Rust Never Sleeps

As you may recall, we got a couple of these steel roses on Valentine’s Day, and the instructions were to put them outside and let them weather naturally. Various suggestions were given as to how to speed up the process, but I felt that normal Lake District weather would probably do the trick without any assistance.
And I was right. Three weeks later, on what has been an unremittingly wet day, and I managed to snatch a quick photo in between the downpours. This is Mrs C’s rose, which she “planted out” as soon as she could. I couldn’t decide where I wanted mine so it didn’t go out until a week or so later. Consequently, it’s only started to show the first signs of rust this week so nowhere near as photogenic!
Looking back on the previous post, I note it was also the day Mrs C had her first jab. Which means, three weeks down the line, that she should now be at the full protection a single dose of the vaccine gives. Not that there are any opportunities yet to go out and test the efficacy of it by mixing with other people - we’re only just at the “meet one other person outside socially” stage and even that’s a no-no in the current weather conditions!
By the time we can travel and mix a bit more freely in April, my first dose will also have taken full effect, so I think we can approach the exit from lockdown with a bit more positivity and a bit less uncertainty than we did last year. Though I do fear Chris Whitty may be right in predicting a summer spike, if people just cast caution to the winds in April.
Yes, I’m more confident about the future, but I shall not be any less cautious in my interactions with others until we have definite proof that the virus is firmly under control - in this country at least. It’s going to be a few more years before I think about travelling abroad again.