I HAVE no idea what day it is. I keep certain things back so ‘the weekend’ feels different, like cleaning the car, [a pointless exercise as it's not driven] mowing the lawn. But the days, they all feel the same.

Technology enabled attempts at meeting friends, some fail, others succeed. It depends who is on the other end of the line.

It’s difficult not to be political when we have a Prime Minister saying we are heading for a victory, when in fact our country is third in the world for Covid-19 dead [fourth if we take into account for the the fact that China is lying].

That’s embarrassing, shameful. This is what happens when you prevaricate. Thirty odd thousand families who have lost someone unnecessarily when in Germany, it is a fraction of that.

It makes me angry, in particular when I, like many, have closed my business for the greater good. I don’t need some ego at the lectern preaching how everything is OK, thanks very much. We know it’s not, we know you messed up. So shut up, get your head down and quietly put right what you created.

I digress. Some friends have all but disappeared, others send oft hilarious videos. The plethora of message sending from the early weeks has subsided but every now and then a cracker comes through, stopping me in my tracks, making me smile.

The roads are busier already drowning out the welcome birdsong. It was as if the birds did not exist before. I wonder if they have had a more successful breeding season now they can actually hear each other?

The air is definitely cleaner without all those aeroplanes coming into Manchester full tilt. The clouds are brighter, the sky more blue. So much so I constantly take photos. A marked difference.

But these days, they often feel the same. I feel for the elderly stuck in a home not understanding why no one can come and see them, why all the staff are wearing masks all the time.

It is a challenging time. The lack of social contact takes its toll on all of us and I hear many stories of relationships under strain after unexplained explosions. I’ve been on the receiving end myself.

Crime is down. Alcohol consumption is up. Domestic abuse is up. Domestic violence is up.

The main thing though is the air is clean. It tastes different this air, smells like a freshly mowed lawn. Everything and everyone is breathing more easily. Apart from those stuck inside, without control. I say let them out, every day.

John Matthews is a film director and a writer from Uppermill. His new book "Butcher Boy", a memoir of his time as an apprentice butcher working for his over-bearing dad, is released in time for Father’s Day available via http://big-pic.co.uk/butcher-boy-book.html all profits in May and June going to Dr Kershaw’s Hospice