something in your head that’s going to get you through the next few months. I had Glastonbury booked again this year which unfortunately has been cancelled. I also turn 30 this year, eek! But if staying in for now means by September (the 2nd, for those sending presents) I’ll be sat with my mates having a few too many beers, then so be it!

And what of Cuckoo? Well, you have probably seen that we have cancelled our tourism events until at least mid April, which will be reviewed along with government advice. You can still buy gin, delivery services are still operating!

We’ve never really had a full year at Cuckoo. The first year, when i joined, we had to close the bar for 7 months. Not because of me by the way ha! Second year we had the sad news of our Liz’s diagnosis. The Solace was born out of this though, which brought some good times. Then this, our third year, has been flipped upside down because someone ordered bat soup (or that’s what they are telling us). We crack on though, as always.

I hope you enjoy reading this latest post. A tough one to write to be honest. There is a lot of uncertainty and fear at the moment. I miss coming into work, I miss the farm and I miss the pigs! I hope you and your loved ones stay safe throughout this pandemic. Remember though, it’ll be reyt.

Lots of love, Tom x