Select a region
If anyone knows how to look on the bright side of life, it's mum-of-two and blogger Emma Critchley.
When she was diagnosed with bowel cancer last year, she saw it as an opportunity.
Emma took to her blog, Island Living 365, to raise awareness of the disease in a humorous way, urging islanders to flush away feelings of embarrassment and get chatting about poo to help save lives.
With the island on lockdown, she has now shared five things she loves about Jersey to spread some positivity amid the virus doom and gloom - but admits she found it hard to reduce it down to just five.
"Let’s be honest, life is a little (okay, a lot) unusual at the moment," Emma said. "The corona virus might have put a stop to our usual everyday life but there is still so much to be grateful for.
"I for one am very happy that I am on lockdown in Jersey. Our island might be small but she is mighty and these are just five of the many things I love about Jersey."
Here are her thoughts...
We are a resilient bunch of people and we should never be underestimated. This is the island that survived the Occupation, so we won’t let the corona virus phase us!
We pull together when needed, we are determined, and we can be very creative.
Pictured: "We pull together when needed, we are determined, and we can be very creative."
It’s great to see businesses thinking outside of the box. Many businesses have been coming up with clever ways in which they can still operate but respect the social distancing rule.
We have seen businesses going online whilst others diversify. It’s great to see such innovation during a challenging time. We are lucky to have so many fabulous local businesses so let’s support them and shop local.
We are unbelievably lucky to have fantastic nurses, paramedics, doctors and health workers who are working extremely hard to keep us safe.
Pictured: "We are unbelievably lucky to have fantastic nurses, paramedics, doctors and health workers."
Also, there are the teachers, police force, posties, cleaners, rubbish collectors, delivery drivers, dentists, chemists, prison officers, social workers, carers and supermarket staff who are going about their day to day work in incredibly difficult circumstances.
We also mustn’t forget the volunteers who are coming out to support vulnerable islanders in many different ways. We should be saluting them all and I am sure you will all agree that we are extremely thankful to them.
We might be in partial lockdown but we can still go outside for up to two hours a day. Luckily for us, we can go for a walk or run along any one of our many amazing beaches.
Pictured: "But seriously how lucky are we to have our beaches?"
Let’s face it, we are never far away from a beautiful beach in Jersey.
Channel your inner David Hasselhoff and imagine you are on Baywatch and get galloping on that beach in slow-motion.
Am I showing my age? Sorry about that. But seriously, how lucky are we to have our beaches? Make the most of them, the sea is good for the soul.
Tourists are confused by us. I’ve been asked if we are part of America. Nope, that’s New Jersey.
I’ve been asked where the hell are we? I mean, my daughter’s globe doesn’t even have our island on it!
Pictured: "My daughter’s globe doesn’t even have our island on it."
People assume we are part of the UK - when you tell them that we aren’t part of the UK, it blows their mind. To be honest, I struggle to explain our relationship with the UK, but then I am easily confused so that’s not hard. It’s all very ambiguous.
Our television network is your regular British TV, but we have French street names. We are closer to France than the UK, but we speak English or some of us clever lot speak Jèrriais.
I like to think we are glamorous - we are laid-back and sophisticated like our French neighbours, but we also love a good cup of tea (ideally with a Jersey Wonder) like our British neighbours.
Pictured: "We can call Henry Cavill our own."
Plus, we can call Henry Cavill our own.
Yes, we are quite literally the home of Superman.
Thank goodness for our super speedy broadband. I’ve seen on Twitter people in the UK complaining about how slow their internet is now they are in lockdown.
It’s not a problem for us.
Pictured: "Thank goodness for our super speedy broadband."
With much of the island working from home and children being homeschooled, our internet speed is more important than ever.
It’s especially important when I collapse onto the settee after another a day of homeschooling, cake in hand ready for some Netflix.
Jersey is officially the sunniest part of the British Isles. I don’t know what this means either, as I didn’t think we were part of Britain (see earlier point).
Yes, I’m confused again.
Pictured: "We are sunny and it’s official."
Anyway, let’s not confuse ourselves with that minor detail. We are sunny and it’s official. Guernsey were very jealous of this and they tried to pinch our crown – pfft. It even made the headlines in the UK. Well, it made the Daily Mail - must have been a slow news day.
Guernsey accused us of fiddling with our temperature figures. How very dare they? As if Jersey would fiddle with figures. Sssh, don’t mention us being a tax haven.
Naturally we were outraged, told them to back off and we carried on with our boasting. Our island is sunnier and warmer than yours. That is when it isn’t blowing a gale.
Five things I love about Jersey and I didn’t even get onto the amazing local produce (the fish, the Jersey Royals, and the dairy products), the cows (so pretty), green lanes, honesty stalls and red squirrels (I even have one that visits my garden)... I could go on but I won’t.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not Bailiwick Express.
Comments
Comments on this story express the views of the commentator only, not Bailiwick Publishing. We are unable to guarantee the accuracy of any of those comments.