What's going on outside your house?

They've probably all died because nobody in a hurry is leaving crumbs everywhere.

One magpie outside.

I genuinely think that virtually all the birds round here have died.

I should point out that I'm on a hill, overlooking the southern half of Sheffield and have a panoramic view. A lack of visible birds means a lack of visible birds in a massive area.

I can't hear any birds either.

It is totally silent, birdwise.

I thought so.

I've just heard that my poor mother has been bolted into her property all day with all the windows shut. She's sealed up the front door to the frame and floor with masking tape and is in a state of terror and disgust. And I don't blame her at all - a neighbour has a snake, which has escaped.

What kind of snake?

A constrictor of some type I imagine.

Harmless.

No idea, they're all repulsive. None of us can even be in proximity to so much as a pair of shoes that used to be one. I once went to an eco resort in Belize, on a freebie. I was back in Dallas at my own cost the very next day.

I think there might've been an incident in the hood this evening. There's been a frenzy of sirens in the last 20/30 minutes. Perhaps a pensioner has gone for an extra walk.

I can hear alarms going off in the distance - and an especially mournful one much closer. Drunken? revelers arguing and shouting, which we don't normally get round here unless they are residents. I saw fireworks exploding earlier in various directions - they looked like distress rockets.

There's a strange undercurrent I think. I suppose it was inevitable that the lockdown would break down leaving nothing in particular in place, but it does seem to have been especially badly handled. From all the taxi meters ticking away in the background you'd think it was a Saturday night.

Generally it's been very quiet since March, but the races have started up again (and from the horns and screeching rubber outside right now, it sounds like a crash has just been averted) and the hookers are positively touting - normally they just blend in. Just minutes ago I heard someone yodeling into the night air and the echo was almost bouncing around the street.

When I was out earlier I saw someone raking through a dustbin for scraps, which I haven't seen for many years. Little bit of a tinderbox maybe. Maybe the Gurkhas that someone proposed at the street entrances weren't such an outlandish idea after all.

I suppose it's too much to hope that we are on the verge of our very own Ceaucescu moment across the rooftops. Does anyone else feel there is a general sense of unease?

My elderly gentleman said it was the same vibe over there when I rang him earlier. He joked that we should pack and leave town in his crummy kerb crawler car, to draw less attention to ourselves than in the 'Hitler motorcade' as he often refers to my own vehicle. It's twenty years too young but he likes to say it.

There's a film crew down in the gardens with a blonde woman speaking to camera.

The recycling collection has just taken place.

Since I posted that, the rubbish collection has also successfully occurred.

The people across the road and a few houses up have just had a mini-skip delivered.

When a skip appears outside, I always get strangely excited.

Only just strangely excited?

Me, I go stark staring borkers with excitement.

For me, a skip =