TOMORROW marks 100 days of isolated shielding…a “centenary” landmark day I don’t plan to celebrate. I do, however, plan to celebrate today – but more about that later.

On the evening of March 14th my wife and I effectively locked our doors on the world and settled down to a strange world dominated entirely by us and the walls of our beloved wee house and garden.

Armed with decent broadband, Netflix, a goodly supply of books and a set of dominoes we felt prepared for a long haul. The lung cancer chemotherapy treatment made me very vulnerable to all sorts of infections anyway so some sort of shielding was always going to be on the agenda.

Coronavirus simply added a compelling and compulsory extra element to the extent of our isolation.

So far it’s been 99 days of very low activity. We have consumed the cargo from 11 supermarket home delivery slots and we’ve bought a plastic greenhouse (which is white) and grown tomato plants from seed which are now beginning to flower. We’ve even harvested our first few strawberries this week – and damn fine tasting they were too.

I’ve even donned a full-face screen, mask and gloves for our four excursions to the chemo treatment rooms of Crosshouse Hospital. Okay, it’s only a 10-minute drive from our house but those journeys have been big events for us in many respects – from concern about potential exposure, to trepidation about receiving such powerful treatments, to wonder at how quiet everywhere was at first and how steadily busier everything seems to be getting.

Thankfully I’m also able to work from my converted garage/office due to the nature of my business and that – combined with writing this column – has been a real lifesaver in many ways.

That fairly short list of activities can now be extended to going outside the house and garden boundaries for an isolated walk following First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s phase two of relaxed isolation measures announced the other day.

We’re even allowed to host a carefully distanced garden visit from family so to combine that good news and the permission to walk outside this is the day that our Boxer dog Mishka will return home after her 99-day-long enforced staycation with two of our grandchildren.

This is going to bring a whole new busy dimension to our very quiet house…and a whole new slow pace of life for Mishka!

Sure, we’ll don those masks and gloves and stride out for twice-daily isolation walks but we have to hope Mishka doesn’t pine too much for a return to her foster home where she’s had the company of her “young cousin” boxer Lexi and the devoted attention of two very energetic youngsters.

Ally McLaws is MD of the McLaws Consultancy, specialists in business marketing and reputation management. See the full range of services on offer and view all previous back issues of this column at: www.mclawsconsultancy.com